ROMAN BASA (1848-1897)
ROMAN BASA, a native of San Roque, Cavite, was probably the first Caviteño to break away from Andres Bonifacio. Prof.Teodoro A. Agoncillo, the Bonofacio biographer, says that Basa, second president of the Katipunan, was “ deposed” by Bonifacio early in 1895 because he was “ as ineffectual as Deodato Arellano,” the first Katipunan president. But another historical research reveals that Basa “ voluntarily withdraw himself from the Katipunan…because he never liked the way the Supremo (Bonifacio) spent the money of the Katipunan – money which he (Basa) believed should be used for the future objectives of the society.”
A self-made man, Basa, despite his meager education, rose to become the official segundo de le Commandancia de Marina in the Spanish arsenal in Cavite. Blessed with exceptional talent, he became proficient in Spanish through self-study. He was an avid reader of the fortnightly organ of the reformist in Spain La Solidaridad, and of Rizal’s novels, Noli me Tangere and El Filibusterismo, which Basa smuggled into the country with the help of Eulogio Santiago, a patriotic machinist of the boat Don Juan.
Basa was initiated into the Katipunan on November 9, 1892 (four months after the secret society’s organization), adopting the symbolic name Liwanag (Light). Three months later, in February 1893, he was elected resident of the Katipunan, succeeding Arellano. According to Agoncillo, “ Bonifacio, disgusted over Arellano’s inaction, deposed him and put Roman Basa as Supremo.” Bonifacio, at that time, was merely an “ interventor or comptroller “ ; and under Basa’s presidency he became “ fiscal” . The fact that Bonifacio could “ depose” at will Arellano and later Basal, if Agoncillo is to be believed, confirms Dr. Pio Valenzuela’s description of him as algo despota (rather despotic). But Teodoro M. Kalaw and other scholars call Bonifacio “ Father of Philippine Democracy” – which is rather confusing.
Basa was the fourth of six children of Mariano Basa and Dorotea Esteban. Arrested shortly after the outbreak of the Revolution, he was dumped into prison along with other patriots, and executed on Bagumbayan field early the following year. A martyr to the cause of freedom, Basa was a cousin of Maximo Inocencio, one of the Thirteen Martyrs of Cavite.
(Sources: (1) Natividad Cabrera, “ Roman Basa,” in Prominent Caviteños in Philippine History. Copyright by Esteban A. de Ocampo, 1941; (2) National Historical Commission, Eminent Filipinos, 1965; (3) Agoncillo and Guererro, History of the Filipino People, 1970; and (4) Talambuhay ng Magigiting na Lalaki ng Kabite, Jimenez Collection.)