Melchora Aquino
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Melchora Aquino (January 6, 1812 - March 2, 1919) was a Filipino revolutionary who became known as "Tandang Sora" ("Tandang" is derived from the Tagalog word matanda, which means old) in Philippines history because she was already old when the Philippine Revolution broke out in 1896.
She had never gone to school and very little is known about her parents. What is known is that they were a hardworking peasant couple named Juan Aquino and Valentina Aquino. She was apparently literate at an early age and talented as a singer performing at local events as well as at Mass. Her husband, Fulgencio Ramos, died when their youngest child was seven. This left her as a single parent of seven kids.
She operated a store in her native country, and her business became a refuge for the sick and wounded revolutionaries, whom the old lady fed, treated and encouraged with motherly advice and prayers. Secret meetings of the Katipuneros (revolutionaries) were also held at her house. Thus, she was aptly called the "Mother of the Katipunan" or revolution. When the Spaniards learned about her activities, she was arrested and deported to the Mariana Islands.
After the United States took control of the Philippines in 1898, Aquino, like other exiles, returned to live there until her death at the age of 107. Her remains lie at her own backyard, now developed as a public cemetery called the Himlayang Pilipino.
As a token of graditude to the Filipinos, a Quezon City district and a road was named after her.