25 MARCH

Filipino hero, Gen. Isabelo Abaya

 1898 - Filipino revolutionary leader Federico Isabelo Abaya and his men capture Candon, Ilocos Sur from the colonial Spaniards, one year and seven months into the Philippine Revolution, with the Ilocanos establishing the "Republic of Candon," appointing Fernando Guirnalda as President and Abaya as general and commander-in-chief who will send  three columns to liberate as well  the neighboring towns to  north, east, and south but the Spaniards will retake Candon by sending shock troops within three days; Guirnalda will join up with the forces of the national government of Gen. Emilio F. Aguinaldo in Pangasinan and will return with Philippine Republic forces the following year and in-between, Abaya will continue the revolutionary struggle through guerrilla warfare; Abaya, one of the organizers of the Katipunan in Ilocos, will not relent in his patriotic aspirations, continuing through the Filipino-American War (1899-1914), recruiting Igorots whom he will lead in the Battle of Caloocan during the initial battles of the anti-colonial struggle; Gen. Abaya will become a folk hero to the Ilokanos and will as well earn legendary status among the imperialist Bald Eagle forces, with his head being a coveted prize for the enemy Americans of the 33rd Infantry, along with their traitorous mercenaries;  Abaya will die a hero in 1900, either during a battle as recounted by his superior Villamor, or in captivity on May 3 as alleged by imperialist Gen. Arthur MacArthur, after the would-be-infamous Filipino traitor Januario Galut points out the former's hideout in Lidlidda, Ilocos Sur.


1898 -- on the very same day, the 74th Filipino regiment at the Cavite naval fort march out of the barracks, bringing arms and equipment with them as they join the revolutionaries; however, this day also sees the massacre by the enemy Spanish soldiers of many Visayan sailors in Camba St., Manila, a detestable development to be dubbed as the "Massacre of Calle Camba" and which will prompt former seminarian and fiery Leon Kilat to avenge his compatriots by inciting an uprising in Cebu a week later--burning the city's business section, looting the churches, and killing Spaniards including the friars. 


Photo credit: http://www.tagacandon.com/Publications.html