The Tejeros Convention

 

On March 22, 1897, the Magdiwangs invited the rival Magdalo council to a meeting at the friar estate house in barrio Tejeros, San Francisco de Malabon (now General Trias), Cavite. Jacinto Lumbreras, a Magdiwang and first presiding officer, said the meeting had been called to plan for the defense of Magdiwang territory, in view of the fall of many Magdalo towns to the Spanish. Among the leading Magdiwang men, besides Bonifacio, were : Mariano Alvarez, Pascual Alvarez, Santiago Alvarez, Luciano San Miguel, Mariano Trias Closas, Santos Nocom and Severino de las Alas. Among the Magdalos were: Baldomero Aguinaldo, Daniel Tirona, Cayetano Topacio, and Antonio Montenegro. Instead, the assembled leaders, including the Magdiwangs, moved to elect the officers of the revolutionary government, thus discarding the Supreme Council of the Katipunan. Bonifacio presided, though reluctantly, over the election. He secured the unanimous pledge of the assembly to abide by the majority decision. The results were: President: Emilio Aguinaldo Vice-President: Mariano Tiras Captain-General: Artemio Ricarte Director of War: Emiliano Riego de Dios Director of the Interior: Andres Bonifacio Emilio Aguinaldo had been awarded the highest post on his 28th birth anniversary, although he was absent, being busy at a military front in Pasong Santol, a zigzag trail in what is now barangay Anabu II, Imus. Even the Magdiwangs who were supposed to be Bonifacio's supporters did not vote for him either for President or Vice-President. Daniel Tirona protested Bonifacio's election saying that the post should not be occupied by a person without a lawyer's diploma. He suggested a Cavite lawyer, Jose del Rosario for the position. Bonifacio stood up and said, "We agreed to abide by the majority vote and accept its choice no matter what the station in life of the person elected. And because of this, I demand from you, Mr. Daniel Tirona, an apology. You must restore to the voters and the one they elected the honor you have only now besmirched." Bonifacio and Tirona fighting. Then he pulled out his revolver and took aim. Instead of replying, Tirona slid away and got lost in the crowd. Disorder ensued as the convention secretary, Artemio Ricarte, tried to disarm Bonifacio. The delegates began to disperse and an infuriated Bonifacio hotly declared: "I, as chairman of this assembly and as President of the Supreme Council of the Katipunan, as all of you do not deny, declare this assembly dissolved, and I annul all that has been approved and resolved." The following day, March 23, Bonifacio and his remaining men of about 45 met again at the same friar estate house in Tejeros and drew up a document known as the Acta de Tejeros, where they denounced the election as "rigged and, therefore, null and void." The truth was, all officers elected, with the exception of Aguinaldo, belonged to Bonifacio's Magdiwang faction. However, they were all Caviteños, including Ricarte who, although a native of Ilocos Norte, had lived in Cavite for a long time and had married locally. From Tejeros, Bonifacio and his loyalists went to Naic. Aguinaldo sent a delegation to Bonifacio to try to convince him to cooperate with the new revolutionary government, but the latter refused. On April 15, 1897 Gen. Aguinaldo ordered the arrest of Andres Bonifacio. On April 20, 1897, Bonifacio and his men completed another document called the Naic Agreement. It drafted a government and army independent from Aguinaldo's and reasserted Bonifacio's leadership of the revolution. Among the 41 signatories were Bonifacio, Artemio Ricarte, Emilio Jacinto, Pio del Pilar as commander-in-chief and Mariano Noriel. Del Pilar and Noriel later switched to Aguinaldo's side and played key roles in the trial and execution of Andres and Procopio Bonifacio. Noriel presided over the council of war that tried and sentenced the Bonifacio brothers to death.