Uncovering Our Simple Past: A Concise History of the Philippines

Uncovering Our
Simple Past
One bountiful life in relation with our mother Earth; one historical
sentiments and triumphs that unites us as an archipelago; one common course of
command that binds our spirit of nationalism; and one scientific pursuit that
expresses the blessings of our patrimony.
God the Father Almighty, our single universal source of Divine Providence
crafted us as the Pearl of the Orient Seas, cradle of Asian Christianity and foster
country to Indies, Chinese, and Arab merchants. Once part of the Sri Vijayan
civilizations, Spanish colonies and influenced with democracy by the New World.
May the blessings of liberty and the rule of law unite us to live in truth,
justice, freedom, love, equality, and peace!

TODAY IN PHILIPPINE HISTORY
JANUARY
On January 1, 1899, General Vicente Lukban issued a long proclamation

addressed to the citizens of Samar and Leyte, calling on them to stand united and
to live in peace under the protection of the new-born Republic following the virtual
evacuation of the Spaniards.
On January 1, 1892, Manuel Acuña Roxas was born in Capiz to Gerardo

Roxas, Sr. and Rosario Acuña. His father Gerardo died before he was born.
Gerardo was mortally wounded by the Spanish guardias civiles the year before,
leaving him and his older brother Mamerto to be raised by their mother and by
their maternal grandfather, Don Eleuterio.
Manuel Roxas was the first president of the independent Third Republic of the
Philippines and fifth president overall. He served as president from the granting of
Philippine independence in 1946 until his abrupt death in 1948.
On January 1, 1906, by virtue of Philippine Commission Act No. 1123 of April

1904, the official language of the Philippines became English. It was used in court
proceedings and no person was eligible for government service who did not know
the language.
On January 2, 1899, when the Council of Government was created,

Apolinario Mabini was designated President or Chairman of the Council and at
the same time was designated to hold the post of Secretary of Foreign Relations in
concurrent capacity.
On Janauary 2, 1962, the United States Information Service released a

message from President John Kennedy to President Diosdado Macapagal, dated
December 30, 1961, offering him on behalf of the people of the United States, the
warmest congratulations on his election, and stating that "the spirit of all who love
liberty are encouraged by the unwavering devotion of the people of the Philippines
to their democratic heritage".
US Secretary of State Dean Rusk at the same time sent his congratulations to
Vice-President Emmanuel Pelaez.
On January 3, 1749, Sultan Alim Ud Din, arrived in Manila from Zamboanga

who was received with all the honor due to a Prince. A house of entertainment of
70 persons were prepared in Binondo. Triumphal arches were erected across the
streets which were lined with over 2000 native militia under arms. The Sultan was
received publicly in the hall of the Audencia where the governor promised to lay
his case before the King.
On January 3, 1949, the Central Bank of the Philippines was inaugurated

with Miguel Cuaderno, Sr. as the first governor. The main duties and
responsibilities of the Central Bank were to promote economic development and
maintain internal and external monetary stability.
Shortly after President Manuel Roxas assumed office in 1946, Finance Secretary
Miguel Cuaderno, Sr. was instructed to draw up a charter for a central bank. The
establishment of a monetary authority became imperative a year later as a result
of the findings of the Joint Philippine-American Finance Commission chaired by
Cuaderno. The Commission, which studied Philippine financial, monetary, and
fiscal problems in 1947, recommended a shift from the dollar exchange standard
to a managed currency system. A central bank was necessary to implement the
proposed shift to the new system.
On January 4, 1897, 11 of the 15 Bicol Martyrs were executed in
Bagumbayan (present day Luneta park) five days after Dr. Jose Rizal was shot to
death in the same place on December 30, 1896.
The 15 Bicolanos, most of them masons, were among the first victims of Spanish
cruelty under Governor-General Camilo G. de Polavieja's administration which
became extremely merciless against those it considered as traitors to Spain.
11 of the 15 were executed at the Luneta in Manila.
 Rev. Inocencio Herrera - a native of Pateros, Rizal, he grew up in the

Bicol Region and enrolled in the seminary of Nueva Caceres (now Naga
City). He was a brilliant young man and had always topped his class. Gifted
with a good voice, he became the choir master of the Metropolitan
Cathedral of Nueva Caceres. He was only 30 years old when the Spaniards
executed him.
 Rev. Gabriel Prieto - He demonstrated unusual wit and intelligence. He
was a consistent scholar at the seminary of Nueva Caceres, where he
studied for the priesthood. After his ordination, he was appointed by Msgr.
Herrera as his adviser and confidential secretary. Father Prieto was
denounced by the Spanish friars for his liberal and independent ideas.
 Rev. Severino Diaz - He was born in Bulan, Sorsogon of poor but
hardworking parents. He was a model student at the seminary and later as
parish priest of Nueva Caceres. He attended to his flock with extraordinary
zeal. People remember him as the man who rebuilt and improved the Naga
Cathedral. The Spanish friars were jealous of him for becoming the first
Filipino Cura Paroco of Nueva Caceres. He was 45 years old when he was
executed at the Luneta.
 Manuel Abella - A native of Catanauan, Quezon, he was better known for
his philanthropic activities among the poor and underprivileged. He was 60
years old when he faced the firing squad in Bagumbayan.
 Domingo Abella - A son of Manuel Abella. Frank and outspoken, he took
every opportunity to denounce the abuses and arrogance of the Spaniards.
He was only 25 when he was executed at the Luneta.
 Camilo Jacob - A commercial photographer and native of Polangui, Albay.
Like Domingo Abella, he was open-hearted. Suspected of conniving with the
revolutionists, Jacob was tortured and starved to death in prison.
 Tomas Prieto - A brother of Rev. Gabriel Prieto. A pharmacist, he was
popular with the common people for his liberal and progressive ideas. He
was executed at the age of 30.
 Florendo Lerma - A theater owner and playwright from Quiapo, Manila, he
went to Bicol at the age of 15 and established the first movie house in
Naga.
 Macario Valentin - He was chief of the night patrol in Naga. He took
advantage of his position by siding with the revolutionists, whom he
supplied with valuable information about the activities of the Spanish
militia.
 Mariano Melgarejo - A native son of Naga. In his diary, he wrote: "I look
forward to the day when Filipinas takes her place among the free nations of
the world."
 Cornelio Mercado - An employee in the public works department of Nueva
Caceres.
The four Bicolano freedom fighters who were either exiled or died in prison were:
 Leon Hernandez - A resident of Libmanan, Camarines Sur, who was well-

to-do and highly influential. He was thrown into the municipal jail in Nueva
Caceres, where he was tortured to death for denying participation in the
revolutionary movement.
 Ramon Abella - Also a son of Manuel Abella, who was executed at the
Luneta. He was a strong advocate of the progressive and independent
aspiration of his father.
 Mariano Arana - A government surveyor who died in exile on Bioko Island
(then Fernando Po).
 Mariano Ordenanza - A clerk in the Bureau of Public Works. He died in jail
in Manila shortly after he was sentenced to 20 years imprisonment by the
Spanish Council of War.
On January 5, 1899, General Emilio Aguinaldo issued manifestos

declaring his opposition to the "benevolent assimilation declaration" of US
President McKinley. Aguinaldo declared that "I protest 1001 times with all
the energy of my soul against such authority. I solemnly declare that
neither in Singapore, Hongkong, nor here in the Philippines did I ever
agree, by word or in writing, to recognize the sovereignty of America in this
our lovely country".
On January 6, 1812, Melchora Aquino de Ramos, who became known as

"Tandang Sora", was born in Balintawak.
On January 6, 1927, Martin Ocampo, once a Guam deportee, died at San Juan
de Dios Hospital. Ocampo was a prominent part in founding Philippine journalism
through his position as manager and publisher of El Renacimiento and La
Vanguardia.
On January 7, 1901, Major General Arthur MacArthur Jr. ordered the

deportation to the island of Guam a number of politicians and leaders of the
Revolution led by Filipino hero Apolinario Mabini.
On January 8, 1851, Severino de las Alas, one of the more prominent

signatories of the Biak-na-Bato Constitution, was born in Indang, Cavite.
On January 9, 1945, the United States Army under General Douglas

MacArthur landed at Bonuan (Blue Beach) in Lingayen, Pangasinan near
Dagupan, which liberation forces fanned out without resistance to Central Luzon.
On January 9, 1973, a barter trade zone was established in Mindanao by

virtue of Presidential Decree No. 93. Under the decree, the government allowed
businessmen from the Sulu Archipelago, Balabac Islands, and Zamboanga del Sur
to trade with neighboring islands and sell imported items within the region without
tariff duties.
On January 10, 1903, the Board of Dental Examiners was reorganized

through Public Act No. 593 entitled, “The Act of Regulating the Practice of
Dentistry in the Philippine Islands.”
Earlier, the dental profession received its professional status as a field of practice
during the American regime when the Board of Dental Examiners was created by
the Provost Marshall General on August 2, 1899.
On January 10, 1983, President Ferdinand E. Marcos signed into law, in

Malacanang, the country's first comprehensive Local Government Code (Batas
Pambansa Bilang 337) which defined the powers and functions of local elective
officials, giving them autonomy while decentralizing government powers in
barangays, towns, cities and provinces.
On January 11, 1897, the so-called "Thirteen Martyrs of Bagumbayan"

were executed following their arrests after the Cry of Pugadlawin on charges of
treason and sedition.
On January 11, 1902, Honorata "Atang" de la Rama, National Artist for

theater and music, was born in Pandacan, Manila.
Orphaned at an early age, she grew up under the care of an elder sister who was
married to a zarzuela composer where she was constantly exposed to the
zarzuela. She would later become the lead star of around 50 zarzuelas and
performed not only in locally-renowned venues but also in "open plazas" and
"cockpits".
At the age of 7, she was already starring in Spanish zarzuelas such as Mascota,
Sueño de un Vals, and Marina.
On January 11, 1940, Quirino Lizardo and his nephew Ferdinand Marcos, who
won the highest honors in the 1939 bar examinations, and son of former
Assemblyman Mariano Marcos, were convicted of murder of Julio Nalundasan,
Assemblyman-elect in 1935. Mariano and his brother Pio were acquitted.
On January 11, 1979, the Philippines inaugurated its first geothermal plant
in Tiwi, Albay
Tiwi is the third largest geothermal facility in the Philippines with 275 megawatts
of installed generating capacity.
Since commercial operations began in 1979 and up until December 2002, Tiwi and
the Makiling-Banahaw (Mak-Ban) geothermal operations have combined to
produce 88,500 gigawatt-hours (GWH) in gross cumulative generation.
On January 12, 1889, Hispano-Filipino Association, an organization

composed of Filipinos and Spaniards, was formed in Madrid, Spain calling for
reforms in the Philippines during Spanish colonization.
On January 13, 1933, the Hare-Hawes-Cutting Act became the first measure
passed by the United States House of Representatives, overriding a veto by
President Herbert Hoover, to set definite date for the independence of the
Philippines.
On January 13, 1975, Sultan Mohammad Dipatuan Kudarat (also spelled

Qudarat) of Maguindanao was hailed as national hero of the Filipino people and
not just of Muslim Filipinos.
Following Letter of Instruction 126, which then President Ferdinand Marcos issued
in September 1973, Sultan Kudarat commemorative stamps were presented to
descendants of the hero to help highlight Muslim Filipinos' contribution to
Philippine struggle against 400 years of foreign domination.
On January 14, 1899, General Carlos P. Romulo, journalist, diplomat and the
first Filipino to become President of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA),
was born in Camiling, Tarlac.
On January 14, 1975, Miguel Cuaderno one of the so-called "Seven Wise Men"
who drafted the 1935 Constitution and one of the early main pillars of the
Philippine economy, died at the age of 74. He was born on December 12, 1890 in
Tondo, Manila.
On January 15, 1894, Dr. Hilario D. G. Lara, regarded as the Father of Modern
Public Health in the Philippines, was born in Imus, Cavite.
Lara devoted over five decades of his life to the study of the spread of cholera,
typhoid fever, dysentery, measles and diphtheria, resulting in the prevention of
these diseases in the country.
Dr. Lara received numerous awards and recognition, including the National
Scientist Award in 1985 given by President Ferdinand Marcos.
On January 15, 1973, Lim Seng, convicted drug trafficker, was executed by
firing squad at 6 in the morning. His execution sent a stern warning to drug
syndicates in the country and resulted in terminating the illicit drug business in
the country during that period.
On January 16, 1981, the Lung Center of the Philippines (LCP) which
provides health care specifically on lung and pulmonary diseases, was established
in Quezon City by President Ferdinand E. Marcos under Presidential Decree No.
1823.
On Jan 17, 1899 the First raising of the Philippine Flag in Mindanao
On January 17, 1981, President Ferdinand E. Marcos lifted martial law which
he declared nationwide on September 21, 1972 through Proclamation No. 1081.
Citing the rising wave of lawlessness and the threat of a communist insurgency as
justification, Marcos issued the proclamation which curtailed press freedom and
other civil liberties, closed down Congress and media establishments, and caused
the arrest of opposition leaders and militant activists, including staunchest critics
then Senators Benigno Aquino Jr., Jovito Salonga and Jose Diokno. Many other
political opponents were forced to go into exile overseas.
On January 18, 1737, a treaty of peace was signed between Governor-General

