Filipino Martyr: JOSE I. PAUA

 JOSE I. PAUA

( ? - 1922)

Revolutionary Leader

A Chinese foundry man-turned-general during the Philippine Revolution and the

Philippine-American War, Jose Ignacio Paua was one of the Chinese migrants in the country who

helped Filipino freedom fighters in the struggle for colonial liberation.

He was born in Lamua, China. An adventurer and a fortune seeker, he found his way to

Manila sometime before the outbreak of the Revolution in 1896. He worked as an apprentice in a

foundry shop managed by a Chinese in the district of Binondo. Later, he “mastered the techniques

involved in beating metal into finished products."” He also learned that the trade was good

business. So, he decided to establish his own foundry shop on Jaboneres Street.

During his trips to Binakayan, a barrio in the town of Kawit, in Cavite, he met Antonia

Jamir, a cousin of Gen. Emilio Aguinaldo, then the municipal captain of Kawit. He was about 25

years old when he decided to marry her. Subsequently, he settled in Cavite, where he established

an iron-works shop besides engaging in the salt-making trade.

When the Revolution broke out, Paua joined the Filipino revolutionists in Kawit, who

belonged to the Katipunan’s Magdalo faction, led by Aguinaldo. He was employed by Aguinaldo in

the production of locally made cannons, called lantaka. Later, Aguinaldo took him under his

command and gave him the rank of a major.

Paua participated with Gen. Pio del Pilar in the assault against a regiment of Spanish

troops stationed in Imus, Cavite. with Col. Agapito Bonzon, he participated in the arrest of the

Bonifacio brothers. Due to his bravery, he was promoted to colonel. He was a signer of the Biakna-

Bato Constitution, the provisional constitution of the first Philippine Republic. After the Pact of

Biak-na-Bato was signed on December 16, 1897, he was one of the revolutionary leaders who joined

Aguinaldo in hi self-imposed exile in Hong Kong. Although the revolutionary against Spain

was resumed in 1898, Paua returned to the Philippines only after American forces had arrived in

Manila. Immediately, he was ordered to take over the military defense against the Spaniards of

Manila’s northern end. One of the encounters he figured in was reported by Marshall Everett, who

wrote that a certain Chinese commander by the name of “Pao-Wah” led the insurgents in Sta. Cruz,

a major town of Laguna de Bay. In that encounter, Everett reported further, 95 had been killed

and 40 were wounded among the rebels, while the Americans lost only five enlisted men and one

officer.

Paua’s next assignment was in Bicolandia. He was given charge of the Bicol sector, with

headquarters in Camarines. On January 23, 1900, he joined Gen. Vito Belarmino in defending

Albay from the attacks mounted by Gen. William Kobbe, commander of the American

expeditionary force to the Bicol region. Together, they ably repelled the imperialists if only for a

few days.

Paua was known as the “best collector” of funds for the revolution. A few months after the

Philippine-American War broke out, the treasury of the newly proclaimed Philippine Republic was

practically empty. In Bicol, from February to October 1899, Paua was able to raise P386,000 for

the beleaguered Republic. This was supplemented later by P220,000 which he had collected in the

province of Tayabas.

Shortly after the capture of General Aguinaldo in Palanan, Isabela, on March 23, 1901,

Paua surrendered to the Americans. He died of cancer in Manila, on May 27, 1922. Before his

death, he had said: “I want to live up to Independence Day to have the joy and pleasure of seeing

the Philippine flag flying alone.”

References:

Alvarez, Santiago. The Katipunan and the Revolution: Memoirs of a General. Quezon City:

Ateneo de Manila University Press, 1992.

Cristobal, Adrian. The Tragedy of the Revolution. Makati: Studio 5 Publishing Inc., 1997.

Historical Markers, Region I-IV and CAR. Manila: National Historical Institute, 1993.

Saulo, Alfredo and Esteban A. de Ocampo. History of Cavite : The Mother Ground of the

Philippine Revolution, Independence Flag and National Anthem. Trece Martires : Provincial

Government of Cavite, 1985.