Emilio Jacinto – Kartilya ng Katipunan

Submitted by:

Group 3

CAHATIAN, Darline Criselle

ESTRADA, Mia

HERRERA, Trisha

PADILLA, Trisha

TAÑADA, Nikole Samantha

September 11, 2018

 Historical Background of the Author

Emilio Jacinto
(also known as “Brains of the Katipunan”)

Emilio Jacinto is referred to as the hero of the Philippine Revolution. Emilio joined the
Katipunan secret society at twenty years of age. The Katipunan was a Philippine revolutionary
society founded by anti-Spanish Filipinos in Manila in 1892, which aimed primarily to gain
independence from Spain through revolution. Emilio went against his family when he joined the
secret society in the hopes of contributing to end the injustice suffered by Filipinos at the hands
of the Spanish.

Early Life

Emilio was born December 15, 1875 in Trozo, Tondo, Manila, to father Mariano Jacinto
and mother Josefa Dizon. Emilio grew up without his father since he died when Emilio was just
an infant. Emilio was raised by his mother and his uncle Don José Dizon. Emilio’s linguistics
included Spanish and Tagalog and though he preferred to speak Spanish he was a prolific
writer in Tagalog. Emilio attended San Juan de Letran College, and continued his law studies at
the University of Santo Tomas before dropping out at the age of eighteen to join the Katipunan.

The Katipunan

In 1893 Emilio and his cousin were initiated into the Katipunan in the home of Don
Restituto Javier. When Emilio became a member of the Katipunan he served as fiscal adviser
and secretary to its founder and leader Andrés Bonifacio (Supremo of the Katipunan). He was
known in the Katipunan as Pingkian and was referred to as the “Brains of the Katipunan”
because of the many documents that he had prepared which included the constitution.

Emilio wrote for the newspaper called Kalayaan under the pen-name Dimasilaw; he wrote
poetry, manifestos, statutes and most of the articles and editorials of the newspaper. He
authored the first edition of the Kartilya ng Katipunan, a guidebook to the Katipunan’s rules and
principles which was publicized in 1896. Included in its teachings were: “A life that is not
dedicated to a noble cause is like a tree without a shade or a poisonous weed”, “Defend the
oppressed and fight the oppressor”, and “True piety consists of being charitable, loving one’s
fellow men, and being judicious in behavior, speech and deed”.
Emilio was also noted as a close friend to Bonifacio, he supported him and his Katipunan
comrades to the best of his ability. He also headed the Katipunan delegation to a Japanese
admiral to whom they handed a memorial to the Emperor of Japan seeking, in lyrical language,
his support. He was the sole adviser of the Katipunan’s Supreme Council, later the general in
charge of the army of the North, a knowledgeable supplier of firearms, ammunition, even bows
and arrows, and musical compositions.
With the outbreak of the Philippine Revolution in 1896, Emilio became the commander-in-chief
of the revolutionary forces in Laguna and after Bonifacio’s death; Jacinto continued fighting the
Spaniards but refused to join the forces of General Emilio Aguinaldo.

In April 1899 during a battle in Mahayhay, Laguna, Emilio was wounded in the thigh, captured
by Spanish troops. He died in prison, of his wounds. Bonifacio always called him “the soul of the
Katipunan”.
 Historical Background of the Document

Emilio Jacinto (attrib.)

Katipunan nang manga A. N. B. – Sa may nasang makisanib sa katipunang ito [The “Kartilya”]

Sources: Adrian E. Cristobal, The Tragedy of the Revolution (Makati City: Studio 5 Publishing Inc., 1997)
46; José P. Santos, Buhay at mga sinulat ni Emilio Jacinto (Manila: José Paez Santos, 1935), 59–63.

Taught in schools and debated in universities, the “Kartilya” is the best known of all Katipunan
texts. Making manifest the KKK’s principles and teachings, it was printed as a small pamphlet for new
members. It is the only document of any length set in print by the Katipunan prior to August 1896 that is
known to be still extant.

