MACABEBE, Pampanga—The marker of the “nameless hero” who defied Spanish rule in the 16th century was unveiled in front of the municipal hall here on June 3.
National Historical Commission of the Philippines (NHCP) Chairman Maria Serena I. Diokno and Mayor Annette Flores-Balgan led the simple ceremony for the unveiling of the marker dedicated to the “Ang Kabataang Pinuno ng Macabebe” or “The Youth Leader of Macabebe.”
Diokno said it was the first time in the history of the NHCP that it issued a nameless marker.
The youth leader is called Tarik Soliman by local historians and older Filipinos who have encountered the youth’s name in history books. He is believed to have lived in Pampanga around the 16th century. His real identity has not been fully established, but he is also known in Pampanga as “Bambalito.”
“The Spanish accounts about the nameless youth leader were considered primary sources,” said Diokno, in justifying the issuance of the marker. “The Spanish officials wanted to downplay the heroic acts of the youth leader, that’s why they did not give him a specific name. They also want people to forget him.”
Diokno said the Spaniards tried to bribe the youth leader to win his support, but to no avail.
In the marker written in Tagalog, the youth leader turned down the offer of friendship of Spanish Governor General Miguel Lopez de Legazpi, and instead asked the highest-ranking leader of Spain in the Philippines for a fight. In the Battle of Bangkusay in Tondo, Manila, on June 3, 1571, the youth leader and 300 other Filipino warriors died while fighting against the Spanish forces.
Some historians made a mistake in saying that it was Rajah Soliman who died in the same battle.
In the same ceremony, NHCP researcher Ian Alfonso, a native of this town, launched his book The Nameless Hero: Revisiting the Sources of the Filipino Leader to Die for Freedom. It was about the youth leader.
Alfonso said the Center of the Kapampangan Studies of the Holy Angel University (HAU) five years ago asked the NHCP to officially recognize the youth leader.
“We carefully studied it, that’s why it took us five years to approve it,” Diokno said.
Balgan said, “This marker is an honor to the Macabebe folk and it proves the loyalty and bravery of our people.”
Balgan said she had been informed that the youth leader fondly called Tarik Soliman in Macabebe was born and raised in nearby Masantol town. It used to be a part of Macabebe, she added.
She said a school in Masantol is named Tarik Soliman Elementary School. The town council earlier declared June 3 as Tarik Soliman Day in Macabebe.
Balgan and Catherine Flores, tourism officer of Macabebe, were aggressive in pushing for the inclusion of a local hero on the list of the country’s pantheon of national heroes.
Since 2010, Balgan, Flores, historians and residents organized various activities to honor the youth leader. He is also called Bambalito and the Brave Youth of Macabebe.
In the 1930s a stone statue of the youth called Tarik Soliman was installed in front of the Macabebe town hall. It was under the stone statue where the NHCP marker was installed.
Balgan hosted last year various activities to honor Tarik.
She and the Katipunan da ring Talasaliksik at alaturang Kapampangan Inc. (Katatagan) organized a lecture series on Kapampangan Studies to make the public aware of the heroics and martyrdom of the youth leader.
Alfonso said Macabebe town first honored Bambalito in 1934 through a monument dedicated to the King of Macabebe. While Macabebe began organizing activities in his honor in 2010, the youth leader and Magat Salamat had been honored a year earlier in Hagonoy, Bulacan, by virtue of a local ordinance, Alfonso said.
Leading cultural heritage advocate Robby Tantingco of the HAU earlier proposed to drop the name “Tarik Soliman” and, in the meantime, refer to Bambalito as “Bangbal.”
“The fact that the name [Tarik Soliman] came from a dubious source, Pedro Paterno, whom [historian] Ambeth Ocampo called the greatest turncoat in Philippine history, pushed the wrong buttons and shifted the debate to the name, not the existence, and certainly not the role in history of ‘the brave youth from Macabebe,’” Tantingco said in a paper presented at the lecture at Saint Nicholas Academy here.
In a letter to the viceroy of New Spain on August 11, 1572, Legazpi wrote: “The commander of the heathens lost his life and he was the only one who had obstinately rejected our peace overtures.” He was referring to the youth leader.
Fray Gaspar de San Agustin, in a document published in 1698, referred to the leader as “the brave youth from Macabebe.”
Martinez de Zuñiga in 1803 described the young hero as a “general of the indios, who was the king of Macabebe.”
Diokno said, “We didn’t put the age of the youth leader or his birthplace and other information in the marker because there was no basis.”
“As we said, there wasn’t a name at all,” she added. “We can now claim we, indeed, have a hero, but his name was never mentioned or verified. What’s important is that we are proud that he is from Macabebe,” Flores said.
Image credits: Leo Villacarlos