00:00On November 30, Bonifacio Day, a special day that is celebrated for the Father of the Church
00:11and some of his belongings, including the Church, will be auctioned off.
00:18The last cell of the KKK.
00:22A rare portrait or carved image of the Supreme
00:27and a bust or the upside-down head of the Father of the Church.
00:34On the occasion of the 161st birthday of Gat Andres Bonifacio,
00:42the items that are related to him are the main items in the upcoming auction of the Leon Gallery in Makati.
00:51And before it is opened to the public for the rare opportunity,
00:56I took a look at some of these.
01:02One of the so-called rare finds or rare in the upcoming auction
01:08is this portrait of Bonifacio with his brother, Procopio.
01:14Unlike our other heroes,
01:17Andres Bonifacio's left portrait is said to be the only one based on him.
01:24It is also not known who carved it.
01:28But according to research, it may have originated in the 19th century.
01:34Remember like with the secret societies, there are no pictures of the leaders.
01:38Oh, so deliberate?
01:39No, that's it.
01:40They are mysterious so that the enemy will not know.
01:43It's hard to think that there are people who don't like pictures.
01:48Rizal has a lot of portraits.
01:50Yeah, and that's why they arrested him.
01:52Bonifacio's rare portrait is different or different in how it is depicted in the portraits and monuments
02:02Here, he is wearing a white shirt.
02:04Here, he is wearing a coat.
02:07It was taken on the wedding day of his second wife, Gregoria de Jesus, in 1893
02:15in a famous bank in Manila,
02:18Chofre Isia or better known today as Cacho Hermanos, Inc.
02:23The portrait is now in the possession of the Archives of Seville in Spain.
02:30It is the basis for the artists to carve Bonifacio.
02:36It's just one of his existing pictures.
02:38All we see are artist renditions?
02:42Yes.
02:43So what happened is that all of his fans, in a way,
02:46artists later on, would take a photograph and then they would paint it.
02:50They would put it on a cryadilio, on a hat, complete his coat and tie.
02:55Gat Andres Bonifacio was born in Tondo, Manila, on November 30, 1863.
03:02He grew up in poverty.
03:03Even though he did not finish his studies, he worked hard to read books.
03:10He taught himself to learn and to be educated.
03:16Self-taught, he just read at night.
03:18Bonifacio is smart.
03:21He knows English, Spanish, and Tagalog.
03:25He's not just a brainless person, like the portrayals of warriors.
03:33It's true.
03:34Because even his poems, right?
03:37Is there anything greater than love for the motherland?
03:42The song he's singing now.
03:43It's so deep, Lisa.
03:45Later on, Gat Andres Bonifacio established the KKK, or KKK,
03:55on July 7, 1892.
04:00He led the revolution
04:05when he withdrew his cedula on August 23, 1896.
04:16We will start fighting here in Cavite.
04:19Now is the time.
04:21But Bonifacio's desire to use the freedom of the Philippines from the Spanish
04:26in a revolutionary way
04:28was shattered when his brother, Procopio,
04:33invaded Cavite in Maragondon on May 10, 1897.
04:38Some of the remaining weapons of the Katipuneros during the war
04:42are now stored in the Museum of the Katipunan in the city of San Juan.
04:46This is where you can see the old weapons,
04:49even the ones they wore back then.
04:53In a country that's easy to believe in,
04:55it's important to have a visual that you can see.
04:58Because evidence serves as a link between people in the past.
05:04So first, you can remember them.
05:07Second, you can study them.
05:09And third, you should know what you can learn from them.
05:14Bonifacio's heroism was an inspiration to many artists.
05:21One of the most famous is his Monument in Caloocan.
05:26It was made by the first national artist for sculpture,
05:34Guillermo Tolentino.
05:37Maybe Tolentino still has a masterpiece for the Supreme Court.
05:43This lifelike bust or sculpture
05:47is also included in the auction of the Leon Gallery.
05:52The starting price is Php 400,000.
05:56What is the significance of this bust?
05:58It comes first of all from the collection of historian, Ambeto Campo.
06:01He collects all kinds of historical details.
06:04The bust, which is 29 inches high and 12 inches wide,
06:10was made from the same materials used by Tolentino
06:14when he sculpted the Bonifacio Monument in Caloocan.
06:18The shape of the head is very remarkable.
06:21And the eyes, you can even see the eyebrows and the stare.
06:26It really conveys.
06:28The sharp look.
06:30It's like you can be captured by the look.
06:32A lot of historians would say that weakness means being short-tempered or angry.
06:37But I think there are some times when you really need to be angry.
06:41And he was angry.
