General Antonio Luna

UP prof tells of Gen. Luna’s assassination

MANILA, Philippines—Had the Philippine Revolution not lost the brilliant and enigmatic Gen. Antonio Luna in June 1899, it might have presented the invading US forces a less than easy conquest, according to such scholars as Prof. Vivencio Jose of the University of the Philippines.

Jose, author of “The Rise and Fall of Antonio Luna,” which was published in 1972 and reprinted in 1981 and 1992, will talk about Luna, including his death in the hands of fellow revolutionaries led by Emilio Aguinaldo, before members of the Diliman Book Club at the Bahay ng Alumni’s ROC (Restaurant of Choice) in UP Diliman on Aug. 14 at 6 p.m.

Jose says his research has given him an endless mission—to uphold Luna as a revolutionary figure betrayed by fellow Filipinos who could not see beyond kinship and personal alliances.

In his book, Jose sketches how Luna was assassinated:

On June 5, 1899, Capt. Pedro Janolino, Aguinaldo’s ally, struck Luna on the temple as the latter was rushing down the stairs of the convent of Cabanatuan in Nueva Ecija, to check on gunshots he had heard in the courtyard. Then, Janolino’s troops from Cawit, Cavite, started shooting and stabbing Luna as he tried to flee toward the front part of the convent. Two of his aides, Col. Francisco Roman and Capt. Eduardo Rusca, were struck down as they tried to stop his killers...
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A sordid chapter in the annals of Philippine history. I looked up the wiki entry and it substantiates the sad ending of General Antonio Luna. That entry said that the volatile Luna was hacked in the head in a confrontation with his fellow officer.

Aside from being a trained chemist, the great Antonio Luna was also a master fencer, skilled sharpshooter, avid musician, and a trained military strategist and tactician. During the war with the Americans, he urged the building of a systematic network of trenches, bunkers, and artillery positions from Caloocan to Novaliches. Many of his plans were not implemented by Aguinaldo, which probably led UP historian Vicencio Jose to surmise that had he not met an untimely death at the hands of his compatriots, the Philippine Revolution might have presented the invading US forces a less than easy conquest. That was 111 years ago. The Manila Bulletin has an interesting article on the occasion of his 111th death anniversary:

General Luna was a dedicated partisan of the Filipino republic. He infused discipline and rigid training into the Filipino army. Unfortunately, a sector of the Filipino leaders wanted to submit to the enemy. He had them arrested and punished - an act that led to his untimely death. The enemies of the Filipino republic killed him on June 5, 1899, in Cabanatuan, Nueva Ecija. American Civil Governor of the Philippines William H. Taft considered General Luna's death a heavy blow against Filipino aspirations. His own foes on the battlefield paid the highest tribute to General Antonio Luna on his death. To United States (US) General Frederick N. Funston, he was the "ablest and most aggressive leader of the Filipino republic," To US General James F. Bell, General Luna "was the only general the Filipino army had." Selflessness and unwavering loyalty to the land of his birth are two sterling legacies General Antonio Luna bequeathed to his countrymen. The Filipino people badly need these qualities today.
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Swords or plowshares

Cattle for hostages?

Promises of more cows, carabaos (water buffalos), tractors and development projects helped convince the Abu Sayyaf kidnappers to release Italian Red Cross volunteer Eugenio Vagni, a businessman involved in the hostage negotiations claimed Monday.

Speaking at the Kapihan sa Manila Hotel, Armando de Rossi, a Filipino citizen of Italian descent, said reports of ransom payments or that a "prisoner swap" prompted the bandits to release Vagni were "completely a huge lie."

Meanwhile, there are demands for an all-out attack on the Abu Sayyaf.

Defense Secretary Gilbert Teodoro Jr. Monday said it was time for the military to escalate operations on Jolo island and get its "high-valued" leaders.
A day after the release of Italian Red Cross volunteer Eugenio Vagni from six months of harsh jungle captivity, Teodoro said he had directed the military to intensify pursuit operations against the al-Qaeda-linked kidnappers...

Sen. Rodolfo Biazon, chair of the Senate committee on national defense and security, also supported the intensified drive.
"The total destruction of the terrorists or kidnappers will be a great legacy of this administration, even if the total elimination of insurgency cannot be achieved within the remaining term of the President," Biazon said...

Makati Mayor Jejomar Binay, president of the United Opposition, said in a statement:..."With Vagni’s release, there should be no more obstacle to neutralizing this terror group. They should be stopped."

Time and again, the government has vowed to eradicate the insurgents and lawless elements in the South. The history of unceasing armed conflict and bloodshed in the South since time immemorial does not inspire much in terms of the government forces succeeding this time around, notwithstanding the fresh bold words coming from the administration.

