General Antonio Luna: Death in the Afternoon

General Antonio Luna:  Death in the Afternoon

              

              The Prey.  General Antonio Luna was regarded by many as the most brilliant military officer during the Philippine-American War. Educated at the Ateneo de Manila and at a prestigious university in Spain and later trained in military tactics,  he was the commander of the Philippine Revolutionary Army.  Having a reputation as an ambitious general, the camp of then President Emilio Aguinaldo became insecure when unfounded rumors were spreading that General Luna and his men would launch a coup d etat to seize control of the revolutionary government.

General Antonio Luna was the most brilliant Filipino military officer during the Phil-Am War. (Google photo)

              The Bait.  A telegram supposedly from President Aguinaldo was received by General Luna who was at a military post in Bayambang, Pangasinan. He was instructed to attend a conference on June 5,1899 at the revolutionary government headquarters in Cabanatuan, Nueva Ecija. Being unofficially groomed as the next Prime Minister and Secretary of War, General Antonio Luna traveled in high spirits with 25 of his trusted men. They arrived at Cabanatuan on the afternoon of June 5.  Most of his men stayed at the outskirts of the town.  Only Colonel Paco Roman and Captain Eduardo Rusca  were with him when he entered the town proper.

President Emilio Aguinaldo allegedly sent a telegram to General Luna, asking him to attend a conference to be held in Cabanatuan on June 5, 1899. (Google photo)

              The Trap.  General Luna entered the convent  while his two military escorts stayed outside.  Upon learning that President Aguinaldo was not in the convent and was actually in another town of Nueva Ecija, the fiery General, in a fit of anger, began shouting and berating some of the soldiers.  He slapped one. He then proceeded to the upper floor and met Felipe Buencamino who was the Secretary of Foreign Affairs.  At odds with each other, a shouting match ensued.  Then a shot rang out outside, drawing the General's attention. Unknowingly, he had fallen into the trap.

When General Luna arrived at the convent, President Aguinaldo was not there.  Only Felipe Buencamino, then Foreign Affairs Secretary, was present.  General Luna and Buencamino had a shouting match. (Phil-Am War photo)

               The Hitmen.  Soldiers of the Kawit battalion loyal to President Aguinaldo were reportedly tasked to carry out the secret plan. They were the same soldiers who refused to heed General Luna's order to attack during an offensive in Caloocan. They were explicitly showing acts of insubordination.  And their hatred for General Luna was known by fellow soldiers. Once, they were disarmed by the general.  If they wanted to get even, then that was the appropriate time.

Old photo of a typical battalion of Filipino revolutionary soldiers. (wiki)

            The Actual Execution.  As General Luna was going down the stairs of the convent, Colonel Pedro Janolino, head of the Cavite battalion, drew near him and suddenly began hacking him. Other soldiers drew boloes and knives and stabbed the outnumbered general in different parts of the body. Somebody shot him too.  Colonel Roman and Captain Rusca came to his rescue but the two were also fired upon, with Roman dying on the spot and Rusca seriously injured.  Though critically wounded, General Luna managed to walk several meters to the open plaza.  He was staggering and very weak.  With a drawn gun, he was holding the intestines that protruded out of his abdomen.  Just before he expired, the brave general shouted:  Cowards !!!!

Arrow points to the exact spot where General Luna was attacked by Colonel Pedro Janolino and his men.  At left is photo of  Colonel Roman. (Phil-Am War photo)

Colonel Pedro Janolino (right) who suddenly attacked General Luna with a bolo. (Google photo)

A standard bolo used by Filipino revolutionaries.  General Luna was hacked by Colonel Janolino and his men.  He was also shot.  (wikimapia)

               The Aftermath.  President Aguinaldo denied accusations that he had something to do with the General's death. General Luna was buried the next day.  All his officers and followers were relieved of their official duties to prevent a counter attack.  Most of General Luna's men were demoralized and, as a result, withdrew from the revolutionary army. The Kawit soldiers were not censured or punished and most of the pro-Aguinaldo soldiers  were appeased upon learning of the death of the General.  A threat to Aguinaldo's leadership had been eliminated. After Bonifacio, it was General Luna. The two died in the hands of their compatriots.  

                                                         

Statue of General Antonio Luna at Plaza Lucero in Cabanatuan City.  Plaza Lucero is the exact site where General Luna died. (D.P.S.A.photo)

The San Francisco Call account of General Luna's death. (Phil-Am War photo)

                                                                                                          - Konted

*all pics / specific details from google

Andres Bonifacio: Matapang Na Tao

Andres Bonifacio: Matapang Na Tao

            

           Do not engage the enemy or rival on his own turf. This is one tenet with which political leaders, military strategists, sports mentors and even management specialists usually subscribe to and apply in their work. Apparently, nationalist Andres Bonifacio ignored this.  Or he was too confident that he had the support and loyalty of majority of those present at the Tejeros Convention.

