CHAPTER 9

Prelude to American Regime

The Filipinos headed by Emilio Aguinaldo resented the American annexation of
the Philippines as stipulated in the Treaty of Paris of 1898. Being successful in
winning their freedom from the Spanish colonizers, they became more motivated
to defend this freedom at all cost. This desire was manifested by the Filipinos
when they established the Malolos Republic. Soon the Filipinos became
embroiled in a life and death struggle against the Americans, which eventually
led to the dissolution of the First Philippine Republic. This chapter centers on
these developments right after the overthrow of Spanish Regime in the
Philippines.
The First Philippine Republic
The Malolos Congress
By virtue of the Decree of June 18, 1898, Aguinaldo called for the election of
delegates to the revolutionary Congress, which Mabini envisioned to be a mere
advisory body of the president. Thus, in the morning of September 15, 1898, the
historic Malolos Congress was convened by Aguinaldo at Barasoain Church in
Malolos, Bulacan. In his message to the delegates, Aguinaldo gave his due
respect to the people for their patriotism and heroism and briefed them on their
task of writing a constitution for the country.
Before proceeding with its work of drafting a constitution, an election of officers
was held on September 16, 1898. Among those elected were Pedro A. Paterno,
the very same man who mediated the betrayal of the revolution at Biak-na-Bato,
as president; Benito Legarda, as vice president; Gregorio Araneta, as first
secretary, and Pablo Ocampo, as second secretary.
One of the most significant acts of this body, however, was the ratification Of
Fine independence proclaimed in Cavite El Viejo on June 12, 1898.
The Drafting of the Historic Malolos Constitution
The Congress, which Mabini had envisioned to be a mere advisory, not
legislative, body of the president, proposed that a constitution be drafted,
overruling Mabini's objections. He had meritoriously argued that the constitution
had to be framed under peaceful conditions, but he was outvoted by the majority
under Paterno. Mabini's proposed a constitution, which he called Constitutional
Programme of the Philippine Republic was rejected. There were other two
constitutional plans considered by this revolutionary congress the Paterno Plan,
based on the Spanish Constitution; and Calderon Plan, based on the
Constitutions of France, Belgium, Mexico, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Nicaragua and
Brazil Nonetheless, the Calderon Plan was finally used as basis in the drafting the
Malolos Congress after deliberation among the delegates.
More than one month was spent by the delegates in deliberating on the contents
of the Calderon draft. The most controversial provision in this draft was the Union
of the Church and the State. Of course, delegates in this Congress strongly
opposed the proposal of making Catholicism a state religion.
On November 29, 1898, the Malolos Congress approved the constitution.
However, Aguinaldo refused to sign it due to Mabini's objections. When Mabini's
objections were satisfied the Malolos Constitution was promulgated on January
21, 1899, Aguinaldo, finally proclaimed it as the fundamental charter of the land.
The First Philippine Republic
On January 23, 1899, the first Philippine Republic or Malolos Republic was
inaugurated in Malolos, with Aguinaldo as its first president.
The government of the Republic consisted of three branches: executive; judicial:
and legislative. The executive power was vested in the President elected by the
legislature. Assisting the President was a Cabinet, which came to be known as
the Council of the Government.
Legislative power was exercised by the unicameral Assembly of Representatives,
whose members are directly elected by the people. When the law-making body is
not in session. legislative powers of the government were exercised by a
Permanent Commission, consisting of 7 assemblymen.
Judicial power was vested in the Supreme Court of Justice and such other courts
as may be created by law. A chief justice selected by the Assembly of
Representatives heads this branch of government.
Apparently, the law-making body was more powerful than the executive
department. of the Supreme Court. In addition to the foregoing, even the cabinet
secretaries of the This is because it is responsible for electing the President and
selecting the Chief Justice President were accountable to the legislature and not
to the Chief Executive of the land.

