30/11/2025
The National Museum of the Philippines commemorates todayโs 162nd birth anniversary of Andres Bonifacio (1863-1897) with ๐๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ช๐ง๐ข๐ค๐ช๐ฐ by Neil Doloricon (1957-2021), painter, printmaker, cartoonist, writer, and educator.
Born in Tondo, Manila, to Santiago Bonifacio and Catalina de Castro, Andres was the eldest in a brood of five. When they were orphaned, he stepped up as the breadwinner and supported his siblings. He worked as a messenger and later became a broker for a British firm before being employed in a German company, where he served as a warehouse keeper.
Aware of the plight of the majority of the masses and having been exposed to liberal literature and revolutionary ideals from the West due to his work environment, Bonifacio co-founded the Kataastaasan, Kagalang-galang na Katipunan ng mga Anak ng Bayan (K*K) in 1892, a secret society aimed to liberate the Philippines from Spanish colonial rule.
On 23 August 1896, Bonifacio and his troops tore their cedulas (residence certificates) signifying their defiance of the colonial government in what would be known in history as "The Cry of Pugadlawin." In honor of his pivotal role in the Philippine Revolution, his birth anniversary was declared a national holiday by the Philippine Legislature in 1921 through Act No. 2946.
Leonilo โNeilโ Ortega Doloricon was born in Lanuza, Surigao del Sur. At the age of 18, he was part of the social realist painters group called โKaisahan.โ It is where his social awareness grew, and it became his path. The late art critic Alice Gullermo described his work as something that treats the working class with โfine and sensitive characterizationโ instead of being an indistinct mass, which contributed to โa new image and truer characterization of the Filipino.โ
The National Museum of Fine Arts exhibits several artworks on Andres Bonifacio by Zosimo Dimaano, Pedro Coniconde, and National Artist Guillermo Tolentino, which can be viewed in Gallery IX (Early 20th Century Philippine Portrait Hall) and Gallery XII (Security Bank Hall), respectively.
National Artist Carlos Franciscoโs Filipino Struggles Through History, displayed in the Old Senate Session Hall, a National Cultural Treasure from the collection of the City Government of Manila, also offers a dramatic depiction of Bonifacio at the forefront of the revolution.
