Alerta Katipunan is one of the most popular songs from that revolution that survived to this day. Yet almost nothing is known about it and how it came to be one of the most beloved battle songs of the revolution, at one point used as an anthem.
For a long time, the history of this revolutionary song lingered in obscurity - the identity of the composer and its "Spanish military" origin remained unknown to us, until recent scholarships have finally revealed the concealed origins of Alerta Katipunan - with many more uncovered along the way.
I've taken the hassle to connect the existing evidences and accounts in order to uncover the origins and make a concise timeline to see how a Spanish loyal hymn became a battle song of the revolution.
Historical Context
Political Background
The early 1890s was a crucial decade for the history of Philippines. Jose Rizal published his Noli me Tangere and El Filibusterismo aimed against the Church, and was exiled to Dapitan in 1892. The same year, a secret society named Katipunan was founded by Andres Bonifacio to achieve independence from the Spanish. Political unrest seems to be growing out of control, and indeed it was.
In 1896, the Katipunan was discovered and the Revolution against Spain started in late August of that year - starting the Philippine Revolution.
Musical Background
The early 1890s saw a rapid development in the field of music in the Philippines. The events here seem to not mirror the political instability of the country. Theaters such as Teatro Zorilla were created, Church music such as the choir of San Agustin Church performed grandiose productions of sacred music, the ever growing representation of local composers such as Julio Nakpil, Jose Canseco, and Jose Estella in the music scene, and lastly the music of the Regimental Bands of the Spanish military becoming one of the finest marching bands in the world.
The Spanish Regimental Bands were famous and popular throughout the country, with many bands dispatched along the cities and islands. The ones in Manila were famous for their afternoon concerts at Luneta given everyday. Bands were a familiar sight to the citizens of Manila.
1896 - Leales Voluntarios de Filipinas
As soon as the revolution broke out, the Spanish military organized a new set of battalions named Leales Voluntarios de Filipinas (Loyal Volunteers of the Philippines) in 1896. They consisted of native Filipinos who pledged loyalty to Spain and its monarch. These Filipinos helped the Spanish Regiments in quelling out the Katipuneros. Many battalions were formed throughout the country from Voluntarios de Ilocanos to Voluntarios de Cebu.
The Batallon de Leales Voluntarios de Manila was the first to form, it was formed by the Governor-General himself on August 30, 1896 as a reaction to the Battle of San Juan del Monte.
Patriotic music
With the outbreak of the revolution the music-making on both sides turned into writing patriotic music to stir patriotism, inspiration, and morale among the citizens and soldiers of both people loyal to Spain or the Revolution.
Taking advantage of the popular band music on Luneta and other places in Manila, the Spanish Regimental Bands started to play Spanish patriotic music more and more. According to Summers (2021), "The most visible, outward sign came in the free concert repertory. A new focus was placed on playing pieces highlighting Spanish patriotic subjects, patriotic battles, and nostalgic topics from the Spanish motherland."
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| La banda de música del Batallón de Leales Voluntarios de Manila |
Like a standard regiment, the Leales Voluntarios also had a band when it was established. This Voluntarios Band went on to give concerts in Manila as well along with the 7 other Regimental Bands in the city.
Voluntarios ¡Viva España! (Himno á los Voluntarios)
Teodoro Villapol Dominguez was one of the leading bandleaders of the Regimental bands. By scarce accounts of him that I could find, he was a Spaniard with a bad temper. He is the bandmaster of the Banda del Regimiento Peninsular de Artilleria, of which the then-young Lucino Buenaventura was a Requinto soloist (E-flat clarinet) and assistant conductor.
Teodoro Villapol composed the Himno á los Voluntarios on October 1896. It was performed by his Artilleria regimental band that month and then again in January 1897. The hymn was later called Voluntarios ¡Viva España! for the later performances and in the published score.
