CRISPULO F. AGUINALDO
(1864-1897)
General Crispulo Aguinaldo; the hero of Pasong Santol, was an elder
brother of General Emilio Aguinaldo. He was born on June 10, 1864 in Kawit,
Cavite to Kapitan Carlos Aguinaldo and Trinidad Famy. He had five brothers
(Primo, Benigno, Esteban, Ambrosio and Emilio) and two sisters (Tomasa and
Felicidad).
Crispulo, or Pulong, obtained his
Bachelor of Arts degree at the Colegio de San Juan de Letran. He married Irenea
Arazaso of Kawit by whom he had seven children. His only son was named after
him.
Before the outbreak of the Revolution
in 1896, he served as
Capitan Municipal of Kawit. A
Freemason, he was a member of the Katipunan's Magdalo council.
He took part in the Battle of Binakayan
on November 11, 1896. His troops were assigned at the rear together with the
troops of Gen. Baldomero Aguinaldo. Generals Simeon Latorre and Candido Trias
Tirona were killed in that battle. Luckily, the Filipino irregular troops led by
Gen. Emilio Aguinaldo defeated later the Spanish forces headed by Governor
General Ramon Blanco and Colonel Marina.
Gen. Crispulo Aguinaldo also led the
insurgent forces in attacking the Spanish forces in Muntinglupa, Taguig and
Pateros in Rizal Province. They waged a fierce fight for two days, after which
they retired to Cavite. Consequently, the fighting intensified as the Filipino
bastions in Batangas, Cavite and Laguna provinces were stormed by the
Spanish troops to avenge
their defeat at the Battle of Binakayan and in the Rizal towns.
In the later part of February, 1897,
Crispulo joined the staff of his brother, Emilio, who was defending the town of
Dasmariņas, Cavite against the attack of General Lachambre the trusted division
general of Captain-General Camilo Polavieja. The Filipino forces evacuated
the town only after days of bitter
fighting.
After the Spanish victory in Dasmarinas, General Lachambre,
assisted by Gen. Antonio Zabala
(commander of the Spanish garrison in Dasmariņas), attacked Salitran (an estate
house). Crispulo distinguished himself in hand-to-hand combat heading a mixed
group of riflemen and bolomen. In this
battle, General Zabala was killed.
On March 22, 1897, Crispulo attended
the Tejeros Assembly in San Francisco
de Malabon (now General Trias). In this assembly, Gen. Emilio Aguinaldo was elected president of
the reorganized revolutionary government. Andres Bonifacio's election to the
post of director of the interior was questioned by Gen. Daniel Trias Tirona
of Kawit. The lamentable break between
Emilio Aguinaldo and Bonifacio thus
began.
The assembly sent Colonel Vicente Riego
de Dios to fetch Gen. Emilio Aguinaldo, who was in Pasong Santol (a zigzag
trail between Imus and Dasmarinas).
Colonel Riego de Dios returned to Tejeros without the new president and so
Crispulo headed a second commission to notify his younger brother. On the
afternoon of the same day, he left for Pasong Santol with a handful of aides
and scouts.
After reaching their destination the following day, Crispulo
conveyed his birthday greetings to his brother. Likewise, he explained his
mission and urged him to assume the presidency in order to effect the
reorganization of the government. Emilio, however, refused to leave his command
as he knew that the Spanish forces were advancing from Dasmaridas to Imus; he
wanted to block their way and annihilate the cazadores.
Crispulo didn't want to return to
Tejeros without his brother so he offered to take over the command at Pasong
Santol on condition that Emilio should go to Tejeros with the commission to
formally accept his election as head of the revolutionary government.
He
made his pledge in the presence of his brother and the member of the staff, vowing that the Spanish
forces could only take Pasong Santol
over his dead body. Aware of the dauntless courage of his brother Emilio
relinquished his command in favor of Crispulo.
Two days later, on the 24th of March, the Spaniards outnumbered
the Filipino forces and captured Pasong Santol. Although wounded, Crispulo
fought on gallantly. He died a martyr at the age of 33.