INKONG
TASIO (Anastacio de Leon) & IMPONG BIYANG (Maria Gonzalez de Leon)
by Nunilo M. de Leon
Their Origins
Renato
“Sonny” Cano, Victorina “Turina” L. Cano’s son, has researched on this
subject. He says that Inkong Tasio was
probably born (in the late 1830s or early1840s, parentage still unknown) and
grew up in Baliuag, Bulacan. He
completed the “cartilla”, the basic education of those times, comparable to
today’s secondary education. He became the Sacristan Mayor in the parish church
of Baliuag, a position of trust which, in that era, carried a certain amount of
prestige. The priests then were
Spaniards. Tasio later moved to Malolos,
also as the Sacristan Mayor, and perhaps with the same priest, who might have
also been transferred to the Malolos parish.
“Impong
Biyang” was born in 1841 from still unknown parents. It is not clear where Inkong met Impo, who
was probably also from Baliuag. There have always been many Gonzalez-surnamed
families in that town. They were probably married in 1870, based on the 1872
birth year of their first-born. They both married late, in their late-20s, not
a common practice in those days of early marriages.
“Sonny” Cano has also looked into the Gonzalez
connection. According to his research,
there is a Gonzalez clan from Pampanga and Bulacan which originated in the town
of Apalit, Pampanga, across the Pampanga River from Calumpit, Bulacan. The sire was a Spaniard who claimed to be an
engineer from Villadolid in Spain and who introduced himself as Gonzalez. He married a young lady from the wealthy
Arnedo clan of Sulipan in Apalit. Later,
it was discovered that the “engineer” was actually an Augustinian friar, a
member of the Spanish nobility, Fray Francisco Lopez, and was a parish priest
of Baliuag, Bulacan, some ten kilometers up the Angat River from Sulipan.
It is to be noted, however, that the wedding
described in the above account happened in the mid-1850s and the off-springs of
this marriage would have been born in the 1870s, at the earliest. By that time, Inkong Tasio and Impong Biyang would
have been already adults. Impong Biyang probably
sprung from another Gonzalez clan; Gonzalez must have been a popular alias for
some “frailes”. There were quite a few
families with that name in Pampanga and Bulacan at that time. In the same narrative cited by “Sonny”, there
was mention of an hacendero Gonzalez family in Baliuag who also had a Spanish
“fraile” ancestor. It is possible that
our Gonzalez ancestors were from that clan.
When he got married, Inkong probably stopped being sacristan mayor and
went into other pursuits. As sacristan mayor, Tasio had became popular in
Malolos and this popularity, together with his widely-recognized friendliness
and street-smarts, helped him to be selected “Cabeza del Barrio” or the
counterpart of today’s “Barangay Captain”.
From there, he acquired other official posts and duties, until he was
infected by and developed the revolutionary zeal of those times and ran up
against the authorities. In his mid-30s, after his stint as Cabeza del Barrio,
he became the “Alcalde Constitucional” or Mayor of Malolos in 1886. Malolos was then divided into three
constituencies; Barasoain, Sta. Isabel
and Malolos. Inkong was Alcalde of the
third constituency.
Inkong Tasio begins to be a revolutionary
During his term as alcalde, Inkong took part in
a protest against a practice of the frailes involving the padding of census
figures. These census figures were the
basis for some revenue-generating schemes and thus inflated the income of the
frailes. This protest action partly inspired
the historically-renowned “21 Women of Malolos” in their defiance of the then “cura
parroco” or parish priest of Malolos, who, sometime in 1888, had refused a
request from their group. “The Women”
had asked him to allow them to put up a small night school where they could
learn how to read, write and speak Spanish, at no cost to the parish. When the priest turned down their request,
they by-passed him and went up to the Spanish Governor General in Manila, who turned
out to be sympathetic to their request.
The Manila newspapers lauded the Maloleñas for their action, and
“Plaridel” or Marcelo H. del Pilar strongly supported them. This act of the “21 Women” was immortalized
by the letter which Mason and national hero Jose Rizal wrote to them, extolling
their unprecedented and heroic deed.
“Sonny” Cano also provided this tid-bit about
Inkong Tasio. This came from his friend and classmate, Johnny Cruz (a
well-known author and stage director from Malolos), who unearthed these
information in his research of the historical documents at the Casa Real museum
in Malolos. Inkong was a member of the “Ilustrados” (Enlightened Ones) of
Malolos, which included the “Women of Malolos”, and was an active member of the
town’s Masonic lodge. The Ilustrados were active propagandists and fund-raisers
for the Liga Filipina and the Katipunan, both of which were revolutionary
movements. Inkong was part of the group
who met Jose Rizal at the Tanchangco house during Rizal’s visit to Malolos in
1888.
