León Kilat
Pantaleón Villegas | |
|---|---|
| Born | July 27, 1873 Bacong, Negros Oriental, Captaincy General of the Philippines |
| Died | April 8, 1898 (aged 24) Carcar, Cebu, Captaincy General of the Philippines |
| Nationality | Negrense |
| Other names | Eulogio Villegas, León Kilat |
| Citizenship | Philippine |
| Organization | Katipunan |
Lieutenant-General Pantaleón Villegas y Soldi (July 27, 1873 – April 8, 1898), better known by his nom-de-guerre León Kilat (literally "Lightning Leo" in Cebuano), was a Filipino revolutionary leader in Cebu during the Philippine Revolution against the Spanish Empire. He was born in Bacong, Negros Oriental, to Policarpio Villegas and Doña Úrsula Soldi. His grandparents were Pedro Villegas, a Spaniard, and Dorotea Vergara, the daughter of a Vallehermoso capitán.[citation needed]
Biography[]
Occupation[]
In 1895, Villegas worked at the Botica Antigua located in the corner of Calle del Palacio (today Burgos St.) and Calle Legazpi. It was a well-known drugstore frequented by many townsfolk. With him were Ciriaco Murillo and Eulogio Duque who told the writer that Villegas actually used the name "Eulogio", instead of Pantaleón. Because there were two Eulogios working in the drugstore, the owner decided to call him "León" instead. The reason for him using the name "Eulogio" is not known.[1]
Villegas did not stay long at Botica Antigua. He transferred to a bakery on Calle Página (today Pahina St.). From there he moved on to a circus on its way to Manila. The circus happened to be owned by a katipunero. It was there that he was recruited into the secret society of the Katipunan.
Revolutionary Leadership in Cebu[]
During the rebellion against Spain, Villegas led the revolutionaries in Cebu. Initially intending to begin the rebellion on Easter Sunday, he was forced to change his plans when the Spaniards discovered the planned revolt.
Battle of Tres de Abril[]
3 April 1898, Palm Sunday[]
- Villegas and his men began the rebellion in Cebu.
4 April[]
- 05:00
- The rebels drove the Spanish forces into Fort San Pedro and took control of Cebu City. When the Spanish gunboat María Cristina opened fire, the rebels retreated to the Chinese quarter of Lutao.
7 April[]
- 500 men of the 73rd Native Regiment and Spanish cazadores with the cruiser Don Juan de Austria arrived under the command of General Tejeiro. This forced the rebels to retreat to San Nicolas.
- The Spanish continued pursuing the rebels into the mountain region until 8 April.
Death[]
On 8 April 1898, Good Friday, in Carcar, Cebu, Villegas was betrayed and stabbed to death by Apolinario Alcuitas, his aide-de-camp. [2]
Legacy[]
The town of Bacong in Negros Oriental honours Villegas with a statue in its plaza erected in 1926.
On July 27, 2008, the 135th anniversary of Villegas' birth, the Philippine National Historical Institute provided a historical marker in his honour to municipal and provincial officials of his hometown.[3]
In popular culture[]
References[]
- ^ https://web.archive.org/web/20091026192428/http://geocities.com/lkilat/
- ^ "Western Visayas:Pantaleon Villegas". Retrieved 2007-08-13.
- ^ Pal, Alex (2008-08-04). "Bacong remembers Leon Kilat's heroism". The Visayan Daily Star. p. 18.
External links[]
- The untold story of Leon Kilat and Cebu's Revolution in 1898 at the Wayback Machine (archived October 26, 2009)
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- 1873 births
- 1898 deaths
- 19th-century circus performers
- Visayan people
- Filipino people of Spanish descent
- Filipino revolutionaries
- Paramilitary Filipinos
- People of the Philippine Revolution
- People from Negros Oriental
- Filipino people stubs