BY ATTY. REX SALVILLA
AS we celebrate Philippine Independence Day, here are three little known facts concerning West Visayans.
1. When President Emilio Aguinaldo proclaimed the independence of the Philippines in Kawit, Cavite on June 12, 1898, he declared that the third star in the Philippine flag represents “Panay.”
In the Acta de la Proclamacion de la Independencia del Pueblo Filipino (Act of the Proclamation of the Independence of the Filipino People), Aguinaldo said:
“El triangulo represente el emblema distinctivo de la famosa sociedad de KATIPUNAN que por medio de su PACTO DE SANGRE, augurio a las masas del pueblo la urgencia de la insurreccion; las tres estrellas representan las tres principales islas de este archipelago: Luzon, Mindanao y Panay….”
2. There were three Ilonggos in the Aguinaldo Cabinet:
- Gen. Esteban de la Rama – First Commandant of the Philippine Marine
- Gen. Pascual Ledesma – First Secretary of Philippine Navy and the First Flag Officer of the Philippine Navy, and
- Gregorio Araneta – First Secretary of Justice and Secretary of the Malolos Congress.
3. One of the ablest regimental commanders of Aguinaldo in Luzon was Col. Julio Infante of Iloilo City who, after the revolution, became the first municipal secretary of Iloilo town (now city) and during World War I was the commander of the Third Regiment of the Philippine Militia in the Visayas.
At the same time, Gen. Adriano Hernandez of Dingle, Iloilo was the commander of the Second Regiment of the Philippine Militia in Luzon.
The Philippine Militia was organized to fight the Germans in Europe during World War I in 1917 but the war ended in 1918 when they were about to be sent to the war front in France./PN