Valdes Tamon and Alimud Din, the Sultan of Sulu, represented in Manila by Datu
Mohammad Ismael and Datu Ja'far
On January 19, 1974, the Philippine tourism industry opened a "second

front" in the south with the inauguration of the new Zamboanga international
airport and terminal.
Zamboanga international airport is the Mindanao's third-busiest after Francisco

Bangoy International Airport in Davao City and Lumbia Airport in Cagayan de Oro
City.
On January 20, 1872, the Cavite Mutiny, an uprising of military personnel at

the Spanish arsenal in Cavite headed by Sergeant Lamadrid, who died in action
two days later, took place. This event subsequently led to the execution of the
Filipino priests Mariano Gomez, Jose Burgos and Jacinto Zamora, otherwise known
as GOMBURZA.
On January 20, 1899, United States President William McKinley created the
first Philippine Commission, known as the Schurman Commission.
This commission recommended establishment of a civil government, bicameral

legislature and a public school system in the Philippines. Its report also became
the basis for the second Philippine Commission's creation on July 4, 1901.
On Jan 21, 1899 The Malolos Constitution was promulgated in Barasoain

Church, Malolos, Bulacan. After a lengthy debate, the Political Constitution of
1899 (Spanish: Constitución Política de 1899), informally known as the Malolos
Constitution, was the basic law of the First Philippine Republic. It was written by
Felipe Calderón y Roca and Felipe Buencamino as an alternative to a pair of
proposals to the Malolos Congress by Apolinario Mabini and Pedro Paterno. in the
latter part of 1898.
On January 21, 1853, Leon Ma. Guerrero, nationalist scientist and the so-
called "Father of Botany in the Philippines" was born in Ermita, Manila. He was
also dubbed as the 1st Filipino industrial scientist, forensic chemist and "Father of
Philippine Pharmacy."
On January 21, 1961, Senator Ferdinand E. Marcos was elected president of
the Liberal Party at a convention held in a cabaret in Santa Ana, Manila, after
having withdrawn his candidacy for the party's presidential nomination.
On January 22, 1873, Robert McCulloch Dick, editor and publisher of the
weekly magazine Philippines Free Press, who coined the name "Juan de la Cruz" in
generic reference to Filipinos, was born in Edinburgh, Scotland. His parents were
the former Lily Smith and John Dick, a businessman.
He attended a public school from the age of four and, at the age of 12, entered a
private academy where he finished a three-year course in two, while also taking a
two-year course in German at night school. Childhood memories are of bitter
poverty after his father's untimely death, which left the mother, known, he
proudly recalls, as "the honest widow Dick", as the family's sole support. Faced in
his early teens with earning his own living, he apprenticed to a mapmaking
concern in Edinburgh.
On January 22, 1878, Baron de Overbeck was conferred the title Datu
Bandahara and Rajah of Sandakan by Sultan Mahomed Jamal Al Alam, Sultan of
Sulu.
On January 22, 1974, President Ferdinand Marcos ordered the immediate

institution of amelioration measures, starting with emergency allowances for
government workers, to help the people over the period of fluid and unstable
prices.
On January 23, 1899, the First Philippine Republic, also known as the
Malolos Republic, was inaugurated in Malolos, Bulacan with General Emilio
Aguinaldo as President.
On January 23, 1942, the Philippine Executive Commission (PEC), was

organized and issued by Order No. 1 by the Commander-in-Chief of the Japanese
Forces in the Philippines. Jorge B. Vargas was appointed chairman and was
instructed to the immediate coordination of the central organs and of judicial
courts, based upon what had existed theretofore with the approval of the
Commander-in-Chief.
On January 24, 1917, the country lost one of its heroes with the death of
General Quintin Salas who was acknowledged for his valor during the Visayan
revolution against Spain and was among the last officers to surrender to the
Americans.
Born on October 31, 1870 in Dumangas, Iloilo province, he was the town mayor or
"Capitan Municipal" there when the revolution broke out in August 1896.
On January 25, 1933, Maria Corazon "Cory" Sumulong Cojuangco Aquino,

the 11th President of the Philippines and the first woman to hold such office, was
born in Manila.
Cory, as she is affectionately known, is best remembered for leading the 1986
EDSA People Power Revolution, which toppled the authoritarian regime of the late
President Ferdinand Marcos and restored democracy in the Philippines.
She was revered by many Filipinos as the Philippines' "Icon of Democracy." She
was also hailed by TIME Magazine as the "Saint of Democracy," due to her well-
known spiritual life and strong adherence to non-violence and democracy.
On January 26, 1930, Napoleon Abueva, the "Father of Modern Philippine

Sculpture", was born in Tagbilaran, Bohol.
On January 26, 1954, President Ramon Magsaysay issued Executive Ordtr
No. 8, prohibiting the slaughtering of carabaos for a period of one year, beginning
January 31, 1954. The President stated that Republic Act No. 11, approved
September 2, 1946, prohibits the slaughtering of male and female carabaos,
horses, mares, and cows, unless authorized by the Secretary of Agriculture and
Natural Resources.
On January 27, 1867, Juan Crisostomo Soto, journalist, poet, playwright

and known as the Father of Pampanga Literature, was born in Santa Ines, Bacolor,
Pampanga.
On January 28, 1861, Julián Felipe, music teacher, band leader and
composer of the Philippine national anthem, "Lupang Hinirang," ("La Marcha
Nacional Filipina," ) was born in Cavite City, Cavite.
On January 29, 1889, Francisco Santiago, the Father of Kundiman Art Song,
was born to musically-minded peasant parents, Felipe Santiago and Maria
Santiago, in Santa Maria, Bulacan.
On January 30, 1899, the Supreme Court was organized in Manila

superseding the Audiencia Territorial de Manila which was suspended on the same
day. The Audiencia functioned as the highest tribunal in the country.
On January 30, 1911, Taal Volcano erupted killing approximately 1,500 people
and millions of pesos worth of damage was wrought. Post mortem examination of
the victims seemed to show that practically all had died of scalding by hot steam
or hot mud, or both.
On January 31, 1735, Governor-general Fernando Valdez y Tamon, laid the

corner stone of the Ayuntamiento. Its construction was complete in 1738.
The Ayuntamiento was the finest public building in the islands and remained one
of the best and was excellently suited to be converted into a museum of art and
history, until it was destroyed during the World War II.
The word Ayuntamiento means town council, in Manila, it applies to the public
building that used to stand on the northeast side of Plaza de McKinley in
Intramuros (the walled city), a building two stories high and nearly, if not quite
square, extending over an area of some 6,000 square yards (6,240 varas
cuadradas being the exact area).
On January 31, 1876, Pedro Abad Santos was born in San Fernando,
Pampanga in a modest house thatched with nipa. He was the eldest of the ten
children of Vicente Abad Santos and Toribia Basco, natives of San Fernando and
Guagua, Pampanga, respectively.
Pedro took his secondary education at the Colegio de San Juan de Letran,
subsequently transferred to the University of Santo Tomas where he obtained his
Bachelor of Arts in 1891. He finished law and was admitted to the bar in 1906.
FEBRUARY
On February 1, 1898, Cecilio F. Lopez, first Filipino scientific linguist and

academician, was born in Marikina (now) City. He is known in Philippine history as
the "Father of Philippine Linguistic."
Lopez, the first Filipino to obtain a doctoral degree in linguistic at the University of
Hamburg in 1928, pioneered his work in the growth of a Filipino custom using a
scientific study of Philippine Language.
On February 1, 1904, Luke E. Wright was inaugurated as Civil Governor of the

Philippines following Howard Taft's departure.
In his inaugural address Mr. Wright dwelt upon the need of industrial development
and of transportation, especially railroads, and urged that encouragement and
friendliness be shown to all who desired to enter the islands for their legitimate
development. The policy, he said, should be one of "equal opportunities to all".
On February 2, 1899, the National Citizen's Army, forerunner of the Armed

Forces of the Philippines (AFP), was founded under the Malolos Republic.
Its origins could be traced to the Tejeros Convention in 1897, where the
revolutionary government of General Emilio Aguinaldo created the Philippine Army
under Captain General Artemio Ricarte.
On February 3, 1945, the American forces liberated nearly 4,000 prisoners

of war in the University of Santo Tomas (UST) internment camp in Manila, which
signaled the full American control and victory over the Japanese invaders in the
Philippines.
On February 4, 1899 at about eight o'clock in the evening, Private William

W. Grayson—a sentry of the 1st Nebraska Volunteer Infantry Regiment fired the
first shots of the war at the corner of Sociego and Silencio Streets, in Santa Mesa.
Upon opening fire, Grayson killed a Filipino lieutenant and another Filipino soldier;
Filipino historians maintain that the slain soldiers were unarmed.This action
triggered the 1899 Battle of Manila. The following day, Filipino General Isidoro
Torres came through the lines under a flag of truce to deliver a message from
Aguinaldo to General Otis that the fighting had begun accidentally, and that
Aguinaldo wished for the hostilities to cease immediately and for the
establishment of a neutral zone between the two opposing forces. Otis dismissed
these overtures, and replied that the "fighting, having begun, must go on to the
grim end". On February 5, General Arthur MacArthur ordered his troops to
advance against Filipino troops, beginning a full-scale armed clash. The first
Filipino fatality of the war was Corporal Anastacio Felix of the 4th Company,
Morong Battalion under Captain Serapio Narváez. The battalion commander was
Colonel Luciano San Miguel.[
The Philippine–American War (also referred to as the Filipino-American War, the

Philippine War, the Philippine Insurrection, the Tagalog Insurgency; Filipino:
Digmaang Pilipino-Amerikano; Spanish: Guerra Filipino-Estadounidense) was an
armed conflict between the First Philippine Republic and the United States that
lasted from February 4, 1899, to July 2, 1902
On February 5, 1842 the Wilkes treaty was signed at Soung, Island of Sulu.
This treaty is the first written understanding between the government of the
United States of America and the Philippines through the Sultanate of Sulu.
On February 6, 1848, Marcelo Adonay, composer of religious music, was born

in Pakil, Laguna to Mariano Adonay and Prudencia Quiteria, a peasant couple.
Poverty left Adonay's parents no choice but to entrust him to the care of the
priests at San Agustin Church in Manila. These are the priests who discovered his
innate talent in music.
Although he lacked a formal education in music, Adonay mostly self-taught
mastered the organ, the violin, the contrabass, and the trumpet. His fellow
composers considered him as genius.
On February 6, 1964, General Emilio Aguinaldo, first President of the

Philippine Republic, died at 3:05 in the morning at the Veterans Memorial Hospital
where he had been confined for over a year, at the age of 95.
On February 6, 1897 Román Basa was executed being a Filipino patriot who
was the second Supremo or leader of the Katipunan, the secret society which
sparked the Philippine Revolution against Spanish rule in 1896. Basa was born to
Mariano Basa and Dorotea Esteban in San Roque, Cavite where he also completed
his primary schooling. It is not known where, or if, he completed his studies but
he was employed in the Comandancia de Marina in Manila where he eventually
rose to a position of responsibility.
On February 7, 1986, the Commission on Elections (Comelec) conducted

the presidential and vice-presidential "snap" elections with incumbent President
Ferdinand E. Marcos and former Senate President and Foreign Minister Arturo M.
Tolentino running against the tandem of Mrs. Corazon C. Aquino and former
Senator Salvador H. Laurel.
On February 8, 1890, Claro M. Recto, a noted lawyer, Congressman,

