Artemio Ricarte

From the legal union and matrimony of Esteban Ricarte y Faustino with Bonifacia Garcia y Rigonan were born three children: Uno, Artemio and Ylumidad, in the town of Batac, province of Ilocos Norte. Artemio finished his early studies in his hometown and moved to Manila for his tertiary education. He enrolled at the Colegio de San Juan de Letran graduating with a Bachelor of Arts degree. He prepared for the teaching profession at the University of Santo Tomas and then at the Escuela Normal. After finishing his studies, he was sent to the town of San Francisco de Malabon (now General Trias) in Cavite province to supervise a primary school. There, he met Mariano Álvarez, another school teacher and a surviving revolutionary of the 1872 Cavite mutiny. Ricarte joined the ranks of the Katipunan under the Magdiwang Council, where he held the rank of Lieutenant General.[2] He adopted the nom-de-guerre, "Víbora" (Viper).[3][4][5]

After the start of the Philippine Revolution on August 31, 1896, Ricarte led the revolutionists in attacking the Spanish garrison in San Francisco de Malabon. He crushed the Spanish troops and took the civil guards as prisoner. On March 22, 1897,during the Tejeros Convention, Ricarte was unanimously elected Captain-General and received a military promotion to Brigadier-General in Emilio Aguinaldo's army.[6] At the battle of Pasong Santol, Bonifacio ordered him to have Magdiwang troops intercept the Magdalo reinforcements for Pasong Santol preventing additional troops to Crispulo Aguinaldo resulting to the defeat of revolutionary forces assigned to take on the renewed Spanish offensive. He led his men in various battles in Cavite, Laguna, and Batangas. Aguinaldo designated him to remain in Biak-na-Bato, San Miguel, Bulacan to supervise the surrender of arms such that both the Spanish government and Aguinaldo's officers complied with the terms of the peace pact.

The second phase of the Philippine Revolution was ushered in when the Americans brought back Aguinaldo from exile on May 19, 1898. Ricarte was a minor figure at this stage. He was the rebel commander of Sta. Ana when Manila fell to the Americans on August 13, 1898. With the help of Rear Admiral George Dewey, commander of the American Asiatic Squadron anchored in Manila Bay, and General Wesley Merritt of the American Army, the Filipino troops routed the Spanish command of General Fermin Juadenes. This eventually led General Jaudenes to surrender the City of Manila to Admiral Dewey, thus the liberation of the Philippines from the Spanish colonizers.

General Ricarte was jubilant over the victory, thinking it was the prelude to the attainment of complete Philippine independence. Unfortunately, however, the Americans afterwards refused to recognize the participation of the Filipinos in the siege of the city and even deprived them of their rights as victors to triumphantly enter its gates. The Americans, having gotten rid of the Spaniards with the help of Filipinos, were intent on possessing the Philippines. This development saddened Ricarte, to the extent that later on, he considered another option by which Filipinos could gain their independence.

When the Philippine–American War started in 1899, he was Chief of Operations of the Philippine forces in the second zone around Manila. In July 1900, he tried to infiltrate the American lines to enter Manila but he was captured by the Americans. For six months, he was locked up in the Bilibid Prisons but stubbornly refused to swear allegiance to the United States. Because of this, the Americans exiled him to Guam, together with many of the other rebel prisoners in the islands, including Apolinario Mabini. The exile lasted for two years.[5]

Artemio Ricarte at Setagaya, Tokyo, Japan on Jan. 1944

Just as Ricarte's life was fading away into obscurity, World War II began and Imperial Japanese Army invaded the Philippines. In 1942, when Japan's military forces occupied Manila, Prime Minister Tojo asked Ricarte to return to the Philippines to help maintain peace and order. He agreed and requested Tojo to give Philippines its genuine independence from the American colonial rule. Tojo thus promised Ricarte that if he could bring about peace and order in the Philippines within a year, the Japanese government would hand back to the Filipino people their independence. As he had always aspired to see a free Philippines, Ricarte accepted the offer. Under this agreement, he gained the respect of the Japanese and Filipino nationalists like Emilio Aguinaldo. In 1943, independence was given to the Philippines by Japan and declared the establishment of the Second Philippine Republic, formally known as "The Republic of the Philippines".

