CRISANTO
(1828 – 1895)
Together with farmers
Gomes, Burgos, and Zamora, Crisanto Delos Reyes and his close friends Inocencio
and Enrique Paraiso were charged as the principal “instigators and accomplices
in the rebellion” of the Filipino soldiers at the Cavite Arsenal. Their hurried
trial by the Consejo de Guerra or military tribunal culminated on
De los Reyes was a native
of Quiapo,
At a young age, Crisanto
had shown an inclination for business. He had started as a tenedor de libros
and his small income enabled him to become financially independent. He ventured
into business by buying scrap metal from sunken ships and, after reconditioning
them, he would sell them for a tidy profit. As his business prospered, he
acquired a piece of land located at #7 Plaza de Servantes, Binondo, near the
corner of Calle Analogue (now Juan Luna Street) near the Pasig river where he
built a warehouse which he proudly called “ La Industria”. He became a docked
at the
Crisanto and his siblings
had equally divided their inheritance which was the tile and brick factory left
by their father, Gregorio. However, his sister, Dominga asked her brother
Apolinario, to administer her share of business. Eventually, Apolinario who had
always been frail and ill to run her sister’s share, asked Crisanto to manage
the entire enterprise. Under Crisanto’s expert management the business
prospered.
Aside from the business,
Crisanto also owned a farm located at Calle Mendoza, Quiapo (known then as
Barrio looban). He constructed a small house and supervised the extraction of
essential oils from the fragrant Ilang- ilang flowers, which he exported to
Because of sad experiences
during his early years, De los Reyes developed a deep aversion to any form of
oppression. He did not fear the Spaniards, rather he despised their persecution
and exploitation of Filipinos, especially the defenseless poor. In his clan, he
started the honored tradition of not having the children spanked, except if
they abused the servants and the underprivileged. He was one of the first
Filipinos to join the Masonry, then a secret society sworn to opposed all types
of tyranny, especially its Pandacan Lodge. He was actually a generous
contributor to any organization, which promoted welfare of discriminated
groups, such as the Filipino secular clergy, and most probably, the underpaid
soldiers of
In 1850, he married;
Dorotea de los Reyes and by her, sired four children who reached the age of
maturity: Juana born in 1855; Escolastica born in 1858; Manuel born in 1866;
and, Teodoro born in 1867. When he served his exile, Dorotea was left alone to
take care of the family businesses as well as their children. Her repeated
please for her husband’s pardon fell on deaf ears.
From the Bilibid prison, De
los Reyes, Inocencio, Paraiso and two other Filipinos, all in heavy chains,
were put aboard Spanish frigate Chica on February 18,1872 enroute to Spain. The
condemned reached the Port of
In the meantime, a royal
order on November 1874 granted a general pardon to the Filipino deportees in
De los Reyes tarried in
His tireless wife died in
1888.Juana, his favorite daughter, followed her to the grave in 1892. heart
broken by her death, he soon withdrew from the active management of his
business, leaving it to his son, Teodoro. His health gradually deteriorated,
and he died quietly in
When the revolution broke
out the following year, de los Reyes
named in emerge again as one of the foremost contributor to the patriotic cost.
Soldiers were dispatched to his residence and arrest him, without knowing that
he had already died. Inocencio, his loyal friend, did not elude similar
dragnet. At the age of sixty three, he was executed as one of the thirteen
martyrs of
De los Reyes remains buried
beneath the hallowed floor of the
Ruby Ann Vergara