General Licerio Topacio (1839–1925) was a leader in the

Philippine independence The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

movement.

Born in

Imus Imus, officially the City of Imus ( fil, Lungsod ng Imus), is a 3rd class Cities of the Philippines#Legal classification, component city and ''de jure'' Capital city, capital of the Provinces of the Philippines, province of Cavite, Philippines ...

Cavite Cavite, officially the Province of Cavite ( tl, Lalawigan ng Kabite; Chavacano: ''Provincia de Cavite''), is a province in the Philippines located in the Calabarzon region in Luzon. Located on the southern shores of Manila Bay and southwest ...

, on August 27, 1839 to Miguel Topacio, a former

gobernadorcillo The ''gobernadorcillo'' (, literally "little governor") was a municipal judge or governor in the Philippines during the Spanish colonial period, who carried out in a town the combined charges or responsibilities of leadership, economic, and judic ...

, and Marta Cuenca, Topacio finished his studies in Imus. He was not able to pursue higher education in Manila, but kept on developing his inborn talent by self-study, and when the revolution broke out he showed exceptional leadership in battle. Because of the ongoing Lachambre offensive in Magdalo territory, only eight Magdalo leaders were able to attend the

Tejeros Convention The Tejeros Convention, also known as the Tejeros Assembly and the Tejeros Congress, was a meeting held on March 22, 1897, between Katipunan factions of Magdiwang and Magdalo in San Francisco de Malabon, Cavite (now General Trias) that result ...

on March 22, 1897. They were

Baldomero Aguinaldo Baldomero Aguinaldo y Baloy (February 27, 1869 – February 4, 1915) was a leader of the Philippine Revolution. He was the first cousin of Emilio Aguinaldo, the first president of the Philippines, as well as the grandfather of Cesar Virata, a f ...

, Daniel Tria Tirona, Felix Cuenca, Cayetano Topacio, Crispulo Aguinaldo, Antonio Montenegro, and an unidentified Magdalo leader. Except for Montenegro and this unidentified leader, they were all members of the Magdalo Council or Government. Licerio Topacio was the eldest of the Magdalo leaders present at the age of 58. In deference to his age, he must have been considered by the group for nomination as president of the Revolutionary Government to be established. But he declined because he was too old (58) and that the presidency needed a younger, stronger man. The next choice was

Emilio Aguinaldo Emilio Aguinaldo y Famy (: March 22, 1869February 6, 1964) was a Filipino revolutionary, statesman, and military leader who is the youngest president of the Philippines (1899–1901) and is recognized as the first president of the Philippine ...

, who was absent, defending the strategic Pasong Santol in

Dasmariñas Dasmariñas (colloquially shortened to Dasma), officially the City of Dasmariñas ( fil, Lungsod ng Dasmariñas), is a 1st class component city in the province of Cavite, Philippines. With a land area of and a population of 703,141 people acc ...

against repeated assaults by Lachambre's troops. Aguinaldo was elected president of the revolutionary government ''in absentia''. After the

Battle of Imus The Battle of Imus ( fil, Labanan sa Imus, es, Batalla de Imus), or the siege of Imus ( fil, Pagkubkob sa Imus, es, El Cerco de Imus), was the first major battle of the Philippine revolution against the Spanish colonial government in the provi ...

(September 3, 1896) and the

Battle of Binakayan A battle is an occurrence of combat in warfare between opposing military units of any number or size. A war usually consists of multiple battles. In general, a battle is a military engagement that is well defined in duration, area, and force ...

(November 9–11), Aguinaldo’s prestige as a military leader had risen like a meteor, making him a living legend. It was this image as a living legend, more than anything else that won for Aguinaldo the majority votes in the Magdiwang-dominated Tejeros Convention. Had Licerio Topacio, instead of Aguinaldo, been nominated in the Tejeros Convention, the chances were that he might have been decisely beaten by a younger and more famous man,

Andres Bonifacio Andres or Andrés may refer to: *Andres, Illinois, an unincorporated community in Will County, Illinois, US *Andres, Pas-de-Calais, a commune in Pas-de-Calais, France *Andres (name) *Hurricane Andres * "Andres" (song), a 1994 song by L7 See also ...

, the Katipunan Supremo. Of course, with such an outcome “history would have been taken a different course," as claimed by biographer Gwekoh. There are alternative views about the reasons he did not become head of the movement. One biographer, Sol H. Gwekoh, says that had Topacio not gallantly given way to a young man, Emilio Aguinaldo, he would have been the leader of the Philippine Revolution. Another biographer, Benjamin M. Bolivar, claims that Topacio “declined the honor” when Aguinaldo offered him the leadership of the revolution. After the

Philippine–American War The Philippine–American War or Filipino–American War ( es, Guerra filipina-estadounidense, tl, Digmaang Pilipino–Amerikano), previously referred to as the Philippine Insurrection or the Tagalog Insurgency by the United States, was an arm ...

Topacio was twice appointed as municipal president of Imus. He died on April 19, 1925 at the age of 86.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Topacio, Licerio 1839 births 1925 deaths Mayors of places in Cavite Filipino activists People from Imus