Two hundred years ago on this date, Melchora Aquino was born to Juan Aquino and Valentina de

Aquino in Banlat, Balintawak, Quezon City (formerly Barrio Banlat, Kalookan). She learned to read and
write at a young age, and even in her youth was respected and loved by her community. She was active
in many public events, not only in Banlat but also in the surrounding barrios, and was often a participant
in her barrio’s Santa Cruzan festival. She had a good singing voice and was often invited to lead many
Holy Week Pabasa.

She married one Fulgencio Ramos who eventually became Cabeza de Barangay. The couple bore six
children: Juan, Simon, Estefania, Romualdo, Juana, and Saturnina. Upon the death of her husband, she
took on the role of both mother and father to her children, and managed the family farm and other
business interests.

She was 84 when the Philippine Revolution of 1896 broke out. Her son, Juan A. Ramos, was associated
with the Katipunan, the members of which were the ones who gave Aquino the nickname “Tandang
Sora.” Bonifacio and more than 1,000 of his men arrived at Ramos’s house on August 23, 1986. There,
the Katipuneros engaged in what is now popularly known as the “Cry of Pugadlawin.” The following was
written by National Scientist for History Teodoro Agoncillo, who, in his book, Revolt of the
Masses, provides a narration of the events leading to the Cry and the first skirmishes of the revolution.

That night of August 19, Andres Bonifacio, together with Jacinto, Procopio Bonifacio, Teodoro Plata and
Aguedo del Rosario slipped through the cordon of Spanish sentries, reaching Balintawak before
midnight. Pio Valenzuela followed the next day. On the 21st, Bonifacio and Jacinto, to guard the secret
plans of the Katipunan against possible discovery, agreed, in a written document, to change the society’s
code by henceforth using numbers instead of letters of the alphabet, a step that was taken, no doubt, in
view of the discovery of the Katipunan key to its secret code. In the afternoon   of  the   same   day, the 
rebels, numbering around 500, left Balintawak and proceeded to the neighboring hamlet of Kangkong
where Apolonio Samson, a Katipunan man, gave them food and lodging. Here, the next morning, the
revolutionists exchanged views on the revolution but did not pass any resolution. It was in Pugadlawin,
where they proceeded upon leaving Samson’s place in the afternoon of the 22nd, that the more than
1,000 members of the Katipunan met in the yard of Juan A. Ramos, son of Melchora Aquino, the famed
“Mother” of the Katipuneros, in the morning of August 23rd. Considerable discussion arose whether the
revolt against the Spanish government should be started on the 29th. Only one man protested against
the plan of revolt at such an early date, and it was Bonifacio’s own brother-in-law, Teodoro Plata. But he
was overruled in his stand that the time was not yet propitious for such desperate action, that there was
a dearth of arms and ammunitions, and that the rebels would starve as the palay had just been planted.
Bonifacio then announced the decision and, standing on an improvised platform, shouted:  “Brothers, it
was agreed to continue with the plan of revolt. My brothers, do you swear to repudiate the government
that oppresses us?” And the rebels, shouting as one man, replied: “Yes, sir!” “That being the case,”
Bonifacio added, “bring out your cédulas and tear them to pieces to symbolize our determination to
take up arms!” There was a rustle of papers and in a minute the yard was littered with
torn cédulas. Amidst this ceremony, the rebels, with tear-stained eyes shouted: “Long live the
Philippines! Long live the Katipunan!”