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Ten were Freemasons
Filipino Masons played an important role in the 1896 Philippine revolution against Spain. The Katipunan secret society was founded by Masons Ladislao Diwa, Andres Bonifacio, Teodoro Plata, Deodato Arellano, Valentin Diaz and Jose Dizon after Rizal's arrest in July 1892. With the belief that reforms were no longer attainable, the new organization advocated total separation from Spain. The subsequent recruitment of members and establishment of many chapters of the Katipunan did not escape the Spanish authorities. Suspecting that the secret society was actually that of Freemasonry, Masons were placed under surveillance and persecuted until lodges could no longer meet regularly. This counter measure only drove more Masons to eventually join the Katipunan. In the city of Cavite (Cavite Puerto also called Cavite Nuevo) capital of Cavite province in 1896, of the Thirteen Martyrs executed at the outbreak of the revolution, ten were Freemasons. They were Maximo Inocencio, Jose Lallana, Eugenio Cabezas, Maximo Gregorio, Hugo Perez, Alfonso de Ocampo, Luis Aguado, Victoriano Luciano, Severino Lapidario and Feliciano Cabuco. The non-Masons were Francisco Osorio, Antonio de San Agustin and Agapito Conchu.
Their involvement They knew they faced formidable odds
It may be recalled that Supremo Andres Bonifacio called two Katipunan meetings from August 23-24, 1896 in Caloocan, outside Manila because of the untimely exposure of the Katipunan on the 19th of the same month. These meetings were attended by Mariano Alvarez, Magdiwang (Noveleta) Council president. Here it was decided to start the revolt midnight of August 29. Upon his return, immediately after his boat landed at Cavite Puerto, Alvarez contacted Katipunan member Severino Lapidario, the provincial jail warden and apprised him of the plan. Alvarez also told him that they (Magdiwang) would launch sky rockets once the Guardia Civil garrison in Noveleta was taken and that this would be the signal for Lapidario to release and arm the prisoners of the provincial jail. Also contacted by Mariano Alvarez were Feliciano Cabuco and former La Caridad Gobernadorcillo Paulino Bailen.
About this time, there were at least two known Katipunan chapters in Cavite; Marikit in San Antonio and Lintik in San Rafael, both barrios in the vicinity of the Spanish military installations. These chapters were organized by Maximo Gregorio, who initiated into them Severino Lapidario, Feliciano Cabuco, José Lallana, and Eugenio Cabezas. At forty years old, Gregorio had military training in the Spanish colonial army, and served in Jolo, Sulu in Mindanao. He became chief clerk of the Comisaría de Guerra in Cavite upon his return. From an outsider's point of view, the Katipuneros of Cavite Puerto had influential connections and the advantage of familiarity with their extreme targets. Lapidario served in the Spanish Marine infantry and was the Warden of the provincial jail; Alfonso de Ocampo, served as a sergeant in the army and was the Assistant Jail Warden. Maximo Gregorio was chief clerk of the Comisaria de Guerra and Luis Aguado, son of a Spanish Navy captain was the supply chief of the Cavite Arsenal (Maestro de Viveres). Their co-conspirators included businessmen and prominent individuals who would have access to funds as necessary. Yet, perhaps knowledge of their targets was also a source of their apprehension. They knew the dangers of being in the heart of Spanish military might; Cavite Puerto being the base not only of the Spanish Navy but the Spanish Marine Infantry of Fort San Felipe. They knew they faced