<div class="image-200">
<img loading="lazy" src="https://cdn.kahimyang.com/resources/jose_alejandrino.webp" alt="Jose Alejandrino" />
<div>
(General Jose Alejandrino in old age)
</div>
</div>


General Alejandrino obtained his education initially at the Ateneo Municipal and thereafter, at the University of Santo Tomas where he acquired a 

Bachelor of Arts degree. He pursued his studies in Spain and at the University of Ghent in Belgium, where he distinguished himself and brought honor 

to his country through his superior academic performance. Edilberto Evangelista, another Filipino engineer who also served in the revolutionary army, 

was his schoolmate in Ghent. In July 1895, he graduated with a degree in Chemical Engineering. 



While in Spain, Alejandrino became an active member of the Propaganda Movement which strove to secure political reforms in the Philippines from the 

Spanish government. Together with Eduardo Lete and Dominador Gomez, he joined the editorial staff of La Solidaridad, the mouthpiece of the 

Propagandists. When the Propagandists decided to hold an election for the leadership of the Filipino community in Spain, two groups emerged. 

One in support of Marcelo H. del Pilar was led by Antonio Luna and included Dominador Gomez, Salvador V. del Rosario and Mariano Ponce. The other 

group composed of M. Salvador, Galicano Apacible, B. Roxas and Alejandrino himself, supported Jose Rizal, who eventually won the presidency but gave 

it up in favor of Del Pilar. 


Alejandrino and Rizal who were close friends, were together when the latter had El Filibusterismo, his great sequel to Noli Me Tangere, published. It was Alejandrino who brought the manuscript to the printing press. 

 
On November 21, 1896, several months after the Philippine Revolution broke out, Alejandrino accompanied by Feliciano Jocson, journeyed to Kawit, 

Cavite to seek a meeting with General Aguinaldo. Evangelista his old schoolmate at the University of Ghent, had proposed that they acquire the much-

needed arms for the revolutionaries from either China or Japan. Alejandrino offered to undertake the dangerous mission. When Aguinaldo accepted his 

offer, he proceeded to Hong Kong where he helped organized the Revolutionary Council along with Felipe Agoncillo, Jose Basa, and Mariano Ponce. Much 

later he became part of the Hong Kong Committee, which included Agoncillo and Galicano Apacible who staunchly advocated independence, as opposed to 

the circle led by Jose Basa and Doroteo Cortes, who were for annexing the country to the United States. 

 
From Hong Kong he was able to dispatch to the revolutionaries in the Philippines only dynamites and rifle pistons. Thus, in February 1897, he left 

Hong Kong for Japan to try to acquire more weapons and supplies. 

 
In 1898, he served in the Malolos Congress that was first convoked on September 15 by the revolutionary government. He became a member of two crucial 

committees - the committee on budget, and the committee to draft the Constitution. On September 26, he was given the position of director of 

agriculture and industry of the revolutionary administration. Later, he was designated chief of the engineers of the army by President Aguinaldo. 

 
When the Philippine-American War erupted, he affiliated with Gen. Antonio Luna and his troops. Subsequently, as chief engineer, he directed the 

building of trenches in several areas, including Bulacan and Caloocan. 

 
He rose to the position of brigadier-general, and served as acting Secretary of War. He was also appointed commanding general of the military 

operations in Central Luzon (in place of General Pantaleon Garcia), and military governor of Pampanga, replacing Gen. Maximino Hizon, who had earlier 

been caught by the enemy. By then the beleaguered government of Aguinaldo had been continuously hounded by the pursuing American forces and pushed 

backed to Tarlac. 

 
In September 1899, he headed the three-man commission charged with releasing 13 American prisoners and holding talks with General Otis, the commanding 

general of the American army in the Philippines, on the suspension of hostilities. Lt. Col. Ramon Soriano and Maj. Evaristo Ortiz assisted General 

Alejandrino. Later he also conferred with Gen. Arthur McArthur, who had replaced Otis as chief of the American forces. The two talked on the brutal, 

dehumanizing abuse of Filipino civilians by American soldiers. Meanwhile, the revolutionaries' struggle was being debilitated by cowardly 
Filipinos whom Alejandrino excoriated for treacherously collaborating with the Americans. 

 
In May 1901, after much suffering and the tragic loss of countless comrades in the field, General Alejandrino surrendered in Arayat to General 

Funston. The latter initially refused his offer to surrender and instead had him placed under arrest, demanding that he present a certain American 
Negro named Fagan, who was wanted for desertion. Although he resisted Funston's demand, Alejandrino was released the next day. 

 
In August of the same year, Alejandrino accepted from Governor William H. Taft the position of second city engineer of Manila, but discharged his 

duties for not more than a year. He retired to lead a farmer's life until 1923, when he was designated Senator for Sulu and Mindanao by Governor 

General Leonard Wood. In 1934, he was elected representative of Pampanga's second district to the Constitutional Convention. He was a member of the 

Partido Democrata Nacional which counted among its members Claro M. Recto and Juan Sumulong. He was also one of the founders of the Pan-Orientalist 

Society. 

 
La Senda del Sacrificio, General Alejandrino's account of the Philippine Revolution against Spain and the Philippine-American War, tells the 

story of the noble revolutionaries and the lonely wars, both great and small, that they fought in order to attain the ever-elusive but exalted goal of 

national freedom. 


General Jose Alejandrino died on June 1, 1951. 



<h4>
Source:
</h4>

<ol class="article-sources">
<li>
Larkin, John A. The Pampangans, Colonial Society in a Philippine Province, University of California Press, 1972
</li>
<li>
Gwekoh, Sol. “Hall of Fame,” Manila Times, 1965-1966
</li>
<li>
Cornejo, M.R. Commonwealth Directory of the Philippines, 1939
</li>
<li>
Photo credit: <a href="http://philippineamericanwar.webs.com" class="news_link" target="_blank" title="Photo credit">http://philippineamericanwar.webs.com</a>.
</li>
</ol>

December 1, 1870: Jose Alejandrino was born in Binondo, Manila