Melchora Aquino (January 6, 1812 – February 19, 1919) was a #Filipino revolutionary. Aquino was known as “Tandang Sora” (tandang means “old”) because of her old age during the #Philippine #Revolution (1896-1899). She was known by Philippine revolutionary soldiers as Tandang Sora, an acknowledgement of her wisdom & seniority. She was considered a Filipino counterpart to British nurse, Florence Nightingale. She was also known as the “Grand Woman of the Revolution” & “Mother of Balintawak” for her contributions.

Aquino was born on the feast of the Epiphany & named after Melchior, one of the Three Wise Men. She was the daughter of peasants, Juan & Valentina Aquino & she never attended school. Yet, she was literate at an early age. Also talented as a singer. She performed at community events & at Mass for church. She was often chosen for the role of Reyna Elena during the “Santacruzan”, a big pageant commemorating Empress Helen’s finding of the Cross of Christ, celebrated in the #Philippines in May.

Her husband, Fulgencio Ramos, a cabeza de barrio (village chief) died when their youngest child was 7 & she was left as a single parent for their 6 children. Tandang Sora continued life as an hermana mayor, active in celebrating fiestas, baptisms & weddings. She worked hard to give her children an education. She became a self taught nurse & her medical services helped to save many lives during the Philippine Revolution.

Aquino operated a store, which became refuge for revolutionaries. In 1896, when she was 84 years old, the Philippine revolution began. Her store served as a make-shift hospital where she provided medical care for sick/wounded revolutionists. She also provided food, shelter, encouragement, and prayers for the soldiers, even hosting 1,000 men in her home’s yard during the Cry of Balintawak. Secret meetings of the #Katipuneros ( #AntiColonialism revolutionaries) were often held at her house. She & her son, Juan Ramos, were present in the Cry of Balintawak & witnessed the tearing up of the cedulas(Spanish issued ID papers).

When the #Spaniards learned about her activities & her knowledge to the whereabouts of the Katipuneros, she was arrested by guardia civil on August 29, 1896. She was held captive in the house of a cabeza de barangay of Pasong Putik, Novaliches. Then transferred to Bilibid Prison in Manila. While in prison, she was interrogated & refused to divulge information. She was deported to Guam, Marianas Islands by Governor General Ramón Blanco. In Guam, she & a woman named Segunda Puentes were placed under house arrest in the residence of a Don Justo Dungca.

After the United States took control of the Philippines in 1898, Tandang Sora, like other exiles, returned to the Philippines in 1903. She later became an active member of the Philippine Independent Church.

She died at her daughter Saturnina’s house in Banlat on February 19, 1919, at the age of 107. She received full state honors after her death. After years of being unnoticed for her efforts in the revolution. Her remains were first interred at the Mausoleum of the Veterans of the Revolution at the Manila South Cemetery. These were then transferred to the Himlayang Pilipino Memorial Park in Quezon City in 1970 & finally at the Tandang Sora National Shrine in 2012.

Ref: “The Tandang Sora bicentennial”. Official Gazette of the Republic of the Philippines. February 26, 2021

Ref: Doran, Christine (1998). “Women in the Philippine Revolution”. Philippine Studies. JSTOR 42634272
https://www.jstor.org/stable/42634272

Ref: https://filipiknow.net/surprising-facts-about-melchora-aquino/

Ref: Kirstin Olsen, ed. (1994). Chronology of women’s history. Greenwood Publishing Group. ISBN 9780313288036

Ref: Augusto V. de Viana, "In the Far Islands,: The Role of Natives from the Philippines in the Conquest, Colonization and Repopulation of the Mariana Islands. 2004.

Ref: Isagani R. Medina, “Melchora Aquino Wife of Fulgencio Ramos,” In: Women in the Philippine Revolution, Rafaelita Hilario Soriano, ed. Quezon City: Printon Press, 1995.

Photos are from Wikimedia Commons.

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