52. MAGALANG AND THE AQUINOS

Benigno "Ninoy" Aquino (center) during his Court Martial Trial
with his wife, Cory (right) 

Aquinos are not only actors and actresses on the historical and political scene of the Philippines; but also, they also heavily influenced the local historical, political and revolutionary scenes of Magalang; starting from their forefather, Hilario Aquino up to his descendant Noynoy. How they molded the local scene of Magalang? And this was started from:

HILARIO AQUINO- a native of then undivided Magalang. He was also a landowner, owned parcels of land in barrios Sta Rita and San Antonio, now part of Concepcion, Tarlac. He married a local lass, Isabela Lacsamana. He served as cabeza de barangay and later, he was elected as gobernadorcillo (now mayor) of Magalang in 1854. 

BRAULIO AQUINO- son of Hilario Aquino and Isabela Lacsamana. He was born in Magalang and baptized in Angeles. He finished his secondary education in Colegio de Primaria y Latinidad in Bacolor (now Don Honorio Ventura Technological State University), where it was happened that his mother, Isabela was one of the big donors for the foundation of the new school. He started his career as teacher in Angeles. During his stay in Angeles, he married Maria Antonina Petrona Aguilar, scion of prominent Henson clan of Angeles and of Aguilars of Sta. Ana, Pampanga. They later settled in Concepcion, where he was elected gobernadorcillo of Concepcion in 1885-1887.  After Antonina's death, he married Paula Cristobal and one of his daughter, Elena married Lorenzo Gueco of Magalang. 

SERVILLANO AQUINO- son of Braulio Aquino and Maria Antonina Petrona Aguilar. He was born and baptized in Angeles. He rose his prominence during the revolution. He was initiated as member of Katipunan in Camansi in Mt. Arayat. He was promoted as major and together with General Francisco Macabulos, they helped to organize the Magalang revolutionary committee. He later fought in the famous battle of Camansi in 1897; but he escaped after they lose the battle. When the Americans pursued Emilio Aguinaldo, he was promoted to major general and he was tasked to defend Magalang against the Americans. He fought the huge force of the Americans led by Major General Arthur MacArthur and Colonel Jacob H. Smith (who later was implicated in the infamous Balangiga massacre). After his defeat in Magalang, he waged guerrilla warfare against the Americans and he was stationed in Camansi. In 1901, he was captured by the Americans and he was briefly imprisoned in Manila. In 1904, he was granted pardon by US President Theodore Roosevelt. His sisters Brigida and Maria married the half brothers,Andres and Alfredo Ganzon respectively. Andres and Alfredo are sons of Teofisto Ganzon, capitan municipal of Magalang in 1894-1895; while his son Alfredo served as muncipal president of Magalang in 1916-1918. 

BENIGNO AQUINO, SR.-son of Servillano Aquino and Guadalupe Quiambao; he was elected as representative and senator representing Tarlac. During the apex of his political career, he and his wife Aurora Aquino attended several grand balls in different towns particularly in Magalang. During annual balls of Mountain Side Club of Magalang, they are the one of the prominent guests together with other high profiled politicians such as Jose Abad Santos, future presidents Sergio Osmeña and Manuel Roxas and others. 

BENIGNO "NINOY" AQUINO, JR.-son of Benigno Aquino Sr. and Aurora Aquino. He was known in his late teenage years where he courted the young Imelda Romualdez during her brief stay with the Guecos in Magalang. Imelda is a cousin of Speaker Daniel Z. Romualdez and husband of Paz A. Gueco; an aunt of Ninoy. Imelda was eventually the arch rival of Ninoy during the martial law years. When martial law was imposed, Imelda's husband President Ferdinand E. Marcos ordered the arrests of his political enemies such as Ninoy and others including his Magaleño friend, the future governor Bren Z. Guiao.  He was later freed due to health problems and he went to exile in the United States. On August 21, 1983, he returned to the Philippines but unfortunately, he was assassinated; created a public uproar which led to the downfall of Marcos and installing his wife, Corazon "Cory" Aquino as the new president in 1986.

BENIGNO SIMEON "NOYNOY" AQUINO, III- initially reluctant to run in presidential race, he later joined the race brought by public clamor in reaction to the death of Cory in 2009. He eventually won and sworn as 15th president of the Philippines in 2010. Under his administration, he signed two local laws including Republic Act No. 10605 converting Pampanga Agricultural College into Pampanga State Agricultural University and Republic Act No. 10694 providing for reestablishing Municipal Trial Court of Magalang. He died peacefully in June 24, 2021 due to renal failure secondary to diabetes. 

PLUS:

EUSEBIO AQUINO- native of Concepcion and later migrated to Magalang; where he setup his blacksmith shop nearby Pasudeco station in barrio San Nicolas I, Magalang. He is a distant cousin of the revolutionary general Servillano Aquino. He rose to prominence when he organized the Magalang chapter of Aguman ning Maldang Talapagobra or AMT, a socialist party founded by Pedro Abad Santos. He later ran for mayoralty post of Magalang in 1937 and 1940 elections under AMT but he lost due to influence of the landlords in Magalang politics. During Japanese occupation, he was one of the founders of Hukbo ng Bayan Laban sa Hapon in 1942. He organized several squadrons led by his sons Pablo, Felix and Aquilino who they became commanders. Tatang Bio, as he is fondly known; recruited Remedios Gomez who later known as Commander Liwayway. Tatang Bio and Commander Liwayway led the so called "battle of Camansi" where they managed to kill several Japanese soldiers. Tatang Bio took care also escaping American soldiers from Death March. On of them is Major Donald Blackburn and Capt. Russell Volckmann. After their brief stay with Tatang Bio, Blackburn and Volckmann continued their journey up to the north, where they organized the largest guerilla force in Northern Luzon; the United States Army Forces in the Philippines-Northern Luzon known as USAFIP-NL. This group led the attack to the forces of General Tomoyuki Yamashita, which they also managed the eventual capture of Yamashita himself. Tatang Bio had three sons, Pablo, known as Commander Paul married Brigida Manaloto of Mexico, Felix, known as Commander Flax married Remedios del Mundo, a daughter of notorious mafia-like leader, Faustino del Mundo, known as Commander Sumulong, and Aquilino, known as Commander Kinung married Irene Paras who ran for mayoralty post in Magalang in late 1950s but he lost due to dominance of the landlords in local politics. Tatang Bio's daughter, Gloria married Peregrino Taruc, brother of Huk supremo, Luis Taruc.

Photo Credits:

www.philstar.com.ph

Sources:

Bartolo, Louie Aldrin L. and Dizon, Lino L., The Magalang Book: The Historical Life and Culture of a Kapampangan Town (1605-2015), Manila, 2016.