The annual commemoration of the death of local hero Apolinario de la Cruz, more popularly known as Hermano Puli, scheduled for Tuesday, Nov. 4, at his shrine along the Maharlika Highway in Tayabas City, was canceled due to bad weather.
‘Due to inclement weather, the scheduled program at the Hermano Puli shrine has been canceled. It will instead be held as a Holy Mass at the Minor Basilica of St. Michael the Archangel in Tayabas City,’ the Quezon provincial government announced in an advisory in Filipino posted on Facebook Monday morning.
Authorities urged participants to attend the commemorative mass at the new venue.
‘Let us continue to unite and take part in this historic commemoration as a tribute to Hermano Puli,’ the provincial government said.
Only members of the Armed Forces of the Philippines-Southern Luzon Command based in Camp Nakar, Lucena City, were to conduct the traditional wreath-laying ceremony at the De la Cruz monument in Barangay Isabang, Tayabas City.
Malacañang earlier declared Nov. 4 a special non-working holiday in Quezon province to mark the 184th death anniversary of Hermano Puli.
Each year, local government leaders, military and police officials, and civic groups gather to offer flowers at De la Cruz monuments in Tayabas City and Lucban town.
Apolinario de la Cruz was born on July 22, 1815, in Lucban town. Aspiring to be a priest, he was rejected by Spanish friars because he was a native ‘indio’.
At 17, he founded the Cofradía de San José, a religious brotherhood that drew thousands of followers from Tayabas and nearby provinces, including Laguna, Batangas, Cavite, and parts of Bicol.
Spanish authorities branded the movement as subversive, forcing De la Cruz and his followers to go into hiding.
On Nov. 1, 1841, Spanish soldiers attacked their stronghold. De la Cruz was later captured and executed on Nov. 4 in Tayabas.
His body was cut into pieces, and his head was displayed on a pole to serve as a warning to his followers.
Historians say De la Cruz’s defiance and martyrdom inspired the later nationalist awakening that led to the martyrdom of priests Mariano Gómez, José Burgos, and Jacinto Zamora – whose deaths further ignited the Filipinos’ fight for freedom from Spanish rule