The Manila Times

Battle of Pinaglabanan

El Depósito by the morning and that is where they lost, as depicted in the film “Supremo.”

The old Diwa ng 1896 marker places the battle at dawn. But according to a primary source, Genaro de los Reyes, quoted by General Santiago Alvarez, Bonifacio and his men were resting that morning (“ilang saglit nang pamamamahinga at pag-uusap-usap”) when Bonifacio looked at his watch and saw it was 4 a.m. already! Alvarez then hinted that Bonifacio was not able to put out the “signal” to start the revolution at midnight, “pagpapalipad ng lobo o pagpapaputol ng kanyon,” which the Caviteños were waiting for to proceed from Cavite. One historian suggested Bonifacio was so incompetent as a military leader he slept and was the reason for the unsuccessful attack in Manila (“siya pala’y nakatulog….apat na oras na sinayang. …Nagpapatunay rin ang pangyayaring walang anumang kakayahang pangmilitar si Bonifacio …nabigo dahil sa kanyang kapabayaan).

Answering this, Zeus Salazar in “Agosto 29-30: Ang pagsalakay ni Bonifacio sa Maynila,”could only laugh at this insinuation about the midnight signal when it would have been impossible to even see a hot air balloon, or hear the sound of cannons from Manila at daytime. And even if it were possible, that was the only time to proceed?

The battle would have been over. The agreed upon midnight attack must have been enough.

But what really happened based on the accounts of those who were there? We will find out that most of what we generally knew was wrong. (To be continued on Feb. 5, 2022)

Opinion

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2022-01-29T08:00:00.0000000Z

2022-01-29T08:00:00.0000000Z

https://manilatimes.pressreader.com/article/281728387908843

The Manila Times