Brave Luna of my soul

By FILIPINA LIPPI
July 25, 2010, 11:43am

In the Philippines, real heroes are killed and betrayed by their comrades. That was the
tragic fate of Antonio Luna, known for his temper and contempt for insect-minded and
fake revolutionaries.

However, his bravery, intensity, and purity of heart in fighting the Spanish and American
colonials in the late 19th century and early 20th century did not surmount the demons of
his compatriots and rivals who wanted him more dead than alive.

“When I was teaching ‘Ideas of Tragedy’ for comparative literature at the University of
the Philippines in the '70s, the tragic life of Antonio Luna haunted me forever,” said Dr.
Vivencio Jose, author of “The Rise and Fall of Antonio Luna” which was published
several times, in 1972, 1981, and 1992. “His death was horrible,” said Jose.

The nightmare began on June 5, 1899, when Capt. Pedro Janolino swung his bolo at
Luna’s temple when the latter was rushing down the stairs of the Convent of Cabanatuan,
in Nueva Ecija, central Luzon. Members of Janolino’s troops from Cawit, Cavite shot and
stabbed Luna with unbelievable anger. Almost lifeless, Luna crawled out of the convent
where his two aides, Col. Francisco Roman and Capt. Eduardo Rusca tried to stop the
killers. The aides were shot at close range. Rusca survived because he inched back to the
church. “Cowards, assassins,” Luna shouted while blood spilled from his body. He was
killed at 33, by fellow revolutionaries who were supposed to stop the Americans from
taking over the Philippines after the declaration of Philippine independence on June 12,
1898.

With icy voice, Trinidad, the mother of Emilio Aguinaldo, the first president of the
Philippine Republic, asked from the second floor of the convent, “Is he still moving?”
The chilly account came from Manuel Sidyar, one of Aguinaldo’s tope aides, in a report
on Luna’s death. The author added, “Aguinaldo always followed his mother’s advise. She
was the power behind the throne.”

Who else were around during Luna’s assassination? Felipe Buencamino, Aguinaldo’s
ally, came down from the second floor of the convent to get from Luna’s bloodied
pockets Aguinaldo’s two telegrams. Later, Sidyar sent a telegram to Aguinaldo, asking,
“What else will be done?”

“This question shows that Aguinaldo knew the plan beforehand,” said the author.

His 400-page book pointed out that three important events in Philippine history: Luna
was killed by fellow revolutionaries who wanted to accept the US-initiated autonomy for
the Philippines in the late 1800; Aquinaldo, the biggest culprit, wrongly masterminded
the killing of Luna; Luna’s assassination strangled the soul of the Philippine revolution.
The author also praised Luna for being a good writer, a scientist who was published in
Europe, and a cosmopolitian who eventually became a nationalist.

“This patriot (Luna)… was not only a soldier and officer who knew how to wield the
sword and fire his gun accurately, but as well, a scientist, a writer, an editor, and a
revolutionary democrat… His life demonstrated the possibility of freedom and liberation
from colonialism though living in a colonial society,” said Jose.

In the days of the colonial era, Filipinos either rose as heroes or fell as anti-heroes. Power
struggle divided them. Most of the time, the villains remained popular, their sins
completely covered, and their culpabilities almost forgotten.

Before Luna was assassinated, he and Buencamino had an argument on the second floor
of the convent. Why was Aguinaldo not around when he sent two telegrams asking Luna
for a meeting?

Luna slapped a soldier who did not salute him. The hot-headed Luna was angry that
Janolino, whom he had disarmed, and Buencamino whom he despised for being pro-
American, were around.

Luna’s enmity with Buencamino and Janolino began after the declaration of Philippine
Independence on June 12, 1898, the establishment of a revolutionary (unicameral)
Congress in Malolos in September 1898, and the start of the US-Philippine war in
February 1899.

At the Malolos Congress, when Luna was a lawmaker, he slapped Buencamino and
called him a traitor when the latter met with memebrs of an American peace commission.
Luna also ordered the arrest of Pedro Paterno. He knew that Buencamino and Paterno
were willing to vote for the US-initiated autonomy for the Philippines.

Was Luna’s hatred valid? Before the convening of the Malolos Congress (in the
Philippines) in September 1898, Spain and the United States were negotiating.

