Yes, not even Plan A was tested for efficacy. The authorities were already very much aware, thanks to the paid informers, of most of the Kapisanan's aims and intentions.On March 4, at the eve of the Insurrection, Kabola met his followers for a last minute pow wow, pep talk just like a big political meeting de avance. Two hundred society members from San Jose barrios came to the meeting. A six-man Constabulary squad in undercover clothes also attended. But they slipped into a concealed position near the site. The head of the squad, after sizing up the military capability of the rabble, decided to use an old military trick.
He waited until Kabola started his speech. Barely after he started, the PC agents started a pandemonium. They fired rifles, shoued commands ( in the dark ) and scurrying noisily in the dark shrubs. The crowd panicked and no kind of rallying from Kabola and his aides could calm them. Then one of the troopers killed Kabola on the spot. His death created more panic and there was a mad scamper into safety. Too frightened to run, seventy two Kapisanes discarded their weapons and raised up their arms. Then it was all over.
The seventy two were so frustrated the next day when they found out that they surrendered only to 6 PC troopers, and 3 of them had serious bolo wounds.
This night episode reversed the tide for the rising Kapisanan hype. By the dawn of March 5, the PC and municipal police rounded up all the Kapisanan suspects through out the region. News of the encounter spread more quickly than the official governement press releases. Exaggerated reports of the conspiracy created furors in Nueva Ecija and Pangasinan. While peasants abadoned their barrio houses for the safety of the countryside and farmlands, the rich people left their big houses temporarily for the safety of the Provincial capital. The violent mentality of many people at that time--rich and poor alike--came out into the open. There was this class conflict ( which I believe still exists in modern day Philippines ) which bothered the citizens of the region. The news also spread throughout the whole archipelago.
More facts came out "the morning after." the "army" of 12,000 dwindled to a few groups of ignorant, deluded and superstitious peasants. The "liberation plot" was the excuse for some Kapisanan leaders to collect as much pesos and young women ( for the use of the "liberators" ). The weapons of the liberation, the authorities discovered, consisted of only a few spears, some rusty pistols and 2 dozen cartridges. This was printed in an article from the Philippines Free Press, march 14, 1925.
Late in March 44 conspiracy and 41 sedition indictments were filed in Nueva Ecija's Court of First Instance. Public anger reached an all time high. The mass trial began on April 10, 19 days later the judge handed down his decisions.
Given the hubbub of the preceding months, punishments were exceptionally light. Nine Kapisanes were granted acquitaal. Thirty five were found guilty and sentenced to jail terms from one to eight months. Those accused of sedition were meted more severe sentences: Forty one were consigned to Bilibid prison for two to four years. Compared to the treatment of peasant rebels in the past, the result constituted a humanitarian milestone.
One of the mitigating factors that brought about the kinder sentences was the fact that Kabola and his aides were already dead. The others were just "seduced" into joining. One of them confessed:
"All I was told was that Apo Lakay ( Kabola ) was going to the US last Tuesday morning and to return the night of the same day. ( I wonder what would he be using: a private jet?) He would carry with him the Philippine flag of independence. The flag is to be inagurated Wednesday and there would be a general convocation called for that day. We were to wear our uniforms and carry with us rice and money. I was not told what to do next, but I was made to understand that we were to swear to defend at all costs, our flag of Independence..."
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next story: PEDRO CALOSA AND THE BATTLE OF TAYUG
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