20 OCTOBER

1894 - Filipino revolutionary Andres Bonifacio y de  Castro presides over a meeting of directors of the underground revolutionary society Kagalanggalangang Katipunan nang  manga Anak nang  Bayan (KKK) during the Spanish colonial period, with treasurer Feliciano Jocson  presenting him a record of the collections forwarded  by the representative-directors of the Katipunan  Supreme Council then headed by Ramon Basa; Bonifacio, a self-taught orphan, is  an influential member of the who earlier  intervened to replace the first society's president before himself becoming its Supremo (leader) in 1895 and subsequently leading  the Philippine Revolution against colonial Spain beginning August 1896. 

                                 
1866 - Artemio Ricarte y Garcia , future Filipino  revolutionary general who will valiantly fight against  both the Spaniards and imperialist American  invaders, is born in Batac, Ilocos Norte; the life of  Ricarte, also known as "Vibora" (viper), will be  marked by his uncompromising principles: firstly, he refused to take his oath of office as Capt.-Gen. in Gen.  Emilio Aguinaldo's revolutionary government  that formed following the anomalous Tejeros Convention which unseated Andres Bonifacio as Supremo of the  Philippine revolutionary movement; secondly,  Ricarte never took the oath of allegiance to the  imperialist United States flag unlike Aguinaldo and most of the latter's generals following their capture or surrender during the  Filipino-American War (1899-1914); thirdly, despite his six years  of imprisonment and multiple Bald Eagle offers of  handsome compensation, Ricarte never gave his loyalty to the enemy American invaders, costing him many years of exile before returning briefly to the country in World War II before eventually dying in a foreign land in Japan).

19 OCTOBER

Beside the Barasoain Church is the Universidad Literaria

1898 - The Universidad Literaria de Filipinas, the state university of the fledgling Philippine Republic, is established at the convent of Barasoain Church, Malolos, Bulacan four months after Gen. Emilio Aguinaldo declared the Southeast Asian archipelago independent from Spain, but four months prior to the Philippine-American War (1899-1914);  offering courses in law, medicine, pharmacy and notary public, with Dr. Joaquin Gonzales and, later, Leon Ma. Guerrero as President, the University's curriculum has a markedly secular and nationalistic orientation but is strongly similar to the Spanish system, what with the Spanish language as medium of instruction and the emphasis on classical European learning over traditional knowledge.

1852 - Queen Elizabeth the II of Spain allows the Catholic religious order Society of Jesus (Jesuits) to return to the Southeast Asian colony, the Philippines, to handle missions in Jolo and Mindanao; more than 85 years earlier on April 2, 1767, the Jesuits were expelled from all dominions of Spain, including the Philippines, with their real and personal properties being confiscated on behalf of the Spanish crown, supposedly because King Charles III did not like the Inquisition that the Jesuits supported; in their heyday before the expulsion decree, the Jesuits amassed great wealth and prestige, building grand churches and convents in quite a number of towns. 


Photo credit:  http://www.bulacan.gov.ph/tourism/touristspotphotos.php?junid=93&id=8

18 OCTOBER

1950 - The Philippine Politburo, the secretariat of the Central Committee of the Partido Komunista ng  Pilipinas (PKP), is smashed as 23 of its top leaders  are arrested in Manila, including including General Secretary Jose Lava, during the presidency of Elpidio R. Quirino; the PKP,  a pro-Soviet communisty party established on November 7, 1930  that merged with the Socialist Party in 1938 and created the Hukbalahap armed faction that struggled against the Japanese during World War II, would be met by the repression from the imperialist United States and its wealthy, co-opted elites during the post-War period following its increasing influence amidst its agenda of struggling  for national independence.

