NATIONAL HEROES

PHILIPPINES

Cyrene Emmanuelle R. Bautista Grade 3 -

DR. JOSE RIZAL
Filipino political leader and author
 José Rizal, in full José Protasio Rizal Mercado Y Alonso Realonda,
(born June 19, 1861, Calamba, Philippines—died December 30, 1896,
manila), patriot, physician, and man of letters who was an inspiration to
the Philippine nationalist movement.

The son of a prosperous landowner, Rizal was educated in manila and

at the University of Madrid. A brilliant medical student, he soon committed
himself to the reform of Spanish rule in his home country, though he never
advocated Philippine independence. Most of his writing was done in
Europe, where he resided between 1882 and 1892.
 In 1887 Rizal published his first novel, Noli me tangere (The Social Cancer), a
passionate exposure of the evils of Spanish rule in the Philippines. A sequel, El
Filibusterismo (1891; The Reign of Greed), established his reputation as the leading
spokesman of the Philippine reform movement. He published an annotated edition (1890;
reprinted 1958) of Antonio Morga’s Sucesos de las Islas Filipinas, hoping to show that the
native people of the Philippines had a long history before the coming of the Spaniards. He
became the leader of the Propaganda Movement, contributing numerous articles to its
newspaper, La Solidaridad, published in Barcelona. Rizal’s political program included
integration of the Philippines as a province of Spain, representation in the Cortes (the
Spanish parliament), the replacement of Spanish friars by Filipino priests, freedom of
assembly and expression, and equality of Filipinos and Spaniards before the law.
 Rizal returned to the Philippines in 1892. He founded a nonviolent-reform
society, the Liga Filipina, in Manila, and was deported to Dapitan in northwest
Mindanao. He remained in exile for the next four years. In 1896 the
Katipunan, a Filipino nationalist secret society, revolted against Spain.
Although he had no connections with that organization and he had had no
part in the insurrection, Rizal was arrested and tried for sedition by the
military. Found guilty, he was publicly executed by a firing squad in Manila.
His martyrdom convinced Filipinos that there was no alternative to
independence from Spain. On the eve of his execution, while confined in Fort
Santiago, Rizal wrote “Último adiós” (“Last Farewell”), a masterpiece of 19th-
century Spanish verse.
ANDRES BONIFACIO
Filipino political leader
 Andres Bonifacio, (born Nov. 30, 1863, Manila—died May 10, 1897, Mt. Buntis,
Phil.), Philippine patriot, founder and leader of the nationalist Katipunan society, who
instigated the revolt of August 1896 against the Spanish.

Bonifacio was born of poor parents in Manila and had little formal education,
working as a messenger and warehouse keeper before becoming involved in
revolutionary activity. He was, however, well-read. Unlike the nationalist poet and
novelist José Rizal, who wanted to reform Spanish rule in the Philippines, Bonifacio
advocated complete independence from Spain. In 1892 he founded the Katipunan in
Manila, modelling its organization and ceremony on that of the Masonic order. The
Katipunan at first grew slowly, but by 1896 it had an estimated 100,000 members and
branches not only in Manila but also in central Luzon and on the islands of Panay,
Mindoro, and Mindanao. Its members were mostly workers and peasants; the urban
middle class supported reform rather than revolution.
 In August 1896 Bonifacio led the long-planned insurrection on Luzon; but his
forces were defeated by Spanish troops, and he was forced to retreat to Montalban in
the north, while Emilio Aguinaldo, one of his lieutenants, carried on resistance. As the
Spanish systematically routed the insurrectos, it became increasingly clear that
Bonifacio was an ineffective military leader. In March 1897, a convention at Tejeros
named Aguinaldo, rather than Bonifacio, president of a new Philippine republic.
Refusing to recognize the convention, Bonifacio tried to establish his own rebel
government. In April 1897 Aguinaldo had Bonifacio arrested and tried for treason; he
was executed by a firing squad.
APOLINARIO MABINI
Sublime paralytic and the Brain of the
Revolution
 Apolinario Mabini, (born July 23, 1864, Talaga, Phil.—died May 13, 1903, Manila),
Filipino theoretician and spokesman of the Philippine Revolution, who wrote the
constitution for the short-lived republic of 1898–1899.
Born into a peasant family, Mabini studied at San Juan de Letran College in
Manila and won a law degree from the University of Santo Tomás in 1894. In an
insurrection organized in August 1896 by nationalists, he joined the forces of the
patriot general Emilio Aguinaldo and soon became his right-hand man. When the
Spanish–American War broke out in 1898, Mabini urged cooperation with the United
States to gain freedom from Spain. At a convention held at the market town of
Malolos in September and October 1898, an independent republic was proclaimed
with Aguinaldo as its president; Mabini drew up its constitution, which resembled that
of the United States.
 When the United States announced, however, that it would annex the Philippines,
Mabini joined Aguinaldo in a renewed struggle for independence. He was captured
by U.S. troops in December 1899 and, because he refused to swear allegiance to the
United States, was exiled to Guam, not being allowed to return home until a few
months before his death. Mabini wrote La revolución filipina, which was published in
1931.

Mabini died of cholera in Manila on May 13, 1903, at the age of 38.
MELCHORA AQUINO
"Grand Woman of the Revolution" and the
"Mother of Balintawak"
 Melchora Aquino also known as Tandang Sora was born on January 6, 1812, in
Barrio Banlat, Caloocan (the present-day Barangay Tandang Sora, Quezon City).

