ANTONIO
SAN AGUSTIN (1860-1896)
IT WAS a time of religious bigotry in Cavite brought about by the scheming Spanish frailes. Antonio San Agustin, a businessman, had a bazaar called La Aurora (The Dawn), which was also selling books. Infact, that was the only bookstore in Cavite, and because some of the books did not have the imprimatur of the Catholic Church, San Agustin was accused of being a freethinker. The accusation may or may not be justified, but the truth is that San Agustin was a member of the Katipunan secret revolutionary society.
San Agustin was born March 8, 1860, in San Roque Cavite. His parents, Andres San Agustin and Telesfora Lacsaman, owned houses for rent and they had a good social standing in the community. He studied at Letran College, and later finished a two-year course at the University of Sto. Tomas, giving him a certificate as cirujano ministrante. On November 8, 1886, he was appointed vacunador general of Cavite province.
He was married to businesswoman, Juliana Reyes, and soon the couple opened a bazaar in Cavite close to the pharmacy store of Victoriano Luciano. In addition, the San Agustin family had a cigarette factory. Their economic status was fairly substantial.
San Agustin was among the suspects rounded up in Cavite after the uprising in San Francisco de Malabon, Noveleta and Cavite of Viejo. Like the others arrested, he was given a summary trial on September 11, 1896, and the following day at 12:45 o’clock past noon he and twelve others were shot before a firing squad. They went down in history as the Thirteen Martyrs of Cavite.
He was survive by his wife and seven children, one of whom became a medico titular and another a pharmacist.
[Sources: (1) Antolio Litonjua, “The Thirteen Martyrs of Cavite (1940); “Sunday Tribune Magazine, September 11, 1932; (2) Jose Nava, The Thirteen Martyrs of Cavite (1940); (3) E. Arsenio Manuel, Dictionary of Philippine Biography, Manila, 1973; and (4) Leon S. del Rosario, “Cavite’s 13 Martyrs, “This Week, September 11, 1949,]