CAVITE UNDER THE FIRST
REPUBLIC
The province of Cavite had three successive
governors, each serving from one to four months because of the abnormal
situation during the Philippine Revolution. Of course, this does not include
the Little Republic of Cavite, under the Magdalo Council or Government headed
by Baldomero Aguinaldo, from November 1896 to about mid – May 1897, a period of
six months.
The first governor of Cavite was General Mariano
Trias, the former vice-president of the first revolutionary Government and of
the Biak-na-Bato Republic, who started his term on July 15,1898. This date
coincided with Aguinaldo’s appointment of his first cabinet. It is quite
possible that Trias held the government of Cavite in a current capacity.
However, in less than a month Trias was replaced by General
Emiliano Riego de Dios, whose administration of Cavite governor began on August
10. On August 24, at 7:08 o’clock in the morning, Governor Riego de Dios
dispatched the following urgent telegram to President Emilio Aguinaldo, who was
then in Kawit:
MOST
URGENT. GENERAL (THOMAS N.) ANDERSON INFORMS ME IN A LETTER THAT, ”IN ORDER TO
AVOID THE VERY SERIOUS MISFORTUNE OF AN ENCOUNTER BETWEEN OUR TROOPS, I DEMAND
IMMEDIATE WITHDRAWAL OF YOUR GUARD FROM CAVITE. ONE OF MY MEN HAS BEEN KILLED
AND DOES NOT ADMIT OF EXPLANATION OR DELAY. I ASK YOU TO INFORM ME OF YOUR
DECISION.”
Aguinaldo answered Riego de Dios Follows:
TELEGRAM
RECEIVED. DO NOT LEAVE THE POST; SAY YOU CANNOT ABANDON THE CITY WITHOUT MY
ORDERS, AND THAT HE (the American soldier – ABS) WAS NOT KILLED BY OUR
SOLDIERS, BUT BY THE AMERICANS THEMSELVES SINCE THEY WERE DRUNK…
Then Aguinaldo added: “GIVE UP YOUR LIFE BEFORE
ABANDONING THAT PLACE. INVESTIGATE THE MATTER.”
In this telegram Aguinaldo demonstrated a fine
example of Filipino courage.
Riego de Dios held the governorship of Cavite for
only about two months. This was to be expected because the revolutionary
situation was quite fluid. On October 7, Ladislao Diwa, a member of the
Katipunan triumvirate, was appointed governor.” It is not shown in any
available historical document, but it is quite possible that Diwa held the post
of Cavite governor until the outbreak of the Philippine American War on
February 4, 1899 – a period of about four months.
Cavite province was represented by four regularly
elected delegates to the Malolos Congress (1898-1899). They were (1) Jose Basa
y Enriquez (1843-1912), the founder owner of a private school in Cavite where
Aguinaldo had studied briefly preparatory to his studies in the Letran College;
(2) Hugo Ilagan (1844-1907), as well –known lawyer of Indang and one of the
singers of the Malolos Constitution; (3) Jose Salamanca (1863-1924) of San
Roque, Cavite, a former colonel in the revolutionary army, linguist, poet,
composer, playwright, and editor of the Cavite Press (1910-1912); and
(4) Severino de las Alas (1851-1918), a noted lawyer and educator of Indang.
In addition, no less than eleven other Caviteño were
appointed to the Revolutionary congress n Tarlac, Tarlac, in 1899, representing
various provinces where the peace and order situation did not permit a regular
election. The Tarlac Congress was the extension of the Malolos Congress, which
came to a close after the promulgation of the Malolos Constitution on January
21,1899. These additional Caviteño delegates were the following:
1.Pantaleon Garcia (1862-1926) of Imus, representing
the province of Albay,
2.Tomas Mercado (1871-1932) of Kawit, representing
Zamboanga,
3.Daniel Tria Tirona (1864-1939) also of Kawit,
representing Batanes,
4.Vito
Belarmino (1858-1933) of Silang, representing Batanes,
5.Felipe
Calderon (1868-1908) of Sta. Cruz de Malabon (now Tanza), representing Paragua
(Palawan),
6.Reymundo
C. Jaciel (1875-1951) of Indang, representing Lepanto (in Mountain province),
7.Vicente
Cua-Peco Somoza (1862-1905) of Maragondon, representing Matti (Davao),
8.Andress
Tria Tirona (1870-1937) of Kawit, representing Baras,
9.Luciano
San Miguel (1875-1903) of Noveleta, representing Negros Oriental,
10.Jose
Colonel (1860-1939) of Indang, representing Amburayan (now an obsolete name),
and
11.Pio
del Pilar (1860-1931), a native of Culi-Culi, Makati, who spent his fighting
years in Cavite, representing Negros Oriental.
Of
the Caviteño generals who died fighting during the revolution, at least three
come immediately into mind; namely, (1) Candido Tria Tirona (1862-1896), bosom
friend of General Emilio Aguinaldo, who was killed by an enemy straggler in the
Battle of Binakayan, Kawit, on November 10, 1896; (2) Crispulo Aguinaldo
(1863-1897), who died defending the strategic Pasong Santol, Salitran,
Dasmariñas, on March 24, 1897, so that his younger brother, Emilio, could take
his oath of office as newly elected president of the First Revolutionary
Government; and (3) Luciano San Miguel (1875-1903), who died fighting the
Americans on March 27, 1903.
General Edilberto Evangelista (1862-1897), the first
Manila-born ilustrado to join the revolution, was killed by an enemy sniper in
the Battle of Zapote on February 17, 1897. Because he spent his entire
revolutionary life in Cavite, Evangelista deserved to be considered a worthy
Caviteño.