2 SEPTEMBER

Simeon Ola y Arboleda

1865 - Simeon Ola y Arboleda, a devoted Filipino revolutionary who fought during the Philippine Revolution and the Filipino-American War (1899-1914), is born in Guinobatan, Albay; his town's teniente de cuadrillos and close confidant of the parish priest, he will engage in recruitment and firearms acquisition and military in the Battle of Camalig under Gen. Vito Belarmino, soon being promoted as Major; he will relentlessly fight for his country during the Phil-Am War so much so that the imperialist American soldiers will for a time put up the horrible reconcentration system until he decides to take up the amnesty offer to be  presented by the persistent peace panel members on September 25, 1903.

1927 - Justo Lucban, another Filipino revolutionary who served both during the Philippine Revolution and the Filipino-American War (1899-1914), dies from heart ailment; the brother of Gen. Vicente Lucban, Justo did not take up arms but joined the Filipinos' independentist cause by serving as medical officer during the revolution against Spain, as signatory in the Malolos Congress, and as an editor of La Independencia (the official organ of the First Philippine Republic).

1896 - Inigo Corcuera Regalado, Filipino poet and printer who belonged to the revolutionary period of Tagalog literature then-emerging from the supremacy of Spanish colonial church writings, dies; born in Sampalok, Manila, Regalado wrote the much-loved lyric, "Ang Ganda Mo Neneng," along with a host of other pieces that were featured in the calendars or almanacs of Isabelo de los Reyes and Pascual H. Poblete, and printed La Ilustracion Filipina, believed to be the best local periodical of the period.

1 September

Katipunan co-founder-turned-coward?

1896 - Pio Valenzuela, a co-founder of the underground-society-turned-revolutionary-national-government Kataastaasang, Kagalanggalangang Katipunan nang manga Anak nang Bayan, , surrenders to the Spanish colonial authorities to avail of an amnesty even as Supremo Andres Bonifacio and other Katipuneros risk their lives fighting the colonizers, armed mostly only with spears and bolos.

1901 - Two and one-half years into the Philippine-American War (1899-1914),, oustpoken pro-Americans Trinidad Pardo de Tavera and Benito Legarda Sr., a.k.a. Filipino traitors, are appointed as members of the American colonial body euphemistically called the "Philippine Commission" [translation: United States colonial commission to help colonize the Philippines]

- Martin Ocampo publishes the anti-American daily, El Renacimiento, which would turn out to be the most infuential newspaper in Manila in the early 20th century; with its first issue coming out two days later, El Renacimiento has as its editor, Rafael Palma, a journalist and lawyer who was part of the La Independencia, the successful newspaper Gen. Antono Luna established in September 1898 during the Second Phase of the Philippine Revolution against Spain going into the Philippine-American War.

1803 - Spanish King Charles IV orders the use of the smallpox vaccine in its colony, the Philippines; in three years time, the office of Small pox Vaccine would be created through another decree. 

31 August

Moments before the execution of the brave, patriotic Katipuneros

 1896 - Fifty-seven Katipuneros are executed at Bagumbayan (Luneta) by Spanish colonial authorities, marking the start of a reign of terror one day after the bloody, hand-to-hand Battle of Pinaglaban that marked the first major conflict of the Philippine Revolution; two days after Supremo Andres Bonifacio led the beginning of the general uprising; and a week after the Cry of Pugadlawin declaring the start of the nationwide armed revolution against the colonial enemy Spaniards.

1897 -- Gregorio del Pilar, a lieutenant-colonel in the Philippine revolutionary army fighting colonial Spain, stages a famous assault on the barracks of the Spanish cazadores in the town convent of Paombong, Bulacan; del Pilar's extraordinary combination of wit, courage and muscles in combat will catch the attention of Gen. Emilio Aguinaldo, the leader of the Philippine Revolution who succeeded Supremo Andres Bonifacio that he had earlier ordered executed, and will soon make del Pilar part of Aguinado's circle of revolutionary leaders.

-- The Battle of Aliaga in Nueva Ecija is fought between the Spaniards and Filipino revolutionaries, with colonial Governor-General Primo de Rivera utilizing 8,000 men against the forces under the command of Generals Mamerto Natividad and Tinio; Spanish General Nuñez would be among those seriously wounded in this huge battle of the Philippine Revolution.

