Of bolo rush & bolomen

[Dimasalang]

Originally Posted by nacho

wow, Dimasalang, you know your history. Few people know about Vicente and Mariano Riego de Dios. The Riego de Dios ancestral house in Maragondon has been declared a National Heritage site.

No memorabilla. Just funny stories by my grandfather about the Bonifacio trial. According to him, his father was not in there when they voted to arrest Bonifacio. He had a bum stomach -- so he had to go home (which was just a block away).

I asked him once how his father and uncles became top officers of revolution. He said in those days, a person can be a officer if he had a ready "army". They had a ranch and a farm. They gathered their farm hands -- and presto, they had an "army". One of the top officers from Maragondon was a school principal -- he just gathered his former students and was commissioned "Colonel". Interesting.

Thanks Nacho. Reading and researching Philippine History is a personal hobby of mine. When I am doing nothing else, I am reading our history. My favorite section being the Revolution, the Philippine-American War, and up to the end of the Moro rebellion. Thanks for sharing those family stories. Funny, your family stories are actual apart of Philippine history! Not to many Filipinos can say that. And what you shared brings a new perspective to the table...never knew that was how most officers came to be, farmers with the most property and ranch-hands most likely meant a higher rank during the revolution.

I attached a document from the annual War Report of 1901 sent to the US President. It states the capture of your great-grand uncle Col Vicente Riego de Dios, which took place at your ancestral house in Maragondon. Hope you don't mind me sharing this. hehe Just thought it was interesting and funny at the same time. Again, not to many people can say their family was once at war with America and US Soldiers came and attacked my family's house.