BACOLOD, Philippines – Negros Occidental is commemorating the Negros revolt known as Al Cinco de Noviembre (5th of November), when local forces declared independence from Spanish rule after executing what has been called the “greatest bluff” against the colonizers 126 years ago.
This year, the Negros revolt is being retold through the terracotta artworks of 69-year-old Ramon de los Santos in Silay City.
The Balay Negrense Development Corporation (BNDC) in Silay commissioned De los Santos, a terracotta artist from Talisay, to create 143 characters using mud to depict the events of Al Cinco de Noviembre in a 14-table exhibit. The exhibit, which began on November 1, will run until December 15.
The so-called “greatest bluff” has been the central element of Al Cinco de Noviembre, a tactic employed by the Negros bolo fighters, or revolutionaries, on November 5, 1898. It was a simple maneuver which scared the Spaniards into surrendering the following day, November 6.
The Negros bolo fighters were led by the late Juan Araneta of Bago City and Aniceto Lacson of Talisay City, who took their cues from the think tanks of Negros then – hacienderos from Silay, led by sugar baron Eustaquio Lopez.
Through some seriously creative thinking, they cooked up the ultimate bluff: arming local bolo fighters with palm or coconut fronds resembling rifles and rolled amakan (woven bamboo slabs) that looked like cannons from a distance.
On November 5, 1898, thousands of Negros bolo fighters marched through the streets of Bago and Talisay toward Bacolod, confidently waving their mock weapons. From a distance, the Spaniards were convinced they were up against a fully armed battalion, and after failing to secure backup from Iloilo, Spanish leader Jose Ruiz de Luzuriaga negotiated a surrender to the Negrense warriors on November 6.
Ver Pacete, a former tourism officer of Silay who has studied the historic event, said Al Cinco de Noviembre perfectly captured the cleverness of Negros’ hacienderos in crafting a bluff that would go down in history.
Pacete also credited La Solidaridad’s Graciano Lopez Jaena from Iloilo, who encouraged his cousin, Eustaquio Lopez, to oppose Spanish rule.
“If not for the resourceful Silay hacienderos, Negros Occidental might not have an Al Cinco de Noviembre – a celebration of Negrenses’ freedom from Spanish governance through an unmatched bluff,” Pacete said.
The historic bluff is the focus of De los Santos’ terracotta exhibit, now on display at the Silay City’s over century-old Art Space and Showroom, formerly the Puericulture Center.
De los Santostold Rappler on Monday, November 4, that he initially hadn’t planned to create his Al Cinco de Noviembre pieces through mud art, and the idea struck him only last year when BNDC requested artworks related to the 1898 revolt in Negros.
BNDC and De los Santos worked to ensure that every detail of the Negros revolt and its historical narratives is represented.
“I am a terracotta artist who loves to create something weird, including soldiers, but not so serious like these now,” said De los Santos, founder of the seven-year-old Lutak (mud) Art Sculptures in Talisay.
He said every piece meant a lot to him given that they were about history.
“They’re not just art pieces. Rather, they’re now mediums of history that will remind everyone how important Al Cinco de Noviembre is in our lives as Negrenses,” De Los Santos said.
He said he hopes his creations will inspire fellow Negrenses, especially younger generations, and visitors from other provinces or countries.
Meanwhile, the 125th commemoration of Al Cinco de Noviembre in Negros Occidental will feature three main events: the Sigabong sang mga Kanyon (Parade of Cannons) in Bago City, Kaon Ta (an eat-all-you-can celebration of Silay delicacies), and a ceremony honoring Negros Occidental’s outstanding taxpayers at the capitol grounds. – Rappler.com
