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LUCENA CITY — Malacañang has declared Nov. 4 a special non-working day in Quezon province to commemorate the death anniversary of local hero Apolinario de la Cruz, popularly known as “Hermano Puli.”
“It is but fitting and proper that the people of the Province of Quezon be given full opportunity to celebrate and participate in the occasion with appropriate ceremonies, subject to the public health measures of the national government,” Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin said in Proclamation No. 73 signed on Oct. 14. Nov. 4 falls on a Friday.
A copy of the proclamation was posted on the Facebook page of the provincial government on Tuesday, Oct. 18.
Each year, local government, military and police officials, and civic groups conduct floral offerings at the foot of De La Cruz monuments in Tayabas City and Lucban, Quezon.
De la Cruz was born on July 22, 1815, in Lucban town. He had wished to become a priest but was discouraged by Spanish friars because he was a native or an “indio.”
At 17, he founded the Cofradia de San Jose religious movement, which attracted followers in Tayabas; the provinces of Laguna, Batangas, and Cavite; Tondo in Manila; and some parts of the Bicol region. Membership reached around 5,000, historical records show.
On suspicion by the Spanish friars that the movement was subversive, De la Cruz and Cofradia members were forced to go underground.
On Nov. 1, 1841, Spanish soldiers attacked De la Cruz and his followers.
He escaped but was captured days later and executed on Nov. 4 in Tayabas.
To warn his followers, the Spanish soldiers cut his body into pieces, his head put in a cage, and hung on a pole on the roadside.
Historical records show that the heroism of De la Cruz inspired three Filipino priests—Mariano Gomez, Jose Burgos, and Jacinto Zamora—whose martyrdom provoked the people to rise against the tyranny of Spanish rule and fight for freedom.
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