30 AUGUST

1898 - The bloody hand-to-hand Battle of Pinaglabanan at San Juan del Monte is fought between the Katipuneros and Spanish colonial forces, a day after Supremo Andres Bonifacio led the start of the general uprising during the Philippine Revolution; while the mostly bolo-and-sharpened-stakes-armed Filipino revolutionaries would be no match to the enemy forces equipped with Mauser rifles or pistols, the victory will prove a pyrrhic one for the Spaniards because the blood let from the approximately 150 Katipuneros who will die in battle and the many who will be captured and subsequently executed would but nourish the will of the Filipinos to carry on the fight for independence; that same day, Spanish colonial Governor-General Ramon Blanco officially declares the state of war and martial law on eight provinces,  Manila, Bulacan, Pampanga, Nueva Ecija, Tarlac, Laguna, Cavite, and Batangas.

Photo credit:

http://traveleronfoot.wordpress.com/2008/06/03/the-katipuneros%E2%80%99-baptism-of-fire/

29 AUGUST

Katipuneros, in the undergrowth,  fight enemy Spanish troops 

 1896 - The Katipuneros, Filipino revolutionaries led by its Supremo, Andres Bonifacio, starts the general uprising against Spain midnight of this day, a Saturday, with its first offensive attacking an isolated colonial garrison in Luzon island during the Philippine Revolution; despite the arrests, cruel torture, and/or incarceration of suspected revolutionaries, including Melchora Aquino (Tandang Sora) who is arrested and jailed at Bilibid Prison for giving aid to the Katipuneros, the flame of revolution would swiftly engulf nearby towns, with Spanish Governor-General Blanco declaring the state of war and martial law  in eight provinces; the offensive came a day after Bonifacio issued a manifesto setting the date as the beginning of the general uprising, five days after the Kataastaasang, Kagalanggalangang Katipunan nang manga Anak nang Bayan was hastily transformed into a revolutionary national government following its discovery through a traitor, Teodor Patino, who told of its existence to his sister nun.

28 AUGUST

1898 - Andres Bonifacio y de Castro, Supremo of the revolutionary government, Kataastaasang, Kagalanggalangang Katipunan nang  manga Anak nang Bayan (KKK), issues a manifesto setting August 29 as the beginning of the general uprising against colonial Spain; the manifesto came nine days after the Spaniards ascertained its existence, four days after the National Assembly transformed the KKK into a revolutionary national government, and three days after Bonifacio led the Katipuneros in successfully repelling the outnumbered Spaniards during the first skirmish of the Philippine Revolution.


1898 - Two months after the Philippines declared Independence from Spain, imperialist United States assigns Gen. Wesley Merritt as "military governor" of the Southeast Asian archipelago; the US had earlier vilely engaged the services of the Filipinos in fighting Spain, with its military and diplomatic officials conning its leader, Gen. Emilio Aguinaldo y Famy, into stupidly cooperating and allowing the free entry of G.I.s by making separate verbal assurances that the US will honor Philippine independence, thus enabling the Americans to stage the infamous Mock Battle of Manila.


Photo credit: http://komiklopedia.wordpress.com/2008/03/20/philippine-literary-series/andresbonifacio1/

27 AUGUST

Imperialist US soldiers in pursuit of Aguinaldo

1900 - Gen. Emilio Aguinaldo y Famy, President of the First Philippine Republic-on-the-run following the invasion by the imperialist United States, decides to march to Palanan, Isabela and out of Tierra Virgen upon learning that the pursuing enemy American forces have landed at Aparri, leaving behind Capt. Julian H. del Pilar and Capt. Villareal to harass the enemy; following the outbreak of the Filipino-American War on February 4, 1899, the significantly more heavily armed and better trained US forces that at times employ ruthless military tactics such as "water cure" and hamletting have forced the Philippine Army to adopt guerrilla tactics to score against the imperialist soldiers, with Aguinaldo eventually being forced to retreat farther to the northern provinces.

Photo credit: http://casiguran.blogspot.com/2006_07_01_archive.html

26 AUGUST

1898 - Filipino revolutionary leader Andres Bonifacio unfurls the flag of the Kataastaasang, Kagalanggalangang Katipunan nang  manga Anak nang Bayan (KKK) in Balintawak, a day after he led the Katipuneros in repelling the colonial Spanish forces during the first skirmish of the Philippine Revolution, and two days after the National Assembly transformed the Katipunan into a national government with democratically elected officials leading the nation and the revolutionary army; the Katipunan a week earlier was an underground movement aiming to unite the country and gain independence from Spain by means of a revolution until it was discovered by the colonial authorities through a friar who broke his vow of (confessional) silence. 


