Juan Faller Climaco-Cebuano Hero

Juan Faller Climaco was born in 1859 who came from one of the wealthiest families of Cebu in the late Spanish period. In 1880s and 1890s, he served as capitan municipal of Toledo, where his family owned huge landholdings. Juan Climaco's involvement with the KKK & revolution was a bit hazy but he eventually emerged as a well known figure once they had departed.

When the Filipino-American War broke out in Luzon, Luis Flores appointed Climaco as "Chief of Staff" in charge of the war preparations. Climaco together with General Maxilom, refused to surrender Cebu to the Americans (YEAH!) when some provincial leaders decided to set-up their own HQ & revolutionary government in El Pardo.

Problems in governance:
The lack of dependable men for a cohesive army, Climaco and Maxilom also lacked the funds to keep an army intact. They accepted donations from several townspeople and in another attempt to acquire more funds, they issued taxes.

Another problem that they faced was the lack of arms and ammunitions. As early as April 11, 1899, when Mabini wrote Maxilom and congratulated him on his continued effort for resistance, he also mentioned that the revolutionary government of Aguinaldo was unable to send them arms or forces. Even Vicente Lukban from Samar could only give the Cebuano revolutionary force a meager number of 20 rifles and 4,000 cartridges.

What is clear then is that Climaco and Maxilom had to resort to their own resources when it came to organizing the resistance movement in Cebu. Although they put up a good fight, the resistance movement was clearly on the losing end.

They later retreated and moved to Sudlon when they realized they could not openly compete with the superior arms & training of the Americans. Employing Guerilla Warfare, Juan "The Brains of the Resistance" Climaco surrendered to them on September 26, 1901 in Carmen. Together with Maxilom, Climaco was to lead the Cebuano resistance against the Americans. From 1899 until their surrender in 1901.

After the Filipino-American War & Political Life:
But less than a year later, he ran for the governorship of the province against incumbent appointed governonr (by the Americans) Julio Llorente and won. He then was sworn into office around March of 1902. Climaco ran again in February 4, 1904 against Alejandro Ruiz and won a second term as governor.

Under his term, Climaco tackled with the problems of the pulahanes, an irregular, half-organized group with mixed political and religious sentiments that emerged in Cebu and was at its peak in 1902-1905. Through continued efforts to suppress this group, their harassment in the towns were put to an end by 1906.

By the next elections for governorship, Climaco had already decided to no longer run for governor because of his poor health. It was the young and talented, Sergio Osmeña, who succeeded him as governor of Cebu. One year after Climaco left the governorship, he died at the age of 47 on July 16, 1907.

**Update: in 2004, the ancestral home of Gov. Arsenio Climaco, Juan's brother, burned down due perhaps to faulty wiring---and all the memorabilia in it was lost forever..:(

Sources: Some of it HERE and other got it from a recent "Mga Bayani sa Sugbu" Exhibit from the CASA GORORDO MUSEUM, CEBU.