Kin build Katipunero’s monument in Pampanga

MASANTOL, Pampanga—Embracing a theory that the great plebeian Andres Bonifacio was a Kapampangan, folks who believe they are his relatives have built him a monument here, which was unveiled in time for the nationwide observance of his 150th birth anniversary on Saturday.

“I am happy to know that our generation knows that Bonifacio has roots in Masantol town. This is an honor for Masantol and the rest of the Kapampangan. I will help in efforts to strengthen this claim and give Bonifacio the respect he deserves,” said Mayor Danilo Guintu, who led the unveiling ceremony.

“By then, Masantol may be the roots of someone who must have been the first president of the Philippines,” the mayor said, echoing a sentiment raised by a sector of the academic community who believes Bonifacio deserves recognition as a national hero.

The monument stands at the corner of a municipal road and is elevated by more than a meter to spare it from floods that perennially hit this coastal town.

The monument was commissioned by Domingo Bonifacio, the son of the late Lorenzo Bonifacio, believed to be a great, great grandnephew of the Katipunan founder.

The hero’s Masantol relatives had tasked professor Joel Mallari, a member of the cultural and historical heritage group Katatagan, to make the statue.

Mallari used former Masantol Vice Mayor Marcelo Lacap Jr. as a model to shape the 5-foot, 7-inch high concrete statue. This Bonifacio holds a pistol, instead of a bolo that has been associated with the great plebeian.

Gold-colored paint coated the whole figure, which bore a calm and brave face.

Bonifacio did not have direct descendants because his two children by separate marriages died early of ailments, historical accounts show.

Among the relatives who came for the monument’s unveiling were retired Gen. Generoso Bonifacio, retired public school principal Proceso Bonifacio and Jessica Bonifacio.

In Masantol, people, who claim having blood ties with Bonifacio,  call themselves “apu” or grandchildren. The word is interchangeable with “elder.” Tonette Orejas, Inquirer Central Luzon