BACOLOD City – The Bago City Government in Negros Occidental commemorated the centennial death anniversary of Bagonhon hero, General Juan Anacleto Torres Araneta, on Thursday, October 3.
Araneta, popularly known as Tan Juan, died on October 3, 1924 due to cerebral hemorrhage.
Mayor Nicholas Yulo and Vice Mayor Ramon Torres led the wreath-laying and floral offering at the General Juan Araneta Monument in front of Manuel Y. Torres Memorial Coliseum and Cultural Center, followed by a tribute program at the Balay ni Tan Juan Community Museum.
Prior to this, a mass and unity walk were held in honor of Tan Juan.
Tan Juan was first buried at the “Patio sang Banua” in 1924. On the 50th year of his death, he was reinterred in his permanent place of honor, the Araneta Monument at the Bago public plaza.
His monument, a landmark not only in Bago City but also in southern Negros, did not only house his remains but bore a highly visible equestrian statue of the hero made by renowned Negrosanon sculptor Felix Garzon where he was immortalized riding on his black stallion named Requinto with his other hand holding a bolo as if ready to strike.
In his honor, the longest street in Negros, the Araneta Street, which stretches from his monument up to the public plaza of Bacolod City, was named after him.
Moreover, the historic old Bago bridge, that played a vital role in the liberation of Bacolod during the Japanese occupation, was inaugurated as the Gen. Juan Araneta Bridge.
And as a lasting tribute to his memory, the city government of Bago renamed its public plaza to Gen. Juan A. Araneta Park on the occasion of his 50th death anniversary in 1974.
Tan Juan left his big brood an honored name, a revered memory, and material property. But both to his progeny and to the whole Filipino people, he left a legacy of patriotism, progressive ideas, and an inspiring example./PN