The Malolos Republic at Work

Right after the inauguration of the Malolos Republic, the officials of the
government started running its affairs. Of course, there were numerous problems
it tried to address in the process.
Education was one the concerns of the newly-established republic. Many schools
in the country were closed due to the revolution, so Aguinaldo ordered the
opening of these schools. A total budget of P35000 was set aside by the
government to finance the educational needs of the Malolos Republic. Primary
schools were also established. Secondary education was provided by the
government through the Burgos Institute in Malolos. Higher education, on the
other hand was also promoted by the government with the establishment of the
Literary University of the Philippines in October 1898.
To support the operations of the government, the officials retained many taxes
that had been imposed by the colonial government. War tax was imposed on all
Filipinos from the age of 18 to 60. In addition to the foregoing, the government
solicited donations from rich Filipinos and Chinese.
To safeguard the security of the Republic, armed forces were organized on a
regional basis. Each province had its own brigade, regiment or battalion. Before
the outbreak of Filipino-American War, the strength of the Philippine Army was
about 50,000 men. Nonetheless, the army was ill-trained and ill-equipped. There
was no military training for those drafted into the army. Moreover, its
commanders and field officers lacked adequate knowledge of military tactics and
strategies. These weaknesses had a telling effect for the Philippine Army in the
Filipino-American War.

Newspapers of the Revolution

To sustain the spirit of Filipino nationalism, the Malolos Republic established its
own newspaper in September 1898. It came to be called El Heraldo de la
Revolucion. Later on its name was changed to Heraldo Filipino, Indice Official,
and Gaceta Filipina. The said newspaper kept the people posted on all
announcements of the government, the decrees and proclamations of President
Emilio Aguinaldo, and the activities of the Revolutionary Congress.
Privately-owned newspapers also circulated in the Republic. The most famous of
these newspapers was La Independencia, edited by Antonio Luna. Its maiden
issue came out on September 3, 1898. Some of the writers and columnists who
promoted the spirit of Filipino nationalism in their journalistic contribution were:
Cecilio Apostol: Jose Palma Rafael Palma, Fernando Ma. Guerrero; Epifanio de los
Santos, Rosa Sevilla; and Florentina Arellano.
Diplomatic Activities of the First Philippine Republic
While the Philippines had already proclaimed its independence and established
the Malolos Republic, the country did not become a member of the family of
nations. This is because no country in the world recognized the Philippines
despite the diplomatic efforts exerted by the Filipino diplomats like, Felipe
Agoncillo, Mariano Ponce, Faustino Lichauco, Antonio Roxas, Juan Luna, and
Eriberto Zarcal.
It was Felipe Agoncillo who was given the task of persuading the US government
to recognize the Malolos Republic. His efforts proved futile as the United States
then had decided to make the Philippines an American territory. With the
outbreak of the Filipino-American War, Malolos Republic was destined to die its
natural death.
The Filipino-American War
Roots of the Conflict
The Filipinos became suspicious of the true motives of the United States in going
to the Philippines. In fact, they were prevented by the Americans from entering
Manila after its fall. Their suspicions were confirmed by the Treaty of Paris under
which Spain ceded the Philippines to the United States. Felipe Agoncillo,
Aguinaldo's special envoy, was not even given the chance to air the wishes of
the Filipinos by Spain and US at the Paris Peace talks. Suspicion turned to
hostility, and war between the two sides became inevitable. The Filipinos were
outraged when they learned that Spain, which no longer controlled the
Philippines, had ceded the country to the United States.
On December, 21, 1898, President William Mckinley announced his decision to
keep the Philippines as an American colonial possession. This proclamation,
known as Benevolent Assimilation Proclamation, was announced in the
Philippines on January 4, 1899. Through this proclamation, US made clear its
intention of imposing its sovereignty over the Philippines. In the same
proclamation, General Elwell Otis was named the commander of American
ground forces in the Philippines, which was to "extend by force American
sovereignty over this country."

The full text of this proclamation is shown below.

