Exactly four months after the 13 Martyrs of Cavite were executed by musketry on September 11, 1896 and only 12 days after the execution of Jose Rizal, another set of 13 unlucky men suffered the same fate on the same execution ground of Bagumbayan. They were casualties of Spanish witch hunt against the members of the secret revolutionary society Katipunan and Rizal's reformist group organization La Liga Filipina whose members were mostly Freemasons. At the early dawn of January 11, 1897, just before the sun rose, the "13 Martyrs of Bagumbayan" bravely faced their final breath to death surrounded by a huge crowd that witnessed the tragic moment.
1) Jose A Dizon - was an engraver in Casa de Moneda in Manila. One of the founders the Katipunan, he was the brother of Josefa Dizon Jacinto the mother of Gat Emilio Jacinto. Dizon a Freemason was of the committee that the Katipunan formed to secure arms from our ally Japan. When the secret society Katipunan was discovered by the Spanish Cortes, Dizon was among the hundreds who were arrested for rebellion.
2) Domino Franco - a tobacco merchant, was originally from Capiz but moved to Manila. A Freemason and joined the propaganda movement La Liga Filipina, he helped raise money to send to the so-called Propaganda Movement in Spain. Later was arrested, his wife attempted to bail him out of the Bilibid prison and told her that "I never was a traitor to my country."
3) Numeriano Adriano - was a lawyer and rendered efficient service as Clerk of Court in the third branch of the Court of First Instance of Manila. In recognition of such service at the escribania, he was authorized by the Crown to practice as a notary public. In this capacity, he held office at the Cortes Building at the corner of Ongpin and Rosario Streets, Binondo. He was influenced by Marcelo H. Del Pilar, Timoteo Paez and Deodato Arellano, like the three leaders Adriano joined the Masonry and later attained the 33rd degree and became the grandmaster. He joined La Liga Filipina and after he was one of the organizer of Cuerpo de Compromisarios which supported the La Solidaridad. On the night of September 16, 1896, he was arrested. Identified as one of those in complicity with the plot to overthrow the government, he was sent to jail by Colonel Francisco Olive of the Spanish Army. Court-martialed, he was found guilty of treason, sedition and was sentenced to death.
4) Moises Salvador - was the son of Ambrosio Salvador, founding president of the La Liga Filipina. While in Madrid he became friends with Jose Rizal, Marcelo H. del Pilar and later joined La Solidaridad. Coming back to Manila, Salvador joined the La Liga Filipina of which his father was presiding officer, a week after Rizal was arrested by the Spanish authorities. He joined Cuerpos de Compromisarios, when Katipunan was finally discovered by the Spanish authorities in 1896, Salvador and the other members of the Cuerpos de Compromisarios did not go into hiding thinking that the government will not be after them. But on the 16 of September 1896, Salvador and his father were arrested and imprisoned. Unlike the other Martyrs of Bagumbayan, Salvador's remains were first buried in the Paco Cemetery. After the Spanish government’s defeat, military general Juan Cailles ordered for his remains to be exhumed and moved to the church in Pandacan, Manila.
5) Faustino Villaruel - a mason and one of the founding member of the La Liga Filipina, was also the founder of the country's first central Masonic organization and the founder of the first lodge for women called "LA Semilla." Villaruel was a member of a committee who financed the propaganda movement. The house of Mason Faustino Villaruel on No. 8 Calle Asuncion, San Nicolas/Binondo served as meeting place for the members of the Walana Lodge. It was in this house where an auxiliary lodge for women mason was founded. Rosario Villaruel (Don Faustino’s daughter) became the first woman mason in the country. Masonic activities and secret meetings held at the Faustino house were made to appear banquets and ladies’ party. The Spanish authorities learned about his involvement in the propaganda, he was arrested on August 21, 1896 and was jailed in Fort Santiago.
6) Francisco L Roxas - he came from one of the richest family in the Philippines at that time. Roxas was appointed to the board of directors of Banco Español-Filipino (now Bank of the Philippine Islands, acted then as the central bank) and he was also appointed as an honorary consejero to the Spanish colonial administration. Roxas like some rich Filipinos were suspected of funding the revolution, though he was approached by a Katipunan officer in June 1896 who solicited cash contribution for the purchase of firearms. Roxas protested and maintained his innocence to the day of the execution, but his name was on a list of Katipunan members found by the authorities. During the day of the execution, witnesses said... "Don Francisco Roxas had lost his mind and believing that he was in church, calmly spread his handkerchief on the ground and knelt upon it as had been his custom in childhood."
