Emilio Aguinaldo's mysterious telegram to Antonio Luna unearthed, up for auction next month

The telegram which could prove the alleged connection of General Emilio Aguinaldo to the death of General Antonio Luna in 1899 has been uncovered, according to Leon gallery curator Lisa Guerrero-Nakpil.

In her Philippine Star column on November 19, Guerrero-Nakpil shared that the controversial telegram, which ordered Luna to go to Cabanatuan, would be put in auction in December at the gallery.

The telegram was unearthed from "his (Luna) son's archive," Guerrero-Nakpil said.

"The mysterious telegram that summoned Gen. Luna to his fatal appointment in Cabanatuan has now been coaxed out of hiding from a private collector’s trove," she said.

"Emilio Aguinaldo is said to have cabled these urgent instructions to his impetuous commandant dressed 'only in an undershirt and shorts,' so disheveled was he from a sleepless night contemplating a monstrous decision."

Guerrero-Nakpil noted that Luna had received the letter on June 4, 1899, while having dinner in Tarlac province.

"Antonio Luna would receive El Presidente’s telegram while having supper in Tarlac on June 4, 1899 and would dash off a reply, unknown until now with the telegram's appearance," Guerrero-Nakpil said.

"'Felipe Buencamino not yet detained based on my accusation,' it says handwritten at the bottom," she added.

It was the day after Luna had obtained the letter that he was killed by troops of Kawit, Cavite.

Historians had expressed different takes on the assassination of Luna.

Dr. Nilo Ocampo of the College of Arts and Letters at UP Diliman previously remarked that Aguinaldo deserves at least some criticism for his handling of Luna's murder, saying that as president, Aguinaldo could have prevented Luna's death.

History lecturer Xiao Chua, on the other hand, had said there was no solid evidence to prove that Aguinaldo was directly involved to Luna's death. —Anna Felicia Bajo/KBK, GMA News