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Who exactly was Major Lazaro Macapagal? Ironically, like Bonifacio, he was a man from Tondo, purportedly descended from a prince of that ancient kingdom. In 1897, however, he was an officer in Aguinaldo’s political and military faction in Cavite, the Magdalo. We first hear of Major Macapagal, as Katipunan scholar Jim Richardson reports in the monumental “Light of Liberty : Documents and Studies on the Katipunan, 1892 - 1897” (Quezon City, Ateneo de Manila University Press, 2013), in an account of the events right after the controversial Tejeros Convention. Andres Bonifacio would refuse to accept his defeat at the tumultuous election for president of the new revolutionary government. The Supremo first calls for his own assembly at Tejeros then begins to put together a coup d’etat in the secluded outpost of Naik against the forces gathering against him. This was his “Naik Military Agreement” which aimed to take the battle for position to Aguinaldo’s military home turf. In the Naik hacienda house, Aguinaldo’s soldiers are detained by Ciriaco Bonifacio. Macapagal is among them. Upstairs, Andres meets secretly with Emilio Aguinaldo’s officers, General Mariano Noriel and General Pio del Pilar. He has managed to convince them that Aguinaldo has secret plans to surrender to the Spanish and he must be stopped at all cost. In the meantime, Macapagal manages to escape and reports what is happening to the newly-elected President. Aguinaldo loses no time in confronting his own wayward generals and Bonifacio. Because of his audacity, Aguinaldo succeeds in winning back these two generals’ loyalty. Bonifacio is caught off balance and departs from the town — a mistake that leaves the field clear for Aguinaldo to repair what damage has been done. It also leaves Andres completely unaware that his coup d’etat has collapsed and that he is now in a fight forh is life and not just political power. As the more seasoned commander, Emilio Aguinaldo acts quickly and far more decisively than Andres Bonifacio. In ten days, he has sent orders throughout Cavite making his power absolute and warning the direst consequences for those who would question it. Aguinaldo also persuades the rival Magdiwang faction, Bonifacio’s allies, to close ranks with him against the Manila interloper. All this is without Bonifacio’s knowledge. The Supremo is now isolated. Next, Aguinaldo orders the arrest of Andres Bonifacio and his brothers. Bonifacio is wounded in the skirmish, his brother Ciriaco is killed on the spot, only Procopio is unwounded. His wife, Gregoria de Jesus, is manhandled and there are even rumors that she is molested by the arresting officer. The Bonifacio brothers are jailed in what amounts to be a below-stairs cupboard, in filthy conditions. Andres’ wounds are left untreated. A Council of War is assembled and the men — all too familiar for their parts in the drama in Naik — are handpicked to play important roles in Aguinaldo’s court : General Noriel is named head of the “Consejo de Guerra”; General Pio del Pilar is called in as a witness tot he machinations of Bonifacio’s failed coup plot. The loyal informant Macapagal is appointed as the Council's secretary. The verdict is quickly returned : Andres Bonifacio and his brother Procopio are sentenced to be shot to death for treason. Enter Major Macapagal once again. This account is according to his handwritten narration sent to the scholar, Jose P. Santos, three decades later. Macapagal says he was summoned by General Noriel who hands him a sealed letter, to be opened only once he has reached the ‘Bundoc ng tala’ in the mountains outside Maragondon. Upon reaching that place, he was “to open the letter, read the contents aloud to the Bonifacio brothers, so they would be informed, and to follow his orders to the letter.” (“Pagdating doon, bucsan itong pakete, basahin ng malakas sa harap nilang dalawa ng malaman nila at sundin niñong mahigpit kung ano ang sinasabi sa loob nian.”) Macapagal then describes how he takes four soldiers from Colonel Ritual’s command. Col. Modesto Ritual is another officer who had signed off on the Naik Military Agreement and had once pledged loyalty to Andres Bonifacio. This tragic tale is full of such ironies. Macapagal thus begins the trek with the two prisoners. At one point, Bonifacio asks that the orders be read before they reach the pre-arranged destination. Macapagal says the brothers let out loud cries upon hearing their death sentence, which was “hinatulang barilin upang mamatay.” Procopio runs into the woods but Macapagal and two of the men follow him and “carry out the orders of the Council of War.” Andres Bonifacio then kneels and begs for his life, “ng ako’y makita nia ay nagpa paluhod-luhod sinasabing ‘Kapatid, patawarin mo ako’.” It is an unlikely scenario for the leader of a secret society who would daily risk his life for years. Macapagal next claims that Bonifacio, too, runs towards the forest and was also cut down. Written 32 years after the dark deed, it is still hard to believe that the brothers waited helplessly for the longish sentence to be read out loud and died as cowards afterwards. Almost two weeks after their arrest and trial, the once-mighty Supremo may have been suffering from gangrene, certainly, he would have been too weak to kneel, much less to scamper away. What is more plausible is that the brothers were simply set upon and shot or hacked to death. Macapagal says he is, however, overcome with both surprise and sadness. This may also be unlikely. As secretary at Bonifacio’s trial, he would have been aware of the impending verdict. Unlike the Generals Noriel and del Pilar and Colonel Ritual, Macapagal had been steadfast in his loyalty to Aguinaldo. He would have had enough time to carefully plan the Bonifacio brothers’ execution and to leave nothing to chance. On his way back to Maragondon, Macapagal meets Bonifacio’ s wife Gregoria de Jesus, and expresses his instinct to spare her the truth. (His account of his conversation with her is corroborated by her own moving account to Emilio Jacinto.) Most important in this eye-witness account — the only one in existence of those tragic events— is the explicitly described location of Bonifacio’s death and burial. Lazaro Macapagal in the months and years to come enters Aguinaldo’s inner circle and ascends to the position of general. The shots he and his men fired on May 10, 1897, however, were heard across the country and continue to reverberate to this day. — Lisa Guerrero Nakpil