Unknown Filipino Hero: Artemio Ricarte

 

General Artemio Ricarte celebrated his birthday on October 20, 1942, with his family and friends at his home on Park Avenue in Pasay, Philippines during the Japanese occupation

Artemio Ricarte

Father of the Philippine Army / First Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces of the Philippines

(1866 - 1945)

A Filipino general who served during the Philippine Revolution and the Philippine–American War was Artemio Ricarte y García.  Although the current Philippine Army is descended from the American-allied forces that overcame the Philippine Revolutionary Army under General Ricarte, he is recognized as the Father of the Philippine Army and the first Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (March 22, 1897–January 22, 1899).  Ricarte stands out for never having sworn loyalty to the US government, which ruled the Philippines from 1898 to 1946.

Birth and Early Years

Born on October 20, 1866, Artemio Ricarte was the middle child of Bonifacia Garcia y Rigonan and Esteban Ricarte y Faustino, an impoverished couple; the other two children were Ylumidad and Uno.  All of them were born in Batac, Ilocos Norte.  After completing his elementary education in his hometown, Artemio relocated to Manila to pursue his higher education.  He attended Colegio de San Juan de Letran and earned a Bachelor of Arts degree upon graduation.  He attended the University of Santo Tomas and Escuela Normal to prepare for a career as a teacher.  Following his graduation, he was sent to oversee a primary school in the Cavite town of San Francisco de Malabon (today General Trias). There, he met Mariano Álvarez, a fellow educator and a Cavite mutiny revolutionary who survived.  Under the Magdiwang Council, Ricarte became a member of the Katipunan and rose to the position of Lieutenant General.  He took on the alias "Víbora" (Viper).

In order to conceal his identity while leading a covert revolution under the Kataastaasan, Kagalanggalangang Katipunan ng mga Anak ng Bayan, popularly known as Katipunan, Gen. Ricarte assumed the alias "El Vibora," which means viper or snake.  The New Testament verse Matthew 10:16, "Behold, I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves: be ye therefore wise as serpents, and harmless as doves," served as the inspiration for the name. Gen. Ricarte lived up to his chosen pseudonym by successfully leading the Filipino forces to victory during the Cavite uprisings through meticulous preparation and execution.

Philippine Revolution

Ricarte commanded the revolutionaries in their attack on the Spanish garrison in San Francisco de Malabon on August 31, 1896, the day the Philippine Revolution began. One of the first battles between Filipino and Spanish forces, the Battle of San Francisco de Malabon, was initiated and won by him. He captured the civil guards and routed the Spanish forces. Additionally, he participated in the Battle of Zapote River against the American forces and the Battle of Binakayan-Dalahican against the Spanish forces. Gen. Ricarte accomplished his goal of eliminating those who posed a danger to his nation's independence by using stealth and ruthless tactics, just like his namesake. "El Vibora" was a byword for effective military operations and the tactics he employed in the conflict during the revolution. Ricarte was unanimously chosen Captain-General of a new revolutionary administration led by Emilio Aguinaldo on March 22, 1897, during the Tejeros Convention. Although he took his oath of office with Aguinaldo, he initially joined the Katipunan leader Andres Bonifacio and the majority of other Magdiwang leaders in protesting the legitimacy of this government. However, he and the others left Bonifacio within a month, and on April 24, he took office in Aguinaldo's administration. He was later promoted to the rank of Brigadier-General in Aguinaldo's army. He commanded his troops in a number of conflicts in Batangas, Laguna, and Cavite. He was assigned by Aguinaldo to stay in Biak-na-Bato, San Miguel, Bulacan, to oversee the arms surrender and ensure that Aguinaldo's officers and the Spanish government both followed the conditions of the peace agreement.

Philippine-American War

On May 19, 1898, Aguinaldo was returned from exile by the Americans, marking the beginning of the second phase of the Philippine Revolution.  At this point, Ricarte was a marginal player.  When the united Filipino-American forces overran Manila on August 13, 1898, he was the rebel leader of Santa Ana.  The Filipino troops defeated the Spanish command of General Fermin Jaudenes with the assistance of General Wesley Merritt of the American Army and Rear Admiral George Dewey, commander of the American Asiatic Squadron anchored in Manila Bay. The Philippines was eventually freed from Spanish colonial rule when General Jaudenes gave Admiral Dewey control of the City of Manila.

