ENG    Thirteen Martyrs     NL

Months before the Philippine Revolution erupted in August, 1896, the Guardia Civil had already reported the frequent nocturnal meetings held by numerous persons in and around Manila. The discovery of the Katipunan by the colonial authorities on August 19 generated a chain of events. Almost simultaneously, the provinces of Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Morong (Rizal), Bulacan, Pampanga, Nueva Ecija, and Bataan rose in arms. Government camps and municipal buildings were attacked and taken over. The Spanish governor general placed these provinces under martial law. Mass arrests, imprisonments, deportations, and executions were carried out to cow the people to submission. Cavite province became the center of the revolution. When the Cavitenos rose on August 31, 1896, almost all of the towns fell under the control of the revolucionarios save for San Roque and nearby towns. The authorities in Cavite, instituted mass arrests and summary trials. On September 12, 1896, they executed 13 Cavitenos, namely, Luis Aguado, Eugenio Cabezas, Feliciano Cabuco, Agapito Conchu, Maximo Gregorio, Maximo Inocencio, Jose Lallana, Severino Lapidario, Victoriano Luciano, Alfonso de Ocampo, Francisco Osorio, Hugo Perez, and Antonio San Agustin. They became known as the "Thirteen Martyrs of Cavite." Today we commemorate the martyrdom of these 13 martyrs and honor them for giving up their lives for Philippine freedom. The deaths of the 13 Cavitenos, like the deaths of many others in the provinces that joined the revolution, instead of cowing the Filipino people to submission fueled the revolution. Confronted by nationwide armed upheaval, the colonial government accepted a truce from General Emilio Aguinaldo. Mutual distrust led to the resumption of the revolution in May, 1898. On June 12, 1898, General Emilio F. Aguinaldo proclaimed Philippine independence. The Thirteen Martyrs of Cavite helped pave the road to June 12, 1898. Our observance of the date of their martyrdom is to bring to the awareness of the present and succeeding generations of the legacy these martyrs bequeathed to us - that suffering martyrdom for one's country is the stairway to immortality in the annuals of our people. The Thirteen Martyrs of Cavite showed that the Filipino people would fight and die for their freedom. 1. Luis Aguado was the son of a captain in the Spanish navy. He would later become supply chief of the Spanish arsenal in Fort San Felipe in the town of Cavite (now Cavite City). He was married to Felisa Osorio, sister of Francisco Osorio and 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. 2. Eugenio Cabezas (b. 1855 in Santa Cruz, Manila) was a goldsmith who was a freemason and Katipunero. He was married to Luisa Antonio of Cavite by whom he had seven children. He owned a jewelry and watch repair shop on Calle Real (now called Trece Martires Street) in Cavite which was used by the Katipunan as a meeting place. 3. Feliciano Cabuco (b. June 9, 1865 in Caridad, Cavite Puerto) was born to a wealthy family in Cavite el Viejo (now Cavite City). He worked in a hospital. He was married to Marcela Bernal of Caridad by whom he had two sons. 4. Agapito Conchu (born 1862) was a native of Binondo, Manila who migrated to Cavite and became a school teacher, musician, photographer, painter and lithographer. 5. Alfonso de Ocampo (born 1860 in Cavite) was a Spanish mestizo, who had been sergeant in the Spanish colonial army before his appointment as assistant provincial jail warden. He was both a freemason and Katipunanero. He was married to Ana Espíritu by whom he had two children.
6. Máximo Gregorio (born November 18, 1856 in Pasay, Morong) was drafted into the Spanish colonial army while he was studying at the Colegio de San Juan de Letrán. After training in San Antonio, Cavite, he was inducted into Regiment No. 72 and dispatched to Jolo, Sulu to fight the Muslims. Upon his return from Mindanao, was appointed chief clerk of the Comisaría de Guerra in Cavite where he worked for 20 years. He became a freemason and joined the Katipunan in 1892. He organized two Katipunan branches, namely, the Balangay No. 1 named Marikit (Bright) in Barrio San Antonio, Cavite and Balangay No. 2 called Lintik (Lightning) in Barrio San Rafael, also of Cavite. Among the people he initiated into the Katipunan were the jail warden Severino Lapidario, Feliciano Cabuco, tailor José Lallana, watchmaker Eugenio Cabezas and tailor Eulogio Raymundo. He was married to Celedonia Santiago with who he had four children.
7. Máximo Inocencio (born November 18, 1833 in Cavite) was the oldest of the martyrs. Being a freemason, he was implicated in the Cavite Mutiny of 1872 and was subsequently exiled to Ceuta in Spanish Morocco or Cartagena, Spain for 10 years. Upon his return he rebuilt a fortune from building and bridge contracting, shipbuilding, sawmilling, logging and trading. He was married to Narcisa Francisco with whom he had nine children. 8. José Lallana (born 1836 in Cavite) was a tailor whose shop was used by the Katipunan as a meeting place. Lallana was married to Benita Tapawan of Imus, by whom he had two children, Clara and Ramón. Ramón would later join the Philippine Revolution to avenge his father's death, but he never returned and is believed to have been killed in action. 9. Severino Lapidario (born January 8, 1847 in Imus, Cavite) was a corporal in the Spanish Marine Infantry who was implicated in the Cavite Mutiny of 1872. He later regained the confidence of the Spanish colonial authorities who named him warden of the Cavite provincial jail in 1890. 10. Victoriano Luciano (born March 23, 1863) was a pharmacist and freemason who was recognized for his formula of rare perfumes and lotions and was a a member Colegio de Farmaceuticos de Manila. He studied at the Colegio de San Juan de Letrán and University of Santo Tomas. He owned a pharmacy, Botica Luciano, on Real Street (now Trece Martires Avenue) in Cavite whih was also a meeting place of the Katipunan. 11. Francisco Osorio (born 1860) was the scion of a wealthy and well-connected family in Cavite. Little is known of him except that he was not a freemason or a Katipunanero. 12. Hugo Pérez (born 1856 in Binondo, Manila) was a physician. There is little biographical information about Perez except that he was a freemason. 13. Antonio San Agustín (born March 8, 1860 in San Roque, Cavite) was a scion of a wealthy family. He studied at Colegio de San Juan de Letran and University of Santo Tomas. He was married to Juliana Reyes. He owned the only bookstore, La Aurora, in the town which was used as a meetingplace by the Katipunan.
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