Jany. 10th 1897 in Manila, Royal Fort of Santiago.—F. L. Roxas:—Witnesses: Antonio Pardo and Felix García.
On January 11th Gov. Gen. Polavieja telegraphed to Madrid as follows:
“Sentenced by council of War, to-day there have been executed (shot) twelve persons guilty of treason ... among them Francisco Roxas, Councillor of Administration; Nijaga, Lieut. of native infantry; Villaroel, Villareal, Moises Salvador and others.”
Pedro Roxas was also a millionaire who inherited a good fortune, which, under the shelter of official protection multiplied considerably. Spain honored him with the grand cross of Isabela la Católica. Like Francisco he was a Councillor of Administration. He possessed a large estate in Nasugbu which, when the revolt broke out, became an insurgent hornet’s nest. There the rebels had a cannon, three falconettes and a large number of arms.
After having been deprived of his office by decree previously mentioned, Pedro Roxas secured in some way or other from Blanco, permission to go to Spain. On arrival at Singapore he landed and remained there. Later on he was defended in the Spanish Cortés by Sr. Romero Robledo[31]. In Manila, to those who could judge of the facts on the spot, this defence came as a thunderbolt. However, the Spanish paper El Correo in the issue of August 15th said:
“The conduct of Sr. Roxas results satisfactorily cleared, so that no doubt remains in respect to his complete disconnection with the revolt.”
Among the separatist element Pedro Roxas was known as the Emperor Pedro I.
Note 57. Maximo M. A. Paterno was the father of the well known Pedro Paterno. Maximo was in his latter days the leading spirit of the celebrations held in honor of the amnesty proclaimed in 1900, by the late President McKinley. He died at the age of 76, just before the celebrations took place.
This amnesty celebration, like most things attempted by Filipinos alone, turned but a fiasco, the speeches which were to be delivered on the occasion not being in any way in keeping with the oath of allegiance taken by the speakers. The speeches contemplated were in advocation of practically the same thing as that for which the rebels had been keeping up an armed struggle, and so, when the U. S. Commission was invited by Pedro Paterno to be present thereat, it naturally was unable to accept the invitation.