8/10/2019 13 Facts That Prove Antonio Luna Was an All

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13 Facts That Prove Antonio Luna Was An

All-Around Badass

Undoubtedly one of the most admired heroes in our history, Antonio Luna will forever beremembered as the fiery general who met his ignominious end at the hands of Emilio

Aguinaldos men.

Other than his untimely demise, we should also not forget that Luna was a man who had

many impressive achievements during his lifetime. In fact, reading about his life gives us the

impression of a very human hero who initially refused to use his talent for the evolution.

In the end, Luna realized his mistake and dedicated himself totally to the causeof freedom and independence. Maybe thats why Luna was so gung-ho aboutghtinghe was actually making up for lost time.

1. He was a scientist.

Aside from his military prowess, Luna was also a very learned man. !is paper on chemistry

won him top pri"e while he was studying literature and chemistry at the University of #to.

$omas. After moving to #pain, he earned his license and a doctorate in pharmacy at the

Universidad de %arcelona and Universidad &entral de 'adrid respectively.

'oreover, Lunas scientific paper on malaria was very well(received and he was even given a

commission by the #panish to study tropical and communicable diseases. )hen he went bac*

to the +hilippines, he won the contest to become the chief chemist of the 'unicipal

Laboratory of 'anila.

2. He was a brilliant writer.

Aside from being a scientist, Luna was also an ecellent writer. In fact, he wrote under the

pen name Taga-ilog which he used to publish his articles inLa Solidaridadwhile staying in

#pain.

One of his wor*s,Madrid Impressions, generated controversy after it critici"ed the #paniards

for loo*ing down on the -ilipinos. It also nearly resulted in Luna duelling the #panish

ournalist &elso 'ir /eas after the latter issued a racist(filled rebuttal againstImpressions.

!owever, 'ir /eas did not accept the challenge even when Luna spat and slapped him in theface.

+rior to the outbrea* of the +hilippine(American )ar, he also founded the newspaperLa

Independenciaand became its editor and a regular contributor. One of his fiery articles

denounced the $reaty of +aris, wherein he wrote that people are not to be bought and sold

like horses and houses.

3. He was an expert marksman and martial artist.!f course, Luna was no armchair general who barked orders in the safety of hiso"ce. #e was an a$id student of martial arts and military tactics, ha$ing

practiced the art of arnis, fencing, and shooting since his college days. It is saidthat Luna was prolic with the gun and ri%e that he could put out a candle in one

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shot. &pon his return to the country, 'ntonio and his brother (uan set up afencing club calledSala de Armas which was located in )ampaloc, Manila.Incidentally, one of his students happened to be none other than 'polinarioMabini.

4. He and Rizal almost had a duel

'las, we could only imagine what would ha$e happened to the country if thesetwo great patriots killed each other, and for a lo$e triangle of all reasons.

)hile in #pain, both men courted the half(-rench half(-ilipina beauty 0elly %oustead,

although it was soon clear that she favored i"al. Embittered, a drun*en Luna made some

unsavory remar*s towards her in a -ilipino party where i"al was also a guest.

$he two friends echanged heated words, with one of them 1it wasnt clear who2 issuing a

challenge to a duel. -ortunately, cooler heads prevailed and Luna apologi"ed to i"al as soon

as he sobered up.

5. He had a badass teacher in the art of war.

Li*e his fellow immigrants, Luna originally favored reforms rather than revolution.

0evertheless, he and 3uan were imprisoned by the #panish but were later freed. Upon his

release, Luna4repentant for reecting an earlier offer to oin the evolution4went to

%elgium and studied the art of war under 5eneral 5erard Leman.

Under Lemans tutelage, Luna soa*ed up guerrilla warfare, fortifications and everything else

under the subect of military science before coming bac* to the +hilippines. Leman himself

outlived his pupil and became the first hero of )orld )ar I after his forces stubbornly

resisted what would have been a swift 5erman victory and allowed the Allies precious timeto mobili"e their own forces

6. He wanted a preempti!e strike on the "mericansLike Mabini, Luna correctly suspected that the 'mericans were not there asliberators, but as substitutes for the )panish. #e deduced that the only way towin against the 'mericans was to e*ecute a pre-empti$e attack on their troopsbefore more could land in Manila#owe$er, his plan was re#ected b$ "%uinaldoand his associates whocontinued to belie$e in the 'mericans good intentions. +his $ery unwise decisionallowed the 'mericans to start and dictate the war on their own terms.

