03 October, 1863
TODAY IN PHILIPPINE HISTORY
Candido Iban, leader of the Katipunan in the Visayas, was born in Liloan, Malinao, Capiz. Candido Iban is considered the first overseas contract worker from Malinao, diving for pearls in Australia. As luck would have it, he won a considerable sum in a lottery and came back to Manila.
He was befriended by Procopio Bonifacio, the brother of Andres Bonifacio, and was inducted as a Katipunero by Andres in the caves of Montalban. On March 23, 1897, Candido Iban, Benito Iban, Gabino Yonsal, and 16 others were executed by the Spanish authorities. They were later be known as the “19 Martyrs of Aklan”.
Today, a monument of Iban and the failed uprising, the “El Levantamiento de los 82 de Lilo-an”, stands at the Malinao’s town plaza.
(Ref: Philippine News Agency)
