Antonio Luna

Antonio Luna y Novicio (October 29, 1866 – June 5, 1899), general of the Philippine army in the Philippine-American War (1899-1904). He was a pharmacist, scientist, writer, and founder of the first Philippine Military Academy.

Family

General Antonio Luna was born on October 29, 1866 in Urbiztondo, Binondo, Manila, in the Philippine Islands. He was the youngest of the 7 children of Joaquín Luna and Laureana Novicio, both from prominent families in Badoc, Ilocos Norte. His older brother, the famous painter Juan Luna y Novicio, won several painting awards, among others the Gold Medal at the Madrid Exhibition in 1881.

Education

After studying his first letters at home, he enrolled at the Ateneo Municipal de Manila, where he graduated with the degree of Bachelor of Arts in 1881, with an emphasis on Literature and Chemistry. Then, he enrolled at the University of Santo Tomás, where he studied Pharmacy. At the invitation of his brother Juan, who was in Spain at that time, he moved to Barcelona to complete his studies there. He obtained his Bachelor of Pharmacy from the University of Barcelona in 1888 and in 1890, he was awarded the Doctorate of Pharmacy from the Central University of Madrid.

Reform Movement

In Spain, he was very active among Filipino students, promoting reforms and denouncing abuses by officials of the Philippine insular government. As he was also a skilled writer, he contributed articles to the newspaper La Solidaridad, which already at that time had attracted many sympathizers, both among the Spanish and in the Filipino community in Europe. Under the pseudonym "Taga-ilog", he published his "Impressions", a treatise on the customs and peculiarities of the Spanish. He wrote a scientific treatise on malaria, titled Hematozoon of Malaria, which was welcomed by the European scientific community. He traveled to Belgium and France to collaborate with scientists, Dr. Latteaux and Dr. Laffen respectively. In 1894, he returned to the Philippines and was employed as a chemist in the city civil service. He also became involved in the reform movement, promoting the idea that the Philippines should be incorporated and governed as a province of Spain, and that the inhabitants would have legal rights of their own as citizens of the Spanish kingdom. Because of his activities in that reform movement, he attracted the wrath of the authorities. He was then brought to justice and later sentenced to exile to Spain. Later he was imprisoned in the Madrid Model Prison. Upon leaving after serving his sentence, he went to Belgium, where he studied military science and tactics under General Gerard Matthieu Leman. After finishing his studies, he returned to the Philippines in 1898 and became a member of the secret Katipunan association.

Philippine-American War

With the outbreak of war, he participated in several battles where his superior tactics and stunning strategies in the field were notable. This is how General Emilio Aguinaldo appointed him Minister of War on September 26, 1896 and promoted him to the rank of brigadier general. General Luna realized that a Military Academy was absolutely and extremely necessary for the training of his soldiers, since many of his volunteers and recruits were very inept and without any experience. Therefore, he established the Philippine Military Academy in Malolos in 1899, recruiting as instructors former military officers of the 1896 revolution. The general became a strict disciplinarian in the conduct of his office. In an encounter in Caloocan, those from the Kawit (Cavite) battalion refused to attack the American forces; So, he disarmed them and removed them from the area. With that, he attracted discontent from him, which resulted in his later tragic fate, conspiring them in planning the murder of him.

Death

On June 4, 1899, he received a telegram from General Aguinaldo, informing him that he wished to consult with him at the convent of the Cabanatuan Church. But when he arrived at the designated place, Aguinaldo was not there. Because of this, he became very angry and also reprimanded the troops present there. When he was about to leave, he was treacherously gunned down by Aguinaldo's troops on the stairs of the convent. They then stabbed him to ensure his death. He was quickly buried in the convent's pantheon, after which Aguinaldo relieved the deceased general's officers and troops of his duties.

Many years later, in a report given in 1958 to a Filipino journalist, Emilio Aguinaldo declined all responsibility for Luna's murder and attributed it to Masonic maneuvers by the Americans, eager to liquidate any remnant of Spain in the Philippines, like the Catholic religion, the Spanish language or the social organization with Castilian roots.

In popular culture

• Character of The President, 2012 film that follows the creation of the first Republic at the hands of Aguinaldo.
• Character of Illustrated, 2014 series that follows the andanzas of José Rizal.
• Personage protagonist of Heneral Moon2015 film that deals with his life in the Philippine revolutionary army.