This is a series of biographies of the Governors of Capiz from 1898 to 1988, some of whom were unrecorded, unrecognized, and unknown.
During the First Philippine Republic, amidst the Philippine–American War, President Emilio Aguinaldo appointed a Batangueño general as the politico-military governor of Capiz. This man was General Ananias Noblejas Diokno, who was born on January 22, 1860, in Taal, Batangas, to Ángel Diokno and Andrea Noblejas—both members of distinguished Batangueño families.
There are no records regarding his boyhood and early manhood. In 1895, he came to the limelight together with Felipe Agoncillo when both were prosecuted by the civil and ecclesiastical authorities for anti-religious activities and obstruction of the functions of government.
On August 29, 1896, Don Fernando Torriero Parga had Diokno and others arrested for crimes of treason and sedition. It was ordered that upon arrest, they were to be brought to Cavite for their immediate trial.
When the Spanish colonial government began its anti-revolution campaigns in Cavite and Batangas, many of the families fled to Cavite. At Indang, these prominent citizens organized the regional government of Batangas in 1896 with Ananias Diokno as secretary of war; Miguel Malvar, as commanding general; and Eleuterio Marasigan as a brigadier general.
The Pact of Biak-na-Bato of December 15, 1897, temporarily suspended hostilities between the Filipino revolutionaries and the colonial government’s forces, but on May 16, 1898, the war resumed on a wider scale. In this phase of the revolution, Ananias Diokno was already one of the most trusted generals of President Emilio Aguinaldo.
The break in the fighting after the destruction of the Spanish Navy on May 1, 1898, by the American Asiatic Squadron, provided time for this Batangueño general to organize the Batallon Mulaya, a contingent consisting of six companies with 125 men each and a battery of two cannons. The batallon had Diokno as commanding general and Major Macario Adriatico as his chief of staff. Their direct mission was to attack the Spanish forces in the provinces. Under strict orders, they were to board the war vessels, Taal and Purisima Concepcion. General Diokno was given sufficient discretionary power to meet any circumstances.
In September 1898, they went to Calapan, Mindoro and picked up the troops of Major Adriatico, and sailed for Santa Cruz, Marinduque. When they landed in Pasacao, Camarines Sur, they informed that General Vicente Lucban had already occupied Ambos, Camarines. In San Pascual, Burias Island, Diokno organized the revolutionary government under Juan Miranda as president. The said government was placed under the supervision of Second Lieutenant Jose Karingal of the infantry to ensure the collection of the revolutionary taxes.
On the first Sunday of October 1898, he sailed for Sorsogon only to learn that its local government had been turned over to the revolutionary government by Bishop Jorge Barlin, the vicar forane of Sorsogon. Don Celestino Mercader headed the new government while Vicente Vera headed the revolutionary junta.
Lt. Colonel Marella was dispatched by General Diokno to Bulan, Sorsogon to get rid of the enemy pressure on the military campaign of General Mariano Riego de Dios. Upon the recall of Marella, General Diokno and his forces sailed for Samar. However, the presence of a strong Spanish force did not warrant an immediate offensive. Hence, General Diokno ordered his expedition to fall back to Sorsogon.
He ordered the boat Sta. Maria to sail to Masbate to aid General Mariano Riego de Dios and his troops who were stranded in that island province. The Sta. Maria was one of the two vessels- the other one was the Vitas – that was seized in Sorsogon harbor.
They returned to San Pascual, Burias Island where they left Lt. Colonel Marella at the head of the military government and sailed for Romblon where they installed Captain Casimiro Platon as commandant. In Looc, Romblon, General Diokno was informed that the Spanish forces were still holding their garrisons in Ibahay (now Ibajay, Aklan), Capiz.
As appointed commander of the expeditionary forces by Aguinaldo and upon the appeal of General Martin T. Delgado of the revolutionary government in Panay for reinforcement, General Diokno together with Lt. Colonel Protasio Mondejar left Batangas for Panay on November 16, 1898. They landed in Navas, Capiz (now Nabas, Aklan), and with other Filipino troops seized the Spanish garrisons. At that part, however, many of the places were already occupied or controlled by the Visayan fighters.
Diokno’s Tagalog Expeditionary Force burned down several rebellious towns that refused to recognize Aguinaldo’s government. However, it also created fear among the revolutionaries in Iloilo that he would similarly reduce them.
On November 1898, Lt. Colonel Juan Lopez Herrero, the Politico-military Governor of Capiz formally surrendered the Spanish colonial government to General Ananias Diokno in Baybay Beach.
On April 28, 1899, President Aguinaldo appointed him as politico-military governor of Capiz which provoked opposition from the Capiznon revolutionary leaders who felt that they should be leaders of the organized revolutionary government and that orders must come from President Roque Lopez of the Federal State of the Visayas.
The American forces under General Marcus Miller attacked Iloilo and subsequently occupied the city on February 11, 1899. With other revolutionaries, General Diokno fought in the defense lines at Hiboan (part of Pavia), Cabatuan, and Passi. In October of the same year, he was at Sta. Barbara, the headquarters of General Martin Delgado. The strong dissension within the command forced him to lead his troops back to Capiz.
On February 2, 1901, General Delgado surrendered to General Robert P. Hughes, but General Diokno with a few troops left continued to wage a guerrilla war against the Americans.
However, on March 18, 1901, Captain Peter Murray, 18th US Infantry and 1st Lt. Frank C. Bolles, 6th US Infantry located Diokno at Barrio Dalipdan, Capiz, waged an attack. Diokno was wounded and captured; two of his men were killed and three were captured.
General Ananias Diokno came home as a military hero. He was offered the directorship of the Bureau of Agriculture, but he declined. He retired to his farm in Arayat, Pampanga, where he died on November 2, 1922 due to cerebral hemorrhage and his remains was interned at the Manila North Cemetery.
