Many of the riff-raff had been inadvertently enrolled in the native

police force, and received heavy sentences for theft, blackmail, and

violent abuse of their functions. Indeed it took nearly a couple of

years to weed out the disreputable members of this body. The total

army forces in the Islands amounted to about 70,000 men, and at the

end of 1900 it was decided to send back the volunteer corps to America

early in the following year, for, at this period, General Aguinaldo had

become a wanderer with a following which could no longer be called an

army, and an early collapse of the revolutionary party in the field

was an anticipated event.

From September 1, 1900, the legislative power of the military

government was transferred to a civil government, Governor W. H. Taft

being the President of the Philippine Commission, whilst Maj.-General

McArthur continued in his capacity of Commander-in-Chief to carry

on the war against the insurgents, which culminated in the capture

of General Emilio Aguinaldo on March 23, 1901. This important event

accelerated the close of the War of Independence. On January 14 General

Emilio Aguinaldo had his headquarters at Palanan (Isabela), on the

bank of a river which empties itself into Palanan Bay, situated about

six miles distant from the town, on the east coast of Luzon. Being in

want of reinforcements, he sent a member of his staff with messages to

that effect to several of his subordinate generals. The fellow turned

traitor, and carried the despatches to an American lieutenant, who sent

him on to Colonel Frederick Funston at San Isidro (Nueva Ecija). The

despatches disclosed the fact that General Emilio Aguinaldo requested

his cousin, General Baldomero Aguinaldo, to send him, as soon as

possible, 400 armed men. With General McArthur's approval, Colonel

Funston proceeded to carry out a plan which he had conceived for the

capture of General Emilio Aguinaldo. An expedition was made up of four

Tagalog deserters from Aguinaldo's army, 78 Macabebe scouts (_vide_

p. 446, footnote), and four American officers, besides Colonel Funston

himself. Twenty of the scouts were dressed in insurgent uniforms,

and the remaining natives in common working-clothes. Ten of them

carried Spanish rifles, ten others had Krag-Joergensen rifles, which

they were to feign to have captured from American troops, and the

five Americans were disguised as private soldiers. The party was then

carried round the north and east coasts of Luzon, and put ashore in the

neighbourhood of Baler by the gunboat _Vicksburg_, which approached the

coast without lights, and then waited off Palanan Bay. The expedition

was nominally commanded by an insurgent deserter, Hilario Placido,

[216] whilst three other deserters posed as officers, the Americans

playing the _role_ of prisoners captured by the party. Before setting

out for Casiguran, some 20 miles away, a messenger was sent on to

the native headman of that town to tell him that reinforcements for

Aguinaldo were on their way, and would require food and lodging, which

were forthwith furnished by the headman to these 87 individuals. Some

months previously some papers had been captured bearing the signature

and seal of the insurgent general Lacuna, and this enabled the party

to send on a letter in advance to Emilio Aguinaldo, ostensibly in the

name of Lacuna, announcing the arrival of the reinforcements furnished

in response to his request of January 14. This letter was accompanied

by another one from the pseudo-chief of the expedition, stating that

on the way they had captured five American soldiers and ten Krag

rifles. A request was also made for food, which he explained had run

short. Emilio Aguinaldo, therefore, sent Negritos to meet them on the

way with a supply of rice. In the morning of March 23 they were near

Palanan. The Macabebe scouts were sent in advance of the _soi-disant_

five American prisoners, and when they entered the town Aguinaldo's

bodyguard of 50 men was drawn up in parade to receive them. The

native pseudo-officers marched into the camp, and were welcomed by

Aguinaldo; but they shortly afterwards took temporary leave of him,

and coming outside ordered their Macabebe troops to form up. Just at

the moment the five supposed prisoners were conducted towards the camp

the Macabebes poured three murderous volleys into Aguinaldo's troops,

two of whom were killed and 18 wounded. On the other side only one

Macabebe was slightly wounded. The Americans witnessed the effect of

the first volley, and, together with the natives posing as officers,

rushed into Aguinaldo's headquarters. Aguinaldo, Colonel Villa, and

one civilian were taken prisoners, whilst other insurgent officers

jumped from the window into the river and escaped. The expedition,

after resting a day and a half at the camp, escorted their prisoners

to Palanan Bay, where they were all taken on board the gunboat

_Vicksburg_, which reached Manila on March 27.

The closing scene in Emilio Aguinaldo's military career was a

remarkable performance of consummate skill, but unworthy of record

in the annals of military glory.

The War of Independence, which lasted until the next year, was a

triumph of science over personal valour about equally balanced. It

was a necessary sacrifice of the few for the good of the many. No

permanent peace could have been ever hoped for so long as the Islanders

entertained the belief that they could any day eject the invaders

by force.

The American citizens naturally rejoiced over the bare fact, briefly

cabled without ghastly details, that the Philippine generalissimo had

fallen prisoner, because it portended the peace which all desired. In

deference to public opinion, the President promoted Colonel Funston

of the volunteers to the rank of Brig.-General in the regular army.

Emilio Aguinaldo was first taken before General McArthur and then

escorted to prison in _Calle de Anda_, in the walled city. On April 1,

1901, he took the oath of allegiance in the following form, viz.:--

I, Emilio Aguinaldo, hereby renounce all allegiance to any and

all so-called revolutionary governments in the Philippine Islands

and recognize and accept the supreme authority of the United

States of America therein; I do solemnly swear that I will bear

true faith and allegiance to that Government; that I will at all

times conduct myself as a faithful and law-abiding citizen of

the said Islands, and will not, either directly or indirectly,

hold correspondence with or give intelligence to an enemy of the

United States, nor will I abet, harbour or protect such enemy;

that I impose upon myself these voluntary obligations without

any mental reservations or purpose of evasion, so help me God.

After signing this declaration he was a free man. For a while he

resided at Malacanan, on the north bank of the Pasig River, where one

night a pirogue full of assassins came to seek the life of the man who

had failed. But his lucky star followed him, and he removed to Paco and

again to Ermita (suburbs of Manila) and finally to his native town of

Cauit (Cavite), where I was his guest. He was living there in modest

retirement with his mother and his two good-looking young nieces, who

served us at table. The house is large and comparatively imposing as

a provincial residence, being formed of two good substantial houses

connected by a bridge-passage. The whole is enclosed by a low brick

wall, topped by iron railings painted flaming red. In front there is a

garden and a spacious compound at the back. In the large drawing-room

there is a ceiling fresco representing a Filipina descending a flight

of steps from a column to which the chains, now severed, held her

captive. On the steps lies the Spanish flag with a broken staff,

and in her hand she holds on high the Philippine flag of freedom.

In conversation with him he stated that he and his companions returned

to the Islands in May, 1898, with many assurances that America was

simply going to aid them to gain their independence. He added that

when he landed at Cavite he had no arms, and the Americans allowed

him to take them from the Spanish arsenal. Then they turned him out,

and he moved his headquarters to Bacoor, where his troops numbered

between 30,000 and 35,000 men. He said he could easily have taken

Manila then, but that he was begged not to do so as the Americans

were waiting for more troops and they wished to make the victory a

joint one. He confessed he had bought experience very dearly. But he

profited by that experience when, at Cavite, the Belgian Consul and

Prince Loewenstein came four times to make proposals to him in favour

of Germany. The first time, he said, he received them and demanded

their credentials as authorized agents for Germany, but, as they

could not produce any, he declined to have any further intercourse

with them. Referring to the first period of the rebellion, Aguinaldo

admitted that the prospect of ejecting the Spaniards from the Islands

was very doubtful.

