Domingo Abella has a monument in his honor at the town plaza of Naga, Camarines Sur. At 25, he was the youngest of the fifteen martyrs of Bicolandia. He was born in Nueva Caceres (now Naga City) of an affluent family. His father, Manuel, a landowner and businessman, was executed with him at Bagumbayan.
Endowed with a handsome complexion and taller than most of the Filipinos of his day, he excelled both in mental and physical activities. Because of his stature, he was the envy of the Spanish male populace. He was versatile in fencing, sipa, amis, horseback riding and other sports. Domingo, a bright man, was a surveyor by profession.
When the Katipunan raised the call for revolution, the young Abella attended secret meetings in Nueva Caceres to discuss ways and means of supporting the movement. He was active in recruiting Negritoes from Mount Isarog.
When his political activities became known to the Spanish authorities, an order of his arrest was issued and young Abella was included among those accused of rebellion and the plan to assassinate all the Spaniards in Nueva Caceres. Despite the insufficiency of evidence, Domingo and his co-accused boarded the ship Isarog and were brought to Manila in chains in September of 1896. Taken to Fort Santiago, Domingo was locked up in a filthy cell where he was whipped, insulted and buffeted by the Spanish soldiers. In a nearby cell, another political prisoner, Jose Rizal, was awaiting trial.
On the 29th of December, a military commission tried the case against the Bikolrebels. It was alleged that Domingo aided Florencio Lerma, the disputed leader of the movement was said to have received a shipment of arms from Tomas Prieto of Cavite. The shipment, however, could not be located. The arms. it was alleged, were to be used in the planned general massacre of Spaniards. The military court promptly found all the accused guilty of rebellion, a crime punishable by death in accordance with article 230 of the Spanish Penal Code.
On January 4, 1897, the sentence was carried out. Domingo, together with his father and the other Bikol martyrs, faced the firing squad in Bagumbayan, just five days after Jose Rizal was martyred.
Endowed with a handsome complexion and taller than most of the Filipinos of his day, he excelled both in mental and physical activities. Because of his stature, he was the envy of the Spanish male populace. He was versatile in fencing, sipa, amis, horseback riding and other sports. Domingo, a bright man, was a surveyor by profession.
When the Katipunan raised the call for revolution, the young Abella attended secret meetings in Nueva Caceres to discuss ways and means of supporting the movement. He was active in recruiting Negritoes from Mount Isarog.
When his political activities became known to the Spanish authorities, an order of his arrest was issued and young Abella was included among those accused of rebellion and the plan to assassinate all the Spaniards in Nueva Caceres. Despite the insufficiency of evidence, Domingo and his co-accused boarded the ship Isarog and were brought to Manila in chains in September of 1896. Taken to Fort Santiago, Domingo was locked up in a filthy cell where he was whipped, insulted and buffeted by the Spanish soldiers. In a nearby cell, another political prisoner, Jose Rizal, was awaiting trial.
On the 29th of December, a military commission tried the case against the Bikolrebels. It was alleged that Domingo aided Florencio Lerma, the disputed leader of the movement was said to have received a shipment of arms from Tomas Prieto of Cavite. The shipment, however, could not be located. The arms. it was alleged, were to be used in the planned general massacre of Spaniards. The military court promptly found all the accused guilty of rebellion, a crime punishable by death in accordance with article 230 of the Spanish Penal Code.
On January 4, 1897, the sentence was carried out. Domingo, together with his father and the other Bikol martyrs, faced the firing squad in Bagumbayan, just five days after Jose Rizal was martyred.
