ACT Teachers’ Party Rep. Antonio Tinio joined descendants of Don Isidoro Ramirez in unveiling a bust honoring the local leader executed by the American colonial regime in the Philippines.
On the 125th anniversary of Ramirez’s martyrdom, a bust and a marker was unveiled in Bangar, La Union last Sunday, rectifying American historical records that Ramirez and fellow community leaders were “outlaws.”
Ramirez and fellow “cabezas” Manuel Bautista and Maximo Roldan were blamed for the attack by revolutionary guerrilla forces against occupying American forces in Bangar on January 10, 1900.
The three martyrs were subsequently executed by hanging at the town square on November 23 of that year.
They became the first Filipino patriots executed by American forces in La Union during the Philippine-American War.
More than a century hence, Ramirez’s descendents initiated a campaign to have him, Bautista and Roldan declared as heroes of the occupation.
READ: Life, martyrdom of Don Isidoro Ramirez
The campaign was supported by Tinio, himself a great grandson of General Manuel Tinio, commander of Filipino revolutionary forces in the Ilocos region.
Tinio in a letter to Bangar councilors said Ramirez and others provided assistance to Filipino patriots during US invasion of the Philippines.
The current Bangar Municipal Council however thumbed down the clan’s petition, refusing as well to have his bust and marker erected at the plaza where he and others were executed.
Last Sunday, Ramirez’s bust was unveiled at Plaza Ramirez — a property donated by the Ramirez clan to the town of Bangar — with Tinio, barangay officials and neighbors in attendance.
Mark Christopher Ramirez, a great grandson and himself a public servant, said his forebear deserves to be honored as a patriot as the martyr supported local Katipunan forces by contributing funds and offering his lands as safe havens for revolutionaries.
“His support for the cause of freedom and independence continued throughout the Philippine-American War, which led to his untimely death,” the younger Ramirez told Kodao.
“Isidoro Ramirez was not just a hero of Bangar; he embodied the Filipino spirit of resistance against injustice and oppression,” said added.
In his speech, Tinio commended Don Isidoro’s impact on both local and national history.
“Isidoro Ramirez stood firmly in defense of freedom and sacrificed his life in the fight against American occupation,” said Tinio.
Tinio, along with fellow Makabayan solons Gabriela Rep. Sarah Jane Elago and Kabataan Rep. Renee Louise Co, filed House Resolution No. 461 last last November 12, urging the National Historical Commission of the Philippines (NHCP) and the local government of Bangar, La Union, to honor Ramirez and all the martyrs of Bangar during the Philippine-American War. # (Raymund B. Villanueva)
