ABSTRACT
Civil marriages and even common-law marriages were authorized by the laws of Spain, and, if not yet decreed in the islands, were legally binding there. A marriage ceremony was performed by the simple device of the taking of hands before witnesses and the registering of their mutual vows. When Jose Rizal, lured from Hong-Hong by false promises of safety, landed in Manila, Bonifacio was twenty-nine years old. He had long revolved in his mind the fact so patent to all observing Filipinos that the first step to their freedom must be unity. The deportation of Rizal gave to the Katipunan a great impetus; the masses of people bitterly resented the cowardice and perfidy that had contrived at last to drag down the popular champion. The Katipunan relieved them of their uncertainty; it was the weapon thrust into their hands.
