NUMERIANO
R. ADRIANO
(1846-1897)
Numeriano Adriano, a notary public, propagandist and a reformist was one of those executed by the Spaniards for directly or indirectly participating in the first phase of the Revolution in 1896. His integrity of character, courage and patriotism were said to have greatly influenced the formative years of Apolinario Mabini.
Adriano
was born on July 5, 1846. He was the eldest of the seven children of Pioquinto
Adriano and Agapita Resurreccion of Beata, Pandacan, Manila. It is not known
whether or not he ever attended the University of Santo Tomas. Still and all,
he must have been trained, enough to be appointed Clerk of Court in the third
branch of the Court-of First Instance of Manila. For 20 years, Adriano rendered
efficient service in that position. In recognition of such service at the
escribania, he was authorized by the Crown to practice as a notary public. In
this capacity, he held office at the Cortes Building at the corner of Ongpin
and Rosario Streets.
It
was while he was working as clerk at the escribania that he got acquainted with
Marcelo H. Del Pilar, Timoteo Paez and Deodato Arellano who were then engaged
in the propaganda movement. In that office, his assistant was Apolinario
Mabini.
In
February, 1892, he was initiated into Masonry. After having attained the 33rd
degree, he became grandmaster of the lodge Balagtas in Sampaloc. Together with
Ambrosio Flores, he organized and formulated the rules and regulations of the
Gran Concejo Regional, the first national organization of Masons in the
Philippines. On July 3, 1892, he became one of the leading members of La Liga
Filipinn Following Rizal's exile to Dapitan in 1893, the Liga became defunct,
but Adriano, who headed the Popular Council in Sampaloc, continued to look up
to Rizal. His sympathies were shared by others in the reform movement.
In
1894, Adriano and 50 others organized the Cuerpo de Compromisarios which
continued to support the Filipino newspaper La Solidaridad in Spain. On one
occasion they were able to raise funds for a banquet honoring Emilio Junoy, the
visiting Spanish envoy who was to present the Filipino petition for
representation in the Spanish Cortes.
Sometime
in 1895, the effectivity of La Solidoridod and the entire propaganda reform
effort began to be questioned. Two schools of thought, in effect, were formed.
To the first group belonged Adriano, the intellectuals and the well-to-do who
still believed that La Solidaridad could still miraculously obtain reforms. The
second group was headed by Andres Bonifacio who thought that the effort to
obtain reforms by peaceful means was futile. Bonifaciols group raised the call
to arms which they believed was the last recourse.
The
reformist first tried to save Rizal by assisting him to escape to a foreign
port. Rizal, however, refused. They then decided to send agents abroad to
secure arms and ammunitions. Among those agents were Jose A. Ramos, Doroteo
Cortes and Modesto Espanol. But lack of funds plagued them. Eventually, the
agents were either stranded or forced to resort to spending their own money on
their missions abroad.
In
August 1896, the Katipunan was discovered. While many decided to take up arms,
Adriano and some other fellow Masons stayed at home. On the night of September
16, 1896, he was arrested. Identified as one of those in complicity with the
plot to overthrow the government, he was sent to jail by Colonel Francisco
Olive of the Spanish Army. Court-martialed, he was found guilty of treason and
sedition and was sentenced to death. On the 11th day of January 1897. Adriano
was shot in Bagumbayan with Domingo France, Moises Salvador, Franciso L. Roxas,
Luis Enciso Villareal, Jose Dizon, Lt. Benedicto Nijaga, Corporal Ceronimo,
Cristobal Medina, Antonio Salazar, Ramon P. Padilla, Faustino Villaruel,
Braulio Rivera and Eutaquio Maņalak.
Numeriano
Adriano married twice. After the death of his first wife, Lucia Garcia of
Mandaluyong, he married Isabel Val on May 19, 1888. Isabel was a daughter of
Antonio Val, a Spaniard, and Faustina Medina.