JUAN A. ARANETA
(1852-1924)
Juan Anacleto Araneta, Visayan
revolutionary leader and pioneer in the development of sugar industry in Negros,
was born on July 13 1852 to Romualdo Araneta and Agueda Torres in Molo, Iloilo.
The Aranetas, however, later moved to Negros and settled there.
As a young boy, Juan Anacleto took part in
many escapades When he was about 19 he was brought to Manila by his
brother-in-law, Pedro Sarmiento, who enrolled him at the Ateneo Municipal. In
school, he showed great promise as a scholar and earned medals of merits in
school. He graduated with a perito mercantil degree or the equivalent of a
Bachelor of Commerce. Among his contemporaries in school were Jose Rizal, Jose
Alejandrino, Cayetano Arellano, Apolinario Mabini, and many others.
When he returned to his hometown, Juan
incurred the suspicion of the friars in the province. This animosity did not, however,
stop him from being elected Capitan del Pueblo like his father before him. Only
his dynamic personality and the high regard and respect of the people of Bago
and other towns of the province prevented him from being summarily liquidated
by the authorities.
In 1891, after his first wife died, Juan
went to Europe with a friend, Don Claudio Reina. He saw many of the Filipino
leaders then living in the different capitals such as Madrid, London, and Paris
which he toured at leisure for about 18 months.
The Spanish authorities did not look too
friendly on his return As a consequence, he lost the land that he and his
sisters had inherited from their parents. Because of this, he took his family
to the slopes of Kanlaon mountain where they started to farm anew.
His travels abroad made him see the
advantages of machineries and tools for agriculture. He ordered a sugar mill
from England and installed this in his hacienda at Dinapalan. From time to time
he bought farm implements like a baler for abaca, a rice thresher, and plows of
improved models.
However, this love for modern agricultural
tools led to his own undoing. The authorities found out that boatloads of
mysterious cargo were being unloaded near his land in Lumangub. Considering the
restless activities in the rest of the island, the authorities placed him under
arrest He was taken from his hacienda to Concordia in January 1897, and was
brought to Himamaylan and later to Ilog which was then the capital of the
province. His diary hinted that even in prison there was a plan to organize the
revolutionary forces in the province. There were annotations showing that he
made contact with other leaders in the province.
Finally, Juan Araneta was brought to
Bacolod where he was released in October 1897. On November 5, 1898, a messenger
from Talisay brought news that the revolutionaries and the casadores were
already fighting. At about ]:00 in the afternoon, the revolutionary forces in
Bago started toward Bacolod. They had only three firearms with them: a Remington
rifle, a Mauser rifle, and a shotgun. Gen. Araneta who led the rebel forces
told his men to cut nipa stems or pagong, and to shoulder these as if they were
rifles. In case they lost one another, the password was to be "Otud."
The Spanish authorities in Bacolod, who
saw them marching toward the town, thought that they wanted to surrender their
arms. Surprised, the Spaniards were advised by the rebels to surrender in order
to avert bloodshed. The Spaniards readily agreed. It was only when Bacolod was already
in the hands of the rebels, that the Spanish reinforcements from Iloilo
arrived.
A cantonal form of government was set up
in Bacolod with General Juan Araneta serving as Secretary of War. When the
Americans arrived in Iloilo he counseled the cantonal government to submit to
the American forces. This was vehemently opposed and ridiculed by his
companions in arms. But his idea was finally adopted and so the Americans
occupied Negros without encountering hostilities.
In 1904, he was appointed one of the
commissioners to the St. Louis Exposition where he put on exhibit over 1,000
varieties of rice, Samples of cacao, beans, abaca, and many other agricultural
crops from Negros and Panay. All these exhibits were of exceptional merit. As a
result, gold and silver medallions were awarded to him.
He kept in touch with new things in
agriculture either in tools and implements or crops. He tried to grow different
crops on his farm and even planted trees that were found in other places. When
the Ma-ao Sugar Central was organized he became one of its founders. He lent to
the corporation the titles of his land to back up the new enterprises. He
prevailed upon his lessees to plant wide areas of land to sugar cane.
Unfortunately, "Don Juan" did not live long enough to realize his
dream of seeing the sugar central freed of its obligations. He died on October
3, 1924, leaving behind a large family of about 25 living members.