Juan Araneta
Encyclopedia
Juan Anacleto Araneta (July 13, 1852 – October 3, 1924), was a pioneer sugar farmer and revolutionary leader during the Negros Revolution
Negros Revolution
The Negros Revolution, now commemorated and popularly known as Al Cinco de Noviembre or Negros Day, was a political movement that in 1898 created a government in Negros Island in the Philippines, informally ending Spanish control of the island and resulting in a government run by the Negrense...
.
Early life
Juan was born to Romualdo Araneta and Agüeda Torres in Molo, IloiloIloilo
Iloilo is a province of the Philippines located in the Western Visayas region. Iloilo occupies the southeast portion of Panay Island and is bordered by Antique Province to the west and Capiz Province and the Jintotolo Channel to the north. Just off Iloilo's southeast coast is Guimaras Province,...
, Philippines
Philippines
The Philippines , officially known as the Republic of the Philippines , is a country in Southeast Asia in the western Pacific Ocean. To its north across the Luzon Strait lies Taiwan. West across the South China Sea sits Vietnam...
. The Aranetas later moved to Negros and settled there permanently.
At the age of 19, he was brought by his brother-in-law, Pedro Sarmiento, to Manila
Manila
Manila is the capital of the Philippines. It is one of the sixteen cities forming Metro Manila.Manila is located on the eastern shores of Manila Bay and is bordered by Navotas and Caloocan to the north, Quezon City to the northeast, San Juan and Mandaluyong to the east, Makati on the southeast,...
and was enrolled at the Ateneo Municipal de Manila
Ateneo de Manila University
The Ateneo de Manila University is a private teaching and research university run by the Society of Jesus in the Philippines. It began in 1859 when the City of Manila handed control of the Escuela Municipal de Manila in Intramuros, Manila, to the Jesuits...
. He showed great promise in school, earning medals of merit for his endeavours. He graduated with a perito mercantil degree, equivalent to today's Bachelor's Degree in Commerce. His contemporaries in school included José Rizal
José Rizal
José Protacio Rizal Mercado y Alonso Realonda , was a Filipino polymath, patriot and the most prominent advocate for reform in the Philippines during the Spanish colonial era. He is regarded as the foremost Filipino patriot and is listed as one of the national heroes of the Philippines by...
, José Alejandrino, Cayetano Arellano
Cayetano Arellano
Cayetano L. Arellano was the first Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of the Philippines under the American Civil Government. He was Chief Justice from 1901 until his retirement on April 12, 1920, making him the longest serving Chief Justice.Born in Orion, Bataan, He started as a working student...
, and Apolinario Mabini
Apolinario Mabini
Apolinario Mabini y Maranan was a Filipino political philosopher and revolutionary who wrote a constitutional plan for the of 1899-1901, and served as its first prime minister in 1899...
, among others.
Upon returning to Molo, he was elected Capitan del Pueblo, like his father before him. The friars in the province, however, had become suspicious of him, and only the high regard and respect of the people of Bago
Bago City
Bago City is a second class city in the province of Negros Occidental in the Philippines. According to the August 1, 2007 census, it has a population of 159,933 people. The city is located 21 kilometers south of the provincial capital, Bacolod City....
and the other towns in the province prevented his summary liquidation by the Spanish authorities.
In 1891, Juan went to Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
with his friend, Don Claudio Reina after his wife died. He had the opportunity to meet many of the Filipino leaders then living in Madrid
Madrid
Madrid is the capital and largest city of Spain. The population of the city is roughly 3.3 million and the entire population of the Madrid metropolitan area is calculated to be 6.271 million. It is the third largest city in the European Union, after London and Berlin, and its metropolitan...
, London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
and Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
. As a consequence, the Spanish authorities were even more antagonistic toward him upon his return. As a result, he lost the land that he and his sisters inherited from their parents. He had to take his family to the slopes of Mt. Kanlaon where they started to farm anew. He brought many gadgets to his hacienda in Dinapalan. One popular tale was his use of a telescope
Telescope
A telescope is an instrument that aids in the observation of remote objects by collecting electromagnetic radiation . The first known practical telescopes were invented in the Netherlands at the beginning of the 1600s , using glass lenses...
to supervise his laborers in the vast hacienda from afar. It became a legend among the common people that he had magical powers, but in reality, he was only able to see their actions by using the telescope.
