Filipino Martyr: PRAXEDES P. FAJARDO

 PRAXEDES P. FAJARDO

(1874 – 1928)

Pampaguena Patriot

Praxedes Fajardo headed the Philippine Red Cross in Pampanga during the Philippine

Revolution and the Filipino – American War.

She was born on July 21, 1874 in Bacolor, Pampanga into a distinguished family. Her

grandfather, Pedro Anselmo Jorge Fajardo, was a priest who served as a delegate to the Spanish

Cortes during one of the rare times the country was represented in the lawmaking body of Spain. A

writer as well, Fr. Fajardo was the author of “Comedia Heroic la Conquista de Granada, o Sea

Vida de Don Gonzalo de Cordova” a popular comedia written in three volumes. Her father,

Justino Fajardo, was a cabeza de barangay of Bacolor while her mother, Andrea Puno, belonged to

one of the town’s affluent families.

Praxedes was one of the Fajardo children, the others being Florencia, Jacobo, and

Anselmo. She obtained her education from the La Consolacion Convent in Manila.

During the second phase of the Philippine Revolution, Praxedes Fajardo was asked to lead

the Red Cross in Pampanga. She organized a group of women, and, together, they collected food,

clothes, and medical supplies, which they distributed, to the families of the soldiers killed or

wounded in the battle. She successfully harnessed the help of the people of Pampanga, among

whom was Matea Rodriguez Tuason, one of the richest women in the province – she contributed

substantially to the Red Cross and the provincial government. Displaying uncommon managerial

acumen, Fajardo made sure that the donated goods were properly stacked at the Bacolor convent

and the provincial capitol, and then equitably distributed to their intended beneficiaries.

Fajardo was one of the two women who prevented what could have been a bloody affair in

a dispute between two revolutionary generals, Antonio Luna and Tomas Mascardo.

General Luna, who was known for his violent temper, came to Bacolor on his way to arrest

and punish general Mascardo for alleged insubordination, which had been blamed as one of the

causes of the defeats of the Filipino forces by the Americans. When he was about to leave with his

troops for the neighboring town of Guagua, where Mascardo was holed up with his men, Luna was

met a group of kneeling women, led by Fajardo and Nicolasa Dayrit Panlilio, who begged him not

to proceed with his plan. Moved by their pleas, he relented, thus, a dreadful confrontation between

the two revolutionary generals and their men was averted.

Fajardo never married. After the Filipino – American War, she lived with the family of her

sister, Florencia, who had married Mateo Gutierrez Ubaldo. She took care of her sister’s family,

which grew quite big. An excellent cook, she pampered her nieces and nephews with her superb

cooking. She once won first prize for her native pickles, better known as atchara, at a food contest

held at the Manila Carnival.

Her nieces and nephews, to whose upbringing she devoted the rest of her life, all became

successful professionals.

She died on August 10, 1928 at the age of 54.

Reference:

Hilario, Rafaelita Soriano. Women in the Philippine Revolution. Quezon City: Printon Press,

1995