SOME Filipinos have begun to call Andres Bonifacio, founder of the Katipunan, the “First President of the Philippines.” That title removes the honor from another great Filipino, Emilio Aguinaldo. But Bonifacio does have a claim to the title, not only because he came to be elected president of the “Tagalog Republic”—which some Katipuneros organized formally as a government parallel to the Katipunan.

Andres Bonifacio was born on Nov. 30, 1863 (which is why today is a national holiday) in Tondo, Manila. Santiago Bonifacio, his father, was once a tailor and a sailor who ran the ferry on his hometown’s river and who a later became a local politician. His mother, Catalina de Castro, worked in a factory that rolled tobacco into cigarettes. They worked very hard to support Andres and his five younger brothers and sisters. In 1881, Catalina contracted TB and in 1882 died. Andres’ father was also stricken with TB and died in 1883.

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