85. EL PRESIDENTE IN ISABELA

EL PRESIDENTE IN ISABELA

Dr. Troy Alexander G. Miano

22 March 2019

The Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) issued Memorandum Circular (MC) No. 2019-37 on March 11, 2019 enjoining all Local Government Units to celebrate the 150^th Birth Anniversary of General Emilio Aguinaldo. The DILG Provincial Field Office through Director Corazon D. Toribio forwarded the MC to the Governor and in turn downloaded to the Isabela Tourism Office, through the Provincial Administrator, for appropriate action. I coordinated with the Isabela Museum and Library (IML) to prepare a program and activity to commemorate the sesquicentennial of the birth of the country’s first president. The MC was based on President Rodrigo Duterte’s Proclamation No. 621 dated November 8, 2018 declaring March 22, 2019 as Emilio Aguinaldo Day in commemoration of his 150^th birth anniversary and directing the National Historical Commission of the Philippines to lead the implementation of the programs and activities. The IML set up a pictorial exhibit entitled, “Ika-isangdaan at Limampung Kaarawan ni Heneral Emilio Aguinaldo” with the theme: “Si Heneral Miong at ang Digmaang Pilipino-Amerikano 1899-1902”.

The many exploits of El Presidente can never be capsulized in a couple of paragraphs but for my young audience to grasp facts of his life in a nutshell, I prepared a powerpoint presentation focusing the stay of the President in Isabela which lasted for over a year. Students from the Isabela State University, Ilagan Campus including three professors graced the two-hour talk. After the inspiring message of DILG Director Toribio, I narrated in Filipino the life of the President and his stay in our beloved province until his treacherous capture in the coastal town of Palanan.

On June 2, 1899, the Philippine-American War commenced and the government of President Emilio Aguinaldo retreated north from Malolos (Bulacan) after the Battle of Manila (February 4-5, 1899). He transferred the country’s capital to San Fernando (Pampanga), San Isidro (Nueva Ecija), Tarlac (Tarlac province), Bayambang (Pangasinan), Bauang (La Union), Candon (Ilocos Sur), Cervantes (Lepanto province), Bontoc (Bontoc province), Amburayan (Bontoc province) until they reached the town of Oscariz in the province of Isabela in Cagayan Valley on January 18, 1900.

On February 1900, President Aguinaldo decided to continue his journey to the north and reached the localities of Butugui (now part of Paraceles town in Mountain Province), Manoc, Dancalan (in Bontoc province), Libuagan (in Abra province), Magapaso & Magaogao (now part of Pinukpuk town in Kalinga province) and Enrile town in Cagayan province. On May 29, the President arrived in Barrio Aggub in Cabagan town and ordered the attack on the Americans in the town and the neighboring communities. He then started his historic retreat to Palanan via Tierra Virgen (now Barangay Aguinaldo) in Naguilian town. Several proclamations and orders were issued during the sojourn of the President in Tierra Virgen.

On August 27, 1900, President Aguinaldo, upon being informed of the American landing in Aparri in Cagayan, decided to move out of Tierra Virgen and marched to Palanan and crossed the thickly forested Sierra Madre. Aguinaldo’s party followed the trail called Angalingan which passed through the present towns of Benito Soliven (barangays of La Salette, Caposeran, Guili-ngan and Ara) and San Mariano (barangays of old San Mariano & Malabbo). The troops rested in a cave in Barrio Disusuan (also in San Mariano town).

On September 6, 1900, President Aguinaldo, Doctor Santiago Barcelona, Colonel Simeon Villa and seventeen soldiers arrived in Palanan and were enthusiastically welcomed by a large crowd and a brass band. Aguinaldo, at first, concealed his identity using the alias Lieutenant Esteban with Barcelona as Captain Baltazar and Villa as Sergeant Alvaro. On September 29, the President led the celebration of the second anniversary of the declaration of independence of the Philippines. On November 23, the President received news of fifty American soldiers heading towards their direction. He immediately retreated half of his troops with him on the thickly forested area across the Palanan River while the other half joined the Chief of Police, Olimpo Cortes, and planned for an ambush. When the Americans arrived, they found the place deserted. They burned the town down and left. After a week, Aguinaldo, his men and the locals returned and re-established the town. He ordered the construction of trenches near the convent facing Mount Dinagapilan to serve as a protection to future raids.

On December 8, 1900, Nazario Alhambra arrived from Casiguran (a town in Principe, now part of Aurora province) together with forty Filipino soldiers. A total of 3,302.50 pesos of collected revolutionary contributions from Echague and nearby towns was turned over to President Aguinaldo. The money was used to pay the salary of Aguinaldo’s men (one peso each) and the rest as gifts to the people of Palanan. On December 30, the President celebrated the fourth anniversary of the martyrdom of Doctor Jose P. Rizal with Doctor Barcelona reading the biography of the martyred hero at the parish convent.