The earliest reference to the Kartilya yet found is in the minutes of a Supreme Assembly meeting
held in December 1895, which say the manifesto (“pahayag”) will be priced at 4 kualta per copy.
Whether it is the KKK branches or the individual recruits who are to be charged this amount is not clear,
and nor is it known whether the title phrase - “To those who want to join this Katipunan” - truly means
potential recruits, or in practice should be taken to mean “To those who have just joined this Katipunan.”
If copies were sold to potential as well as actual recruits, needless to say, there was a heightened risk
they might fall into the wrong hands.

The Kartilya was still in use during the first phase of the revolution, and Bonifacio was planning to
print more copies shortly before he was killed. It may still have been used during the second phase of
the revolution, for a version survives in the Philippine Insurgent Records that is stamped with the seal
used by Artemio Ricarte in 1899. This version contains basically the same text as is transcribed here, but
it bears a different title – “Final Declaration on Admission to the Katipunan” (Katapusang pamamahayag
sa pagpasok sa K.) – and it omits the famous footnote that says “the word Tagalog means all those born
in this Archipelago.”

Authorship of the Kartilya has always been credited to Emilio Jacinto, and there is little doubt this
attribution is sound: it dates back to the Sensacional memoria of Isabelo de los Reyes, whose sources
included several senior KKK veterans, and it has never been challenged. Bonifacio, the story goes, had
originally intended that his “Decalogue” should be printed and handed to new recruits, but he then read
Jacinto’s Kartilya and decided it was superior. The two texts, though, are not really comparable.
Bonifacio seeks only to enumerate the duties of Katipunan members, Jacinto couches his primer, four
times as long, rather as a statement of aspirations and ethical values. Bonifacio lists ten obligations;
Jacinto presents twelve “guiding principles” and fourteen “teachings”.

In its structure the Kartilya resembles the declaration used in Manila’s Masonic lodges, a
declaration that had presumably been written in Spain around 1889 when the grand order to which the
lodges were affiliated – the Gran Oriente Español - had been founded by Miguel Morayta. The Kartilya
is addressed “To those who want to join the Katipunan”; the Masonic document to “los profanos que
deben inscribirse en la Sociedad.” The preamble to the Kartilya echoes the Masonic document’s
stated purpose, which is to ensure that candidates fully understand the association’s objectives
before making a commitment they might later repent. The division in the Kartilya between principles
(“layon”) and teachings (“aral”) broadly parallels the division in the Gran Oriente’s manifesto between the
“Programa Masonica” and the “Codigo Masonico.” And the Kartilya, finally, like the document used in the
lodges, asks neophytes to pledge their allegiance to the association’s objectives and to affirm with their
signature that they are becoming members of their own free will (“ninais ng loob ko”).
 There are also parallels between the content of the two documents. Recruits to the lodges were
advised that Masonry “considera como hermanos todos los hombres”; that they should renounce “todos
los vicios”; and should “defenderás al oprimido.” Within the Katipunan, said the Kartilya, “all are equal
and true brethren.” Members had to “renounce disorderly habits” and to “defend the oppressed.”

Other influences may be identified more tentatively. The admonitions to regard a woman as a
“helpmate” rather than a “plaything,” and to “have due regard to her weakness” may be Biblical in origin.
The adage that “an honorable man’s word is his bond” may be traced back to Cervantes; and the thought
that “time lost is lost forever” may have come from Benjamin Franklin. One precept is perhaps taken from
Rizal. A “life which is not dedicated to a great idea is useless,” declares Rizal’s fictional insurrectionist
Simoun in El Filibusterismo: “It is a pebble lost in the field, when it should form part of some building.”
“Life which is not consecrated to a lofty and sacred cause,” Jacinto writes, varying the metaphor, “is like a
tree without shade, if not a poisonous weed.”

