Yrong-Yrong's Cry of Sta. Barbara mimics Pugad Lawin
Yrong-Yrong's Cry of Santa Barbara, its version of Cry of Pugad Lawin, merely invites laughter if not mirth. Pugad Lawin was done August 23, 1896 when the revolutionary movement was in its infancy. A year later, Yrong-Yrong's illustrados dispatched a batallion of "voluntarious", not to support the revolution but to suppress it in defense of Spanish colonialism. The Cry of Santa Barbara, Yrong-Yrong's mimicky of Pugad Lawin (that is, if you buy the yarn of mercenaries disguised as "historians") took place on November 17, 1898, seven or eight months into the final defeat of Spanish colonialism in the Philippines. Which means, the anti-Spanish revolution was already over eight months before these self-proclaimed heroes of Yrong-Yrong regaled us with the "cry" of Santa Barbara. Pugad Lawin signals the birth of an anti-colonial revolution, a national liberation movement to rid this country of Spanish colonialism; Santa Barbara heralds none. Despite ...