REASON FOR BONIFACIO’S ARREST

 In April 1897, Aguinaldo ordered the arrest of Bonifacio after he received a

letter alleging that Bonifacio had burned down a village and ordered the
burning of the church of Indang after townspeople refused to give him
provisions. Many of the principal men of Indang, among them Severino de
las Alas, presented to Emilio Aguinaldo several complaints against Bonifacio
that the Supremo’s men stole carabaos and other work animals by force
and killed them for food. On April 25, a party of Aguinaldo's men led by Col.
Agapito Bonzón and Major José Ignacio "Intsik" Paua caught up with
Bonifacio at his camp in barrio Limbon, Indang. The unsuspecting Bonifacio
received them cordially. Early the next day, Bonzón and Paua attacked
Bonifacio's camp. Bonifacio was surprised and refused to fight against
"fellow Tagalogs", ordering his men to hold their fire, but shots were
nevertheless exchanged. Bonifacio was shot in the arm by Bonzón and Paua
stabbed him in the neck but was prevented from striking further by one of
Bonifacio's men, who offered to be killed instead. Andrés's
brother Ciriaco was shot dead, while his other brother Procopio was
beaten, and his wife Gregoria could have been raped by Bonzón. From
Indang, a half-starved and wounded Bonifacio was carried by hammock
to Naic, which had become President Aguinaldo’s headquarters.[77]
Bonifacio's party was brought to Naic, where he and Procopio stood trial on
charges of sedition and treason against Aguinaldo's government and
conspiracy to murder Aguinaldo

 On March 23, 1897, the day after the Tejeros convention, Bonifacio with his
men and his remaining supporters in the province (mostly of the
Magdiwang faction) met again in the Tejeros estate house and drafted a
document called Acta de Tejeros which called for the rejection of the
election that happened the day before. This document was signed by
Bonifacio himself and 44 others, including Artemio Ricarte, Mariano
Alvarez and Pascual Alvarez. Then again, in a later meeting on April 19 in
Naic, another document, the Naic Military Agreement, was drawn up which
declared that its 41 signatories, "... having discovered the treason
committed by certain officers who have been sowing discord and conniving
 with the Spaniards [and other offensive acts]", had "agreed to deliver the
people from this grave danger" by raising an army corps "by persuasion or
force" under the command of General Pio del Pilar. This document had 41
signatories including Bonifacio, Ricarte and del Pilar. The meeting was
interrupted by Aguinaldo himself, and del Pilar, Mariano Noriel and others
present promptly returned to Aguinaldo's fold. Aguinaldo attempted to
persuade Bonifacio to cooperate with his government, but Bonifacio
refused and proceeded to Indang, Cavite planning to get out of Cavite and
proceed back to Morong.
In late April, Aguinaldo fully assumed presidential office after consolidating
his position among the Cavite elite – most of
Bonifacio's Magdiwang supporters shifting allegiance to Aguinaldo.
Aguinaldo's government then ordered the arrest of Bonifacio, who was
then moving out of Cavite.

 The jury was composed entirely of Aguinaldo's men and even Bonifacio's
defence lawyer himself declared his client's guilt. Bonifacio was barred
from confronting the state witness for the charge of conspiracy to murder
on the grounds that the latter had been killed in battle, but after the trial
the witness was seen alive with the prosecutors.

 The tragic incident caused the government of Aguinaldo to create a

courtmartial to try the Bonifacio brothers and some of his soldiers, on a
charge of sedition. Colonel Pantaleon Garcia was appointed Judge
Advocate. The decision of the courtmartial was forwarded to a Council of
War presided by General Mariano Noriel which condemned to death the
Bonifacio brothers.
 The May 5 trial put Bonifacio in a disadvantaged position. The members of
the Military Court were Aguinaldo men including not only General Noriel
but also Gen. Mascardo whom Bonifacio had earlier arrested in connection
with the freeing of Spanish prisoners. Second, Bonifacio's counsel, Placido
Martinez, acted more like a prosecutor, going so far as saying that if a
punishment worse than death was available, Bonifacio deserved it for
allegedly plotting Aguinaldo's death. Lastly, the court gave credence to the
fantastic story of Lieutenant Colonel Pedro Giron, a Bonifacio partisan
turned state witness, who said that Bonifacio had given him ten pesos in
advance to kill Aguinaldo in case the latter did not submit to Bonifacio's
authority.
 On May 6, at the end of the trial, the court martial issued the guilty verdict
on the Bonifacio brothers. The sentence was death. On May 10, Major
Lazaro Makapagal carried out Noriel's order of execution at Mount
Nagpatong near Mt. Buntis, Maragondon. Bonifacio's death was a big blow
to the revolutionary cause, for the masses lost a spiritual leader.