Important Filipino historical events in the month of October:
October 3, 1646. For the second time, the Spanish fleet defeated the British warship in Manila Bay. This event is commemorated in a yearly feast called ” La Naval de Manila”.
October 5, 1762. The British fleet defeated the Spanish warship allowing the British rule the country for two years.
October 31, 1829. Francisco Dagohoy, a cabeza de barangay of Bohol and the leader of the longest uprising (8 years), surrendered to the Spaniards.
October 1, 1901. Antisedition Law. The American colonial government passed Act 292 to quell armed nationalist sentiments during the era.
October 16, 1907. Inauguration of the first Philippine Assembly. It served as the lower house of a bicameral legislature with the Philippine Commission as the upper house.
October 30, 1908. First court case of libel. El Renacimiento published in its editorial “Aves de Rapina” (Birds of Prey) about a man who preyed on his enemy the way an eagle, vulture, owl and a vampire do. American Secretary of the Interior Dean C. Worcester felt alluded to in the article and sued the paper’s editor and publisher Teodoro M. Kalaw and Martin Ocampo. Worcester won the case and the newspaper was closed.
October 13, 1913. The Underwood-Simons Law took effect, allowing an open trade between the United States and the Philippines.
October 31, 1919. Flag Day. Proclaimed by the National Assembly.
October 20, 1944. Leyte landing. General Douglas MacArthur landed in Leyte Gulf with Sergio Osmeña Sr. and Carlos P. Romulo. This signaled the retaking of the Philippines from the Japanese soldiers. It was also a fulfillment of MacArthur’s promise in 1942 when he said “I shall return.”
October 24, 1944. This day the prominent battle of Leyte Gulf took place, where the island of Leyte was filled massively with an amphibious force of 700 vessels and 174,000 army and navy servicemen. By December 1944, the islands of Leyte and Mindoro had been cleared of the Japanese.