General Ricarte celebrated the win, believing it to be the first step toward full Philippine independence. Unfortunately, however, the Americans later denied that the Filipinos had taken part in the siege of the city and even denied them the chance to enter its gates as winners. After the Filipinos helped the Americans drive out the Spaniards, the Americans were determined to take control of the Philippines. Ricarte was so grieved by this situation that he later thought of another way for the Filipino people to become independent.

He served as the Chief of Operations for Philippine forces in the third zone surrounding Manila when the Philippine–American War broke out in 1899.  He attempted to enter Manila by breaking through American lines in July 1900, but the Americans arrested him.  Despite being imprisoned in the Bilibid Prisons for six months, he obstinately refused to declare allegiance to the United States.  As a result, he was sent to Guam by the Americans along with a large number of other rebel prisoners that they deemed irreconcilable, such as Apolinario Mabini.  Two years were spent in exile.

Post-War Period

Ricarte and Mabini would both be permitted to return to the Philippines in early 1903 after swearing loyalty to the United States. Both were requested to take the oath as the US Army Transport Thomas arrived in Manila Bay. Ricarte refused to take the oath, but Mabini, who was unwell, did. Ricarte was released, but he was prohibited from entering the Philippines. He was put on the transport Garlic and sailed to Hong Kong without ever having stepped foot in the Philippines.

Ricarte entered the Philippines as a stowaway on a freighter on December 23, 1903, with the intention of reuniting with old army personnel and reigniting the Philippine Revolution. He talked about his overall strategy and the revolution's continuation when he met with a number of friends and former members. Following those discussions, some of these members—specifically, retired General Pío del Pilar—turned against Ricarte and informed the Americans. Then, a US$10,000 reward was offered for Ricarte's capture, alive or dead.  Ricarte tried to rally support for his case by traveling throughout Central Luzon in the ensuing weeks.

Ricarte suffered from a disease at the beginning of 1904 that kept him bedridden for over two months. Luis Baltazar, a clerk in his organization, turned against him just as his health was improving and informed the local Philippine Constabulary of his whereabouts in Mariveles, Bataan. Ricarte was caught in May 1904 and imprisoned at Bilibid for the next six years. Ricarte was regarded and well-liked by both American and Philippine officials. Both U.S. government officials, including Charles W. Fairbanks, the vice president of the United States under Theodore Roosevelt, and old friends from the Philippine Revolutionary War often paid him a visit.

Ricarte barely completed six of his 11-year sentence because of his exemplary behavior.  He was freed from Bilibid on June 26, 1910.  However, American officials arrested him upon his departure and brought him to the Customs House in Bagumbayan.  Once more, he was required to swear loyalty to the United States.  He continued to refuse to swear loyalty, and that same day he was once more placed on a transport and sent to Hong Kong.

Ricarte stayed in Hong Kong from July 1, 1910, initially on Lamma Island at the harbor's mouth and then in Kowloon, where he started publishing a fortnightly called El Grito de Presente (The Cry of the Present). Every time there was an uprising in the Philippines, his name was brought to light. He and his spouse relocated to Tokyo and then to Yokohama, Japan, where he lived in self-exile at 149 Yamashita-cho, to escape harmful propaganda. Ricarte returned to teaching while in Japan, where he and his wife, Agueda, built a modest eatery called Karihan Luvimin. They gave it this name so that Filipino tourists would be aware that Filipinos lived in Japan. As a teacher, Gen. Ricarte instructed Spanish at Tokyo's Kaigai Shokumin Gakko School. Agueda sold copies of her husband's book, Himagsikan nang manga Pilipino Laban sa Kastila (The Revolution of Filipinos Against the Spaniards), which was published in Yokohama in 1927 and was titled Hispano-Philippine Revolution, in order to supplement the family's income. On board the ship, it became highly marketable to Filipinos. His wife, Agueda Esteban, worked in real estate, allowing the couple to buy three homes in Japan.

Ricarte's desire for an independent Philippines remained unwavering throughout their entire stay in Japan.  He hosted large gatherings with Japanese officials and Filipino citizens to commemorate Rizal Day and Bonifacio Day each year.

