Local historical event: Juez de Cuchillo Massacre/Mass Murder in Bayambang

Local historical event: Juez de Cuchillo Massacre/Mass Murder in Bayambang

The “juez de cuchillo” incident that reportedly occurred in Bayambang during the waning days of the Spanish colonial regime has been routinely mentioned in the annals of the town, as published in the yearly town fiesta souvenir programs.

This account by then Municipal Secretary Luciano S. Vila, for example, states that: "In history, Bayambang stands with enduring pride as the first town of Pangasinan to experience the most disastrous and terrifying events that occurred in the province. It was in this town where the first “juez de cuchillo” (literally “judge of the knife” in Spanish) brought havoc in 1897. Many of the prominent men of the town were executed. Almost all the houses were razed to the ground. The rich and poor alike had to flee for their lives because of the cruelty of the Spaniards. It was only through the intervention of a Spanish-Filipino general that the form of torture ended."

The version of the town's history painstakingly outlined by the appointed Quadricentennial Committee seems to have omitted this most interesting bit of local history.

In the provincial government's resource book, "Pangasinan: Pinablin Dalin," an output of the Pangasinan Historical and Cultural Commission in 2015, some details emerge, with an astonishing analysis of its significance to boot, and the book points to a secondary source as reference material:

The section authors, Sheila Marie M. Dasig and Perla Legaspi, point out that, according to Pangasinan historian Restituto Basa in his book, "Footnotes on Pangasinan History" (Calasiao, Pangasinan: CMN Printing Co. Inc., 2000: 52), in the summer of 1897, "the Katipunan contingent attempted to raid the town's Spanish detachment, to engage in an agaw-armas activity, and the Spaniard's reaction may have affected the Katipunan's activities in the province."

To directly quote Basa's account, (2000: 34): "In retaliation, General Ricardo Monet, the Spanish commander of the Bayambang detachment, put the town of Bayambang under the juez de cuchillo (justice of the sword). The Spanish army rounded up the suspected Katipuneros of Bayambang and massacred them. Then they burned the poblacion of Bayambang. Finally, General Monet issued a warning that he will place any town under the juez de cuchillo if the rebels attack any Spanish guardia civil. This must have tied the hands of the Pangasinan Katipuneros."

Dasig and Legaspi further observe that, "Juez de cuchillo had the same effects as martial law. It meant arrest, detention, and execution of suspected rebels -- without any investigation or evidence. Probably this was the reason why Pangasinan was not among those included in the eight provinces placed under martial law shortly before the broader outbreak of the revolution in 1898. The relative quiet in Pangasinan was most likely due to the already existing martial-law effects of 'juez de cuchillo' imposed earlier."

This is in contrast -- the section writers note -- to what the Pangasinan historian Rosario Cortes observed about the relative peace and quiet in the province before the revolution against the Spaniards blew over the entire country: "The province did not experience an all-out Katipunan-led revolution until 1898, with the civil government left in peace and local elections held on schedule in 1897, possibly due to two factors: Pangasinan's distance from Manila may have prevented the widespread organizing activities of the Katipunan in the province, and the better quality of life of the Pangasinans brought about by the evenly spread out benefits of economic development in the province during the Spanish period, resulting in a lukewarm reaction of Pangasinans to the revolution."

The horrible incident of mass murder also most probably explains why there is not a single surviving Spanish-era heritage house in Bayambang.

At this point, one also wonders who the local residents were who had gone through the horror of it all. It looks like we need to see first-hand the primary document from that Basa reference to get a better picture of what transpired, but it is clear that the memory of their sense of patriotism and love for freedom, independence, and self-determination must be honored by the community through a special act of some sort in case this has not yet been done in the past.