To emphasize Enlightenment influences on Katipunan thinking, some say, effaces the originality
of documents like the Kartilya, which may be found in the nuances of their Tagalog and their resonance
with the native psyche, familial bonds, folk Christianity, indigenous dissident traditions and so on. Such
arguments may be true up to a point, but often they seem nebulous, reliant more on wishful assertion
than on substantiating chapter and verse. The Tagalog words that resound loudest in the Kartilya,
beyond doubt, are the equivalents of the Enlightenment’s defining watchwords: Liberty (“Kalayaan”),
Equality (“lahat ng tao’y magkakapantay”), Fraternity (“kayong lahat ay magkakapatid”), Reason
(“Katuiran”), Progress (“Kagalingan”) and Enlightenment itself (“Kaliwanagan”). Most, perhaps all, of
these Tagalog equivalents had already been employed by ilustrado writers like Rizal and Del Pilar before
the KKK was founded. The revolutionary originality of the Katipunan lay not in its idiom, but in its
objectives and its deeds.


Tagalog texti

KATIPUNAN

NANG MANGA

A. N. B.

SA MAY NASANG MAKISANIB

SA KATIPUNANG ITO

Sa pagkakailangan, na ang lahat na nagiibig pumasuk sa katipunang ito, ay magkaroon

ng lubos na pananalig at kaisipan sa mga layong tinutungo at mga kaaralang pinaiiral,
minarapat na ipakilala sa kanila ang mga bagay na ito, at ng bukas makalawa’y huag silang
magsisi at tuparing maluag sa kalooban ang kanilang mga tutungkulin.

Ang kabagayang pinaguusig ng katipunang ito ay lubos na dakila at mahalaga;

papagisahin ang loob at kaisipan ng lahat ng tagalog (*) sa pamagitan ng isang mahigpit na
panunumpa, upang sa pagkakaisang ito’y magkalakas na iwasak ang masinsing tabing na
nakabubulag sa kaisipan at matuklasan ang tunay na landas ng Katuiran at Kaliwanagan.

(*) Sa salitang tagalog katutura’y ang lahat nang tumubo sa Sangkapuluang ito; sa
makatuid, bisaya man, iloko man, kapangpangan man, etc., ay tagalog din.

Dito’y isa sa mga kaunaunahang utos, ang tunay na pag-ibig sa bayang tinubuan at
lubos na pagdadamayan ng isa’t isa.

Maralita, mayaman, mangmang, marunong, lahat dito’y magkakapantay at tunay na

magkakapatid.
 Kapagkarakang mapusok dito ang sino man, tataligdan pilit ang buhalhal na kaugalian,
at paiilalim sa kapangyarihan ng mga banal na utos ng katipunan.

Ang gawang lahat, na laban sa kamahalan at kalinisan, dito’y kinasusuklaman; kaya’t sa

bagay na ito ipinaiilalim sa masigasig na pakikibalita ang kabuhayan ng sino mang nagiibig
makisanib sa katipunang ito.

Kung ang hangad ng papasuk dito’y ang tumalastas lamang o mga kalihiman nito, o ang
ikagiginhawa ng sariling katawan, o ang kilalanin ang mga naririto’t ng maipagbili sa isang dakot
na salapi, huag magpatuloy, sapagkat dito’y bantain lamang ay talastas na ng makapal na
nakikiramdam sa kaniya, at karakarakang nilalapatan ng mabisang gamut, na laan sa mga
sukaban.

Dito’y gawa ang hinahanap at gawa ang tinitignan; kaya’t hindi dapat pumasuk ang di
makagagawa, kahit magaling magsalita.

Ipinauunawa din, ang mga katungkulang ginaganap ng lahat ng napaaanak sa

katipunang ito ay lubhang mabibigat lalung lalu na, kung gugunitain na di magyayaring
maiiwasan at walang kusang pagkukulang na di aabutin ng kakilakilabot na kaparusahan.

Kung ang hangad ng papasuk dito, ang siya’y abuluyan o ang ginhawa’t malayaw na
katahimikan ng katawan, huag magpatuloy, sapagkat mabigat na mga katungkulan ang
matatagpuan, gaya ng pagtatangkilik sa mga naaapi at madaluhong na paguusig sa lahat ng
kasamaan; sa bagay na ito ay aabuting ang maligalig na pamumuhay.

