Agapito Conchu

Background

Agapito Conchu was born on August 18, 1860, in Guagua, Pampanga, Philippines. He was the son of Saturnino Conchu and Nemesia Hocson. He had two brothers.

Education

Agapito Conchu and his brothers were orphaned by their aunt and brought to Manila where Agapito Conchu attended school. He obtained a Bachelor of Arts degree from the Ateneo de Manila (now Ateneo de Manila University).

Career

Agapito Conchu began to earn a living by working in the printing shop of Salvador Chofre where he learned the printing craft and became skilled in lithographic work. It is not known where he learned music but occasionally he played the organ in the Binondo Church or directed an orchestra for he played the violin well enough and also other string instruments, the piano, and the organ. He worked for Chofre for quite a number of years until he was greeted one morning with a bad joke by his employer: "The friar is coming." He resented the allusion very much, for he worked hard until past working hours into the evening when everyone else was gone and he came to the shop early every morning. The proprietor regretted the uncalled-for remark afterward, but no amount of apology could bring Conchu back and he lost one of the most competent workers in his shop.

Conchu moved to Cavite sometime in 1890. After setting up a photographic studio close to the drug store of Victoriano Luciano which he named Foto-Litografia Moderna de A. Conchu, his wife, Isabel Basa, joined him. He also taught young children, including the daughter of the governor, to add to his income which was small in the beginning. Subsequently, upon the death of maestro Agapito Escacio, he succeeded Escacio as a teacher in the public school of primary education. He taught the children more music than the curricular requirement and organized a juvenile orchestra which entertained the town on occasions. Besides this musical group of young people, he also organized an orchestra composed of adults which came to be known as La Compania del Trueno where Conchu played the violin. This orchestra was directed by Julian Felipe.

Conchu had a love for merrymaking and the fine arts in all its manifestations: he assisted with music in the midnight masses. He sometimes played the violin or sang in the choir of Puerta Vaga Church. He lent his hand in painting the reredos of San Pedro Church. He also composed music, one of which was dedicated to his daughter, a pianist.

Later Conchu resigned from his teaching job in order to devote his full time to the more lucrative business of photography with which the people had come to associate his name in the province. Occasionally he accepted painting jobs - drop curtains for theaters or dramatic companies. He exhibited pictures and paintings in the Exposicion Regional de Cavite in 1892. Besides these kindred occupations, he maintained a small lithographic and printing shop, using a Minerva press, where V. Luciano’s labels, the packets of cigarettes, etc., were made in colors.

Upon the arrest of Alfonso de Ocampo on September 3, 1896, Conchu was named as one of the leaders of the local revolutionary group, although it is not definitely known that he was a member of the Katipunan. After his arrest, he was included among the thirteen charged of rebellion, of which the court-martial found them all guilty. All the thirteen were executed by gunfire. Conchu, believed to be the most innocent among them all, fainted after he was confessed, and never regained consciousness so that he had to be held in position to receive the fatal bullets.

Achievements

• Agapito Conchu was one of the most interesting and loved figures of his time - he was a gifted teacher, musician, photographer. In 1892, he exhibited pictures and paintings in the Exposicion Regional de Cavite for which he received a silver medal and a diploma of honor. However, he is best known as one of the Thirteen Martyrs of Cavite, Filipino patriots in Cavite, Philippines who were executed by musketry on September 12, 1896, for cooperating with the Katipunan during the Philippine Revolution against Spain.
  
  

Connections

Agapito Conchu was married to Isabel Basa by whom he had nine children. Isabel, extremely affected by his death, died while delivering a premature child (who also later died) on October 20, 1896.

Father:

Saturnino Conchu

Mother:

Nemesia Hocson

Wife:

Isabel Basa

References

• Dictionary of Philippine Biography
  1970