In performing this duty [the extension of American sovereignty throughout the
Philippines by means of force, the military commander of the United States is
enjoined to make known to the inhabitants of the Philippine Islands that in
succeeding to the sovereignty of Spain, in severing the former political relations,
and in establishing a new political power, the authority of the United States is to
be exerted for the securing of the persons and property of the people of the
Islands and for the confirmation of all private rights and relations. It will be the
duty of the commander of the forces of occupation to announce and proclaim in
the most public manner that we come not as invaders or conquerors, but as
friends, to protect the natives in their homes, in their employment, and in their
personal and religious rights. All persons who, either by active aid or by honest
submission, cooperate with the Government of the United States to give effect to
these beneficent purposes will receive the reward of its support and protection.
All others will be brought within the lawful rule we have assumed, with firmness
if need be, but without severity, so far as may be possible....
Finally, it should be the earnest and paramount aim of the military
administration to win the confidence, respect, and affection of the inhabitants of
the Philippines by assuring them in every possible way that full measure of
individual rights and liberties which is the heritage of a free people, and by
assuring them in every possible way that full measure of individual rights and
liberties which is the heritage of a free people, and by proving to them that the
mission of the United States is one of the benevolent assimilation, substituting
the mild sway of justice and right for arbitrary rule. In the fulfilment of this high
mission, supporting the temperate administration of affairs for the greatest good
of the governed, there must be sedulously maintained the strong arm of
authority, to repress disturbance and to overcome all obstacles to the bestowal
of the blessings of good and stable government upon the people of the Philippine
Islands under the flag of the United States.
On January 5, 1899, Aguinaldo issued a counter-proclamation. He warned that his
government was prepared to fight any American attempt to forcibly take over
the country. A portion of this counter-proclamation is presented below.
My government cannot remain indifferent in view of such a violent and
aggressive seizure of a portion of its territory by a nation, which arrogated itself
the title of champion of oppressed nations. Thus, it is that my government is
disposed to open hostilities if the American troops attempt to take forcible
possessions of the Visayan Islands. I denounce these acts before the world, in
order that the conscience of mankind may pronounce its infallible verdict as who
are the true oppressors of nations and the tormentors of mankind....
The foregoing proclamation sounded like a declaration of war to the American
military although Aguinaldo had no wish to get into a war with the United States.
He knew the war would only cause untold suffering to the Filipino people. He was
still hopeful that the situation could be saved by peaceful negotiations between
him and the American military leaders in the Philippines. Aguinaldo wrote
General Elwell 5. Otis calling for peaceful negotiations. Aguinaldo's offer was
ignored as Americans wanted to use the Philippines to develop business in Asia,
to provide naval and military bases and to open it to Protestant missionaries.
The Outbreak of the War
The tension between the Americans and the Filipinos precipitated to an
inevitable war. On the night of February 4, 1899, an American sentry, Private
William W. Grayson, with another soldier, encountered three armed Filipinos on a
bridge in San Juan del Monte near Manila.
Recalling the incident, Grayson said:
About eight o'clock, Miller and I were cautiously pacing our district. We came to
a fence and were trying to see what the Filipinos were up to. Suddenly, near at
hand, on our left, there was a low but unmistakable Filipino outpost signal
whistle. It wat immediately answered by a similar whistle about twenty-five
yards to the right. Then a red lantern flashed a signal from blockhouse number
7. We had never seen such a sign used before. In a moment, something rose up
slowly in front of us. It was a Filipino. 1 yelled "Halt!" and made it pretty loud, for
I was accustomed to challenging the officer of the guard in approved military
style. I challenged him with another loud "halt!" Then he shouted "halt too!" to
me. Well, I thought the best thing to do was to shoot him. He dropped. If I didn't
kill him. I guess he died of fright. Two Filipinos sprang out of the gateway about
15 feet from us. I called "halt!" and Miller fired and dropped one. I saw that
another was left. Well, I think I got my second Filipino that time.....
