Antonio Luna De San Pedro Y Novicio-Ancheta
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MASAOY, QUEENCEL MAE M. HISTORY 2 11:30-12:30 TTHS P(405) Antonio Luna de San Pedro y Novicio-Ancheta (October 29, 1866 – June 5, 1899), an Ilocano born in Manila, was a Filipino pharmacist andgeneral who fought in the Philippine-American War. He was also the founder of the Philippines's first military academy, which existed during the First Philippine Republic. He was regarded as the most brilliant of the Filipino military officers during the war.[1] Succeeding Artemio Ricarte as commander of the Philippine Revolutionary Army, he organized professional guerrilla soldiers later to be known as the Luna sharpshooters. His three-tier defense, now known as the Luna Defense Line, gave the American troops a hard campaign in the provinces north of Manila.[2] Family background Antonio Luna de San Pedro y Novicio-Ancheta was born on October 29, 1866 in Urbiztondo, Binondo, Manila. He was the youngest of seven children of Joaquín Luna de San Pedro, from Badoc, Ilocos Norte, and Spanish mestiza Laureana Novicio-Ancheta, from Luna, La Union (formerly Namacpacan).[3]His father was a traveling salesman of the products of government monopolies. His older brother, Juan, was an accomplished painter who studied in theMadrid Escuela de Bellas Artes de San Fernando. Another brother, José, became a doctor.[4] Education At the age of six, Antonio learned reading, writing, and arithmetic from a teacher known as Maestro Intong. He memorized the Doctrina Christiana(catechism), the first book printed in the Philippines.[3] Common Catholic vocal prayers were all included in the book. The primary goal of the book was to propagate the Christian teachings in the Philippines. He initially studied at the Ateneo Municipal de Manila, where he received a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1881.[3] He went on to study literature and chemistry at the University of Santo Tomas, where he won first prize for a paper in chemistry titled Two Fundamental Bodies of Chemistry. He also studied pharmacy, swordsmanship, fencing, and military tactics, and became a sharpshooter. On the invitation of his brother Juan in 1890, Antonio was sent by his parents to Spain, to acquire a licentiate (at Universidad de Barcelona) and doctorate (at Universidad Central de Madrid) in Pharmacy.[3] Reform propagandist In Spain, he became one of the Filipino expatriates who mounted the Propaganda Movement and wrote for La Solidaridad, headed by Galicano Apacible. He wrote a piece titled Impressions which dealt with Spanish customs and idiosyncrasies under the pen-name "Taga-ilog". Also, like many of the Filipino liberals in Spain, Luna joined the Masonry where he rose to being Master Mason.[3] Luna was active as a researcher in the scientific community. After receiving his doctorate, Luna published in 1893 a scientific treatise on malaria entitled El Hematozoario del Paludismo (Malaria), which was favorably received in the scientific community. He then went to Belgium and France, and worked as assistant to Dr. Latteaux and Dr. Laffen. In recognition of his ability, he was appointed commissioner by the Spanish government to study tropical and communicable diseases.[3] In 1894, he went back to the Philippines where he took the competition for chief chemist of the Municipal Laboratory of Manila, came in first and won the position.[4] He and his brother Juan also opened the Sala de Armas, a fencing club, in Manila.[3] When he learned of the underground societies that were planning a revolution and was asked to join, he scoffed at the idea and turned down the offer. Like other Filipino émigrés, he was in favor of reform rather than revolution as the way towards independence.[4] Nevertheless, after the existence of the Katipunan was leaked in August 1896, the Luna brothers were arrested and jailed in Fort Santiago for "participating" in the revolution.[4] His statement concerning the revolution was one of the many statements used to nail down the death sentence for José Rizal. Months later, José and Juan were freed but Antonio was exiled to Spain in 1897, where he was imprisoned at the Cárcel Modelo de Madrid.[3] His more famous and controversial brother, Juan, who had been pardoned by the Spanish Queen Regent herself, left for Spain to use his influence to intercede for Antonio. Soon enough, Antonio's case was dismissed by the Military Supreme Court and he was released.[4] Antonio, repenting for his blunder during the first phase of the Philippine Revolution, which ended at the Pact of Biak-na- Bato, then prepared himself for the second phase, which began upon the return of Emilio Aguinaldo in Cavite, that he had decided to join. Upon his release, Luna studied field fortifications, guerrilla warfare, organization, and other aspects of military science under Gerard Leman, who would later be the commanding general of the fortress at Liège.