Immediately Aguinaldo had fallen captive, all kinds of extravagant and

erroneous versions were current as to how it had happened. Thousands

insisted that he must have voluntarily surrendered, for how could he

have been caught when he had the _anting-anting_? (_vide_ p. 237). As

the ball of conjecture went on rolling, some added to this that

his voluntary surrender must have been for a money consideration,

and there were still others who furnished a further inducement--his

fear of revenge from the late Antonio Luna's party!

Although Aguinaldo gave no proof of being a brilliant warrior,

as an organizer he had no rival capable of keeping 30,000 or more

Filipinos united by sentiment for any one purpose. He trusted no

comrade implicitly, and for a long time his officers had to leave

their side-arms in an antechamber before entering his apartment. He

had, moreover, the adroitness to extirpate that rivalry which alone

destroys all united effort. But the world makes no allowance for the

general who fails. To-day he is left entirely alone, pitied by some,

shunned by a few, and almost forgotten by the large majority. He is

indeed worthy of respect for his humanity in the conduct of the war,

and of some pity in his present peculiar position. Many of his late

subordinates now occupy good and high-salaried posts. Members of the

Government of which he was President have espoused American doctrine

and enjoy high social positions and fat emoluments. Aguinaldo's

scholarship is too meagre for an elevated position, and his dignity

and self-respect too great for an inferior one.

CHAPTER XXV

The Philippine Republic in the Central and Southern Islands

So interwoven were the circumstances of General Aguinaldo's Government

in Luzon Island with the events of the period between the naval battle

of Cavite and the ratification of the Treaty of Paris, that they form

an integral and inseparable whole in historical continuity. In the

other Islands, however, which followed the revolutionary movement,

with more or less adherence to the supreme leadership of Aguinaldo, the

local incidents severally constitute little histories in themselves,

each such island having practically set up its own government with

only the barest thread of administrative intercommunication.

The smaller islands, adjacent to Luzon, cannot be justly included in

this category, because their local rule, which naturally succeeded the

withdrawal of Spanish administration, was nothing more than a divided

domination of self-constituted chiefs whose freebooting exploits,

in one instance, had to be suppressed at the sacrifice of bloodshed,

and, in another, to succumb to the apathy of the people.

In _Yloilo_, on December 23, 1898, General Diego de los Rios, in the

presence of his staff, the naval commanders and the foreign consuls,

formally surrendered the town to the native mayor, prior to his

evacuation of Panay Island on the following day. On December 27

an American military force (finally about 3,000 strong) arrived in

the roadstead in transports under the command of General Miller in

co-operation with two American warships, afterwards supplemented by

two others. The Spanish troops having departed, the Filipinos who had

assumed control of public affairs made their formal entry into Yloilo

to the strains of music and the waving of banners and constituted

a government whose effective jurisdiction does not appear to have

extended beyond the town and a day's march therefrom. On January 17

an election was held, Raymundo Melliza, [217] an excellent man, being

chosen president for the term of two years. Business was resumed;

sugar was being brought from Negros Island, and ships were laden with

produce. During the civil administration, which lasted for seven weeks,

the absorbing topic was the demand made by General Miller for the

surrender of the town. General Miller's force had been despatched to

Yloilo waters, after the signing of the Treaty of Paris, simply to make

a demonstration in view of possible anarchy resulting from the Spanish

evacuation. The ratification of that Treaty by a two-thirds Senate

majority was not an accomplished fact until February 6 following. There

was no certainty that the Senate would confirm the acquisition of

the Islands, and in the interval it was not politic to pass from a

formal demand for the surrender of Yloilo to open hostilities for

its possession. These matters of political exigency were undoubtedly

beyond the comprehension of the Ylongos. They attributed to fear the

fact that a large fighting-force remained inactive within sight of the

town, whereas General Miller was merely awaiting instructions from

the capital which the Manila authorities, in turn, were delaying,

pending the decision in Washington. Intervening circumstances,

however, precipitated military action. On the night of February 4

hostilities had broken out between Aguinaldo's troops and the American

forces. Insurgent emissaries had brought Aguinaldo's messages to

the Ylongos to hold the town against the invaders, and on February 7

General Miller received orders from Maj.-General Otis to take Yloilo

by force if necessary. General Miller thereupon renewed his demand for

the surrender of the place, coupled this time with a declaration that

he would bombard it if his demand were refused. Later on he notified

the consular body that the bombardment would commence on the 12th of

the month. During the seven weeks of native government, petty thefts

were frequent; an armed insurgent would enter a store and carry off

the article selected by him without paying for it; but there was no

riotous open violence committed against the townspeople or foreign

traders. The squabbles between the armed natives and their leaders,

however, were several times on the point of producing bloodshed.

According to ex-insurgent General Pablo Araneta, the insurgent army,

at the time, in Panay Island was as follows, viz. [218]:--

Under the leadership of Stationed at Tagalogs Visayos

Fulion Yloilo 250 150

Ananias Diocno Yloilo 400 --

Pablo Araneta Yloilo 250 --

Martin Delgado Yloilo -- 150

Pablo Araneta Molo -- 100

Silvestre Silvio Antique 150 --

Detachment of Diocno's

forces Capiz 200 --

Total all armed with guns 1,250 400

The commander-in-chief of the whole army of 1,650 men was Martin

Delgado. The Tagalog contingent was under the leadership of Ananias

Diocno, a native of Taal, whose severity in his Capiz and Yloilo

campaigns has left a lasting remembrance. The headquarters of the

Visayos was in the parish-house (_convento_), whilst the Tagalogs were

located in the Fine Arts Institute. Their stipulated remuneration was

4 pesos a month and food, but as they had received only 1 peso per

month on account, and moreover claimed a rise in pay to 5 pesos, the

Visayos, on February 3, assembled on the central _plaza_ of the town

and menaced their general officers, who were quartered together in a

corner house over a barber's shop. They yelled out to their leaders

that if they did not give them their pay they would kill them all,

sack the town, and then burn it. Thereupon the generals hastened

round the town to procure funds, and appeased the Visayos with a

distribution of 1,800 pesos. The Tagalogs then broke out in much

the same way, and were likewise restrained by a payment on account

of arrears due. But thenceforth the insurgent troops became quite

uncontrollable and insolent to their officers. The fact that white

officers should have solicited their permission to come ashore unarmed

could only be interpreted by the Oriental, soldier or civilian, in a

way highly detrimental to the white man's prestige. The Americans'

good and honest intentions were only equalled by their nescience

of the Malay character. The officers came ashore; the townsfolk

marvelled, and the fighting-men, convinced of their own invincibility,

disdainfully left them unmolested. After the insurgent generals had

doled out their pay, the men went round to the shops and braggingly

avowed that it was lucky for the shopkeepers that they had got money,

otherwise they would have looted their goods. The Chinese shut up

their shops from the beginning of the troubles, leaving only a hole

in the closed door to do a little business, as they were in constant

fear for the safety of their lives and their stocks. A great many

families packed up their belongings and went over to Negros Island in

small schooners. The little passenger-steamers plying between Yloilo

and Negros were running as usual, crowded to the brim, and flying the

Philippine flag without interruption from the Americans. Amongst the

better classes opinions on the situation were much divided. The best

Philippine and Spanish families expressed their astonishment that

the Americans made no attempt to take the town immediately after the

Spanish evacuation. There were foreign merchants anxious to delay

the American investment because, meanwhile, they were doing a brisk

trade, and there were others longing to see the town in the hands

of any civilized and responsible Power. Delegates from one party

or the other, including the native civil government, went off in

boats almost daily to parley with General Miller in the roadstead,

each with a different line of real or sophistic argument. The best

native families, the foreigners of all classes--those who desired a

speedy entry of the Americans and those who sought to delay it--were

agreed as to the needlessness and the mistaken policy of announcing

a bombardment. Yloilo is a straggling, open town. The well-to-do

people asked, "Why bombard?" There were no fortifications or anything

to destroy but their house property. Plans were voluntarily offered

showing how and at which points a midnight landing of 400 or 500 troops

could be secretly effected for a sunrise surprise which would have

cleared the town in an hour of every armed insurgent. The officers

ashore declared they were ready; and as to the men, they were simply

longing for the fray, but the word of command rested with General

Miller.

