General Antonio Luna: The Ablest General of the Revolution

One of the greatest patriots ever produced by the Filipinos was General Antonio Luna. A multifaceted man, he used the full measure of his talents and abilities in defending the Filipino race.

 Antonio Luna was born on October 29, 1866 in Binondo, Manila to Joaquin Luna de San Pedro of  Batac, Ilocos Norte and Laureana  Novicio y Ancheta, a Spanish mestiza from Namacpacan (now Luna), La Union.

Luna studied at Ateneo de Manila where he obtained in 1883 his Bachelor of Arts degree with the highest honors.Right after graduating from the Ateneo, he enrolled at University of Santo Tomas where he took up Pharmacy.From there, Luna decided to continue his studies in Europe. He transferred to University of Barcelona, where he consequently obtained his Licentiate in Pharmacy. Thereupon, he entered the Central University of Madrid where he finished his Doctor of Pharmacy degree. To gain further scientific experience, Luna went to Paris and became an assistant to Dr. Lateux at the Histological and Bacteriological Laboratory and later in Doctor Laffon's Medical Analysis Laboratory in Belgium.

Antonio Luna as a scientist.

Notwithstanding the busy life as a scientist, Luna was also active in the propaganda circles. He associated with the eminent Filipino reformists like Dr. Jose Rizal, Marcelo H. del Pilar, Galicano Apacible and wrote articles defending the Filipinos from the racist and slanderous attacks by some biased Spaniards. 

From civilian to soldier

In August of 1896, the Philippine Revolution commenced and spread like a wild fire. Filipinos who were suspected of ardently supporting the cause were arrested. Among them was the innocent Antonio Luna who was subsequently deported and jailed in Spain.

This undeserved jail sentence proved to be the turning point of Luna's transformation from a civilian to a soldier. The moment he was released from jail, he dedicated his time and effort on studying military science and tactics. He read books of all sorts about it and not contented, proceeded to Belgium where he studied more extensively under legendary General Gerard Leman, Belgian hero of the Battle of Liege.

When he returned to the Philippines on 1898, Luna with the recommendation of some of his friends, presented his credentials and offered his services to President Emilio Aguinaldo. Aguinaldo was obviously impressed on Luna's vast military knowledge. Consequently, Luna was given the position as Director of War with the rank of brigadier general.

Upon assuming his military position, Luna immediately reorganized the Philippine army. One of his first tasks was to recruit former soldiers in the Spanish Army like Jose Torres Bugallon, Manuel Sityar et al. He also organized the creation of Academia Militar  (Military Academy)  to train Filipino officers on the art and science of warfare.

Philippine-American War

Just like General Artemio Ricarte and Apolinario Mabini, Luna distrusted the true intentions of the United States towards the Philippines. He planned to create a strong Filipino defensive line to contain the growing American army. Reportedly, Luna even proposed to the Aguinaldo leadership to strike preemptively the American positions- for he strongly believed that the Americans were here to invade the Philippines.

Then came the fateful night of February 4, 1899, the start of the Philippine-American War. This started when a Filipino soldier was shot and killed by an an Amercian sentry named Private William Grayson.

General Luna at that time was visiting his family in Pampanga. The following day, along with the Filipino soldiers, they journeyed to Caloocan via a troop train. Upon their arrival at the Caloocan train station, they proceeded to La Loma where they engaged the invading American army. In this battle, Luna's most trusted officer, Lt. Col. Jose Torres Bugallon perished.

On February 22, 1899, George Washington's birthday, Gen. Luna who was now appointed as Chief of Operations of the Philippine army, directed a counter offensive with the goal of retaking Manila from the hands of the Americans

General Luna's plan of the offensive was brilliant. Even his adversary, Gen. Otis admitted its initial success. Militia men within Manila started simultaneous fires around the city. The smoke from these fires served as a diversionary tactic and signal of attack from the Filipino forces far north and east.Simultaneously, a column of Filipino soldiers under Col. Francisco Roman infiltrated Tondo, virtually undetected, by passing through the muddy lands near Navotas and Malabon.

In the course of the attack, the Filipinos were gradually losing ground and were running out of ammunition. Luna ordered the Kawit Batallion from Cavite to reinforce the attacking Filipino forces. But their leader, Capt. Pedro Janolino, disobeyed and reaffirmed that they would only follow orders from Aguinaldo. This incident shattered to pieces the success of the counter attack.The insubordination enraged the fiery temper of Gen. Luna- who wanted to shoot and kill the members of this disobedient batallion. The General was pacified by his staff and eventually Janolino and his cohorts were disarmed and dismissed from service.

At the darkest days of the First Philippine Republic, General Luna aspired to transform the infant Philippine army into a tight, hard-hitting force. With his short, volcanic temper, General Luna made a lot of enemies among his compatriots. He quarreled mostly with men who he deemed to undermine the success of the revolution. He openly traded barbs with Gen. Tomas Mascardo (due to insubordination), Captain Pedro Janolino (insubordination) and Felipe Buencamino, whom he knocked down and called a traitor.

Days turned into weeks, weeks turned into months. Battle after battle, the Filipinos lost ground, in the face of a more disciplined, well-armed American army. General Luna shifted his strategy to guerrilla warfare. In June 4, 1899, General Luna was busy organizing a guerrilla mountain base when he received a telegram from President Aguinaldo, summoning him for a meeting at Cabanatuan.

Upon his arrival at Cabanatuan on the 5th of June 1899, he was met by Felipe Buencamino and the same disobedient Kawit batallion of Pedro Janolino whom he previously disarmed and dismissed. In revenge, the battalion turned their ire on General Luna and his staff including Col. Francisco Roman. They were eventually brutally ganged up. Both men died of numerous wounds.

This proved to be the end of an effective resistance against the American rule. Even General Hughes of the U.S. army quoted as saying "The Filipinos had only one General, and they have killed Him."