Andres Bonifacio, Executed By Foolish Politics

Every year, on the 30th of November, the Philippines remembers one of its fallen heroes, Andres Bonifacio. Well known for being the “Father of Philippine Revolution”, Andres Bonifacio became an important factor in the Philippine revolution against the Spanish colonizers. He was also the reason why the Katipunan existed. Andres Bonifacio founded this organization to defend the poor and oppressed and to help the Philippines realize freedom from the Spanish rule.

Traditionally, declared holidays for heroes commemorate the day their death and how they have died under the hands of the enemy, signifying their sacrifice for the good of others. But, the Andres Bonifacio day differs in one aspect. Though he did sacrifice himself for the good of others, he, however, died not in the hands of the enemy but in the hands of the people he wished to liberate.

Many known historians argue that Andres Bonifacio’s death was a case of a well known struggle between “rich versus poor”, Andres Bonifacio being the champion of the masses and Emilio Aguinaldo who embodies the bourgeois or upper class. Despite this theory, I simply do not think that it was popular “rich versus poor” political struggle that led to the death of Andres Bonifacio and his brother Procopio. It was, I think, Andres Bonifacio’s too much politicizing.

Excessive politicizing became the key reason why Andres Bonifacio lost his place in the revolutionary government. At that time the revolutionary government elected Emilio Aguinaldo as their president and the “El Supremo” (The Supreme leader) of the Katipunan by majority vote was elected to the position of director of the interior. Yet despite the majority vote, a fellow Katipunero, Daniel Tirona, doubted Andres Bonifacio’s capacity to hold the position as secretary of the interior citing that such position belonged to a lawyer.

This issue ‘heaped coals’ on Andres Bonifacio’s head, so to say. To him, the remarks were insulting since there was no mention of any qualification that was necessary to hold such position. Because of this, Andres Bonifacio declared the invalidity of the proceedings and refused to coordinate with the Aguinaldo’s revolutionary government.

His actions, however, forced the revolutionary government to accuse him of treason. For this Andres Bonifacio was tried by court and sentenced. Though President Aguinaldo tried to lessen the sentence by banishing Andres Bonifacio, for some reason this plan did not materialize. Andres Bonifacio and his brother Procopio died through execution in the hands of their fellow countrymen. Many historians hold that someone advised Aguinaldo not to change the death sentence because Andres Bonifacio might only cause more problems within the government should he be allowed to live. Nonsensical politics has once again ravaged life. It has made people foolish politicians, opportunists, exploiters of the weak and the system, compromiser of that which is good and partisans instead of defending the truth.

Today, our society is feeling the pain of foolish politics. Foolish politics has caused government officials to continue to pollute the system knowing that the Ombudsman can always delay or dismiss their cases. This usually happens if that government official is close to the president. Foolish politics has turned important court decisions against the weak. Foolish politics has caused those who guard society to disregard criminals who have friends in power. Foolish politics is the reason why we see persons of doubtful integrity hold government position as if our lives were not at stake.

Andres Bonifacio dreamed of a just and humane society, but this dream died with him in Mount Nagpatong in Maragondon, Cavite. This is the place where our fellow countrymen executed him. Like Andres Bonifacio, foolish politics will continue to bring chaos and death into the lives of the Filipino people.

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