1941 - Carlos Ronquillo y Valdez, Tagalog writer, newspaperman and revolutionist during the Philippine Revolution against Spain and the Filipino-American War (1899-1914), dies at the old age of almost 74; Ronquillo who served as major  under Gen. Emilio Aguinaldo, belonged to the Akademya ng Wikang Tagalog, an organization advocating formal education on the Philippine languages and which believed that the term "Tagalog" refers to anyone born and residing in every part of the Philippine archipelago; the writer and patriot's works included "Ilang Talata Tungkol sa Paghihimagsik nang 1896-97" (edited by Isagani Medina); Bagong Buhay o mga Katutubong Karapatan ng mga Manggagawa sa Harap ng Wagas na Matwid; Mga Kakanang Bayan; Hiwaga ng Puso: Alaala sa Nagdaan; Mga Kantahing Bayan: Matatandang Tula. 


Photo credit: http://www.librarylink.org.ph/revdetails.asp?rev=33

17 OCTOBER

Bishop Domingo de Salazar

1581 - Bishop Domingo de Salazar, the first bishop of Manila and of the Philippines, calls a council of differing ecclesiastical officials to discuss the liberation of native slaves held by Spaniards during  the early years of Spanish colonial rule; de Salazar, who would erect the Manila Cathedral a few months later, assails colonial Governor Gonzalo Ronquillo de  Penalosa and other civil officials who have defied or  failed to abide by the King Philip II's order, thus  delaying the slaves' emancipation as he declares that "the freedom of the Filipinos can not be  deferred as it is a matter of natural and divine right  and clear justice"; having arrived that same year in  Manila, de Salazar would come down in Philippine Catholic history as the "intrepid Salazar" who  fearlessly espoused the cause of the Filipinos who were rapidly being depopulated owing to the  injustices and suffering inflicted by Spanish officials and encomenderos, undertaking the mission of pleading for the natives before the King that eventually led to the correction of various abuses,  the creation of three new dioceses,  and the  elevation of Manila to a metropolitan see with him  as first archbishop.

Fr. Gregorio L. Aglipay

1902 - Filipino Gregorio Aglipay  y Labayan proclaims his establishment of a new religious group, the Aglipayan Church, severing himself from Rome and celebrating Mass as the 'Obispo Maximo of the Philippine Independent Church'; Aglipay is a  nationalist who has sympathized with the Philippine  Revolution that broke out in 1896, giving aid to  Katipuneros in Victoria, Tarlac where he served as  assistant  to the Spanish parish priest before finally joining the revolution in 1898 and even becoming a signatory of the Malolos constitution and military vicar general of the fledgling Philippine Republic; along with nationalist labor  leader Isabelo de los Reyes, Aglipay would then set about filipinizing the church, leading to his excommunication on April 20, 1899 by the Spanish Roman Catholic Church  and his eventual formation of the Philippine Independent Church after Vatican  failed to recognize their cause. 


Photo credits:  National Historical Institute & Wikipedia

16 OCTOBER

1897 - One year and some two months after the  Philippine Revolution broke out, colonial Spanish  Governor-General Primo de Rivera issues a decree calling for Filipino volunteers in all provinces in the  main islands of Luzon and the Visayas and in all  districts in Mindanao; coming nearly two months before the Pact of Biak na Bato creating a truce between the colonial government and the  revolutionary forces led by Gen. Emilio F. Aguinaldo, (who seized power from Katipunan Supremo Andres Bonifacio y de Castro),  the volunteers, to be armed, paid, and  equipped at  the expense of the government, are required to be able-bodied and between the ages of 18-50. 

First Philippine Assembly

1907 - The first Philippine Assembly under the  imperialist United States colonial government is  inaugurated eight years and eight months into the  bloodily protracted Filipino-American War  (1899-1914); members of the colonial Philippine  Assembly, effectively the lower house counterpart  to the all-American Philippine Commission, were  earlier 'elected' from a voting exercise participated  only by some 1.5% of the Filipino population owing  to the severe and elitist qualification requirement,  with majority of the members coming from Sergio S. Osmena's (pro-immediate independence)  Nacionalista Party.


Photo credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/29350241@N02/3127087899/in/set-72157623488906720/

15 OCTOBER

1901- One year and eight months into the bloodily protracted Philippine-American War (1899-1914), the imperialist body "Taft Commission" issues a haughty report, referring to the continuing independentist resistance of Filipinos in Batangas, Samar, Cebu and some parts of Laguna and Tayabas provinces as continued "insurrection";  the Fil-Am War that started on February 4,1899 was surreptitiously instigated by an American soldier as part of what would be the successfully wicked scheme of the Bald Eagle President, William McKinley, to manipulate news of it and make the United States Congress approve his war invasion plan on the fledgling Southeast Asian republic.