In the evening of February 10 the native civil government held an

extraordinary session in the Town Hall to discuss the course to be

adopted in view of the announced bombardment. The public, Filipinos

and foreigners, were invited to this meeting to take part in the debate

if they wished, Raymundo Melliza, Victorino Mapa, Martin Delgado, and

Pablo Araneta, being amongst those who were present. It was proposed to

burn the town. Melliza vehemently protested against such a barbarous

act, and asked why they should destroy their own property? What

could they gain by pillage and flames? [219] But a certain V----

and his party clamoured for the destruction of the place, and being

supported by an influential lawyer (native of another province) and

by one of the insurgent generals, Melliza exclaimed, "If you insist

on plunder and devastation, I shall retire altogether," whereupon

a tremendous hubbub ensued, in the midst of which Melliza withdrew

and went over to Guimaras Island. But there were touches of humour

in the speeches, especially when a fire-eating demagogue gravely

proposed to surround an American warship with canoes and seize her;

and again when Quintin Salas declared that the Americans would have

to pass over his corpse before the town surrendered! Incendiaries

and thieves were in overwhelming majority at the meeting; naturally

(to the common people in these Islands) an invitation to despoil,

lay waste and slay, bolstered up by apparent authority, found a ready

response, especially among the Tagalog mercenaries who had no local

attachment here. The instigators of this barbarity sought no share

of the spoils; they had no property interests in Yloilo, but they

were jealous of those who had. The animosity of Jaro and Molo against

Yloilo had existed for years, the formers' townspeople being envious

of the prosperous development of Yloilo (once a mere fishing-village),

which obscured the significance of the episcopal city of Jaro and

detracted from the social importance of the rich Chinese half-caste

residential town of Molo. [220] Chiefly from these towns came the

advocates of anarchy, whose hearts swelled with fiendish delight at

the prospect of witnessing the utter ruin and humiliation of their

rivals in municipal prestige. Yloilo, from that moment, was abandoned

to the armed rabble, who raided the small shops for petroleum to throw

on to the woodwork of the houses prior to the coming onslaught. The

bombardment having been announced for the 12th, they reckoned on a

full day for burning and sacking the town. But early in the morning

of the 11th the steam-launch _Pitt_, whilst reconnoitring the harbour,

was fired upon; the launch replied and withdrew. Natives were observed

to be busy digging a trench and hastening to and from the _cotta_

at the harbour entrance; there was every indication of their warlike

intentions. Therefore suddenly, at 9 o'clock that morning, without

further notification, the Americans opened fire. The natives in the

_cotta_ fled along the quayway towards the centre of the town under

a shower of bullets hurled from the quick-firing guns. The attack

on Yloilo was hardly a bombardment proper; shells were intentionally

thrown over the houses as a warning and burst in suburban open spaces,

but comparatively few buildings were damaged by the missiles. In

the meantime, from early morn, the native soldiery, followed by a

riff-raff mob, rushed hither and thither, throwing firebrands on to the

petroleum-washed houses, looting stores, and cutting down whomsoever

checked them in their wild career. The Chinese barricaded themselves,

but the flames devoured their well-stocked bazaars; panic-stricken

townsfolk ran helter-skelter, escaping from the yelling bands of

bloodthirsty looters. Europeans, revolver in hand, guarded their

properties against the murderous rabble; an acquaintance of mine was

hastening to the bank to deposit P3,000 when he was met by the leader

S----, who demanded his money or his life; one foreign business house

was defended by 15 armed Europeans, whilst others threw out handfuls

of pesos to stay the work of the _petroleur_. The German Vice-Consul,

an old friend of mine, went mad at the sight of his total loss;

a Swiss merchant, my friend for over 20 years, had his fine corner

premises burnt down to the stone walls, and is now in comparative

poverty. Even Spanish half-castes were menaced and contemptuously

called _Cachilas_ [221]; and the women escaped for their lives on

board the schooners in the harbour. Half the town was blazing, and

the despairing cries of some, the yells of exultant joy of others,

mingled with the booming of the invaders' cannon.

Two British warships lying in the roadstead sent boats ashore to

receive British subjects, and landed a party of marines, who made

gallant efforts to save foreign property. A few British subjects were,

however, unable to get away from the town on account of the premature

attack of the Americans, which took place on the 11th instead of

February 12, as previously announced.

The American assault on the town, which lasted until 1 o'clock in

the afternoon, was immediately followed up by the landing of about

1,000 volunteers, and General Miller found that the prognostications

of the townspeople were perfectly just, for the insurgents fled in

all directions. There was not a fighting-man left in the town. Some

of them continued their hurried flight as far as Santa Barbara and

Janiuay. It was evident that a sudden night-landing, without a word

about bombardment, would have been just as effective, and would

have prevented much misery and loss of life and property. Indeed,

the arrival of the American volunteers under these distressing

circumstances produced a fresh commotion in Yloilo. Without any

warrant private premises were entered, and property saved from the

natives' grasp vanished before the eyes of the owners. Finally order

was restored through the energetic intervention of American officials,

who stationed sentinels here and there to protect what still remained

of the townspeople's goods. In due course indemnity claims were

forwarded to the military authorities, who rejected them all.

The insurgents still lingered outside the town on the road to Jaro, and

General Miller marched his troops, in battle array, against them. A

couple of miles out of the town, in the neighbourhood of La Paz,

the entrenched enemy was routed after a slight skirmish. The booming

of cannon was heard in Yloilo for some hours as the American troops

continued their march to Jaro, only molested by a few occasional

shots from the enemy in ambush. The rebel chief Fulion and another,

Quintin Salas, held out for a short while, gradually beating a retreat

before the advancing column. The Tagalogs, once under the command of

the semi-civilized Diocno, disappeared in all directions, and finally

escaped from the province in small parties in canoes or as best they

could. The handful of braves who still thought fit to resist decided

to make a stand at Santa Barbara, but on the arrival of the American

troops they dispersed like chaff before the wind. General Miller then

relinquished the pursuit and returned to Yloilo to await reinforcements

for a campaign through the Island. In the meantime military government

was established in Yloilo, the town was policed, trade resumed its

normal aspect, the insurgents in the Island gradually increased,

but the Philippine Republic in Panay was no more. It was clear to

all the most sober-minded and best-educated Ylongos that Aguinaldo's

government was a failure in Panay at least. The hope of agreement on

any policy was remote from its very initiation. Visayos of position,

with property and interests at stake, were convinced that absolute

independence without any control or protection from some established

Power was premature and doomed to disaster. Visayan jealousy of Tagalog

predominance had also its influence, but the ruling factor was the

Tagalog troops' dictatorial air and brutal conduct, which destroyed

the theory of fraternal unity. Self-government at this stage would

have certainly led to civil war.