According to an historical account published
by the Masonic Lodge, Inkong Tasio was a founding member of the Masonic lodge
called “Logio Kupang”, named after the barrio in Bulacan town, where another Mason
and national hero, Marcelo H. del Pilar, was born. The founding leaders of the lodge were
Maloleños; Vicente Gatmaytan, Jose Bautista and Manuel Crisostomo.
All these revolutionary activities, which were
happening in his own turf, naturally enraged the cura parroco. He tried his best to isolate the “21 Women”,
even threatening to ex-communicate them.
He went after those whom he deduced to be behind the “21 Women”. His prime suspects were the “Caballeros de
Malolos” or “Malolos Gentry”, prominent Maloleños who had been recently elected
to government posts and who were beginning to resist the frailes. Inkong was in this group. Although the cura parroco did not yet have
enough on the Caballeros to file charges, he was not going to forgive and
forget them.
Many of these Masons were elected in November
1894 to serve as municipal government officials of Malolos; the same “Caballeros”
who had seriously provoked the cura parroco. These included Inkong Tasio, who had
been elected municipal “Teniente de Granados”, Spanish for Senior Lieutenant.
The cura parroco and the “capitan del guardia civil” or Municipal Chief of
Police blocked this move, claiming that the Masons were anti-government as well
as anti-religion. (Inkong Tasio, the devout church sacristan mayor in his early years, now
was charged with being against both the government and the church.) As a consequence,
the results of the first election were annulled. Another election was held in December
1894. The results were the same and the
authorities had no choice but to allow them to take over their positions, which
they did on 1st January 1895.
However, six months later, they were formally charged in court, this
time for plotting against the government and the church, and found guilty. The leaders, including Inkong, were exiled to
various distant parts of the Islands; Manuel Crisostomo to Sulu, Inkong and
Ceferino Aldaba to Palawan, Vicente Gatmaytan and Valentin Aldaba to
Lanao. Some of them never returned from
their exile.
By then, Jose Rizal had been seized by the
authorities, charged with sedition, tried, convicted and exiled to Dapitan,
where he remained for four years, from 1892 to 1896. He was eventually
executed, just outside the walls of Intramuros in Manila, in Dec. 1896.
Impong Biyang, meanwhile
While Inkong Tasio was busy with all his
political and revolutionary activities, Impong Biyang was equally hard-at-work,
literally taking care of business, being an excellent entrepreneur. Largely
because of her, the family coped more than adequately, financially, and was
able to accumulate some capital which was used for the purchase of farmlands,
in the Hagunoy barrio of Sukol (lost to land reform), and the residential lot
in Tampoy, on which the De Leon clan ancestral house still stands.
Meanwhile, all their three living children were
growing up. In 1895 while Inkong was on exile, “Lolo” Ramon was 23 years old,
“Dada Merced” (Mercedes) was 21 while “Dada Ninay” (Catalina) was 19.
Impong Biyang worked on Inkong Tasio’s exile.
She knew how to work the system; continually importuned and offered
blandishments to the authorities and finally had them grant a parole to Inkong,
with stiff conditions. He was allowed to return, not to Malolos but to Hagunoy,
some 10 kilometers from Malolos. He was not to engage in any seditious or
rebellious activity and should remain in Hagunoy in the interim. Inkong Tasio was finally
able to return to Malolos from his exile in 1901 and was elected to be a
delegate in the first town council organized by the Americans in Malolos.
Their final years
While Inkong Tasio was on exile in Hagunoy,
Impong Biyang continued to live in Malolos, with occasional visits. Impong
Biyang died in 1913 and was buried in the Malolos Parish Church cemetery.
During his exile, Inkong had probably met a
Hagunoy young lady, Paulina “Impong Puling” de la Cruz. They ended up living-in
with each other, after Impong Biyang’s death in 1913, making Hagunoy their home.
One can only imagine how the other members of the De Leon – Gonzalez family in
Malolos felt. Inkong Tasio was, thereafter, rarely seen in Malolos. However,
his Malolos family continued to partly take care of him. At every harvest, a
share of the crop from the Sukol farms would be brought to Inkong’s house in
Barrio San Agustin, Hagunoy. Inkong Tasio and Impong Puling had six children:
“Tata Temiong”, “Tata Monching”, “Nana Sencia”, “Tata Gorio, “Nana Uping”, and
“Nana Insiang”; all with the De Leon surname.
Inkong
Tasio died in Hagunoy in 1939, about 100 years old. It was Lolo Ramon who handled all the funeral
arrangements. Inkong was buried in the
Hagunoy municipal cemetery. Impong
Puling died 8 years later. She was also buried in the Hagunoy municipal
cemetery.
Hello! Do you have materials (records or artefacts about the Bulacan High School(before it became Marcelo H. del Pilar National High School)? I need these materials regarding a research I am conducting and I would very much appreciate any information you might be able to provide. Thank you very much.
My brother and I would not know about Bulacan High. Our aunties would know but they have passed on. So sorry . . .