Draft:Pablo Astilla

On July 20, 1898, Astilla led the Infanta Katipuneros in an attack against Spanish forces, resulting in their surrender.

{{cite web

| title=Infanta, Quezon History

| url=https://www.infanta.gov.ph/about#history

| publisher=Municipality of Infanta

| access-date=June 12, 2025}}

This victory marked the end of Spanish colonial rule at Distrito de La Infanta.

{{blockquote| In Binangonan and the Government house of the District of the Infanta, on the 30th of June, 1900, before me Sr. Pablo Astilla. Politico-Military Governor of the same appeared the Lieut.-Col, commanding the provincial batallion of Laguna and Captain Treasurer of the Politico-Military Headquarters of the same. Sres. Fidel Sario Ángeles, and Mariano Elbo, commissioned by the Brigadier Gen'l Sr. Juan Cailles according to the annexed communication to receive or collect the funds which the Adjutant of Gen. Paua, 1st Lt. Sr. Lucio Nocon, is conveying for our Government from Camarines, which commissioners, after the presentation of their signatures, conferred with the said adjutant regarding the intention of the said Commissioners, showing furthermore the Imperative necessity of the withdrawal of said funds for the alleviation, at least in part, of the affliction of the suffering forces of Laguna who have received no pay or gratuity of any kind for the past six months, and in addition, are at the present time almost shirtless from the continuous military operations in which they have been engaged, and the bitter privations of the mountain life to which they have been in consequence subjected by the hardships of the campaign, so as to avoid perhaps the inevitable demoralization of said forces on account of the complete lack of resources at the aforementioned headquarters to meet the necessities alluded to; and notwithstanding that these facts were represented by me, the Governor, apart from the humanitarian and patriotic sentiments which should be considered, in view of the destitute condition of the soldiers and the danger in this locality of said funds being taken by the American invaders..." - (P.I.R.), SD 294.9

|publisher=NLP }} }}''

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| footer = Philippine Insurgent Record (P.I.R.), SD 294.9

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On August 6, 1900, General Juan Cailles wrote a correspondence to Pablo Astilla, requesting him to join forces and launch a coordinated attack against the advancing American troops in Laguna.

{{cite document

|last=Cailles

|first=Juan

|date=August 6, 1900

|title=Philippine Insurgent Records (PIR), SD941.3

|language= Spanish

|location=National Library of the Philippines

|publisher=NLP }}

{{cite report

|last=Taylor

|first=John R. M.

|title=Philippine Insurrection against the United States

|url=https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QHV-53LG-YYL7?cat=478954&i=453&lang=en |work= |location=Washington D.C. |publisher= Bureau of Insular Affairs, War Department |access-date=June 16, 2025 |at=Film # 008888142, Image 454 of 531}}

Responding to this call, on September 14, 1900, Astilla led the Binangonan de Lampon (Infanta) column

{{cite book |author= Rhina Alvero- Boncocan and Dwight David A. Diestro |title=Nineteenth Century Conditions and The Revolution in The Province of Laguna |date=2002 | url=https://www.scribd.com/document/663359010/Nineteenth-Century-Conditions-and-the-Revolution-in-the-Province-of-Laguna |publisher=University of the Philippines, Center for Integrative and Development Studies |page= |isbn= 9789717420776 |access-date= June 10, 2025}}

into Mabitac, Laguna, where he joined forces with General Juan Cailles. On September 17, 1900, their combined forces—along with the Baybay column— engaged and defeated the invading American troops commanded by Colonel Benjamin F. Cheatham, Jr. in the Battle of Mabitac.

{{cite report |author= Report of the Lieutenant-General Commanding the Army, Part 3 |date= 1901 |title= Annual Reports of the War Department for the Fiscal Year Ended June 30, 1901 |url= https://play.google.com/store/books/details?id=V7hnMRW07hAC |publisher=WASHINGTON: Government Printing Office |access-date=June 15, 2025}}

Following the American defeat at Mabitac, on September 21, 1900, General Robert H. Hall was ordered to launch an expedition to assert control over rebel-held territories in the Infanta District. As part of this campaign, on October 9, 1900, American forces under his command occupied the town of Binangonan de Lampon, then the district capital (now part of Quezon Province).

