Katipunan, revolutionary society of Filipino nationalists, established in 1892 to struggle for independence for the Philippines from Spanish colonial rule. Reflecting ideals that were both egalitarian and nationalist, these leaders called their society the Katipunan, or Kataastaasan Kagalang-galang na Katipunan ng mga Anak ng Bayan (The Highest and Most Respectable Society of the Sons of the People). During its eight-year history, the group propagated nationalist ideals and formed an underground network that launched the Philippine revolution. Starting with 300 members recruited secretly in the poorer districts of Manila, the society spread to surrounding provinces and by 1896 had an estimated 30,000 followers. After Spanish officials discovered the existence of the society in 1896, the Katipunan’s followers launched a revolt on the outskirts of Manila. When Spanish troops attacked and scattered the rebels, their leader, Andres Bonifacio, retreated south to nearby Cavite province. There he joined Katipunan chapters led by Emilio Aguinaldo, a local landholder. By mobilizing local landholders and loyal peasants, Aguinaldo quickly assembled an army of 5400 regulars and 15,000 reserves. The revolutionaries scored several stunning victories when the Spanish army advanced from Manila. Simultaneously, however, the revolution began to suffer deep factional splits. After ousting Bonifacio from leadership in a bitter internal battle, Aguinaldo’s faction executed Bonifacio in May 1897. This alienated many dedicated members of the Katipunan. As the revolution weakened from internal divisions, the Spanish army finally forced Aguinaldo out of Cavite into the rugged Sierra Madre north of Manila. There, in December 1897 he signed a truce agreement, the Pact of Biac-na-bató, with Spanish emissaries and accepted voluntary exile in Hong Kong. With the outbreak of the Spanish-American War, the United States Navy attacked and destroyed the Spanish fleet in Manila Bay in May 1898 and returned Aguinaldo to his native Cavite province. By then the revolution, led in part by the Katipunan, had revived and some 30,000 Filipino troops were surrounding Manila with well-defended battlements. Aguinaldo proclaimed Philippine independence in June 1898 and formed a government of educated elite, after which the radical, lower-class Katipunan movement gradually faded.
