Every fifth of November, Negros Occidental commemorates the bloodless revolution that ended the Spanish rule in the province in 1898.
Generals Aniceto Lacson and Juan Araneta, who are “hacenderos”, have been hailed as leaders of the revolution, but their loyal workers also played a major role in the success of the historic bluff that brought freedom to Negros.
In a column written for a local paper, Negrense historian Ver Pacete, who hails from Silay City, said: “The astute ‘hacenderos’ became military captains for the Nov. 5, 1898 Revolution. They put on their tailored-to-fit military uniforms like theater actors and enticed the “jornaleros” (sugarcane workers) and the “apaceros” (sharecroppers) who have canine devotion to the landlords to march and fight.”
This came as” (t)he friendship of the Negrosanon “hacenderos” and the Spaniards under Spanish Governor Isidro de Castro did not prosper much for the advantage of sugar industry,” he said.
Pacete added that in Bago,” (t)he cunning Juan Araneta ordered his “trabajadores” (workers) to make fake canons and rifles out of rolled “amakans” and nipa. They marched to Bacolod like professional soldiers of the infantry. The bluff made them win the revolution.”
“The Nov. 5, 1898 revolution that made our sugarcane workers heroes in cameo roles could be a blend of chivalry and romantic idealism. Let us not forget the day,” he concluded in a related column.
Another prominent figure in the history of Negros liberation from foreign colonizers is Papa Isio.
Known as a revolutionary belonging to the “masa”, Papa Isio’s name came in several variations. Pacete said that “(i)n some signed documents recovered, the signature that appears is Dionesio Papa.”
In one of his columns, Pacete said that the man was “a farm laborer, a “vaquero” (herder of carabaos), tuba gatherer… who later became a “pope” of the “babaylans” and a charismatic leader who led the farmers to oppose the abusive “principalia” (the aristocrats of Negros), the hacenderos having no heart for their hacienda workers, and the Chinese who lived for profit only.”
Papa Isio “was consistent in his fight against the Spaniards and the American,” he added.
In the southern town of Cauayan, his statue stands on the village named after him. The people of Barangay Isio remember his heroism as the province marks the Cinco de Noviembre every year. – NLG