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Page 2 of Published score, reprinted in Millet (1899) |
The hymn was published and sent to the different Voluntarios battalions for them to play and sing. Several performances were then recorded in other areas, such as in Albay and Cebu.
A prominent performance of the hymn was performed on March 4, 1897 at the Teatro Zorilla. A review of the concert was published on the newspaper El Comercio a day later, describing the concert itself and reprinting the lyrics of the hymn.
According to the review, when the hymn was played a tableau depicting an allegory of Spain was set up on the stage, "a matron reclining on a lion, holding in her left hand our glorious [Spanish] flag, and having for canopy a royal shield." The performance was a resounding success, with the band playing the hymn again and the audience shouting "¡Viva España!" along with the chorus. As an encore Villapol and the band played the Marcha de Cadiz and the Marcha Real. After the performance the theater saw a thunderous applause from the still-enthusiastic audience.
The hymn consists of a Coro and two Estrofas. here are the lyrics:
Popularity and Adaptation by the Revolutionaries
The hymn proved very popular among the Leales Voluntarios, as evidenced by the multiple reports of its usage coming from Tarlac to Cebu.
As the revolution progressed, many members from the Leales Voluntarios battalions defected to the revolutionary government. One of the most prominent being Martin Delgado, commander of the Voluntarios de Iloilo who defected to fight for the revolutionaries there. As a result of these defections, these former Voluntarios brought with them Villapol's hymn to their new revolutionary comrades.
Multiple Lyrics of Voluntarios
Because the original lyrics are pro-Spanish, several versions exist adapting the original Spanish lyrics into lyrics that shows the sentiments of the Revolution. From this point, the hymn came to be known by its first line - Alerta Voluntarios, or its other versions Alerta Filipinos, Alerta Revolucionarios, and finally Alerta Katipunan. For the sake of clarity we are going to refer to the hymn as simply Alerta from now on.
This list covers all recorded instances of the lyrics that I could find. Typography of the original sources are preserved.
Variants of the Original Lyrics
Lipang Kalabaw (1907)
Lipang Kalabaw was a Spanish-language satirical magazine that was active in 1907-1909. It caricatures current events of that time such as political and social happenings.
In the July 27, 1907 issue has a caricature named "La Campaña Electoral." Below the title is the first stanza of Alerta under the name "Un Guerrillero del 96." There's also a Tagalog translation of the lyrics.
Un Guerrillero del 96
Isang Mangigiera ng 96
The ellipses after the third line suggests that the excerpt here has been shortened, and that the 4th line is a later part in the full lyrics.
Lucha y Libertad (1938) (Albay version)
Lucha y Libertad is a 2-volume work by Elias Ataviado in 1938. It chronicles the events of the Revolution in the Bicol Region of the Philippines. An English-translation of the 2 volumes were provided by Juan Ataviado in 1999.
The given lyrics are in 2 stanzas. The book also gave the name of the piece as "Voluntarios" it said it was being played on Albay's Calle Real by a town band in 1897.
Voluntarios
Versions by the Revolutionaries
Carlos Ronquillo (Renacimiento Filipino) (1910)
Carlos V. Ronquillo's account of the song, published in an article named "Mga Kantahing Bayan" in the magazine Renacimiento Filipino on August 28, 1910. Ronquillo was the secretary of General Emilio Aguinaldo during the Revolution.
According to him, this is a song of the Voluntarios of the Spanish Military in the year 1896. The Revolutionaries adapted the song and replaced some of the words in the original song so that it says the sentiments of the Revolution, rather than that of the Spanish. He did not give the title of the song.
He also noted in his article that he was writing these lyrics from memory, and he might've forgotten some words or lines in some of the songs he provided.
He mentioned the original words and their modified counterparts:
- 1st stanza: the "Voluntarios" and "viva" were changed to "Filipinos" and "fuera"
- 2st stanza: the "querida" and "abrazando" were changed to "maldita" and "rechazando"
I.