The Convention was held at Casa Hacienda de Tejeros in Rosario, Cavite.  It was a friar estate house.

           Though not part of the agenda, the revolutionaries from the Magdalo and Magdiwang factions of Cavite decided to elect officers of a new revolutionary government at the Tejeros Convention on March 22, 1897.  Bonifacio was present yet he allowed it to take place. He was the Supremo of the Katipunan and that organization was still recognized nationwide.  There was no need to set up a new government.  Yet Bonifacio allowed the elections to take place.  He even presided. And the venue was Cavite and those present were mostly Cavitenos. This transpired about three months after the execution of Jose Rizal.

Though not present during the Convention, General Emilio Aguinaldo challenged Andres Bonifacio for the presidency..

          The Magdalo group was identified with Emilio Aguinaldo and the Magdiwang faction was supposedly pro-Bonifacio.  Aguinaldo and Bonifacio were contesting the presidency. Before the actual voting took place, Bonifacio was even warned that it could be rigged. There were 265 voters, mostly from Cavite.  After the tabulation, here were the results: Aguinaldo- 146, Bonifacio- 80, Trias- 30. Many Magdiwang supporters of Bonifacio voted for Aguinaldo instead. Next to be elected was General Mariano Trias of Cavite as Vice President.  Bonifacio was elected as Secretary of the Interior.

Candidate	Party	Results
		Votes	%
Emilio Aguinaldo	Magdalo Party	146	57.03%
Andrés Bonifacio	Magdiwang Party	80	31.25%
Mariano Trías	Magdalo Party	30	11.72%
Valid votes		256	100.00%
Votes cast		256	100.00%
Registered voters		256	100.00%

                                             Results of the election for President

         
          But his election to the post as Secretary of Interior was even questioned by another Caviteno, Daniel Tirona, who argued that Bonifacio was not qualified.  Humiliated, Bonifacio drew his pistol and was about to shoot Tirona but he was subdued by a supporter. Then Bonifacio and his group walked out, after proclaiming that the results were invalid as they were rigged.  He and his group said they would not recognize the new officials.  So sure was Aguinaldo of winning that he deemed it unnecessary to be present during the entire proceedings.

            After Aguinaldo and the other winners took their oath, a meeting was held where it was decided that Bonifacio and his men should be arrested for the crime of sedition. Bonifacio and his followers were arrested at Indang, Cavite where brother Ciriaco was shot dead, Andres was wounded and wife Gregoria de Jesus was said to have been raped by the leader of the arresting team, Colonel Agapito Bonzon. A one-day trial was conducted in Maragondon. Bonifacio and his other brother were found guilty as charged.  They were to be executed by firing squad at the mountains of Maragondon.

The wife of Andres Bonifacio, Gregoria de Jesus, was said to have been raped by Colonel Agapito Bonzon who was the leader of the arresting team.  She was a niece of Magdiwang's General Mariano Alvarez who was from Cavite.

House in Maragondon, Cavite where Andres Bonifacio and his brother Procopio were tried and sentenced to die by firing squad.

          At the mountains of Maragondon, specifically Mount Nagpatong, which is next to Mount Buntis, Andres and his brother were shot to death allegedly for trying to escape on May 10, 1897.  But others believe that it was similar to a rubout.  Some witnesses were saying that after Procopio was shot dead, Andres was hacked several times by five men while in a hammock. Their bodies were just dumped at Mount Nagpatong.

Procopio Bonifacio was a younger brother of Andres Bonifacio. He was killed at Mount Nagpatong.  Brother Ciriaco was shot to death by Aguinaldo's arresting team at Indang, Cavite. All three Bonifacio brothers were killed in Cavite.

          Upon close scrutiny, the sequence of events was too fast.  The snap elections, the arrest at Indang, the trial and the execution happened in 2 months. Bonifacio's group did not make it back to Manila. Was everything premeditated?  Was there a conspiracy? Was Bonifacio eliminated to pave the way for the assumption into office by a group predominantly from Cavite?

         Aguinaldo went on to become the 1st president of the Republic. Bonifacio, the founder of the KKK, is viewed by many Filipinos as a national hero and numerous monuments have been erected in his honor. But the incident at Mount Nagpatong, near Mount Buntis, though 115 years have passed, remains a puzzle for some.

Historical site at Mount Nagpatong in Maragondon, Cavite.

While the marker states that Andres Bonifacio was shot to death, reports persist that the Supremo was hacked by five men at Mount Nagpatong.

*All pics from Google

                                                                                                                                                                    - Konted