Reinforcements arrived from Manila and the Americans entered

upon the pacification of the Island, which needed two years for

its accomplishment. The full record of the Panay campaign would

be a monotonous recital of scores of petty encounters of analogous

character. Pablo Araneta, in co-operation with a Spanish deserter named

Mariano Perez, met the Americans several times, and gave better proof

of his generalship in retreat than in advance. He operated only in the

province of Yloilo, and at Sambang, near Pavia, his party was severely

defeated and the "general" fled. Quintin Salas, over whose dead body,

he himself declared, the Americans would have to pass before Yloilo

surrendered, appeared and disappeared, from time to time, around

Dumangas. There was an encounter at Potian with Jolandoni which ended

badly for his party. The native priests not only sympathized with

the insurgents, but took an active part in their operations. Father

Santiago Pamplona, afterwards ecclesiastical-governor of the Visayas

(Aglipayan), held a command under Martin Delgado. Father Agustin Pina,

the parish priest of Molo and the active adviser in the operations

around Pavia--Jaro district, was caught by the Americans and died

of "water-cure." [222] The firebrand Pascual Macbanua was killed

at Pototan; and finally came the most decisive engagement at Monte

Singit, between Janiuay and Lambunao. The insurgent generalissimo,

Martin Delgado, took the field in person; but after a bold stand, with

a slight loss on the American side, the insurgents were completely

routed and their leader fled. Pablo Araneta, tired of generalship

without glory, surrendered to the Americans on December 31, 1899. The

war still continued for another year, Martin Delgado being one of

the last to declare his defeat. Early in December, 1900, overtures

for peace were made to General Miller, the delegates on the insurgent

side being Pablo Araneta, Jovito Yusay, and Father Silvestre Apura,

whilst Captain Noble represented the Americans. Martin Delgado and his

co-leaders soon surrendered. There was no question of conditions but

that of convincing the natives of the futility of further resistance

and the benefits to them of peace under American rule. With this end

in view, delegates went in commission to the several districts. Pablo

Araneta, Father Silvestre Apura, Father Praxedes Magalon and Nicolas

Roses visited the district of Concepcion (East Panay) in January 1901

and obtained the submission of the people there. Peace was at length

agreed upon; but the Filipinos were not disposed silently to draw

the veil over the past without glamour and pomp, even in the hour

of defeat. Therefore, on February 2, 1901, in agreement between the

parties, the remnant of the little Panay army made a formal surrender,

marching under triumphal arches into the episcopal city of Jaro

to stack their arms, between lines of American troops drawn up on

either side of their passage, to the strains of peaceful melody,

whilst the banners of the Stars and Stripes floated victoriously

in the sultry air. Jaro was crowded with visitors to witness this

interesting ceremonial. The booths did a bustling trade; the whole

city was _en fete,_ and the vanquished heroes, far from evincing

humiliation, mingled with the mob and seemed as merry as though the

occasion were the marriage-feast of the headman's daughter.

But to complete the picture of peace some finishing-strokes were yet

needful. Antique Province was still in arms, and a native commission

composed of Pablo Araneta, Father Silvestre Apura, Father Praxedes

Magalon, Victorino Mapa, Cornelio Melliza, and Martin Delgado proceeded

there, and succeeded in concluding peace for the Americans at the

end of February, 1901.

The Visayan chief who defied the American invader was no stout

patriot who leaves his plough to fight for cherished liberty, and

cheerfully returns to it when the struggle ends. The leaders of the

little Panay army and their civilian colleagues had to be compensated

for their acceptance of American rule. Aguinaldo was captured during

the month following the Peace of Panay; the war was coming to an end,

and Governor W. H. Taft made his provincial tour to inaugurate civil

government in the pacified Islands. Martin T. Delgado, the very man who

had inflicted such calamities upon the Yloilo people, was appointed,

on April 11, to be their first provincial Civil Governor at a salary of

$3,000 gold per annum, and held that office until March, 1904. Jovito

Yusay was given the provincial government secretaryship with a yearly

stipend of $1,800 gold; Pablo Araneta was rewarded with the post of

President of the Board of Health at an annual salary of $1,500 gold,

and Victorino Mapa was appointed a judge of the Supreme Court with an

annual emolument of $7,000 gold. In March, 1904, Raymundo Melliza,

ex-president of the native civil government, already referred to as

the advocate of social order, succeeded Delgado in the civil government

of the Yloilo province by popular vote.

Yloilo, formerly the second port of the Philippines, is situated on

the right bank of the creek. From the creek point to the square are

sheds used for sugar-storing, with, here and there, a commercial or

government office between. The most modern thoroughfares are traced

with regularity, and there are many good houses. In the square is the

church, which at a distance might be mistaken for a sugar-store, the

ruins of the Town Hall, the convent, and a few small, fairly well-built

houses of stone and wood, whilst all one side was once covered by a

fine new block of buildings of brick, stone and wood, with iron roofs.

The _Calle Real_ or High Street is a winding road, which leads through

the town into the country. The houses are indescribable--they are of

all styles. Without any pretence at architectural adornment, some are

high, others low; some stand back with several feet of pavement before

them, others come forward and oblige one to walk in the road. Here

and there is a gap, then a row of dingy hovels. This is the retail

trading-quarter and the centre for the Chinese. Going from the square

the creek runs along at the back of the right-hand-side houses;

turning off by the left-hand-side thoroughfares, which cannot be

called streets, there is a number of roughly-built houses and a few

good ones dispersed in all directions, with vacant, neglected plots

between. At the extreme end of the _Calle Real_ is the Government

House, built of wood and stone, of good style and in a fair condition,

with quite the appearance of an official residence. Before it is a

semicircular garden, and in front of this there is a round fenced-in

plot, in the middle of which stands a flag-staff. Just past the

Government House there is a bridge crossing the Jaro River, which

empties itself into the creek of Yloilo, and this creek is connected

with that of Otong. [223]

Yloilo lies low, and is always hot. Quite one-third of the shipping

and wholesale business quarter stands on land reclaimed from the

swamp by filling up with earth and rubble. The opposite side of

the creek, facing the shipping-quarter, is a low marshy waste,

occasionally converted into a swamp at certain tides. The creek

forms the harbour of Yloilo, which is just as Nature made it, except

that there is a roughly-constructed quayway on the left-hand shore

on entering. Only vessels of light draft can enter; large vessels

anchor in the roadstead, which is the channel between Yloilo harbour

and Guimaras Island.

The general aspect of Yloilo and its environs is most depressing. In

Spanish times no public conveyances were to be seen plying for hire

in the streets, and there is still no public place of amusement. The

Municipality was first established by Royal Order dated June 7, 1889.

Evidences of the havoc of 1899 are still visible at every turn in

Yloilo in the shape of old stone walls, charred remains, battered

houses, vacant spaces, etc. On the other hand, there are many

innovations since American administration superseded the native

civil government. The _plaza_, till then a dreary open space, is

now a pleasant shady promenade; electric lighting, an ice-factory,

four hotels, one American, one English, and three Philippine clubs,

large public schools, an improved quayway, a commodious Custom-house,

a great increase of harbour traffic, a superabundance of lawyers'

and pawnbrokers' sign-boards, and public vehicles plying for hire are

among the novelties which strike one who knew Yloilo in days gone

by. The Press is poorly represented by three daily and one weekly

newspapers. Taken as a whole Yloilo still remains one of the most

charmless spots in the Archipelago.

