Agueda Esteban
| Agueda Esteban | |
|---|---|
| Born |
February 5, 1868 Binondo, Manila, Philippines |
| Died | September 1944 (aged 76) |
| Occupation | Point person of the Katipunero |
Agueda Esteban (February 5, 1868 – September 1944) was a Filipina historical figure. She was the "point person" of the Katipunero who bought materials from Manila to the making of gunpowder and bullets, which she delivered to her husband in Cavite.[1] Upon the death of her first husband, Mariano Barroga of Batac City, she married Gen. Artemio Ricarte.[2]
Early life
Born in Binondo, Manila, she was the second child of Ambrosio Esteban, a native of Ligao and Francisca de la Cruz of Cainta, Rizal. Her parents moved to Binondo after their marriage. Together with her brother and sister, they were taught by "Maestrang Bulag" who was selling ikmo leaves and tobacco.[3] Because she came from an impoverished family, she was enrolled in a girl's school under the auspices of Dona Vicenta de Roxas. At school, she excelled in many subjects, which earned her the respect of her teacher, parents and most importantly Dona Vicenta.
Later, she married Mariano Barroga of Batac, Ilocos Norte who was the mayordomo in the house of the son of Dona Vicenta. They had three children: Catalina, Adriana and Anastacia.
As a member of the Katipunan
Her husband joined the Katipunan and assumed the pseudonym Tungkod (Tagalog for "rod" or "staff"). As a Katipunero, he was made in charge of the revolutionaries in San Juan del Monte, Montalban and Marikina. Later, he was transferred with his family from Manila to Tangos, Cavite.
Agueda helped her husband in the revolutionary activities. They would travel from Manila to Cavite in order to secure the needed materials for the ammunition and bullets to be used by the Filipinos. She would climb the mountains and travel far, to ensure the safe delivery of the materials. All of their activities remained undetected by the authorities, until the first phase of the revolution ended by the Truce of Biak-na-Bato.
American Invasion
During the American occupation of the Philippines, she was the courier between her husband in Manila and General Artemio Ricarte in Cavite. She was entrusted with all the secret papers on war strategies and all the planned attacks on the Spanish detachments. Because she was a woman, she was never suspected of being involved in revolutionary activities.
On July 1, 1900, all three of them were arrested in Calle Anda after the authorities discovered grenades kept in her house. Later, on February 16, 1901, Lt. Col. Tungkod was exiled to Guam together with other revolutionaries. Aguada was left behind to take care of her four children. She later left her three elder children in the care of the Hospicio de San Jose, while she ventured into selling jewelry with her youngest child Salud, to support her family until her husband's return from exile. However, in November 1902, her husband died; leaving another her with another child named Artemio in honor of Artemio Ricarte.
Exile and later life
In 1910, she visited Gen. Ricarte who was in Hong Kong exiled for the second time after refusing to sign an oath of allegiance to the United States. In May 1911, she married the general and lived there from 1910 to 1921 in the small island of Lemah.
When the British government removed all the political exiles in Hong Kong during the outbreak of WWI, her family was shipped to Shanghai to Japan. In 1921, they moved to Tokyo, where Gen. Ricarte taught Spanish language in an overseas school. On April, 1923, they transferred to Yokohama where they lived permanently and opened a profitable restaurant. They lived there for eighteen years together with their children and grandchildren.
After Japan occupied the Philippines, she came back. In 1944, she fell ill and died.[4]