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| Members of the Republica Filipina Reenactment Group (RFRG) recreating the formal surrender of the Spanish troops to the Filipino revolutionary forces at an ilustrado 19th-century house in Lipa. (Image Source: Manila Standard/Republica Filipina Reenactment Group) |
In celebration of its 75th founding anniversary, the City Government of Lipa recently held a historical commemorative program dubbed the “El Asedio de la Villa de Lipa” to relive the 1898 Siege of Lipa, one of the forgotten decisive Filipino victories during the Philippine Revolution. On June 7, 1898, revolutionary troops waylaid Spanish troops commanded by Col. Juan Rodriguez Navas who were en route to the provincial capital town of Batangas. The troops sought cover at the San Sebastian Cathedral in Lipa where they held out for a 12-day gunfight with Filipinos led by generals Paciano Rizal, the national hero’s elder brother, and Eleuterio Marasigan. The siege ended on June 18 with the surrender of the Spanish soldiers under negotiated honorable terms. As it happened at the same time with the declaration of Philippine Independence in Kawit, Cavite, this momentous event has been relegated to the dustbins of history.
Scholastic studies describe the siege as the event “that sealed the fate of the Spanish colonial government in Batangas.” Eyewitness accounts were based on the memoirs of Dr. Santos Rubiano, a military doctor with the Spanish cazadores, who also negotiated the peaceful surrender to the freedom fighters. The highlight of the observance is the reenactment of the battle performed by the Manila-based Republica Filipina Reenactment Group (RFRG) who played both the Spanish and Filipino troops, and students of the Lipa Integrated Performing Arts, Theia Performing Arts, and La Salle Theater. The commemoration, the first of its kind in the city, also featured a symposium on the Siege of Lipa with resource persons Eufemio Agbayani III of the National Historical Commission of the Philippines (NHCP), heritage advocate Renz Marion Katigbak and multi-awarded journalist Howie Severino who were both instrumental in bringing the event to the attention of the local government officials.
According to Lipa City Mayor Hon. Eric B. Africa, the people of the city should take pride in this glorious occasion and immortalize this lesser-known historic detail through regular annual observances and continuing education. The event, held in the afternoon of June 18, 2023, was capped with the unveiling of a silver plaque marker on the side of the San Sebastian Metropolitan Cathedral led by Mayor Africa, City Council Committee on Culture and Arts chairperson Councilor Riofer Nicole Ronquillo, and Cathedral parish priest Monsignor Ruben Dimaculangan. Aside from the re-enactment of the historic but forgotten 1898 Siege, another highlight of Lipa City's 75th foundation anniversary was the coronation night of the prestigious and highly-anticipated Miss Lipa Tourism 2023 held last June 20, 2023 at the Claro M. Recto Events Center within the city's Community Park Compound in Brgy. Granja where Bea Sumulong was hailed and crowned as the grand holder of the said title.
