3. Leon kilat and Cebu revolution – The First Martyrs

3.  Leon kilat and Cebu revolution – The First Martyrs

By Emil Justimbaste The Freeman, 1998

A SOCIAL upheaval, like that which happened in Cebu in 1898, always has its share of casualties. As so often in the past, the first casualties were those who had minimal involvement in the planning and execution of the events fast shaping up. 

The Spaniards were looking for something to start with - the names of persons involved. To verify their suspicions, two guardia civil fetched teniente Januario Gabrillo of Basak, San Nicolas from his house to find out who went to Opon for the mass at the church of Virgin sa Regla. It was reported that the ones involved in the katipunan prayed at the church prior to launching their revolt. The Spaniards felt uneasy about it. 


So Gabrillo was brought to the tribunal of San Nicolas and subjected to interrogation. This tribunal was made of five persons who looked threatening enough with their looks, their voices and their eyes. Gervasio Padilla interceded for his release for not having done anything wrong, to no avail. The arresting officers simply refused, saying they were under the orders of Captain Revilla, chief of the local volunteers of Cebu. 

During this time, the members of the voluntarios locales were: Florentino Rallos, Francisco del Mar, Francisco Sales, Arsenio Climaco, Manuel Roa, Jose Ocampo, Juan Borres, Esteban Manuel, Angel Iriarte, and very few Cebuanos. It was Remigio Gutierres, registrar of Cebu, who made efforts to set it up, bringing with him Fidel Moa, Pedro Royo, a certain Cuito, Eduardo Lopez and others. 

Complete with firearms, each one had a Remington, were trained and also training others. They were fulltime in their job, made to believe that they would be fighting the North Americans, but they would be used against their fellowmen instead. Many of them joined the revolutionaries when the Spaniards left to fight against the Americans. 

In behalf of the chief of the guardia civil district, Gabrillo was brought to Fort San Pedro where Captain Revilla was waiting. Again, Gabrillo was interrogated by Revilla through an interpreter, asked about his name, age, civil status and profession as well as the names of his companions who went to Opon for the mass at the Virgen sa Regla church. He was promised freedom if he revealed their names. 

The ruse worked. Gabrillo revealed 15 names. Among the prominent ones mentioned were Teopisto Cavan, Presco Abreu (Frisco Abriyo in some accounts), Florencio Gonzales, Gregorio Abellana, Gavino Padilla and Andres Abellana. 

But instead of being released, he was tortured some more until he died. He was buried on the right side of the fort. The incident happened on March 21, 1898, a Palm Sunday. 

According to local historian Manuel Enriquez de la Calzada, many bad things happened on a Palm Sunday in the storied past of San Nicolas. It was a Palm Sunday in March 21, 1521 when 800 natives were baptized in Sugbu (the old name of San Nicolas). 


On April 3, 1898, a Palm Sunday, the bell in San Nicolas was raised up, the same day that Sanicolasnons took up arms against their colonizers. (On another Palm Sunday, March 26, 1945, American planes bombed the church and destroyed it. Was Palm Sunday a jinx in the history of San Nicolasñ) 

On the early morning of March 22, the list was secretely delivered to the Tribunal of San Nicolas by a certain Sargeant Mastache and two soldiers. An order was issued to arrest all suspected members of the katipunan, prompting all katipuneros to go into hiding. 


But unfortunately, not all were informed. Among those caught unaware was Pinsoy (Florencio) Gonzales. He was also tortured and made to reveal the names of the other katipuneros. However, Gonzales kept his mouth shut. 

His arrest was made possible through a woman informer of Labangon who told authorities about their presence in the area. Then Candido Padilla, Julio Llorente and the Regis brothers were also nabbed while asleep. 

A few days later, Pisto (Teopisto) Cavan followed Gonzales to the fort. Upon his arrest, he was politely told that they were investigating something and needed to ask some questions. His family was even assured that he would return soon. A few days later, his parents went to the authorities, only to be told that Pistoy would go home in due time. But he never did. 

Gonzales and Cavan were imprisoned inside the fort which was hot during daytime and made to sleep on stone floor which had the suffocating smell of urine. The food given was often stale, and they could not sleep. Interrogation came at the most unexpected hours. They were often breathless because of the rapidity with which questions were asked. They were boxed, kicked and slapped during these sessions. 

When the tribunal was finished with them, it sent a summary of their "crimes" to General Montero who never knew what transpired. As usual, Montero would issue a sentencia de muerte (death sentence). This order could not be revoked, rescinded or opposed. Montero's decisions were always absolute. 


So Gonzales and Cavan followed the fate of Gabrillo, becoming the first martyrs of the revolution in Cebu. 

The wealthy Chinese Lucio Herrera was also summoned to see General Montero at his office. He was questioned about his relationship with Francisco Llamas, his brother-in-law. The latter replied that he knew nothing about Llamas' activities. Despite several slaps and kicks from the governor, the latter was still allowed to go home because of his strong connections with his countrymen and the influential Chinese community. 

In the meantime, some leading members of the katipunan managed to escape the dragnet of the guardia civil. Gregorio Abellana left his house at Mindanao St. (now B. Aranas), luckily, just a few minutes before the arrival of the soldiers. 

Then he met Crispin Echevarre, servant of Gervasio Padilla, who accompanied him to the latter's house. Padilla advised Abellana to leave immediately for Kabkab (Carcar)and stay there until April 7 (Holy Thursday), the eve of the revolt. So Abellana, accompanied by Severo "Iray" Padilla, left for Kabkab on horseback. They stayed with the Enriquez family of Miguel, Apolinaria and their sons Regino, Nicanor and Jaime who all became members of the Katipunan. 

Unknown to them, their companions met on Friday (March 25 or April 1) to thresh out their plan of preparing a revolt against the Spanish government. They finalized the April 8 revolt, and agreed to place the quarters of the Carbineros, infantry and the guardia civil under watch with 50 men each. The signal for their attack would be the sky rocket to be launched by Jorge Nombrado. 

At this time, the schedule for their uprising was still on Good Friday, April 8, 1898.

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