{{cite report |author= Annual Report of the War Department, Part 3 |date= 1901 |title= Annual Reports of the War Department for the Fiscal Year Ended June 30, 1901 |url= https://books.google.com/books/about/Report_of_the_Secretary_of_War_which_Acc.html?id=9m4XskmqsD0C#v=onepage&q=robert%20hall%20binangonan&f=false |work= |location= |publisher=WASHINGTON: Government Printing Office |access-date=June 15, 2025 |page=297-305}}

In response, the Infanta revolutionary forces led by Colonel Pablo Astilla withdrew to the mountainous interior of the district, where they continued to mount guerilla resistance against American control. For his leadership and defiance, Colonel Astilla was dubbed the "Insurgent Governor" of Infanta.

{{cite report |author= Report of the Lieutenant-General Commanding the Army, Part 3 |date= 1901 |title= Annual Reports of the War Department for the Fiscal Year Ended June 30, 1901 |url= https://play.google.com/store/books/details?id=V7hnMRW07hAC |publisher=WASHINGTON: Government Printing Office |access-date=June 15, 2025}}

However, on November 23, 1900, Astilla’s forces suffered a significant defeat when American troops under Captain Freemont attacked the revolutionary headquarters at San Cristobal, a remote mountain area of Infanta. The assault disrupted local resistance, though it did not entirely extinguish the revolutionary movement in the region.

{{cite report |author= Report of the Lieutenant-General Commanding the Army (In Four Parts), Part 2 |date= 1901 |title= Annual Reports of the War Department for the Fiscal Year Ended June 30, 1901 |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=pbdlOC7o1BQC |work= |location= |publisher=WASHINGTON: Government Printing Office |access-date=June 15, 2025}}

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On May 5, 1901, Colonel Pablo Astilla was captured by American forces. His arrest drew significant attention due to the sizable number of men under his command and the large cache of war supplies found in his possession.

{{cite report |author= Report of the Lieutenant-General Commanding the Army |date= 1901 |title= Report of the Secretary of War, which Accompanied the Annual Message of the President of the United States, to Both Houses of the Congress |volume=1, Part 4 |url=https://play.google.com/store/books/details?id=pbdlOC7o1BQC |work= |location= |publisher=WASHINGTON: Government Printing Office |access-date=June 15, 2025}}

{{cite news

|date=

|title= El Comercio (Manila. 1869). 21/5/1901

|url= https://hemerotecadigital.bne.es/hd/en/viewer?id=7e37cb35-2cfb-436d-b12f-b530ca1016e8&page=3

|work=

|location=

|publisher=

|access-date=June 16, 2025}}

Before joining the revolutionary movement, he served as Gobernadorcillo of Binangonan de Lampon (now Infanta, Quezon) from 1896 to 1897.

{{cite news |title=Anuario del comercio, de la industria, de la magistratura y de la administración. 1898, # 2 |url=https://hemerotecadigital.bne.es/hd/en/viewer?id=0966b973-ca73-4c49-ae7f-26bd0a0ff2f4&page=4 |website=Hemeroteca Digital. Biblioteca Nacional de España |access-date=8 June 2025 |page=4}}

Under the Revolutionary Government, he was appointed Politico-Military Governor of District of Infanta. During Philippine-American War, he led the Infanta resistance against the invading American forces.

{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-5WOrmt_VxcC&q=Astilla|title=The U.S. Army and Counterinsurgency in the Philippine War, 1899-1902|first=Brian McAllister|last=Linn|date=December 1, 2000|publisher=UNC Press Books|isbn=978-0-8078-4948-4 |via=Google Books}}

Image:Exhibit461.jpg

After the war, Colonel Pablo Astilla continued his public service as the Town President of Infanta from 1908 to 1910. Later, he represented Infanta as a delegate to the 1935 Constitutional Assembly.{{cite conference | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uI3RAAAAMAAJ | title=Our Delegates to the Constitutional Assembly: English-Spanish | date=1935 | publisher=Benipayo Press }}

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