¡Alerta, filipinos!
las armas preparad,
gritando ¡fuera España!
¡fuera! hasta la eternidad.
II.
Te prometemos, Patria maldita
para ti sola siempre vivir
y rechazando tu bandera
juramos todos vencer ó morir.
Leon Romeroso (1913)
This was reported in a 1915 paper named "Popular Songs of the Revolution of '96" by Honesto R. Mariano. This version of Alerta, along with other songs were dictated to him by his uncle Leon Romeroso on August 3, 1913. Romeroso was a lieutenant under Engracio Peña of Camarines during the revolution.
The most striking thing on this version is that it starts as "Alerta Katipunan" instead of "Alerta Voluntarios." These are the two confirmed instances of it being called Alerta Katipunan. This is also one of the 2 examples that includes an additional 3rd stanza (variant of the Estrofas) with the other being the Cebu version.
Another unique aspect of this version is that this is the only version that completely didn't adhere to the subject of the original text - the lyrics are entirely different.
This version confirms that the song is called "Alerta Katipunan" in some areas during the Revolution.
Anti-American Version (1913)
An anti-American version of the hymn also appeared on Mariano's paper. This was the only version that was made during the Philippine-American war. Like the previous entry, the lyrics are entirely different from the original version. Only the chorus is given.
Alerta, Filipinos!
Jorge Bocobo (Gerona Version)
Jorge Bocobo was known as a prominent lawyer and the 5th president of the University of the Philippines. He was born in Gerona, Tarlac in 1886 and received education there. in 1903 he went to Manila and later to America for further studies.
During the course of the Revolution he was in Gerona at the time, and presumably he heard this version of Alerta there. According to the biography produced by his daughter, he would often sing Revolutionary songs such as this version of the Alerta later on in life. Only the first stanza is given.
This is the 2nd instance of the song being called "Alerta Katipunan." What makes it different from Romeroso's version of "Alerta Katipunan" is that here, the rest of the lyrics are in Spanish and it's still faithful to the orginal version.
Cebu Version
This version was sung in Cebu on April 10, 1898 during the raising of the Philippine flag in Cebu. This predated Aguinaldo's Declaration of Independence by nearly 2 months, and therefore Julian Felipe's National Anthem as well. In place of the not yet written anthem, they sung this version of Alerta instead.
This version was found by Teodoro Agoncillo among the papers of the Philipine Insurgent Records (now Philippine Revolutionary Records) in 1960.
Alerta revolucionarios
los bolos prepararse
Gritando viva Republica
y viva nuestras lealtades.
Viva la suerte de los Filipinos
Vivan los indios combatimos
Contra los frailes Agustinos
y a los Españoles son malvados.
Vivan los Cebuanos
Vivan los Catipunenzas
Valor revolucionarios
los bolos en las manos
aqui estan los Cazadores
Todos son cobardes
Corrieron a los vapores
los Españoles.
The lyrics of this version are much more direct in denouncing the colonizers, and in "revolutionizing" the text compared to the other modified versions of the original lyrics. This is similar to Romeroso's account, where the lyrics are completely different compared to the original (With the exception of the 1st stanza.)
Taguig Version
This version is an odd ball compared to the other versions. It was reported in a 1954 thesis by Consejo Cauayani named Some popular songs of the Spanish period and their possible use in the music program of our schools. The score was reproduced in Antonio Hila's The Music of the Philippine Revolution in 1997 and its where I found it. I don't have access to the original source.
This version of the Alerta were sung in Taguig, Rizal in 1898. Unlike the previous entries, this version was provided with accompanying melody to the words.
Alerta Voluntario
Tipas, Taguig, Rizal
1898
Alerta voluntarios
Las armas prepara
Prepara que quando
Grita viva Filipinas
Viva la sontegridad
Que prometiera pátria
Siempre vivir, vivir
Abrazado su bandera.
