PHILIPPINES HEROES

 

Melchora Aquino (Tandang Sora) 

▪ known as Tandang Sora 

▪ the Mother of Katipunan 

▪ aided ailing Katipuneros before and during the  

revolution 

▪ born January 6, 1812 in Banilad, Caloocan 

▪ died March 2, 1919 

Not much is known of Melchora Aquino. When  

the war broke out in 1896, she was already old,  

hence she was called "Tandang Sora." 

Tandang Sora helped all who approached her  

for help, giving the soldiers who fled to the forests  

of Balintawak food, rest and medical help in her  

little store in Balintawak. 

She was exiled in Marianas. Later she returned to the Philippines under the  Americans. She lived poor and died poor. 

One of our most famous heroine in Philippine history was born in Banilad, Caloocan on  January 6, 1812. Melchora Aquino is better known as Tandang Sora, because she was  already old when the revolution broke out in 1896. She had very little education, but she had  all the qualities of a literate person. 

Tandang Sora was tending a small sari-sari store in Balintawak, when Bonifacio and other  Katipuneros staged the first Cry of Balintawak that started the revolution. Her store became  a refuge for sick and wounded Katipuneros whom the old lady fed, treated and encouraged  with her motherly advice and prayers. She was aptly called the "Mother of  Katipunan." Soon. the Spaniards learned about her activities, so they arrested her and she  was sentenced to be exiled to the Marianas islands. 

When the Americans took possession of the Philippines in 1898, Tandang Sora, like other  exiles returned to the Philippines, poor and aging. For a time, she lived with her daughter  Saturnina. 

On March 2, 1919, she died at the age of 107. 

Source: http://www.msc.edu.ph/centennial/sora.html

Andres Bonifacio 

∙ Father of the Katipunan 

∙ Father of the Revolution and Philippine Democracy 

∙ the "Supremo" 

∙ the Great Plebeian 

∙ born November 30, 1863 in Tundo, Manila 

∙ died May 10 1897, in Mt. Buntis, by execution 

Andres Bonifacio was born to Santiago Bonifacio and Catalina  

de Castro, a Spanish mestiza, in a shack in Tondo, Manila on  

November 30, 1863. 

He started his early education in the school of Guillermo  

Osmeña of Cebu. He reached only primary school. At the age  

of 14, his father and mother died, forcing him to quit his studies  

and to look after his younger brothers and sisters. As a means of support, he had them help him  make wooden canes and paper fans, which he sold in the streets. 

Having learned how to read and write, he became a clerk messenger of Fleeming and  Company, a business firm dealing with rattan, tar, and other articles of trade. Because of his  industry he was promoted as agent. But his earning were still not sufficient to support the  orphans. He moved to Fressell and Company as an agent. He showed determination and  industry in his job. He supplemented his low education through reading and self-study. Among  the books he read were Rizal's novels, the lives of presidents, Victor Hugo's Le Miserables, the  ruins of Palmyra, and the French Revolution. Those books prodded his spirit of rebellion and  gave him impulse to organize the Katipunan. 

This organization spread rapidly in 1894 in many parts of the Philippines. He felt that he was  about ready to lead a successful revolt in May 1896. However, before he could act, the  Katipunan was discovered by the authorities. More than 1,000 Katipuneros assembled with him  at Pugad Lawin, Caloocan, on August 23, 1896 and tore their cedulas. Since the time the  Katipunan was discovered, they evaded arrest, won uncertain victories and incurred severe  defeats. This prompted the Magdiwang faction to invite Bonifacio to Cavite to settle their  differences and remain united. 

An assembly was called at Tejeros, Cavite. Bonifacio presided the conference to establish the  Republic of the Philippines. In the election, Emilio Aguinaldo was elected President, Mariano  Trias, Vice-President and Bonifacio as Secretary of the Interior. Daniel Tirona questioned  Bonifacio's qualifications, and Bonifacio was offended. Evoking his authority as the supreme  head of the Katipunan, he declared the proceedings void. Bonifacio moved to Naic, Cavite and  started to form his own government and army. Meantime, the advancing troops of Spanish  General Camilo de Polavia threatened to capture Cavite. Aguinaldo ordered Gen Pio del Pilar 

and Noriel who were being given new higher positions to leave the Bonifacio camp and go back  to their duties. 

Bonifacio with his family and men left Naic for Indang. On his return from Montalban, Aguinaldo  sent men to arrest him, but Bonifacio resisted arrest and was wounded. He faced a trial for acts  inimical to the existence of the new government and was given the death sentence by a military  tribunal. 

