CEBU, Philippines - GMA News TV commemorates Bonifacio Day with the back-to-back airing of two remarkable I-Witness documentaries revealing little known facts about the Father of the Philippine revolution.
Howie Severino’s “Si Lolo Andres: Unang Pangulo?” airs at 2:30PM
Leaving few letters, documents or even pictures of himself, Bonifacio is still shrouded in mystery, the basic facts of his life still debated.
To accompany him on a search for the hidden Bonifacio, Howie Severino locates Atty. Gary Bonifacio, a great-great grand nephew of Gat Andres and the Bonifacio family’s first lawyer. Howie learns that the execution of the Katipunan’s Supremo had a devastating effect on the clan that is felt even today, several generations later. Some Bonifacios changed their names and fled Manila for fear of persecution.
As they navigate the world of Gat Andres’s youth, Howie learns that the so-called Great Plebeian spoke Spanish and had a mestiza mother, worked for multinational companies, and never went around barefoot as is commonly portrayed in popular art.
The biggest revelation unfolds after Howie reads rare documents and speaks to historians: Was Bonifacio – and not Emilio Aguinaldo – actually the country’s first president?
Sandra Aguinaldo’s “1897: Lihim at Kontrobersiya” airs at 3PM
Two leaders of the revolution stand out: General Emilio Aguinaldo and Katipunan Supremo Andres Bonifacio. Were they friends or rivals? Was Bonifacio defrauded during the election at Tejeros, when Aguinaldo was made head of the Katipunan? Did Aguinaldo indeed sell our independence for the sum of P400,000? How did Bonifacio really die?
Sandra Aguinaldo discovers the fascinating answers to these questions. She goes through the history books, the actual journals written by both heroes, and the museums and libraries which contain the original documents of the Katipunan. She also meets the families of both Bonifacio and Aguinaldo, who over a hundred years later still seem to be at each others’ throats.
Get to know the story behind one of our nation’s greatest heroes when GMA News TV presents back to back I-Witness Bonifacio documentaries — today at 2:30PM on GMA News TV Channel 11. (FREEMAN)