MASANTOL, Pampanga- This town will literally solidify its claim to be the ancestral root, if not the real birthplace of hero Andres Bonifacio on his 150th birth anniversary on Nov. 30, Bonifacio Day, by erecting his life-size concrete statue on a pedestal in front of the municipal hall here.
Amid theories that Bonifacio could have been born here, and not in Tondo in Manila as is widely believed, former vice mayor Bajun Lacap asserted that at least there has never been any doubt that Bonifacio’s parents were natives of this coastal town.
“If only for his paternal and maternal roots, we are claiming Bonifacio as ours by blood. He is Masantol’s son,” said Lacap who is a member of the committee created by Mayor Danilo Guinto for the commemoration of Bonifacio Day on Nov. 30.
Lacap said relatives of Bonifacio will be here to commemorate Bonifacio Day. This, he said, is an acknowledgement of this town as being the native town of the hero’s family. “As a matter of fact, Bonifacio has remained a familiar local surname,” he noted.
Lacap said the commemoration would recall the birth of Bonifacio’s father Santiago Bonifacio in Sitio Matikling in Barangay San Esteban here, and his mother Catalina de Castro in nearby Barangay San Esteban. Santiago used to operate a ferryboat along the Pampanga River here.
“A life-size concrete statue of Bonifacio in front of the municipal hall will be unveiled on Nov. 30. It cost about P35,000 and was donated by the hero’s relative Domingo Bonifacio and Mayor Guinto,” he added.
The commemoration would be highlighted by a river cruise of local offi cials, Bonifacio relatives and guests to Sitio Matikling where the hero’s father was born, he also said. History books say that Bonifacio was born on November 30, 1863 in Tondo, Manila and was totally orphaned at age 19.
But more research is being done on Bonifacio by Prof. Jose Regala of the Holy Angel University in Angeles City and other Kapampangan scholars on the hero’s roots. Regala insisted that the Bonifacios originated in Masantol, not Tondo, as he cited records that in 1731, one Domingo Bonifacio served as capitan or mayor of Masantol which at that time was a barrio of neighboring Macabebe town.
He also noted that over a thousand voters surnamed Bonifacio are listed in Masantol and 256 more in Macabebe, many of whom have always insisted blood relations with the hero, compared to only over 100 in all of Tondo.
Regala even considered the possibility that Bonifacio was born on Nov. 30, 1863 in this town, and not Tondo, but he lamented that all church records were destroyed in 1898 when Emilio Aguinaldo ordered the burning of the local church.
Regala noted that Tondo was only an hour away from Masantol by boat and was a common destination of Kapampangans for trading. Along with his friends Ladislao Diwa and Teodoro Plata, Bonifacio founded the Katipunan, or Kataastaasan Kagalanggalangang Katipunan ng mga Anak ng Bayan against the Spanish colonizers.
He is known to have initiated the revolt against the Spaniards by leading thousands of his followers to tear up their community tax certificates or cedulas in what came to be known as the Cry of Balintawak. He died at age 34.
