Elal Lasola Travel & Photography: Hamtic | Gen. Leandro Fullon National Shrine and Hamtic's Church

Hamtic | Gen. Leandro Fullon National Shrine and Hamtic's Church Antique

The journey for the Manggad Kang Antique or The Treasures of Antique Heritage Tour continues as we arrive to another municipality where the statue of Gen Fullon stands. Hamtic, formerly named as Antique, is the third municipality in the province of Antique, after which the province was named. It is the oldest town and first capital before it was transferred to San Jose de Buenavista.

From Tobias Fornier to Hamtic, Antique, we reached its plaza where the center piece showcase the statue of the gallant Gen Fullon on top of his horse.

With the outbreak of the Philippine Revolution in 1896, Gen Leandro Dullon joined the Katipunan movement under Gen Emilio Aguinaldo. Fullon was appointed commanding general of the expeditionary force to Panay Island particularly to Antique.

He was known to be the gallant and courageous leader of the revolution in Antique, contributing on his high knowledge with tactics and strategies of warfare, and liberating the province from the two colonizers of our country - Spaniards and Americans. Although, for the latter, the country was not altogether successful in doing so.

The monument stands to give honor and recognition to the exemplary performance of Fullon. Celebrated on every 13th of March is a yearly reminder of their hero's valiant acts and declared as a special holiday in the municipality of Hamtic.

Just a few meters from the plaza, like most towns in the Philippines due to Spanish colonization, is the church of Hamtic. We roamed around the church and found new cute friends who were playing in the church's ground.

Less than a kilometer thereafter is the unique cemetery of Hamtic which practically looks like a church from a far but is definitely a cemetery with gravestones engraved on its facade.

Side note: According to history, the first Mayalan settlement in the Philippines was in this harmonious barangay of Malandog, Hamtic. Every Last week of April of the year, the province longs for the Binirayan Festival. Binirayan, from the word “biray” or boat ride, literally means- a place where the boats dock- and this significant occasion of revelry and color depicts the cradle of Antiqueños’ noble heritage.