The Filipino troops fired back at the American lines and before the night was
over. fighting had broken out between Filipino and American forces. Most of the
Filipino commanders at that time were attending a dance in Malolos, Bulacan
Province. When told of the outbreak of hostilities, they rushed back to their units,
which were already shooting it out with American troops. When war finally came,
Aguinaldo still tried to stop it by sending an emissary to General Otis to appeal
for an end to the fighting. But Otis responded. "fighting, having begun, must go
on to the grim end."
The American people, however, received a different version of how the war
started. Newspaper reports made it appear that the Filipinos had started the
fighting. This was the time when the Treaty of Paris was pending ratification in
the U.S. Senate. Previously, because of strong public opinion against the US.
annexation of the Philippines, ratification of the treaty was uncertain. But the
distorted news that reached the United States, specifically that the Filipinos were
the ones who started hostilities, changed the minds of several US senators to
vote for ratification. On February 6, 1899, the U.S. Senate ratified the Treaty of
Paris.
The Filipino-American War Escalates
After the refusal of General Otis to end hostilities following the San Juan bridge
incident, General Arthur MacArthur ordered the advance of American troops
toward Filipino positions in Manila and the suburbs. Regiments from Kansas and
California captured Santa Ana and Makati. Troops from Nebraska and Utah
occupied the San Juan Bridge. On the other hand, volunteers from Idaho and
Washington massacred hundreds of Filipinos who were then trying to cross the
Pasig River. The coastlines were pounded continuously by Admiral Dewey's naval
guns capturing Manila and the Suburbs.
The American pushed towards the suburbs of Manila. Major Jose Torres Bugallon,
one of the bravest Filipino officers was killed in the Battle of La Loma, near the
Chinese cemetery. After capturing La Loma, General Arthur MacArthur pushed
toward Caloocan. General Antonio Luna and his troops were detailed in this area
to repulse in the Americans in the Battle of Caloocan.
Owing to the Americans' superiority in arms, Caloocan fell. But General Luna
didn't give up. On February 22, Luna marched towards Manila to try to capture it.
He even ordered the burning of houses in the suburbs to create confusion to the
American troops. Afterwards he fought the enemy on Azcarraga. General Luna
and his troops suffered heavy losses so he then retreated to Polo, Bulacan.
Meanwhile, the Americans advanced to Malabon right after the fall of Caloocan.
American cruelty was clearly demonstrated in their siege of Malabon as every
men, women, and children in the area were killed by the Americans.
Reinforcements from the United States arrived in late February and early March
1899. Assured of military strength, hen Americans advanced towards Polo,
Bulacan, capturing other towns along the Manila-Dagupan Railway.
The War in Visayas
The Americans then decided to invade the Visayan provinces. In particular,
General Otis directed General Miller to invade and capture Iloilo Province. The
Filipinos, headed by General Martin Delgado, did not surrender as demanded by
Miller. Instead, he decided to fight the Americans. The Filipino soldiers burned
Iloilo City to prevent the Americans from making it as the enemy's base of
operations. On February 14, 1899, the town of Santa Barbara was captured by
the Americans. Next they captured Oton, Mandurriao, and Jaro, Iloilo. On
February 22, Cebu was surrendered to the Americans by the Filipinos.
After the surrender of Cebu, American flag was hoisted in Negros on February 23,
1898. Prominent Negrenses voluntarily offered their services for the maintenance
of peace in this island. Negrenses were permitted to draft their constitution
which was submitted to President McKinley on July 20 of the same year. This
constitution came to be called the Constitution of Negros, which was not even
approved by the US President. Nonetheless, it served as basis for the
administration of the island's civil affairs.
On to Central and Southern Luzon
By March 30, the Americans were already near Malolos, Bulacan, where the
Philippine government was headquartered. General Aguinaldo evacuated Malolos
and moved his headquarters to San Isidro, Nueva Ecija.
At that time, General Otis ordered General MacArthur not to pursue Aguinaldo,
but to temporarily stay in Malolos. Meanwhile, the Americans immediately
captured Bacoor, Zapote, and Dasmarinas, all in Cavite; Paranaque and Las
Pinas, in Morong, and Paete, Santa Cruz, and other towns in Laguna. On April 23,
the same year, General Gregorio del Pilar, known as the "boy general, defeated
the American cavalry under Major Bell in a stiff battle in Quinqua (now Plaridel),
Bulacan. The enemy suffered heavy losses, including Colonel Stotsenberg who
was killed in action. On the other hand, General Licerio Geronimo overpowered
