"The day on which you would see me in the clutches of the friars, do not waste time making petitions or uttering complaints or lamentations — it is useless. Try to put another in my place who may avenge me and make them pay dearly for my misfortune! If I would see a son of mine in the mouth of a shark, I would not try to pull him out — for it is useless and all I would achieve is to destroy him — I would kill the shark if possible, and if not, I would waylay him!"
- Dr. Jose Rizal to Mariano Ponce
Paris, 18th April 1889
APPENDIX NO. 212
THE WATSON COLLECTION
TESTIMONY OF DR. PIO VALENZUELA IN
CASE OF U.S. vs. VICENTE SOTTO FOR LIBEL
September 12, 1917
Being duly sworn Dr. Pio Valenzuela testified as follows:
SR. SOTTO. State your name, age, civil status, occupation and residence.
A. Pio Valenzuela; 47 years of age, married, doctor of medicine and residing at Polo, Bulacan.
Q. Were you a member of the defunct Katipunan?
A. I was.
Q. What office did you hold in the society?
A. Many.
Q. Mention some of them.
A. I was fiscal; inspector of health, and lastly vice-president of the Katipunan.
Q. Did you have any conversation with Dr. Rizal on matters relative to the Katipunan?
A. I did.
Q. Of what nature?
A. I was commissioned by the General Assembly of the Katipunan to consult regarding the revolt.
Q. Consult with whom?
A. With Dr.-Rizal.
Q. Did you meet Dr. Rizal?
A. Yes, in Dapitan in June 1896, and he told me, in a few words, that if it were possible, there should be no uprising until they were provided with arms, but that when they had arms to raise the people when the opportunity occurred, and that we should not lose that opportunity. But that they should wait the coming of the arms. And when I objected saying that the Katipunan plot might be discovered before the arms arrived, he said that in that case it would be necessary to rise in revolt without awaiting the arms for as soon as the Katipunan conspiracy was discovered they would get resources. I told him of the case of a member (of the society) of Pasig who was martyrized by a lieutenant of the Guardia Civil in the early part of May. That brother from Pasig, Andres, did not cease to declare that they should defend themselves without arms and take to the field. Dr. Rizal then said:
"If the members of the Katipunan would take to the field for a brother martyrized by a lieutenant of the Guardia Civil what would happen should they be defeated?" "You have no resources, he said, but in this case you have no alternative but to take to the field without waiting for the arms."
He asked me if we reckoned with the aid of Filipinos of influence, money and intellect, and I had to tell him that unfortunately we did not; that we were, for the most part, poor laborers, and belonged to the lower classes of the people, and a few to the middle class.
This oil painting by Luciano A. Alejandrino depicts the meeting between Rizal and Valenzula during the exile of the former in Dapitan from 1892 to 1896 Rizal then pointed out the necessity of winning over the wealthy and intelligent people to the cause and suggested that we should attract Antonio Luna because he was a man who had come from Europe, had much influence in Manila, and thus we would open the way to secure the sympathy of the men of money and brains. After this conversation, I asked him what we should do and he replied:
"Induce Luna to work along those lines, because if you do not win over the leading Filipinos to your side all your labors will be in vain."
I then told him the Katipunan was in great danger of being discovered because of its great activity. "In that case," I well remember he told me, "you should secure arms and those prominent Filipinos should join you, because otherwise they will become the principal enemies of the revolution. They will be your greatest enemies when you take to the field. When they find you without arms they will place themselves on the side of the Spaniards and not on your side. With their influence, money and intelligence they can do you great harm and the Filipino people will become divided and you will be conquered."
In this case how shall we solve the problem? I asked him. "If these leading Filipinos do not care to join you" he replied, "you must at least make sure that those who are very rich are rendered neutral, that is to say' that they do not side with either of you." And if they cannot be neutralized, I asked him how can we render them neutral? "That question I cannot answer," he replied, "it depends on circumstances., time, and the opportunity."
On my return I had to report all this to Andres Bonifacio. I told him that Rizal had said that in that case we could take to the field before the time if we were persecuted. That we should kill before allowing ourselves to be killed, but that we should take steps to render the prominent Filipinos neutral and to attract Luna to our side until he could direct the campaign. My testimony would be very long if I attempted to narrate everything.
THE FISCAL. You received and carried instructions from the Katipunan to seek the opinion of Dr. Rizal, who was in Dapitan, concerning the revolutionary movement, did you not?
A. I did.
Q. The opinion of Dr. Rizal was that the movement should not be commenced until arms had arriyed and the good will of the influential and wealthy people had been won over, was it not?
A. It was.
Q. And upon your return from Dapitan you notified the members of the Katipunan to that effect, did you not?
A. I notified Andres Bonifacio.
Q. In view of this there was a division of opinion among the Katipuneros, some agreeing with Dr. Rizal and others against him, in other words, holding that the revolutionary movement should be started at the earliest possible moment, is that so?
