President Benigno S. Aquino III delivers his speech during the commemoration of the 116th anniversary of the Proclamation of the Philippine Independence at the Plaza Quince Martires in Naga city, Camarines Sur on Thursday (June 12, 2014). This year’s theme is “Pagsunod sa Yapak ng mga Dakilang Pilipino, Tungo sa Malawakan at Permanenteng Pagbabago.” Also in photo are Interior and Local Government Secretary Manuel Roxas II, Camarines Sur 3rd District Rep. Ma. Leonor Robredo and National Historical Commission of the Philippines (NHCP) chairperson Maria Serena Diokno. (MNS photo)
MANILA, June 12 (Mabuhay) – The wife of the late Local Government Secretary Jesse Robredo was given a national platform in President Benigno Aquino III’s Independence Day program at her district in Naga, Camarines Sur.
Leni Robredo, a neophyte district representative in the 16th Congress, was tapped to speak before President Aquino’s own speech.
She is supposedly being groomed for a national position in the 2016 elections by the administration Liberal Party.
Robredo encouraged everyone to be a hero.
“Noon pong nabubuhay pa ang aking asawang si Jesse, madalas niyang sabihin: ‘Upang magtagumpay ang ating bayan, nawa’y gawin nating bayani ang karaniwang mamamayan.’ Panahon na po upang gawin nating bayani ang ating mga sarili.”
Robredo pointed out that the heroes of Bicol, the 15 martyrs after whom the venue of today’s Independence Day rites was named, became heroes when they chose to put the interest of their fellowmen above their own.
“Ngayong araw, hayaan niyo po akong sabihin na hindi ipinipilit ang kabayanihan. Ito ay pinipili. Ngunit hindi ito madaliang pinipili. Nananatiling pinakamahalagang sangkap ng kabayanihan ang pagpanig sa kapakanan ng iba bago ang sarili. Pinili ng 15 martir natin na ialay ang kanilang buhay sa gitna ng pagkakataong mabuhay nang mariwasa at malaya sa ibang bayan,” she said.
“Pinili nilang kalimutan ang pansariling kapakanan at sa pag-aalay na iyon nagsimula ang maraming mahahalagang bagay na naging dahilan kung bakit higit na maayos sa mga panahong ito ang ating kalagayan. Katunayan nga po, dito mismo ginugunita tuwing ikaapat ng Enero ang Quince Martires ng Kabikulan, matapos hulihin, pahirapan at hatulan nang hindi dumadaan sa tamang proseso ng paglilitis,” she added.
“Binitay ang 11 sa 12 tinaguriang anak ng Bicol sa Bagumbayan, limang araw matapos barilin si Rizal, at sa apat na natira, dalawa ang namatay sa kulungan at dalawa pa ang ipinatapon sa isla sa Africa at kalauna’y namatay din. Ngayon, hindi na tayo kailangang mamatay sa kamay ng mga dayuhan. Kailangan lang nating mabuhay nang marangal para sa lupang tinubuan.”
According to the Official Gazette, every fourth of January, the people of Bicol commemorate the death of the fifteen Bicolano men – Los Quince Martires, the fifteen martyrs, of the Philippine Revolution.
A monument in Plaza Quince Martires in Naga City pays tribute to these men: Manuel Abella, Domingo Abella, Ramon Abella, Mariano Arana, Leon Hernandez, Camilo Jacob, Florencio Lerma, Mariano Melgarejo, Cornelio Mercado, Mariano Ordenanza, Macario Valentin, Tomas Prieto, Fr. Gabriel Prieto, Fr. Inocencio Herrera, and Fr. Severino Diaz.
The Official Gazette also noted Filipinos who were executed in Bagumbayan around the time of Rizal’s death were collectively called ‘martyrs’ by the regions they hailed from. In this case, although all 15 Bicolano men have been venerated as martyrs, only 11 of them were executed in Bagumbayan. The remaining four died of other causes, such as torture, exile, and disease.”
The 15 Bicolanos were charged for plotting to assassinate all the Spaniards in Nueva Caceres.”
Two of them, Mariano Arana and Ramon Abella, were exiled to the Spanish penal colony of Fernando Po in the west coast of Africa. Arana died there in captivity in 1898, while Abella died in Cartagena, Spain (It is unclear whether in incarceration or after being released). Leon Hernandez did not survive the torture inflicted upon him; he died months before the others, on October 16, 1896 in Nueva Caceres. Mariano Ordenanza was sentenced to imprisonment for 20 years in the Bilibid; he died in jail.
Tomas Prieto, Domingo Abella, and the three priests – Inocencio Herrera, Severino Diaz, and Gabriel Prieto – were first incarcerated in the Cuartel de España in Intramuros (now the site of Pamantasan ng Lungsod ng Maynila). On January 3, 1897, at 7:00 a.m., they were brought to the chapel of Fort Santiago and were guarded by a squad from the Plaza Artillery Regiment. The other group, composed of Manuel Abella, Florencio Lerma, Macario Valentin, Mariano Melgarejo, Camilo Jacob, Cornelio Mercado, Rafael Gutierrez, and Francisco Valera, were thrown in jail prior their execution the next day. They were asked to write their last will and testament, some of which were allowed to be published in the Manila newspaper El Comercio.
A monument in their honor was built on November 29, 1926 at the Plaza Quince Martires in Naga, with the plaza being named after them. (MNS)