Candido iban biography

Candido Iban was the first overseas contract worker from Malinao, diving for pearls in Australia.
Malinao-aklan.gov.ph › history-of-malinao-aklan.
On October 3, 1863, Candido Iban, leader of the Katipunan in the Visayas, was born in Liloan, Malinao, Capiz.

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156 YEARS AGO, CANDIDO IBAN WAS BORN IN LILO-AN, MALINAO, CAPIZ (NOW AKLAN)

One of the powerful historical figures of the country. Born in barangay Lilo-an, Malinao, Capiz on October 3, 1863, he grew up with adventure flowing through his veins. A son of lowly farmers, the young Candido traveled to Iloilo then to Negros and worked as a sugar laborer. Not too long, together with his friend Francisco del Castillo, they headed to Australia and worked as pearl divers. They were considered the first overseas contract workers in Visayas. In the twist of fate, he won a hefty sum in lottery enough to change his decision and return home.

In Manila, he befriended Procopio Bonifacio. Signifying his intention to join the Katipunan, Candido and Francisco were inducted by Andres in Mt. Pamitinan. With a patriotic gesture, Candido put his lottery win into a good cause. He bought the printing press of Bazar El Cisne located at the corner of Carriedo and Avenida Rizal. Their goodwill turned out to be the recruiting machine of epic proportions which printed not only the Kartilya ng Katipunan

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CANDIDO IBAN

One of the XIX Martyrs of Aklan

(October 3, 1863 - March 23, 1897)

Candido Iban, leader of the Katipunan in the Visayas, was born on October 3, 1863 in Liloan, Malinao, Aklan (then part of Capiz).

Candido Iban is considered the first overseas contract worker from Malinao, diving for pearls in Australia. As luck would have it, he won a considerable sum in a lottery and came back to Manila. He was befriended by Procopio Bonifacio, the brother of Andres Bonifacio, and was inducted as a Katipunero by Andres in the caves of Montalban.

Without his selfless & sizeable donation (of his lottery winnings) to the Katipunan, history might have taken a different course -- "The funds were used to buy a printing press that published pivotal propaganda, which in turn enabled the revolutionary movement to explode in membership." (Excerpted from the official tourism book of Aklan, authored by Phillip Yerro Kimpo.)

Eventually, Candido Iban, together with Francisco del Castillo, were sent by Andres Bonifacio to Aklan to organize the Katipunan in the Visayas.

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Candido Iban: The Lottery Winner Who Changed Philippine History

Editor’s note: This work was republished with permission by the Manila Bulletin. This is the original article.

It is said that you’re more likely to get struck by lightning than win a lottery in your lifetime. But that certainly didn’t stop our national hero Jose Rizal from betting on the lottery while in exile at Dapitan. It was, after all, his only vice.

Fortunately, luck was on his side in 1892 when his ticket number 9736 won the second prize, which he shared with two other winners. He then divided the windfall to buy agricultural lands as well as send money to his father and to a friend in Hong Kong.

The event was a mere footnote to his short life, eclipsed by Rizal’s outstanding legacy. A few years later, another Filipino on another side of the world won a relatively smaller amount in the lottery. This time, however, the prize became instrumental in fueling what would turn out to be one of the bloodiest chapters in Philippine history.

From sugar laborer to Malinao’s first ‘OFW’

Born in Lilo-an, Malin