the Americans under General Lawton in San Mateo, Morong, in which battle
Lawton was killed.
General MacArthur moved towards Kalumpit, Bulacan, where General Luna was
waiting for him. When the Americans were about to attack, Luna, together with
his foot soldiers, cavalry, and artillery left Kalumpit to punish General Tomas
Mascardo for his insubordination. Mascardo was then in Pampanga Province. It
was too late when Luna and his soldiers came back at nightfall. The Americans
had already broken through the Filipino defensive lines. Thus they lost the fight.
The Filipino army gradually broke up with one defeat after another on the
battlefields. By the closing months of 1899, the army of the Philippine Republic
was no longer a regular fighting force, and on November 12, 1899, the army was
dissolved by Aguinaldo. It was formed into guerrilla units that would carry on the
war. One by one, towns and provinces throughout the archipelago fell to the U.S.
forces. Many of his civilian and military officials surrendered to or were captured
by the Americans. Many of them, including Mabini, who was captured in
December 1899, were deported to Guam in January 1901.
Disunity among Filipinos
One very crucial factor that led to numerous Filipino reverses during the Filipino-
American hostilities was the lack of unity among their military and political
leaders. Among Aguinaldo's top officials, there was a serious rivalry between
Apolinario Mabini and Pedro Paterno and Felipe Buencamino. This power struggle
led to the resignation of Mabini on May 7, 1899. Such rivalry weakened their
unity at the time that they were fighting a life and death struggle against the
Americans.
Even the military was affected by this disunity. A classic example of this was the
case of General Antonio Luna, the best military tactician of the Malolos Republic.
Some military officers refused to recognize his authority. When he ordered
General Tomas Mascardo to send him troops from Pampanga at the the time he
was preparing for defense of Calumpit. Mascardo refused to comply. Luna, of
course, became very angry and immediately confronted Mascardo leaving
behind the frontlines. Consequently, the Americans attacked and position
themselves the area of Bagbag River at the time he left his defenses.
No doubt, Luna was a brilliant strategist but he was not diplomatic in the manner
he dealt with problems related to the war of independence against the
Americans. He slapped and disarmed soldiers who he considered as cowards and
undisciplined. He even arrested members of the Paterno group, when he learned
that they were about to negotiate with the Americans. As a result, many became
hostile to him and plotted his downfall. Some even rumored that he was disloyal
to Emilio Aguinaldo and interested to usurp the presidency.
Antonio Luna was invited by Aguinaldo to Cabanatuan. He arrived in the place on
June 5, 1899. To his dismay, Aguinaldo had left already for Tarlac. The elite guard
of Aguinaldo, the Kawit Company, which stayed behind, assassinated Luna and
his aide-de-camp. This was a big blow to the war against the Americans. The
country was deprived of a great military tactician at the great hour of need. As a
result, even the army was demoralized by his sudden death.
On to Mindanao and Sulu
American military forces continued its offensive strategy in Mindanao. On May
19, 1899 two battalions of American soldiers landed in Jolo and other parts of
Mindanao for the purpose of bringing Muslim Filipinos into the fold of American
rule. Instead of using warfare with the Muslims, the Americans resorted to the
use of diplomacy in the process.
To win the Muslims to the American side, the American authorities designated
General John C. Bates to negotiate a treaty with Sultan Jamalul Kiram II to ensure
peaceful coexistence between the Muslims and the Americans. After the
negotiation by both parties, the treaty was approved, which came to be known
as the Bates Treaty. The significant provisions of this agreement were the
following:
 The sovereignty of US over the whole archipelago and Jolo and its
dependencies is declared and acknowledged;
 The rights and dignities of His Highness, the Sultan and his datus shall be
fully respected;
 The Muslims shall be allowed to practice their religion, without
interference from the American government;
 No one shall be persecuted on account of his beliefs; and
 The domestic products of the archipelago of Jolo, when carried on by the
Sultan and his people within any part of the Philippine Islands and when
conducted under the American flag, shall be free, unlimited and free of
duty.
In addition to the foregoing provisions, the American government agreed to pay
the Sultan and his datus monthly salaries in Mexican dollars. As a result of the
forging of this agreement, Muslim resistance was neutralized, thereby allowing
the Americans to concentrate their efforts on pacifying Christian Filipinos in the
archipelago.

