EUSTACIO MAÑALAC
(d.1897)
One of the Thirteen Bagumbayan Martyrs
Eustacio Mañalac was one of the 13 martyrs of Bagumbayan. So little is known of him that
only by mentioning the circumstances surrounding his death can part of his life be revealed.
He joined Freemasonry, a secret fraternal organization of progressive thinking men given,
attracted as he was to its liberal ideas of justice, freedom, and equality among men. It was
anathema to the Spanish authorities, particularly the clergy, who looked at it as a sinister cabal of
subversives and devil worshippers. So that when a worker of the Diario de Manila, Teodoro
Patiño, exposed the existence of the Katipunan to one of their kind, Fr. Mariano, the authorities
lost no time in rounding up Masons, who were all suspected of being revolutionaries as well. The
co-workers whom Patiño had denounced were all Katipunan members.
Mañalac was among the Masons and suspected Katipuneros who were arrested and jailed
by the Spanish authorities in the aftermath of the raid on the Diario de Manila and other places in
the city. He was probably also tortured along with others while in prison.
On January 11, 1897, he and twelve other condemned men were taken out from the Bilibid
Prison and transported in horse drawn vehicles to Bagumbayan Field, where they were shot by a
firing squad.
References:
Manuel, E. Arsenio. Dictionary of Philippine Biography Volume I. Quezon City:
Filipiniana Publications, 1955.
_______________. Dictionary of Philippine Biography Volume II. Quezon City:
Filipinana Publications, 1955.
Zaide, Gregorio F. Great Filipinos in History. Manila: The Author, 1970.
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