José Rizal established La Liga Filipina in Tondo, Manila, aiming to organize Filipinos for reform and mutual aid; its rapid suppression helped push some members toward more radical, clandestine organizing.
Rizal was arrested in Manila days after founding La Liga Filipina, an event widely linked to the subsequent creation of the Katipunan by former Liga members.
The Katipunan (KKK) was founded in Manila on this date by Filipino nationalists (including Andrés Bonifacio and others) to pursue independence from Spain, initially as a clandestine organization.
Rizal’s arrival in Dapitan marked the start of his exile; in Philippine nationalist memory, his banishment became a key backdrop for the shift from reformism toward armed revolution.
The Katipunan’s newspaper Kalayaan first appeared in 1896 (often dated January 18, 1896 on its masthead though circulated later), helping spread revolutionary propaganda and rapidly broaden recruitment.
The Katipunan’s existence was exposed after Teodoro Patiño revealed information that led authorities—via Fr. Mariano Gil—to search the Diario de Manila printing shop and uncover incriminating materials, triggering arrests and crackdown.
Katipunan gatherings in late August 1896 culminated in the symbolic rupture with Spain often associated with the tearing of cédulas; the exact date and site are disputed, but the Philippine government later recognized August 23 as the commemorative date for the "Cry of Pugad Lawin."
Katipuneros led by Andrés Bonifacio and Emilio Jacinto fought Spanish forces at San Juan del Monte in one of the first major battles of the revolution, now memorialized as the Battle of Pinaglabanan.
Revolutionary leaders met at Imus, Cavite to address growing tensions between the Magdalo and Magdiwang factions and to debate whether to retain the Katipunan framework or form a new revolutionary government.
At Tejeros (San Francisco de Malabon, Cavite), revolutionary leaders held elections that elevated Emilio Aguinaldo as president and effectively superseded the Katipunan’s central authority, deepening political conflict with Bonifacio’s supporters.
A day after the Tejeros Convention, dissidents issued the Acta de Tejeros, alleging irregularities and rejecting the legitimacy of the convention’s proceedings—an escalation in the revolutionary leadership crisis.
Signatories aligned with Bonifacio prepared the Naic Military Agreement repudiating Tejeros outcomes and asserting alternative command arrangements; the document is closely tied to subsequent charges against Bonifacio.
As revolutionary leadership disputes intensified, Andrés Bonifacio and allies were arrested in Cavite (events often linked to enforcement actions ordered under Aguinaldo’s authority), setting the stage for a court-martial.
Following a court-martial in May 1897, Andrés and Procopio Bonifacio were executed on orders carried out near Maragondon, Cavite—an event that profoundly shaped later interpretations of revolutionary legitimacy and leadership.
The Katipunan and Revolutionary Societies (1892-1897)