Manuel Artigas y Cuervas

1866 - Manuel Artigas y Cuerva, future Filipino scholar, biographer, historian, journalist, and bibliographer who will later initiate the establishment of the National Library is born in Tacloban, Leyte to a Spanish father and Bulakena mother during the Spanish colonial era; Artigas will write for the Spanish language periodical Diario de Manila, will found the La Voz de Ultramar periodical that will expose the abuses of the colonial authorities, will become chief of the Filipiniana Division of the Public Library during the American Occupation, and will come up with a number of popular works including Reseña Historical de la Universidad de Santo Tomas de Manila (1911) and Los Sucesos de 1872 (1911).

14 OCTOBER

1896 - Approximately 150 Filipinos suspected of involvement in the Philippine  Revolution against Spain are boarded on  SS Manila for exile to Fernando Po island (in Equatorial Guinea);  some six weeks earlier, revolutionists,  members of the secret society-turned-revolutionary-government Kagalanggalangang Katipunan nang  manga Anak nang  Bayan (KKK) led by Supremo Andres Bonifacio began the revolution  against the over-three-centuries-long  colonial rule, with the Spanish  governor-general and other officials  harshly responding with the imposition of  martial rule, widespread arrests and  execution of native patriots.

1899 - The official organ of the fledgling  Philippine Republic, Gaceta de Filipinas  (originally El Heraldo de la Revolucion),  comes out with its final issue as the  imperialist American invaders close in on  the Philippine government-on-the-run led  by Gen. Emilio Aguinaldo eight months into what will prove to be a bloodily protracted Philippine American War (1899-1914); successively renamed from El Heraldo de la Revolucion  to Indice Oficial, to Gaceta de Filipinas,  the official newspaper penned by Filipinos such as Rafael Palma, Cecilio Apostol,  Fernando Ma. Guerrero, Epifanio de los  Santos and Salvador del Rosario using  their nom de plume came out with its first  issue on September 29, 1898 some two  weeks following the Opening of the  Malolos Congress set to draft what would  be Asia's first republican constitution. 

Inauguration of the 2nd Philippine Republic

1943 - The Second Republic of the  Philippines with Jose P. Laurel as  President is inaugurated during World  War II under the sponsorship of the  Japanese, briefly supplanting American colonial rule; on the same day, Laurel's  government signs the first foreign treaty  of the Philippines, the Japan-Philippine Pact of Alliance that provides for political  and economic cooperation, as well as  military, cooperation between Japan and  the Philippines. 


Photo credit: http://www.freewebs.com/philippineamericanwar/captureofaguinaldo1901.htm

13 OCTOBER

1868 - Teresa Magbanua, the first Filipina  to fight for the independence of her  people as a nation, is born in Pototan, Iloilo during  Spanish colonial rule; Magbanua will figure in the second stage of the Philippine Revolution when she insists on fighting  in armed combat, eventually being given command of a bolo batallion that will fight in the Battle of barrio Yatin and Battle of  Sapong Hills, going on in the freedom  fight against imperialist invading United  States forces during the Battle of  Balantang and in guerrilla activities during  the protracted Philippine-American War (1899-1914); unfortunately, the deaths of  her brothers and enemy military  superiority eventually will force "generala"  Magbanua to eventually surrender to the Bald Eagle forces.

1930 - Filipino writer Benigno Ramos founds the populist newspaper Sakdal,  which originally aims to articulate  accusations against high government  officials of the colonial American  government of acts detrimental to the  Philippines and the people--corruption and  mismanagement, working against  immediate independence from United  States rule; and non-distribution of lands;  the newspaper's radical populist stance will win it a large following enough for the  subscribers to be able to form the Sakdal  Party that will manage to wrest some seats  from the dominant and  American-sponsored Nacionalista Party  during the 1934 elections; the Sakdal  Party will later splinter into the  non-violent and radical groups, with  Benigno Ramos eventually supporting the group that will launch the May 1-2, 1934 uprising in Laguna, Cavite, Nueva Ecija and Bulacan but which will soon be crushed with the loss of many lives and imprisonment of others (later to be pardoned), with Ramos fleeing to Japan that he and supporters believe would be able to help the Philippines achieve independence from imperialist America. 


