Background
Basa was born on February 29, 1848, in Cavite, Philippines. He was the fourth among six children of Mariano Basa and Dorotea Esteban.
Basa was born on February 29, 1848, in Cavite, Philippines. He was the fourth among six children of Mariano Basa and Dorotea Esteban.
Roman Basa received his education under Padre Pedro Manalak, a chaplain of an army regiment stationed in Cavite at that time. After that, he studied by himself rather assiduously.
Roman Basa began his career as a second official in the Navy Office, receiving a salary of fifty-eight pesos a month. He was residing on Calle Asuncion while he was employed in the Navy Command. Coming from the same town as he did, Ladislaw Diwa boarded with him. After the founding of the Katipunan by Andres Bonifacio, Teodoro Plata, and Diwa, Basa was informed about the existence and aims of the society. On November 9, 1892, he was initiated into the Katipunan, adopting the symbolic name Liwanag. He became an active agent in the distribution of propaganda literature such as La Solidaridad and Rizal's works which were secretly crypted in demijohns and smuggled into Manila by Eulogio Santiago, a machinist of the boat Don Juan, who made regular weekly trips on the Hong Kong-Manila run. Because of his unusual position in the marine office, such literature was successfully introduced among supporters in Manila and Cavite.
When the Liga Filipina was revived early in 1893 and it was resolved to establish provincial branches, to Diwa and Basa were assigned Cavite province for their sphere of activity. Upon the reorganization of the Katipunan in February 1893, he was elected president of the Supreme Council. It was during his presidency that a woman section of the society was created.
Basa ceased from occupying a responsible position in the Katipunan organization in the subsequent election or formation of the supreme council in the following year. There were three reasons. First, Bonifacio wanted Basa's son, Lucio, initiated into the Katipunan, but Basa never subscribed to the idea, for the reason that his son was young, although he was already performing courier work for the society and the propaganda. Second, Basa wanted to do away with the tedious procedure of initiation, which Bonifacio never wanted to give up. And third, Basa was over-zealous in the way of expanding the money of the Katipunan, and never liked what he thought was over-spending of the part of the Supremo. He asserted that the money collected coming as it did from the lifeblood of the members at so much sacrifice should be preserved and kept intact as much as possible for the future objectives of the society.
Either from seized Katipunan papers or from the testimony of members, Basa's connection became known. He was arrested in September 1896, thrown into prison, and together with other martyrs shot on the Bagumbayan field in the following year.
Roman Basa has two children, Cristina and Lucio, from Josefa Inocencio.
Deodato Arellano was a Filipino propagandist. He is particularly known as the first president of the Katipunan, a Philippine revolutionary society.
Ladislaw Diwa was a Filipino revolutionary. He was the co-founder of the Katipunan, a Philippine revolutionary society.