06:42He was angry at the way Filipinos were treated.
06:45What's even more interesting about this bust
06:48is that it was sculpted by Tolentino
06:51with the help of his dreams and the care of Bonifacio himself.
07:00According to the widow of Tolentino,
07:04Tolentino was a spiritualist.
07:06So he did the Spirit of the Glass.
07:08Bonifacio would go to the dreams of Tolentino.
07:11That's why that monument and this bust is completely lifelike.
07:15I just want to reconcile one thing, Lisa.
07:17Because Tolentino said that Bonifacio would appear in his dreams
07:22or when he was in agony in his soul.
07:27But some say that the depiction of Bonifacio's art is different from his real personality.
07:36For example, he's wearing a turban,
07:38his pants are folded,
07:40his shirt is also folded.
07:42Actually, he's not like that.
07:43That's also true.
07:44But he's a city boy.
07:47So apart from the turban, he has a revolver.
07:49But I can imagine, because the revolution started in August,
07:53it was very chaotic.
07:55Maybe he removed his boots and rolled up his trousers.
07:59So I think that's what Tolentino saw.
08:01But this is what many people don't know about Bonifacio.
08:05He also has an artistic or creative side.
08:09He's also an artist.
08:11It's proven.
08:12He became a midline actor in the theater.
08:15We will repeat the message of our sister until our countrymen read it.
08:19Sometimes, he also appeared as the well-known Bernardo Carpio.
08:24He would appear in the Moro-Moro.
08:26So he has a stage presence.
08:28He was also a journalist with Emilio Jacinto.
08:30From 300 members, it became 3,000 just from one issue of the newspaper.
08:37In 2018, as part of the awards given by Leon Gallery,
08:42Bonifacio's handwritings to his advisor, Emilio Jacinto,
08:48were issued just a few weeks before he was arrested and killed.
08:51And the document that really belonged to Jacinto,
08:55as an official of KKK,
08:57which still has the seal of the association,
08:59was bought for more than 5.6 million pesos.
09:04At the time, that was the most expensive document that we could sell.
09:07The twin seal that was on the document that Bonifacio sold,
09:12which was auctioned off in 2018,
09:15will also be shown to the public for the first time.
09:19This is the seal.
09:21Yes.
09:22Wow.
09:23Can I hold it?
09:24Yes, we have someone with gloves.
09:26So you can see the sun.
09:30In the cell, you can see the words,
09:33high dignity and unity of the children of the country.
09:38In the middle,
09:39there is the word,
09:41which means unity, freedom, and peace.
09:45This is probably the last seal of KKK or the association.
09:51The starting price of the seal at the auction,
09:551.6 million pesos.
09:58This seal that will be auctioned, how was it saved?
10:01One of Bonifacio's close friends was Julio Nacpil, my granduncle.
10:07At the end, when Bonifacio died, he took over.
10:12After the revolution, he became friends with Trinidad Pardo de Tavera
10:16and he made a gift.
10:17Who was able to keep it?
10:19In fact, you can see all the notes about it.
10:22It's all in Pardo de Tavera's handwriting.
10:24And so now, descendants of Pardo de Tavera
10:27decided that they are ready to let go of peace.
10:31You said, Lisa, those are two twin seals.
10:34Yes.
10:35This one you will auction, where is the other one?
10:38The other one, Bonifacio lost it.
10:41When he was killed in Maragondon, all of his belongings were gone.
10:46In fact, they have been looking for it for a long time.
10:49They never found Bonifacio and I'm sure the seal is still there.
10:53Because Bonifacio neglected justice and fought for justice,
10:59there are some historians who recognize him
11:03as the first president of the Republic of the Philippines.
11:08He created a system of government that was very complex.
11:12So here, you can see that Bonifacio cared about these little things.
11:17He was not just a revolutionary.
11:19Yes. As early as 1892, the Constitution, the Constitution of the Republic of the Philippines,
11:23was passed by the Katipuneros.
11:26It was a system of a real government, which was later adopted by Aguinaldo.
11:32Aside from Bonifacio's belongings,
11:36Josephine Bracken's sculpture,
11:40which was carved by her husband,
11:43will also be auctioned by Dr. Jose Rizal.
11:47So this is the sculpture of Rizal.
11:50Wow.
11:51A work of love.
11:53This is the Josephine Sleeping Holy Grail, or hot item,
11:59according to the collectors.
12:01It was only recently that it was opened to the public.
12:04From 1896, Rizal gave it to his brother Narcisa,
12:11who was the one who decided when it would be auctioned.
12:17Why is this sculpture so small, Lisa?
