The Battle of Tres de Abril

Series - Holy Saturday (April 9, 1898) Part 1

The book “Ang Kagubot sa Sugbo 1898” provides a narrative of what happened on April 3, 1898 and the following days. It was authored by Manuel Enriquez dela Calzada and contains the articles written by veterans and witnesses of the Cebuano uprising against Spain. The entry on Holy Saturday was written by Don Elpidio Rama and Raimundo Enriquez, this is the adaption of CEBUpedia of the article written in Cebuano:

“The day before Easter Sunday was called by others as ‘Sabado de Gloria’ because on that day it was the time when Mary Magdalene and the Apostles daydreamed that Christ has risen. But in the Kingdom of Spain at that time, it was called as such, because the King gives amnesty to good prisoners.

“That was what General Adolfo Montero also did on April 9, 1898, he gave a gift to Cebu City and the town of San Nicolas (San Nicolas was a separate town of Cebu City, it was the Americans that unified the towns of El Pardo, San Nicolas, and Mabolo into the city we now know as Cebu City), issuing an order, that those who come down from the hills, come into the Cebu City and San Nicolas, will not be harmed, provided he carries a white flag. The heralds of the order were the prisoners that were released for the purpose of going up to the mountains, announcing to all that were in hiding to come to the City and San Nicolas.

“When the evacuees heard of the order of the General, they all came down and came back to their houses. The City, was immediately restored, however, San Nicolas after two weeks, the houses were still left unattended by its homeowners, especially when Pasil was burned, no house was habitable.

“The only one who was able to fulfill the responsibility of the Church, on that Holy Saturday, was the Seminario de San Carlos, they were able to do the Service of Light, Blessing of the Water, Reading of the Prophesies, Litany of Saints, all were part of the Easter Vigil.

“The churches of Cathedral, San Agustin (more known as Basilica del Sto. Niño), Recoletos (now Mount Carmel Church) and San Nicolas were all made as quarters of the Spanish soldiers.” (To be continued)