Galicano Apacible

Si Galicano Apacible
Si Galicano Apacible (Hunyo 25, 1864 - Marso 2 1949) sarong Filipinong propagandista kan
panahon nin Kastila asin lehislador sa gobyerno kolonyal na tinogdas kan mga Amerikano. Pinsan
ni Jose Rizal, saro siya sa kagtogdas kan La Solidaridad asin kan Partido Nacionalista. Nagtukaw
siya bilang Gobernador kan Batangas (1908-1909) asin Representante kan Primerong Distrito kan
Batangas, poon 1909 sundo' 1916. Siya nagin man Sekeretaryo kan Agrikultura asin Rekursos
Naturales (1917-1922).
[1]
Nabantog an saiyang sinurat titulado Sa Banwang Amerikano, sarong
Paki'ulay (To the American People, an Appeal) kun saen siya nakikimaherak sa Banwang
Amerikano na dai magsakyada asin sakopon an Filipinas kan ini tamboan pa sanang nagtitindog
bilang sarong nakatalingkas na banwaan sa Espanya.
[2]








On June 25, 1864, Galicano Apacible, a patriot and propagandist,
was born in Balayan, Batangas. He was the youngest of the three
children of Don Vicente Apacible and Catalina Castillo.
Apacible had his early education at the towns public school and then
transferred to the private school of a licensed teacher. Kanoy, as he was
fondly called, was eight years old when he completed his preparatory
course. There was no high school in Balayan and so he went to Manila
where he enrolled at the private school of Benedicto Luna. From there
he enrolled at the Colegio de San Juan de Letran.
Kanoy and his elder brother Leon, lived in a boarding house at 15 Anda
Street in Intramuros with their relative, Jose Rizal, and then moved to
the boarding house of Antonio Rivera on Santo Tomas Street. The
Apacibles would follow Rivera when he moved his boarding house later
to Postigo Street also in Intramuros In Rivera's boarding house, they
organized a student orchestra called Estudiantina, where Kanoy was a
flute player. Under the leadership of Rizal, the group also organized a
secret society called El Companerismo, whose main objectives were
mutual protection, and civic and patriotic education. Although El
Companerismo faded out, the ideas that Rizal inculcated remained in the
hearts and minds of the members.
When Kanoy was about to finish his secondary course, he asked his
mother what course she wanted him to study. He preferred law, but his
mother wanted him to take up medicine because his brother Leon was
already studying law. A dutiful son, he enrolled at the University of
Santo Tomas, which at that time was the only school offering a medical
course. Because of the antiquated teaching methods and above all, the
humiliating treatment shown by the Dominican professors to their
Filipino students, many of his classmates chose to continue their studies
abroad. Apacible himself had fight with one of his friar professors. For
that, he had to leave the university. He had already completed the fifth
year of the medical course when he sailed for Europe aboard the ship of
Messageries Maritimes.
He finished his Bachelor of Arts degree at the Institute of Tarragona and
his Licentiate in Medicine and Surgery at the University of Barcelona in
November 1889. He studied at the Universidad Central de Madridfor his
doctorate in Medicine.
While in Spain from 1885-1889, Apacible was president of a political
society called Asociacion Filipina Solidaridad en Barcelona. He was also
one of the founders of La Solidaridad together with other Filipino patriots
Marcelo H. del Pilar and Graciano Lopez Jaena.
He made many trips to France, beckoned not only by the delights of
Parisian life but by the hospitals that gave him opportunities to practice
his French as well as his medicine. During the Universal Exposition in
1889, he joined Rizal, T.H. Pardo de Tavera. Antonio Luna and many
other Filipinos who were in France at that time. They had many
discussions over the best ways to improve the situation in the
Philippines.
As he journeyed back to his native land, he learned that his family was
under persecution by the Spanish government; that his brother Leon, a
judge of the Court of First Instance, had been exiled to Lepanto; and
that Rizal had been arrested and deported to Dapitan. It was rumored
that upon his arrival, he too would be arrested and imprisoned.
Apacible stayed in Hong Kong for more than a month and in December
1892 he received instructions from his family that the situation in Manila
was no longer dangerous for his return.
Upon his arrival, he found that he was under suspicion for his political
activities in Spain and on account of his being a Freemason of the 33rd
degree, a fact which he never denied. At that time of the outbreak of
the Revolution, Apacible and the governor of the province of Batangas,
Leandro Villamil, were friends. The governor called him to be at his side
to prevent him from aiding or communicating with his friends. The
governor did this because he knew all the while where his friends
sympathies lay with his compatriots on the battlefront.
In order to escape the reprisals that were commonplace under the rule
of Governor Camilo Polavieja, Apacible applied for a position on board
the British S.S. Zafire that regularly journeyed from Manila to Hong
Kong. He was immediately accepted as they were in need of a physician.
After making a few voyages, he resigned and settled in Hong Kong. He
served as an adviser to the Alto Consejo de los Revolucionarios (High
Council of the Revolutionists). From Hong Kong he wrote to Mabini: "I
am working exclusively for our dear Motherland, exposing my life and
abandoning all my personal interest. I wish for no reward except the
satisfaction of helping in securing our freedom. I hope that the
government and public opinion will always do me justice; if not, it
matters little to me; there will always remain the inner satisfaction of
having worked disinterestedly and according to my humble abilities".
While in Hong Kong, he was named chairman of the Comite Central
Filipino (Filipino Central Committee) based there. He was sent to Tokyo
as a special agent to secure arms and ammunition for the
revolutionaries. While there he met leading figures such as Marquis Ito,
Count Okuma and Dr. Sun Yat Sen. The latter was his closest companion
as they were both working for the freedom of their countries.
He was in Hong Kong when General Aguinaldo was captured by General
Frederick Funston in Palanan, Isabela. The committee was dissolved,
and in 1903, Apacible returned to Manila and practiced medicine. He
worked at the San Lazaro Hospital from 1906 to 1907, when he was









elected governor of Batangas. He occupied this position until he was
elected Assemblyman in 1908 and reelected in 1912. In 1911, he
became vice-president of the Nacionalista Party and a member of its
Executive Committee. From 1917 to 1922, he was Secretary of the
Department of Agriculture and Natural Resources, but resigned due to ill
health.
He went back to Hong Kong and after seven months there, he returned
a healthy and happy man with no official tasks to preoccupy him.
In 1944, he met an accident and the period of enforced physical
inactivity that followed impaired his health. He became weaker and
weaker. Three years after his accident, he lost his sight, although his
mind remained clear. He succumbed on March 22, 1949 and was
interred at the La Loma Cemetery in Manila.