PART 15 FRANCISCO LLAMAS OF CEBU, THE REVOLUTIONARY HERO

PART 15 SOMETHING INTERESTING ABOUT THE LLAMAS FAMILY OF THE PHILIPPINES
BY: DEO ANTONIO D. LLAMAS

FRANCISCO LLAMAS OF CEBU, THE REVOLUTIONARY HERO
EXCERPTS FROM HISTORY OF CEBU


An important meeting took place on March 11, 1898 at the sugar cane field of Jacinto Pacaïna in San Nicolas. Present in that meeting were the leaders of the katipunan in Cebu: Leon Kilat, Candido Padilla, Luis Flores, Eugenio Gines, Florencio Cavan, Jacinto Pacaïna, Atilano Lopez, Francisco Llamas, Alejandro Climaco, Justo Cabajar, Alejo Minoza, Hipolito Labra, Catalino Fernandez, Placido Datan, Alipio Barrera, Alejandro Villona, Nicanor Avila and others. It was decided during the meeting that the revolt should start on April 8 (Good Friday). Catalino Fernandez suggested this and argued that the all the Spaniards would be joining the procession on Good Friday and they could take all the leaders in one blow with the least resistance. All the members resolved to keep their agreements in secrets. They also conspired with the members of the voluntarios leales (royal volunteers) that in case of a shooting match with Katipuneros, they would fire over their heads. Or they would aim their guns at the Spaniards should the latter refuse to surrender. Everybody in the meeting agreed.

The plans was unsuccessful when some participants were arrested. They changed their plan. They seized Talisay instead on April 1. After two days, they won a sturdy battle against Spanish forces of Adolfo Montero and Captains Monfort, Gutierrez and Iboloen.

After their success they entered Cebu City the following day. Gen. Pantaleon Villegas lead the revolt against Spanish forces in Cebu City with some 6,000 rebels, armed with bolos and few fire-arms. He personally ordered the abrupt occupancy of the city as the 40 Spanish soldiers stationed at the garrison choose not to resists the sudden attack. The rebels took the convent, plundered the churches, sacked the home of Spanish inhabitants, looted and later burned the stores. They even killed three Spanish civilians, took eight Spanish friars from the Cota (little fort) on the beach as hostages and shot three escapees. The communication lines were swiftly cut-off as the uprising began to reach to the other coastal towns of the island of Cebu under the control of Francisco Llamas.


Another blog I would like to share by harve harve an account on the revolution that took place in Cebu.http://i136.photobucket.com/albums/q177/harveharve/image4.jpg

Knowing the movement of the enemy, Leon Kilat went in haste towards the main body of the katipuneros, avoiding Guadalupe road as he moved towards the Calamba cemetery where the huge group of katipuneros was concentrated. He did not have to walk far when he met them. Immediately, he assumed command, leading them to the location of the enemy troops.

At intersection of V. Rama and Tres de Abril st. where the enemy troops had stopped, Kilat deployed his men. The left wing of katipuneros was placed under Eugenio Gines and Francisco Llamas, to be assisted by Arsenio Cabreros, Rufo Abella, Pio Lopez and Dionisio Abellar. The center column, commanded by Kilat himself and assisted by Alejo Miñoza, took position at the intersection itself.

The majority of the katipuneros were massed here, using as cover the stone corner of the house of Nicolas ("Lasay") and Antonio Lopez. The distance between the katipuneros and the loyalist troops were now only 15 meters.

Loyalist soldiers saw them, noting their lack of arms. Sgt. Pedro Royo shouted: "You stupid people. What do you want? Return to your homes. Go away before you are hit by the bullets and killed."
The katipuneros answered back, taunting them with their own challenges. Evidently, they were not afraid of the Spaniards' rifles. So the loyalist troops started firing. At the same time, Kilat told his men to lie flat on the ground, knowing that the rifles of the enemy would be good for only five shots. After that, they have to load their rifles again. Those brief seconds would give them enough time to rise up and swing their bladed weapons.

