Goyo

Ang Batang Heneral

TBA Studios

• Publisher: Anvil Publishing, Inc.
• Year: 2018
• eBook ISBN: 9789712735097
• Topic: History
• Subtopic: Asian History
• Index: History

Goyo: Ang Batang Heneral is a coming-of-age story about how a young, overconfident boy learns to accept his own mortality and, more importantly, his duties as a true soldier of the Republic." – Jerrold Tarog, director of Goyo: Ang Batang Heneral

History lessons have ingrained in Filipinos the heroism of the boy general Gregorio del Pilar, famed for the Battle in Tirad Pass. But the ideals that spur a revolution are as complex as the motivations of this young man to pursue greatness.

This compendium brings together the process of making the movie from its director, producers and screenwriter, and an interview with Bulacan historian Isagani Giron that looks into the writings of Teodoro Kalaw and Nick Joaquin. It invites thoughtful scrutiny of a flawed young man and a deeper reflection of Philippine history in hopes of a more meaningful understanding of ourselves as a people and as a nation.

Interview with Isagani Giron

By May Arlene Torres

NHCP Office, Barasoain Church

April 10, 2018

As a Del Pilar scholar, what first got you interested in the life and death of the boy-general?

I used to be the president of Samahang Pangkasaysayan ng Bulacan (SAMPAKA), and it was during my term that the country celebrated the centennial anniversary of the Battle of Tirad Pass in 1999. First thing that we did was to locate Tirad Pass. We were told that there’s a certain town in Ilocos Sur that is named after Gregorio Del Pilar, so together with Dr. Jaime Veneracion and with the assistance of then Vice Governor of Bulacan Rely Plamenco, we coordinated with Governor Chavit Singson of Ilocos Sur who assisted us until we traced where Tirad Pass was located in the municipality of Gregorio Del Pilar. The town was formerly named Concepcion, but in June 10, 1955, through the legislation of Congressman Ricardo Gacula, it was named Gregorio Del Pilar by virtue of Republic Act No. 1246.

On the first week of November 1999, we headed to Tirad Pass. We passed through the towns of Candon and Galimuyod, and we stopped at Salcedo because the roads were damaged by a typhoon. The natives from the Bag-O tribe told us that Gregorio Del Pilar was only fourteen kilometers from the municipality of Salcedo. Could we walk all the way, we wondered, and the natives were amused—they could, in three hours, but they didn’t seem to have faith in us city folk. We didn’t give up right then, attempting to begin our trek, but it didn’t take long before we had to abort the mission. The ascending trail and our unprepared feet did not make for a friendly pair. As a recourse, I coordinated with the mayor of the town of Salcedo, Mayor Leonofre Gironella, and he said that the town next to theirs was Gregorio Del Pilar. Through his assistance, and through a VHF radio, we were able to talk to Mayor Erminda Apayyo of Gregorio Del Pilar about our proposal in line with the celebration of the centennial anniversary of the Battle of Tirad Pass. She consented, and invited us to come on the fourteenth of November in time for the birth anniversary of the general.

A “pilgrimage”: that was what I called our journey from Malolos, Bulacan, to Gregorio Del Pilar, Ilocos Sur. More or less three hundred Bulakeños retraced the footsteps of Gen. Del Pilar and other Bulakeños who sacrificed their lives. With us were the descendants of the Katipuneros who died and survived in the battle. The Chairman and Executive Director of the National Historical Institute (NHI, now NHCP) Pablo Trillana III and his personnel were also with us for the commemoration.

That long trek, and all the planning that went into it, had me really invested in Del Pilar. And since then, the Biyaheng Tirad Pass has been conducted every year in commemoration of the Battle of Tirad Pass and the heroism of Gregorio Del Pilar.

On a sad note, we have seen the marker installed by the Philippine Historical Committee at Gen. Del Pilar’s shrine. It states that he died at the age of twenty-two, when it should be twenty-four, since he was born in 1875 and died in 1899. This and other information on the marker have not been corrected up to now. It reads:

BATTLE OF TIRAD PASS

On a rocky barricade

thrown across this lonely

trail, 22-year-old General

Gregorio H. del Pilar and about

sixty other defenders stood

fast covering the retreat of

President Emilio Aguinaldo to

the wilds of Lepanto. Over 300

pursuing American troops came

upon them, 2 December 1899,

killing the youngest Filipino

general and more than fifty

other guards. On his grave

here where he fell, this inscrip-

tion reads: “General Gregorio

Del Pilar killed at the Battle

of Tila Pass, December 2nd

1899 . . . An Officer and a

Gentleman.”

Twenty-four is an age too soon for a young man to die, and to die as a general, that must have meant he was quite involved in the revolution even in his youth. How would you describe him as a young boy?

Very...

Table of contents

• Introduction
• Director’s Notes
• Producers’ Notes
• Screenwriter’s Notes
• Gregorio H. del Pilar y Sempio: A Timeline
• Timeline References
• Interview with Isagani Giron
• Interview References