Aguinaldo's men executed him in the mountains of Maragondon, Cavite on May10, 1897.

Source: https://filipino.biz.ph/history/bonifacio.html

Gen. Antonio Luna 

▪ brilliant general under Gen. Emilio Aguinaldo during the  

Philippine revolution 

▪ born October 29, 1869 in Urbiztondo, Manila to Joaquin  

Luna de San Pedro and Laurena Novicio. 

▪ died June 5, 1899 in Cabanatuan 

Antonio Luna was the fiery-tempered but brilliant military  

strategist of Gen Aguinaldo. He was the brother of the famous  

painter Juan Luna. 

Antonio Luna studied Bachelor of Arts at the Ateneo  

Municipal de Manila, studied pharmacy at the Univerity of  

Santo Tomas, but finished it in Barcelona, Spain. He  

obtained his Doctor of Medicine at the Central University of  

Madrid, and studied further in France and Belgium. 

He wrote in La Solidaridad under the Nom de Plume "Taga 

Ilog" He also managed the paper La Independencia. 

In 1897, he was deported to Spain and imprisoned in Carcel Modelo de  Madrid. When he was released, he studied military tactics. During the Phil-Am war, he was  made a general by Aguinaldo. Because of his bravery, he was made director of War on  September 26, 1898. General Luna became famous for bravery, unusual style of fighting,  and strict discipline. (strict and dictator-like ) 

At the age of 31, he was shot dead in Cabanatuan in a treacherous attack led by a  disgruntled Filipino Sergeant. 

Source: http://filipino.biz.ph/history/aluna.html

Apolinario Mabini 

▪ Conscience and Brains of the Philippine Revolution 

▪ the Sublime Paralytic 

▪ key adviser of Emilio Aguinaldo 

▪ proposed the first constitution of the Philippine  

Republic 

▪ born July 22, 1864 Barrio Talaga, Tanawan  

Batangas to Inocencio Mabini, Dionisia Maranan 

▪ died May 13, 1903 

Born of a poor family, Apolinario Mabini was  

always studious. He was always sad and silent  

and liked to sit alone to meditate. 

Mabini studied at San Juan de Letran where he  

got his Bachelor of Arts degree and Professor of Latin. He also  finished Law. He was a spokesman of the Congress, and a notary public. 

In early 1896, he contracted a severe fever which paralyzed him for the rest of his life. He  was later called the Sublime Paralytic. 

Mabini was most active in the revolution in 1898, when he became the chief adviser of  Gen. Aguinaldo during the revolution. He drafted decrees and proposed a constitution for  the Philippine Republic. He made the plans for the revolutionary government. 

In 1899, he was captured by the Americans but was later set free. In 1901, he was exiled  to Guam but returned to the Philippines in 1903 after agreeing to take an oath of allegiance  to the US. He took his oath on February 26, 1903 before the Collector of Customs. 

On May 13, 1903, he died of cholera in Manila. 

It was immediately before the proclamation of independence that a young man was  brought before Aguinaldo as his adviser. He was Apolinario Mabini. Born of very poor  parents, Inocencio Mabini and Dionisia Maranan, in Talaga, Tanawan, Batangas. Mabini  studied in a school in Tanawan, then conducted by a certain Simplicio Avelino. Much later,  he transferred to a school conducted by the famous pedagogue, Father Valerio  Malabanan. He continued his studies at the San Juan de Letran and at the University of  Sto. Tomas where he received his law degree in 1894. 

His dream to defend the poor led him to forsake the priesthood, which his mother wanted  him to take. Early in 1896, he contracted an illness, probably infantile paralysis, that led to 

the paralysis of his lower limbs. When the revolution broke out the same year, the Spanish  authorities, suspecting that he was somehow involved in the disturbance, arrested him.  The fact, however, that he could not move his lower limbs showed the Spaniards that they  had made a mistake. He was released and sent to the San Juan de Dios Hospital. Mabini, it must be noted, was not entirely free from nationalistic association, for he was a  member of Rizal's La Liga Filipina and worked secretly for the introduction of reforms in  the administration of government. In 1898, while vacationing in Los Baños, Aguinaldo sent  for him. It took hundreds of men taking turns at carrying the hammock he was in to bring  Mabini to Kawit. Aguinaldo, upon seeing Mabini's physical condition, thought that he must  have made a mistake in calling for him to help him in his work. What could a man in such a  condition do to help him? 