Photo credit: National Historical Institute

12 OCTOBER

Jose Abad Santos

1911 - Future Filipino Chief Justice under  colonial American Occupation and World  War II martyr Jose B. Abad Santos passes  the Bar exams, enabling him to be  promoted as court interpreter and, later,  assistant attorney, government bank  counsel, a technical adviser to the first  Parliamentary Independence mission to  the colonial master, United States;  Justice undersecretary; Justice Secretary;  and Philippine Bar Association head  before becoming High Court Chief  Justice; Abad Santos, a pensionado sent  by imperialist Americans to study in  California, United States, chose to be  executed rather than cooperate with the  Japanese during World War II because he  could not bear to "live in shame" as a  traitor to the Bald Eagle and the  Philippines
 

1886 - Filipino patriot and polymath Jose  Rizal sends his brother Paciano a Tagalog  translation of the Swiss legend Wilhelm  Tell, the story of a folk hero and expert marksman  who assassinates the tyrannical Gessler; in  the same letter, Rizal writes about his  wish to introduce  a slight modification of Tagalog orthography and, as well,  mentions how much it would cost to print  Noli Me Tangere (Touch Me Not), his novel critical of the frailocracy and the Spanish colonial administration.

11 OCTOBER

1719 - Spanish colonial Gov.-Gen. Fernando de Bustamante  y Bustillo is murdered in his palace by a mob led by crucifix-carrying Jesuit friars in the Philippines; Bustamante had earlier introduced reforms after discovering great irregularities in fund management of the royal treasury, a move that angered high officials who were provided refuge by the friars; the murders of de Bustamante and his son who came to his defense, as well as the crimes of corruption in royal treasury management, were never punished.

Apolinario de la Cruz

 1841 - A police force to quell the Cofradia de San Jose, a religious Catholic brotherhood (which later allowed in women) in the colonial Philippine islands judged as subversive by the abusive Spanish friars, is formed, co-founded by Apolinario de la Cruz (Hermano Pule), a frustrated priest, with thousands of members of the Cofradia eventually meeting a tragic end after a more powerful military force is subsequently called by the Governor-General on prodding of the abusive Spanish friars to suppress the ensuing rebellion of the brotherhood, with dela Cruz and some of his aides eventually getting caught and executed.

Crispulo M. Zamora, silversmith

1922 - Crispulo M. Zamora, an eminent Filipino engraver and silversmith that made insignia for Gen. Emilio Aguinaldo's government, dies at the age of 51; Zamora, schooled in the Academia de Dibujo y Pintura and Escuela de Artes y Oficios, managed to transform a small family engraving shop into a burgeoning enterprise of engraved articles with the help of his wife Pelagia Mendoza, even surviving the Philippine Revolution against Spain and the Philippine-American War (1899-1914).

1899 - The imperialist invading Americans capture San Isidro, Nueva Ecija eight months into the bloody and protracted Filipino-American War; Gen. Emilio Aguinaldo of the fledgling Philippine Republic transfers the capital from Malolos, Bulacan to Tarlac while on the run from pursuing enemy United States forces.

1900 - Gen. Mariano Trias meets with the Japanese Consul regarding a possible Philippines-Japan bilateral cooperation, one year and eight months into the Philippine-American War (1899-1914); the Consul says that Japan desires a coaling station and freedom to trade and build railways in the Philippines but unfortunately, in only about seven months' time, Gen. Trias will surrender to the imperialist enemy Americans soon after the capture and prompt swear of allegiance to the Bald Eagle flag of President Emilio Aguinaldo .


