NEGROS Day, or the day Negrenses liberated their beloved island from Spanish rule through deception. They used false cannons, not water cannons, to let the Spaniards think that there are other forces helping the Negrenses. The intelligent Spaniards fled the province without much bloodshed.
Papa Isio was the charismatic leader in the south. He had fought the frayles and the guardia sibils using only his “anting-anting.” He did not want his place to be under the influence of the Spaniards. The karul-anons of Kabankalan courageously committed suicide rather than be under the influence of the Spaniards.
Generals Araneta and Lacson led forces to converge at the public plaza to sow fear among the Spaniards living at the Bishop’s Palace. These two hacienderos are remembered in our little history books of the province.
General Araneta is given honor at Bago City while Lacson is given honor at Talisay and Silay. The others who shed their tears and blood for the liberation of the province were encompassed by the honor given to Lacson and Araneta.
We must never forget the bravery of our ancestors and not only of Araneta and Lacson. Our forebears were courageous in using toy guns, cannons, and fraudulent arms to sow fear among the Spaniards.
Many of our ancestors were responsible of collaborating with Spanish ecclesiastical authorities to build the century-old churches in the island. The beauty of this collaboration with the friars has left us a legacy that would make every Negrense proud of his history.
Basically, all the big churches in the province were constructed with the bare hands of our forefathers. Many of them are now forgotten in the walls of these big churches. The Recollects were the prime movers of building churches and ecclesiastical communities in the early period of the Spanish occupation in the province. These friars were successful in employing the members of the ecclesia in donating building materials, i.e.; duck eggs, cogon, and corals. The recollects have really motivated the neo-catholics to be participative. The churches all over the province are living testimonies of the growing faith of our ancestors.
While the faithful were busy helping the friars build the churches. Some rich mestizos came and took possession of the vast lands of the province.
As far as the tip of Panay, they came to the shores of the virgin island of Negros, as one historian would put it. These mestizos had become “abusadors” and had intermarried with Spaniards, thus the raging blood of the foreigners were now boiled up and made an oppressive scene in the province. This was also true in all other Spanish-controlled areas in the country.
The Negrenses now felt the oppression done by the Spanish and mestizo authorities. News from the wires entered the big men in Negros and they met to plan for the independence. American authorities were now visible and in disguise they seem to help the Negrenses but like vipers in the hole, they were just waiting for the proper time to grab the power from the Spaniards.
So, the Negrenses picked the fifth day of November to be the date of the “revolution.” The hacienderos have volunteered their men and their goods for the war. Bamboo cannons were prepared and bamboo swords were also prepared. While these were happening, news came in that the Spanish Armada is now beginning to crumble and Spaniards should already leave their colonies for a possible uprising of the natives.
On the day of the revolution, the “big men” of Spain were already out and those who were left were only the minor officers and the friars. The officers were granted to leave the island after they were subjected to cruel revenge. The friars were also given punishment for some of them were collaborating with the authorities and others were abusive. Fr. Fernando Cuenca, ORSA, Fr. Mauricio Ferrero, ORSA and a handful friars were spared from the punishment.
Fr. Cuenca gave Negros the sugar industry while Fr. Ferrero gave Bacolodnons the San Sebastian Cathedral. The others were then given chance to leave the island but the others opted to stay and continue their missionary works but this time, they were already suspicious of their workers, yet they continued to administer parishes and chaplaincies until the time that local clergy were already produced.
So, Cinco de Noviembre will always remain in our hearts as the glorious day of liberating the province from foreign invasion.
St. Ezekiel Moreno; Pope St. John Paul II, St. Pedro Calungsod and Lorenzo Ruiz; Mons. John Liu and John Su; Sir Faraon Lopez pray for us.