After five shots from the Spanish rifles, Kilat personally led his men to a hand-to-hand skirmish, resulting in the beheading of Sgt. Cueto by his kris. Another Cazador, trying to run away, also met his death after his shoulder was sliced from his body by Kilat.

http://i136.photobucket.com/albums/q177/harveharve/image5-1.jpg
In due time, the soldiers realized that they were no match for the bolos of the katipuneros. The retreated towards the Puente de la Revolucion (Colon bridge) with the katipuneros close in pursuit. The loyalists' second column shooting effectively managed to protect the retreating soldiers. Then both Spanish columns retreated beyond the bridge, taking up another position with their rifles.

While this battle was going on, Baragay 1 under Luis Flores heard the gunshots and this led to join him with Barangay 2, thus failing to reach his objective which was the fort. It would have been possible for him to take the fort easily as it was defended by very few soldiers.

Seeing the number of dead companions, the voluntarios locales at the San Nicolas Tribunal retreated towards the direction of Calamba st. leading to Ermita but were pursued by a group of rebels led by Justo Cabajar, Miñoza, Gines, Rufo Abella and others. Near this place, Cabajar shot one of them with a rifle earlier confiscated, forcing others to escape towards the city. Kabajar's group brought along five newly captured rifles.

At the Puente de la Revolucion (Colon bridge), the confrontation and exchange of fire between the two groups continued for some minutes. But the Spaniards, sensing that they would be overpowered, withdrew to Fort San Pedro to make their last stand against the victorious katipuneros.
harveharve
November 28th, 2007, 08:36 PM
http://i136.photobucket.com/albums/q177/harveharve/image6.jpg

The troops of Gen. Montero were fleeing for their lives to Fort San Pedro before the sharp bolos of the katipuneros under the leadership of Leon Kilat. With the newly seized rifles from the fleeing Spaniards, they gained new weapons and renewed confidence to win the war.
By 5:00 in the afternoon of April 3, 1898, Capt. Monfort who held his ground near the Puente de la Revolucion (Colon bridge) had no choice but to order his men to the fort. Just to show that they were not yet beaten, loyalist soldiers shouted while on their way:"Viva España!" Not to be outdone, the katipuneros shouted back:"Viva katipunan! Viva Filipinas!"

At the fort, Montero was mad. He ordered all government military personnel to leave their stations outside to come to the fort. Only those areas which had munitions and food, like the San Agustin church and the cathedral, were not deserted totally.

Many Spaniards who did not heed Montero's order were executed by the katipuneros. One was a Spaniard Enrique Carratala from Dulho, San Nicolas. A group caught up with him, then killed him.

Outside the fort, the katipuneros had a heyday. On the suggestion of Severo Padilla, telegraph lines were cut. These were the city's connection to Balamban, then across the sea to Escalante in Negros Oriental. From escalante, the lines continued to Iloilo and to Manila. Reinforcements could come from these two places with the lines open.

Katipuneros led by Llamas, Abellar and Hernandez freed all prisoners at the carcel without any objection from the chief warden Telesforo Salguero, who was himself a katipunero. Then they proceeded to Carreta where the Hospital de Lazarinos was located and freed the lepers.

In the meantime, Leon Kilat ordered some of his men led by Elpedio Rama and Gregorio Padilla to buy medicines for their wounded from Botica Antigua. The drugstore owner Andres Krapenbauer allowed them to enter the premises upon knowing that their leader, Leon Kilat, once worked for him. He gave the medicines for free, saying it was his contribution to the movement. The wounded were treated in the residence of Jacinto Paca¤a at Labangon which was now converted into the general headquarters of the katipunan and infirmary. Among the wounded were Gines and Cabreros.

That night, the katipuneros of Talisay, led by the Aliño brothers, attacked the guardia civil detachment, killing the Spniards, the administrator, his wife and children. The parish priest Fr. Valerio Rodrigo (Fr. Pedro Medina in another account) managed to escape on a banca to Cebu and sought refuge at the fort.
The rebels also captured the cartilla teacher, Maestro Hilario Gandiongco. But he was subsequently released upon learning that he was not known to mistreat Filipinos.