formidable odds. Undoubtedly, this weighed against any hasty plan and they therefore chose either September 1 or 3 to start their uprising. Perhaps, for a while they thought they were right in their decision. The Katipunan did launch attacks in Manila on August 29 until the early hours of August 30 as planned; however, the Katipuneros in Cavite province did not move because, the anticipated signal from the city (skyrockets or cannon fire) for the simultaneous uprising did not materialize. The raids in Manila were unsuccessful. Katipunan Supremo Andres Bonifacio, who had to retreat to Balara would later admit that due to extreme exhaustion from the battle, the signal was forgotten. The Katipuneros of Noveleta and San Francisco de Malabon waited the whole day of August 30 but no news arrived. On this day, martial law was declared in eight provinces including Cavite and Manila. The following day, still in the dark but sensing trouble, Noveleta and San Francisco de Malabon launched their attacks. Both towns fell to rebel hands. Magdiwang troops then destroyed Calero bridge in Dalahikan, cutting off the main route to Cavite Puerto. The delay in the uprising in Cavite city proved to be disastrous to the conspirators. Their plan leaked out and Severino Lapidario, Alfonso de Ocampo and Luis Aguado were immediately arrested. They were placed in the cruiser Don Antonio de Ulloa and interrogated. De Ocampo under severe torture revealed the names of the cabecillas (leaders) of the planned revolt. He later tried to commit suicide out of remorse and had to be dragged to the execution site because of his wounds. The trial of the 13 martyrs by the Council of War (Consejo de Guerra) took only four hours. Shortly after noon of September 12, 1896, after being pronounced guilty of rebellion, they were marched from Fort San Felipe to the Plaza de Armas; blindfolded, forced to kneel and shot from behind. At 12: 45 in the afternoon, Dr Francisco Masip, the examining physician declared every one dead. The lifeless bodies of the thirteen martyrs were piled in three carabao-drawn carts, guarded by six Spanish soldiers armed with rifles and bayonets. Their remains were brought to the Catholic Convent Cemetery in Caridad. Maximo Inocencio, Francisco Osorio, Luis Aguado, Hugo Perez and Victoriano Luciano were appropriately placed in separate coffins and buried albeit in a common grave, but the others, Maximo Gregorio, Feliciano Cabuco, Antonio de San Agustin, Agapito Conchu, Eugenio Cabezas, Jose Lallana, Severino Lapidario and Alfonso de Ocampo were buried without caskets. The 13 Martyrs Monument
On September 12, 1906, Masons led a march from Magallanes Street to the Convent Cemetery in Caridad to exhume the remains of the Thirteen Martyrs. Then, a public procession was held for their final interment at the Isthmus of Rosario. Their monument was also formally inaugurated. (Renovated in 1930.) This site is now called the "Thirteen Martyrs Centennial Plaza."
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The Thirteen Martyrs1. Máximo Inocencio. Born on November 18, 1833 in Cavite; married to Narcisa Francisco and had nine children. He was implicated in the Cavite Mutiny of 1872 because he was a Freemason; sentenced to ten years imprisonment and exiled in Cartagena, Spain together with fellow masons Enrique Paraiso and Crisanto delos Santos. They were able to escape. Later Inocencio crossed the border to France and from Marseilles, was able to obtain pardon. Upon his return to the Philippines, he resumed his business in construction, trading, shipbuilding, logging and sawmilling. He was a contractor of the Cavite arsenal.
