page_title: Antonio Luna
section_title: Propaganda Movement
hierarchical_section_title: Antonio Luna / Propaganda Movement
caption_attribution_description: English: Antonio Luna, Eduardo de Lete and Marcelo H. del Pilar, ca. 1890. (Filipiniana Division, Main Library, University of the Philippines, Diliman)
context_page_description: Antonio Narciso Luna de San Pedro y Novicio Ancheta was a Filipino army general who fought in the Philippine–American War.
  Regarded as one of the fiercest generals of his time, he succeeded Artemio Ricarte as the Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces of the Philippines. He sought to apply his background in military science to the fledgling army. A sharpshooter himself, he organized professional guerrilla soldiers later called the "Luna Sharpshooters" and the "Black Guard". His three-tier defense, now known as the Luna Defense Line, gave the American troops a hard campaign in the provinces north of Manila. This defense line culminated in the creation of a military base in the Cordillera.
  Despite his commitment to discipline the army and serve the Republic which attracted the admiration of people, his temper caused some to abhor him, including people from Aguinaldo's Cabinet. Nevertheless, Luna's efforts were not without recognition during his time, for he was awarded the Philippine Republic Medal in 1899. He was also a member of the Malolos Congress. Besides his military studies, Luna also studied pharmacy, literature and chemistry.
context_section_description: In Spain, he became one of the Filipino expatriates who mounted the Propaganda Movement and wrote for La Solidaridad, headed by Galicano Apacible. He wrote a piece titled Impressions which dealt with Spanish customs and idiosyncrasies under the pen-name "Taga-ilog". Also, like many of the Filipino liberals in Spain, Luna joined the Masonry where he rose to being Master Mason.
  He and his brother Juan also opened the Sala de Armas, a fencing club, in Manila. When he learned of the underground societies that were planning a revolution and was asked to join, he scoffed at the idea and turned down the offer. Like other Filipino émigrés involved in the Reform Movement, he was in favor of reform rather than revolution as the way towards independence. Besides affecting their property, the proponents of the Reform Movement saw that no revolution would succeed without the necessary preparations. Nevertheless, after the existence of the Katipunan was leaked in August 1896, the Luna brothers were arrested and jailed in Fort Santiago for "participating" in the revolution. His statement concerning the revolution was one of the many statements used to abet the laying down of death sentence for José Rizal. Months later, José and Juan were freed but Antonio was exiled to Spain in 1897, where he was imprisoned in Madrid's Cárcel Modelo.
  His more famous and yet controversial brother, Juan, who had been pardoned by the Spanish Queen Regent Maria Christina of Austria herself, left for Spain to use his influence to intercede for Antonio in August 1897. Soon enough, Antonio's case was dismissed by the Military Supreme Court and he was released.
  Luna, repenting for his blunder during the end of the first phase during Philippine Revolution, which ended at the Pact of Biak-na-Bato, then prepared himself for the second phase. Upon his release in December 1897, Luna studied field fortifications, guerrilla warfare, organization, and other aspects of military science under Gerard Leman, who would later be the commanding general of the fortress at Liège. He also read extensively about the discipline when he was at the Ateneo de Madrid. The second phase of the revolution began with the return of Emilio Aguinaldo and the Dictatorial Government of the Philippines by the US Navy to Cavite in 1898. Upon arriving in Hong Kong, he was given a letter of recommendation to Aguinaldo and a revolver by Felipe Agoncillo. He returned to the Philippines in July 1898.
caption: Luna with fellow reformists Eduardo de Lete (center) and Marcelo H. del Pilar (right), Spain, 1890
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