Quezon City Mayor Joy Belmonte (second from left, front row) led the inauguration of the newly renovated Dambana ng Pugad Lawin in Bahay Toro, Project 8, Quezon City, on Sunday, 23 August, as part of the 130th anniversary commemoration of the “Sigaw ng Pugad Lawin.”
Photo from QC Mayor Joy Belmonte
A national historical event known as the “Sigaw ng Pugad Lawin,” which sparked the Philippine Revolution against Spanish colonial rule in August 1896, was commemorated on Sunday on its 130th anniversary, with Quezon City launching the newly renovated Pugad Lawin Shrine.
Officials and representatives from the Quezon City government, National Historical Commission of the Philippines (NHCP), civic organizations, descendants of Filipino heroes - Emilio Jacinto and Melchora Aquino, and other stakeholders gathered at the Dambana ng Pugad Lawin at Barangay Bahay Toro, Project 8 in Quezon City on 23 August.
“On this day, we commemorate the 130th anniversary of the Cry of Pugad Lawin — a historic event in our country that gave freedom and independence to every Filipino,” Quezon City Mayor Joy Belmonte said in a statement.
The “Cry of Pugad Lawin”, according to NHCP, is recognized as one of the events that sparked the Philippine Revolution against Spaniards colonizers in 1896, when members of the Katipunan, led by General Andres Bonifacio, expressed their desire for the motherland to become independent and free through tearing up cedulas or residential tax certificates issued by the Spanish authority.
Honoring the 130th anniversary of the “Sigaw ng Pugad Lawin” this August 2026, personnel from the Quezon City Police District (QCPD) rendered a 21-gun salute in honor of Filipino heroes, including Andres Bonifacio.
Debate of exact cry location
The exact location and date of the historical event remained subjects of dispute, with various historical accounts identifying Balintawak and other specific areas, such as Bahay Toro, Kangkong, Pasong Tamo, and the so-called “Pugad Lawin” as sites where Bonifacio and his fellow revolutionaries declared their defiance against Spanish colonial rule.
The Cry was generally situated within the broader historical area called Greater Caloocan-Balintawak which also placed on different dates between August 23 and 26, during the final week of August 1896.
"Karamihan sa mga primary sources o iyong mga tala ng mga nakakita noon, ay sinasabing ang punitan ng sedula ay nangyari rin doon sa Kangkong sa bahay ni Apolonio Samson," Filipino Historian Xiao Chua said in a video dedicated to the celebration on Sunday.
"Subalit ang isa sa kanila si Doctor Pio Valenzuela ay nagsasabing dito naman ito naganap sa Pugad Lawin," the historian added, noting that Valenzuela’s account was controversial because Pugad Lawin did not appear on any map at the time, unlike Kangkong and Bahay Toro.
(Most of the primary sources, or the accounts of those who witnessed it at the time, say that the tearing of the cedulas also happened in Kangkong, at the house of Apolonio Samson. However, one of them, Dr. Pio Valenzuela, said that it happened here in Pugad Lawin.)
Chua stressed that Pugad Lawin, according to Valenzuela's account, was only a mark, perhaps referring to a tree with a hawk’s nest.
"Saan man nangyari ang punitan ng sedula, ang mahalaga kinakatawan ng lugar na ito," he said.
(Wherever the tearing of the cedula happened, what is important is what this place represents.)
The event, despite different historical accounts, is presently commemorated every 23 August, with the Philippine government recognizing Pugad Lawin, in Quezon City, as the site where the revolution took place.
