25 MAY

Pablo Tecson y Ocampo

1898 - During the Philippine Revolution against Spain, in the Battle of San Miguel in Bulacan, a band of revolutionaries under Pablo Tecson y Ocampo attacks the troops of Spanish commander Telesforo Carrasco on the day of the baptism of the son of Carrasco, who will eventually surrender to the Filipinos in seven days; Tecson's band has been reinforced by Filipino members of Carrasco's detachment who had earlier defected to the revolutionaries' side following the return of Gen. Emilio Aguinaldo from exile in Hong Kong as part of the so-called Biak-na-Bato truce with the Spanish colonial government; a Katipunero by the time of the 1896 Himagsikan against Spain, Tecson was among the founders of Balangay Arao, a chapter of the secret society-turned-revolutionary government, Kataastaasang Kagalanggalangang Katipunan nang manga Anak nang Bayan, in San Miguel, Bulacan; he became a Brigadier General under Brigada del Pilar and in June 1898 (during the so-called second phase of the Revolution), he led successive attacks against the garrisons of the enemy Spaniards in different parts of Bulacan, yielding much guns and ammunition; his leadership in battles also involved coordination with other revolutionary leaders, including with Gen. Manuel Tinio whose troops he greatly helped in their march from Nueva Ecija to northernmost Luzon and with Gen. Francisco Makabulos to whom he allocated some of the guns he seized from the enemy; Tecson's bravery and effectiveness was later recognized by Gen. Gregorio del Pilar who promoted him to the rank of colonel; Tecson became a delegate to the Malolos Congress which drafted the Charter of the Philippine Republic under Aguinaldo a few months before the imperialist Americans deliberately triggered the bloody and protracted Filipino-American War (1899-1914); in 1902, Tecson served under the Bald Eagle's colonial government as Bulacan governor and later, as Secretary of Agriculture.

Photo credit: http://www.bulacan.gov.ph/generalinfo/governor.php?id=36