April 28, 1901: Gregorio Aglipay surrenders in Ilocos Norte Gregorio Aglipay (LEFT, IN OLD AGE), ex-Roman Catholic priest and leader of the resistance in Ilocos Norte Province, gave up on April 28, 1901 to Col. William Spencer McCaskey of the 20th US Regular Infantry in Laoag. Fr. Aglipay was one of the most colorful Ilocano guerillas but did not operate under General Manuel Tinios command. Older than Tinio, a university graduate, an ordained priest, and a proud Ilocano patriot, he found it impossible to take orders from the younger Tagalog university dropout. But they shared a determination to resist the American occupation. Aglipay never held a military commission but quickly became a legend by galloping into battle on a large American horse. Aglipays own followers earned a reputation for throwing themselves into battle with the suicidal abandon of religious fanatics. In 7 encounters during the period April 16-25, 1900, 453 of them died in action, mostly in hand-to-hand combat in Vintar, Laoag and Batac. The 2 heaviest battles took place in or near Batac. On the 17th, 180 Filipinos were killed; on the 25th, 120 of Aglipays men died. In these 7 engagements, the Americans suffered only a total of 3 men killed. Gregorio Labayan Aglipay was born on May 8, 1860 in Batac, Ilocos Norte. He studied Law at the Colegio de San Juan de Letran and Universidad de Santo Tomas in Manila. After obtaining his law degree, he entered the seminary in Vigan, Ilocos Sur Province in 1883 and was ordained a Roman Catholic priest in 1890.
Posted on: Thu, 04 Dec 2014 02:20:01 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015