The unsung Battle of Pasong Tamo in Novaliches in August 1896

As the nation was celebrating the annual National Heroes Day on Monday, my mind was reminiscing about the first heroes produced by the unsung Battle of Pasong Tamo in the former town of Novaliches, now divided between Quezon City and Caloocan City in Metro Manila, a century and 28 years ago.

According to historical accounts, that battle was considered the first-ever armed encounter between the Filipino revolutionaries and the Spanish forces in the Philippines after Gat Andres Bonifacio, leader of the Kataas-taasang, Kagalang-galang na Katipunan ng mga Anak ng Bayan (KKK) or Highest and Noblest Brotherhood of the Sons of the People, declared his Government of the Katagalugan on Aug. 24, 1896.

It preceded the more famous Battle of Pinaglabanan in the now City of San Juan which occurred from Aug. 29-30 of the same year and prompted then Spanish Governor-General Ramon Blanco to place under martial law the old province of Manila along with seven others, namely: Bulacan, Pampanga, Nueva Ecija, Tarlac, Laguna, Cavite, and Batangas.

Bonifacio said the word "Katagalugan" actually referred to the entire Philippines since the three "K's" on the Katipunan flag represented the three main islands of Luzon, the Visayas, and Mindanao.

Three noted historians, in an article entitled "Balintawak: The Cry of a Nationwide Revolution" published in the quarterly magazine "Kultura" of the National Commission on Culture and the Arts (NCCA) in April-June 1996, said that "Bonifacio establishes his new government in Pasong Tamo," one of the original barrios of Novaliches.

The authors of the article were Professor Milagros C. Guerrero, a history teacher at the University of the Philippines; Emmanuel N. Encarnacion, a scientist and custodian of the Bonifacio Papers who devotes his time to historical research and antiquarian studies; and Ramon N. Villegas, another antiquarian.

On a former rice field along Tandang Sora Avenue in Barangay Talipapa, there used to be a historical maker installed in 1958 to preserve for posterity the site of the first battle fought by Bonifacio and his men with the Spaniards.

Unfortunately, that Novaliches war marker was removed to give way to the widening of Tandang Sora Avenue sometime in the 1980s.

Governor Blanco's declaration of martial law in Manila and seven surrounding provinces on Aug. 30, 1896 was a reaction to an earlier report by General Bernardo Echaluce, leader of the Spanish civil guards in Intramuros, who said:

"In the initial stages of the rebellion, when the purpose of the insurgents became known, the panic in Manila was indescribable. It was known that there were few forces that could be counted upon for defense, and those for the most part were native. This increased the unrest which later, when I met in combat and dispersed with great loss the large masses that took the field in San Juan del Monte, became converted into a general feeling of vengeance against the traitors who planned a general massacre of all Spaniards in Manila.

"The blow upon the capital having been warded off and taking advantage of the terror created among the rebels by their large losses in San Juan del Monte, and their disaster in the vicinity of Novaliches, we were able to establish positions in Binondo and Tondo, in the vicinity of the railroad and in Mariquina, and to organize the squadron and battalion of volunteers for the safety and protection of the Walled City and the outlying districts."

Among those considered as the first heroes who emerged after the Pasong Tamo battle were Bonifacio, Emilio Jacinto, the "Brains of the Katipunan;" Apolonio Samson, and Tandang Sora, considered as the "Mother of the Revolution."

In recognition of the heroism of Jacinto in the Battle of Pasong Tamo, the former National Historical Institute or NHI, now the National Historical Commission of the Philippines (NCHP), erected a shrine for him on an elevated portion of the 54-year-old Himlayang Pilipino Memorial Park (HPMP) in Barangay Pasong Tamo, Tandang Sora District, Novaliches.

The shrine shows a bronze statue of defiant Jacinto, with an upright saber in the right hand as he led an attack against the Spanish soldiers while reining his galloping horse.

Aside from Jacinto, the monument also features 11 other unnamed revolutionaries, some of them either fighting bravely with him, wounded or dead.

The marker on the shrine said that Jacinto, who was born in Trozo, Tondo, Manila on Dec. 15, 1875, served as an adviser on fiscal matters and secretary to Katipunan Supremo Andres Bonifacio. He also wrote for the Katipunan newspaper called Kalayaan under the pen name “Dimas-Ilaw.”

History books said that Jacinto used the revolutionary name “Pingkian” and was also the author of the Kartilya ng Katipunan.

Jacinto contracted malaria and died in Magdalena, Laguna, at the age of 23 on April 16, 1899. His remains were later transferred to the Manila North Cemetery.

In the 1970s, the remains were transferred anew and enshrined finally in the Himlayang Pilipino Memorial Park (HPMPl.

Aside from the shrine, Jacinto is also remembered in Pasong Tamo today with a sitio named Pingkian, where the HPMP is located.