On this day, September 17 1871, we commemorate the 148th birth anniversary of General

Francisco Makabulos, a revolutionary general and a hero of Tarlac.

General Francisco Makabulos y Soliman was born in La Paz, Tarlac on the 17 th of

September 1871 to Alejandro Makabulos, a resident of Lubao, Pampanga and Gregoria Soliman.

He was the first from Tarlac to establish a Katipunan group and supported the war effort against

the Spanish colonial rule under the induction of Ladislao Diwa. This was after the outbreak of

hostilities between the revolutionaries and the colonial government. Prior to joining the Katipunan

and the outbreak of strife, General Makabulos first hold minor post during the Spanish regime.

During the drafting of the Malolos Constitution, Makabulos was one of its signatories.

General Makabulos was promoted by President Emilio Aguinaldo to the rank of brigadier general

due to his battle exploits and participation during the course of the Revolution. He became the

military governor of Tarlac from 1898 to 1900, and under his term liberated Tarlac from the

Spanish.

The Pact of Biak-na-Bato of was a truce between the revolutionaries and the Spanish

colonial government signed on December 15, 1897. In defiance to the pact, General Makabulos

kept fighting against the Spanish and refused to recognize the agreement. But on January 14, 1898,

he disbanded his troops and received war reparations worth 14,000 pesos from the Spanish and

distributed it to his men. He resumed the operations against the Spanish and on April 17, 1898,

town councils represented by an assembly of citizens met and drafted the “Makabulos

Constitution.” For the purpose of establishing a Central Executive Committee to be a provisional

one until a general government shall be established. The constitution provided an executive
committee composed of a President, Vice-President, Secretary of Interior, Secretary of War, and

a Secretary of the Treasury.

He regrouped the revolutionaries in Central Luzon and made the other 44 regional leaders

agree to his 13 articles that in the end created a Central Luzon government that continued the

revolution.

During the ending days of the Philippine- American War, General Makabulos kept fighting

against the Americans even after President Aguinaldo was captured in Palanan, Isabela. However,

realizing that fighting was futile, the general surrendered on June 1900. He became the mayor of

La Paz from 1900 to 1902. He died on the 30th of August at the age of 50 years old.

In order to continue to honor his name, the Proclamation No. 324 s. 1988 was signed by

President Corazon Aquino to commemorate the “General Francisco S. Makabulos Day” in the

province of Tarlac every September 17.

REFERENCES:
Agoncillo, Teodoro A. History of the Filipino People (Eighth Edition). Quezon City: C & E

Publishing, Inc., 2012.

“Proclamation No. 324, s. 1988: GOVPH.” Official Gazette of the Republic of the Philippines.

https://www.officialgazette.gov.ph/1988/09/15/proclamation-no-324-s-1988/.

Quirino, Carlos. Who’s Who in Philippine History. Makati City: Tahanan Books, 1995.