&. He helped establish the 'rst militar$ academ$ for (ilipinos

A precursor to todays +hilippine 'ilitary Academy, theAcademia Militarwas Lunas

brainchild.

/ue to his desire to build a professional army, he gained permission from Aguinaldo to set up

a military academy in 'alolos. !e recruited veteran officers of the -ilipino(#panish )ar as

instructors and instilled a strong sense of discipline among the recruits which also included

soldiers from the same war. !e wanted the men to discard their clan loyalties and loo*

beyond their regional ties. /uring this time, he also stoc*piled arms and weapons and

improved the logistics of the -ilipino forces.

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). He had his own elite %roup of soldiers.

Although Antonio Luna wanted to turn the +hilippine Army4at the time composed mostly of

untrained volunteers4into a real professional fighting force, the outbrea* of the +hilippine(

American )ar prevented him from training everyone.

Instead, he too* to instructing a small group of soldiers into becoming his own personal

professional sharpshooters. 6nown as the Luna Sharpshooters,this group of deadly

mar*smen achieved a reputation for fighting fiercer than the rest of their compatriots.

Luna also formed similar units under his different commanders. One of them, the Tiradores

de la Muerte 1iflemen of /eath2 under 5eneral Licerio 5eronimo, was responsible for

*illing 5eneral !enry )are Lawton, the highest(ran*ing American casualty of the war.

*. He created the Luna Line.

)ith the help of his aide, the &hief of the Army Engineers 5eneral 3ose Aleandrino, Lunaconstructed a series of three(layered bamboo trenches which came to be *nown as the Luna

Line.

American soldiers who came upon the trenches were ama"ed at the constructions, which

stretched for several miles from town to town. And even when they finally too* the trenches,

they still had to contend with the traps4which included bamboo spi*es and poisonous sna*es

4which the wily -ilipinos had carefully hidden.

1+. He planned to build a %uerrilla fortress in the ,ountain -ro!ince!f course, the defensi$e lines were ust a precursor to Lunas grand plan an

impenetrable guerrilla fortress in the ele$ated terrains of the Mountain ro$ince.+his fortress would be self-su"cient and ser$e as the rebels base of operationswith which to attack Manila and other 'merican-occupied areas./ith the rebels safely protected in the mountains, Luna could wage a protractedguerrilla war which he hoped would persuade the 'merican public to recall theirsoldiers. "%ain this was re#ected b$ "%uinaldo. 0hief engineer 'leandrinoremarked that if they had built it, then El Presidentewould not ha$e beenrunning for his life in the mountains.

11. " ba% of coins stopped a bullet from killin% him

One of the most fortuitous events in Lunas life happened during the %attle of #to. $omas.&harging with his horse against the American lines, Luna fell to the ground when he was hit

by an American bullet to the stomach. #eeing that the Americans were advancing, he

prepared to *ill himself with a revolver to avoid capture.

Luc*ily, he was saved by the horse(riding &olonel Aleandro Avecilla who too* him to safety.

Upon reaching friendly lines, he chec*ed his wound one more time and reali"ed that the bag

of coins he had been carrying stopped the bullet from completely penetrating his stomach.

12. He was fri%htenin% e!en in deathLuna was right to call his murderers Assassins and cowards.1anging up on

him, they in%icted more than 23 bullet and stab wounds on the hapless general,causing his intestines to hang out of his abdomen. +hrough it all, Luna foughtback and tried to aim his re$ol$er at his assailants. In deance, he continued

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gritting his teeth and clenching his st in anger e$en when he slumped to theground.4efore he nally died, he instincti$ely turned to his right side. +he re%e* scaredhis attackerswho thought that Luna might get upthat those in the front5uickly stepped back, causing those behind them to fall down. If anything, theincident shows not ust how cowardly his assassins were, but also how fearsomeLuna was to the $ery end

13. /!en the "mericans admired him

Even though the Americans had a low regard for the -ilipino rebels, their generals still held a

begrudging respect for Luna.

After hearing of his untimely death, many paid tribute to the fallen general. 5eneral -rederic*

-unston, the man who planned the capture of +resident Emilio Aguinaldo, remar*ed that he

was the ablest and most aggressi!e leader o" the #ilipino $epublic.

'nother, 1eneral (ames 6ranklin 4ell, said that he was the only general theFilipino army had.erhaps the most tting statement of all would come from1eneral #ughes The Filipinos only had one general, and they have killed him.