Senator, nationalist statesman and regarded as the Father of the 1935
Constitution, was born in Tiaong, Tayabas (now Quezon province) to Don Claro
Recto, Sr. of Rosario Batangas and Doña Micaela Mayo of Lipa.
On February 8, 1935, the delegates to the 1935 constitutional convention

agreed on the final draft of the constitution after having deliberated for several
months. It was signed by the 202 members on February 19. The convention which
opened on July 30, 1934, was under the Presidency of Senator Claro M. Recto.
On February 9, 1837 Father Jose Apolonio Burgos, one of the three Filipino
Martyr Priests collectively called GOMBURZA, was born in the town of Vigan, Ilocos
Sur. His father was Jose Burgos, a Spanish lieutenant in the Spanish militia of the
Ilocos, and his mother was Florencia Garcia, a native of Vigan. He was baptized on
the 12th of the same month. He received his first education from his mother,
herself a woman of education and fine qualities.
On February 10, 1899, the poem "The White Man's Burden: The United States
and the Philippine Islands" by Rudyard Kipling, was first published in the New York
Sun, a McLure's Magazine. It was originally written for the Diamond Jubilee
celebration of Britains' Queen Victoria's reign, but was exchanged for the poem
"Recessional", also by Kipling. Later, Kipling rewrote the text of "The White Man's
Burden" to address the American colonization of the Philippine Islands.
On February 10, 2003, Dr. Josette Biyo, a teacher at the Philippine Science
High School-Western Visayas Campus, was honored by the Massachusetts
Institute of Technology's Lincoln Laboratory in Lexiton, Massachusetts by naming
a minor planet or planetoid (13241) after her.
Planet Biyo is nine kilometers in diameter and is located at the belt between Mars
and Jupiter.
Dr. Biyo won in 2002 the grand prize in the Intel International and Engineering
Fair in Louiseville, Kentucky.
On February 11, 1860, Vicente Lukban, was born in Labo, Camarines Norte to
Agustin Lukban and Andrea Rilles.
After his elementary education at the Escuela Pia Publica in his hometown, he
proceeded to Manila and enrolled at the Ateneo de Manila and later, at the Colegio
de San Juan de Letran. He was employed as official criminalista in the Court of the
First Instance where he became acquainted with Marcelo H. del Pilar, Doroteo Jose
and other patriots.
On February 11, 1861, Severino Reyes, noted playwright, writer, dramatist

and acclaimed as one of the giants of Tagalog and Filipino Literature in the early
20th century, was born in Sta.Cruz, Manila.
Feb 11, 1899 Teresa Magbanua (born Teresa Magbanua y Ferraris: October 13,
1868 – August 1947) dubbed as the "Visayan Joan of Arc" was a Filipino
schoolteacher and military leader. Born in Pototan, Iloilo, Philippines, She retired
from education and became a housewife shortly after her marriage to Alejandro
Balderas, a wealthy landowner from Sara, Iloilo attacked the Iloilo-based
American colonial forces
On February 12, 1915, Lamberto Vera Avellana, first Filipino National Artist
in Theater and Film, was born in Bontoc, Mountain Province.
On February 13, 1565, Spanish conquistador Miguel López de Legazpi and his
troops arrived in the Philippines and landed on the shores of Cibabao (present day
Samar island).
Earlier, on November 21, 1564, Legazpi set sail from Puerto de la Navidad,
Mexico, sighted Gua Island in the Ladrones on January 21, stayed there for about
11 days. Sailed for 11 more days mostly of good weather and then finally came in
sight of the Filipinas. In the afternoon of February 13, 1565, Legazpi cast anchor
in the bay called Cibabao and remained there for 7 or 8 days.
On February 14, 1912, Maria Kalaw Katigbak, a Senator, beauty titlist, writer,
and civic leader, was born in Manila to Teodoro M. Kalaw, journalist-scholar, and
Pura Villanueva, pioneer civic leader and champion of women’s rights in the
Philippines.
On February 14, 1975, the Philippine Heart Center for Asia in Quezon City
was inaugurated. It was established through a Presidential Decree issued by
President Ferdinand E. Marcos.
February 15, 1565, Legaspi took possession of Cibabao (Samar island)

ACT OF TAKING POSSESSION OF CIBABAO This island is called by the French
pilot Pierres Plun, in his relation, Zibaban, Zibao, and Zibaba. La Concepcion calls
it (Historia, vol. i, p. 33) Ybabao. The editor of Cartas de Indias conjectures this to
be the island of Libagas (near Mindoro); but that would not agree with the
statements made about it in various documents. Retana (Zuiñiga, vol. ii, p. 383)
says that Cibabao is Samar.
In another document, dated February 20, 1565 (published in Col. doc. inid.
Ultramar, iii, pp. 8i, 82), Legazpi personally verified the possession taken by
Ybarra, Andres de Urdaneta being witness thereto. On that day Legazpi took
possession not only of Cibabao but of the adjacent islands.
On February 15, 1889 headed by José Rizal's cousin, Galicano Apacible, La

Solidaridad it issued a newspaper of the same name which was published
in Barcelona, Spain. It was edited by Graciano López Jaena and later on by
Marcelo H. del Pilar. The social, cultural, and economic conditions of the colonial
Philippines was published in La Solidaridad. Speeches of the Spanish liberals about
the Philippines was also featured in the newspaper.
On February 15, 1895, Jovita Fuentes, dubbed the First Lady of Philippine
Music, was born in the capital town of Capiz (now Roxas City) in Capiz province.
On February 16, 1899, Apolinario Mabini wrote a letter to Galicano Apacible in

Hong Kong, informing him of the outbreak of the Filipino-American war on
February 4 and blamed the Americans for starting the hostilities.
On February 17, 1872, the three martyred Priests, Fathers Mariano Gomez,
Jose Apolonio Burgos, and Jacinto Zamora, better known for the acronym
GOMBURZA, were executed by garrote by the Spaniards in Bagumbayan in
connection with the 1872 Cavite Mutiny.
The three priests incurred the hatred of the Spanish authorities for leading the
campaign against the abusive Spanish friars and fighting for equal rights among
priests. They fought on unresolved issues about secularization in the Philippines
that resulted in a conflict among the religious regulars and the church seculars.
On February 17, 1897, the Battle of Zapote Bridge between the Spanish
forces and the Filipino revolutionaries led by General Emilio Aguinaldo took place.
Gen. Edilberto Evangelista, civil engineer and revolutionary, died in
battle.
On February 18, 1946, the US Congress enacted the Rescission Act of 1946, a
suppose to be simple appropriations measure authorizing $200 million to the
Commonwealth Army of the Philippines, which was desperately needed by a
military decimated by three years of war with the Japanese.
On February 18, 1958, the Board of Regents of the University of the

Philippines elected Dean Vicente G. Sinco of the College of Law, to the Presidency
of the University.
On February 18, 1981, Lorenzo Ruiz, a former altar boy from Binondo, Manila,
was beatified by Pope John Paul II during his Papal visit to the Philippines. It was
the first beatification ceremony held outside the Vatican City, Rome.
On February 19, 1886, Jose Abad Santos y Basco, fifth Chief Justice of the
Supreme Court, was born in San Fernando, Pampanga.
On February 19, 1888, Dona Aurora Aragon Quezon, wife of Commonwealth

President Manuel L. Quezon, was born in Baler, Tayabas (now Aurora province.)
On February 20, 1862, Francisco Baltazar, so-called "Prince of Tagalog Poets"

for his impact on Filipino Literature, equivalent of William Shakespeare, died at the
age 73.
Feb 20, 1899 Battle of Mandorino, Iloilo, commanded by Gen Martin

Delgado.
On February 21, 1853, Felix Resurreccion Hidalgo, one of the greatest

Filipino painters along with fellow painter Juan Luna in the 19th century, was born
in Binondo, Manila.
On February 22, 1872, Austin Craig, Rizal Research Professor of History at the
University of the Philippines, was born in Eddytown, New York. He was a
namesake of his father, Reverend Austin Craig, Doctor of Divinity. His mother was
Mary Adelaide Churchill Craig.
Austin Craig was educated at the Cornell University (Bachelor of Laws, 1894),
Rochester University (Master of Arts, 1911). In 1929, Criag was awarded an
honorary Doctor of Letters degree from the Pacific University.
On February 22, 1889, national hero Dr. Jose Rizal wrote a letter to a group
of young women of Malolos supporting their plan of putting up a night school.
February 22—25, 1986, a People Power Revolution was held in Epifanio

de los Santos Avenue (EDSA), Metro Manila with 2,000,000+ protestors
caused by assassination of Benigno Aquino Jr. in 1983; alleged fraud during the
1986 Presidential snap elections; and decades of oppressive and authoritarian
rule.
Its primary role was to remove Ferdinand Marcos, soon exiled in Hawaii and the
installation of Corazon Aquino as President resulting in revolutionary victory
started the Fifth Philippine Republic People Power Revolutionaries Political groups
includes: UNIDO, PDP-Laban, Liberal Party; Military defectors: Reform the Armed
Forces Movement; Defected soldiers and others: Anti-Marcos civilian protesters.
Religious groups also include Archdiocese of Manila; CBCP; Protestant churches of
the Philippines. Militant groups include Bagong Alyansang Makabayan; Kilusang
Mayo Uno; League of Filipino Students; Christians for National Liberation.
Among the lead political figures was Corazon Aquino, Salvador Laurel, Juan Ponce
Enrile, Fidel V. Ramos, Gringo Honasan and Jaime Cardinal Sin against Ferdinand
Marcos, Imelda Marcos and Fabian Ver
On February 23, 1918, an Act was passed to build a national monument for
Andres Bonifacio, known Father of Philippine Revolution for his role in fighting for
Philippine independence against the Spanish colonizers.
On February 24, 1888, General Vicente Lim, Bataan hero and the first Filipino
to graduate from the United States Military Academy at West Point (class of
1914), was born in Calamba, Laguna.
On February 24, 1937, Cebu became a chartered city. From a sleepy fishing
village to a fledgling trading port in 1521, from the first Spanish settlement named
Villa del Santisimo Nombre de Jesus in 1575 to a municipality in 1901, Cebu finally
became a chartered city on February 24, 1937.
On February 25, 1986, President Corazon C. Aquino was sworn in as

President of the Philippines during ceremonies held at Club Filipino in Greenhills,
San Juan, Metro Manila. Almost simultaneously, about an hour later, President
Ferdinand E. Marcos was also sworn in before Chief Justice Ramon C. Aquino in
the Ceremonial Hall of the Malacañang Palace in Manila and broadcast live by IBC-
13 and GMA-7 TV stations.
On February 26, 1903, Apolinario Mabini, took oath of allegiance to the United
States of America, before the Collector of Customs. Mabini who had on two
previous ocassions refused to do so, said in his manifesto:
On February 26, 1937, Zamboanga, previously often called "Jambangan" or

land of flowers, was declared a city by virtue of Commonwealth Act No. 39.
Situated on the southern tip of Zamboanga del Sur, the city is now the center of
commerce, trade, health services, and education for the entire Zamboanga
Peninsula (Western Mindanao or Region 9).
Among its popular tourist spots are Fort Pilar, the Pasonanca Park and the
Zamboanga City Special Economic Zone Authority (popularly known as
Zamboecozone).
On February 27, 1858, Pedro Alejando Paterno, the so-called peacemaker of

the Revolution, was born in Sta. Cruz, Manila.
On February 27, 1945, General Douglas MacArthur, solemnly declared that in
behalf of the Government of the United States, "the full powers and
responsibilities under the Constitution restored to the Commonwealth of the
Philippines whose seat is here reestablished as provided by law".
On February 28, 1847, Roman Ongpin, philantropist and a rich Chinese

businessman who supported the Katipuneros during the 1896 uprising against
Spain, was born in Binondo, Manila.
On February 29, 1956 (a leap year), President Elipidio Quirino died of heart
attack at his home in Novaliches (Quezon City) at around 6:35 in the evening.
Quirino retired from politics to private life after his failed bid for re-election in
1953.
MARCH
On March 1, 1767, the president of the Council of Castilla, Pedro Pablo