This version stands out among the other versions. The lyrics does follow the original, yet there are major differences. There's the inclusion of an additional line "Prepara que quando" changing the placement of the original lines. "para ti sola" is absent on the 7th line, and the final "Juraron todos por ti morir." was omitted. Some words are also changed.
The melody is obviously not the familiar Alerta, and its akin more to a marching paso-doble than the more melodic Alerta melody.
So what to make of this melody? My theory is that this was another Voluntarios Hymn written for the Leales Voluntarios de Ilocos named "Los Voluntarios de Ilocos Sur", a himno paso-doble by a composer named Farré. No score has been located for that other hymn in order to confirm this.
American Period: The Alerta in Musical Textbooks
Over the course of the American period, they produced a series of music textbooks named Philippine Progressive Music Series. The first few series contain mostly foreign songs, the final three publications feature Filipino songs. These were the Primary Grades, Intermediate Grades, and Advanced Grades. The 1941 edition of these 3 publications feature Tagalog lyrics along with the English lyrics (on some of the Filipino songs), as "verified" by the Institute of National Language and Department of Education. These books were republished in the late 40s and early 50s. The Intermediate Grades in particular was republished in 1953 with a new name: Philippine Music Horizons.
One of these books, the Intermediate Grades, feature the Alerta. It printed the melody as recorded in Cavite 1898. However, the Spanish lyrics are now absent, and it has English and Tagalog lyrics instead.
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| "Katipunan" as printed in Philippine Music Horizons, 1953 |
According to the score, this song was named "Katipunan.". This version came to be the basis of most modern interpretations of the song, due to its mass availability. As we can see in the reproduction above, the name of Villapol was unattributed. This probably meant that as the Alerta got disseminated among the Revolucionarios, they only transmitted the melody and words. When the former Revolucionarios wrote down their memories, they often wrote down only the lyrics, leaving other information behind. (Ronquillo's account did name the composers for some songs he mentioned, but not on Alerta, suggesting that the composer's name was already forgotten by that time already.)
Historical Unreliability of Philippine Music Horizons
The Philippine Music Horizons and the rest of the Philippine Progressive Music Series, while they preserve a lot of folk melodies, are littered with extreme modifications to the texts of the songs. We have to consider that the entire series were made during the American period, with the songs having only English lyrics before 1941. Even when vernacular lyrics were introduced, they are only in Tagalog/National Language. This is due to the promotion of the National Language as established by President Manuel Quezon. Other vernacular languages and Spanish aren't included in the series (with very few exceptions.)
At least with Philippine Music Horizons, there are no Spanish lyrics to the songs (except for Maria Clara's Song) so the songs are supplanted with either Tagalog or English lyrics. Pieces like the National Anthem, No Te Vayas, and General Luna have original Spanish lyrics, but they were replaced by Tagalog and/or English lyrics.
Tagalog lyrics by Ildefonso Santos?
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| Ildefonso Santos |
Ildefonso Santos was among the people who "verified" the Tagalog lyrics of the songs. However in this case his name was written on the score, indicating that he might've created the Tagalog lyrics. The "Traditional" written in the score refers to the melody, and not the lyrics. It would be weird for Santos to write the English lyrics, as he's an exponent of Tagalog literature.
As the original Spanish lyrics recollected by the revolutionaries became more obscure and hard to find, and the quick availability of the Philippine Music Horizons at the time, the lyrics contained in Horizons became the lyrics associated with the song as time progressed, regardless of the authenticity of the lyrics. From this point on, the song is now called Alerta Katipunan due to the first line of the Tagalog lyrics.
Post-war and beyond
Even after World War 2, the Alerta, now known by its Tagalog version Alerta Katipunan, still stirs patriotism and interest among the Filipino people. It has remained relevant as political and social events were experienced by the country to this day.
Band Arrangements
Much of the old marches, hymns, and dances of the past are still preserved in band performances today. These bands and their arrangements are very historical but often overlooked as few recognizes the bands' historical value. These bands are more than just entertainment music during fiestas and serenatas - they are living history.