Altercation with Spanish authorities
His travels in Europe made him aware of the use of new machinery and tools for agriculture. He imported a sugar mill from EnglandEngland
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
and had it installed in his hacienda
Hacienda
Hacienda is a Spanish word for an estate. Some haciendas were plantations, mines, or even business factories. Many haciendas combined these productive activities...
in Dinapalan. From time to time, he bought farm implements like a baler for abaca
Abacá
Abacá, Musa textilis is a species of banana native to the Philippines, grown as a commercial crop in the Philippines, Ecuador, and Costa Rica. The plant is of great economic importance, being harvested for its fibre, once generally called Manila hemp, extracted from the trunk or pseudostem. On...
, a rice
Rice
Rice is the seed of the monocot plants Oryza sativa or Oryza glaberrima . As a cereal grain, it is the most important staple food for a large part of the world's human population, especially in East Asia, Southeast Asia, South Asia, the Middle East, and the West Indies...
thresher, and plows of improved models.
This preference for modern agricultural tools, however, became his undoing. The Spanish authorities grew suspicious of the boatloads of cargo being unloaded near his land in Lumangub. He was arrested and brought to Concordia in January 1897. He was later brought to Himamaylan and then again to Ilog which was then the capital of the province. His diary hinted that even in prison, there were plans to organize the revolutionary forces in the province. There were annotations showing that he made contact with other leaders in the province. He was finally brought to Bacolod
Bacolod City
The City of Bacolod , is a highly urbanized midsize Philippine city. It is the capital of the Negros Occidental province. Having a total of 499,497 inhabitants as of August 1, 2007, it is the most populous city in the Western Visayas Region. It is currently ranked as the 17th most populous city in...
where he was released in October 1897.
The Negros Revolution
On November 5, 1898, (Cinco de NoviembreNegros Revolution
The Negros Revolution, now commemorated and popularly known as Al Cinco de Noviembre or Negros Day, was a political movement that in 1898 created a government in Negros Island in the Philippines, informally ending Spanish control of the island and resulting in a government run by the Negrense...
) a messenger from Talisay
Talisay
Talisay is the name of these places in the Philippines:*Talisay, Batangas*Talisay, Camarines Norte*Talisay City, Cebu*Talisay City, Negros Occidental*Talisay tree, the Philippine common name for Terminalia catappa....
brought news that the revolutionaries and the cazadores were already engaged in skirmishes. At about 1:00 in the afternoon, the revolutionary forces in Bago started marching toward Bacolod. They had only three firearms among them: a Remington
Remington
- People :* Eliphalet Remington , American firearms designer* Philo Remington , American firearms and typewriter manufacturer, son of Eliphalet Remington* Frederic Remington , American painter and sculptor...
rifle, a Mauser
Mauser
Mauser was a German arms manufacturer of a line of bolt-action rifles and pistols from the 1870s to 1995. Mauser designs were built for the German armed forces...
rifle, and a shotgun
Shotgun
A shotgun is a firearm that is usually designed to be fired from the shoulder, which uses the energy of a fixed shell to fire a number of small spherical pellets called shot, or a solid projectile called a slug...
. General Araneta, who led the rebel forces, told his men to cut nipa
Nipa
NIPA, Nipa or nipah may refer to:* Nipa palm, Nypa fruticans* Nipa grass, Distichlis palmeri* Nipah virus, a Henipavirus* National Income and Product Accounts * National Institute of Public Administration...
stems or pagong, and to shoulder these as if these were rifles. In case they contact with each other, the password was to be utod (brother) in Hiligaynon
Hiligaynon language
Hiligaynon, often referred to as Ilonggo, is an Austronesian language spoken in the Western Visayas region of the Philippines.Hiligaynon is concentrated in the provinces of Iloilo, Negros Occidental and Capiz but is also spoken in the other provinces of the Panay Island group, including Antique,...
.
The Spanish authorities in Bacolod, who saw the rebels marching toward the town, thought that they wanted to surrender their arms. Surprised, the Spaniards were advised by the rebels to surrender in order to avert bloodshed. The Spaniards readily agreed. It was only when Bacolod was already in the hands of the rebels, that the Spanish reinforcements from Iloilo arrived.
