Today, marks the anniversary of when the Katipuneros took refuge at Tandang Sora’s house on August 24, 1896.
Melchora Aquino, also known as Tandang Sora, “Elder Sora” due to her old age at 84 years old when the Philippine Revolution broke out, was born on January 6, 1812 in Caloocan. She was known as the “Mother of the Katipunan” and fearlessly aided the soldiers giving them food and shelter despite the warnings of Spanish authorities of those aiding the rebels would receive severe punishment from imprisonment to death.
Born in a peasant family to Juan and Valentina Aquino, she never attended school but she was still literate at an early age and was known for her singing and pageantry as the role of Reyna Elena in Santa Kruzan festivals. Her store in her native hometown became a refuge to wounded and sick revolutionaries whom she fed, gave medical attention, and encouraged with motherly advice. She also housed secret meetings of the Katipunan in her home. When Spanish authorities found out about her role in aiding the Katipuneros and her knowledge of their whereabouts, she was taken and interrogated but she refused to give in and give up any information. For this she was then arrested by the guardia civil and deported to Guam where she stayed in exile until the U.S. colonization when she, like many exiles, returned to the Philippines where she died on March 2, 1919 at the old age of 107. Her remains were transferred to her own backyard which is now known as Himlayang Pilipino Memorial Park in Quezon City.
Mabuhay Tandang Sora !
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