PEDRO M. DANDAN
( ? -1897)
Military Chaplain and Patriot
Military chaplain, champion of Filipinism, and patriot, Fr. Pedro Dandan y Masangkay was born in Palanyag, Rizal (now Parañaque, Metro Manila). Charged with involvement in the Cavite Mutiny, he was one of the native clerics arrested by Governor General Izquierdo on January 21, 1872. He was exiled to the Marianas on board the boat, Flores de Maria, on March 14, 1872.
Upon his return from exile, Father Dandan served as assistant to the chief cantor and archbishop coadjutor at the Manila Cathedral, 1895-1896. Determined to pursue his interrupted fight for his country and people’s freedom from colonial rule, he served as chaplain to the Katipunan soldiers. He joined Gen. Licerio Geronimo’s group in the mountains of Puray, Montalban. He influenced Aguinaldo to pursue the expulsion of the friars as one of the conditions during the negotiation of the Pact of Biak-na-Bato in 1897. Then, he was elected president of the departmental government of Central Luzon, comprising Manila, Morong (Rizal), Bulacan, Laguna, Nueva Ecija, Bataan, Tarlac, and Pangasinan. He also joined General Riego de Dios and Crispulo Aguinaldo’s groups. He met his tragic death in 1897.
About nine decades after his death, the National Historical Institute installed a marker honoring Father Dandan at the St. Andrew Parish Compound in Parañaque, Metro Manila on March 4, 1984.
References:
Historical Marker at St. Andrew Parish Compound, Parañaque, Metro Manila, installed on March 4, 1984.
Villaroel Fidel. The Dominicans and the Philippine Revolution 1896-1903. University of the Santo Tomas Publishing House, 1999.
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