GIL IGNACIO (D. 1907)
LIKE Jose Tagle of Imus, Gil Ignacio of Bacoor was the Katipunan leader in Bacoor, Cavite. The history of Cavite Province will not be complete without mentioning the contribution of Tagle and Ignacio to the Philippine Revolution. It was Ignacio who headed the Katipunan chapter of Gargano (revolutionary name of Bacoor), the first town to absorb the initial blows of Spanish troops dispatched from Manila to quell the uprising in Cavite.
According to General Aguinaldo, on the morning of September 2, 1896, the third day of Revolution, Ignacio and two other brother Katipuneros came to him to ask for reinforcement to meet a strong enemy force consisting of infantry, cavalry, and artillery soldier sighted in Pulang Lupa, Las Piñas, on its way to the Recollect estate house in Imus, which was attacked revolutionists headed by Baldomero Aguinaldo. On the night of August 31.
Aguinaldo agreed to help the Bacoor Katipuneros. He had the bugle sounded and the bells rang, and within a few minutes some 500 Kawit voluntaries arrived, armed will all sorts of weapons, including nine guns, and many bolos and daggers. Some carried wooden stakes and nipa sheaves looking like guns in the distance. Aguinaldo’s plan was to intercept the enemy at the Zapote River separating Las Piñas from Bacoor. The marched double time to cover the six-kilometer distance to Zapote River. But about half a kilometer after the Bacoor plaza in the direction of the Zapote River an advanced enemy column surprised the Kawit volunteers and literally mowed them down with rifle fire. When Aguinaldo arrived on the scene he saw a field of corpses, his own men, and not a sing a soul alive. It was Aguinaldo’s first defeat in the Revolution.
Fortunately, Ignacio survived the debacle. Thereafter he participated in many battles throughout the province. He was with Aguinaldo the latter, reeling from the Lachambre offensive, decide to leave Cavite about mid-May 1897 and retreated his army to the mountain redoubt of Biak-na-Bato in San Miguel, Bulacan. Ignacio also joined Aguinaldo in his exile to Hong Kong and came back with him on board the McCulloch to resume the unfinished revolution against Spain.
On May 31, 1898, the opening day of the general uprising set by Aguinaldo, the townspeople of Bacoor under the leadership of Ignacio rose as one man against the Spaniards. After a brief engagement the Filipino flag was hoisted at the top of the Bacoor church tower. About 300 Spaniards surrendered to the Bacoor rebels.
Ignacio was born in barrio Binalo, Bacoor, date unknown. But one historical document says that he died in September 1907.
[Sources: (1) Talambuhay ng Magigiting na Lalaki ng Kabite, Jimenez Collection; (2) Emilio Aguinaldo, Mga Gunita ng Himagsikan.. Copyright by Cristina Aguinaldo Suntay. Manila, 1964; and (3) John R. M. Taylor, Philippine Insurrection Against the United States. 5 vols. Pasay City, Eugenio Lopez Foundation, 1971.]