Then they drafted the Treaty of Paris in August 1898. On December 10, 1898, the two
parties signed the Treaty of Paris, with Spain selling the Philippines to the US for $ 20
million (and the possible takeover of the Philippines despite its declaration of
independence and the stablishment of the revolutionary Malolos Congress). A Philippine
representative, Felipe Agoncillo, was not allowed to participate in the drafting of the
treaty that involved the fate of the Philippines.

In February 1899, members of the Philippine Congress (including Buencamino and

Paterno) approved the Treaty of Paris. Members of the revolutionary Philippine Congress
ironically formalized the US occupation of the Philippines. “The (Filipino) autonomists
and the American enemy successfully collaborated,” assessed Jose.
When the Philippine-American war began on February 4, 1899, Aguinaldo, although
seemingly nonchalant about fighting the US, assigned Luna to lead the battlefield.

“On February 23, 1899, Luna implemented a well-planned counter-attack. But Capt.
Janolino, a battalion leader in Cawit, Cavite said he would receive orders only from
Aguinaldo. Luna almost shot Janolino. Company commanders who were loyal to
Aguinaldo resented Luna,” narrated Jose. At the time, another bastard, General Tomas
Mascardo refused Luna’s request for additional reinforcement when the Americans
attacked Bagbag. “Luna was enraged because Mascardo even attended a town fiesta in
Arayat while Bagabag fell into the American command,” recalled Jose.

The glaring truth is, Aguinaldo did not share Luna’s concept of revolution, assessed Jose.
His proof: While Luna was being assassinated in Cabanatuan (in 1899), Aguinaldo and
Marcelo H. del Pilar were in Pampanga and Pangasinan, replacing Luna’s men. Two
weeks later, Aguinaldo and Del Pilar went to the Cordilleras and explained that Luna was
killed because he was planning a coup d’etat.

“(Soon) officers who served under Luna were arrested, removed from the army or
assassinated. Maj. Manuel Bernal was arrested, tortured, and killed. His brother Capt.
Jose, was arrested, released, then assassinated in the battlefield. Rusca, Luna’s aide who
survived assassination, was exiled,” said the author, who added, “No trial or punishment
was carried out against the assassins and plotters in Luna’s murder. Aguinaldo’s reign of
terror silenced many people who witnessed Luna’s unecessary death.”

In 1901, Aguinaldo pledged allegiance to the US. He was placed under house arrest in
Malacañang, the presidential palace. Several hard-core Katipuneros hunted him down
because they believed that he betrayed the cause of the Philippine Revolution, said Jose.

Luna’s assassination separated the true from the vacillating revolutionaries in the
Philippines.

“(When the American forces advanced in 1899), Filipino autonomists (like Buencamino
and Paterno) were more afraid of the resolute and uncompromising Luna, than the
(advance of) US colonial terror (in the Philippines). Instead of fighting the new
(American) colonizers, Filipino autonomists eliminated the most brilliant upholder of
revolutionary ideals (in the Philippines),” said Jose.

Known for his class-based analysis of betrayals among Filipino heroes, Jose said, “The
ideological roots of the problem can be found in the origin and structure of the leadership
of the revolution and the Republic, which was liberal bourgeoisie with a social base that
was very weak.”

“(True) the people had nothing to lose but their chains (in fighting the Americans). (But)
the ilustrados and conservative leaders had nothing to gain from a long anti-US war.
They would profit much from accepting autonomy (which they did as exemplified by
Paterno, Buencamino and worse, Aguinaldo),” explained Jose.
The author revived Luna’s agony and the implication of his death almost 40 years after
another author, Juan Villamor, an Ilocano, had written two books on the same topic in
1930.

Earlier, Apolinario Mabini who wrote three volumes on the Philippine Revolution noted
that Aquinaldo could redeem himself only by dying for his country, Jose said.

In 1935, during the Commonwealth era, Aguinaldo lost when he ran against Manuel
Quezon in a presidential race. He was president at 29, and he died at 94.

Antonio Luna was born on Oct. 29, 1866 in Binondo. He grew up in Badoc, Ilocos Norte.
Parents: Laureana Novicio, a Spanish mestiza, and Joaquin Luna of Zambales and Ilocos
Norte, a rich merchant in Binondo. His brothers were Manuel, musician; Juan, painter;
Jose, doctor; and Joaquin, governor and later senator.

The author won a P1 million lawsuit against Alfredo Sevilla who pirated the Luna book
in 1998.