7) Luis Enciso Villareal - was originally from Daraga, Albay and was known for his graceful dancing and fiddle playing. He opened a shop on Calle Escolta called "Sastreria y Obrador de Ropa Blanca" (Tailoring and White Linen Workshop), because of this he was able to socialize with patrons belonging to the elite families in Manila. He was initiated into the Masonic brotherhood and joined the Taliba Lodge where he became a venerable member. May 1895, Villareal won the first prize in a lottery draw. He used the money for his travel to Japan to visit his son. The trip was partly a political mission as he was a supporter of the Propaganda Movement. He was then arrested upon his return in August 1896. Villareal’s remains were laid to rest in the church of Arayat, Pampanga.
8) Geronimo Cristobal Medina - was an infantry corporal in the Spanish army, yet his loyalty remained to his country, he was in the regiment known by the nickname "Burgos." He is said to have been one of those who instigated the revolt in San Juan del Monte on August 30, 1896 signaling the start of the 1896 Revolution. When Spanish authorities raided the printing shop of the Diario de Manila and confiscated incriminating materials that would confirm the existence of the much whispered about and feared secret society of determined men who were said to be plotting a bloody revolution for the independence of the Philippines. Houses and other places were also raided and suspected members, sympathizers and supporters of the Katipunan were arrested and thrown into prisons, where many of them were brutally tortured. Cristobal must have been named by one of those tortured as a Katipunero, among them was Pio Valenzuela, who identified Cristobal as a Katipunero during his testimony before a military court on September 6, 1896. Valenzuela admitted knowing him since they were both natives of Polo, (now Valenzuela City), Bulacan; that Cristobal was the Secretary of the Katipunan section "Maluningning" and that he was a zealous recruiter of members, one of them "one Braulio Flamenco, who later established the Polo section to which the witness (Valenzuela) paid his subscription." However, Valenzuela confessed he was unaware whether or not it was Cristobal who had instigated the first revolt in Pasig.
9) Antonio Salazar - was a businessman originally from Cavite, a Freemason and joined La Liga Filipina, Pio Valenzuela in his declaration before the Spanish court on September 3, 1896, stated that Antonio Salazar was the owner of the Bazaar El Cisne and was an "active member" of the Consejo Supremo Superior of the Katipunan. The premature discovery of the Katipunan, eventually seal the fate of Salazar and many of his fellow Masons. The Catholic clergy, seized the opportunity to reduce their ranks by linking them with the Katipunan. Homes of suspected members were searched, arrests, imprisoned and tortured in the frantic efforts of authorities to extract confessions. Because Salazar's home was reported to have served as a Masonic lodge, he was among those arrested.
10) Ramon Padilla - an employee of the Manila customs house, He had joined the reform movement and later the La Liga Filipina. Padilla was rude to Emilio Aguinaldo, the incident came to light shortly after Aguinaldo was inducted into the Katipunan. Noticing his glumness, Bonifacio, who was with other high-ranking Katipuneros, asked him the reason for it. Aguinaldo told him of his previous experience with Padilla. To assuage what he considered Aguinaldo's sullied honor, the Supremo immediately sent Dr. Pio Valenzuela and Jose Dizon to the house of Padilla for redress, by way of an apology. If Padilla refused to offer one, the two emissaries were to act as seconds to a duel. He later apologized to Aguinaldo and this probably saved his life for the moment, but only until January 11, 1897.
11) Braulio Rivera - was the superintendent of the lithographic and printing plant of Ramirez y Cia., publisher of the Diario de Manila. He was the leader of the Katipuneros secretly operating there. It was in the printing shop of the Diario de Manila that Spanish authorities, during the nighttime raid on its premises, found the list of Katipunan members whose names were in codes. Katipunan by Teodoro Patiño, one of the workers in the printing shop. A rivalry for a promotion between Patiño and his co-employee Apolonio de la Cruz, who was a Katipunan member, triggered a grudge fight that eventually drove Patiño to unmask the Katipunan to Fr. Mariano Gil parish priest of Tondo.
12) Benedicto Nijaga - a second lieutenant in the Spanish army, a position rarely achieved at the time by Filipinos. He took an active part in the organization of the Katipunan and was once tasked to solicit support from the millionaire Francisco L. Roxas, who refused. But his loyalty became suspect when he was connected to the Katipunan revolt. Still a question whether his name was on a list of Katipuneros found during the raid of the printing shop of Diario de Manila or whether he was implicated by an enemy or somebody who had been tortured.
13) Eustacio Mañalac - little known about him, Mañalac was among the Masons and suspected Katipuneros who were arrested and jailed by the Spanish authorities in the aftermath of the raid on the Diario de Manila and other places in the city. He was probably also tortured along with others while in prison.
- ka tony
the 10th of January '14
