The National Historical Commission of the Philippines (NHCP) issued a resolution correcting the birth date of Filipino painter Juan Luna. He is the man behind the masterpieces Spoliarium, which can now be viewed at the National Museum of Fine Arts; The Parisian Life, 1892; and La Bulaquena, 1895, among others.
According to NHCP Board Resolution No. 18, Series of 2023, the historical marker of Juan Luna in his hometown in Badoc, Ilocos Norte, and in Intramuros, Manila, encrypted his date of birth as “24 October 1857,” while “23 October 1857" at San Agustin Church in Intramuros.
“Details of Luna’s baptismal record in Badoc Church, preserved in the visto bueno (certificate of good moral character) issued by Fr. Ricardo Alonso, Parish Priest of Badoc, on 18 January 1898 found in bundle 2 of Juan Luna y Tavera (SDS 23705) of the National Archives of the Philippines, state that the hero was three days old when he was baptized on 27 October 187 by Fr. Sebastian Diez, Parish Priest of Sinait, Ilocos Norte and the one who officiated the baptism on that day in Badoc '' the resolution wrote.
On December 7, 1886, Luna signed his marriage certificate. The Deed No. 942 of the 1886 Marriage Register in Les Achieved de Paris says that Luna was born on 24 October 1857.
“As a matter of historical methodology, the NHCP acknowledges the baptismal record as a tool for ascertaining one’s date of birth before the introduction of the birth certificate in the 20th century, along with the nuance of reading it, thus, hereby acknowledges the date 25 October 1857 as the date of birth of Luna, rather than the hero’s claim about his date of birth in his marriage certificate on 7 December 1886, considering the fallibility of memory” the resolution further wrote.
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