Unsung heroines circa 1900-1901

A. Paulita Roa .

Conclusion

JULIA Valmorida, known as Lolay, was one of the belles of Balingasag. She married Vicente Roa y Racines of Cagayan de Misamis who was then a First Lieutenant of the Spanish Army. During the period of the Aguinaldo revolutionary government, Roa who had had military experience, was given the rank of Captain and headed the First Company of the Mindanao Battalion. After a rigid training of his men in Camp Maitum, they marched to the coastal area for patrol work and his wife was not far behind. Lolay was by then pregnant with their first child but it did not deter her from riding a horse and following her husband everywhere he went.

On May 14, 1900, when Capt. Roa and his men were in Agusan Hill and were preparing for the coming of later, the American forces, he was informed that Lolay was on a hut a few kilometers away and was experiencing labor pains. It is said that her husband later took of his bloodied coat and gave it to one of his men with the instruction for Lolay to wrap their new born child with his coat and to name the baby after him.On that day, Capt. Roa and most of his men died in that historic battle in Agusan Hill. Lolay named the baby Vicenta. Her apparent sadness moved someone to compose a song to comfort her over the loss of husband:

“Lolay ayaw kasakit, kay si Vicente atua na sa langit.” (Lolay dont be sad for Vicente is now in heaven.)

When Vivencia Velez de Gaerlan was asked about her married life, she would wistfully reply that most of her time was spent on horseback following her husband, Maj. Justo Gaerlan, a high official next to Col. Apolinar Velez of the Western Mindanao Division. The headquarters was located in a large forested area dotted with hills starting from Barangay Bayanga up to Talakag. It had hills with descriptive names like Dili Maantus and Supaksupak and was near the upper Cagayan river. This was where Vivencia Gaerlan, together with other wives and children camped with the men.

June 4,1900 will go down in local history as the day when American soldiers suffered heavy losses and had to retreat when they unsuccessfully tried to enter the small fort in Macahambus hill that was the gateway to the headquarters of the Western Mindanao Command. The fort was guarded by a detachment headed by Lt. Cruz Taal. This was the first victory that the Filipinos had over the Americans and is known as the battle of Macahambus Hill. Col. Velez gave the dead American soldiers a proper military burial and treated the wounded in the field hospital. He then left Talakag and set up a base in Opol while Maj. Gaerlan assumed command of the camp.

Then the Americans came back with  vengeance. An expedition was sent to capture Macahambus at all cost. Being aware of the fact that the Americans had the latest military hardware that translated to superior firepower, Maj. Gaerlan ordered all the wives and children in the camp to leave immediately. Vivencia Gaerlan’s grandchildren recounted to me the unusual way that their lola was evacuated — she and all of the dependents were brought to the mouth of Macahambus cave that faced the Cagayan river where thick forest vines abound. They used the vines to lower themselves to the river. There were no rafts below that would bring them to safety. Instead, they let themselves be carried downriver by its strong currents. In Binisaya we call it “nagpa-anod sa suba.” It must have been a frightful experience for the ladies who were dressed in their long sayas but nevertheless, all of them including the children survived the watery ordeal. After the surrender of the local resistance army to the Americans the following year, Maj. Gaerlan was exiled to Guam where he died shortly afterwards.

At the Plaza de los Heroes, Mindanao’s first Philippine-American War memorial located at the Pueblo de Oro Township along Masterson Avenue, one can see the names of the Eblacas family who to this day still have a farm in Kinawe, Bukidnon. This place is directly across Macahambus hill and is separated by the Cagayan river. Among the members of the this family were sisters Bartola and Anastasia who cared for the sick and wounded soldiers that sought refuge in the family farm. Years later, one of those who experienced their kindness called the sisters, the Tandang Soras of the revolution. Most of the produce of their land of the Eblacas family went to supplying food for the hungry soldiers.

These are just a few of the many unsung heroines during the 1900-1901 war and only God knows the names of the rest of them. At the heart of this is a common thread that that run through the stories of these women who disregarded the traditional myth of a coy and subservient turn of the century century female. Like Arcadia, who fought the enemy along with the men, there were wives who left the comfort and safety of their homes to follow their men, cared for the sick and wounded, loaded shotguns and willingly shared physical hardships,hunger and not to mention the pain of losing their men in battle. They never really knew the dangers of the war till they came face to face with it. But their presence was a way of saying that “We are in this war together. It is also our war!” Our unsung heroines deserve to be memorialized with a monument for they enriched our history with their patriotic spirit, fidelity, courage, compassion and sacrifices.