We're walking: Tour strolls to sites significant in the life of Andres Bonifacio

On Sunday, the 151st birth anniversary of Gat Andres Bonifacio, a group of 40 teachers, researchers, and history enthusiasts spent their day in a walking tour that visited sites significant in the life of the Katipunan's founder.

This was the first time the Bahay Nakpil-Bautista Foundation organized the 3.5 hour-long walking tour called the "Lakad Bonifacio Binondo", to celebrate the birth of the "Ama ng Katipunan."

It was their way of recognizing and commemorating Bonifacio's contributions to Philippine nationhood, though “[w]e want to veer away from the traditional and ceremonious celebration,” Bahay Nakpil-Bautista Foundation president Maria Paz Santos-Viola told GMA News Online.

The tour's first stop was the Bonifacio monument in front of Tutuban Center in Tondo, Manila, said to be Bonifacio's birthplace.

The group offered a short prayer and placed a bunch of flowers at the shrine, which has a historical marker.

Next stop was the #72 Elcano St. in Tondo, Manila, the site where Bonifacio, Teodoro Plata, Ladislao Diwa and others established the Katipunan.

On to Sevilla St. where the Kalayaan Newspaper was printed. The newspaper was vital to the Katipunan's success, explained Viola, as it helped increase the Katipunan's membership.

The tour then touched base at the Binondo Church where Bonifacio married his Gregoria de Jesus.

A great discovery at the tour was Madrid St., where Gregoria de Jesus was taken by her parents before her marriage as they disapproved of her relationship with Andres.

The next stop was San Fernando St. and Kalye Orbiz Tondo before circling back to the Binondo Church, where the tour was ended.

After the site visits, the participants were also invited to take part in an open forum about Bonifacio as a military strategist.

The “Lakad Bonifacio” walking tour also ended the Bahay Nakpil-Bautista Foundation's whole-year lecture series on the Katipunan. — DVM, GMA News