2. Máximo Gregorio. He was a Katipunan organizer and Freemason; born November 18, 1856 in Pasay, Morong (now Rizal); married to Celedonia Santiago with whom he had four children. He was drafted into the Spanish colonial army while studying in Letran; inducted to Regiment No. 72 and sent to Jolo, Sulu to fight the Muslims; upon his return, was appointed chief clerk of the Comisaria de Guerra in Cavite. 3. Severino Lapidario. He was to start the uprising by releasing the prisoners and arming them to join the revolution. Born in Imus, Cavite, on January 8, 1847, Lapidario had been a corporal in the Spanish marine infantry and was implicated in the Cavite Mutiny of 1872. Later, he regained the confidence of his superiors and became the alcalde (warden) of the Cavite provincial jail in 1890. He earned the respect of the prisoners because he allowed them occasional visits to their families. Reportedly, he also sent them on secret propaganda missions to Noveleta, Kawit and Bacoor. 4. Luis Aguado was the son of a captain in the Spanish navy. He became supply chief of the Spanish arsenal in Fort San Felipe. He married Felisa Osorio, sister of Francisco Osorio, the oldest daughter of Antonio Osorio, a Chinese-Filipino businessman reputed to be the richest in Cavite at that time. Aguado's widow would later marry Daniel Tria Tirona. 5. Alfonso de Ocampo was a Spanish mestizo, a Mason and a Katipunero. He was born in 1860 in Cavite and had been a sergeant in the Spanish colonial army before his appointment as assistant provincial jail warden. He was married to Ana Espíritu and had two children. 6. Victoriano Luciano. Born on March 23, 1863; owner of Botica Luciano in Calle Real (now Trece Martires Street Cavite City), which was used as a meeting place of the Katipuneros. A Freemason, he kept contact with other Masons and revolutionists in the Bicol region especially the Abella brothers who were among the Bicol martyrs executed in Bagumbayan on January 4, 1897. He was a brilliant pharmacist, a member of the Colegio de Farmaceuticos de Manila and was awarded by the Scientific Society of Brussels in Belgium for his formula for rare perfumes and lotions. 7. Feliciano Cabuco at 31 was the youngest of the Thirteen Martyrs. He was born to a wealthy family in Caridad, Cavite Puerto on June 9, 1865; married to Marcela Bernal also of Caridad by whom he had two sons who died in infancy. He was working as a clerk in Canacao Hospital when he joined Masonry and later, the Katipunan. His house was also used as a meeting place of the leaders (cabecillas) of the uprising. 8. Hugo Perez was a doctor of medicine; born in 1856 in Binondo, Manila. He was called Comandante by his fellow Katipuneros and was reportedly, a Worshipful Master of a lodge in Cavite. 9. José Lallana was a tailor whose shop was also used by the Katipunan as a meeting place. He was born in Cavite in1836; was married to Benita Tapawan of Imus, by whom he had two children, Clara and Ramón. Ramón joined the Philippine Revolution to avenge his father's death, but never returned, believed to have been killed in action. 10. Eugenio Cabezas was born in 1855 in Santa Cruz, Manila. He was a goldsmith and owned a jewelry and watch repair shop in Calle Real (Trece Martires Street) in Cavite which was also used as a meeting place by the Katipunan. He was married to Luisa Antonio of Cavite and had seven children. 11. Francisco Osorio was born to a wealthy and well-connected family in Cavite in 1860. He was the brother-in-law of Luis Aguado but was not a member of Masonry or of the Katipunan. 12. Agapito Conchu, born in1862 was a native of Binondo, Manila. He migrated to Cavite and became a school teacher, musician, photographer, painter and lithographer. 13. Antonio de San Agustín, was born to a wealthy family in San Roque, Cavite on March 8, 1860. He studied at the Letran College and the University of Santo Tomas. His bookstore, La Aurora was also a meeting place of the Katipunan. He was married to Juliana Reyes. |
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Sources:
Alvarez, Santiago V. The Katipunan and the Revolution, Memoirs of a General. Trans by Paula Carolina S.Malay. Quezon City: Ateneo de Manila University Press, 1992
Calairo, Emmanuel; Noveleta Bayan ng Magdiwang. Cavite Historical Society, 2000
IGLPI Journal No 1. Independent Grand Lodge of Free & Accepted Masons of the Philippine Islands; November 2008
Sources:
Alvarez, Santiago V. The Katipunan and the Revolution, Memoirs of a General. Trans by Paula Carolina S.Malay. Quezon City: Ateneo de Manila University Press, 1992
Calairo, Emmanuel; Noveleta Bayan ng Magdiwang. Cavite Historical Society, 2000
IGLPI Journal No 1. Independent Grand Lodge of Free & Accepted Masons of the Philippine Islands; November 2008