THE family of Juan Anacleto Torres Araneta was the early settlers in the fertile land of Negros. They came from Iloilo. His grandfather was Jacinto Araneta, whose wife belonged to the royal family of the Kabungsuan of Mindanao, was one of the signers of the petition to make the settlement of Bago into a pueblo.
Juan’s parents are Rumualdo Cabunsol Araneta and Agueda Villanueva Torres. Juan has a brother Eusebio who settled in Iloilo; sisters Magdalena, who married Pedro Sarmiento (Pedro Sarmiento played a pivotal role in Juan Anacleto’s life), Maria Rosario, who married Remegio Salas, and Maria Consolacion who married Fedirico Matti (one of the early mayors of Bago).
The Araneta family, to which Juan Anacleto belongs, is one of the landed and wealthy. Growing up in this environment, Juan Anacleto, just like any young lad, was a mischievous child. His brother-in-law Pedro Sarmiento suggested he be sent to school in Manila. He was enrolled at the Ateneo Municipal where he later graduated with a degree of “Perito Merchantile” (equivalent to today’s Bachelor of Science in Commerce). Coming home to Bago he was full of enthusiasm; he borrowed money and started a business.
He married the daughter of Pedro Sarmiento Cristeta and started a family. This union yielded several children, Jaime the eldest who studied in the United States and married an American, daughters Luisa who married Clemente del Castillo, Eliza who chose a Frenchman Carlos Dreyfus, and the youngest Jorge Leon who married Amparo Bustamante.
Three significant events in Juan’s early life greatly affected his person. A story was told by the elders of the family that he borrowed money either to start a business or start his own plantation. As the story goes, when he came to pay his debt, the lender did not appear, hence he lost his lands that he pawned for the loan. He asked help from the friars but they sided with the lender. Greatly distressed, he transferred his family to Ma-ao and started life anew. Here, he practiced his love for farming by diversifying the crops he planted—sugar, coffee, abaca, and fruits.
The other significant event was the loss of his first wife Cristeta Sarmiento in 1891. To ease the pain of his loss, he traveled to Europe for a year and a half. There, he was awed by the freedom and the advances of industrialization. He was especially impressed with the cantonal system of government in Switzerland. The industrial machineries the farmers were using in Europe made him a believer in the power of machineries as engines of progress.
He bought a sizeable amount of machineries and shipped it to Negros. These machineries ultimately led to his incarceration as the Spaniards believed they were arms smuggled to the island. This was the third significant event of his life.
Arriving from his European sojourn, he went back to farming.
While his farms prosper, he was smitten by the lovely Natalia Salsalida and he decided to live with her. They have children, namely, Agueda who married Aguedo Gonzaga, Rumualdo who married Emilia Gonzaga, Cristeta married to Jose Dormido, Teresa married to Estanislao Padilla, Guillermo married Elisea Yulo, Ana Justina married to Edmundo Yasay, Maria Rica married to Miguel Matti, Patrocenio married to Amadeo Espinosa, Teodoro married to Marieta Gonzaga (Teodoro and son Enrique became mayors of Bago), Sylvia married to Raul Torres, Woodrow married Angelina Yulo, and Felipe married Leticia Gonzaga.
Like most men of his time, Juan Anacleto had children from other women. From Celedonia Diaz, he had a son Emilio, and from Juanita Camillarosa he had two daughters—Rufina married to Mauricio Milabo, and Trinidad married to Wenceslao Aurelio.
The fervor of nationalism and the yearning for freedom are brewing in the country. Revolts have started but failed. In Negros, the Spaniards tried to dissuade the elite but failed.
Juan’s experience being jailed for mere suspicion instilled in him the hatred for the Spaniards and the regime they represent. His hatred extended to the Spanish friars. He became a non-practicing Catholic and even turned to the Aglipayans. (Later his family were baptized into the Aglipay Church, and reverted to Catholicism when they entered Catholic schools.)
His role in the revolution that transpired on November 5, 1898 is already well told, and I will not dwell on it. He played an important part in that event and the subsequent historic declaration of independence from the country and establishment of Republica de Negros. Even President Aguinaldo believed he could unite the Negrense and move them to action, hence he conferred the title “General” to Juan Anacleto Araneta.
That Aguinaldo believed in him is not unusual for it is known that Juan Anacleto has a strong charisma (in the local dialect “dungan”). It is believed by the ordinary people that he consorts with the spirits that dwell in Mount Kanlaon and he is a friend of the sota (a mythical creature half-black, half-white representing the good and evil). The legend goes further to say that his horse can fly and he can see far and wide. He is embedded with one of the strongest “anting-anting” (talisman). It is told that he fights his arch enemy up in the skies and their clashes sound like thunder. Juan Anacleto never denied the stories, on the contrary, he encouraged them, thus his strength came not only in his charisma but also his legend.
He was one of the Philippine delegates to the St. Louie Exposition and brought with him artifacts from Negros. His delegation won awards in that event. This was one of his trips to the United States of America and in another travel he went to buy agricultural equipment from Montgomery Ward. But with his health failing, he moved to the Poblacion in 1906 and settled with his large family. He never entered politics but whoever he wanted to run for mayor wins the election. He spent his final years with his family and on October 3, 1924, he passed away.
Today the City of Bago honors him with a monument and a museum.