STUDIES ON THE Katipunan
		HOME
Roster of Katipuneros at Balintawak, August 1896 Jim Richardson October 2005
``````````````````````````````````
Amidst all the debate about precisely when and where the revolution started, historians have often neglected to ask exactly who gathered in Balintawak or thereabouts in August 1896. In the absence of a complete roster – clearly an impossibility at this distance in time – the fullest listing is to be found in an interview given by the KKK veteran Guillermo Masangkay to the Manila newspaper Bagong Buhay in 1952.[1] In this interview, Masangkay recalled the names of 56 men who had met in Balintawak prior to the first encounters with Spanish forces. In the great majority of cases, he also recalled their occupations, and it is fascinating to note that nearly half the patriots on his list worked in some capacity or other for branches of the Spanish administration. The three ‘government secret agents’, it is presumed, had in the preceding months been supplying useful information to the Katipunan and misinformation to the Spaniards. Masangkay’s list is reproduced below; the occupational descriptions have been translated into English from the original mix of Tagalog and Spanish, and in a few cases have been amplified. Since the list was reconstructed from memory more than fifty years after the event, erroneous inclusions are likely and omissions are inevitable. Any corrections or other comments will be most welcome. Aguedo del Rosario Printer at the Diario de Manila Apolonio Cruz Printer at the Diario de Manila Alejandro Santiago Printer at El Resumen Deogracias Fajardo Printer Juan Fajardo Printer Tomas Alegre Master cigar maker Pio H. Santos Master tobacco worker Patricio Belen Tobacco worker Crispulo Chacon Tobacco worker Lorenzo Martinez Tobacco worker Tomas Villanueva Tobacco worker Procopio Bonifacio Railway baggage-master Rogelio Borja Mechanic Isaac del Carmen Mechanic Hilario Sayo Mechanic Melecio Ruestra Draftsman Pastor Santos Draftsman Guillermo Masangkay Kuridor [buyer and seller] Pedro Zabala Kuridor [buyer and seller] Macario Sakay Sales agent [personero] Salustiano Cruz Master tailor Juan de la Cruz Barber; playwright Emilio Jacinto Student Andres Bonifacio Warehouse employee at Fressel & Co.; walking cane maker; calligrapher Nicomedes Carreon Cobrador, salesman at Casa Chofre Miguel Resurreccion Grass (fodder) cutter Vicente Leyva Milk seller Cipriano Pacheco Clerk Briccio Pantas Assistant to Court of First Instance judge Teodoro Plata Clerk, Mindoro Court of First Instance Jose Trinidad Clerk, Tondo Court of First Instance Hermogenes Plata Court clerk Tomas Remigio Government treasury clerk Pantaleon Torres Government treasury clerk Vicente Molina Government treasury caretaker Enrique Pacheco Manila city government clerk Faustino Manalac Manila port administration clerk Calixto Santiago Customs official Restituto Javier Customs official Hermenegildo Reyes Customs official Valentin Lagasca Customs guard sergeant Eugenio Santos Customs guard sergeant Francisco Carreon Customs guard Sarhento Marcelo Customs guard Roman Ramos Government arsenal employee Tito Miguel Government arsenal employee Julio Navarro Government secret agent Alejandro Andaya Government secret agent Marcelo Badell Government secret agent Geronimo Medina y Cristobal Army corporal Cosme Taguyod Fire Department lieutenant Rafael Gutierrerez Fire Department captain Estanislao Vargas Property owner Apolonio Samson Property owner Pio Valenzuela Physician Ramon Bernardo Municipal captain of Pandacan

---

[1] “Unang sigaw, unang labanan sa paglaya”, Bagong Buhay, 25 August 1952.