Tandang Sora, daughter of a peasant couple, Juan and Valentina Aquino, never
attended school. However, she was apparently literate at an early age and talented
as a singer and performed at local events as well as at Mass for her Church. She
was also often chosen for the role of Reyna Elena during the "Santacruzan", a
processional pageant commemorating Empress Helen's finding of the Cross of
Christ, celebrated in the Philippines in May.

In her native town, Tandang Sora operated a store, which became a refuge for
the sick and wounded revolutionaries. She fed, gave medical attention to and
encouraged the revolutionaries with motherly advice and prayers.
 Secret meetings of the Katipuneros (revolutionaries) were also held at her house
in August 1896. Thus, she earned the names "Woman of Revolution", "Mother of
Balintawak", "Mother of the Philippine Revolution", and Tandang Sora (Tandang is
derived from the Tagalog word matandâ, which means old). She and her son, Juan
Ramos, were present in the Cry of Balintawak and were witnesses to the tearing up
of the cedulas.

When the Spaniards learned about her activities and her knowledge to the
whereabouts of the Katipuneros, she was arrested by the guardia civil on August 29,
1896. She was held captive in the house of a cabeza de barangay of Pasong Putik,
Novaliches and then transferred to Bilibid Prison in Manila. While in prison, she was
interrogated but she refused to divulge any information.
 She was then deported to Guam, Marianas Islands by Governor General Ramón
Blanco on September 2. In Guam, she and a woman named Segunda Puentes were
placed under house arrest in the residence of a Don Justo Dungca.
After the United States took control of the Philippines in 1898, Tandang Sora, like
other exiles, returned to the Philippines in 1903. She died at her daughter Saturnina's
house in Banlat on February 19, 1919, at the age of 107. Her remains were first
interred at the Mausoleum of the Veterans of the Revolution at the Manila North
Cemetery. These were then transferred to the Himlayang Pilipino Memorial Park in
Quezon City in 1970 and finally at the Tandang Sora National Shrine in 2012.
MARIA JOSEFA
GABRIELA SILANG
Female Leader of the Ilocano independence
movement from Spain
 Gabriela Silang was born in Barangay Caniogan, Santa, Ilocos Sur to a Spanish
Ilocano father named Anselmo Cariño, a trader who ferried his wares from Vigan to
Abra along the Abra River and a descendant of Ignacio Cariño, the first Galician from
Spain to arrive in Candon, Ilocos Sur in the late 17th century. Her mother was a
Tinguian who was from a Tinguian barrio in San Quintin, Abra (now Pidigan).

She received a Catholic upbringing from the town's parish priest and attained
elementary level education at the town's convent school. After being separated from
her parents early in her childhood, she was raised by a priest, who eventually
arranged a marriage between her and the wealthy businessman. They married in
1751, and he died three years later. After being widowed by her first husband,
Gabriela met future insurgent leader Diego Silang and married him in 1757.
 In 1762, as part of what would later be known as the Seven Years' War, the
Kingdom of Great Britain declared war on Spain, and captured Manila, resulting in
the British occupying the city and nearby Cavite. After the capture of Manila, an
emboldened Diego sought to initiate an armed struggle to overthrow Spanish
functionaries in Ilocos and replace them with native-born officials. He joined forces
with the British, who appointed him governor of Ilocos on their behalf. During this
revolt, Gabriela became one of Diego's closest advisors and his unofficial aide-de-
camp during skirmishes with Spanish troops. She was also a major figure in her
husband's co-operation with the British.

Spanish authorities retaliated by offering a reward for Diego’s assassination.

Consequently, his two former allies, Miguel Vicos and Pedro Becbec, killed him in
Vigan on May 28, 1763.
 After Diego's assassination, Gabriela fled to Tayum, Abra to seek refuge in the
house of her paternal uncle, Nicolás Cariño. There, she appointed her first two
generals, Miguel Flores and Tagabuen Infiel. She later assumed her husband's role
as commander of the rebel troops and achieved a "priestess" status amongst her
community and followers. Her popular image as the bolo-wielding La Generala on
horseback stems from this period .
On September 10, 1763, Silang attempted to besiege Vigan, but the Spanish
retaliated forcing her into hiding. She retreated once more to Abra, where the
Spanish later captured her. On September 20, 1763, Silang and her troops were
executed by hanging in Vigan's central plaza.
GREGORIO DEL PILAR
Hero of Tirad Pass , youngest generals in the
Revolutionary Army
 Gregorio was born in 1875 in the Philippines. He was the nephew of Marcelo H.
del Pilar, who was a propagandist, and Toribio H. del Pilar, who had been exiled to
Guam for participating in the 1872 Cavite Mutiny. The Cavite Mutiny was an
unsuccessful mutiny at the Spanish arsenal Fort San Felipe. The participants hoped
it would lead to a national uprising. In 1896, Gregorio turned 20 years old and
received a Bachelor’s Degree from Ateneo de Manila University.

In 1896, the war began for Philippine independence from Spanish control. He
joined the war efforts and distinguished himself as a field commander and was given
the nickname “Boy General.” He was appointed leader of a section of the
revolutionary forces in Nueva Ecija and Bulacan. He won against the Spanish forces
in Bulacan and went on to assist the other troops who were battling at Manila.
 During the Philippine American War, he won a battle against Major Franklin Bell.
He and his troops stopped a cavalry charge, killing Colonel M. Stotsenburg. On
December 2, 1889, he and 60 other revolutionaries fought in the Battle of Tirad Pass.
There, he was wounded with a bullet to his neck, and died.

His body lay unburied for several days until an American officer, Lt. Dennis P.
Quinlan, found it. Del Pilar was given a military burial and his tombstone said, “An
Officer and a Gentleman."