The people of _Negros Island_ were in the free enjoyment of local

independence since November 6, 1898, the day on which the Spanish

Governor, D. Isidro Castro y Cinceros, together with all his

official colleagues, capitulated to the revolutionists under the

leadership of Aniceto Lacson, Leandro Lacson, Juan Araneta, Nicolas

Gales, Simon Lizares, Julio Diaz, and Jose Montilla. Simultaneously

with the prosecution of the Panay Island campaign General Miller

opened negotiations for the submission of Negros Island to

American sovereignty. At that time the government of the Island

was being peacefully administered to the satisfaction of the Negros

revolutionists, at least, under the constitution proclaimed by them,

and presided over by their ex-commander-in-chief, Aniceto Lacson. [224]

General Miller therefore commissioned two Filipinos, Esteban de la

Rama and Pedro Regalado, [225] to proceed to Negros and negotiate

terms of surrender to the Americans. For the moment nothing further

was demanded than a recognition of American supremacy, and it was

not proposed to subvert their local organization or depose their

president. Aniceto Lacson accepted these terms, and General Miller

formally appointed him Governor of the Island in March, 1899. It

is evident, therefore, that no union existed between the local

government of Negros and Aguinaldo's Republic in Luzon. In fact,

when the Tagalog fighting-men, who were everywhere defeated in Panay,

made their escape to Negros and raised the cry of insurrection against

the Americans, Lacson was constrained to appeal to General Miller to

send over troops to quell the movement. Thereupon Colonel Smith was

deputed to take troops over to Negros to pursue the common enemy,

whilst, in perfect accord with the native governor Lacson, he acted

as military governor of the Island. The great cordillera which runs

through the centre of the Island from north to south forms a sort

of natural barrier between the people of Occidental and Oriental

Negros. There are trails, but there are no transversal highroads

from one coast to the other, and the inhabitants on each side live

as separated in their interests, and, to a certain degree, in their

habits, as though they were living in different islands. The people

on the eastern side have always strongly opposed anything approaching

governmental cohesion with the other side. Moreover, for many years

past, the south-eastern district of Negros Island has been affected by

sporadic apparitions of riotous religious monomaniacs called _Santones_

(_vide_ p. 189). These conditions, therefore, favoured the nefarious

work of the cunning Tagalog and Panay refugees, who found plenty

of plastic material in the Negros inhabitants for the fruitful

dissemination of the wildest and most fantastic notions anent the

horrors awaiting them in the new Anglo-Saxon domination. They found no

sympathy with the native government of Occidental Negros, which was as

much their enemy as the American troops sent to pursue them, but they

entertained the hope that by raising riot in Negros they would draw off

troops from Panay, and so favour the movement in that Island. Armed

groups rose everywhere against the Americans and the established

government. In the south-east the notorious Papa Isio appeared as a

_Santon_, preached idolatry, and drew to his standard a large band of

ruffians as skilled as himself in villainous devices. Insurgency, in

the true sense of the word, did not exist in Negros; opposition to the

American domination was merely a pretext to harass, plunder, and extort

funds from the planters and property-owners. The disaffected people

increased so largely in numbers that Colonel Smith was obliged to call

for reinforcements, and the disturbances only came to an end when it

was known that the Panay people had formally laid down their arms in

February, 1901. Shortly afterwards Governor W. H. Taft visited Negros

Island; the quasi-autonomous government of that region was modified

in conformity with the general plan of provincial civil governments,

and on August 9, 1901, Leandro Locsin (Ylongo by birth) succeeded to

the civil governorship, with a salary of $2,500 gold, by popular vote.

Notwithstanding the severities imposed on the Cebuanos during the

last eight months of Spanish rule, the Spaniards were able to evacuate

_Cebu Island_ without menace or untoward event. For several months the

Governor, General Montero, had held in prison, between life and death,

a number of Filipinos of the best families, amongst whom was Julio

Llorente, who afterwards became President of Cebu and subsequently

a magistrate of the Supreme Court of Manila. General Montero made

a compact with a young Philippine lawyer, Sergio Osmena (afterwards

acting-Governor of Cebu) that in exchange for two Spaniards held as

hostages in the interior he would release Llorente. Osmena procured the

liberty of the Spaniards, but it was only on the eve of his departure

that Montero permitted the prison doors to be opened.

On December 26, 1898, a chartered merchant steamer called at Cebu

to transport the retiring Spaniards to Zamboanga, the place of

concentration designated by General Rios. The farewell was sadly brief,

and almost in silence the Governor handed over the government property

to a most worthy and loyal Cebuano, Pablo Mejia, who was my esteemed

friend for many years. The Governor even offered Mejia about 40 rifles;

but Mejia, a lover of order, wrongly believing that a long period

of tranquillity was about to set in, declined to accept them. And

without any manifestation of regret on the part of the governed,

the last vestige of Spanish authority vanished from the city which,

333 years before, was the capital of the Philippine Islands.

On the day following the departure of the Spaniards the Cebuanos

established a provincial government in agreement with the _Katipunan_

party of Luzon, General Aguinaldo's direct representative being

Luis Flores, the chief leader of the armed Cebuanos, to whom Pablo

Mejia handed over all that he had received from the ex-governor

Montero. From its establishment up to the last day of its existence,

this government used the seal and stamps of the Philippine Republic,

and was constituted as follows, viz.:--

_Provincial Council_

President and Commander-in-Chief Luis Flores.

Vice-President Julio Llorente.

Commissioner of Police Gen. Arcadio Maxilom.

Treasurer-General Pablo Mejia.

Minister of Justice Miguel Logarta.

Secretary to the Council Leoncio Alburo.

_Military Department_

Chief-of-Staff Gen. Juan Climaco.

Military Administrator Arsenio Climaco.

(Half-caste Chinese

and cousins.)

_Municipal Council (Junta Popular)_

Mayor Julio Llorente.

Councillors Several citizens elected

by popular vote.

The above constitution was in conformity with a decree of General

Aguinaldo dated June 18, 1898, and countersigned by Apolinario

Mabini. Local representatives of the provincial government were

appointed throughout the Island for the collection of taxes and the

maintenance of order, and the system worked fairly smoothly until

the arrival of the Americans in Cebu City, February 21, 1899. On that

date the American gunboat _Petrel_ and a large steam-launch suddenly

appeared in Cebu harbour. The United States Vice-Consul seems to have

been the only person who had received prior advice of their intended

arrival. The commander of the _Petrel_ sent a message ashore saying

that he desired an interview with the government representatives

and that he demanded the surrender of the city, and gave 14 hours

to the people to consider his demands; but, as a matter of fact,

the negotiations lasted about 24 hours, during which time a council

of Filipinos was hurriedly called to decide upon the course the

provincial government should adopt. Very divergent and extreme views

were expressed; Pablo Mejia, supported by Julio Llorente and Father

Julia, advocated an acceptance of the inevitable under protest,

whilst General Gabino Sepulveda declared that he would spill his

last drop of blood before the Americans should take possession of

the city. But, in the end, Sepulveda reserved his blood for a better

occasion, and eventually accepted employment under the Americans as

prosecuting attorney in Bojol Island. Pablo Mejia's advice was acted

upon, and in the name of the Cebuanos, Luis Flores, the President of

the Council, signed a protest [226] which was handed to the commander

of the _Petrel_ by Pablo Mejia and Julio Llorente in the presence

of the United States Vice-Consul. The commander of the _Petrel_

forthwith landed 40 marines, who marched to the _Cotta de San Pedro_

(the fortress) and hoisted the American flag there in the presence of

armed Filipinos who looked on in silence. The marines then returned to

their vessel, which remained inactive anchored off the _cotta_, pending

the arrival of reinforcements which were sent to Cebu under the command

of Colonel Hamer. The provincial government was permitted to continue

its functions and use its official seal, and during five months there

was no manifest anti-American movement. During this period the American

commander of the troops adopted tactics similar to those employed by

General E. S. Otis in Manila against Aguinaldo prior to the outbreak

in February, 1899. Little by little the Americans required the armed

Filipinos to retire farther and farther away from the capital. This

practical isolation disgusted the several chiefs, who therefore agreed

to open the campaign against the invaders. Every act of the provincial

councillors was closely watched and discussed by the Cebuanos, amongst

whom an intransigent faction secretly charged Mejia and Llorente with

being lukewarm in their protection of Philippine interests and unduly

favourable to American dominion. Their death was decreed, and Mejia was

assassinated as he was passing to his house from that of a neighbour

a few yards off. Luis Flores had already resigned public office,

and Llorente was, at this time, his successor in the presidency of

the Council. Fortunately for him, whilst the murderers were plotting

against his life he was called to Manila by General E. S. Otis,

two weeks after Mejia's death, to become a magistrate in the Supreme

Court. Segundo Singson (afterwards chief judge of the Court of First

Instance) then assumed the presidency of the provincial council.

