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General Juan Arce

Brigadier General Juan Arce was a native of Sigma, Capiz. He was the brother of Katipunero Ruperto Arce. He has two sisters who lived said pueblo. He was the nephew of Don Tomas Javillo, the Capitan Municipal of Sigma, who had resigned from his post to join the revolution and was replaced by his vice Capitan Municipal, Mariano Isiderio. However, his parents and other personal circumstances were unknown.

Aside from Macario Lusco, he was the only Capisnon who was a member of Katipunan in Ilaya section (now Capiz Province). Arce concentrated his efforts on organizing the agraviados (disgruntled men) from the towns of Ivisan to Pilar.

On March 18, 1897, the day after the Capisnons learned the death of General Francisco del Castillo in Aklan valley in the hands of the Spanish troops, Arce gathered around 150 local revolutionaries in Barrio Monteflor, Pilar where they deliberated the implications of the death of the fallen General on the local revolutionary activities.

When the Capisnon revolutionary leaders were exile to Manila by Politico-military Governor Rafael Romero y Carbalho, General Juan Arce and General Saturnino Javillo were able to elude their banishment because they did not appear when the former summoned them. Only his brother Ruperto Arce and Mamerto Pajarillo were banished to Manila. While hiding from the colonial authorities, he and Javillo were secretly recruiting for new members to join their organization and they told them that not for long the revolution will resume.

Revolutionary Raymundo Calmerin claimed that Juan Arce together with Mamerto Pajarillo, Ruperto Arce and Saturnino Javillo were commissioned by President Emilio F. Aguinaldo to start the revolution in Capiz. In the official telegram of General Diego delos Rios that was published in Spanish newspaper El Heraldo de Madrid dated June 28, 1898, it was stated that slain Arce was a commissioner of Aguinaldo.

After having had organized his area, Arce raided garrison after garrison and seized arms and ammunition from the Spanish forces. This act made him notorious and most wanted man by the Spanish authories in the province.

When Arce learned about the victory of Capisnon revolutionaries in Tanza del Norte, he called on his revolutionary leaders for a meeting in Mambusao. It was presided over by Don Ramon Hontiveros, and attended by Don Tomas Javillo, the incumbent Capitan Municipal of Sigma; Captain Leon Bauson, Dao; Eugenio Diestro, Panitan; Mariano Frejules, Cuartero; Captain Manuel Firmalino, from Dumalag and his son, Exequiel Firmalino. During the meeting, Colonel Macario Lusco and his one hundred bukidnons (hinterland people) revolutionaries also arrived. They agreed to put sentries along the roads in each town from Capiz (now Roxas City) to Dumarao.

When Arce learned that General de los Rios and his troops attacked the revolutionaries in Panay, he and his group tried to reinforce the besieged revolutionaries under the command of General Esteban Contreras. But they arrived too late already. More than 150 Capisnons have been killed and Panay was already burning. They only met the retreating revolutionaries in Loctugan.

While the group of General Contreras was retreating and the Spanish forces were pre-occupied running after them, Arce and his group laid siege to the Spanish Guardia Civil’s quarters in Dumarao. The Battle of Dumarao occurred from May 2-3, 1898. Although their siege was not successful, it instilled fear to the parish priest and the Guardia Civils who left the town to take refuge in Iloilo the following day. General Rafael Maraingan, upon hearing their accounts, instantly promoted him from Captain to Brigadier General.

Arce had shown respect for religiosity, as Calmerin recounted that he asked his men to remove Saints’ images before burning the church. He also believed in fate, as when the fire he made suddenly ceased, he thought that God did not favor their attack. Hence, he ordered his men to leave the church and end their hostilities.

In the Macawiwili Hill located in Barrio Lahab Batan, the Jefatura Central (Central Headquarters) of General Rafael Maraingan, Arce, and General Contreras had all met together. They agreed to make an ilihan (encampment) to lure the enemies onto it while inflicting heavy casualties to them. They agreed to place it on Balisong Hill in Natividad, Pilar.Raymundo Calmerin,

On June 17, 1898, General Juan Arce valiantly fought alongside with Colonel Pascual Barza against Major Juan Lopez y Herrero and Captain Carlos Paoli y Marcano with their 400 Spanish colonial forces in the famous Battle of Balisong. Unfortunately, he was hit by a bullet in his left cheek. There was a version told that his gun was hit by a bullet from the Spanish Cazadores and this bullet bounced upward and hit the holder of the rifle right on his forehead. But it was hard to tell since it was raining heavily during the battle. Although he was badly injured, he calmly gave order to the revolutionaries to retreat gradually and orderly. He is called as the "greatest Capisnon Hero". An annual play is held to honor his deeds and the famous Battle of Balisong in the Municipality of Pilar, Capiz.