Di kaila sa kangino paman ang mga nagbalang kapahamakan sa mga tagalog na

nakaiisip nitong mga banal na kabagayan (at hindi man), at mga pahirap na ibinibigay na
nagharing kalupitan, kalikuan at kasamaan.

Talastas din naman ng lahat ang pagkakailangan ng salapi, na sa ngayo’y isa sa mga
unang lakas na maaasahang magbibigay buhay sa lahat; sa bagay na ito, kinakailangan ang
lubos na pagtupad sa mga pagbabayaran; piso sa pagpasok at sa buan buan ay sikapat. Ang
salaping ito’y ipinagbibigay alam ng nagiingat sa tuing kapanahunan, bukod pa sa
mapagsisiyasat ng sinoman kailan ma’t ibigin. Di makikilos ang salaping ito, kundi pagkayarin
ng karamihan.

Ang lahat ng ipinagsaysay at dapat gunitain at mahinahong pagbulaybulayin, sapagkat

di magaganap at di matitiis ng walang tunay na pagibig sa tinubuang lupa, at tunay na adhikang
ipagtangkilik ang Kagalingan.

At ng lalong mapagtimbang ng sariling isip at kabaitan, basahin ang sumusunod na

MGA ARAL NANG

KATIPUNAN NG MGA A.N.B

----------

Ang kabuhayang hindi ginugugol sa isang malaki at banal na kadahilanan ay kahoy na walang
lilim, kundi damong makamandag.

Ang gawang magaling na nagbubuhat sa pagpipita sa sarili, at hindi sa talagang nasang

gumawa ng kagalingan, ay di kabaitan.

Ang tunay na kabanalan ay ang pagkakawang gawa, ang pagibig sa kapua at ang isukat ang
bawat kilos, gawa’t pangungusap sa talagang Katuiran.

Maitim man at maputi ang kulay ng balat, lahat ng tao’y magkakapantay; mangyayaring ang
isa’y higtan sa dunong, sa yaman, sa ganda…; ngunit di mahihigtan sa pagkatao.

Ang may mataas na kalooban inuuna ang puri sa pagpipita sa sarili; ang may hamak na
kalooban inuuna ang pagpipita sa sarili sa puri.
Sa taong may hiya, salita’y panunumpa.

Huag mong sasayangin ang panahun; ang yamang nawala’y magyayaring magbalik; nguni’t
panahong nagdaan na’y di na muli pang magdadaan.

Ipagtanggol mo ang inaapi, at kabakahin ang umaapi.

Ang taong matalino’y ang may pagiingat sa bawat sasabihin, at matutong ipaglihim ang dapat
ipaglihim.

Sa daang matinik ng kabuhayan, lalaki ay siyang patnugot ng asawa’t mga anak; kung ang
umaakay ay tungo sa sama, ang patutunguhan ng iaakay ay kasamaan din.

Ang babai ay huag mong tignang isang bagay na libangan lamang, kundi isang katuang at
karamay sa mga kahirapan nitong kabuhayan; gamitan mo ng buong pagpipitagan ang
kaniyang kahinaan, at alalahanin ang inang pinagbuhata’t nagiwi sa iyong kasangulan.

Ang di mo ibig na gawin sa asawa mo, anak at kapatid, ay huag mong gagawin sa asawa, anak,
at kapatid ng iba.

Ang kamahalan ng tao’y wala sa pagkahari, wala sa tangus ng ilong at puti ng mukha, wala sa
pagkaparing KAHILILI NG DIOS, wala sa mataas na kalagayan sa balat ng lupa; wagas at
tunay na mahal na tao, kahit laking gubat at walang nababatid kundi ang sariling wika,
yaong may magandang asal, may isang pangungusap, may dangal at puri; yaong di
napaaapi’t di nakikiapi; yaong marunong magdamdam at marunong lumingap sa bayang
tinubuan.