Photo credits: http://www.flickr.com/photos/7716937@N04/page6/

http://www.nhi.gov.ph//index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=164&Itemid=3

10 OCTOBER

1896 - Deodato Arellano, co-founder and  first president of the underground  organization aspiring for the liberation of  the Philippines from Spanish rule,   Kagalanggalangang Katipunan nang  manga Anak nang  Bayan (KKK), is arrested by colonial authorities; Arellano, who served as  Katipunan head for some four months before being replaced by Ramon Basa, will later on become the secretary of the Cuerpo de Compromisarios, a peaceful  agitator for change in contrast with the  Katipunan, following the final  disbandment of the La Liga Filipino from which both organizations arose (historians are divided as to the final days of  Arellano, some believing that he was  tortured and left to die by the Spaniards  while others think he served as the  paymaster of Gen. Gregorio del Pilar, his wife's nephew whom he earlier trained for propaganda work, dying somewhere in the Bontok mountains in the Cordillera.

1938 - Isabelo de los Reyes, historian, anti-friar agitator, newspaperman, labor  leader, politician, and co-founder of the  Philippine Independent Church during the Spanish colonial rule, dies at age the ripe  old age of 74; a lawyer who turned into  journalism, de los Reyes' first article was  the "Invasion of Limahong" that appeared  in Diario de Manila in November 1882 but  he would be most controversial for his stirring and pungent anti-friar articles,  including the "Sensecional Memoria" which  he wrote while imprisoned for supposed  complicity in the Philippine Revolution of  1896 and where he blames friars' abuses  as responsible for sowing the seeds of  rebellion against Spain; de los Reyes would be would later be released and even  be appointed Consejo del Ministerio de  Ultramar in the Spanish Cabinet  from 1898-1901, before being named President of  the Republic of the Philippines by some generals following Gen.  Emilio Aguinaldo's arrest and swear of  allegiance to the imperialist invading  United States flag during the early phase of protracted Filipino-American War (1899-1914).



Photo credit: http://www.gutenberg.org/files/15129/15129-h/15129-h.htm

9 OCTOBER

1896 - Suspected revolutionists from Bicol province are brought to Manila on board the mail steamer Aeolus to stand trial for rebellion and/or other charges, two months after the outbreak of the Philippine Revolution against Spain; among the prisoners was Gabriel Prieto, a parish priest from Malinao, Albay and who would be executed by the Spaniards as part of the so-called 13 martyrs from the Bicol region some three months later.

1899 - Invading enemy American troops at Imus, Cavite attack and drive Filipino freedom fighters from the San Nicolas road intersection, located two miles east of Manila, eight months into the bloody and protracted Philippine-American War (1899-1914); on the same day, Filipino soldiers attack the enemy lines of the imperialist United States 25th Infantry and Battery E of the Fourth Artillery just outside Manila, with the enemy Americans repulsing the attack, with three of them being wounded.  

Antonio L. Jayme

1937 - Antonio L. Jayme, one-time Filipino revolutionary, Occidental Negros provincial governor, and lawmaker dies at the ripe old age of 83; Jayme, a seminarian during the Spanish colonial rule before taking up law and becoming a Court of First Instance Judge, played an important role in the surrender of colonial Spanish troops to Filipinos in Occidental Negros during the Philippine Revolution; however Jayme would also play a collaborative role in the imperialist American schemes on the Philippines as he hastened the pacification of the province following his gubernatorial victory during the general elections of 1904 held more than five 1/2 years into the protracted Philippine-American War (1899-1914).

8 OCTOBER

Emilio Jacinto y Dizon

1897 - Emilio Jacinto, Filipino patriot and  revolutionary dubbed the "Brains of the  Revolution," writes his masterpiece, A La  Patria (To My Fatherland), five months  after  he elected to fight the Spaniards  outside the command of the camp of Gen.  Emilio Aguinaldo responsible for the coup  against the leadership, and  murder-by-execution, of his close friend,  the Father of the Revolution, Andres Bonifacio; speculated to have been  inspired by the work of patriot and polymath Jose  Rizal's "Ultimo Adios," "A la Patria,"  written under Jacinto's pseudonym  Dimas-Ilaw, is said to equal the former  maybe not in literary respects but in  nobility and loftiness of thought.