Abarca de Bolea, Conde de Aranda, wrote to the Governor-General of the Filipinas,
Jose Raon, informing him of the decree of the banishment of the Jesuits and the
seizure of their property in the Filipinas. Abarca de Bolea was especially entrusted
by Spanish King Carlos III with all matters related to the secret banishment of the
Jesuits. Abarca de Bolea in his letter said:
"The very fact of the special honor which the king confers on you of a letter with
his own signature will convince you of the importance of the matter and of
secrecy, and of the king's resolute determination for the most punctual fulfillment
of the decree."
On March 1, 1888 A petition demanded expulsion of the Spanish

archbishop and friars, written my Marcelo del Pilar and signed by 810 Filipinos,
the secularization of benefices and confiscation of the Augustinian and Dominican
estates. These native Filipinos and mestizos marched in procession to the official
residence of Jose Centeno and presented the petition of the friars of the religious
orders, and of the Archbishop, whom they declared unworthy to occupy the
Primacy of the Islands.
On March 2, 1847, Cayetano L. Arellano, the first Chief Justice of the Supreme
Court of the Philippines under American Civil Government, was born in Orion,
Bataan.
Nobody could have predicted that this errand boy of friars would someday be chief
justice of the Supreme Court. At age two he lost his mother and at age five left by
his father under the care of Dominican priest.
In subsequent years, he was under the care of a parish priest of Binondo, Manila
who supervised his schooling and who found him bright and industrious.
On March 2, 1964, Senate President Ferdinand Marcos, speaking before

Dumaguete Rotary and Lions club members, announced he is seeking the
Presidency and reiterates that Macapagal promised to run for only one term, but
that he is willing to abandon his presidential ambitions if Macapagal "will carry out
Liberal Party reform and improve the country's economy".
On March 3, 1894, educator Paz Marquez-Benitez, who authored the first

Filipino modern English-language short story "Dead Stars", was born in Lucena
City, Quezon.
On March 4, 1879, Rosa Sevilla de Alvero, educator, writer and one of the
notable suffragists in Asia who fought for the Filipino women's right to vote, was
born in Tondo, Manila.
On March 5, 1899 the Central Methodist Episcopal Church, the first Protestant
church in the Philippines, was founded during the American occupation.
On March 6, 1909, the University of the Philippines Los Baños (UPLB)

founded by American botanist Edwin B. Copeland, was officially established.
The Board of Regents of the American University of the Philippines established the
College of Agriculture in Los Baños, Laguna, setting up an institution dedicated to
research and education in agriculture and related disciplines.
On March 7, 1867, Tomas A. Remigio, one of the finest playwright during

American Period, was born in Sampaloc, Manila.
On March 8, 1902, Gregorio Y. Zara, a well-known Filipino scientist with 30

devices and equipment patented to his name, was born in Lipa City, Batangas.
On March 9, 1891, Jose P. Laurel, president of the Japanese-sponsored

Republic of the Philippines during World War II, from 1943 to 1945, was born in
Tanauan, Batangas.
On March 9, 1899, Francisca Reyes-Aquino, the country's pioneer researcher

on traditional Philippine folk dances and music and known as the mother Philippine
folk dancing, was born in Lolomboy, Bocaue, Bulacan.
On March 10, 1785, Real Compañía de Filipinas (The Royal Company) was
established through a royal decree. The company together with Sociedad
Económica de Amigos del Pais (Economic Societies of Friends of the Country)
established in 1781, were two of the most important events during the coming of
Governor General José de Basco y Vargas which marked a new era in the
economic history of the country.
On March 10, 1906, Alejandro G. Abadilla, regarded as "Father of Modern

Tagalog Poetry", was born in Rosario, Cavite.
Abadilla, a Filipino poet, essayist and fiction writer, finished his AB Philosophy at
the University of Santo Tomas in 1934.
His major breakthrough in Philippine poetry was when he wrote his poem "Ako
ang Daigdig" (I am the world) in 1955.
His contributions to Philippine literature, extends to the essay, short fiction and
the novel.
On March 11, 1947, the Filipino people ratified in a nationwide plebiscite the
"parity amendment" to the 1935 Constitution.
On March 11, 1966, the old Mountain Province was divided into four separate
provinces,
 Mountain Province, with Bontoc as the capital
 Benguet, with La Trinidad as the capital
 Kalinga-Apayao, with Tabuk as the capital
 and Ifugao, with Lagawe as the capital.
The old Mountain Province used to belong partly to the Ilocos Region (Region 1)
and the rest to the Cagayan Valley (Region 2).
On March 12, 1730, Juan Esandi, S.J., the last Jesuit Missionary to die in the
Philippines before the Jesuit Order was expelled in 1768, was born in Navarre,
Spain.
Fr. Esandi, who arrived in Manila in 1752, was killed by Muslim pirates in Capul
Island, Samar (now Northern Samar) in 1768.
On March 12, 1972, the first ever Philippine made rocket named "Bongbong
I" was successfully launched at Caballo island near Corrigedor in the Manila Bay
and successfully retrieved from the South China Sea. The rocket was part of the
Philippine Military experiment to produce its own ballistic missiles. Initiated by
then President Ferdinand E. Marcos, it was researched and developed by a group
of Filipino and German engineers and scientists and the Philippine Navy under
Project Santa Barbara.
On March 12, 1996, the Philippine Judicial Academy was created by the
Supreme Court in accordance with Republic Act No. 8557 as a “training school for
justices, judges, court personnel, lawyers and aspirants to judicial posts."
It is the Academy’s mission to bring about an institutionalized, integrated and

professionalized system of continuing judicial education for justices, judges, court
personnel and lawyers aspiring for judicial positions.
On March 13, 1877, General Leandro Fullon, a revolutionary leader and the
liberator of Antique during the Philippine Revolution, was born in Hamtik, Antique.
On March 14, 1947, the Military Bases Agreement was signed by President
Manuel A. Roxas and Paul V. McNutt, the United States high commissioner in the
Philippines and concurred in by the Philippine Senate on March 26, 1947, and
accepted and ratified by the US on January 21, 1948.
On March 14, 1903, the Manila Electric Company (Meralco), which supplies
electric power to Metro Manila residents at present, was established.
On March 15, 1565, the so-called Sandugo or blood compact was made
between Bohol chieftain Sikatuna and Spanish explorer Miguel Lopez de Legazpi in
Bohol.
On March 15, 1901, General Mariano Trias along with his subordinate officers
and men surrendered to Lieutenant Colonel Frank D. Baldwin in San Francisco de
Malabon (now named after him), Cavite. Trias who had been prominent in the
Philippine revolution since 1896, held important positions in the revolutionary
government. He was considered the most influential man in the southern Luzon
after General Aguinaldo.
On March 15, 1956, US Secretary of State John Foster Dulles, announced in

Manila that the Philippines had been selected as site for the projected Asian
Nuclear Research Center, this was followed by a statement in Washington, issued
by the International Cooperation Administration (ICA), which ran, in part:
"The Republic of the Philippines has been chosen as the site for the new Asian
nuclear center which was proposed by the United States at the Colombo Plan
meeting held in Singapore last October. The United States is now preparing to
move rapidly with initial plans for the establishment of this center as a means of
putting atomic energy to work for the economic and social progress of Asia. This
action will represent an important step toward the further advancement of
President Eisenhower's atoms-for-peace program."
"Careful consideration of all of the factors involved in the matter of physical

location led to the decision that the Philippines best meets the requirements of
availability of the proposed center to all of the Colombo Plan countries .... The
United States has been gratified with the interest shown in its proposal by the
Colombo Plan countries. In this connection the offer of the Philippine Government
to provide the physical site for the center is an important contribution to its
ultimate success."
On Saturday March 16, 1521, Ferdinand Magellan, after leaving the islands of
Canoyas, later called the Landrones, named after the thievish propensities of its
inhabitants, (now known as Marianas Islands) sailing westward looking for the
Moluccas, sighted an island which has very lofty mountains. Soon after they
learned that it was Zamal (Legaspi's account called this island Cibabao), the
present day Samar Island, a distant three hundred leagues from the islands of the
Ladrones. On the following day the sea-worn expedition, landed on a little
uninhabited island south of Samar which Pigafetta called Humunu, which is known
today as Homonhon a barangay in Guiuan, Eastern Samar.
On March 16, 1960, Araneta Coliseum, considered the biggest coliseum in Asia
during its time, was inaugurated.
On March 17, 1957, President Ramon F. Magsaysay, the so-called champion

of the Filipino masses, died at the age of 49 in a plane crash in Cebu.
On March 17, 1897 General Francisco del Castillo, a close associate of Andres
Bonifacio leader of the established Katipunan in Panay Island., was killed by an
assassin during a fight in the present-day Pastrana Park.
On March 18, 1928, Fidel Valdez Ramos, the 12th president of the Philippines,
was born in Lingayen, Pangasinan.
On the evening of March 18, 1968, the Jabidah commando was said to be
massacred in Corregidor. The alleged massacre resulted from the failed "Operation
Merdeka", a plan to destabilize Sabah (North Borneo).
Planners within the Philippine military associated with President Ferdinand Marcos
conceived a plot sometime in 1967 of establishing a force of commandos to
destabilize Sabah, and then ultimately to take advantage of the instability by
either intervening in the island on the pretext of protecting Filipinos living there,
or by "the residents themselves deciding to secede from Malaysia". This became
the "Operation Merdeka".
On March 19, 1723, Josefa Gabriela Silang, the first Filipino woman to lead a
revolt during the Spanish colonization of the Philippines, was born in Santa, Ilocos
Sur.
On March 20, 1843, Ambrocio Flores, a general of the Philippine Revolutionary

Army who succeeded General Antonio Luna as secretary of war after his
assassination, was born in Manila.
On March 21, 1897, Marcela Marcelo, the Woman General of the revolution
died in the Battle of Pasong Santol (Dasmariñas), Cavite.
Marcelo also known as "Selang Bagsik" (Ferocious Sela) and "Henerala Sela"
(General Sela), hailed from Malibay, formerly a part of Palanyag (now of Pasay
City) . Born in 1869, she married Quirico Lugo of Aguho, Pateros and bore him a
son. Marcelo was a member of an upper class family with a betel nut farm (Pasay
was famous for its betel nuts).
On March 21, 1947, the Joint United States Military Advisory Group or
JUSMAG, which played a key role in suppressing the Huk rebellion in the 1950s,
was organized.
The Hukbalahap Rebellion, a Communist insurgency, that lasted from 1946 to