Paglaganap ng mga aral na ito at maningning na sumikat ang araw ng mahal na Kalayaan dito
sa kaabaabang Sangkalupuan, at sabugan ng matamis niyang liwanag ang nangagkaisang
magkalahi’t magkakapatid ng ligaya ng walang katapusan, ang mga ginugol na buhay,
pagud, at mga tiniis na kahirapa’y labis nang natumbasan.
Kung lahat ng ito’y mataruk na ng nagiibig pumasuk at inaakala niyang matutupad ang mga
tutungkulin, maitatala ang kaniyang ninanasa sa kasunod nito.

SA HKAN. NG _____________________________________________

AKO’Y SI_____________________________________________

TAONG TUBO SA BAYANG NG______________________________

HUKUMAN NG _________________________ANG KATANDAAN KO

AY___________TAON, ANG HANAPBUHAY ____________________

ANG KALAGAYAN____________________________AT

NANANAHALNAN SA ________________________DAAN NG____________________

Sa aking pagkabatid ng boong kagalingan ng mga nililayon at ng mga aral, na

inilalathala ng KATIPUNAN ng mga A.N.B. ninais ng loob ko ang makisanib dito. Sa bagay na
ito’y aking ipinamamanhik ng boong pitagan, na marapating tangapin at mapakibilang na isa sa
mga anak ng katipunan: at tuloy nangangakong tutupad at paiilalim sa mga aral at Kautusang
sinusunod dito.

______________________ika ____________ng buan ng _________________

____________________ng taong 189__.

Nakabayad na ng ukol sa pagpasok.

 ANG TAGA INGAT NG YAMAN.



English translationii

ASSOCIATION
OF THE
SONS OF THE PEOPLE

TO THOSE WHO WANT TO JOIN THIS ASSOCIATION.

In order that all who want to enter this Association may have a full understanding
and knowledge of its guiding principles and main teachings, it is necessary to make
these things known to them so that they will not, tomorrow or the next day, repent, and
so that they may perform their duties wholeheartedly.

This Association pursues a most worthy and momentous object: to unite the
hearts and minds of all the Tagalogs (*) by means of an inviolable oath, in order that this
union may be strong enough to tear aside the thick veil that obscures thought, and to
find the true path of Reason and Enlightenment.

(*The word Tagalog means all those born in this Archipelago; even a person who is a Visayan,
Ilocano, or Kapampangan, etc. is therefore a Tagalog too.)

One of the foremost rules here is true love of the native land and genuine
compassion for one another.

Poor, rich, ignorant, wise – here, all are equal and true brethren.

As soon as anybody enters here, he shall perforce renounce disorderly habits

and shall submit to the authority of the sacred commands of the Katipunan.

All acts contrary to noble and clean living are repugnant here, and hence the life
of anyone who wants to affiliate with this Association will be submitted to a searching
investigation.
 If the applicant merely wishes to know the secrets of the Association, or to seek
personal gratification, or to know who is here in order to sell them for a handful of silver,
he cannot proceed, for here the many who are watching him will already know his
intentions, and will immediately have recourse to an effective remedy, such as befits
traitors.

Here, only actions are demanded and esteemed; hence anybody who is not
willing to act should not enter, no matter how good a speaker he might be.

It is also announced that the duties to be performed by the members of this

association are exceedingly hard, especially if one remembers that there can be no
dereliction or wilful evasion of duty without the exaction of a terrible punishment.

If an applicant merely desires financial support relief or wants to lead a life of

bodily comfort and ease, he had better not proceed, for he will encounter weighty tasks,
like the protection of the oppressed and the relentless fight against all that is evil. In this
way, his fate will be a vexatious life.

Nobody is unaware of the misfortune that threatens the Filipinos who

contemplate these things that are sacred (and even those that are not) and the
sufferings they are made to endure by the reign of cruelty, injustice and evil.

Everybody also knows the need for money, which today is one of the main things
upon which we depend to bring sustenance to all. In this regard, the punctual payment
of dues is required: one peso upon entry and then twelve and a half centimos each
month. The custodian of the funds will periodically render an account to the members,
and each member has a right to examine the accounts, should he so wish. The funds
cannot be expended without the consent of the majority.

