ON APRIL 30, 1865, Patrocinio Gamboa, the revolutionary heroine of Iloilo more popularly known as “Tia Patron”, was born in Jaro, Iloilo.
Her reading of the works of Dr. Jose Rizal, Marcelo H. del Pilar, Graciano Lopez Jaena, among others, nourished her patriotic sentiments.
One of the first to join the Philippine Revolution in 1896, Tia Patron was one of the organizers of the Comite Conspirador and Comite Central Revolucionario de Visayas, which formed the nucleus of what later became the Revolutionary Government of the Visayas.
This government was inaugurated on November 17, 1898, in Santa Barbara, Iloilo. The raising of the Philippine flag highlighted the inauguration of this government. It was sewn by Doña Patrocinio and several women of Molo. Doña Patrocinio personally brought this flag to Santa Barbara outwitting the many enemy outposts along the way.
When the Filipino-American War reached Panay, Doña Patrocinio organized the women of Panay and led them in nursing the wounded and sick Filipino soldiers, collecting alms and war contributions, soliciting food and medical supplies, delivering military dispatches to various Filipino commands, and carried on many other tasks at the risks of their lives. For this, she was also regarded as the “Heroine of Jaro”
She died on November 24, 1953 at the age of 88. She was buried with military honors at Jaro’s Balantang Veterans’ Cemetery.
