CHAPTER TWO
The Revolutionary Period
In 1896, the first news about the Philippine Revolutionary against the Friars and the Spaniards as a whole, reached Bacon. The election of the Capitan Municipal and other officials was not made this year. The same officials elected in 1895 continued to hold office until a Military Government was established.
In 1898, food shortage was felt in the whole town including the remote barrios due to the coastwise shipping, because of the Revoluton; later, because of the Spanish-American War.
In September 1898, all Spaniards with their families left Bacon for Sorsogon, where they were supposed to proceed to Manila.
In October of the same year, a brigade of the Revolutionary Army under General Ananias Diokno arrived at Sorsogon and established a Military Government under the Revolutionary Provincial Government. In the towns, local governments were organized, each headed by a Presidente Local, with the help of a Delegado de Justicia, a Delegado de Rentas and a Delegado de Policia. The town officials were aided in the barrios by the Tenientes.
The election in Bacon was held in the Presidencia (Municipal Building) and presided over the Comandante de Estado Mayor de la Brigada, Macario Adriatico. Those elected were:
President--------------Cirio Jimenez
Vice President---------Miguel B. Ramirez
Delegado de Justicia-- Esteban Amador
Delegado de Rentas-- Antonio Diaz
Delegado de Policia-- - Gervasio Din
Besides these officials, there were 16 members elected to compose the Junta Municipal who were at the same time the Tenientes of their respective barrios. All the elected officials assumed the office on the same day they were elected.
Diokno proceeded to Cebu, but left one-half of his men under the care of Comandante Sta. Ana. This same comandante organized later the Sandatahanes composed of local able-bodied males.
It was gathered from the news published in the newspapers then, that in February, 1899, the relations between the Americans and the Filipinos were broken; and hostilities between the United States Army and Navy and the Revolutionary Forces began. The U.S. troops blockaded the northeast and southeast coasts of Luzon. In the evening, U.S. battleships frequently anchored at Sugod Bay in front of of the barrios of Sugod, Gatbo, Biong and Sawang. In order to provide for the defense of Bacon, the Military Government organized a Batallion de Milicianos called Sandatahanes (organized by the Comandante Sta. Ana). The Presidente local, Cirilo Jimenez, was appointed to this command, with Gervacio Din as Aide Camp; Guillermo Dioquino as Teniente Abanderado. The commanders-in-chief were: Juan Azas, Mariano Dayson, Martin Diolata and Pedro Dineros. Six companies were organized under the charge of Mariano Serrano and Ciriaco de la Pena, assisted by their respective tenientes. Juan Bautista Sanchez was in command of the artillery Corp, assisted by his lieutenants.
Whenever an alarm was sounded, the Batallion would convene in the town in formation according to their respective corps, with firearms and weapons ready for emergency. All arms and weapons of war were made ready for use any time. For this purpose, two Municiones de Boca (Ordinace Department) were officially readied by the Delegado de Rentas who was in charge of the collection of taxes.
This Military organization was dissolved in January, 1900, upon the surrender of Sorsogon by the Revolutionary Government to the U.S. Army. The conditions at the same time were chaotic. Food as well as other merchandise was scarce. A liter of rice cost as much as two pesos and seventy fiv-five centavos, (P 2.75) a very exorbitant price at the time.
Source: A Brief History of Bacon by Cristina D. Jose, author