1954, against the Philippine government. The insurgency was finally put down
through a series of reforms and military victories by Filipino President Ramon
Magsaysay.
On March 22, 1869, Emilio Aguinaldo, the President of the First Philippine
Republic, was born in Cavite El Viejo (present day Kawit), Cavite.
Emilio, nicknamed Miong, was seventh of the eight children of Kapitan Carlos
Aguinaldo y Jamir and Kapitana Trinidad Famy y Valero. He had his primary
education at the public school in Kawit. His mother who was widowed when he
was nine years old sent him to study at the College of San Juan de Letran.
However, Aguinaldo quit college and returned home in Kawit.
On March 22, 1897, the Magdiwang and Magdalo councils met once
more, this time at the friar estate house in Tejeros, a barrio of San
Francisco de Malabon. According to Jacinto Lumbreras, a Magdiwang and
first presiding officer of the Tejeros convention, the meeting had been
called to adopt measure for the defense of Cavite. Again this subject was
not discussed, and instead, the assembled leaders, including the
Magdiwangs, decided to elect the officers of the revolutionary government,
thus unceremoniously discarding the Supreme Council of the Katipunan
under whose standard the people had been fighting and would continue to
fight.
Evidently, the Caviteño elite could not accept an "uneducated" man, and a non-
Caviteño at that, even for the minor post of Director of the Interior. Daniel Tirona
protested Bonifacio's election saying that the post should not be occupied by a
person without a lawyer's diploma. He suggested a Caviteño lawyer, Jose del
Rosario for the position.
This was clearly an intended insult. It naturally infuriated Bonifacio who thereupon
hotly declared:
"I, as chairman of this assembly and as President of the Supreme Council of the
Katipunan, as all of you do not deny, declare this assembly dissolved, and I annul
all that has been approved and resolved."
March 22, 1915, the Sultan of Sulu, Hadji Mohammad Jamalul Kiram, in
behalf of his adherents and people of the Sulu Archipelago, signed in Zamboanga,
a mutual agreement with the Governor General, represented by the governor of
the Department of Mindano and Sulu, Frank W. Carpenter, renouncing his
sovereignty over the Sulu archipelago.
The Sultan agreed "without any reservation and limitation whatsoever, ratifies and
confirms his recognition of the sovereignty of the United States of America, and
the exercise by his Excellency the Governor General and the representatives of the
government in Mindanao and Sulu".
On March 23, 1863, Mariano Ponce, a Filipino physician noted for his works
and contribution in the Philippine Revolution, was born in Baliuag, Bulacan.
Ponce took his medical degree at the University of Santo Tomas, then traveled to
Spain to finish his advanced studies at the Universidad Central de Madrid in 1889.
From there, he joined Marcelo del Pilar, Graciano López Jaena and José Rizal in the
Propaganda Movement which espoused Filipino representation in the Spanish
Cortes and reforms in the Spanish colonial authorities of the Philippines.
On March 23, 1897 At Naik, among the forty-one men who signed a
document were Bonifacio, Artemio Ricarte, Pio del Pilar and Severino de
las Alas. resolving to establish a government independent of, and separate from,
that established at Tejeros. An army was to be organized "by persuasion or force"
and a military commander of their own choice was to take command of it. It
posed a potential danger to the cause of the Revolution, for it meant a definite
split in the ranks of the revolutionists and an almost certain defeat in the face of a
united and well-armed enemy.
On the other hand Generals Aguinaldo, Mariano Trias and Artemio

Ricarte take their oaths as President, Vice-President and Captain
General of the revolutionary government except the Director of War
Emiliano Riego de Dios and Director of the Interior Andres Bonifacio
On March 23, 1897 at 2 am, the 19 Martyrs for cooperating with the
Katipunan during the Philippine Revolution against Spain were executed.
They Roman Aguirre; Tomas Briones; Valeriano Dalida; Domingo dela Cruz; Claro
Delgado; Angelo Fernandez; Benito Iban; Candido Iban; Simeon Inocencio; Isidro
Jimenez’ Catalino Mangat; Lamberto Mangat; Valeriano Masinda; Maximo Mationg;
Simplicio Reyes; Canuto Segovia; Gavino Sucgang; Francisco Villorente; Gavino
Yunsal
On March 23, 1901, General Emilio Aguinaldo was captured by the American
forces led by General Frederick Funston with the help of Macabebe Scouts, in
Palanan, Isabela.
On March 23, 1914, Carmen Planas, the first woman to be elected as a

member of the municipal board of Manila, was born in Tondo, Manila to Iluminado
Planas and Concepcion Lim.
Planas had her elementary education at the Colegio de Sta. Rosa, finished the
primary course in three years, and graduating later as valedictorian of its
intermediate department. For her secondary education, she enrolled at the Holy
Ghost College (present day College of the Holy Spirit), where she graduated with
honors in 1933. That same year, she entered the University of the Philippines to
pursue her bachelor of laws degree, which she obtained in 1940.
On March 24, 1897, the battle since February 15 ended in Perez

Dasmariñas (with nearby vicinities of the town), Cavite, Philippines ended
resulting to decisive Spanish victory under the command of Jose de Lachambre
and Antonio Zabala, retreat of the Katipunero forces from Pasong Santol, Cavite
and Crispulo Aguinaldo, brother of Emelio and Flaviano Yengko, a
commanding officer died including an estimated of 10,000 soldiers., twenty
thousand Filipino civilians against the 3,000 losses inflicted against the Spanish.
On March 24, 1906, Samar Governor George Curry received the surrender of
the remaining Pulajanes in Magtaon, Island of Samar. Around 100 Pulajanes
presented themselves with some 14 guns.
On March 24, 2001, Roselle Ambubuyog became the first visually-impaired

Filipina to emerge as summa cum laude graduate of the Ateneo de Manila
University (ADMU).
On March 25, 1898, attacked and captured the army camp of the
Spaniards in Candon, Ilocos Sur known as “Ikkis ti Kandon" or “The Cry of
Candon”). This becomes the start of the revolutionary efforts of the Filipinos in
Candon against the Spaniards. Abaya then declared the town of Candon as a free
Republic of Candon. Federico Isabelo Abaya known as the “last rebel” and
“Estrella del Sur” (The Star of North)” join the revolutionary arm of Andres
Bonifacio creating the Katipunan faction in Ilocos province called “Espiritu de
Candon”with friends Fernando Guirnalda, Pio Madarang, Toribio Abaya, Nazario
Gray, and Francisco Guirnalda.
On March 25, 1935, Gabriel "Flash" Elorde, one of the greatest Filipino boxers
along with seven-division world champion Manny Pacquiao and flyweight champion
in the 1920s Pancho Villa, was born in Bogo, Cebu.
Elorde, a left handed, won his first world title (lightweight division) in 1960 against
Harold Gomes and defended it successfully for seven and a half years. He also
won other titles in the bantamweight and featherweight categories in the Orient.
In 1963, he was inaugurated as World Boxing Council (WBC) and World Boxing
Association (WBA) champion.
On March 25, 1936, Philippine Commonwealth President Manuel L. Quezon

issued Executive Order No. 23 which prescribed the technical description and
specifications of the national flag.
The then existing design of the national flag was prescribed by General Emilio
Aguinaldo who, during his exile in Hong Kong, requested Marcela Agoncillo to sew
it. She was assisted by her daughter Lorenza and Delfina Herbosa de Natividad in
the task.
On March 25, 1986, newly installed president, Corazon Aquino, issued

Proclamation No. 3, abolishing the 1973 Constitution, the Parliament, the
Supreme Court, the office of the Prime Minister, and all national and local
positions, creating a revolutionary government under what she called the
"Provisional Constitution of the Republic of the Philippines".
On March 26, 1867, Braulio Rivera, one of the "Thirteen Martyrs of

Bagumbayan", was born in Gitna (now renamed after him), Tondo, Manila, near
the corner of Zabala and Sto. Cristo Streets, Manila. Braulio was the son of Jose
Rivera, a worker at the tobacco monopoly administration.
On March 27, 1890, Ruperto Kangleon, a legend in the resistance movement

during the Japanese occupation, was born to Braulio Kangleon and Flora Kadava in
Macrohon, Leyte (now part of Southern Leyte).
On March 28, 1907, Governor James Francis Smith issued peace certificate
declaring that since the publication of the Philippine Census in 1905 there had
been no serious disturbances of the public order save those by outlaws and
religious fanatics and that the great mass of the Filipino people for the previous
two years had been "law-abiding, peaceful and loyal to the United States".
On March 28, 1979, President Ferdinand E. Marcos signed into law the Dairy
Industry Development Act of 1979, meant to accelerate the production,
processing, marketing and distribution of local milk products.
On March 29, 1870, Manuel Zamora, popularly known as the discoverer of the
"tiki-tiki", a formula against beri-beri, was born in Sta. Cruz, Manila to Marciano
Zamora and Martina Molo Agustin, who both belonged to affluent families.
After finishing his primary education at the Ateneo Municipal, Manuel enrolled
Pharmacy at the University of Santo Tomas (UST) and graduated in 1896. During
his student days, he already earned awards for his research works like: "Materia
Farmaceutica Animal y Mineral" (1891-1892), and "Materia Farmaceutica Animal
Vegetal" (1893-1894).
On March 29, 1936, Dr. Quirino O. Navarro, a noted Filipino chemist, was born
in Pinamalayan, Oriental Mindoro.
On March 30, 1591, a municipal ordinance was issued forbidding the natives
to wear silks and other "stuffs" from China.
On March 30, 1900, General Otis formally constituted a Department of Public

Instruction for the Islands and placed Captain Albert Todd of the Sixth Artillery, in
temporary charge.
The Civil Commission, under the Military Government, headed by Judge William
Howard Taft, earlier reported:
"that in 1897 there were in these islands 2,167 public schools. The
ineffectiveness of these schools will be seen when it is remembered that a
school under the Spanish regime was a strictly sectarian, ungraded school,
with no prescribed course of study and no definite standards for each year,
and that they were in charge of duly certificated, but hardly professionally
trained or progressive teachers, housed in unsuitable and unsanitary
buildings. When the Spaniards came here several of the tribes of the
Philippine Islands could read and write their own language. At the present
time, after three hundred years of Spanish domination, the bulk of the
people can not do this. The Spanish Minister for the Colonies in a report
made December 5, 1870, points out that by the process of absorption,
matters of education had become concentrated in the hands of the religious
orders".
The American authorities then quickly realized that better educational

facilities were indispensable and were determined to introduce the American
system of free, non-sectarian public schools.
In Manila, which was then practically the only place where the military
conditions permitted such peaceful work, by the direction of General Otis, and to
please the Catholics, Father McKinnon, a Roman Catholic Army Chaplain,
undertook the establishment of public schools. McKinnon was soon succeeded by
Mr. George P. Anderson, under whom the zone of school work was gradually
widened untill it included several places outside of Manila.
Captain Todd secured reports and opinions from Army officers in various
parts of the Islands and recommended the following:
1. That a comprehensive, modern school system for the teaching of
elementary English be inaugurated at the earliest possible moment, and
that attendance be made compulsory wherever practicable.
2. That industrial schools for manual training be established as soon. as a fair
knowledge of English has been acquired.
3. That all the schools under Government control be conducted in the English
language so far as in any way practicable, and that the use of Spanish or
the dialects be only for a period of transition.
4. That English teachers, well trained in primary instruction, be brought over
from the United States in sufficient numbers to take charge of the schools in
larger towns at least.
5. That a well equipped normal school be established for instructing natives to
become teachers of English.
6. That in the larger towns, a portion, at least, of the school houses be modern
structures, plainly, but well and properly equipped.
7. That the schools supported by the Government be absolutely divorced from
the Church. If the natives desire schools in which religious instruction is to
be given, that they furnish the entire support of same from private
resources, but that attendance at these latter schools shall not excuse the
children from attendance at the public schools, where English is taught. In
addition, the parochial church schools, if such are maintained, shall be
required to be equal in character of general instruction to the public
schools.
With the exception of some modifications, mainly in item number 7, these

recommendations have been substantially followed by the Taft Commission.
On September 1, 1900, Dr. Fred W. Atkinson, formerly principal of the High
School of Springfield, Massachusetts, assumed the office of General
Superintendent of Education.
By January 1, 1901, the Taft Commission enacted a general school law
which, in addition to defining the principles and regulations of the public school
system, gave the General Superintendent power to determine the qualifications of
and to appoint all subordinate superintendents, teachers and clerks.
On March 31, 1521, the first Catholic Mass in the Philippines was held,
Easter Sunday. It was said by Father Pedro de Valderrama along the shores of
Limasawa at the tip of Southern Leyte. Limasawa is this popularly known as the
birthplace of the Church in the Philippines. It marked the birth of Roman
Catholicism in the Philippines. Colambu and Siaiu were the first natives of the
archipelago, which was not yet named "Philippines" until the expedition of Ruy
Lopez de Villalobos in 1543, to attend the mass among other native inhabitants.
On March 31, 1884, Teodoro M. Kalaw, the so-called Father of Philippine

Libraries, was born in Lipa, Batangas.
https://kahimyang.com/kauswagan/articles/april
APRIL
On April 1, 1955, a series of very strong earthquakes beginning at 2:18 in

the morning, with epicenter between Panguil Bay and Lake Lanao, rocked all of
Mindanao, and the southern Visayas, with heavy damage done in Lanao and
Occidental Misamis. Many lives were lost in the towns along the shore of Lake
Lanao as the water receded and then returned.
On April 2, 1788, Prominent Filipino poet Francisco Baltazar, the Philippine

counterpart of famed English writer William Shakespeare, was born in Panginay,
Bigaa, Bulacan.
On April 3, 1939, Catalino Ortiz Brocka, better known as Lino Brocka, one of
the greatest film directors of the Philippines and National Artist for Films (1997),
was born in Pilar, Sorsogon.
On April 4, 1868, Felipe Calderon, a lawyer, statesman, and known as the

