When Filipino forces led by Emilio Aguinaldo liberated all of Cavite from Spanish control by the end of May 1898, the nearby provinces including Laguna were set to be next.

Just a year before, disgusted and disillusioned with the death of his brother, Paciano Rizal joined the revolutionary movement and was subsequently appointed by Aguinaldo as brigadier general and was elected Secretary of Finance in the Departmental Government of Central Luzon.

His efforts paid off when he captured his hometown Calamba with his army, and with reinforcements forthcoming he soon set his sights on the provincial capital of Santa Cruz, the last town in Laguna still remaining in Spanish control.

[1]: 430  Meanwhile, Santa Cruz was defended by a detachment of 700 cazadores marksmen led by Lieutenant Colonel Mariano Albertí Leonés, with the provincial governor Don Antonio del Rio assisting them.

The Spanish garrison only surrendered to the besiegers on August 30 once their commanders realized that further resistance was futile especially with the Philippine provisional revolutionary government in control of all provinces across the islands save for Manila.