Aurelio Tolentino

Tolentino was born in Santo Cristo, Guagua, Pampanga, he was the third and youngest child of Leonardo Tolentino and Patrona Valenzuela. Tolentino, in his autobiography, described his life as "poor and unhappy". He stopped his education after his father's death. Later in his life, Aurelio Tolentino moved to Tondo, Manila, where he became a court desk official in 1896. Confusion on his birth date Much has been written about Aurelio Tolentino, but the exact date of his birth is unclear. Written literature of him in the early 1980s state October 15, 1875, while literature during the 1970s suggest October 13, 1867. The National Historical Commission used the 1970s birth date during his 150th birthday in 2017 at Guagua. Historian Ambeth Ocampo claimed Tolentino was born on October 15, 1869, citing an unpublished autobiography in 1908, and died in July 1915. ==Later career==

, Daclat Cayanacan Town hall in 2017. Philippine Revolution In Tondo, he met Andres Bonifacio, one of the founders of Katipunan and eventual leader of the Philippine revolution against Spain. Tolentino would eventually become an early member of the Katipunan. He accompanied Bonifacio in their search for a secret headquarters in the mountains of Morong province (now Rizal) in preparation for the start of the Philippine Revolution. Tolentino was arrested shortly after the start of the war and was detained for nine months. He took part in the revolutionary campaigns of Gen. Vicente Lukban after his release. Arrests during American rule When Spain ceded the Philippines to the United States, Tolentino formed Junta de Amigos, a secret organization composed of former Katipuneros to fight for independence from the Americans. Later, he attempted to reorganize the Revolutionary Army but was unsuccessful, in part due to the surrender of Emilio Aguinaldo. Later, he made connections with some Filipino insurgents and attempted to create a dictatorial revolutionary government where he was elected head. He was later arrested again in June 1904, sentenced to six years in prison, fined over US$5,000 and subjected to hard labor, and released on parole on February 5, 1907. However, he was required to report his activities to American authorities for the next five years. Later years After his release, he continued to write for the theater. Among his later works is Ang Bagong Cristo, a proletarian interpretation of the story of Christ. Some of his Kapampangan works were later translated to Tagalog, thereby reaching a wider audience. Kapampangan works include novels Ing Buac Nang Ester, published in three parts from 1911 to 1915, later translated to Tagalog as Ang Buhok ni Ester. His novel Buhay (1909), which was previously titled as Mutya, was originally written in Kapampangan. Financial difficulties After his first imprisonment in 1896, Tolentino had been suffering financially and made it even more complicated by his arrests in 1903 and 1904. His financial suffering is reflected on his novels. In his work Maring (1913), Maring only received a meager wage as a housemaid from his American employer while in Ang Buhok ni Ester, Gerardo, as an estate administrator, only received a hundred-peso monthly salary which the character considered as generous from his uncle-employer. ==Death==

Tolentino died on July 5, 1915, in Manila. He was buried in the Manila North Cemetery. His remains were transferred to his hometown in Guagua in 1921, where it is interred under a commemorative monument. In 1973, Tolentino's heirs donated volumes of his works to the University of the Philippines Library. A book about his life was published two years later, but full access of his novels were still unavailable. Project Gutenberg digitized some works, making two novels available since 2013. ==In popular culture==

• The Little Theater of the Cultural Center of the Philippines is named after Aurelio Tolentino. • Tolentino was portrayed by Francis Magalona in the 1997 TV series, of ABS-CBN's Bayani • Tolentino was portrayed by VJ Mendoza in the 2013 TV series, Katipunan. • Tolentino's life was the subject of the 2017 rock opera Aurelio Sedisyoso, staged by Tanghalang Pilipino at the Cultural Center of the Philippines. ==References==