But when Mabini spoke, Aguinaldo's doubts vanished. There was firmness in the sick  man's voice, and Aguinaldo decided to make him his trusted adviser. From then on, it was  Mabini who stood behind Aguinaldo. Envious enemies called him the "Dark Chamber of  the President", but his admirers called him the "Brains of the Revolution". 

Source: http://filipino.biz.ph/history/mabini.html

Lapu lapu 

Five hundred years ago through the valor of just one man, Spain  

was forced to postpone for about 45 years the plan to colonize  

our country. Thus, there once were two more generations of  

our forefathers who lived free from the yoke of Spain, thanks  

to this warrior. The hero is none other than the valiant  

Lapulapu. He was one of the chiefs of Mactan Island in the  

Visayas. He was responsible for defeating the head of the  

Spanish expedition to Southeast Asia, the Portuguese  

Ferdinand Magellan. Lapulapu and his men vanquished  

Magellan in the Battle of Mactan on April 1521. 

Earlier, the South American empires of the Maya and the  

Aztecs quickly fell to the Spanish conquistadors.  

Greatly encouraged by easy successes, Spain  

subsequently set its sights on Southeast Asia. The  

first stop of the Spanish armada under Magellan was  

in our islands. Little did they know that they were in  

for a humiliating and crushing defeat. And so in our  

country the conquistadors’ experience was an entirely  

different story. From Lapulapu’s time and down  

through the centuries, resistance and revolts plagued  

Spain’s colonization of our country. Eventually through divide-and 

conquer, Spain was able to control most of the coastal areas and lowlands. But not all of them.  In the south in Mindanao and Sulu, these places were never really controlled by the Spaniards.  In Luzon and in the Visayas, the highlands were likewise never controlled by the colonizers. 

The Battle of Mactan 

What we know about Lapulapu was mostly  

written by those who survived or who had  

first hand info about the Battle of Mactan. In  

spite of being Lapulapu’s own enemies,  

their writings contain nothing negative  

about Lapulapu. Rather, it’s the  

noteworthy qualities about him that can be  

gleaned: his leadership, courage, tactical  

prowess, and his principles. 

The Battle of Mactan can be easily seen as having been  

designed by Lapulapu the way he’d like to unfold it. Through psy-war, he was able to steer  Magellan into attacking during low tide. This rendered the artillery in Magellan’s ships out of  range, unable to support Magellan’s landing party. This also made Magellan and his men wade  a long distance in the uneven reef flats. When Magellan finally got to the shore, Lapulapu  attacked from three directions: front and flanks. This is a classic maneuver that every battle  commander would dream of, and Lapulapu accomplished exactly this. Individually, Lapulapu’s  men did not fight mindlessly; rather, they targeted with their fire-hardened bamboo spears and  poisoned arrows the unprotected areas of Magellan’s men. As Magellan’s chronicler, Antonio  Pigafetta, wrote, “The natives shot only at our legs, for the latter were bare.”

Lapulapu was seen by his enemies not just as courageous and a good tactician, but as a  principled man as well. When he was being forced to bow down to the King Battleof Spain and  to the Cebu raja, Humabon, Lapulapu did not succumb to the threat. His answer was [Pigafetta  speaking], “They replied that if we had lances they had lances of bamboo and stakes hardened  with fire.” One can easily imagine the deep respects and admiration Magellan’s chroniclers had  for Lapulapu, as they recorded Lapulapu’s defiant reply. And when the Spaniards through  Humabon tried to ‘bribe’ Lapulapu into recovering Magellan’s body after the battle, Lapulapu’s  principled answer was, “We will not give away the captain’s body for all the riches in the world,  because his body is the trophy of our victory against invaders of our shore”. Once again,  Magellan’s chronicler can not hide his admiration for Lapulapu. 

The victory of Lapulapu over the Spaniards was surely decisive and overwhelming. Thus shortly  after the Battle of Mactan, Humabon and his Cebuano allies plotted to exterminate the  Spaniards whom they originally sided with. One and a half years later, only one ship of the  armada was able to limp back to Spain. Sebastian del Cano, the ship’s captain, reminiscing  about Lapulapu said: “There was an island called Mauthan [Mactan], the king of which was  greatly esteemed as a fine man in the arts of war and was more powerful than all his neighbors  …” 

Source: https://www.bayaniart.com/articles/lapu-lapu-biography/