Ricarte's Return to the Philippines during the War

Ricarte's life was about to fade into oblivion when the Imperial Japanese Army invaded the Philippines at the start of World War II. Prime Minister Hideki Tojo requested Ricarte to return to the Philippines in 1942 to assist in preserving peace and order during Japan's military occupation of Manila. He concurred, asking Tojo to grant the Philippines true independence from American colonial control.  Therefore, Tojo assured Ricarte that the Japanese government would return the independence to the Filipino people if he could restore peace and order to the Philippines within a year. Ricarte accepted the offer because he had always wanted to see the Philippines free. Emilio Aguinaldo and other Filipino and Japanese nationalists respected him as a result of this arrangement. By creating the Second Philippine Republic in 1943—officially known as the "Republic of the Philippines"—Japan ostensibly awarded the Philippines freedom, but in reality, it was merely a Japanese puppet state.

Ricarte and Benigno Ramos

Gen. Artemio Ricarte told his wife, Agueda, sometime in November 1944 that he had to be present at a conference with high-ranking Japanese officials in Baguio that President Jose P. Laurel and his cabinet were having. He would also inform her that he would send for his family to join him if he had to remain in Baguio for an extended period of time.

The leader-founder of Makapili, Benigno Ramos, asked him to visit his home (currently the location of Christ the King Church in Quezon City) before he departed Baguio. His granddaughter, Maria Luisa D. Fleetwood, accompanied him there. Ramos asked him to become a member of the Makapili Organization while they were eating lunch. General Ricarte declined. He informed Ramos that he could demonstrate his patriotism and loyalty to his nation without joining the aforementioned group. He went on to say that he was already physically weak and no longer able to perform heavy duties. He did, however, approve and bless the organization's establishment in order to fight the upcoming American invasion.

Death

Ricarte once more had to flee American and Filipino soldiers at the end of World War II. Coworkers begged Ricarte to leave the Philippines, but he refused, saying, "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."

Ricarte accompanied General Tomoyuki Yamashita's Japanese forces in 1945 as they fled to northern Luzon, where he was involved in the Battle of Bessang Pass in Tagudin, Ilocos Sur, against the Philippine Commonwealth Army, Philippine Constabulary, and USAFIP-NL. Ricarte retreated deeper into the Cordillera mountains as the conflict shifted to an Allied win. After that, he had dysentery and passed away in Hungduan, Ifugao, on July 31, 1945, at the age of 78. Later in 1954, treasure hunters found his grave. After being exhumed, Ricarte's remains are presently interred at the Libingan ng mga Bayani in Manila. Additionally, in April 2002, Ricarte's granddaughter and historian Ambeth Ocampo, chairman of the National Historical Institute, dedicated a monument near his Hungduan cemetery.

Honors

- A monument was placed at Yokohama, Japan's Yamashita Park in 1972.

- In Batac, Ilocos Norte, the Philippines, the Ricarte National Shrine and Museum presently stands where Artemio Ricarte was born.

- In recognition of General Artemio Ricarte's fights and actions in Cavite, a marker was erected in Poblacion, General Trias, Cavite.

In Popular Culture

- One of Ishmael Bernal's earliest films, El Vibora, was portrayed by Vic Vargas in 1972.

- Pen Medina played the role in the 1992 movie Bayani.

- Ian de Leon played the role in the 2012 movie El Presidente.

- Featured in the 2013 GMA TV series Katipunan as Justin Candado II.

- In Bonifacio: Ang Unang Pangulo (2014), Jack Love Falcis played the role.

Sources:

Cultured Philippines - https://philippineculturaleducation.com.ph/ricarte-artemio/

The Kahimyang Project - https://kahimyang.com/kauswagan/articles/1171/today-in-philippine-history-june-9-1904-artemio-ricarte-was-accused-of-conspiracy-rebellion-and-insurrection-against-the-americans

Philippine Army Facebook Page - https://www.facebook.com/YourPhilippineArmy/posts/trivia-16did-you-know-general-artemio-ricarte-also-popularly-known-as-el-vibora-/322759390046967/

Armed Forces of the Philippines - https://www.afp.mil.ph/about-us/brief-history#:~:text=Though%20the%20Philippine%20Army%20grew,father%20of%20the%20Philippine%20Army.