BACOLOR -- Bacolorenos commemorated on Monday the 153rd birth anniversary of the "Father of Kapampangan Writers," the late Juan Crisostomo "Crissot" Soto.
Mayor Diman Datu, in his message before a crowd of town officials, representatives from the Don Honorio Ventura State University (DHVSU) Center for Capampangan Culture and the Arts and the SAPNI nang Crissot Literary and Cultural Foundation Inc., highlighted the legacy and the influence of Soto in the works of later poets and Kapampangan writers.
Datu said the legacy and works of Soto should be made accessible to the younger generation of Kapampangans for them to appreciate and learn from.
Datu led the wreath laying ceremony in front of the town poet's monument in front of the town public market.
Juan Crisostomo Caballa Soto was born on January 27, 1867, in Barrio Sta. Ines in Bacolor. His first literary work "Ing Pamaquiasaua ning Mete" was inspired by Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet. This was followed by about 50 zarzuelas, and many poems, novels, short stories, comedies and essays.
He took an active part in the 1898 revolution under the command of General Maximino Hizon of Mexico and General Eugenio Blanco of Macabebe, and later under General Tomas Mascardo. During Aguinaldo's retreat to the North as the American forces were advancing, Soto was captured by the Americans and he was sentenced to death by musketry for refusing to divulge Aguinaldo's whereabouts.
After his release, he engaged himself in journalistic pursuits by writing and serving as editor of newspapers in Pampanga and Manila. He helped found the pioneer newspapers in Pampanga, like "Ing Emangabiran," "Ing Alipatpat" and "Ing Balen."
Soto died of a heart attack on July 12, 1918 in Manila. His remains were immediately brought to Bacolor and were buried at the Bacolor Catholic Cemetery.
On August 2, 1919, the "Aguman 33," a gathering of actors who acted in Soto's zarzuelas, raised funds and built a monument to his memory. It has become a fixture in the landscape of Bacolor, being among the first landmarks to be unearthed after the town was practically sunk in lahar in 1995.
In 2012, the local government of Villa de Bacolor restored it together with other monuments in the town. The National Historical Commission of the Philippines re-fabricated and re-installed the old National Historical Institute historical marker which was also sunk in lahar in 1995, together with its original base.
Very few people know that the original handwritten manuscript of his most popular work "Alang Dios" is placed in a vault within the original base of the monument.