Felix de Leon's "Alerta Voluntario"
A band arrangement of the Alerta was done by Prof. Felix de Leon. However, it was labelled as Alerta Voluntario. It has an additional trio section that is absent from the Horizon version, as well as being in 6/8, as opposed to 4/4 in the Horizon version.
A recording of this arrangement was done by De Leon and Malabon Band no. 4 in 1956 (making it the first recording of this song) but he likely made the arrangement before that. Comparing his own arrangement and the Horizon version, there are some differences in the melody (particularly in the 2nd section), which suggests that De Leon didn't use the Horizon version, but rather a different source that calls this melody "Alerta Voluntario."
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| Comparison of Horizon (top) and De Leon (bottom) versions. |
Other arrangements
There are 2 other arrangements of the work with the additional Trio section: Lito Molina's Drum and Bugle Corps arrangement (undated), and Raul Sunico's band arrangement (1998) which showed that the Trio section is not De Leon's personal addition but rather an original part of the song that's not recorded in the Horizon version. The words of the Estrofas also perfectly fit the Trio melody.
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| Trio section from De Leon's arrangement |
There's a popular band arrangement by Leopoldo Silos where the Trio section is absent. However he likely used the Horizon version for his arrangement since the melody is very similar to it, and moreover he named the arrangement Katipunan March as opposed to Alerta Katipunan. His arrangement became popular and accessible through recordings published by Villar Records, most popularly the Mabuhay Brass Band recording.
Martial Law era
The growing unrest during the Martial law period gave the rise for protest songs. Besides the creation of new songs, the people also turned into old patriotic songs for them voice out their growing unrest. The most famous of these is de Guzman's "Bayan Ko." Other old songs that were used were Abdon's Kundiman and the Alerta Katipunan.
According to the liner notes of the 1976 music album "Bangon!" that includes a performance of the song, Alerta Katipunan was originally a Spanish military marching song that was adapted by the revolutionaries who added their own lyrics.
The song recorded in Bangon is the Horizons version.
Centennial Celebrations
In the 1990s, the decade of the Philippine Centennial celebration saw a great re-surge of interest about the Revolutionary period. Several arrangements, recordings, and research have been conducted in this decade about the Patriotic music of the Philippines as part of the Centennial celebrations.
Recordings
The duo group Inang Laya and the Philippine Madrigal Singers both produced albums containing Patriotic music of the Philippines in 1996 and 1998 respectively. They both included Alerta Katipunan in their albums. As always, the Horizons version was used, without the Estrofa/Trio section.
Raul Sunico's arrangements
During the Centennial celebrations Raul Sunico made choral arrangements of songs during the Revolution, based on the archival work of Evelyn F. Cabanban. It was Sunico's Choral arrangement of the Alerta Katipunan that the Philippine Madrigal Singers used for their recording.
Raul Sunico also created a band arrangement which was recorded by the PNP Band in the album "Mga Himig ng Kalayaan" in 1998. Interestingly, Raul Sunico set it in the original key of G major, and included the Trio section that's been missing in recordings and arrangements since De Leon's arrangement in the 1950s.
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Album cover of Mga Himig ng Kalayaan |
At Present
A recent translation of the Tagalog lyrics into Cebuano has been recorded by the Bag-ong Teatro Junquera in 2019:
Conclusion
Today, the Alerta Katipunan is one of the songs that represent the revolution in the minds of people through music. It was once a Spanish propaganda song that backfired - becoming one of the war songs of our revolutionary heroes during the course of the revolution. Its ability to still stir patriotism among the Filipino people today made it survive the test of time and establish itself as one of the most memorable songs of the revolution.
References:
1896 - Leales Voluntarios de Filipinas
Constantino, R. & Constantino, L. (2008) A History of the Philippines. New York: Monthly Review Press
Patriotic music & Himno a los Voluntarios
Millet, F. D. (1899). The expedition to the Philippines. New York: Harper & Bros.