A. There was no such division of opinion; all were unanimous in that as soon as the conspiracy was discovered and the members should be subjected to persecution, the outbreak should begin. There was no such division among the members of the Katipunan. There were some who considered it prudent to listen to the advice of Dr. Rizal, but the majority were of the opinion that they should take to the field at once. Dr. Rizal said:
"Should the Katipunan be discovered, naturally youwould take to the field. Do not allow yourselves to be killed. If they intend to kill you why should you allow yourselves to be killed. In this sense revolution is right."
Q. At this meeting accusations were made against persons who believed as Dr. Rizal did, is that so?
A. At all times, generally speaking, all agreed.
Q. But among the few who thought as did Dr. Rizal was not one of them Jose Turiano Santiago?
A. Almost all agreed with Dr. Rizal and Jose Turiano Santiago agreed with him also.
Q. But the supreme chief, Andres Bonifacio, did not agree, is that it?
A. He also agreed with Dr. Rizal; if the revolution was inspired by the discovery ...
Q. What is it you wish to say; that they agreed upon immediate revolution, or that they agreed to have it for some future time when the people were prepared and the arms had arrived?
A. When the arms arrived; in this they all agreed, but when it was inevitable all should take to the field.
Q. What was Dr. Rizal's opinion?
A. That they should not rise in revolt until they had arms and only then in the case of extreme need; they should take to the field when it became inevitable . . .
Q. Was not the real revolutionary movement started immediately after, without waiting for the arrival of the arms?
A. Not immediately. I returned from Dapitan in June and the plot was discovered in August. When I went to Balintawak it was to await there and not to raise revolt at that time.
Q. When the opinion of some who agreed with the ideas of Dr. Rizal as transmitted by you, became known, that is that the revolution should be started at some future date, the majority of the members agreed that the revolt should be started as soon as possible, and before the Katipunan was discovered, is that so?
A. That it should be started as soon as the arms had arrived.
“It has been customary for secondary source historians to cite Dr. Pio Valenzuela’s 1896 tesimony, as printed in Archivo del Biblio Filipino, Volume II by Spanish writer, Wenceslao E. Retana, whose writings were based on the transcripts of statements and testimonies taken from prisoners who were tortured, and therefore, made under duress.
Dr. Valenzuela, while being investigated in prison at Fort Santiago, gave some false testimonies to deceive the authorities and save himself from the barbarities of the Spanish inquisitors. Some of the statements were extracted from him by force.
According to Alfredo B. Saulo, biographer of Emilio Aguinaldo, Valenzuela described Andres Boniface as “Algo despota” (rather despotic). In his separate interviews with Valenzuela, Guillermo Masangkay and Marina Dizon, Teodoro A. Agoncillo asked them what they knew of Bonifacio’s personality, temper, etc. It was their unanimous opinion that Bonifacio was “calm and composed,” and had never been seen angry. Marina Dizon confided to Agoncillo, “Emilio Jacinto was more irascible and emotional than Bonifacio. The latter was quiet and tight lipped.” Jacinto was Marina Dizon’s frist cousin.”
In a widely written account, Bonifacio was depicted as having explained, upon hearing that Dr. Jose Rizal had objected to a proposed uprising without the necessary arms: “Lintik! Where did he read that in order to have a revolution there must be arms?” In that testimony, it was pointed out that Bonifacio went as far as to call Dr. Rizal a coward. When interviewed by Agoncillo on this particular point, Valenzuela said: “No such thing ever occurred. In fact, TO PROTECT RIZAL, I purposely told the investigator that I was not even allowed by him to step into his house upon knowing the purpose of my visit to Dapitan. I also reported Rizal as having said, “No! No! No!” As to Bonifacio’s outburst, I can say that, too was my own invention, obviously TO PROTECT RIZAL BY MAKING HIM APPEAR VERY MUCH AGAINST THE REVOLUTION. The truth was that Bonifacio saw the logic and wisdom of Dr. Rizal. Bonifacio knew we lacked arms, so he instructed me to order some 2,000 bolos, which I immediately complied with by ordering 1,000 bolos each from the towns of Meycuayan, Bulacan and Kawit Cavite.”
Source:
Dr. Pio Valenzuela and the Katipunan
Commemorative Publication on the Centenary of the
Philippine Revolution (1896-1996)
Philippine National Historical Institute, 1996
p.67-68
OoOoO
"Kapag dumating ang araw na makita ninyo akong nasa ilalim ng kapangyarihan ng mga prayle, huwag sayangin ang inyong panahon sa pakikiusap o pagrereklamo o kaya'y paghihinagpis― walang kahihinatnan. Bagkus sikapin na may maging kapalit na siyang makapaghihiganti at pagbayarin ng lubos ang may kagagawan ng aking sinapit na mapait na kapalaran. Halimbawang makita ko ang isa kong anak na nabibihag sa bibig ng isang pating, hindi ko sisikapin na siya'y hilahin upang maka-alpas―sapagka't walang kahihinatnan at mangyayari pa ngang mamatay ang anak ko―sa halip ay papatayin ko ang pating kung maaari, at kung hindi, ay tatambangan ko siya!"
Liham ni Dr. Rizal kay Mariano Ponce
Paris, Abril 18, 1889
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