The Capture of Aguinaldo

The capture of Aguinaldo became the number one priority of the Americans
during the War of Philippine Independence. Aguinaldo was able to escape
captivity for quite sometime, due to the loyalty of many townspeople in the
different provinces, who warned his party whenever American troops were
closing in. He was also able to sue for some more time because of the heroic
sacrifice of General Gregorio del Pilar, the "boy general" in the famous Battle of
Tirad Pass on December 2, 1900, in Mountain Province. In this narrow 2,800-
meter-high pass, General del Pilar, with a handpicked force of only 60 men, held
off for more than five hours a battalion of Texans of the U.S. 33rd Volunteers led
by Major Peyton C. March. They had been pursuing Aguinaldo and his party. Of
the 60, 52 were killed and wounded; one of the last to be killed was General del
Pilar.
Aguinaldo was finally captured on March 23, 1901, in Palanan, Isabela Province,
by means of a trick planned by Brigadier General Frederick Funston. A party of
pro-American Macabebe scouts marched into Palanan pretending to be the
reinforcements that Aguinaldo was waiting for. With the Macabebes were two
former Filipino army officers, Tal Placido and Lazaro Segovia, who had
surrendered to the Americans, and five Americans, including General Funston,
who pretended to be captives. Caught by surprise, Aguinaldo's guards were
easily overpowered by the Macabebes after a brief exchange of shots.
Aguinaldo was seized by Tal Placido and placed under arrest by General Funston.
He was brought to Manila and kept a prisoner at Malacañang. There he was
treated by General MacArthur more as a guest than as a prisoner. On April 1,
1901, convinced of the futility of continuing the war, Aguinaldo swore allegiance
to the United States.
On April 19,1901, Aguinaldo issued a proclamation calling on the Filipino people
to lay down their arms and accept American rule. His capture signaled the death
of the First Philippine Republic. But the war continued.
Brutalities During the War
During the war, torture was resorted to by American troops to obtain information
and confessions. The water cure was given to those merely suspected of being
rebels. Some were hanged by the thumbs, others were dragged by galloping
horses, or fires lit beneath others while they were hanging. Another form of
torture was tying to a tree and then shooting the suspect through the legs. If a
confession was not obtained, he was again shot, the day after. This went on until
he confessed or eventually died.
Villages were burned, townfolks massacred and their possessions looted. In
Samar and Batangas, Brigadier General Jacob H. Smith and General Franklin Bell,
respectively, ordered the mass murders in answer to the mass resistance. On the
other hand, Filipino guerrillas chopped off the noses and ears of captured
Americans in violation of Aguinaldo's orders. There were reports that some
Americans were buried alive by angry Filipino guerrillas. Brutalities were
perpetrated by both Filipino and American contingents.