But Sen. Richard Gordon, chair of the Philippine National Red Cross, urged the Arroyo administration to open the lines of communication with the rebel group.
"The government should talk to the Abu Sayyaf. You cannot say that they are purely outlaws. If an outlaw wants to surrender, you have to talk to him," the senator said....That the Abu Sayyaf released the three workers of the International Committee of the Red Cross and was willing to accept government aid point to a breakthrough, Gordon said.

The group, he said, had lost so much during the six months of military offensives against them and were probably tired. He said two brothers of the Abu Sayyaf leader Albader Parad were killed and another commander, Abu Ali, also lost a brother.

The military suffered 14 dead, Gordon said. "These are not complicated people. They want a life again. Their families are important to them. Maybe it’s time to talk to them," he said.

Maybe Sen. Gordon has a point there. For example, if even half of the money spent so far by the government for this war were used to buy cows, carabaos, tractors and such others to develop livelihood programs in the South, we might be seeing a different scenario. In addition, there are a lot of innocent people displaced by the armed conflict, while the government is already spending so much for resettlement areas that leave much to be desired. We should not tolerate lawlessness, but we also wonder if the people in the South had enough cows and carabaos in the first place. In the news flash early this evening, the incoming army commander said something to the effect - "Armed battle would only serve a temporary victory, we should address the root cause of the conflict". The commander is most likely tired too. We must be all tired...and very sad I should add.

"But if war can end without winners or losers in a suicide of humanity, then we must repudiate the logic which leads to it: the idea that the effort to destroy the enemy, confrontation and war itself are factors of progress and historical advancement" - Centesimus Annus, Pope John Paul II.

On our Independence Day

Remembering June 12, 1898

"...Spanish Manila [in the sixteenth century] was a cozy world of waiting for the yearly galleon from Mexico, the next Chinese massacre (for which the Chinese migrants provided most of the services for the colony but were under constant suspicion of disloyalty), the proceeds from the tobacco monopoly or the new set of governors from Madrid. Spanish rule was based on Spanish Catholicism and on a brutal racism which divided the world into those who had come from the Iberian peninsula, those who had been born on the islands, Chinese, Spanish half-breeds, quadroons, octoroons, with rigid social codes of dress and behavior to mark off once caste from another.

Meanwhile, some of the rich Indios' sons had gone off to friar schools and European colleges and had developed odd ideas of racial equality, freedom, independence, and nationhood. They were tantalized by the French and American revolutions and one of them, the brightest and purest, Jose Rizal, began to write heretical novels and another, Juan Luna, the one whsoe grandson would design the baroque house on Roxas Boulevard, won medals for is paintings in the salons of Paris.

It was a poor warehouseman, however, who had a job in a British firm in downtown Manila, Andres Bonifacio, who put the Indios on course when he took a Spanish garisson in San Juan with one rifle and a few knives and lances. The battle was, of course, lost before night fell; but in less than two years, the revolution, for what it had become, succeeded in wrenching power from the Spaniards.

The victory was so sudden that the new governor-general sent hurriedly from Madrid had no time to warm his seat. General Emilio Aguinaldo (a provincial school teacher and merchant) and his Filipino army were suddenly at the gates of the Spanish Walled City. Earlier, standing in the makeshift balcony of his country in Cavite, he had hurriedly proclaimed his country's independence, raising a curious, hand-sewn flag in three colors.

Ah, but both the Spaniards in their wrecked fleet in the bay and the Indio generals and ilustrados on the balcony, were, that very afternoon overshadowed by a tall American lieutenant who had come, he said, merely to observe the ceremony. From observer, the American shadow became first a self-avowed ally, then a new master, and despite their show of civility, the Filipinos knew in their hearts, that the American had come, not to witness, but to betray their independence..."

- Carmen Guererro-Nakpil: Once over lightly

On Bataan Day

Everyone talks about the searing hot temperature in the past few days. In Tacloban on Monday, the hottest was reported at a sizzling 38 degrees. Anyone hardy enough to brave the open heat at midday sun will feel torched literally, even for a few seconds. Try testing the sensation at noon, try going out in the open where the sun blasts down upon you at full force, try enduring the sweltering blast for a moment, then think of the prisoners of war in that infamous death march 66 years ago to this day. 90,000 of them sweltering in the infernal heat days upon days on end, marching 60 miles without food and water from Bataan to the prison camps of Luzon. Along the way, they were beaten and bayoneted when they fell down, and thousands later died from sheer exhaustion, malnutrition and disease. Today we pay tribute to our compatriots caught in the horrors of war, defending a homeland that is rightfully theirs, severely suffering and dying along the way. Sadly, Bataan day is commemorating a defeat, but it’s all about fighting a good fight.