On July 24, 1899, Juan Climaco and Arcadio Maxilom, chafing at the

diminution of their influence in public affairs, suddenly disappeared

into the interior and met at Pardo, where the military revolutionary

centre was established. Aguinaldo's emissary, Pantaleon E. del

Rosario, Melquiades Lasala, a Cebuano of Bogo (known as Dading),

Andres Jayme, Lorega, and an Ilocano named Mateo Luga who had served

in the Spanish army, led contingents under the supreme command of the

insurgent General Arcadio Maxilom. In the interior they established

a fairly well-organized military government. The Island was divided

into districts; there was little interference with personal liberty;

taxes for the maintenance of the struggle were collected in the form of

contribution according to the means of the donor; agriculture was not

altogether abandoned, and for over two years the insurgents held out

against American rule. The brain of the movement was centred in Juan

Climaco, whilst Mateo Luga exhibited the best fighting qualities. In

the meantime American troops were drafted to the coast towns of

Tuburan, Bogo, Carmen, etc. There were several severe engagements with

slaughter on both sides, notably at Monte Sudlon and Compostela. Five

white men joined the insurgent leader Luga, one being an English

mercenary trooper, two sailors, and two soldiers; the last two were

given up at the close of hostilities; one of them was pardoned, and

the other was executed in the _cotta_ for rape committed at Mandaue.

The co-existence of an American military administration in Cebu City

conducting a war throughout the Island, and a Philippine provincial

government with nominal administrative powers over the same region,

but in strong sympathy with the insurgent cause, was no longer

compatible. Moreover, outside the city the provincial government was

unable to enforce its decrees amongst the people, who recognized

solely the martial-law of the insurgents to whom they had to pay

taxes. The Americans therefore abolished the provincial council,

which was not grieved at its dissolution, because it was already

accused by the people of being pro-American. Philippine views of the

situation were expressed in a newspaper, _El Nuevo Dia_, founded by a

lawyer, Rafael Palma, and edited conjointly by Jayme Veyra (afterwards

a candidate for the Leyte Island governorship) and an intelligent

young lawyer, Sergio Osmena, already mentioned at p. 521. This organ,

the type and style of which favourably compared with any journal

ever produced in these Islands, passed through many vicissitudes;

it was alternately suppressed and revived, whilst its editors were

threatened with imprisonment in the _cotta_ and deportation to

Guam. Meanwhile the Americans made strenuous efforts to secure the

co-operation of the Filipinos in municipal administration, but the

people refused to vote. Leading citizens, cited to appear before

the American authorities, persistently declined to take any part in

a dual _regime_. The electors were then ordered, under penalties,

to attend the polling, but out of the hundreds who responded to the

call only about 60 could be coerced into voting. Finally a packed

municipal council was formed, but one of its members, a man hitherto

highly respected by all, was assassinated, and his colleagues went

in fear of their lives.

The war in Panay Island having terminated on February 2, 1901,

by the general surrender at Jaro (_vide_ p. 518), General Hughes

went to Samar Island, where he failed to restore peace, and thence

he proceeded to Cebu in the month of August at the head of 2,000

troops. A vigorous policy of devastation was adopted. Towns, villages

and crops were laid waste; Pardo, the insurgent military centre,

was totally destroyed; peaceful natives who had compulsorily paid

tribute to the insurgents at whose mercy they were obliged to live,

were treated as enemies; their homes and means of livelihood were

demolished, and little distinction was made between the warrior and

the victim of the war. Desolation stared the people in the face,

and within a few weeks the native provincial governor proposed

that terms of peace should be discussed. The insurgent chief Lorega

surrendered on October 22; Mateo Luga and Arcadio Maxilom submitted

five days afterwards and at the end of the month a general cessation

of hostilities followed. A neutral zone was agreed upon, extending

from Mandaue to Sogod, and there the three peace commissioners on

behalf of the Americans, namely Miguel Logarta, Pedro Rodriguez,

and Arsenio Climaco met the insurgent chiefs Juan Climaco and Arcadio

Maxilom. As a result, peace was signed, and the document includes the

following significant words, viz.: "putting the Philippine people in

a condition to prove their aptitude for self-government as the basis

of a future independent life." The signatories of this document on the

part of the Filipinos were Pantaleon E. del Rosario, Melquiades Lasala

and Andres Jayme. After the peace, Mateo Luga and P. E. del Rosario

accepted employment under the Americans, the former as Inspector of

Constabulary and the latter as Sheriff of Cebu. A few months later,

the Americans, acting on information received, proceeded to Tuburan

on the government launch _Philadelphia_, arrested Arcadio Maxilom and

his two brothers, and seized the arms which they had secreted on their

property. On the launch, one of the Maxiloms unsuccessfully attempted

to murder the Americans and was immediately executed, whilst Arcadio

and his other brother jumped overboard; but Arcadio being unable to

swim, was picked up, brought to trial at Cebu, and acquitted. Thus

ended the career of General Arcadio Maxilom, whom in 1904 I found

living in retirement, almost a hermit's life, broken in spirit and

body and worried by numerous lawsuits pending against him.

On April 17,1901, Governor W. H. Taft went to Cebu accompanied by a

Filipino, H. Pardo de Tavera, whose views were diametrically opposed

to those of the Cebuano majority. Governor Taft established civil

government there, although the law of _habeas corpus_ had to be

suspended because the war was still raging throughout the Island

outside the capital. The provincial government as established

by Governor Taft comprises a provincial board composed of three

members, namely the Philippine Provincial Governor, the American

Supervisor, and the American Treasurer: hence the Americans are in

permanent majority and practically rule the Island. The executive

of this body is the provincial governor and his staff. The first

provincial governor appointed by Governor Taft was Julio Llorente,

who resigned the magistracy in Manila and returned to Cebu to take

up his new office until the elections took place in January, 1902,

when, by popular vote, Juan Climaco, the ex-insurgent chief, became

provincial governor, and on the expiration of his term in January,

1904, he was re-elected for another two years.

There is no noteworthy change in the aspect of Cebu since the American

occupation. It is a regularly-built city, with hundreds of good houses,

many relatively imposing public buildings, monuments, churches, and

interesting edifices. It is a cathedral city and bishop's see, full of

historical remininscences, and has still a very pleasant appearance,

notwithstanding its partial destruction and the many remaining

ruins caused by the bombardment by the Spanish warship _Don Juan de

Austria_ in April 1838, (_vide_ p. 403). Of special interest are the

Cathedral, the Church of _Santo Nino_, or the "Holy Child of Cebu"

(_vide_ p. 183), the Chapels of the Paul Fathers and of the Jesuits,

and the _Cotta de San Pedro_ (fortress). Also, just outside the city

proper is the Church of _San Nicolas_. Up to about the year 1876 the

Jesuits had a fine church of their own, but the friars, jealous of

its having become the most popular place of worship, caused it to be

destroyed. Until a few years ago the quarter known as the, _Parian_

was the flourishing centre of the half-caste traders. There was also a

busy street of Chinese general shops and native ready-made clothiers in

the _Lutao_ district, a thoroughfare which ran along the seashore from

the south of the city proper towards San Nicolas; it was completely

destroyed by the bombardment of 1898, and many of the shopkeepers have

erected new premises in the principal shopping street, called _Calle de

la Infanta_. Again, in 1905, a disastrous fire in the business quarter

of the city caused damage to the estimated extent of $500,000 gold.

