REP. Carlos Isagani Zarate on Sunday called on the Duterte administration to acquire the Bonifacio Presidential Papers that are being put into auction on March 8 at the Leon Gallery.
“It is imperative that the Philippine government acquire these important papers not only for their historical value but also because they will set the record correctly that, indeed, Gat Andres Bonifacio is the first president of the Philippines,” Zarate said.
“It is high time that Supremo Andres Bonifacio should be recognized as such and the proper honors should be accorded to him.
According to historian Xiao Chua, the papers bear the seal and signature of Bonifacio who wrote what he felt about the Cavite affair.
The papers were once owned by the historian Epifanio de los Santos but later came to the possession of Emmanuel Encarnacion.
The documents were once doubted but has been duly verified as authentic documents in the recent book by Jim Richardson, ‘‘The Light of Liberty,’’ which focuses on other Bonifacio papers in Spain that bear the same flourished handwriting, signature and seal of the Supremo.
“We are also calling on House leaders to fast-track Bayan Muna’s House Resoluton 285 to finally legislate our recognition of Gat Andres Bonifacio as our country’s first president,” Zarate said.