The Republic of Negros
- See: Republic of Negros
A cantonal form of government was set up in Bacolod with General Aniceto Lacson as President and General Juan Araneta serving as Secretary of War. When the Americans arrived in Iloilo, he counseled the cantonal government to submit to the American forces. This was vehemently opposed and ridiculed by his companions-in-arms. His idea was finally adopted, however, and the Americans occupied Negros without encountering hostilities.
Family
Juan Araneta was married four times to four different women:- Celestina Díaz, with whom he had a child;
-
- Emilio D. Araneta
- Cristeta Sarmiento, with whom he had nine children;
- Elisa S. Araneta
- Romualdo S. Araneta
- Félix Sarmiento Araneta
- Gertrudes S. Araneta
- Jaime Carlos S. Araneta
- Jorge Leon S. Araneta
- José Sarmiento Araneta
- Luisa Flavia S. Araneta
- Ramón Sarmiento Araneta
- Natalia Salsalida, with whom he had thirteen children;
- Agüeda Ma. Filiciana Salsalida Araneta
- Romualdo Marcial Salsalida Araneta
- Crestita Pascuala Salsalida Araneta
- Teresa Bonifacia Salsalida Araneta
- Guillermo Hillarion Salsalida Araneta
- Ana Justina Salsalida Araneta
- Maria Rica Salsalida Araneta
- Patrocenia Dominga Salsalida Araneta
- Teodoro Antonio Salsalida Araneta
- Silvia Agustina Salsalida Araneta
- Woodrow Cecilio Salsalida Araneta
- Felipe Alberto Salsalida Araneta
- Félix Alberto Salsalida Araneta
- Juanita Camillarosa, with whom he two children;
- Trinidad Camillarosa Araneta
- Rufina Camillarosa Araneta
- Emilio D. Araneta
Later life
In 1904, he was appointed as one of the commissioners to the St. Louis ExpositionSt. Louis Exposition
St. Louis Exposition can refer to either:*Saint Louis Exposition *Louisiana Purchase Exposition...
where he put on exhibit over a thousand varieties of rice, samples of cacao, beans, abaca, and many other agricultural crops from Negros
Negros
Negros is an island of the Philippines located in the Visayas, at . It is the third largest island in the country, with a land area of 13,328 km²...
and Panay
Panay
Panay may refer to*Panay Island*Panay *Panay, Capiz*Panay River*Panay Gulf* USS Panay *Panay incident...
. All these exhibits were of exceptional merit; as a result, he was awarded with gold and silver medallions. He also developed Buenos Aires Mountain Resort for his large family to use and enjoy. He later gave this property to his daughter Maria A. Matti.
He kept in touch with new developments in agriculture, either in tools and implements or crops. He tried to grow different crops on his farm and even planted trees that were not endemic to Negros. When the Ma-ao Sugar Central was organized, he became one of its founders. He lent to the corporation the titles of his land to back up the new enterprise. He prevailed upon his lessees to plant wide areas of land to sugar cane. Unfortunately, "Don Juan" did not live long enough to realize his dream of seeing the sugar central freed of its obligations. He died on October 3, 1924, leaving behind a large family of about 25 members.
See also
- NegrosNegrosNegros is an island of the Philippines located in the Visayas, at . It is the third largest island in the country, with a land area of 13,328 km²...
- Negros RevolutionNegros RevolutionThe Negros Revolution, now commemorated and popularly known as Al Cinco de Noviembre or Negros Day, was a political movement that in 1898 created a government in Negros Island in the Philippines, informally ending Spanish control of the island and resulting in a government run by the Negrense...
- Silay CitySilay CitySilay City is a 2nd class city in the province of Negros Occidental, Philippines. According to the August 1, 2007 census, it had a total population of 120,365 people...
- Talisay City
- Bacolod CityBacolod CityThe City of Bacolod , is a highly urbanized midsize Philippine city. It is the capital of the Negros Occidental province. Having a total of 499,497 inhabitants as of August 1, 2007, it is the most populous city in the Western Visayas Region. It is currently ranked as the 17th most populous city in...