[2] At 24, he was commander-in-chief of the Leyte revolutionary forces, by fate destined to articulate his command's firm resolve to hold fast to their commitment to continue the Filipino resistance against the American occupation of the Philippines at the turn of the 19th century.

The saga of Leyte's little-known heroic stand in the Philippine-American War had its beginning insofar as Peñaranda was concerned when he returned to Barugo after completing his studies in Manila.

Noting the shortage of combatants in his fledgling army, General Mojica closed down all the schools in Leyte and conscripted the able-bodied male students and teachers, among them Schoolmaster Peñaranda, to beef up his command.

Impartial foreign observers at the time were appalled by the savagery of the mismatch and had estimated that the lives of more than million Filipinos had been wasted at the hands of the US military.

Peñaranda and his personnel and a bodyguard of 60 crack riflemen had long moved quickly up the Baybay mountains and there had installed lookouts in well-concealed observation posts.

On June 19, 1902, Commandante Peñaranda and his men were fetched from their mountain hideout by his trusted comrade Captain de Veyra with the written agreement in hand and together they went down and then rendezvoused with thousands of their comrades-in-arms.

At the First Philippine Assembly, Peñaranda was a member of various committees including agriculture, Civil Service, Navigation, and Provincial and Municipal Governments.

He authored and took a leading role in the proposed enactment of laws on agriculture, trade, public instruction, preservation of Philippine sovereignty and protection of its territorial integrity, reduction of the budget, and the removal of unnecessary government agencies and bureaus.