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ILOILO CITY, Philippines – Kept from the public view for over a century in a quiet ancestral home in Antique, a heirloom flag, and a note at the back of a 1967 photograph are now raising questions, and could upend the long-accepted story of where and when the Philippine flag was first raised outside Luzon.
The weathered flag has been found in Antique province, which is believed to be the first site outside Luzon where the national flag was flown during the Philippine revolution against Spanish colonizers. The find, along with the note on an old photo, suggest that Antique, not Santa Barbara in Iloilo, may have been the first Visayan site where the flag was raised during that period.
Descendants of Colonel Ruperto Gorero Abellon, a cousin and deputy of General Leandro Fullon, recently unveiled the flag. It was supposedly raised by Fullon in Antique on September 21, 1898, about two months before the Philippine flag-raising in Santa Barbara, Iloilo, on November 17, 1898.
A Katipunero, Fullon established the revolutionary government in Antique, and later became the province’s first Filipino governor.
Records show that Fullon hoisted the flag in what is now known as Libertad town in Antique, after arriving with expeditionary forces sent by General Emilio Aguinaldo to Panay Island. Inyawan is now known as Libertad.
Antiqueño history professor Edbert Cabrillos told Rappler that Norma Furio Abellon, Ruperto’s granddaughter, informed newly elected Antique provincial board member Errol Santillan that she had kept the original flag in their ancestral home in San Jose de Buenavista.
Norma’s father, Juan Abellon, passed down the flag and was instructed to keep it safe, according to Cabrillos.
Santillan, a close friend of Cabrillos, has called on other historians in the province to look into Norma’s claim.
The over a century-old flag, measuring 53 inches wide and 93 inches long, is about 80% intact, though visibly aged and fragile.
“This cultural material, which is the flag, it’s a bit rotted,” Cabrillos said.
Cabrillos said they also found a 5″x7″ photograph of Juan Abellon holding the same flag during a June 12, 1967, Independence Day event in San Jose, Antique. The image, which had circulated for years on the Facebook group “Nostalgic Hantique,” was developed at Santillan’s Studio, a well-known photography hub at the time.
“I had goosebumps when I finally held in my hand the 5″x7″ photograph,” Santillan shared in a Facebook post.
Santillan recalled seeing the same photo at home years ago. It was taken by his father, who was a sought-after photographer at the time.
At the back of the photograph was a handwritten note confirming the artifact’s significance. Santillan said it was his father’s handwriting.
“This flag is the very original one planted by Gen. Fullon in his 1st expeditionary forces on the shore of Libertad (then Angyawan) Antique, on September 21, 1898,” the note, written in cursive, read. “This was preserved by Col. Ruperto G. Abellon, second-in-command to his 2nd cousin Gen. Fullon and handed [it] down to his son, Juan Abellon.”
“Juan is here shown exhibiting and explaining the history during his speech in the plaza of San Jose on June 12, 1967, Independence Day Anniversary,” the note added.
A sense of pride
The weathered flag and a handwritten note challenge the established account that the Philippine flag was first raised in the Visayas on November 17, 1898, during the “Cry of Santa Barbara” in Iloilo, when General Martin Teofilo Delgado led the formal launch of the Revolutionary Government of the Visayas.
If proven, Cabrillos said, this would be a source of great pride for the people of Antique and highlight the region’s contribution to national history.
“This could result in a renewed sense of pride and identity among Antiqueños, especially in Libertad and heritage conservation,” he said.
Cabrillos emphasized that “this does not diminish the importance of Santa Barbara’s role, it rather enriches our understanding of the broader revolutionary movement across the islands.”
Not enough proof
But Ilonggo historian Jose Nereo Lujan said challenging the long-established historical significance of Santa Barbara requires more than oral accounts and watermarked photographs.
“It demands documentation: dispatches, revolutionary records, military orders, contemporary newspapers. As stirring as the Santillan photograph is, it cannot stand alone as conclusive evidence – not yet. But that doesn’t make it less valuable,” he said in a Facebook post.
Lujan said that reexamining Santa Barbara’s place in history would not undermine its role in the revolution but would add depth to the broader narrative.
“[It reminds] us that the fight for independence surged not from one center, but from many shores,” he added.
While the evidence currently hinges on a physical flag, anecdotal accounts, and a handwritten note, Cabrillos said a rigorous historical verification is underway.
He added that a team from Antique would seek support from the local government and national agencies for history and culture for the artifact’s preservation. – Rappler.com
