Filipino Martyr: NUMERIANO R. ADRIANO

 NUMERIANO R. ADRIANO 

(1846-1897) 

Reformist and Martyr 

A reformist, Numeriano Adriano was one of those executed by the Spaniards soon after the revolution in 1896 broke out. 

He was the eldest of the seven children of Pioquinto Adriano and Agapita Resurreccion of Beata, Pandacan, Manila. Adriano enrolled in the University of Santo Tomas, but it is not known whether he finished a degree. For twenty years, he worked in the third branch of the Court of the First Instance as clerk of court. Authorized by the government to render services as a notary public, he held his office in Binondo, where Apolinario Mabini became his assistant. In May 1888, Numeriano, widowed by his first wife, married Isabel Val, a daughter of Spaniard Antonio Val, and Faustina Medina, a Filipina. 

Adriano’s patriotic involvement started when he was still working as escribano in the court. It was during this time that he was acquainted with Marcelo H. del Pilar, who was actively involved with the propaganda movement. One with integrity and strong conviction, he joined the reform movement. In February 1892, he was initiated in the Masonry and later became the grandmaster of its lodge Balagtas in Sampaloc. Together with Ambrosio Flores, he organized the rules and regulations of the Gran Concejo Regional, a national organization of masons in the Philippines. He also joined the La Liga Filipina, established by Rizal. However, the organization was defunct after Rizal was exiled in Dapitan. But this had not dampened the spirit of Adriano in seeking the fruition of the reform movement. He helped establish the Cuerpo de Compromisarios that was aimed at giving financial support to the propaganda newspaper abroad, the La Solidaridad. 

After a few years of the reform movement and no significant reform happened in the Philippines, Filipinos began to doubt the effectiveness of the reform movement, which to the ilustrados could still attain its aims, but to others was futile and had to resort to another means. In 1895, Andres Bonifacio, Teodoro Plata and Ladislao Diwa formed the Katipunan. Soon after, the revolution broke out. Many of the personalities known for their ideas for reforms like, Numeriano Adriano, were implicated in the revolution. On the night of September 16, 1896, Adriano was arrested. Colonel Francisco Olive of the Spanish Army had him court-martialed and found guilty of treason and sedition and was sentenced to die. Thus, on January 11 the following year, Adriano was shot on Bagumbayan (now Luneta) with others: Domingo Franco, Moises Salvador, Francisco L. Roxas, Luis Enciso Villareal, Jose Dizon, Lt. Benedicto Nijaga, Corporal Geronimo, Cristobal Medina, Antonio Salazar, Ramon P. Padilla, Faustino Villaruel, Braulio Rivera and Eustaquio Mañalak. 

Reference: 

Manuel, Arsenio E. Dictionary of Philippine Biography Volume I. Quezon City: Filipiniana Publications, 1955.