Procopio Bonifacio

Procopio Bonifacio y de Castro
Born	1873
Died	May 10, 1897 (aged 24) Maragondon, Cavite, Captaincy General of the Philippines
Cause of death	Execution
Nationality	Filipino
Other names	Pio, Pisaw
Known for	Philippine Revolution
Political party	Katipunan

Procopio Bonifacio y de Castro (1873 - May 10, 1897) is a younger brother of Philippine National Hero Andres Bonifacio. He was a Philippine independence activist and revolutionary during the Philippine Revolution of 1896 against Spain. He was a member of the secret revolutionary society turned revolutionary government Katipunan with his other siblings, his eldest brother Andrés being one of its founders and, eventually, president.

Family background and early life

Procopio was the third of the six children of Santiago Bonifacio and Catalina de Castro. His siblings were Andres, Ciriaco, Troadio, Espiridiona and Maxima.

During childhood he, with his other siblings, sold paper canes and fans made by their brother Andres for their living. Eventually, he was employed as a porter in the government-owned Philippine National Railways until the revolution broke out.

Katipunan

Procopio became a member of Katipunan adopting the name Pisaw. He was responsible for the founding of Katipunan chapter in the island of Mindoro.

With Andres Bonifacio, Candido Tirona, Emilio Jacinto and Pio Valenzuela they founded the Council of the Ancient Assignment in Kawit, Cavite. Procopio was led into light, which is a two part of such council.

Procopio was present during the Cry of Balintawak in August 1896 in Caloocan which signaled the start of the Philippine Revolution.

Revolution

Procopio fought the Spanish authorities side-by-side with his brothers Andres and Ciriaco. He was given the rank of Colonel.

In December 1896, he and Ciricao accompanied their brother Andres and wife Gregoria to Cavite through the invitation of Cavite's provincial head of the revolution Mariano Alvarez to mediate between the growing conflict of the two rival factions of the Katipunan in the province, that of Magdiwang headed by Alvarez and Magdalo headed by Baldomero Aguinaldo. The mediation turned out to be a lost cause for the Bonifacios, as, little by little, they, especially Andres, who was the recognized over-all leader of the revolution and president of the Katipunan government, were insulted and disrespected by the Cavite leaders, especially the Magdalo officers. The revolutionary leadership of Andres Bonifacio was challenged by the Magdalo leaders and eventually fell to the hands of their officer Emilio Aguinaldo who was elected president through the Tejeros Convention.

Death

Due to the insults experienced by them from the Cavite revolutionary leaders, they opted to leave the province and go back to Manila or Morong to continue the fight for independence. While they were leaving Cavite, they were the target of a surprise attack by Emilio Aguinaldo's men due to some certain events, led by Agapito Bonzon and Igacio Paua (Aguinaldo's brother-in-law), while they were encamped in Indang. Ciriaco was shot and died on the spot, while Procopio was beaten and Andres was shot in the arm by Bonzon and stabbed in the neck by Paua.

The two remaining brothers, were then brought to Naik, then to Maragondon, and were subjected to a kangaroo court-martial as ordered by the court under Emilio Aguinaldo. They were sentenced to death. The two brothers were taken into the mountains. Procopio, 24 years old, was shot dead before Andres suffered the same fate.

In popular culture

• Portrayed by Joko Diaz in the 2012 film, El Presidente.
• Portrayed by Alchris Galura in the 2013 TV series, Katipunan.
• Portrayed by Junjun Quintana in the 2014 film, Bonifacio: Ang Unang Pangulo.

See also

• Gregoria de Jesús
• Apolinario Mabini

External links

• Ang Supremo – Filipino Culture by The Pinoy Warrior
• What if Andres Bonifacio had a Facebook Page?
• The Records of the Court Martial of Andres and Procopio Bonifacio