Col. Manuel Sityar a.k.a. “Son of Spain” Awesome Philippine Heroes Who Are Not Filipinos Nationality: Spanish Who is he? Col. Manuel Bernal Sityar, a Spanish mestizo, was originally part of the Royal Armed Forces of Spain. Two years after the Philippine Revolution began in 1896, Sityar defected to Aguinaldo’s army and declared, “I have served the country of my father with blood. Now I will serve the country of my mother with blood.” Sityar was born on Aug. 20, 1863 to an “Indio” mother and a Spanish father who was a duke and commodore of the Spanish Navy. After training in Manila, he then went to Toledo, Spain to further his military studies. He graduated from the Academia Militar de Toledo in Spain in 1895. As part of the Spanish forces in the Philippines, Sityar was the first to discover the existence of the Katipunan. On July 5, 1896, he reported to the Governor General of Manila that a group of men in San Juan del Monte and Mandaluyong were signing documents using their own blood to join an undisclosed organization. The Spanish authorities dismissed Sityar’s warning, believing it was just a cult. Or so they thought. “Hero” moments: After declaring that he had switched alliance on May 28, 1898, Col. Sityar became the assistant chief of staff and aide-de-camp to General Emilio Aguinaldo. Along with other 100 Spanish officers, he started to fight for the Filipino cause. Sityar is also known in history as the founder of the first military academy in the Philippines. He also represented Laguna during the Malolos Congress. In 1900, despite his role in the Philippine Revolution, Sityar was still awarded by the Spanish government the title of Knight First Class (Caballero) of the Military Order of Maria Cristina. After he surrendered to the Americans in 1899, Sityar taught at the Liceo de Manila and also became one of the founders of Partido Federal. He died in 1927.
Posted on: Tue, 18 Nov 2014 23:04:24 +0000
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