"Father of Malolos Constitution", was born in Santa Cruz de Malabon (now Tanza),
Cavite to Don Jose Gonzales Calderon and Doña Manuela
On April 5, 1973, the so-called Golden Buddha owned by Rogelio Roxas of

Baguio City was seized by unidentified government agents.
On April 6, 1828, King of Spain, Ferdinand VII, issued a decree establishing a

public bank in the Philippines to meet the requirements of increasing commerce
and trade in the islands.
On April 7, 1871, Epifanio de los Santos, nationalist, writer and scholar,

lawyer, researcher, musician, politician, painter, among others, was born in
Malabon Rizal, now a city of Metro Manila.
On April 8, 1975, a Friendship Tower symbolizing the restored friendship

between the Philippines and Japan following World War II, was inaugurated in the
municipality of Bagac on Bataan peninsula.
On April 9, 1942
Araw ng Kagitingan (Filipino for Day of Valor), also known as Bataan Day or Bataan and
Corregidor Day, is a national observance in the Philippines which commemorates the fall of
Bataan during World War II. It falls on April 9, although in 2009 it would have coincided with
Maundy Thursday and its celebration for 2009 was moved to April 6.[1][2]
Contents
 1 Official name
 2 History
 3 United States
 4 2012 observance
 5 References
Official name
Official instruments designating of this holiday have specified several different names.[citation
needed]
In 1961, Congress passed Republic Act 3022 declaring April 9 of every year as Bataan Day.[3]
In 1987, Executive Order 203 revised all national holidays in the Philippines, renaming the
April 9 holiday as "Araw ng Kagitingan (Bataan and Corregidor Day)". Less than a month
later, another executive order (No. 292) revised the holidays anew, but it did not affect the
naming of the April 9 holiday.[4]
In 2007, Congress passed Republic Act No. 9492 putting into law the "Holiday Economics"
policy of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo; this put the observance of each holiday, with the
exception of New Year's Day and Christmas, to the Monday nearest it.[5] Starting with the
administration of President Benigno Aquino III, all celebrations of the holiday have been
observed on April 9, instead of being moved to the nearest Monday, and the holiday has been
called simply "Araw ng Kagitingan".[citation needed]
Official names and observance dates for this holiday
Observance
Date Instrument Name Notes
date
April 6, Republic Act

Bataan Day April 9
1961 No. 3022[3]
Araw ng
Kagitingan
Letter of
November (Bataan,
Instruction No. May 6
26, 1980 Corregidor and
1087
Bessang Pass
Day)
Araw ng
Executive
June 30, Kagitingan
Order No. April 9
1987 (Bataan and
203[4]
Corregidor Day)
Araw ng
EO292 established the Administrative
Executive Kagitingan
July 25, Code of the Philippines. Chapter 7 of that
Order No. (Bataan - April 9 April 9
1987 code specified regular holidays and special
292[6] and Corregidor
days to be observed in the Philippines.
Day)
Araw ng
The Monday
July 25, Republic Act Kagitingan
nearest April
2007 No. 9492[5] (Bataan and
9
Corregidor Day)
 PP84 limited its application to the

Presidential
December Araw ng year 2011.
Proclamation April 9
2010 Kagitingan  PP84 was effective under
No. 84[7] authority provided by section 26
of RA9492, which provided that
the list of Regular Holidays and
Nationwide Special Days specified
therein could be modified by "law,
order or proclamation".[5]
 PP295 limited its application to

the year 2012.
 PP295 was effective under
Presidential authority provided by section 26
November Araw ng
Proclamation April 9 of RA9492, which provided that
24, 2011 Kagitingan the list of Regular Holidays and
No. 295[8]

the year 2013.
August 14, Araw ng
2012 Kagitingan the list of Regular Holidays and
No. 459[9]

the year 2014.
September Araw ng
25, 2013 Kagitingan the list of Regular Holidays and
No. 655[10]

the year 2015.
July 17, Araw ng
No. 831[11]

the year 2016.
August 20, Araw ng
No. 1105[12]
History
At dawn on 9 April 1942, against the orders of Generals Douglas MacArthur and Jonathan
Wainwright, the commander of the Luzon Force, Bataan, Major General Edward P. King, Jr.,
surrendered more than 76,000 starving and disease-ridden soldiers (67,000 Filipinos, 1,000
Chinese Filipinos, and 11,796 Americans) to Japanese troops.[citation needed]
The majority of these prisoners of war had their belongings confiscated before being forced to
endure the infamous 140-kilometre (87 mi) Bataan Death March to Camp O'Donnell in Capas,
Tarlac. En route, thousands died from dehydration, heat prostration, untreated wounds, and
wanton execution while walking in deep dust over vehicle-broken Macadam roads, and
crammed into rail cars for transport to captivity.[13]
The Bataan Death March (Filipino: Martsa ng Kamatayan sa Bataan; Japanese:

バターン死の行進, Hepburn: Batān Shi no Kōshin) was the forcible transfer by the Imperial
Japanese Army of 60,000–80,000 Filipino and American prisoners of war from Saysain Point,
Bagac, Bataan and Mariveles to Camp O'Donnell, Capas, Tarlac, via San Fernando, Pampanga,
where the prisoners were loaded onto trains. The transfer began on April 9, 1942, after the
three-month Battle of Bataan in the Philippines during World War II. The total distance
marched from Mariveles to San Fernando and from the Capas Train Station to Camp O'Donnell
is variously reported by differing sources as between 60 and 69.6 miles (96.6 and 112.0 km).
Differing sources also report widely differing prisoner of war casualties prior to reaching Camp
O'Donnell: from 5,000 to 18,000 Filipino deaths and 500 to 650 American deaths during the
march. The march was characterized by severe physical abuse and wanton killings, and was
later judged by an Allied military commission to be a Japanese war crime.
On April 9, 1962, US President John F. Kennedy sent President Diosdado

Macapagal a message on the occasion of Bataan day celebration.
On April 10, 1866, General Isidoro Torres, a scion of prominent families in

Bulacan who established many Katipunan chapters, was born in Malolos, Bulacan.
MAY
On May 1, 1898, the naval battle between a squadron of the United States led
by Admiral Geroge Dewey and a Spanish fleet under Admiral Montojo took place in
Manila Bay, destroying the Spanish fleet. Soon after, the Spanish Governor-
General intimated his willingness to surrender Manila but Dewey had no enough
force to occupy the city.
On May 1, 1903, the first Labor Day celebration in the Philippines took
place. It was organized by the Union Obrera Democratica de Filipinas, the first
labor federation in the country. Thousands of workers marched from Plaza
Moriones in Tondo to Malacañang to demand complete independence, while
chanting anti American capitalism and imperialism.
On May 2, 1902, on urgent recommendation of the Philippine Commission,

the US Congress passed an act authorizing a coinage system for the Philippines
with a standard Philippine dollar, or "peso", worth fifty cents of American money
and exchangeable at government treasuries for this amount.
On May 3, 1968, Ford automotive assembly plant was formally inaugurated

50 years after Ford came to the Philippines. President and Mrs. Marcos were the
principal sponsors and Reverend Father Pacifico Ortiz, S. J., officiated the
invocation and blessing ceremonies.
On May 4, 1917, Nicomedes "Nick" Joaquin, historian, journalist and a

National Artist of the Philippines for Literature who is also widely known with his
nome de plume Quijano de Manila, was born in Paco, Manila.
On May 5, 1869, Fabian Cueto de la Rosa, regarded as foremost Filipino
painter during the American period, was born in Paco, Manila.
On May 6, 1942, Corregidor, the strongest fortress of the United States in

the Orient, was surrendered unconditionally to the Japanese army.
On May 7, 1892, Private Tomas Mateo Claudio, a former Bureau of Prisons

employee, the first Filipino soldier to die in First World War was born in Morong,
Rizal.
On May 8, 1980, Senator Benigno Aquino Jr., a political prisoner, a staunch

critic of the Marcos administration, was allowed to leave for the United States to
undergo a coronary bypass surgery on recommendation of his doctors at the
Philippine Heart Center where he was confined after suffering a heart attack in his
prison cell in Fort Bonifacio.
On May 9, 1974, President Ferdinand Marcos signed Presidential Decree No. 449
creating the "Cockfighting Law of 1974". This law governed the establishment,
operation, maintenance and ownership of cockpits in the Philippines.
On May 10, 1897, Andres Bonifacio, the Father of the Philippine Revolution
and founder of the Katipunan, and his brother Procopio were executed in the
mountains of Maragondon, Cavite by General Emilio Aguinaldo's men for being
guilty of treason and sedition.
On May 10, 1884, Maria Paz Mendoza Guazon, the first woman to graduate
from the first medical school in the country, the UP College of Medicine in 1912,
was born in Pandacan, Manila as Maria Paz Mendoza.
On May 11, 1818, Francisco Mercado, father of the national hero Dr. Jose
Rizal, was born in Biñan, Laguna.
He first attended a Latin school in his hometown, and later was sent to study
Philosophy and Latin at the College of San Jose in Manila.
On May 12, 1962, President Diosdado Macapagal moved the Philippine

Independence Day celebration from July 4 to June 12.
On May 13, 1903, Apolinario Mabini, often referred to as "the Sublime

Paralytic", died of cholera in Manila at the age of 38.
On May 14, 1935, the Constitution of the Philippines was ratified by a large
majority of the Filipino people.
On May 15, 1893, Jose Nepomuceno, known as the Father of Philippine

Movies, was born in Manila. Nepomuceno pioneered the motion picture industry in
the Philippines in 1917, and has produced several hundred films throughout his
lifetime
On May 16, 1899, La Democracia, the first Filipino newspaper to recognize the
sovereignty of the United States in the country, started publication. It urged the
Filipino people to accept the new government and to help heal the wounds of war.
On May 17, 1843, General Pascual V. Ledesma, Visayan revolutionary leader

and the first officer-in-command of the Philippine Navy, was born in Himamaylan,
Negros Occidental.
On May 19, 1893, the Maura Law was promulgated. Named after its author
Antonio Maura y Montañer, who was then the Minister of Colonies of Spain. Its
purpose was to confer upon the towns and provinces of Luzon and the Visayan
Islands a greater measure of autonomy, with the exception of Manila whose
government (at that time) was not altered.
On May 20, 1865, the Secondary Education in the Philippines was organized
with schools divided into public and private.
On May 21, 1963, General Emilio Aguinaldo, at the Veteran Memorial

Hospital, signed a deed donating his historic house at Kawit, Cavite to the
Philippine Government on condition that he will have the right to continue to live
there until his death.
On May 22, 1867, Julio Nakpil, a Filipino composer who also fought during
the Philippine revolution against Spain, was born in Quiapo, Manila. Nakpil served
as a commander for revolutionary troops in the north of Manila under Andres
Bonifacio.
On May 23, 1578, Governor Francisco de Sande, who had taken possession of
Borneo for Spain, sent off an officer, Esteban Rodriguez de Figueroa, to subdue
the Sulu Islands, instructing him to convert (as gently as he can) the pirates of
that place into peaceful farmers, paying tribute to the Spanish Crown.
On May 24, 1915, the board of regents of the University of the Philippines
(UP) elected Ignacio Villamor as president of the university. Villamor was the first
Filipino president of the UP. He was executive secretary of the Philippine
Commission at the time of his election. He assumed the duties of office on June 7
of the same year.
On May 25, 1895, Governor General Ramon Blanco ordered the exile of 9
prominent citizens of Malolos, Bulacan, mostly friends and relatives of Marcelo H.
Del Pilar some to Mindanao and some to Palawan for conspiracy against the
Church.
On May 26, 1859, Felipe Agoncillo, considered as the first Filipino diplomat
assigned by the Revolutionary Government to campaign for recognition of
Philippine independence by foreign countries, was born in Taal, Batangas.
On May 27, 1893, Magdalena Gonzaga Jalandoni, a Hiligaynon poet,

playwright and novelist, was born in Jaro, Iloilo City.
On May 28, 1898, the battle of Alapan between the Filipino revolutionary
forces led by General Emilio Aguinaldo and the Spanish naval infantry led by
Captain Pedro Castila, was fought in Alapan, Imus, Cavite. This was the first
military engagement in the renewed revolution against Spain after the return of
Aguinaldo from Hongkong.
On May 29, 1896, Cesar Bengzon, the first Filipino to be appointed to the
International Court of Justice (ICJ) of the United Nations, was born in Camiling,
Tarlac.
On May 30, 1892, Fernando Amorsolo, declared as the first National Artist in
Painting in 1972 and the so-called "Grand Old Man of Philippine Art", was born in
Paco, Manila.
On May 31, 1996, the Philippines and Malaysia signed a memorandum of

agreement (MOA) declaring the Turtle Islands as Turtle Islands Heritage Protected
Area (TIHPA).
On May 31, 1764, the Spanish troops led by Simon de Anda y Salazar re-
entered Manila, took back possession of the city in line with the terms of the
peace treaty at Paris, ending the British occupation of Manila.
JUNE
On Tuesday, June 1, 1649, Father Miguel Ponce Barberan was killed by

