25 JULY

Hen. Santiago V. Alvarez

1872 - Santiago Alvarez y Virata, who would become one of the most valiant generals of  the Philippine Revolution against Spain, is born in Imus, Cavite to Gen.  Mariano Alvarez and Nocilasa Virata; he will become captain general and later, commander-in-chief, of the Magdiwang chapter of the Kataastaasang, Kagalanggalangang Katipunan  nang manga Anak nang Bayan (KKK) in Cavite; Alvarez will valiantly fight the Spaniards from the outbreak of the revolution in 1896 until 1897, and will be dubbed the Hero of the  Battle of Dalahican when he will engage the Spanish troops under Gen. Ramon  Blanco in the bloody 36-hour battle, successfully repulsing the enemy  forces;  Alvarez will heroically display excellent fighting skills with his father, Mariano Alvarez, and cousin, General Pascual Alvarez--both co-Magdiwang KKK leaders--liberating Noveleta from the Spaniards on August 31, 1896 and bravely winning various battles within Noveleta, specifically in the towns of Naic, Maragondon, Magallanes, Tanza, Alfonso, Silang, Imus, and Francisco de Malabon; however, during the United States invasion of the Philippines, Alvarez will become an American 'collaborator' of sorts owing to their refusal to join the revolutionary government of Gen. Emilio F. Aguinaldo who seized revolutionary leadership and ordered the execution-cum-assassination of  Katipunan Supreme President Andres Bonifacio y de Castro;  Alvarez would be appointed by  William Howard Taft as presiding officer of the imperialist civil government body, the so-called Great Council of Peace Commision in 1902, three years into the protracted and very bloody  Philippine-American War (1899-1914); Alvarez will author the book "The katipunan and the revolution: memoirs of a general," an invaluable source of information on the Philippine Revolution, the rift between the Magdiwang and Magdalo chapter, and the heroism and killing of Bonifacio under the hands of Aguinaldo's Magdalo faction.