Macabebe hero honored in ‘Battle of Bangkusay’ commemoration
Manila Mayor Maria Sheilah Lacuna-Pangan leads wreath-laying rites in Plaza Moriones in Tondo. Pampanga tourism chief Mike Castaneda represents Gov. Dennis Pineda. | PHOTO: Tonette T. Orejas
MANILA — The City of Manila, Pampanga and Bulacan provinces commemorated together for the third time the Battle of Bangkusay, continuing the historical correction over who led the battle against the conquest of Luzon by Spanish colonizers.
The joint commemoration was made after the NHCP in 2000 installed a marker recognizing Tarik Soliman or Bambalito, not Rajah Soliman, as the hero of the June 3, 1571 Battle of Bangkusay in Tondo.
In 2021, the NHCP installed a marker referring to a Macabebe leader and not Rajah Soliman.
A year later, the Center for Kapampangan Studies (CKS) initiated a wreath laying rite with the City of Manila at the site of the 2021 NHCP marker at the Plaza Moriones in Tondo.
In 2023, the local governments of Macabebe, Pampanga and Hagonoy, Bulacan joined and agreed to host the annual event alternately.
“History was already corrected three years ago when NHCP erected a historical marker that identified the hero of the Battle of Bangkusay as the Brave Youth of Macabebe and not Rajah Soliman of Manila, as people once thought,” said Robby Tantingco, CKS director.
Manila Mayor Maria Sheilah Lacuna-Pangan paid honor to “those who laid down their lives for freedom.”
Tantingco said the correction has not fully sunk in.
“Many continue to think it was Rajah Soliman who died in Bangkusay, which is why the City of Manila and the LGUs of Macabebe and Hagonoy, plus the CKS, will continue holding this annual high-profile commemoration of the Battle of Bangkusay until the Brave Youth of Macabebe is properly recognized not just as the hero of Bangkusay but as the first Filipino to die defending freedom,” said Tantingco.
He added: “We would like to thank Manila for hosting the commemoration, even if the major players in the historical event were Kapampangans.” INQ