[5] Upon arriving in Hong Kong, he was given a letter of recommendation to Emilio Aguinaldo and a revolver by Felipe Agoncillo. He returned to the Philippines in July 1898.[5] Personal life Luna also courted Nellie Boustead, a woman who was also courted by José Rizal.[4] Boustead was reportedly infatuated with Rizal. In a party held by Filipinos, a drunk Antonio Luna made unsavory remarks against Nellie Boustead. This prompted Rizal to challenge Luna into a duel. However, Luna apologized to Rizal, thus averting a duel between the compatriots.[6] Philippine-American War Luna was one of the first to see action in Manila on August 13, 1898, when the Americans landed troops in Intramuros. Since June 1898, Manila had been completely surrounded by the revolutionary troops. Colonel Luciano San Miguel occupied Mandaluyong; General Pio del Pilar, Makati; General Mariano Noriel, Parañaque; Pacheco, Navotas, Tambobong, and Caloocan. Gregorio del Pilar marched through Sampaloc, taking Tondo, Divisoria, and Azcárraga; Noriel cleared Singalong and Paco, and held Ermita and Malate. Luna thought the Filipinos should just walk in and enter Intramuros to have joint occupation of the walled city. But Aguinaldo, heeding the advice of General Merritt and Commodore (later Admiral) George Dewey, whose fleet had moored in Manila Bay, sent Luna to the trenches where he ordered his troops to fire on the Americans. After the disastrous farce of the American Occupation, Luna tried to complain to American officers at a meeting in Ermita about the disorder made by American soldiers.[4] To silence Luna, Aguinaldo appointed him as Chief of War Operations on September 26, 1898, and assigned the rank of Brigadier General. In quick succession, he was made the Director of War and Supreme Chief of the Army, arousing the envy of the other generals. Luna felt that bureaucratic placebos were being thrown his way, when all he wanted was to organize and discipline the enthusiastic, ill-fed and ill-trained young troops into a real army.[4] Luna saw the need for a military school, so in October 1898 he established a military academy at Malolos the Academia Militar, the precursor of the present Philippine Military Academy. He appointed Captain (later Colonel) Manuel Bernal Sityar, a mestizo formerly serving the Spanish Army, as superintendent. He recruited other mestizos and Spaniards who had fought in the Spanish army during the 1896 revolution for training. However, the Academia had to be suspended indefinitely by March 1899 due to outbreak of the Philippine-American War.[4] A score of veteran officers became the teachers at his military school. He devised two courses of instruction, planned the reorganization, with a battalion of tiradores and a cavalry squadron, set up an inventory of guns and ammunition, arsenals, using convents and town halls, quartermasters, lookouts and communication systems. He built tranches with the help of his chief engineer, General Jose Alejandrino, and had his brother Juan design the school's uniforms (the Filipino rayadillo). He also insisted on strict discipline over and above clan armies and clique loyalties.[5] Knowing that the fate of the infant Republic was a contest for the minds of Filipinos, Luna turned to journalism to strengthen Filipino minds with the ideas of nationhood and the need to fight a new imperialist enemy. He decided to publish a newspaper, “La Independencia.” This four-page daily was filled with articles, short stories, patriotic songs and poems. The staff was installed in one of the coaches of the train that ran from Manila to Pangasinan. The paper came out in September 1898, and was an instant success. A movable feast of information, humor and good writing, 4,000 copies were printed, which was more than all the other newspapers put together.[5] When the Treaty of Paris, under which Spain was to cede the Philippines to the United States, was made public in December 1898, Luna quickly realized that only decisive military action could save the republic. He proposed a strategy that was designed to trap the Americans in Manila before more of their troops could land by executing surprise attacks while building up strength in the north. If the American forces penetrated his lines, Luna determined that he would wage a series of delaying battles and prepare a fortress in northern Luzon. This, however, was turned down by the High Command, who still believed that the Americans would grant full independence.[5] The Americans gained the time and the opportunity to start hostilities with the Filipinos at the place and time of their choice. On the night of February 4, 1899, when most of the Filipino generals were at a ball in Malolos to celebrate the success of the American anti-imperialists delaying the ratification of the Treaty of Paris, the Americans staged an incident along the concrete blockhouses in Sta.