Cavite marks 116th death anniversary of Battle of Imus hero Jose Tagle

Cavite marks 116th death anniversary of Battle of Imus hero Jose Tagle

IMUS, Cavite — Local historians and officials are marking the death anniversary today of Col. Jose S. Tagle, the revolutionary leader credited with helping wrest this city from Spanish control during the Philippine Revolution.

Tagle died on September 12, 1910.

Early life and public service

Tagle was born in Imus on March 20, 1855, to Benito Tagle and Simona Santarin, both members of the principalia, the landed local elite class under Spanish colonial rule.

He studied in Imus and went on to serve the town in a series of local government posts. He was gobernadorcillo, the highest local administrative position under the Spanish system, from 1889 to 1890. He later served as capitan municipal from 1896 to 1898 — a period during which Imus became the headquarters of the Magdalo faction of the Katipunan, the revolutionary society that spearheaded the uprising against Spain.

The Battle of Imus

When the revolution broke out, Tagle sought the help of Gen. Emilio Aguinaldo to retake Imus from Spanish forces. The two led an assault on the Imus estate on September 1, 1896, in what became known as the Battle of Imus. Spanish friars and members of the Guardia Civil, the colonial police force, had fortified themselves inside the hacienda.

Spanish authorities, learning of the attack, dispatched reinforcements to defend the town. With additional troops led by Gen. Ernesto de Aguirre, Tagle’s forces succeeded in capturing Imus from Spanish control — a victory that became one of the early triumphs of the revolution in Cavite.

Legacy

Tagle’s descendants include former Sen. Richard Gordon and Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle.

In recognition of his role in the revolution, the then-National Historical Institute — now the National Historical Commission of the Philippines — installed a historical marker in his honor in Imus in 2008.