Sumuroy by hurling a javelin (lance) at him, killing the priest instantly. This event
marked the beginning of the uprising of the men of Palapag (in the present day
province of Northern Samar).
On June 2, 1899, the Malolos Congress declared war on the United States,
with its President, Pedro Paterno, issuing a Proclamation of War.
On June 3, 1876, Jose Palma, famous poet who wrote the lyrics of the
Philippine national anthem, was born in Tondo, Manila. He was the youngest child
of Don Hermogenes Palma and Hilaria Velasquez.
On June 4, 1565, the peace treaty of Cebu between Miguel Lopez de Legazpi,
representing King Philip II of Spain, and Rajah Tupas of Cebu was signed. It is the
first Philippine peace treaty which effectively created Spain's suzerain over Cebu.
On June 5, 1754, a Real Cedula (Royal Decree) of King Ferdinand VI of Spain,

providing for the compulsory teaching of Spanish in all schools for boys and girls,
was received in the Philippines.
On June 6, 1875, Norberto Romualdez Sr., Leyte's favorite son and delegate
to the first constitutional convention, was born in Burauen, Leyte. He was the
brother of Vicente Orestes Romualdez, the father of Imelda Romualdez Marcos.
On June 7, 1907, Arturo Belleza Rotor, considered as among the best Filipino
short story writers of the twentieth century, was born. Rotor was also a Medical
Doctor.
On June 8, 1625, the revolt Nueva Segovia (present day Cagayan province)
took place in a village called Abulag led by Don Miguel Lanab and a person only
known as Alababan. The rebellion started with the killing of Fray Alonso Garcia
and Fray Onofre Palao by Lanab and Alababan, followed by burning a church.
On June 8, 1942, Shizuichi Tanaka (田中静壱), commander of the 14th Army
of the Imperial Japanese Army (IJA), a vocal opposition to the attack on Pearl
Harbor, was appointed Military-Governor of the Philippines during the Japanese
occupation.
On June 9, 1975, the Republic of the Philippines and the People's Republic of
China signed a Joint Communique in Beijing formally establishing diplomatic
relations between the two countries at the ambassadorial level.
On June 10, 1988, President Corazon C. Aquino signed into law Republic Act
No. 6657, otherwise known as the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Law.
On June 10, 1873, Restituto Javier, a native of Tondo and believed to be the
first to be accepted by Andres Bonifacio to the Katipunan, was born.
On June 11, 1901, an act providing for the organization of courts in the
Philippine Islands during the American occupation, was approved.
On June 12, 1898, Gen. Emilio Aguinaldo, head of the Philippine Revolutionary
Republic, formally proclaimed Philippine Independence from the central second-
story window of the Aguinaldo ancestral house in Kawit, Cavite.
On June 13, 1896, Casimiro V. del Rosario, who was recognized in 1984 as
National Scientist in Physics, Astronomy and Meteorology, was born in Bantayan,
Cebu.
On June 14, 1945, combined forces of Filipino and American soldiers

defeated the Japanese troops of General Tomoyuki Yamashita in the epic Battle of
Bessang Pass in Northern Luzon.
On June 15, 1594, Governor-general Luis Perez Dasmariñas informed the

King of Spain Felipe II about the establishment of Santa Potenciana, a seminary
for girls, and the confraternity of La Misericordia.
On June 16, 1980, the Philippine government established the

Commission on Filipinos Overseas (CFO), an agency tasked to promote and
uphold the interests of Filipino emigrants and permanent residents abroad,
and preserve and strengthen ties with Filipino communities overseas.
On June 19, 1960, Republic Act No. 2733, called the Limasawa Law, was
enacted without being signed by the President of the Philippines. The
legislative fiat declared The site in Magallanes, Limasawa Island in the
Province of Leyte, where the first Mass in the Philippines was held is hereby
declared a national shrine to commemorate the birth of Christianity in the
Philippine. Magallanes is east of the island of Limasawa. In 1984 Imelda
Marcos had a multi-million pesos Shrine of the First Holy Mass built, an
edifice made of steel, bricks and polished concrete, and erected on top of a
hill overlooking barangay Magallanes, Limasawa. A super typhoon
completely wiped this out just a few months later. Another shrine was
inaugurated in 2005.
Limasawa celebrates the historic and religious coming of the Spaniards

every March 31 with a cultural presentation and anniversary program
dubbed as Sinugdan, meaning "beginning." Yet this has no reference at all
to a Catholic mass being held on March 31, 1521.
On June 17, 1863, Rafael del Pan, a lawyer, nationalist, and reformist, was
born in Intramuros, Manila to Don Jose Felipe del Pan, a Spaniard, and Amalia
Garcia Fontela, a Filipina.
Del Pan wa
On June 18, 1908, the Philippine Legislature enacted a law for the establishment
of the University of the Philippines. Preliminary organization of this institution was
begun during the latter part of the same year.
On June 19, 1861, Jose Protacio Rizal Mercado y Alonzo Realonda,

Philippines National Hero, was born in Calamba, Laguna to Francisco Engracio
Rizal Mercado y Alejandro and Teodora Morales Alonzo Realonda y Quintos both of
Chinese descent.
On June 20, 1899, the Japanese vessel Nonubiki Maru left Nagasaki for the
Philippines loaded with 10,000 rifles, 6,000,000 rounds of ammunition, and other
war supplies purchased by Mariano Ponce.
On June 21, 1913, Luis Taruc, son of a corn farmer and fish vendor, a political
figure, peasant leader during the agrarian unrest of the 1930s, and leader of the
Hukbong Bayan Laban sa Hapon or HUKBALAHAP, was born in Santa Monica, San
Luis, Pampanga.
On June 21, 1574, King Felipe II of Spain, bestowed upon Luzon the title of
"Nuevo Reino de Castilla" (New Kingdom of Castilla), and on Manila that of
"Insigne y siempre leal Ciudad" (Distinguished and Ever Loyal City) and permitted
the establishment of a new municipal office.
On June 22, 1976, President Ferdinand Marcos approved the "open skies
policy" liberalizing the country's aviation policy and allowing the increase of
frequency of flights and entry of foreign airlines into the Philippines.
On June 23, 1869, Carlos Maria de la Torre y Nava Cerrada started his term
as the new Spanish Governor-General of the Philippines.
On June 24, 1859, Marcela Agoncillo, the maker of the Filipino flag, was born
in Taal, Batangas to Francisco Mariño and Eugenia Coronel.
On June 25, 1865, the Old Bilibid Prison, the first national penitentiary in the
country, was established in Manila under a Spanish royal decree. It was divided
into two sections, the "carcel" section housing 600 inmates, and the "presidio"
accommodating 527 prisoners.
On June 26, 1875, a Royal decree was issued by the King of Spain authorizing
the preparation of a general plan for a railroad in the island of Luzon.
On June 27, 1974, Filipino Chess Master Eugene Torre became Asia's first
grandmaster by drawing with American Grandmaster Robert Byrne at the 21st
Chess Olympiad in Nice, France.
On June 28, 1848, Francisco Mercado and Teodora Alonso, the parents of Dr.
Jose Rizal, got married. Francisco was from Biñan, Laguna while Teodora was from
Meisik, Tondo. They had 11 children, 2 boys and 9 girls.
On June 29, 1626, Juan Niño de Tabora, the Spanish general and colonial
official, arrived in Manila to serve as Governor-General of the Philippines. De
Tabora brought the wooden statue of the Virgin Mary known as Nuestra Señora de
la Paz y Buen Viaje (Our Lady of Peace and Good Voyage), now placed in Antipolo
Church.
On June 30, 2010, Senator Benigno Aquino III was inaugurated as the 15th
President of the Philippines at the Quirino Grandstand in Rizal Park, Manila. He
was elected in the country's first automated polls on May 10, 2010.
JULY
On July 1, 1978, Filipino singer Hajji Alejandro won the Best Singer Award in
the Seoul International Song Festival singing Ryan Cayabyab's composition “Kay
Ganda ng Ating Musika”.
On July 2, 1973, the 2.16-kilometer long San Juanico Bridge, the longest
bridge in the Philippines spanning a body of sea water between the islands of
Samar and Leyte in the Visayas, was inaugurated
On July 2, 1990, on her 61st birthday, former First Lady Imelda R. Marcos,
was acquitted of all charges that she raided the country's treasury and invested
the money in the United States. A New York Federal Court jury of 12, voted 10-2
in favor of Mrs. Marcos.
In the night of July 3, 1892, Dr. Jose Rizal founded and inaugurated the La
Liga Filipina at house No. 176 Ilaya St., Tondo. It was formed not for the purpose
of independence, but for mutual aid and protection of its members, and the
fostering of a more united spirit among Filipinos.
On July 4, 1902, US President Theodore Roosevelt issued a proclamation

granting amnesty to Filipinos who participated in the "insurrection" against Spain
and continued it against the United States. Then acting Civil Governor for the
Philippines Luke Wright issued the local proclamation disseminating the conditions
for pardon and clemency to insurrectionists.]
On July 5, 1992, President Fidel Ramos opened two Malacañang extension

offices, one in Cebu and the other in Davao, as part of his campaign promise to
make the seat of power accessible in the Visayas and Mindanao.
On July 6, 1839, Precios Corrientes de Manila (Prices current in Manila), a

weekly newspaper in Spanish and English, begun publication. This publication is
believed to have lasted only two years.
On July 6, 2005, President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and Poland Prime

Minister Marek Belka signed an agreement expanding Philippine-Polish relations to
highlight the latter's visit to Manila.
On July 7, 1864, Isabelo de los Reyes also known as Don Belong, co-founder
of the Aglipayan Church, often dubbed as the "Father of Filipino Socialism", was
born in Vigan, Ilocos Sur to Elias de los Reyes and Leona Florentino, a well known
poetess of the Philippines.
On July 8, 1987, as official representative of the Vatican to the Millenary of

the Russian Orthodox Church, his Eminence, Jaime Cardinal Sin became the first
Catholic prelate to visit Lithuania since the 1917 Russian Revolution.
On July 9, 1985, Arturo Pineda Alcaraz, a volcanologist and

acknowledged “father of geothermal energy” won the IBM Science and Technology
Award.
On July 10, 1934, the Filipino voters elected 202 delegates to a constitutional
convention which drafted the Philippine Constitution of 1935.
On July 11, 1869, Pio Valenzuela, a Filipino physician and a major figure
during the Philippine Revolution against Spanish colonizers, was born in Polo,
Bulacan (present day Valenzuela City).
On July 12, 1859, the Jesuits returned to the Philippines for the first time
since their expulsion on April 2, 1767.
On July 13, 1883, Henry Otley Beyer, dubbed as the "Father of Philippine
Anthropology", a Filipinologist, was born in Edgewood, Iowa, USA. He received his
B.A. and M.A. degrees from the University of Denver, Colorado and later pursued
further graduate studies at Harvard University as a Winthrop scholar.
On July 14, 1974, the first Miss Universe beauty pageant held in the Philippines
formally opened at the Folk Arts Theater in Manila. It was participated in by 65
contestants from all over the world and was won by Amparo Munoz of Spain.
On July 15, 1995, President Fidel Ramos signed Proclamation No. 615 declaring
the Philippine Eagle as the national bird.
On July 16, 1990, a magnitude 7.8 earthquake with epicenter located 10

kilometers southeast of Cabanatuan City, Nueva Ecija, jolted a wide area of Luzon
at 4.26 pm, with its main shock lasting some 45 seconds, killing over 1,600 people
and injuring hundreds of others.
On July 17, 1948, President Elpidio Quirino signed Republic Act No. 333
making Quezon City the capital of the Philippines. RA 333 also redefined the
Caloocan-Quezon City boundary and specified the city's area to be 156.60 square
kilometers.
On July 18, 1875, Marina Dizon y Bartolome, Heroine of the Philippine

