1. Bonifacio once dressed as a woman.

That’s what historian Ambeth Ocampo revealed in his book, “Dirty Dancing” (Looking

Back 2).

Armed with his legendary bolo, Andres Bonifacio was about to pass through a Guardia

Civil checkpoint in Balintawak. To conceal his identity, he decided to wear woman’s

clothes. Our cross-dressing hero then handed his weapon to an unidentified friend.

Of course, Bonifacio eventually outsmarted the Spanish soldiers but his weapon–

allegedly destroyed during the Liberation of Manila–has never been found.

2. His ONLY existing photograph.

Mention “Andres Bonifacio” and most people, students even, will imagine a man in his

early thirties wearing camisa de chino and red shorts. However, history reveals that

Bonifacio’s only existing photograph is the one in which he wears a coat and tie.

According to historian Ambeth Ocampo, it is believed that Bonifacio only rented his

middle-class attire for the studio portrait. Others suggest that the now faded

photograph was taken on his wedding day.

3. His favorite food is….

“Nilitsong manok sa zaha”, Andres Bonifacio’s favorite dish. (Image source: Adora’s

Box)

We all love lechon manok but Andres Bonifacio preferred cooking it the traditional way.

Featured in Milagros S. Enriquez’s   Kasaysayan ng Kaluto ng Bayan , the “nilitsong

manok sa zaha” is prepared by wrapping the chicken in banana and sampaloc leaves

before grilling it in charcoal. It is then served with a sarsa made from chicken liver and

lemongrass.

Gregoria de Jesus, Bonifacio’s wife who was 12 years younger than him, also had her

own favorite: the “pinatisang alimango”. It is made by cooking blue or mud crabs in fish

sauce (patis) to make the aligue extra saucy.

Other well-loved Katipunan dishes include nilasing na manga, pinalundag na bulig,

andpindang ng kalabaw.

4. Gregoria de Jesus was Bonifacio’s second wife 

Gregoria De Jesus.

Bonifacio was first married to a neighbor named Monica, but she died due to leprosy.

And the second time Andres feel in love, it was with  Gregoria de Jesus known

as “Oriang” in the Katipunan.

They had a child named as Andres too who eventually died because of an unknown

disease.

6. Bonifacio as a theater actor.

Prior to the founding of Katipunan, Andres Bonifacio was a part-time actor who

appeared in several moro-moro plays.

As a theater actor, he often played the role of Bernardo Carpio, a  fictional

character in Tagalog folklore. Other notable historical figures   who were also well-

known theater actors include Aurelio Tolentino and Macario Sakay.

5. Bonifacio was a middle-class Filipino with a white-collar job.

Image source: Flickr

Contrary to popular belief, Bonifacio was not a downtrodden indio who barely managed

to eat three times a day.

Born to a half-Spanish mother, Andres Bonifacio actually came from a  middle-class

family.  Jim Richardson, a British historian, discovered that out of 200 Katipuneros, only

one worked as a laborer. The rest–including Andres Bonifacio–were mostly white-collar

employees. As a bodeguero, Bonifacio   worked for a German-owned company  not

to carry heavy stuff, but to manage its warehouse inventory.

7. Bonifacio was hacked to death with a bolo.

Andres Bonifacio’s final moments. (Image source: Prof. Michael “Xiao” Chua)

Accused of treason, Andres and his brother, Procopio Bonifacio, were sentenced to die

in the hands of Aguinaldo’s men. On May 10, 1897, the execution team led by Lazaro

Macapagal brought the Bonifacio brothers to the bushy mountain of Maragondon. There,

several gunshots instantly killed the two–at least, according to orthodox interpretations.

And then came Gen. Guillermo Masangkay. According to his accounts, one of

Macapagal’s men admitted that while Procopio was shot to death, Andres was stabbed

using a bolo (large Filipino machete).   In 1918, skeletal remains–allegedly of

Andres Bonifacio–were exhumed in Maragondon. It included a fractured skull

which supported Masangkay’s version of story.

The “death by bolo” theory has long been supported by several historians as well as the

hero’s great-great-grandnephew himself, Atty. Gary Bonifacio