THE REBEL PRIEST: CONRADO BALWEG

 

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Conrado Balweg was born in 1944 to a poor farmer family in Cordilleras Mountains. The family belonged to the Tingguian, a tribal minority often referred as “people from the mountains”, primitive and underdeveloped.  Many people believed that the tribe were into headhunting and animism. To escape from the branding, Conrado and his siblings were sent on mission schools. His parents chosen the career of a priest for Conrado.

Conrado attended a priest school of the international order of the Steyler missionaries, the "Societas Verbi Divini" (SVD). From here, he heard the teachings of Marxism and the Liberation Theology.

THE CONTROVERSY BEHIND THE DEATH OF ANDRES BONIFACIO

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What were the last scenes leading to Bonifacio’s death?

On April 26, 1897, Bonifacio was arrested. Tried by a military court in Maragondon, Cavite, for only 12 days, he was charged with treason for trying to overthrow Emilio Aguinaldo and his government.

As if his trial was not controversial enough, Ambeth Ocampo even mentioned in his book, “Bones of Contention,” what he called an “ugly bit of history” in the narrative: the supposed rape of Gregoria de Jesus:

EL SUPREMO ANDRES BONIFACIO

Andres Bonifacio was born on November 30, 1863 to Santiago and Catalina de Castro. His father was a tailor, local politician and a boatman while his mother was a factory worker.

Unfortunately, Catalina died due to tuberculosis in 1881 and after a year, Santiago too, passed away leaving Andres and his siblings orphaned. To provide for his siblings, he worked as a craftsman and then as clerk-messenger and agent of foreign commercial firms in Manila.

He married Monica but she died young due to leprosy. Bonifacio's second wife, Gregoria de Jesus, came from the Caloocan area of Metro Manila. They married when he was 29 and she was just 18; their only child, a son, died as an infant.

THE SPOLIARIUM

The Spoliarium is a painting created by Filipino painter Juan Luna. The Spoliarium depicts an event during the Roman empire, where gladiators die for entertainment. The painting shows how gladiators are being dragged mercilessly by men towards an unknown darkness, where other tragically killed gladiators are brought. To the left is a cheering crowd, screaming for blood while to the right, a woman is crouched and seemingly in sorrow.