Revolution and one of the first women initiated into the Katipunan, was born in
Trozo in Manila, to Jose Dizon, one of the thirteen revolutionary martyrs of
Bagumbayan and Roberta Bartolome.
On July 19, 2004, President Gloria Arroyo ordered the pullout of the Philippine
humanitarian contingent out of Iraq to save the life of a Filipino truck driver who
was taken captive by Iraqi rebels.
On July 20, 1826, Margarita Roxas de Ayala, one of the Philippines' greatest
businesswomen, and founder of La Concordia College, was born in San Miguel,
Manila.
On July 21, 1871, Praxedes Julia Fernandez, the so-called singing sweetheart
of Manila, a performer who is considered Queen of Philippine Drama, was born in
Sta. Cruz, Manila. She was one of the three children of Mariano Fernandez and
Josefa Quizon.
On July 22, 1815, Apolinario de la Cruz, also known as Hermano Pule,

crusader of religious freedom, was born in Lukban, Tayabas (present day Quezon
province) to Pablo de la Cruz and Juana Andres, who were both religious.
On July 22, 1993, President Fidel Ramos issued Proclamation No. 213
designating the last week of July of each year as Diabetes Awareness Week.
On July 23, 1864, Apolinario Mabini, often referred to as the "Sublime

Paralytic" and known as the brains of the revolution, was born in Talaga, Tanauan,
Batangas.
On July 24, 1890, Guillermo Tolentino, National artist for the visual arts, was
born in Malolos, Bulacan.
On July 25, 1872, Santiago Alvarez, a revolutionary general and founder and
honorary president of the first directorate of the Nacionalista Party, was born in
Imus, Cavite.
On July 26, 1844, Deodato Arellano, a propagandist and the first president of
the Katipunan, was born in Bulacan, Bulacan to Juan and Mamerta de la Cruz. The
family changed their name to Arellano in compliance with the Claveria decree of
1849.
On July 26, 1969, US President Richard Nixon and First Lady Pat Nixon
arrived in Manila for a state visit, the same day Gloria Diaz left New York en route
to Manila via Honolulu for her homecoming after winning the Miss Universe
pageant.
On July 27, 1856 Pantaleon Garcia, a General of the Philippine Revolution was
born in Imus, Cavite. He finished a teacher's course and taught for some time in
Silang, Cavite in 1875.
On July 27, 1914, Brother Felix Manalo founded Iglesia ni Cristo (INC), largest
homegrown Christian Church in the Philippines, in Punta, Sta. Ana, Manila.
On July 28, 1909, Governor-General William Cameron Forbes endorsed the

reconstruction of Rizal's house in Dapitan, site of the hero's exile, thus, Dapitan
City in Zamboanga del Norte became a major historical landmark where the Rizal
Shrine is located.
On July 28, 1963, 24 Boy Scouts and scouting officials, delegates of the
Philippines to the 11th Boy Scout World Jamboree in Marathon, Greece, perished
in an airplane crash of a United Arab Airlines (now EgyptAir) jetliner in the Bay of
Bombay, India.
On July 29, 1931, General Emilio Aguinaldo stated that the Philippines is
ready to assume the responsibilities of an independent nation. Although the
country is not ready from a military point of view, no nation, the General thinks,
"will dare to use force on another in this age of growing harmony, peace, and
international brotherhood".
On July 29, 1910, the Philippine Anti-Tuberculosis Society (PATS) was

founded in Manila by a group of Filipinos and Americans to combat the spread of
tuberculosis. Its biggest and well-known unit is the hospital called, Quezon
Institute (QI), founded in 1938.
The Cry of Pugadlawin

News about the discovery of the Katipunan spread to Manila and nearby suburbs, and
Andres Bonifacio immediately called for a general meeting. Various wings of the
Katipunan gathered at the house of Juan Ramos in Pugadlawin on August 23, 1896.
Ramos was the son of Melchora Aquino, also known as “Tandang Sora” and was later
acknowledged as the Mother of the Katipunan."
Bonifacio asked his men whether they were willing to fight to the bitter end. Everyone
shouted their approval, except for Teodoro Plata, who though that it was too soon for
a revolution. Heartened by his men’s response, Bonifacio then asked them to tear their
cedulas (residence certificates) to pieces, as a sign of their defiance and determination
to rise against the Spaniards. The men immediately tore up their cedulas, shouting,
Mabuhay ang Pilipinas (long live the Philippines) -known as the Cry of Pugadlawin.
The Cry of Pugad Lawin (Filipino: Sigaw ng Pugad Lawin), alternately and originally referred
to as the Cry of Balintawak (Filipino: Sigaw ng Balíntawak, Spanish: Grito de Balíntawak),
was the beginning of the Philippine Revolution against the Spanish Empire.[1]
At the close of August 1896, members of the Katipunan secret society (Katipuneros) led by
Andrés Bonifacio rose up in revolt somewhere in an area referred to as Caloocan,[2] wider than
the jurisdiction of present-day Caloocan City which may have overlapped into present-day
Quezon City.[3]
Originally the term "Cry" referred to the first clash between the Katipuneros and the Civil
Guards (Guardia Civil). The cry could also refer to the tearing up of community tax certificates
(cédulas personales) in defiance of their allegiance to Spain. This was literally accompanied by
patriotic shouts.[4]
Because of competing accounts and ambiguity of the place where this event took place, the
exact date and place of the Cry is in contention.[3][4] From 1908 until 1963, the official stance
was that the Cry occurred on August 26 in Balintawak. In 1963 the Philippine government
declared a shift to August 23 in Pugad Lawin, Quezon City.[4]
SEPTEMBER
On October 28, 1898 he publicly declared himself for the Revolution and seized the municipal building.
The Revolutionary Government of the Visayas was organized and on November 17, 1898, was formally
inaugurated at the town plaza of Santa Barbara. A large crowd hailing from many places across Iloilo
gathered for the historic occasion. The Philippine flag was raised for the first time outside of Luzon.
Santa Barbara became the headquarters of the Revolutionary Forces and from here, Gen.
Delgado launched the campaign to liberate the whole province which culminated in the
surrender of Iloilo City by Governor-General de los Rios on December 24, 1898.
The Provisional Revolutionary Government of the Visayas and Mindanao, established on

Nov. 17, 1898 in Sta. Barbara, Iloilo, was fuelled by federalist tendencies. These clashed with
the unitary and centralized tendencies of the Malolos Congress where Tagalogs
overwhelmingly outnumbered representatives from other regions.
La Solidaridad (The Solidarity) was an organization created in Spain on December 13, 1888.
Composed of Filipino liberals exiled in 1872 and students attending Europe's universities, the
organization aimed to increase Spanish awareness of the needs of its colony, the Philippines,
and to propagate a closer relationship between the colony and Spain.[1]

Uncovering Our Simple Past: A Concise History of the Philippines

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Uncovering Our Simple Past: A Concise History of the Philippines

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Uncovering Our

sentiments and triumphs that unites us as an archipelago; one common course of

expresses the blessings of our patrimony.

justice, freedom, love, equality, and peace!

On January 1, 1899, General Vicente Lukban issued a long proclamation

On January 1, 1892, Manuel Acuña Roxas was born in Capiz to Gerardo

On January 1, 1906, by virtue of Philippine Commission Act No. 1123 of April

On January 2, 1899, when the Council of Government was created,

On Janauary 2, 1962, the United States Information Service released a

On January 3, 1749, Sultan Alim Ud Din, arrived in Manila from Zamboanga

On January 3, 1949, the Central Bank of the Philippines was inaugurated

11 of the 15 were executed at the Luneta in Manila.

 Rev. Inocencio Herrera - a native of Pateros, Rizal, he grew up in the

 Leon Hernandez - A resident of Libmanan, Camarines Sur, who was well-

On January 5, 1899, General Emilio Aguinaldo issued manifestos

On January 6, 1812, Melchora Aquino de Ramos, who became known as

On January 7, 1901, Major General Arthur MacArthur Jr. ordered the

On January 8, 1851, Severino de las Alas, one of the more prominent

On January 9, 1945, the United States Army under General Douglas

On January 9, 1973, a barter trade zone was established in Mindanao by

On January 10, 1903, the Board of Dental Examiners was reorganized

On January 10, 1983, President Ferdinand E. Marcos signed into law, in

On January 11, 1897, the so-called "Thirteen Martyrs of Bagumbayan"

On January 11, 1902, Honorata "Atang" de la Rama, National Artist for

On January 12, 1889, Hispano-Filipino Association, an organization

On January 13, 1975, Sultan Mohammad Dipatuan Kudarat (also spelled

On January 18, 1737, a treaty of peace was signed between Governor-General

On January 19, 1974, the Philippine tourism industry opened a "second

Zamboanga international airport is the Mindanao's third-busiest after Francisco

On January 20, 1872, the Cavite Mutiny, an uprising of military personnel at

This commission recommended establishment of a civil government, bicameral

On Jan 21, 1899 The Malolos Constitution was promulgated in Barasoain

On January 22, 1974, President Ferdinand Marcos ordered the immediate

On January 23, 1942, the Philippine Executive Commission (PEC), was

On January 25, 1933, Maria Corazon "Cory" Sumulong Cojuangco Aquino,

On January 26, 1930, Napoleon Abueva, the "Father of Modern Philippine

On January 27, 1867, Juan Crisostomo Soto, journalist, poet, playwright

On January 30, 1899, the Supreme Court was organized in Manila

On January 31, 1735, Governor-general Fernando Valdez y Tamon, laid the

On February 1, 1898, Cecilio F. Lopez, first Filipino scientific linguist and

On February 1, 1904, Luke E. Wright was inaugurated as Civil Governor of the

On February 2, 1899, the National Citizen's Army, forerunner of the Armed

On February 3, 1945, the American forces liberated nearly 4,000 prisoners

On February 4, 1899 at about eight o'clock in the evening, Private William

The Philippine–American War (also referred to as the Filipino-American War, the

On February 6, 1848, Marcelo Adonay, composer of religious music, was born

On February 6, 1964, General Emilio Aguinaldo, first President of the

On February 7, 1986, the Commission on Elections (Comelec) conducted

On February 8, 1890, Claro M. Recto, a noted lawyer, Congressman,

On February 8, 1935, the delegates to the 1935 constitutional convention

On February 11, 1861, Severino Reyes, noted playwright, writer, dramatist

February 15, 1565, Legaspi took possession of Cibabao (Samar island)

On February 15, 1889 headed by José Rizal's cousin, Galicano Apacible, La

On February 16, 1899, Apolinario Mabini wrote a letter to Galicano Apacible in

On February 18, 1958, the Board of Regents of the University of the

On February 19, 1888, Dona Aurora Aragon Quezon, wife of Commonwealth

On February 20, 1862, Francisco Baltazar, so-called "Prince of Tagalog Poets"

Feb 20, 1899 Battle of Mandorino, Iloilo, commanded by Gen Martin

On February 21, 1853, Felix Resurreccion Hidalgo, one of the greatest

February 22—25, 1986, a People Power Revolution was held in Epifanio

On February 25, 1986, President Corazon C. Aquino was sworn in as

On February 26, 1937, Zamboanga, previously often called "Jambangan" or

On February 27, 1858, Pedro Alejando Paterno, the so-called peacemaker of