The Balangiga Massacre

The Balangiga Massacre took place in 1901, a few weeks after a company of
American soldiers arrived in Balangiga, Samar, upon the request of the town
mayor to protect the inhabitants from the Muslim and rebel raids. How the
massacre happened is best described below (Schott, 1964).
On the night of September 27, the sentries on the guard posts about the plaza
were surprised by the unusual number of women hurrying to church. They were
all heavily clothed, which was unusual, and many carried small coffins. Sergeant
Scharer, sergeant of the guard vaguely suspicious, stopped one woman and
pried open her coffin with his bayonet. Inside he found the body of a dead child.
"El calenturon! El colera!" the woman said.
The sergeant, slightly abashed by the sight of the dead child, nailed down the
coffin lid again with the butt of his revolver and let the woman pass on. He
concluded that cholera and fever were in epidemic stage and carrying off
children in great numbers. But it was strange that no news of any such epidemic
had reached the garrison.
If the guard sergeant had been less abashed and had searched beneath the
child's body, he would have found the keen blades of cane-cutting knives. All the
coffins were loaded with them.
The night passed and morning came. At about 6:20 a.m. a sergeant was in the
door of his squad hut. At that time, the unarmed Americans were going to
breakfast. Some of them, of course, had finished their breakfast.
The sergeant saw Pedro Sanchez, chief of police of the town, line up prisoners for
work. Then Sanchez sent all the workers to work in the plaza and in the streets.
After that, Sanchez went to a hut and even talked with a corporal who knew
pidgin Spanish and Visayan. After speaking with the corporal, Sanchez walked
behind Private Adolph Gamlin, the sentry on the area. All of a sudden, Sanchez
grabbed Gamlin's rifle, and smashed the rifle's butt on the American soldier's
head. The Filipino fired a shot and shouted a signal. Then pandemonium broke
loose.
The church bell ding-donged crazily and conch shell whistles blew shrilly from the
edge of the jungle. The doors of the church burst open and out streamed the
mob of bolo men who had been waiting inside. The native laborers working about
the plaza suddenly turned on the soldiers and began chopping at them with
bolos, picks and shovels. As the church bells were being rung, Sanchez fired
upon the Americans at the breakfast table. He then led the Filipinos in attacking
the American soldiers.
Members of C Company were almost all massacred during the first few minutes
of attack. The main action took place around the plaza and tribunal building.
There, Filipino bolomen attacked the soldiers. They boloed to death the
Americans who tried to escape; other soldiers were hacked from nose to throat.
Due to the public demand in the U.S. for retaliation, President Theodore
Roosevelt ordered the pacification of Samar. Within six months, General "Jake"
Smith transformed Balangiga into a "howling wilderness." He ordered his men to
kill anybody capable of carrying arms, including ten-year old boys. Smith
particularly ordered Major Littleton Waller to punish the people of Samar for the
deaths of the American troops. His exact orders were: "I want no prisoners. I wish
you to kill and burn, the more you kill and burn, the better you will please me."
The Resistance Continues
After taking over the leadership of Aguinaldo, General Miguel Malvar of
Batangas, continued the fight. He was the commanding general of all forces
south of the Pasig River. The Americans committed barbaric acts because of the
population's support to the guerrillas.
All men, women, and children of the towns of Batangas and Laguna, were herded
into small areas within the poblacion on December 25, 1901 of their respective
towns and were kept prisoners for months. The American troops burned their
houses, carts, poultry, animals, etc. The people were prisoners for months. These
acts paralled the early version of the concentration camps used by American
soldiers in the Vietnam War. The same tactics were perpetrated by the American
army against non-combatants from March to October 1903 in the province of
Albay and in 1905 in the provinces of Cavite and Batangas.
Many Filipino soldiers and military officers surrendered to the Americans, but
there were some who refused to give up the fight. On February 27, 1902, General
Vicente Lukban, who resorted to ambushing American troops in Samar, was
captured in Samar. General Malvar surrendered to General J. Franklin Bell in Lipa,
Batangas, on April 16, 1902.
Luciano San Miguel, who revived the Katipunan in 1886 in Zambales, sustained
the guerilla war against the Americans in 1902. He died in a battle with
Philippine Constabulary and Philippine scouts in the District of Pugad-Baboy in
Morong. Faustino Guillermo, took over the leadership of the new Katipunan
movement when San Miguel was killed. Others who took part in the guerrilla
warfare were Macario Sakay, who had been with Bonifacio and Jacinto during the
initial struggles of the Katipunan, and Julian Montalan and Cornelio Felizardo.
The Philippine Constabulary, Philippine Scouts, and elements of the United States
Army combined their forces to go after the guerrillas. In the province of Albay,
General Simeon Ola launched guerrilla raids on U.S.-occupied towns until his
surrender on September 25, 1903. He was the last Filipino general to surrender
to the Americans. Sakay, leader of a band of patriotic Filipinos and whom the
Americans branded as a bandit, continued to fight. He even established the
Tagalog "Republic." He surrendered on July 14, 1906. Sakay and his men were
tried and convicted as bandits. Sakay was hanged on September 13, 1907.

The End of the Filipino-American War

On July 4, 1902, President Theodore Roosevelt declared that the Philippine-
American War, which Americans called the Philippine Insurrection, was over. He
made the declaration after the Philippine Commission reported to Roosevelt that
the recent "insurrection" in the Philippines was over and a general and complete
state of peace existed. With the end of the war, the United States started
concentrating its attention and efforts towards establishing the machinery for
governing the country as an American colony.
It took the United States more than three years to defeat the army of the first
Philippine Republic. However, the outcome of the war was undoubtedly to the
American favor of the tremendous military advantages enjoyed by the United
States. US was superior in terms of number of enlisted men and officers it
employed in the struggle, together with the superior weapons it used against
Aguinaldo and his men.
Filipinos, on the other hand, were at a disadvantageous position. Most of their
cannons were captured from the Spaniards. Many Filipino soldiers did not even
have guns, but used spears, lances and bolos in fighting. Filipino soldiers also
lacked military training. They did manage to win some small battlefield
encounters, but these only delayed the ultimate victory for the Americans.
Nonetheless, the United States paid a very high price in winning the war as more
than 4,000 American soldiers' lives were sacrificed. One of them was Major
General Henry C. Lawton, who was killed in the Battle of San Mateo on December
23, 1899. He was the highest-ranking U.S. military officer to be killed in action in
the Philippine-American War. U.S. government likewise spent about $600 million
to quell the Filipino resistance to the imposition of American sovereignty in the
archipelago.