Sometime in November 1944, Gen. Artemio Ricarte informed his wife, Agueda that President Laurel and his cabinet would have a meeting in Baguio with high-ranking Japanese officials and that he had to be present there. He would tell her further that in case he had to stay longer in Baguio, he would send for his family to join him.

Before he left Baguio, Benigno Ramos, the leader-founder of MAKAPILI, invited him over to his place (where the Christ the King building in Quezon City is now located). He went there together with his granddaughter Ma. Luisa D. Fleetwood. While they were having their lunch, Ramos asked him to sign up as a member of the Makapili Organization. Gen. Ricarte, refused. He told Ramos that he did not have to sign up with the said organization in order to prove his patriotism and loyalty to his people. He added that he was already physically frail and could not carry out large tasks anymore. However, he gave the approval and blessing to establish the organization to counter the impending American invasion.

General Ricarte's tomb at the Libingan ng mga Bayani

Near the end of World War II, Ricarte again found himself taking flight from American and Filipino forces. Ricarte was implored by colleagues to evacuate the Philippine Islands but had refused, stating "I can not take refuge in Japan at this critical moment when my people are in actual distress. I will stay in my Motherland to the last."

In April 1945, the "Battle of Bessang Pass" was midway. It had started in January of that year, when Filipino forces under the Philippine Commonwealth Army, Philippine Constabulary & USAFIP-NL military units were situated in the foothills of Tagudin, Ilocos Sur in pursuit of the Japanese General Tomoyuki Yamashita, the "Tiger of Malaya" and his forces, which Ricarte had joined. In May, there was a lull in the fighting, as casualties mounted on both sides from the armed conflict, but worsened by malaria, cholera and dysentery. In June, Yamashita’s army found themselves surrounded on all sides and Bessang Pass fell on June 14, 1945. Ricarte had fallen ill and suffered from debilitating dysentery at Kalinga, Mountain Province,[10]^:167–168 Ricarte died on July 31, 1945, at the age of 78. His grave was discovered nine years later in 1954 by treasure hunters. Ricarte's body was exhumed and his tomb now lies in Manila at the Libingan ng mga Bayani. Furthermore, a landmark was inaugurated by historian Ambeth Ocampo, chairman of the National Historical Institute with a granddaughter of Artemio Ricarte, on April 2002, at the same place where the general died.

The General Artemio Ricarte Shrine in Batac, Ilocos Norte

• In 1972, a monument was erected at Yamashita Park in Yokohama, Japan.[3]
• The birth house of Artemio Ricarte is now the Ricarte National Shrine and Museum in Batac, Ilocos Norte, Philippines.
• For battles and deeds accomplished in Cavite, a marker was placed at Poblacion, General Trias, Cavite for General Artemio Ricarte.

• Portrayed by Pen Medina in the 1992 film, Bayani.
• Portrayed by Ian de Leon in the 2012 film, El Presidente.
• Portrayed by Justin Candado II in the 2013 GMA TV Series, Katipunan.
• Portrayed by Jack Love Falcis in the 2014 film, Bonifacio: Ang Unang Pangulo.

9. Ricarte, Artemio (Vibora) The Hispano-Philippine Revolution. Yokohama, Japan, 1926. 99.p

• Agoncillo, Teodoro A. (1990). History of the Filipino people. R.P. Garcia. ISBN 978-971-8711-06-4.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
• Alvarez, Santiago V. (1992). The katipunan and the revolution: memoirs of a general : with the original Tagalog text. Ateneo de Manila University Press. ISBN 978-971-550-077-7.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)