There is a little colony of foreign merchants in Cebu, which formerly

ranked as the third port of the Archipelago, but now stands second in

importance to Manila (_vide_ Trade Statistics, Chap. xxxi.). Several

vice-consulates are established here, and in Spanish times it was

the residence of the military governor of Visayas as well as of the

governor of the Island and his staff of officials. In 1886 a Supreme

Court was inaugurated in Cebu. This city, which was the capital of

the Colony from 1565 to 1571, had a municipality up to the time of

Gov.-General Pedro de Arandia (1754-59). It was then abolished because

there was only one Spaniard capable of being a city councillor. One

alderman who had served--Juan Sebastian de Espina--could neither

read nor write, and the mayor himself had been deprived of office

for having tried to extort money from a Chinaman by putting his head

in the stocks. By Royal Order dated June 7, 1889, and put into force

by the Gov.-General's Decree of January 31, 1890, the municipality

was re-established. The president was the governor of the Island,

supported by an _Alcalde_ and 13 officials. For the government of

the Island under the Spanish _regime, vide_ Chap. xiii.

The municipality at present existing is that established by the

Taft Commission. The Press, in the days of the Spaniards, was poorly

represented by a little news-sheet, styled the _Boletin de Cebu_. There

are now two periodicals of little or no interest.

There are two large cemeteries at Guadalupe and Mabolo. In 1887 a

shooting-butts was established at the end of the Guadalupe road,

and the annual pony-races take place in January. On the Mabolo road

there is a Leper Hospital, and the ruins of a partly well-built jail

which was never completed.

Cebu is a port of entry open to foreign trade, with a Custom-house

established since the year 1863. The channel for vessels is marked by

buoys, and there are two lighthouses at the north and two at the south

entrance to the port. The environs are pretty, with Magtan Island

(on which Maghallanes was killed) in front and a range of hills in

the background. There are excellent roads for riding and driving a

few miles out of the city. The climate is very healthy for Europeans;

the low ranges of mountains running north to south of the Island are

sparsely wooded, some being quite bare of trees, and the atmosphere is

comparatively dry. The cactus is very common all over the Island, and

miles of it are seen growing in the hedges. About an hour and a half's

drive from Cebu City there is the little town of Naga, the environs

of which are extremely pretty. From the top of Makdoc Mountain,

at the back of the town, there is a splendid view of the Pandan Valley.

The Cebuanos are the most sociable of the Visaya population, whilst

the women are the best-looking of all the Filipinas of pure Oriental

descent.

Of all places in the Philippines Cebu will please the conchologist. An

old native named Legaspi once had a splendid shell collection, which he

freely exhibited to foreigners. At one time he had a _Gloria Maris_,

which he sold for $150, and some Russian naval officers are said

to have offered him $5,000 for a part of his collection. At certain

seasons of the year the _Euplectella speciosa_, Gray, or Venus baskets,

locally known as _Regaderas_, can be obtained in quantities; they are

found in the Cebu waters. The _Eup. spec_, is the skeleton secretion of

an insect of the Porifera division. The basket is a series of graceful

fretted spirals. Also fine _Pina_ stuffs can be purchased here.

The population of Cebu City was 9,629 in 1888; 10,972 in 1896; and

18,330 in 1903. The inhabitants of the whole Island numbered 417,543

in 1876; 518,032 in 1888; 595,726 in 1896; and 653,727 in 1903.

In March, 1899, an American armed force was detailed from Cebu City

to _Bojol Island_ to demand the surrender of the native provincial

government established there since the Spanish evacuation. Interpreters

from Cebu were sent ashore, and after hearing their explanation of the

Americans demands the native president in council resolved to yield

peacefully. A volunteer regiment was then sent ashore, positions were

occupied, and all went smoothly on the surface until the Islanders'

powers of endurance were exhausted after 22 months of alleged harsh

treatment imposed upon them by the troops. In January, 1901, the cry

of rebellion was raised by one Pedro Sanson, whose band of Bojolanos,

augmented by levies from Leyte, Samar, and Panay Islands numbered

about 2,000. Expeditions were sent out against them, and the lukewarm

sympathy of the Islanders was turned to general indignation against the

Americans by the alleged wanton destruction of a whole town by fire, by

order of a captain of volunteers. Practically the whole Island became

covertly anti-American. Having finished his campaign in Cebu Island in

October, 1901, General Hughes carried his troops over to Bojol Island,

where measures of repression were adopted similar to those which had

been so effective in reducing the Cebuanos to submission. A large

number of small towns and villages within the range of military

operations were entirely destroyed. The once pretty little town

of Lauang was left a complete ruin, and many landmarks of a former

progressive civilization have disappeared for ever. Nevertheless, the

insurgents refused to yield until a decree was issued to the effect

that if the leaders did not surrender by December 27 the invaders

would burn down the town of Tagbilaran. In this town, formerly the

seat of the native provincial government, Pedro Sanson and most of his

officers had all their property and worldly possessions; and in view

of the beggary which awaited them if they held out any longer, they

accepted terms of peace from Pantaleon E. del Rosario, who went up to

the mountains and acted as negotiator between General Hughes and the

insurgent chiefs who finally surrendered. The Filipino, Aniceto Clarin,

appointed provincial governor on April 20, 1901, continued in office;

Pedro Sanson quietly resumed his occupation of dealer in hemp, etc.,

and thenceforth peace and poverty reigned in the Island.

In _Cottabato_ (Mindanao Is.), the attempt to establish a local native

government ended in tragic failure. In January, 1899, a Spanish

gunboat silently entered the port without the customary whistling

and firing of salute. It brought a despatch to the Governor from the

nominal acting-Gov.-General Rios, who, coming from Yloilo, called at

Zamboanga before proceeding to Manila, to receive on board a number of

Spanish refugees. One of the crew of the gunboat also brought a private

communication from the Jesuit Superior in Zamboanga to the Jesuit

missionary Father Suarez. The official despatch notified the Governor

that the Treaty of Paris had been signed, and consequently he was to

evacuate Cottabato immediately. The private communication told the

same tale to the missionary, with an inquiry from the Jesuit Superior

as to whether he could continue his mission after the withdrawal of

the Spanish Governor, and whether it would be of any advantage to do

so. The Governor informed the missionary of his intended departure,

and the missionary replied negatively to his superior in Zamboanga. The

Governor then called Roman Vilo, his confidential christian native

assistant, and told him that he and all who had been loyal to the

Spanish Government and faithful in their service could take passage

to Zamboanga. Vilo, however, for himself and his family, declined

the offer on the ground that all his interests were in and about

Cottabato, where he possessed real estate. The Governor then had the

Moro-Chinese half-caste Datto Piang called, and in the presence of

Vilo the former was appointed chief of the Moro people and the latter

governor of the christian population. After making a short speech,

exhorting the two chiefs, in benevolent phrases, to live in peace

and act mutually for the common good, the Governor, accompanied by

the Jesuit missionaries and others who were desirous of leaving the

place, went to Zamboanga on the gunboat.