Photo credit: http://wpedia.goo.ne.jp/enwiki/Flags_of_the_Philippine_Revolution

25 AUGUST

Andres Bonifacio & Tandang Sora (Melchora Aquino)

1896 - The first encounter of the Philippine Revolution against colonial Spain occurs at the barn of Melchora Aquino in Caloocan when Spanish civil guards and infantrymen opened fire at the temporary headquarters of the Katipuneros six days after the official discovery of the underground revolutionary movement, the Kataastaasang, Kagalanggalangang Katipunan nang  manga Anak nang Bayan (KKK); occurring a day after the National Assembly (Kataastaasang Kapulungan) that transformed the KKK into a revolutionary national government and declared a nationwide armed revolution of independence, Supremo Andres Bonifacio successfully leads the counterattack of fellow Katipuneros, forcing the outnumbered Spaniards to retreat. ; a similar incident transpires in Pasong Tamo, with forces of the colonial Spaniards and that of the Katipunan revolutionary government (Haring Bayang Katagalugan/Republika ng Katagalugan).

1901 - Filipino nationalists and officers of the Philippine Republic, Apolinario Mabini y Maranan, along with his brother, and Gen. Artemio Ricarte y Garcia, and Aquilino Randeza remain unyielding in their loyalty to the Filipino flag and their compatriots, refusing to swear allegiance to the imperialist United States flag and/or Constitution even as their exiled companions in Guam yield to the pressures of invading American authorities and take their oaths before the symbol(s) of the Bald Eagle nation; Mabini and Ricarte are high-ranking officers of the Philippine Republic who were caught, imprisoned and exiled by the enemy American forces following the outbreak of the bloody and protracted Filipino-American War (1899-1914) in February 1899.


Photo credit: http://www.qcpubliclibrary.org/qcmanuscript.php

24 August

1896 - Following the official discovery of the Katipunan, the revolutionary Philippine underground movement, Katipuneros arrive at the barn of Melchora Aquino for their hurried National Assembly, with Supremo Andres Bonifacio and members of the Supreme Council (Kataastaaang Kapulungan), heads of the supramunicipal (sangunian) and chapter (balangay) units of the Kataastaasang, Kagalanggalangang Katipunan nang  manga Anak nang Bayan (KKK) in attendance; American colonial military historian John R. M. Taylor will later come to the conclusion that the Katipunan was the first national government of the Philippines, writing that Bonifacio turned the Katipunan "lodges into battalions, his grandmasters into captains, and the supreme council of the Katipunan" into a revolutionary body fighting for independence against colonial Spain.

23 AUGUST

The First Cry (of Pugadlawin)

1896 - Filipino revolutionary leader Andres Bonifacio and other Katipuneros  tear their cedulas in declaration of the start of the war against colonial Spain and in what has become known as the The First Cry (of Pugadlawin); meeting at the farm the son of Melchora Aquino at Pugad Lawin, Supremo Bonifacio has challenged the members of the revolutionary secret society, Kataastaasang, Kagalanggalangang Katipunan nang  manga Anak nang Bayan (KKK), to "Bring out your cedulas and tear them to pieces to symbolize our determination to take up arms," a few days after the Spanish authorities discovered the KKK through a Spanish friar who broke his vow of (confessional) silence and subsequently deciphered its secret codes; therein, the Katipuneros declared the start of the nationwide armed revolution and through the National Assembly that will follow a day after, will then transform the KKK into a national government, electing officials to lead the nation and army.  

Photo credit: http://www.qcpubliclibrary.org/qcmanuscript.php

22 AUGUST

1896 - Supremo Andres Bonifacio and fellow Katipuneros, Filipino revolutionaries against colonial Spain, exchange views on the Revolution during a general assembly in Kangkong, three days after the secret movement Kataastaasang, Kagalanggalangang Katipunan nang  manga Anak nang Bayan (KKK) is discovered and arrests of suspected revolutionaries have been made.