In Pardo, the parish priest Fr. Tomas Jimenes was murdered by the rebels of Tabunok. The cartilla teacher maestro Mariano Crisologo was taken prisoner.

At the fort that night, the Spaniards still felt they could defend it indefinitely. Their confidence was bolstered with the presence of two gunboats, Maria Cristina and Paragua, which bombarded areas in San Nicolas, burning some houses there. The latter arrived from Iligan that afternoon.

The Spaniards reasoned that the two could guard the two sides facing the sea, leaving only one side to be defended by those at the fort. However, during a conferece with his officers, Montero admitted that a massive attack by the insurrectos could overwhelm them since they were vastly outnumbered. They had to ask for reinforcement.

At around 10:00 pm, Montero sent out a patrol to verify if the katipuneros were still in the city. They were met by a group of katipuneros at at the corner of Escolta and Lutao st. (now M.C. Briones), who were only too eager to fight. The soldiers beat a hasty retreat to the fort.

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  1. The Revolutionaries of Cebu (Ang Mangugubot Sa Sugbo)
    CEBUPEDIA - Clarence Paul Oaminal (The Freeman) - June 27, 2017 - 4:00pm
    In the book "Ang Kagubot sa Sugbo 1898" written by Manuel Enriquez dela Calzada published on July 1951 the eighth story/entry was written by Nicanor Avila. It narrated how Cebu was affected by the events in Manila.
    Avila wrote the news that the Manila uprising echoed in Cebu. This happened in the last part of 1896 then again in 1897 by the news of the execution of Rizal.
    The uprising in Manila resulted in the arrest of the citizens of Cebu by the Guardia Civil, because of this the men no longer slept in their houses but instead in the sugarcanes, cornfields, and in the woods to avoid arrest. Interestingly, Avila wrote that there were no arrests during daytime.
    Avila wrote that Dr. Jose Rizal came to Cebu twice (Avila called Cebu as the Town of Humabon), first was when he came from Manila then Cebu to Dapitan. Rizal was met by Dr. Rubeo (Rubio) a classmate in Medicine. Rizal was made to ride a Quilis (like a tartanilla) where he was toured in the streets of Cebu. Rizal visited the house of Don Francisco Mattheu, a Spanish lawyer from San Nicolas.
    The second time was when the ship, Solotongo, from Dapitan docked in Cebu, this time Rizal was not allowed to leave the ship but patients were allowed to come aboard. Among those treated by Rizal was Don Jayme Enriquez of San Nicolas.
    Avila wrote that the leaders of the Cebu KKK inspired by Don Leon Kilat who joined the circus from Manila also owned by a Katipunero were the following: Candido Padilla (head) the street in Mambaling is named after him, Teopisto Cavan (secretary), Alejandro Climaco (treasurer), as members Atilano Lopez, Prisco Abreu, Luis Flores, Eugenio Genes, Florencio Gonzalez (the street in Carbon is named after him), Lucio Herrera, Jacinto Pacaña, Francisco Llamas, Arsenio Cabreros (A. Cabreros Street in Basak-San Nicolas is named after him, he was given the rank of colonel), Justo Cabahar, and Fr. Toribio Padilla (the barangay and street is named after him).
    The meeting place of the KKK Cebu was sometimes the place of Cabeza Francisco Llamas (the street in Punta Princesa, F. Llamas is named after him), at other times in the place of the Chinese, Lucio Herrera, Capitan C. Padilla, and Don Jacinto Pacaña. Meetings were also held at the place of Paulino Solon in Sambag (presently the site of the Vicente Sotto Memorial Medical Center).
    Leon Kilat was described to be of good character, a charismatic speaker, courteous, and amiable. He was not of sturdy physique but his arms were slender and well-formed. His skin was brownish, his eyes were little bit of greyish, and his nose was just normal.His mouth and lips were not thick and was not also black, his teeth were white. This was according to the men who met Leon Kilat as written by Avila.

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