Unsung heroines of 1900-1901

A. Paulita Roa .

“HIMAYAONG kagubot” or the glorious war was the term used by the Kagay-anons to describe  the resistance war that they and the rest of the people of Misamis Province waged against the Americans from 1900 to 1901. This term connotes a sense of pride and uniqueness for it was not described as the usual bloody or horrendous war but something that was done with honor and dignity irregardless of the losses incurred.

For over a decade, I read many books and reports and heard stories about the local resistance war. But one of the aspects that stood out in that war was the participation of the women. Their patriotism, indomitable courage, strength and resilience clearly made them the unsung heroines in one of the most important periods in our local history.

Arcadia Valenzuela of Lapasan has the distinction of being the only woman honored by our city with a major street that bears her name. She is related to the prominent Valenzuela clan of Bulacan. It is said when Pio Valenzuela visited his good friend, Dr. Jose P. Rizal in Dapitan, he passed by Cagayan de Misamis to visit Arcadia and her family.

Historian Filomeno M. Bautista first wrote about her and called her an amazon who headed a group of women volunteers that underwent military training with the men at the town plaza prior to the American invasion.

However, that was not all she did. According to her descendants most of whom still live in Lapasan, their great grandaunt (she died single) fought with the men in numerous skirmishes against the Americans. She also went in to dangerous missions for the revolutionary government as a trusty courier of highly sensitive documents.

Florence Russell, an American who visited Cagayan during the war, wrote that their American military hosts brought them to see the house where a female revolutionary fighter lived and she must be referring to Arcadia. This, in a way, was an acknowledgment from the enemy of the important participation that our heroine of Lapasan had during that historic war.

The lovely Cecilia Castañeda belonged to an illustrious family of Quiapo, Manila. She married a young lawyer from Bulacan named Nicolas Capistrano. As fate would have it, the newly married couple sailed to Cagayan de Misamis in 1896 for Capistrano was wanted by the Guardia Civil because of his open anti-Hispanic sentiments. In Cagayan, Capistrano established a private secondary school. It was not long that he rose to prominence and earned the respect of the Kagay-anons.

After the Spaniards left the country for good on December, 1898, the people in Misamis Province elected their provincial and local officials under the Aguinaldo revolutionary government. They enjoyed freedom from colonial rule for the next 15 months and were governed by duly elected local officials. Then, the news came that American troops were on their way to secure Mindanao after they had annexed the Luzon and the Visayas islands.

In a big assembly called by local officials in Club Popular, the people, decided to fight the Americans in order to preserve their freedom and signed their names in what is known in history as the “Pact of Resistance.” They then chose Nicolas Capistrano to head the local army in the eventuality of an American invasion.

On March 30, 1900, American soldiers disembarked on several warships near the mouth of Cagayan River and fully occupied Cagayan de Misamis. Hundreds of Kagay-anons fled to the Gango Plateau to be under the leadership of Capistrano who then assumed the command of the Liber Troop, the revolutionary army with the rank of general. The Americans labelled them as the rebel army.

Then the unthinkable happened — Cecilia Capistrano decided to follow her husband and brought with her their three young children, namely: Ramon, three, Cecilia, two, and Francisco, six months old.She rode on a horse and the children were carried by servants.They arrived in Indahag early evening and were met by the rebels with torches and brought to the camp of their general.

Mrs. Capistrano could have sailed to Manila with her children and stayed in her parents’ house but she felt that her place was with her husband and disregarded any thoughts of comfort nor safety. All throughout the duration of the war, she learned to load shotguns for the men, traversed mountains, rivers and forests barefooted together with them. Sometimes she rode on horseback with her children placed on big sturdy native baskets.

By December, Capistrano was already in several areas in Bukidnon with the Americans chasing after him. Still, his wife and children never left his side. This time, he ordered that his family be brought to a place of safety since he anticipated another attack by the Americans on a high mountain ridge. that night, Mrs. Capistrano and the children had to pass through a difficult mountain trail that left them so exhausted that they could not anymore move on. So the guides lowered her and the children to a precipice where there was a cave below. She would never forget the kind Bukidnon woman who built a fire that kept them warm and cooked rice for them to eat. A few days after Christmas, Gen. Capistrano established his headquarters in Malaybalay but his wife and children were then sent to Sugbongcogon and  finally returned to Gusa before the war ended.

To the revolucionarios, Cecilia Capistrano was their “inspiration of the revolution” because she was with them during the period of  extreme danger, hardships, pain and deprivations. She inspired them to endure and keep going with the hope that in the end, they would be able to regain the liberty they once had and go back to their homes in peace.