12:19If you throw it in the most distant place in Mindanao,
12:23I'm sure the available materials are very few.
12:27According to the art dealer and director of the Leon Gallery, Jaime Ponce de Leon,
12:33it can be considered the most Mona Lisa of the Philippines.
12:38Leonardo da Vinci has a Mona Lisa.
12:41This is Josephine. This is Rizal's Mona Lisa.
12:44This is what he kept until he died.
12:47Why is it being auctioned?
12:48Well, actually, this is the third sculpture that they hid.
12:52The first one was the Habali.
12:54The second one was the Filipino.
12:56And then this is the third.
12:57Because they said, time to move on.
13:00Time to let go.
13:01That they will share.
13:02It's never been seen until now.
13:05There is no replica in the National Museum.
13:08But Lisa, these personal items of Bonifacio
13:13and this sculpture that can only be seen now by Jose Rizal.
13:17It's like the rivalry between our two top heroes will come to life again.
13:21Because there are people who are really fans of Rizal.
13:24Or they are fans of Bonifacio.
13:27Because they are two different.
13:28They are two parts of the Filipino's heart.
13:31Bonifacio has a heart.
13:33He is the fighter.
13:34While Rizal is the cold, rational.
13:38The most expensive of all the works in the upcoming auction
13:43is the painting of Pinikling No. 2
13:46by the painter and national artist, Botong Francisco.
13:51The starting bid is 24 million pesos.
13:55It's just a floor price.
13:56It means that it can go up.
13:58It can double or triple.
14:00Pinikling No. 1 is in the Balacanang Museum collection.
14:04How do you make sure it's authentic?
14:06The first rule is provenance.
14:09Who is it from?
14:11That would be because of the families involved.
14:13Second would be research.
14:15So we have to validate all of that.
14:17It's good to have documentation.
14:20When they verify what they are selling to us,
14:24we are very open to share the information that we have.
14:27But there are those who say that the works of our national artists
14:34should be seen by the public in museums
14:38and not in the hands of private collectors.
14:42This serves as a reference in the past and the present.
14:48Because when you auction something,
14:51it has an owner or a family that owns it.
14:55And the information is limited.
14:58At the same time,
14:59people know what kind of artwork, relic, or artifact is being auctioned.
15:07These are privately owned.
15:09It's just like if you have it.
15:11Are you going to donate it or sell it?
15:15It's okay if we are all rich,
15:17but we also have needs.
15:19Especially things that are owned by siblings or the whole family.
15:25That's why they have the right to sell.
15:27But our national museums are all welcome to bid.
15:31We also have a duty as the auction house to give them the best price possible.
15:36If you go to an institution, everyone gets a good price.
15:39So it's a win-win situation on both sides.
15:42For now, the only solution I see is the proper funding of cultural agencies
15:49so that they can match the price offer of private individuals
15:53who want to buy those cultural properties.
15:56So that those cultural properties can be protected, conserved, and restored.
16:01Because other people come to us and say,
16:04we are looking for important things.
16:07Sometimes the museum would call our attention
16:10that you should tell people to give to the government
16:14because there's a law supposedly.
16:17What can you say about that, Lisa?
16:20The law is about what you find under the sea.
16:24That's the treasure that belongs to the government.
16:27What about the land?
16:29If you own the land, that's yours.
16:32But if you find it on Mayon Volcano, that's owned by the government.
16:36So there's really a balance.
16:38What is a real treasure?
16:40In a country where there's not much information about the past,
16:45it's very important that there's a bridge or link
16:50that will bring us back to the past.
16:54If the Philippines is rich in the past,
16:57you won't see a lot of evidence
17:01or give a lot of weight to a new knowledge.
17:06But in a country that is still looking for identity,
17:12who were we before the Pastilas or the colonization?
17:17It's an important aspect,
17:20every tangible form of culture that we can get and see.
17:27These little things about themselves,
17:29they speak volumes about who they are, who they were,
17:33or what they contributed to our society, to our history.
17:37It's just a seal, but it speaks a lot about who Bonifacio is.
17:41It's also a symbol that all of Bonifacio's ideas never died
17:47because this was being used after he was killed.
17:51So it's about a continuous battle.
17:54He was the father of the revolution.
17:56It still lives on, even today.
17:58Those ideas are still alive.
18:01The things that our heroes left behind.
18:05Long live Tagalog!
18:07Long live!
18:09Long live Tagalog!
18:13Stuck and entwined in the story of their heroism.
18:20And the amazing but also colorful history of our beloved country.
18:35If you liked this video, subscribe to the GMA Public Affairs YouTube channel.
18:42And don't forget to hit the bell button for our latest updates.
Comments