LA PAZ—After Gen. Francisco Soliman Makabulos, who raised the standard of revolt against the Spaniards in 1897, surrendered to the Americans in 1900, he retired to a two-story house here and, after a prolonged battle with pneumonia and heart illness, died in 1922 at the age of 51.
His house was left to the care of a nephew, Alejandro Galasi, a retired chief of police of this town.
When Galasi died years ago, his daughter Elisa took over as caretaker of the house, in front of which the National Historical Commission put up in 1971 a historical marker.
The marker reads: “Sa bahay na ito nanirahan si Heneral Francisco Makabulos matapos ang pakikipaglaban sa Espanya at sa Estados Unidos. Nabuhay siyang mapayapa rito bilang magsasaka at naging pangulong bayan ng La Paz, Tarlak at nagsulat ng mga sarsuwela at tula. Namatay sa bayan ng Tarlak noong Abril 30, 1922 (In this house lived Gen. Francisco Makabulos after fighting against the Spaniards and the Americans. He led here a peaceful life as a farmer, as mayor of La Paz town and as a writer of zarzuelas and poems. He died in Tarlac town on April 30, 1922).”
The house is now in a woeful state of disrepair.
The wooden floor upstairs is creaking and the entire second floor is about to collapse. The capiz windows are falling off and so are the wooden walls.
Elisa’s 36-year-old daughter, Catherine Galising, said that about 10 years ago relatives of the Macabulos family visited from the United States.
When they saw the condition of the house, she said, they vowed to return to have it repaired.
They haven’t returned since.
Makabulos was born in this town on September 17, 1871 to Alejandro Makabulos and Gregoria Soliman.
The Makabuloses were known traders plying the stretch of the Rio Grande de Pampanga and its tributary, the Chico River.
In January 1897, leading a handful of ill-equipped Katipuneros, Makabulos overran the Spanish cuartel (barracks) here, which started the revolution in Tarlac province.
When Aguinaldo left for Hong Kong after the signing of the Pact of Biak-na-Bato, Makabulos refused to lay down his arms and instead established on April 17, 1898 a provisional revolutionary government called the Central Directive Committee of Central and Northern Luzon.
The committee covered the provinces of Tarlac and Pampanga and parts of Pangasinan, Nueva Ecija, La Union and Zambales.
His house was left to the care of a nephew, Alejandro Galasi, a retired chief of police of this town.
When Galasi died years ago, his daughter Elisa took over as caretaker of the house, in front of which the National Historical Commission put up in 1971 a historical marker.
The marker reads: “Sa bahay na ito nanirahan si Heneral Francisco Makabulos matapos ang pakikipaglaban sa Espanya at sa Estados Unidos. Nabuhay siyang mapayapa rito bilang magsasaka at naging pangulong bayan ng La Paz, Tarlak at nagsulat ng mga sarsuwela at tula. Namatay sa bayan ng Tarlak noong Abril 30, 1922 (In this house lived Gen. Francisco Makabulos after fighting against the Spaniards and the Americans. He led here a peaceful life as a farmer, as mayor of La Paz town and as a writer of zarzuelas and poems. He died in Tarlac town on April 30, 1922).”
The house is now in a woeful state of disrepair.
The wooden floor upstairs is creaking and the entire second floor is about to collapse. The capiz windows are falling off and so are the wooden walls.
Elisa’s 36-year-old daughter, Catherine Galising, said that about 10 years ago relatives of the Macabulos family visited from the United States.
When they saw the condition of the house, she said, they vowed to return to have it repaired.
They haven’t returned since.
Makabulos was born in this town on September 17, 1871 to Alejandro Makabulos and Gregoria Soliman.
The Makabuloses were known traders plying the stretch of the Rio Grande de Pampanga and its tributary, the Chico River.
In January 1897, leading a handful of ill-equipped Katipuneros, Makabulos overran the Spanish cuartel (barracks) here, which started the revolution in Tarlac province.
When Aguinaldo left for Hong Kong after the signing of the Pact of Biak-na-Bato, Makabulos refused to lay down his arms and instead established on April 17, 1898 a provisional revolutionary government called the Central Directive Committee of Central and Northern Luzon.
The committee covered the provinces of Tarlac and Pampanga and parts of Pangasinan, Nueva Ecija, La Union and Zambales.