All this must be thought over and deliberated upon calmly, as it cannot be
accomplished or endured by anyone who has no love for his native land and no genuine
desire to promote Progress.

And for the upliftment of your mind and virtue, read the following

TEACHINGS OF THE
KATIPUNAN OF THE SONS OF THE PEOPLE
A life that is not dedicated to a great and sacred cause is like a tree without a shade, or
a poisonous weed.

A good deed lacks virtue if it springs from a desire for personal profit and not
from a sincere desire to do good.
 True charity resides in acts of compassion, in love for one’s fellow men, and in making
true Reason the measure of every move, deed and word.

Be their skin dark or pale, all men are equal. One can be superior to another in
knowledge, wealth and beauty... but not in being.

A person with a noble character values honor above self-interest, while a person with an
ignoble character values self-interest above honor.

An honorable man’s word is his bond.

Don’t waste time; lost wealth may be recovered, but time lost is lost forever.

Defend the oppressed and fight the oppressor.

An intelligent man is he who takes care in everything he says and keeps quiet about
what must be kept secret.

Along the thorny path of life, the man leads the way and his wife and children follow. If
the leader goes the way of perdition, then so do those who are led.

Do not regard a woman as a mere plaything, but as a helpmate and partner in

the hardships of this existence. Have due regard to her weakness, and remember the
mother who brought you into this world and nurtured you in your infancy.

What you would not want done to your wife, daughter and sister, do not do to the
wife, daughter and sister of another.

A man’s worth does not come from him being a king, or in the height of his nose
and the whiteness of his face, or in him being a priest, a REPRESENTATIVE OF GOD,
or in his exalted position on the face of this earth. Pure and truly noble is he who,
though born in the forest and able to speak only his own tongue, behaves decently, is
true to his word, has dignity and honor, who is not an oppressor and does not abet
oppressors, who knows how to cherish and look after the land of his birth.

When these doctrines have spread and the brilliant sun of beloved liberty shines
on these poor Islands, and sheds its sweet light upon a united race, a people in
everlasting happiness, then the lives lost, the struggle and the suffering will have been
more than recompensed.
--------------------------

If the applicant understands all this, and believes he will be able to fulfil these duties, he
should put his request in writing, as follows:

TO THE PROVINCIAL DIRECTORATE OF

_____________________________________________

I, _____________________________________________

NATIVE OF THE TOWN OF ______________________________

PROVINCE OF _________________________MY AGE

IS___________YEARS, OCCUPATION_____________________

MARITAL STATUS____________________________AND RESIDENT

AT ____________________STREET OF ________________________

Having fully understood the principles and teachings proclaimed by the Katipunan of the
Sons of the People, I wish with heart and soul to become a member. Respectfully, therefore, I
beg to be deemed worthy of admission and to be counted as one of the sons of the association,
and I pledge to comply with its teachings and submit to its Orders.

[Sgd.]
the ____________of the month of _________________

____________________of the year 189__.

Entrance fee has been paid.

THE TREASURER

i The first two paragraphs and the subsequent asterisked footnote have been transcribed from the
photograph of the front page of a printed “Kartilya” in Adrian E. Cristobal, The Tragedy of the Revolution
(Makati City: Studio 5 Publishing Inc., 1997) 46; the remainder of the text has been copied from the
version in José P. Santos, Buhay at mga sinulat ni Emilio Jacinto (Manila: José Paez Santos, 1935), 59–
63. The photographed text has been used initially not because there are any doubts about the authenticity
of the Santos text, but simply to minimize possible transcription errors.
ii The English translation of the main text (i.e. the text apart from the application form at the end) is mostly

a “pick and mix” from those in Epifanio de los Santos, “Emilio Jacinto”, Philippine Review, III:6 (June
1918), 421–2 and Teodoro A. Agoncillo, The Revolt of the Masses: The story of Bonifacio and the
Katipunan (Quezon City: University of the Philippines Press, 1956), 83–6.