The Street Has A Name: Maxilom

There are streets in Cebu City that were named after those who took part of the resistance against American occupation at the turn of the 20^th century. Of these streets, that of Gen. Maxilom is the longest stretch of road that starts and ends with something Osmeña:  one end is the rotunda or the Fuente Osmeña and the other is Sergio Osmeña Boulevard near the harbour.

 

Mango Avenue was changed to Gen. Maxilom and it snaked through numerous establishments of uptown Cebu such as private learning institutions, a cemetery, bunch of hotels and the north reclamation area. Heavy traffic at Maxilom Avenue implies that the street is a major thoroughfare, that even if it’s three-lanes on both directions, the traffic is huge. The road is an important access to the economic excitement and business to-do in Cebu City.

But do we at least know who Gen. Maxilom was? What’s his part in the history of Cebu and his significance to us Cebuanos? Are his contributions as major and important as the avenue that was named after him? Do we even care to know who he was? I would be surprised to know if more than a handful would be interested in the life of this general.

I gathered from the net that in August 1924, Maxilom’s burial was attended by figures from the revolution, including Emilio Aguinaldo. From San Nicolas, the funeral cortege stretched for about 4 km and they came to bury the leader of the resistance.

Buried with him were his contribution to the cause for the liberation and independence of the Philippines. Just like any Katipunero, he had dreamt of an independent Philippines. His dreams had prompted him to lead the revolutionary army soon after Leon Kilat was ‘assassinated’ in Carcar. Buried also with him was his importance to Cebuano history.

Only the hills of central Cebu remained witness to the resistance against the Americans. Barren and mute, the highlands of Sudlon, Pardo and some northern towns were venues for guerrilla battles and insurgent activities. These were the places where the revolutionary army led by Maxilom engaged in fights against the much heavy and powerful American forces.

Arcadio Maxilom was a son of Tuburan, Cebu. Although historians claimed that he was not at all popular in his hometown, in spite of the fact also that he was a son of a gobernadorcillo, and, himself, being a school teacher his role in the resistance against the American occupation of Cebu made him prominent.

But soon after the war in the island began to thin out in 1901, Maxilom became conscious of how hopeless it was to get real victory. The revolutionary movement in the country was crippled even more when Emilio Aguinaldo was captured. All the tactics and the options had dissipated and Maxilom had no other recourse but to express desire for peace and accept the American’s offer of amnesty.

He had seen how all the efforts to win the war dissolved in time. He had fought against the colonial Spaniards during the historic Tres de Abril encounter which started the revolution here in Cebu. Before the Americans came, Maxilom was made the Councilor of Police of the Revolutionary Katipunan and had led some military zones in Cebu. The Philippine Government under Emilio Aguinaldo was short-lived. The Treaty of Paris on December 1898 was a bitter pill when the Philippines was sold by Spain to the United States for a mere 20 million dollars.

Soon after, Cebuanos were shocked when the U.S. gunboat Petrel approached the harbour. The Americans would be taking over the island. They planned to raise their flag at Fort San Pedro as a symbolic rite to occupy the island and claim it for their country. Gen. Maxilom opposed the occupation of Cebu. He did not accept the decision to surrender the city to the Americans.

He moved out of the Cebu City to protest the act of surrender to another colonial giant. He along with Climaco established headquarters in Pardo the very same day when the Americans raised the stars and stripes at the fort. They continued on with the Filipino government with the formal recognition from Mabini.

The battles did not happen in the streets of Cebu City. Exchanges of gunfire went off on the hills of the island, in places unfamiliar to the enemy and where the terrain was to the advantage of the revolutionary army. Maxilom led his army to combats in the hills of Sudlon, Pardo and as far as the towns of Sogod and Catmon. He continued on with the fight for real freedom even with dwindling resources, support and hope.

That in spite of the harsh reality that other Cebuanos collaborate with the Americans for their own interest and survival Maxilom was determined to win the war for them. The Battle of Bocaue in Central Cebu became the point when he shifted tactics to guerrilla warfare. He ordered his men “to die on their feet in trenches.”

He fought a losing war. There were problems of loyalty, of collaboration with the Americans, of dissipating mass support for the resistance. Cebuano’s cooperation to the revolution began to wane. To the points of view of the American supporters, Maxilom and his men had become insurgents. People no longer believed that the war could still be won. Maxilom knew the results of the resistance but he continued to fight.

He fought on, until such a time when Cebu was placed in military rule in 1901. The Americans ransacked several towns in the hopes of capturing him and his men. Lives were lost during the raids of towns believed to be harbouring insurgents and rebels. So many people died, mostly civilians. The claws of the colonizers had grown big, the talons had gone sharper. General Arcadio Maxilom had seen the end of the struggle. The republic could no longer continue.

His surrender in October 1901 marked the start of the road to peace. He laid down his arms for the healing of the island which for years had been wounded from the resistance and which at the turn of the century had been shocked by the turn of historic events where the Spaniards flee but only for the Americans to take over. With Maxilom’s surrender, Cebu had started to feel out of political, social and cultural harm’s way.

A century after, Cebuanos ought to remember how this general carried on the Philippine Republic here in Cebu. He fought dearly for the cause to free the island from foreign control, for independence. His name and his contribution to the history of Cebu should be given much importance much like the way Maxilom Avenue had become vital to the economic life of the city.