LUIS PARANG
HIS DATE and place
of birth are unknown. So are the names of his parents. Neither is there a
document telling the date and place of his death. A foreign observer may dismiss him as an outlaw. But his
achievement in Philippine history can’t be ignored.
Luis Parang, a
Caviteño, is probably the only man in history who was able to force Malacañang
to make an "individual treaty” with him to end an agrarian revolt.
Unfortunately, history books cannot give the exact date this treaty was signed,
but it was accomplished through the intervention of Father Mariano Gomes,
parish priest of Bacoor.
As vicar forane
and later as permanent vicar of Cavite, Gomes endeared himself to Caviteños by
attending to their spiritual and economic needs. Coming from affluent family,
the priest spent his own money building roads and organizing a bank which
granted loans “without collaterals and interest.” He also championed the rights
of native priests vis-à-vis the Spanish regulars or friars.
One day, while
conducting an investigation to the abuses of the religious corporations owning
vast haciendas in Imus and San Francisco de Malabon, He discovered that the
“notorious outlaw,” Luis Parang, was a victim of gross injustice. After
interviewing Parang in his mountain hideout Gomes went to Malacañang and
convinced the governor-general to give Parang a chance to return to a normal
peaceful life.
Assured that he
and his band of followers would be granted amnesty, Parang came down from the
hills and proceeded to Malacañang accompanied by Gomes. The governor-general
was surprised and amazed by Gomes' death in persuading the bandit to come to
the fold of the law. In his desire to end once and for all the long-festering
outlawry in Cavite, the governor-general took the unprecedented step of signing
an agreement with Parang called Tratado de Malacañang (Treaty of Malacañang)
with Gomes as witness, thus restoring peace in the province.
The Tratado de
Malacañang not only granted executive clemency to Cavite “bandits” but also
gave such concessions as 1) no raise in land rentals collected by the religious
corporations, and 2) failure to pay land rentals would not constitute
sufficient ground for ousting the tenants from their lands.
The Parang case
greatly emboldened the Caviteños in resisting Spanish abuses, ultimately paving
the way for insurrection against Spain with Cavite Province as the “cockpit of
the Philippine Revolution.”
[Sources: (1) Sol
H. Gwekoh, “Burgos-Gomes_Zamora: Secular Martyrs of Filipinism” (First
Centennial Biography). Manila, 1973; and (2) Gregorio F. Zaide, “Birth of
Filipino Nationalism,” Philippine Political and Cultural History, 2 vols.
Manila, 1957.]
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