1898 - The seat of the fledgling Philippine Republic is transferred by President Emilio Aguinaldo who issues a decree ordering his men to prepare in moving the capital and headquarters from Bacoor, Cavite, to Malolos Bulacan; the order came nine days after the Mock Battle of Manila made it clear to Aguinaldo the intent of the imperialist United States to invade the Philippines and that its officials, including Admiral George Dewey and Gen. Thomas Anderson had conned him into stupidly cooperating in the war against Spain, even to the point of ridiculously allowing the free entry of US soldiers to the Southeast Asian archipelago.

Photo credit: http://www.cebu-philippines.net/philippine-heroes.html

21 AUGUST

Spanish colonial soldiers execute Filipino revolutionaries

1896 - Two days after the Kataastaasang, Kagalanggalangang Katipunan nang  manga Anak nang Bayan (KKK) is discovered by Spanish colonial authorities, Supremo Andres Bonifacio and Emilio Jacinto decide to use numbers instead of letters in changing the revolutionary society's code that has earlier been cracked by the enemies during the Philippine Revolution against Spain; during the same day, revolutionary and Mason Faustino Villaruel is arrested and imprisoned at Fort Santiago as some 500 revolutionaries leave Balintawak for the neighboring Kangkong hamlet where Katipunero Apolinario Samson provides them lodging and food.

1983 -Opposition leader ex-Sen. Benigno "Ninoy" Aquino II is assassinated at the tarmac of the then-Manila International Airport after arriving from the United States where he was allowed to undergo medical operation for his heart condition following his incarceration for seven years and seven months during Martial Law; the blame for the murder will be pinned by the succeeding administration of Corazon Cojuangco Aquino, Ninoy's widow, on the Marcoses although one of the soldiers convicted for the murder will later point to businessman Eduardo "Dangding" Cojuangco, Ninoy's cousin, as the real mastermind for the dastardly killing. 


Photo credit: http://josepherdon.blogspot.com/2008/12/andres-bonifacio.html

20 AUGUST

1896 - A day after the discovery of the Philippine revolutionary movement Katipunan by Spanish colonial authorities, Pio Valenzuela follows the group of Supremo Andres Bonifacio y de Castro, leader of the nationalist society aiming to break the yoke of colonial domination,the Kagalanggalangang Katipunan nang  manga Anak nang  Bayan (KKK), to Balintawak for an important meeting; Agustin de la Rosa, one of the early officers of La Liga Filipina, along with fellow masons are arrested by the  Guardia Civil Veterana as the lodge founded by the former is discovered; Bonifacio and the Katipuneros will soon transform the KKK into a revolutionary government and in just over a week, the Philippine Revolution will break out. 




1898 - In line with its scheme of invading the Philippines, the imperialist American  government succeeds in its typical divide-and-rule tactic when Gen. John C. Bates forges a formal agreement with Sulu's Sultan Jamalul Kiram II, wherein the sultanate is to be considered a United States protectorate and friendly relations are supposed to be maintained between the two parties; in contrast, American officials have conned Filipino revolutionary leader Gen. Emilio Aguinaldo y Famy into cooperating in the war against Spain, verbally assuring him of  US sympathy with the independentist cause of the Filipinos, but with American President William McKinley actually scheming to invade the fledgling Southeast Asian Republic and eventually secretly orchestrating the outbreak of the Filipino-American War (1899-1914). 
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Photo credit: http://www.freewebs.com/julabbi_cairo12/Seals.htm

19 AUGUST

1896 - The Philippine revolutionary movement is prematurely  discovered by the Spaniards when the hated Fr. Mariano Gil, the  curate of Tondo who has heard about it through a confession from a Filipino traitor,  breaks his vow of silence and reports about its existence and headquarters to the colonial authorities; in response to the  mounting cruelty inflicted by the Spaniards on  members of Kataastaasang, Kagalanggalangang Katipunan nang  manga Anak nang Bayan (KKK) who have been arbitrarily arrested  and imprisoned, Supremo Andres Bonifacio instructs messengers  to summon his leaders to a general assembly to discuss measures  to counter the development; later, a Katipunan poster threatening the killing of Fr. Gil would appear on the poster of the Tondo church.

1939 -  On his 61st birthday, Manuel L. Quezon, President of the  American-sponsored Commonwealth government of the  Philippines, issues Executive Order No. 217 that prescribes a  16-point code of ethics to be taught in all schools in the  Southeast Asian archipelago.

Photo credit: http://www.filipiniana.net/ArtifactView.do?artifactID=PRR004000008