WHO WERE THE 13 MARTYRS OF BAGUMBAYAN?
By Dr. Salvador H. Laurel
The other day, January 11, marked the 99th anniversary of the martyrdom of the "Thirteen martyrs of Bagumabayan."
So little is known about them and so seldom are they mentioned by their real names that they are often confused with the "Thirteen Martyrs of Cavite."
Yet, each of one of them dedicated time, energy, intellect and hard-earned money, and suffered with courage and dignity the cruel tortures inflicted upon them. They gladly gave up their lives just to see their country set free.
Historian Teodoro M. Kalaw recounts that Antonio Luna, pharmacist, who later became an outstanding revolutionary general, had confessed to authorities that Liga Filipina founded by Rizal was the parent organization of the Katipunan. Mass arrests of the members of the Liga thereafter followed.
Twelve days after Rizal's execution, thirteen patriots identified with the Liga were lined up and publicly executed at Bagumabayan, then carted away and dumped together in an unmarked shallow grave.
On the eve of our centennial celebrations, we should gratefully recall the names of those thirteen martyrs:
1. Numeriano Adriano, a notary public, propagandist and a leader of the Reform Movement, whose integrity, courage and patriotism were said to have greatly influenced the younger Apolinario Mabini.
Adriano was appointed Clerk of Court in the third branch of the Court of First Instance of Manila, a position he held for twenty years before becoming a notary public by Royal Appointment. He was the organizer of Cuerpo de Compromisarios which tried to support La Solidaridad.
Identified as one of those who secretly planned the overthrow of the Spanish government, he was arrested on September 16, 1896, court martialed and sentenced to death.
2. Jose A. Dizon, a charter member of the Katipunan, was a small merchant and an engraver at the mint of Manila. His daughter, Marina Dizon, was president of the woman’s chapter of the Katipunan.
3. Domingo Franco, the silent Supremo, referred to by T.M. Kalaw as the factotum of La Liga Filipina, enjoyed the trust and respect of Rizal and Mabini. He became a member of La Liga Filipina upon personal invitation of Rizal and worked closely with Mabini and Bonifacio. As president of the Supreme Council of La Liga and later, of the Cuerpo de Compromisarios, he secretly raised funds to sustain the Solidaridad.
Franco was arrested on September 19, 1896, detained and tortured in Fort Santiago, and later executed en masse with the other twelve martyrs.
4. Eustacio Manalac, an outspoken dissenter of Spanish rule. He was fearless in denouncing the abuses of the friars and Spanish civil authority.
5. Geronimo Cristobal-Medina, a corporal in the Spanish army and one of the planners of the San Juan del Monte uprising of August 30, 1896.
6. Benedicto Nijaga, was a second lieutenant in the Spanish army. He was the one assigned to approach affluent Filipinos to secretly contribute to the KKK.
7. Ramon Padilla, an employee in the Manila Customs Office Office who was closely associated with the radical wing of La Liga.
8. Braulio Rivera, a trusted lieutenant of Bonifacio in the Katipunan, who headed the KKK chapter in Tondo.
9. Antonio Salazar, who sold his small printing machine for 400 to give to the Katipunan.
10. Moises Salvador, member of the Supreme Council of La Liga Filipina who used his own money to combat the abuses of the Spanish authorities. He was an active member of the Propaganda Movement, the Nilad and Balagtas Masonic Lodges, and the Cuerpo de Compromisarios.
11. Luis Enciso - Villa-real was blacklisted as a filibustero for interceding in the release of residents persecuted by the Spanish curate of Bacolor, Pampanga.
He was arrested two weeks after his arrival from a business trip in Japan.
12. Faustino Villarruel, like Numeriano Adriano and Moises Salvador, was a "tireless mason and a true apostle of masonry." He founded the Patria Lodge and La Semilla, the first lodge for women in the Philippines.
He helped Adriano organize the Cuerpo de Compromisarios and it was through his initiative that the Gran Consejo Regional was organized in 1893.
13. Francisco L. Roxas, perhaps the only "innocent" member among the 13 martyrs, was a Manila millionaire whose refusal to contribute to the Katipunan chest incensed Bonifacio and was implicated by Bonifacio in the Katipunan uprising.
With the exception of Francisco Roxas, the thirteen martyrs of Bagumabayan mostly came from the middle class intelligentsia. Each of them, in varying degrees had a history of self-effaced involvement in the struggle to achieve Independence. They contributed their lives, their liberty, their fortunes and their sacred honor in the long fight for freedom and self rule.
January 16, 1996
P.S. The articles in this site are excerpted from Dr. Salvador H. Laurel’s weekly column, Turning Point, which ran in the Manila Bulletin from 1995 to early 1999. This is an online repository of Dr. Laurel’s Turning Point articles, arranged by topic.
For permission to reproduce or quote any of the article posted here, kindly contact the administrators of the Salvador H. Laurel Museum and Library Facebook page at cdbonoan@gmail.com or miriamcast63@yahoo.com
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