Bonifacio, Hen. Luna and Goyong’s officers at León Gallery’s upcoming auction

MANILA, Philippines — August is an evil month in the Philippines and in 1896; it was no different from today. The reports of that year say that it had rained non-stop for days on end, just like this last murky weekend that brought Marikina to watery depths.

It was difficult going in the mud and damp, yet over a thousand men — some counted 30,000, the Spanish said 100,000 — had heeded Andres Bonifacio’s call to come to Pugad Lawin (Eagle’s Nest) that 23rd of August. The brave men rose up as one when Bonifacio asked them to tear up their cedulas, the 19th-century equivalent of the National ID, the difference being that it meant torture and certain death to be found without it. Tired and hungry, there was no food in the fields as they had just been newly planted, the Katipuneros forged on to San Juan to attack the strategically important water reservoir in the first battle of the Philippine Revolution.

Ceremonial medal of the Supreme Council of the KKK, in the form of two crossed bolos

Thus, in the forthcoming León Gallery sale titled “The Magnificent September Auction 2018,” a remarkable outpouring of Bonifacio memorabilia and documents appear, including some from the country’s other favorite heroes, General Antonio Luna and officers who fought with General Goyong del Pilar at Tirad Pass.

The auction will take place on Sept. 8, Saturday, at 2 p.m., at the León Gallery salesrooms at Eurovilla I, Legaspi Street corner Rufino Street, Legazpi Village, Makati.

The most riveting, if not the most important, document is Andres Bonifacio’s “Decalogue,” printed in every Filipino history book and read by every schoolboy. It is the “Ten Commandments” of the secret society Katipunan that started it all. The two sheets are covered in what Jim Richardson — foremost scholar of the KKK — regards as Bonifacio’s “neatest, most elegant style.” The Supremo was among, other pursuits, a professional calligrapher.

War booty, epaulets from the Battle of Tirad Pass, from one of Goyong’s colonels

Also revealing are the various printed and handwritten forms for membership in the Katipunan that point to the fact that it was hardly a ragtag group of rebels but a highly systematized organization. Interestingly, the KKK had its own “in-house” printing press, thanks to the timely largesse of a couple of the first OFWs — Candido Iban and Francisco del Castillo, men from Aklan who wound up in Australia as pearl-divers. Messrs. Iban and del Castillo also happened to hit it big in a lottery and gave all their winnings to the society.

One of the extraordinary pieces is a Katipunan medal consisting of two crossed bolos, with two K’s in the center. Worn only during meetings of the Supreme Council, it was a ceremonial emblem that belonged to the very highest officers of the Katipunan, who were duly elected on Christmas Eve 1895. It is believed to have belonged to one of the first Katipunero officials, José Trinidad who was at the Cry of Pugad Lawin.

Andres Bonifacio’s Decalogue or “The Ten Commandments” of the Katipunan, written in his own hand

Bonifacio’s personal flag — which may have flown at Pugad Lawin and is the very first flag of the Katipunan — completes the KKK regalia. It is said to have hung certainly in Bonifacio’s private study in Tondo and was later secreted in his writing desk among his papers, surviving the Spanish police raids and a fire that would later raze his home. Given in gratitude to the house of Don Antonio Santos Bautista of Bulacan, by Bonifacio’s widow, it was last seen in public at the inauguration of the Malolos Congress monument on 28 April 1931 in the churchyard of Barasoain Church. That event attracted 5,000 patriots and included Don Emilio Aguinaldo who was, unfortunately, snubbed for what he termed were “political reasons.”

The spiritual heir to the Supremo was another impetuous genius, General Antonio Luna, who would become the most effective and feared Filipino officer of the Philippine-American War. Luna would be able to entice his brother, the artistic titan Juan Luna, to design the uniforms for the revolutionary forces. His set of drawings show the epaulets (or shoulder insignias) for the officers from lieutenant to captain-general. They are marvels to behold, with stars surrounded in bamboo-leaf wreaths and poetic cord at the ends.

Goyong del Pilar in Luna-designed uniform

Other Luna memorabilia includes the decree, instigated by Antonio to standardize the uniforms and approved by Emilio Aguinaldo, as well as one of the first issues of La Independencia, founded by General Luna, who apparently also found time despite his ruthless pursuit of the war to edit the four-page newspaper. It was said to be the most widely read of its time.

An amazing Ah-Tay four-poster bed, from the Pardo de Tavera family — the eminent and wealthy clan into which Juan Luna had married  — is another extraordinary lot. (Who knows indeed which hero may have lain in it, as the Pardo de Taveras were fast friends of Rizal, Resurreccion Hidalgo, Maximo Viola and all the most prominent ilustrados.)

General Antonio Luna in the Juan Luna-designed regalia

A pair of epaulets, believed to be worn by one of Goyong’s fallen officers at Tirad Pass, is another intriguing item. Belonging to a lieutenant colonel, the insignias may possibly belong to his second-in-command, a certain Francisco de Palmara, as he fought in the ill-fated rear-guard action to allow Aguinaldo to escape the American forces. Del Pilar had handpicked a group of 60 men from the late General Antonio Luna’s command for this mission that was doomed from the outset. Only eight men survived the massacre by the 500-strong American contingent. The epaulets were acquired from the estate of a California veteran of the Phil-American War.

Goyong himself was stripped of his uniform, sidearm and sword — as well as love letters and pocketbook — by the gleeful Americans. Perhaps, it’s time that this war booty be returned along with the Bells of Balangiga that were cut down as Eastern Samar was transformed into “a howling wilderness.”