On January 15, 1901, President Aguinaldo sent his Ilocano messenger Cecilio Segismundo to central Luzon to ask for re-enforcements from the forces of Generals Baldomero Aguinaldo, Teodoro Sandiko and Colonel Lazaro Makapagal. Unfortunately, on February 8, Segismundo together with six other tired and famished soldiers surrendered to the group of Kansas volunteer led by First Lieutenant James D. Taylor, Jr., commander of Company C, 24th Infantry Regiment of U.S. Volunteers in Pantabangan (Nueva Ecija province) after the town mayor, Francisco Villajuan, had convinced the worn-out men to give up. The documents, dated January 13 and 14, were turned over to Brigadier General Frederick N. Funston who was the district commander of the American forces in San Isidro, Nueva Ecija. From this documents, the Americans as per orders of General Arthur MacArthur, Jr. laid down the plan for the capture of Aguinaldo.

On January 17, 1901, President Aguinaldo issued a manifesto protesting American cruelties in the Philippine-American War. On January 22, a celebration was made honoring the principalias of the town and on the following day the presidential guards led the dancing to commemorate the first anniversary of the short lived Malolos Republic and honoring also the nationalistic citizens of Palanan.

On February 1, 1901, in view of the large numbers of Americans advancing towards the town, President Aguinaldo requested re-enforcements from the military commander of Isabela. On February 6, the mail arrived in the afternoon informing the President on the return of the Americans to Ambuayan in Abra. On February 14, the President issued an order to his soldiers not to fight the Filipino “loyals” in the service of the American army, but to rage only against the American officers and soldiers who commit atrocities. On March 7, the President received a letter from Apolinario Mabini in Manila dated November 22, 1900, transmitting messages from U.S. Generals Arthur MacArthur, Jr.  and James Franklin Bell to the effect that independence cannot be granted and that Aguinaldo should return to Manila and live in Malacañang Palace with MacArthur. Mabini asked Aguinaldo whether he should plead independence or autonomy, now that US President William McKinley has been re-elected. On March 8, the President instructed Mabini to thank General MacArthur, in his behalf, for the invitation extended to him to live in Malacañang and to say that the Filipinos who have taken up arms have no other desire but for Philippine Independence.

On March 14, 1901, the Vicksburg arrived in Casiguran and on March 20, 1901, General Funston sent a falsified letter of General Lacuna to President Aguinaldo in Palanan informing him that a contingent of brave soldiers headed by Hilario Tal Placido (a rebel official of Aguinaldo) would be arriving as re-enforcement. The letter was craftily made by Roman Roque (also a rebel official of Aguinaldo) including the perfect forging of Lacuna’s signature.

On March 22, 1901, President Aguinaldo celebrated his 32^nd birthday. The remote village was in gala dress. Arches and other festive decorations were adorned. Horse races, dancing, serenades and amateur theatricals were conducted. President Aguinaldo sent rice to Colonel Tal Placido and his “worn out” men who were stationed six miles away from Palanan in Sitio Dibakal. Tal Placido earlier sent a messenger asking for provisions for his “tired” soldiers.

On the fateful day of March 23, 1901, President Aguinaldo sent eleven soldiers to replace the “tired” soldiers of Colonel Tal Placido in Sitio Dinungdungan at six o’clock in the morning. At two in the afternoon, the newcomers crossed the Palanan River. At three o’clock in the afternoon, American forces led by General Frederick Funston, finally captured President Aguinaldo which ended the First Philippine Republic. Americans pretended to be prisoners of Filipino mercenaries composed of four Tagalogs which included Colonel Hilario Tal Placido, Lazaro Segovia (a Spanish soldier who first joined the revolutionary forces) and about eighty Macabebe (Pampanga) natives and thus gained access to the Filipino camp. The Americans who acted as captives were: Funston, Captains Harry W. Newton and Russell Trall Hazzard, First Lieutenants Oliver Perry Morton Hazzard and Burton J. Mitchell.

On March 25, 1901, General Emilio Aguinaldo accompanied by Dr. Barcelona, Col. Villa and Benjamin Ligero (who would later become municipal president of Palanan) bade farewell to his men, through his nephew, Tomas Magsarilo. “This afternoon we will board the American war cruiser Vicksburg, which will cast anchor here at Sabang (Palanan Bay). Villa is wounded; Santos and I are not… What happened to me, though somewhat bad, will be transformed into something that will redound to the welfare of the Motherland…”