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Mamerto Natividad, Sr. (1834-1896) was a practicing lawyer and revolutionary leader of Nueva Ecija. He was a founding member of La Liga Filipina and initiated into the Katipunan. He is known as the First Martyr of Nueva Ecija.

Early life
Mamerto Natividad, Sr. was born in San Mateo, Rizal in the year 1834 but his exact birth date is unknown. He was baptized in the parish of the same town. His parents were Cipriano Natividad and Agapita Santos. He took up law at the University of Santo Tomas which was a University established by the Dominicans in 1601. He went on to become a lawyer and was listed among the 13 registered lawyers of the province of Pampanga in 1890.

During his student days, he joined the Comite de Reformadores, organized by clerical priests, Frs. Jose Burgos, Mariano Gomez & Jacinto Zamora and lay groups. His law professor at the University of Santo Tomas, Dr. Joaquin Pardo De Tavera, was also a member of the Comite de Reformadores. Frs. Jose Burgos, Mariano Gomez & Jacinto Zamora were later executed by garrote on February 17, 1872 and Dr. Joaquin Pardo De Tavera was exiled to the Marianas by the Spanish authorities.

He married Gervasia Robledo Alejandrino-Natividad from Arayat, Pampanga on July 6, 1870. The couple moved to Jaen, Nueva Ecija. Together they raised a family of twelve (12) children, namely Mamerto Jr., Jose Salvador, Benito, Joaquin, Francisco, Pedro Manuel, Anselmo, Paz, Maria, Catalina, Ana and Belen. They owned haciendas and sugar mills in Pampanga and Nueva Ecija.

Philippine Revolution
Mamerto Natividad, Sr. was a central figure in the activism of the 1870s and in the Philippine side of the propaganda of the 1880s-1890s. He was a Mason (Masonic Triangle #80 at Peñaranda) which was outlawed by the Spanish Government and church officials in the Philippines.

He was also a founding member of La Liga Filipina, a national secret society founded by Dr. Jose Rizal on July 3 1892. In his chapter on Secret Societies, Sawyer summed up the society's programme as follows: 1. Expulsion of the friars, and confiscation of their estates. 2. The same political, administrative, and economical concessions as had been granted to Cuba. Freedom of the press and freedom of association. 3. Equalization of the Philippine and Peninsular armies, and a just division of Civil Service posts between natives and Spaniards. 4. Return to owners of lands usurped by the friars, and sale of such lands as really belonged to the Orders. 5. Prevention of insults to the Philippine natives, either in sermons or in the press. 6. Economy in expenditure. Reduction of imposts. Construction of railways and public works.

It was risky to be part of a secret society as the Spanish friars were "vindictive in the extreme, and not troubled with scruples when it is a question of punishing an opponent."

But in 1896, Mamerto Natividad, Sr. lost his influence in the revolutionary circles, especially among the radical wing of Katipuneros led by Andres Bonifacio when he chose to join the “moderate” group called Cuerpo De Compromisarios, led by Apolinario Mabini.

After the Cry of Pugad Lawin which marked the start of the revolution initiated by Andres Bonifacio, Nueva Ecija followed suit. Nueva Ecija’s revolutionary leaders Mamerto Natividad, Sr., Mariano Llanera, his son Eduardo, Pantaleon Valmonte Alipio Tecson, Manuel Tinio met in Cabiao and planned the attack on the government center in San Isidro. General Mariano Llanera and Pantaleon Valmonte led the siege of San Isidro, then the seat of the Spanish provincial government in Nueva Ecija on September 2nd, 1896. This was known as the Cry of Nueva Ecija.

Subsequently, the Spanish authorities rounded up Filipinos who they suspected were involved. Mamerto Natividad Sr. and his friend Marcus Ventus, who was also a lawyer, were arrested for sedition. They were tortured and eventually executed by the Guardia Civil in San Isidro, Nueva Ecija with 20 other prisoners on September 26, 1896. His death would result in bigger problems for the Spanish authorities.

After his execution, Mamerto Natividad's two sons, Mamerto, Jr. and Benito Natividad joined the Katipunan. In retaliation, the Spanish authorities burned their house and sugar mills in Jaen. Mamerto, Jr. was later jailed mistakenly for having the same name as his father. He was later released and, together with five (5) of his other brothers: Benito, Salvador, Joaquin, Pedro and Francisco, joined the revolution in Cavite. By August 30, 1896, a state of war was declared by the Spanish colonial government in several Luzon provinces including Nueva Ecija.

Death
For his role in the uprising in Nueva Ecija, he was arrested for sedition, tortured and later executed by the Spanish authorities on September 26, 1896.

Legacy
Mamerto Natividad, Sr. is known as the First Martyr of Nueva Ecija.

Of the Tinio Brigade, Orlina Ochosa writes, "The majority of the officers in 1898 were, however, Tagalogs. Most of them came from the province of Nueva Ecija, a good many of them, if not most, belonging to the best families of that province, to wit: Tinio, Natividad, Ventus...and others. Of these, no nobler family could have represented that province more than those of Don Marcus Ventus Sr. and Don Mamerto Natividad Sr., the two most outstanding revolutionary martyrs of Nueva Ecija. After these two old patriots, remnants of the Burgos era, were executed by the Sapniards in 1896, their respective sonsjoined the Revolution to avenge the deaths of their fathers."

Of his six (6) sons that joined the revolution (Mamerto Jr., Benito, Salvador, Joaquin, Pedro and Francisco), three (3) became Generals of the Revolutionary Army: Mamerto Jr., Benito, and Salvador. The Natividad family was known as the Family of Generals. His three (3) younger sons were junior officers. Joaquin reached the rank of Colonel. Pedro and Francisco were Lieutenants.