The scholar Jim Richardson describes the contents of this letter as follows: “Bonifacio tells Jacinto for the first time about the Tejeros Convention held the previous month". The meeting, he says, had ended in chaos (“gulo”) and consequently had no significance (“nawalang kabuluhan”). Implicit in his letter, on the other hand, is a bitter recognition that not all the revolutionary forces still recognise the authority of the Katipunan". The Tejeros Convention took place barely a month before on March 22, 1897 — the country’s first election, and also its first “snap” election, intended to settle the growing dispute between the forces of Andres Bonifacio and the rising Cavite strongman, Emilio Aguinaldo. Bonifacio suffered a humiliating defeat as Aguinaldo was elected president and his own qualifications to sit as secretary of the interior was questioned. Bonifacio stormed out of the meeting and declared the results illegal. -Lisa Guerrero Nakpil
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An Extremely Rare and Historically Important Letter from Andres Bonifacio to Emilio Jacinto
dated April 16, 1897
Two folded sheets of stationery, forming eight pages
5" x 8" (13 cm x 21 cm)
SOLD: PHP 1,985,600
Provenance: The estate of the esteemed scholar and director of the Philippine National Library, Epifanio delos Santos
Literature: Epifanio de los Santos, “Andrés Bonifacio” [English version], Philippine Review (Revista Filipina), III:1–2 (January–February 1918). Photograph of Letters, Linda Marquez, “Pagsusuri sa Sulat Kamay ni Andres Bonifacio ang Dakilang Maralita”, The March of Life, May 16, 1951. Facsimile of the original letter in Adrian E. Cristobal, “The Tragedy of the Revolution” (Makati City: Studio 5 Publishing Inc., 1997), 146–7. Jim Richardson, “Light of Liberty: Documents and Studies on the Katipunan, 1892-1897”, Ateneo de Manila University Press, 2013.