Teresa Magbanua y Ferraris earned the distinction of being the only woman to lead combat troops in the Visayas against Spanish and American forces. Born in Pototan, Iloilo, Philippines on 13 October 1868, to wealthy parents, she earned a teaching degree and taught in her hometown. Having come from a family of revolutionaries, she immediately volunteered her services to the motherland and became an exceptional horseman and marksman. She led a large group of men in the Battle of Barrio Yoting, Capiz in early December 1898. She outfought the Spanish troops at the Battle of Sapong Hills near Sara.
She suffered greatly from the early death of her brothers General Pascual Magbanua and Elias Magbanua, at the hands of traitors.
Fifty years later, her heroism was once again displayed when she helped finance a guerrilla resistance movement by defenders together with the Allied Philippine Commonwealth troops and the Ilonggo guerillas against the Japanese in the Battle for the Liberation of Iloilo.
She died on August, 1947, exact day unknown.
Her famous quote: "The situation in a country at a particular time creates its own breed of heroes and heroines."