The Virtual Katipunan is a collection of documentary records and evidences on the nation's first revolutionary movement that made a profound impact on the nation's struggle for independence against Spanish colonial rule -- the Kataastaasan, Kaggalanggalangang Katipunan ng mga Anak ng Bayan (KKK). This online portal focuses on the study of the Katipunan, particularly the revolutionary activities of the Katipuneros in their struggle for national independence against Spanish colonial rule. The collection is composed of correspondence, membership documents and records, manifestos, proclamations, field reports, speeches, pamphlets, newspaper articles and literary works of the organization covering the period 1892-1898. Together with all available KKK documents and images, a complete bibliography will also be made available on the Internet where these documentary records are sorted, searched and cross-referenced. Presented as a contribution towards promoting nationalist consciousness and historical awareness, this project aims to be the most comprehensive repository of all primary and secondary sources on the Katipunan and all events happened before, during and after the Philippine Revolution of 1896.

With the failure of the Propaganda Movement, it was clear that the only remaining way to alter the status quo in the Philippine colonial state was through an armed revolution. This was the direction taken by the Katipunan -- an anticolonial secret society established by Andres Bonifacio, Ladislao Diwa, Teodoro Plata, Deodato Arellano and Valentin Diaz on 7 July 1892. It had three principal aims: political, moral and civic. The political aim was to fight for the independence of the Philippines from Spain. The moral aim was to teach Filipinos right conduct, cleanliness, to fight against blind obedience to religion and to overcome weakness of character. The civic aim was to help one's self and to defend the poor and the oppressed. The structure and organization of the Katipunan was divided into three bodies. The Kataastaasang Sanggunian was the highest body of the society, while the Sangguniang Bayan and the Sangguniang Balangay represented the provinces and towns respectively. The Katipunan also had three types of members: the katipon, kawal and bayani. Members were assigned to one of the three levels. Based on the writings of Andres Bonifacio and Emilio Jacinto, it is clear that they had a concept of one nation that they call Tagalog, which in their context referred to all those born in the Philippines from whatever ethnic group.

The discovery of the Katipunan by Spanish authorities in August 1896 started the Philippine Revolution against Spain. The Katipuneros, led by Supremo Andres Bonifacio, courageously fought the Spanish colonial forces so as to attain independence for the country. In the course of the revolution, a split developed between the Magdiwang faction led by Gen. Mariano Álvarez and the Magdalo faction led by Gen. Baldomero Aguinaldo, which were both situated in Cavite. At the Tejeros Convention, revolutionaries decided to abolish the Katipunan and establish a revolutionary government. Bonifacio lost his bid for the presidency of the revolutionary government to Emilio Aguinaldo and instead was elected Secretary of the Interior. When members of the Magdalo tried to discredit him as uneducated and unfit for the position, Bonifacio declared the results of the convention as null and void, speaking as the Supremo of the Katipunan. Bonifacio was later arrested upon orders of General Emilio Aguinaldo and executed on 10 May 1897. The execution of the Supremo ended the existence of the Katipunan as a revolutionary movement.

Dr. Reynaldo Ileto, in his book Pasyon and Revolution: Popular Movements in the Philippines, 1840-1910 (1989), argues that the serious obstacle to the holistic understanding of the role of the Katipunan in history is the accepted perspective that the emergence of nationalism culminating in the revolution of 1896-1900 was purely a consequence of heightened Westernization in the nineteenth century. That the events of the Katipunan-led revolution have not been examined in terms of traditional ideas can perhaps be traced to the social and cultural background of Filipino scholars. Educated in the elite-based intellectual discourse of Philippine universities, they have unconsciously inherited the language and perspective of the ilustrados who not only dominated the post-Bonifacio stages of the revolution but left behind the bulk of written documents upon which Philippine historiography has been based. The established perspective, therefore, has been based on the point of view of the educated Filipino elite.

The Virtual Katipunan is one collection that Filipinos, especially historians, can use in their task to write, rewrite and/or re-interpret the history of the nation, particularly the history of the struggle of ordinary Filipinos against colonialism. A diligent and patient study of these documents will help clarify and shed light on controversial issues in Philippine history. Filipiniana.net is determined to publish Katipunan-related documents which not only represent the Filipino point of view but also present the view from the bottom. Furthermore, since many of the published documents on the Katipunan are unreliable and the remaining primary sources are largely unexplored, the Virtual Katipunan seeks to reproduce important Katipunan records that are not readily accessible to everyone.
Taking the Filipino point of view, the project aims to undertake the following:

1. Highlight historical significance of the Katipunan;
2. Reproduce documents on the Katipunan, its founders, Kartilya, initiation rites;
3. Upload documents that explain the aims, structure, and teachings of the Katipunan;
4. Select, reproduce and transcribe documents that promote Filipino national dignity and pride, such as service records of Katipuneros, their letters to their loved ones, poems and kundimans (songs);
5. Bring to the awareness of scholars, teachers and students the existence of documents that would shed light on blurry events and issues in the history of the Katipunan as an anticolonial organization, such as the trial and execution of Andres Bonifacio.

Filipiniana.net is doing its share in promoting and preserving Philippine history and culture by researching, organizing and disseminating important facts and documents that are available only to a few scholars and researchers. By putting online heretofore unknown or inaccessible documents on the Katipunan, Filipiniana.net believes that this project will present a true picture of what really happened during the Philippine Revolution of 1896.