MAXIMO GREGORIO (1855-1896)
MAXIMO GREGORIO, one of the thirteen Martyrs of Cavite, was studying at Letran College when he was drafted into the Spain colonial army. After under going training in San Antonio, Cavite, he was inducted into Regiment No.72 and dispatched to Jolo to fight the Muslims. Upon his return from the Mindanao campaign he secured an appointment as chief in the Comisaria de Guerrero in Cavite, staying on the job for 20 years.
Perhaps reflecting his disappointment at not finishing his studies and being sent to the south to fight his non-Christian brothers. Gregorio joined Freemasonry and the Kapitan early in 1892, and became an active member of both organizations. He organized two Katipunan branches, namely, the Balangay No. 1 named Marikit (Bright) in Bario San Antonio, Cavite, and Balangay No. 2 called Lintik (Lightning) in Bario San Rafael, also of Cavite. Among the initiated Katipunan members were Severino Lapidario, the provincial jail warden, Feliciano Cabuco, Jose Lallana, the tailor, Eugenio Cabezas, the watchmaker, and Eulogio Raymundo, another tailor.
Returning from a meeting with Spanish Politico-Military Governor Fernando Pargas the morning of August 31, 1896, Emilio Aguinaldo, the captain municipal of Cavite el Viejo, dropped in at the tailoring shop of Eugenio Cabezas and informed him of the proclamation of martial law in eight Luzon province as a result of the discovery of the Katipunan in Manila. Aguinaldo asked Cabezas to transmit the information to Lapidario, at the same time urging his Katipunan Colleagues in Cavite to take immediate action. Aguinaldo said that with the Katipunan discovery they had no alternative but to rise in arms. Before leaving Cavite Aguinaldo left word that Maximo Gregorio, who was residing in San Roque, be informed about it.
A rig driver and his brother, who had previously served terms in the provincial jail, Implicated Lapidario in the rumored plot to take the Cavite Capital. Consequently, Lapidario and his assistant, Alfonso de Ocampo, were arrested immediately. Subjected to burial torture, de Ocampo revealed the names of his companions. But stricken afterwards with remorse, he attempted to commit suicide by slashing his stomach with a piece of broken glass.
Of the 13 prisoners indicated, Gregorio alone was able to write secretly to his family before their execution on September 12. In his letter which was tacked inside his pillow, Gregorio admonished members of his family to be virtuous, to practice their religion, and “pray to God to give us (the prisoners) a good death.” As fate would have it, the 13 prisoners who were executed had a good noble death – by martyrdom to the cause of their country.
Gregorio was born on November 18, 1856 in Pasay, Morong (now Rizal) province, the son of Francisco Gregorio, from Sandoc, Ilocos Norte, and Celedonia Santiago, a native of Pasay. He left a widow, Esperanza Legaspi, and four children.
[Sources: (1) A.E. Manuel, Dictionary of Philippine Biography. Manila, 1973; (2) Gregorio F. Zaide, Great Filipinos in History. Manila, 1970; (3) Emilio Aguinaldo, Mga Gunita ng Himagsikan, Copyright by Cristina Aguinaldo Suntay. Manila, 1964; and (4) Eminent Filipinos. Manila, National Historical Commission, 1965]