The Katipunan
Code of Conduct
by Emilio Jacinto (translated version of Gregorio Nieva)
THE LIFE THAT IS NOT consecrated to a lofty and reasonable purpose
is a tree without a shade, if not a poisonous weed.
To do good for personal gain and not for its own sake is not virtue.
It is rational to be charitable and love one's fellow creature,
and to adjust one's conduct, acts and words to what is in itself
reasonable.
Whether our
skin be black or white, we are all born equal: superiority in
knowledge, wealth and beauty are to be understood, but not superiority
by nature.
The honorable
man prefers honor to personal gain; the scoundrel, gain to honor.
To the honorable
man, his word is sacred.
Do not waste
thy time: wealth can be recovered but not time lost.
Defend the
oppressed and fight the oppressor before the law or in the field.
The prudent
man is sparing in words and faithful in keeping secrets.
On the thorny
path of life, man is the guide of woman and the children, and
if the guide leads to the precipice, those whom he guides will
also go there.
Thou must
not look upon woman as a mere plaything, but as a faithful companion
who will share with thee the penalties of life; her (physical)
weakness will increase thy interest in her and she will remind
thee of the mother who bore thee and reared thee.
What thou
dost not desire done unto thy wife, children, brothers and sisters,
that do not unto the wife, children, brothers and sisters of
thy neighbor.
Man is not
worth more because he is a king, because his nose is aquiline,
and his color white, not because he is a priest, a servant of
God, nor because of the high prerogative that he enjoys upon
earth, but he is worth most who is a man of proven and real
value, who does good, keeps his words, is worthy and honest;
he who does not oppress nor consent to being oppressed, he who
loves and cherishes his fatherland, though he be born in the
wilderness and know no tongue but his own.
When these
rules of conduct shall be known to all, the longed-for sun of
Liberty shall rise brilliant over this most unhappy portion
of the globe and its rays shall diffuse everlasting joy among
the confederated brethren of the same rays, the lives of those
who have gone before, the fatigues and the well-paid sufferings
will remain. If he who desires to enter (the Katipunan) has
informed himself of all this and believes he will be able to
perform what will be his duties, he may fill out the application
for admission.
(The
following is the English translation of Jacinto's Cartilla by
Gregorio Nieva. In popularizing the Tagalog original through
the monthly holding of small-group solemn commemorations called
Pagtitipon ng mga Anak ng Bayan the Kampanya para sa Kamalayan
sa Kasaysayan (KAMALAYSAYAN) suggests for the tenth point here
the substitution of the word "parents" for "man" and the cleletion
of woman from those being guided. This enumeration of points
reflected the stark gender imbalance of the period and would
run afoul with present-day feminists; but the tenth point is
really about the responsibility of guiding, in the present case,
both parents together. )
tagalog version
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