Summers, W. J. (2020). Master List of Military Band Performances in Manila, 1871-1898. Unpublished Word Document
Summers, W. J. (2021). Before Their Music Stopped: Manila’s Spanish Military Regimental Bands at the End of the 19th Century. Diagonal: An Ibero-American Music, Review 6, no. 2: 66–118.
(1897, March 4). La Funcion de Anoche. El Comercio.
Tan, A. (2018). The Filipino Bandmasters of Nineteenth-century Spanish Regimental Bands. In Tan, A. (Ed.) Saysay Himig: A Sourcebook On Philippine Music History 1880-1914. Quezon City: University of the Philippines Press.
Villacorte, R. (1985). Baliwag, Then and Now. Baliwag: Villacorte.
Popularity and Adaptation
Sonza, D. (1999). The Revolutionary Government of the Visayas. In Philippine Revolution: The Making of a Nation. Manila: National Centennial Commission.
Lyrics
Agoncillo, T. (1960). Malolos: the Crisis of the Republic. Quezon City: University of the Philippines Press.
Ataviado, E. (1938). The Philippine Revolution in the Bicol Region, Volume 1. Quezon City: New Day Publishers, 1999.
Hila, A. (1997). The Music of the Philippine Revolution. Anunaryo/Annales Journal of History, Volume 16, July 1997.
La Campaña Electoral. Lipang Kalabaw, 1(1).
Ronquillo, C. (1910, August 28). Mga Kantahing Bayan. Renacimiento Filipino, 1(8).
Mariano, H. (1915). Popular Songs of the Revolution in '96.
Olivar, C. (1981). Aristocracy of the Mind: A Precious Heritage (a Biography of Jorge Bocobo). Quezon City: New Day Publishers.
American Period
Almario, V. (Ed.) (2004). KWF Manwal sa Masinop na Pagsulat. Manila: Komisyon sa Wikang Filipino.
Navarro, R. (2007). Kolonyal na Patakaran at ang Nagbabagong Kamalayang Filipino. Quezon City: Ateneo de Manila University Press.
Romualdez, N. (Ed.) (1953). Philippine Music Horizons. Morristown, N.J.: Silver Burdett Company.
Post-war and beyond
Bag-ong Teatro Junquera (2019). Alerta Katpunan. In Abtik Pa’s Kilat [Compact Disc] Cebu City: Palm Grass Hotel.
De Leon, F. (1956). Alberta Voluntario. In Philippine Bands on Parade, Vol. 1 [Cassette]. Mico Records.
Inang Laya (1996). Alerta, Katipunan!. In Alab, 1896-1996 [Compact Disc]. Quezon City: Harnessing Self-Reliant Initiatives and Knowledge.
Manuel Los Anes (2021, July 8) ALERTA KATIPUNAN [YouTube]. Retreived from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VPzFhKS_WiM
NDF, KDP (1976). Alerta, Katipunan. In Philippines: Bangon! Arise! [Long Play]. Paredon Records.
Silos, J. (n.d.). Katipunan. In Mabuhay Brass Band [Long Play]. Villar Records: VMQ 5377.
Silos, J. (n.d.). Katipunan. In Mabuhay and other Philippine marches [Long Play]. Villar Records: MLP 5095-S.
Silos, L. (n.d.). Katipunan. In Band music of the Philippines [Long Play]. Villar Records: VLP 4011.
Sunico, R. (1996). Alerta Katipunan. In Mga Himig ng Kalayaan [Cassette]. Philippine Centennial Commission.
Sunico, R. (1997). Alerta Katipunan. In Mga Awit ng Himagsikan, Vol. 1. Quezon City: Tawid Publications.
Philippine Madrigal Singers (1998). Alerta Katipunan. In Bayan Ko, Aawitan Kita [Cassette]. BMG Records.
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