Battle of Aliaga

The "Battle of Aliaga" was fought on September 5–6, 1897, between the Philippine revolutionaries of Nueva Ecija and the Spanish forces of Governor General Primo de Rivera. It is often described as one of the "most glorious battles" of the Philippine Revolutionary War.

Background

With Aguinaldo's forces pushed out of Cavite, Aguinaldo and his forces retreated to Puray, Montalban and eventually found his way to central Luzon. Retreating to the caves of Biak-na-bato, he began to negotiate the peace pact known as the Pact of Biak-na-Bato. However, after the Spaniard's pursuit on the central Luzon many of the rebels died down, generals like Manuel Tinio and Mariano Llanera opted to continue fighting. On August 27, 1897, Gen. Mamerto Natividad and Col. Manuel Tinio conducted raids in Carmen, Zaragoza and Peñaranda, Nueva Ecija. Three days later, on the 30th, they stormed and captured Santor (now Bongabon) with the help of the townspeople. They stayed in that town till September 3.

The battle

On September 4, with the principal objective of acquiring provisions lacking in Biac-na-Bato, Gen. Natividad and Col. Manuel Tinio united their forces with those of Col. Casimiro Tinio, Gen. Pio del Pilar, Col. Jose Paua and Eduardo Llanera for a dawn attack on Aliaga. (Casimiro Tinio, popularly known as ‘Capitan Berong’, was an elder brother of Manuel through his father's first marriage.) The following morning was described as "The most glorious battle of the rebellion". The rebel forces, numbering about between 20,000-30,000 men, took the church and convent, the Casa Tribunal and other government buildings. The commander of the Spanish detachment died in the first moments of fighting, while those who survived were locked up in the thick-walled jail. The rebels then proceeded to entrench themselves and fortify several houses. The following day, Sunday the 5th, the church and convent as well as a group of houses were put to the torch due to exigencies of defense.

Spanish counterattack

Alarmed by these sudden attacks, Governor General Primo de Rivera fielded 8,000 men under the command of Gen. Ricardo Monet and Gen. Nuñez. The latter commanded a column of reinforcements that arrived in the afternoon of the 6th,They were met with such a tremendous hail of bullets that the general, two captains and many soldiers were wounded, forcing the Spaniards to retreat a kilometer away from the town to await the arrival of Gen. Monet and his men. Even with the reinforcements, the Spaniards were overcautious in attacking the rebels there, but when they arrived the next day, they found the town abandoned, the rebels had already gone back to Biak-na-Bato. Filipino casualties numbered 8 dead and 10 wounded, while the Spaniards record multiple dead and even more wounded. Tinio and the other generals shifted to guerrilla warfare in October to the same year.

Aftermath

Despite the Filipino victory, Spanish pressure intensified, eventually forcing Aguinaldo's forces to retreat to the mountains. Emilio Aguinaldo, in a display of treachery and turncoatism, signed the Pact of Biak-na-Bato in December 14 and 15 the same year. Under the pact, Aguinaldo effectively agreed to end hostilities and dissolve his government in exchange for amnesty and "$800,000 (Mexican)" Other Filipino revolutionaries, on the other hand, vowed to continue fighting for independence throughout Luzon after Aguinaldo, by the provisions of the pact, was driven into exile in Hong Kong by the Spanish colonial government.

References

Manuel Tinio