1899 - Imperialist United States Gen.  Elwell S. Otis orders Col. Elliot and 300  marines to attack the Filipino defenders outside Noveleta, Cavite, and carry the  outposts and the town two years and eight  months into the protracted  Philippine-American War (1899-1914);  Filipinos fight the invaders with hot fire as Gen.  Schwan takes Old Cavite and the vicinity  of Noveleta, the enemy S.S. Patrol shells  the countryside.

1902 -Two years and eight months into  the protracted Philippine-American War  (1899-1914) but four months after  imperialist United States Theodore  Roosevelt falsely announced the official  end of the "insurrection," the colonial  Bureau of Education is established; the  Education body under the colonial  government of the American invaders  falls under the executive control of the Department of Public Instruction, with  the provinces being organized into divisions with superintendents taking charge of various school districts under  them.

7 OCTOBER

Arcadio G. Arellano

1917 - Pioneering Filipino architect and one-time revolutionary Arcadio G.  Arellano,  responsible for leading the rebuilding and  preparation of the Malolos Convent when Malolos became the seat of the fledgling  Philippine Republic in 1898 and 1899, retires from public service; Arcadio,  the son of Bartola de Guzman and Bulakeno Luis C. Arellano, joined the second phase of the Philippine Revolution against Spain,  but  soon worked for the colonial government of the imperialist Americans as head of  the assessments office in Intramuros and, later, as technical director for general assessments in Manila early on during the protracted Philippine-American War (1899-1914), before becoming a board member for Manila city; his architecture is considered nationalistic, having veered away from European or Western styles and, instead, pioneered in the use of native designs for his concepts.

1628 - Juan Velazquez Madrco presents  various economic arguments to suppress Chinese silk trade in the Southeast Asian colony the Philippines, Spain and its other colonies;  Madrco cites, among others,  how China refuses to exchange its silk with other merchandise, trading it only  for cash silver money, and also how the  silk cannot be invested in merchandise  and is not subject to customs duties because it does not come to Espana (Spain).

1846 - An anti-vagrancy law is issued for colonial Philippines by Spanish  Governor-General Narciso Claveria y Zaldua; the decree allows  provincial authorities in the Southeast Asian archipelago to round up,  question the idlers, and also employ them  in public works for one month before sending them back to their hometowns. 


Photo credit: http://jackeline.freehomepage.com/main/photos.htm

6 OCTOBER

Aurelio Tolentino

Future outstanding Filipino  patriot,  revolutionary, poet, novelist, dramatist, and journalist,  Aurelio Tolentino, whose famous works include the  anti-imperialist "Kahapon, Ngayon at Bukas," is born in Guagua, Pampanga during the Spanish colonial rule; Tolentino will be one of the Katipuneros who will help the revolutionary Supremo Andres Bonifacio y de Castro locate secret headquarters in the  mountains of Montalban and San Mateo, Rizal and, as well, help future revolutionary and general. Artemio Ricarte y Garcia; after his release  following his capture and imprisonment at the  outbreak of the Philippine Revolution against Spain,  he will later found the Junta de Amigos, an  organization aiming to expel the enemy American  invaders during the initial phase of the protracted  Filipino-American War (1899-1914)http://www.revolutionintheair.com/histstrategy/forbidbk.html, and will help Gen. Artemo Ricarte write American colonial Governor Wright a long letter setting forth the aspirations for a  Filipino Republic.


1898 - A report on the fall of Spanish forces in Nueva Caceres (Naga), Camarines Sur and Albay following the Elias Angeles-Felis Plaza Revolt is published in El Heraldo de la Revolution, the official organ of the fledgling Philippine Republic, nearly four months after Gen. Emilio Aguinaldo declared the Independence of the Philippines but two months after the Mock Battle of Manila falsely made it appear that the seat of Spanish colonial power succumbed to the Americans instead of the soldiers of the new Philippine Republic; the triumph of Filipino revolutionaries over the Spaniards in Nueva Caceres is to mark the series of departures by Spanish civil and military officials from the Bikol region, eventually leading to the bloodless fall of the rest of the region to the natives.