Francisco Macabulos y Soliman (September 17, 1871 – April 20, 1922), commonly known today as Francisco Makabulos, was a Filipino patriot and revolutionary general who led the

Katipunan The Katipunan (), officially known as the (; ) and abbreviated as the KKK, was a revolutionary organization founded in 1892 by a group of Filipino nationalists Deodato Arellano, Andrés Bonifacio, Valentin Diaz, Ladislao Diwa, José Dizon, an ...

revolutionary forces during the

Philippine Revolution The Philippine Revolution ( or ; or ) was a war of independence waged by the revolutionary organization Katipunan against the Spanish Empire from 1896 to 1898. It was the culmination of the 333-year History of the Philippines (1565–1898), ...

against

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

in 1896.

Biography

Francisco Macabulos was born in

La Paz, Tarlac La Paz, officially the Municipality of La Paz (; , ), is a municipality of the Philippines, municipality in the Philippine Province, province of Tarlac, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 68,952 people. History The ...

, to Alejandro Macabulos of Lubao,

Pampanga Pampanga, officially the Province of Pampanga (; ; ), is a province in Central Luzon in the Philippines. Lying on the northern shore of Manila Bay, Pampanga is bordered by Tarlac to the north, Nueva Ecija to the northeast, Bulacan to the east, ...

, and Gregoria Soliman. Within his lifetime, his native surname was often spelled with a C instead of K following Spanish orthography, but later linguistic reforms leading to the Philippine

national language '' '' A national language is a language (or language variant, e.g. dialect) that has some connection— de facto or de jure—with a nation. The term is applied quite differently in various contexts. One or more languages spoken as first languag ...

of Filipino means it is commonly spelled with a K today. He organized the first Katipunan group there after he was inducted into the secret society by Ladislao Diwa in 1896. When the revolution broke out in 1898, he liberated

Tarlac Tarlac, officially the Province of Tarlac (; ; ; ; ), is a landlocked Provinces of the Philippines, province in the Philippines located in the Central Luzon Regions of the Philippines, region. It had a population of 1,503,456 people according to ...

and established town councils in areas he liberated. Macabulos refused to honor the

Pact of Biak-na-Bato The Pact of Biak-na-Bato, signed on December 14, 1897, created a truce between Spanish colonial Governor-General Fernando Primo de Rivera and the revolutionary leader Emilio Aguinaldo to end the Philippine Revolution. Aguinaldo and his fellow re ...

, which called for a truce with the Spanish colonial government, and continued operations in

Central Luzon Central Luzon (; ; ; ; ), designated as Region III, is an administrative region in the Philippines. The region comprises seven provinces: Aurora, Bataan, Bulacan, Nueva Ecija, Pampanga (with its capital, San Fernando City serving as the re ...

. However, on January 14, 1898, he disbanded his troops and accepted amnesty after receiving 14,000 pesos as part of Spanish reparations to Filipino revolutionaries. Macabulos distributed the money to his men. Nonetheless, Macabulos resumed operations against the Spanish and on April 17, 1898, an assembly of citizens representing the town councils Macabulos established, calling themselves representatives of Central Luzon, met and drafted a provisional constitution. They created the Central Executive Committee, a government that was to exist "until a general government of the Republic in these islands shall again be established", consisting of a president, vice president, secretary of interior, secretary of war and a secretary of the treasury. Macabulos dissolved his government after the

First Philippine Republic The Philippine Republic (), now officially remembered as the First Philippine Republic and also referred to by historians as the Malolos Republic, was a state established in Malolos, Bulacan, during the Philippine Revolution against the Spanish ...

was created by the

Malolos Constitution The Political Constitution of 1899 (), informally known as the Malolos Constitution, was the constitution of the First Philippine Republic. It was written by Felipe Calderón y Roca and Felipe Buencamino as an alternative to a pair of prop ...

, which he also signed. He also led his men to liberate nearby provinces like

Pangasinan Pangasinan, officially the Province of Pangasinan (, ; ; ), is a coastal Provinces of the Philippines, province in the Philippines located in the Ilocos Region of Luzon. Its capital is Lingayen, Pangasinan, Lingayen while San Carlos, Pangasi ...

, where he led revolutionists in the Battle of Dagupan.

Images

File:Francisco Makabulos historical marker in Tarlac City.jpg, Marker File:Bahay ni Makabulos NHCP historical marker.jpg, Historical marker File:FranciscoMakabulosjf7362 02.JPG, Historical marker File:FranciscoMakabulosjf7362 03.JPG, Historical marker close-up File:FranciscoMakabulosjf7362 06.JPG, Façade of the ancestral house of Makabulos (

) File:FranciscoMakabulosjf7362 04.JPG, The heritage house, still to be restored File:Francisco Makabulos House site 2018 1.jpg, Heritage house site as of 2018. Structure completely demolished. File:SantaIgnacia,Tarlacjf8254 03.JPG, Bust File:SantaIgnacia,Tarlacjf8254 02.JPG, Monument ( Santa Ignacia, Tarlac) File:SantaIgnacia,Tarlacjf8254 01.JPG, Name plate

References

* National Historical Institute, ''Filipinos in History'' 5 vols. (Manila: National Historical Institute, 1995) * Dizon, Lino L. ''Francisco Makabulos Soliman: A Biographical Study of a Local Revolutionary Hero'' (Tarlac, Tarlac: Center for Tarlaqueño Studies, 1994) * Kalaw, Maximo M. ''The Development of Philippine Politics'' (Manila, Oriental Commercial Co. Inc., 1922)

External links

Remembering the Zenith of Tarlac Nationalism: A Tribute to the Valor of Gen. Francisco Makabulos (1871–1922)

Today in Philippine History, September 17, 1871, Francisco Makabulos was born in La Paz, Tarlac
{{DEFAULTSORT:Makabulos, Francisco Filipino generals Kapampangan people 1871 births 1922 deaths Filipino paramilitary personnel People of the Philippine Revolution Governors of Tarlac Mayors of places in Tarlac People from Tarlac People from the Spanish East Indies