When, after the lapse of some weeks, Datto Piang felt sure that

the Spaniards would never be again in authority at Cottabato, he

begged Vilo to let him have twenty rifles to defend himself against a

rival. The christian governor agreed to this, and week by week Datto

Piang's demands grew until, at length, all the rifles in the possession

of the Christians passed to the Moros. But there still remained some

cannons, and Datto Piang, having represented the necessity of making

war on another chief up the Cottabato River, Vilo was persuaded to

lend them to him. Piang had them placed in _vintas_ (war-junks) and

Vilo, with several friends, went down to the river-side to witness

the departure of the supposed armed expedition. Suddenly Piang, his

son-in-law Datto Ali and this man's brother, Datto Djimbangan, at the

head of a large party of armed Moros, fell upon and slaughtered the

Christians. Vilo's head was cut off and the savage Mahometans made a

raid on the town, looting all but the shops of the Chinese who were in

league, or accord, with their half-countryman Piang. The Christians who

were unable to escape were either massacred or carried off as slaves

into the interior, with the loot. Datto Djimbangan caused the Christian

women to be stripped naked and marched through the streets, whilst he

and his companions made their selections for themselves, leaving the

remainder for their followers. Amongst the captives were a father and

two sons. In October, 1899, the Americans sent a gunboat to Cottabato,

and the wife of this captive, mother of his two boys, represented her

plight to the commander, who forthwith sent for Piang and ordered him

immediately to send a message to the individual holding the captives

to release them and hand them over to the messenger, who would conduct

them back to Cottabato. Piang, without a moment's hesitation, offered

to comply, and sent a _vinta_ up the river with the required order,

but at the same time he secretly sent another emissary overland with

contrary instructions. The land messenger, as was expected, arrived

first, and when the _vinta_ party reached the place of captivity,

Piang's people expressed their regret that they could not oblige the

party because they had just cut off the captives' heads. In 1904 a

member of the victims' family was a teacher in the Jesuits' Catholic

School in Zamboanga. Datto Piang, who owes his position and influence

over the Moros to the protection of the late great Datto Utto (_vide_

p. 143) is the father-in-law of the terrible Datto Ali whose continual

depredations and defiance made Cottabato the centre of that unabated

conflict for the Americans described in Chapter xxix.

In the belief that the Zamboanguenos were loyally disposed towards

Spain, the Spaniards, after the signing of the Treaty of Paris, chose

_Zamboanga_ (Mindanao Is.) as their point of concentration of all the

Spanish troops and civil servants in the southern islands. At that time

General Jaramillo was Gov.-General of Mindanao Island and commander of

the forces in Zamboanga; but on the arrival there, December 27, 1898,

of the ex-governor of Cebu, General Montero, with his co-refugees,

General Jaramillo transferred his command to him and left for Manila

with General Rios, who had come from Yloilo to Zamboanga to receive

refugee passengers for the capital. Before his departure Jaramillo

had led the Zamboangueno Christians to believe that the war with

America was, at every turn, a triumphant success for Spanish arms;

fictitious printed telegrams were circulated announcing Spanish

victories everywhere, and one of the most extravagant reported that

General Weyler had landed on American soil at Key West with an army of

80,000 Spanish troops. The motive of this harmless ruse was to bolster

up Spanish prestige and thereby avoid bloodshed. During several months

no trading or mail-steamer came, and the Zamboanguenos were practically

cut off from the rest of the world. Military preparations were made

for the feigned purpose of resisting a possible attack on the place

by the Americans, who were described to the people as cannibals and

ferocious monsters more terrible than the dreaded Moros. Naturally

the real object of the military preparations was the Spaniards'

justifiable endeavour to be ready to defend themselves against open

rebellion when the true situation should ooze out. Nor was their

misrepresentation of the Americans mere spiteful calumny; the Spaniards

were in great jeopardy, and they instinctively wished to destroy any

feeling of welcome which the natives might have for the new-comers

for fear it might operate against themselves at the supreme moment of

danger. Indeed, each party--native and Spanish--was seeking to outwit

the other; hence, when the Zamboanguenos were promised a supply of arms

for the ostensible purpose of resisting invasion, they pretended to

co-operate heartily with the Spaniards' defensive measures, with the

secret design of dispossessing the Spaniards of their arms in order to

use them against them. The Zamboanguenos therefore became so persistent

in their demand upon Montero to fulfil his predecessor's promise

that at last he had frankly to confess that peace had been signed

between Spain and America, whereby the Islands were surrendered to the

United States, and that very shortly the Spaniards would evacuate the

Archipelago. But the conflicting versions of the situation, published

severally by Jaramillo and Montero, sorely puzzled the natives. The

Spaniards were still in undisturbed possession of Zamboanga for over

four months after Montero's arrival, notwithstanding the fact that

the American warship _Boston_ called at the port and left the same

day and that an officer came ashore without the least objection

or consternation on the part of the Spaniards. The orange-and-red

flag still floated over the Fortress del Pilar, and, so far as the

Zamboanguenos could ascertain, it looked as if the Spaniards were

going to remain. They therefore clamoured more loudly than ever for

the distribution of arms, which this time Montero positively refused,

for the Spaniards had never for a moment been deceived as to the real

intentions of the Zamboanguenos. On the other hand, by this time,

their inoffensive delusion of the people had lost its virtue, and

natives and Spaniards thenceforth became open enemies. After the

visit of the _Boston_ the fighting population, no longer able to

conceal their disappointment, threw off the mask, quitted the town,

cut off the water-supply which came from the mountains, in collusion

with the mutinied crews seized the firearms on board the Spanish

gunboats lying in the harbour, and prepared for war against their

old masters. The Spaniards immediately compelled the non-combatant

townspeople and the Chinese to throw up earthworks for mounting

artillery and dig trenches for defence against the rebels. The gunboat

_Alava_ co-operated by firing shells into the rebel camp situated

just outside the town. The rebels made two unsuccessful assaults,

and in the second attack General Montero was mortally wounded by a

rifle-shot. On May 23 the S.S. _Leon XIII._ arrived; the Spaniards

silently embarked for Manila with their dying general, who succumbed

during the voyage, and Zamboanga, one-fourth of which the defenders

had destroyed by fire, was occupied by the rebels. During the siege

the Filipinos, true to their instincts, had split up into two rival

factions headed by Vicente Alvarez and Isidoro Midel respectively,

and in the interval between the first and second assault on the town

these party chiefs had fought out their own quarrel, Midel claiming to

have been the victor. Nevertheless, the popular favourite was Vicente

Alvarez, known as the _Tamagun Datto_ (high chief), who became the

chosen president of the Zamboanga revolutionary government established

immediately after the Spanish evacuation. Party spirit ran high;

life was held in little esteem; a lifeless body found on the highway

startled no one; assassination was an occurrence of small moment;

cattle-shooting was practised for amusement, and the five-and-a-half

months' essay of christian Philippine autonomy was so signalized by

jealous self-interest, bitter rivalry, rapacity, and bloodshed as to

make one doubt whether the christian Zamboangueno is one whit superior

to his Mahometan neighbour in moral character.

The arrival of an American expedition in the waters of Zamboanga

on November 15, 1899, produced a sanguinary crisis in these faction

feuds. Vicente Alvarez at once took measures to oppose the invaders'

landing, whilst his rival, Isidoro Midel, resolved to side with

the Americans. _Divide et impera._ The want of unity amongst the

natives themselves was a great help to the Americans' plans. By this

time there appeared a third aspirant to local fame in the person of

Melanio Sanson, a native marine engineer, until recently in the Spanish

service, who pretended to co-operate with Alvarez, styling himself

colonel of artillery in charge of the guns abandoned by his former

masters. Each of these three individuals sought to rid himself of his

two rivals. On the night of November 15 Isidoro Midel ended Melanio

Sanson's rivalry for ever, and the Americans took peaceful possession

of the town the next day. Subsequently Midel arranged a transfer

to the Americans of the artillery which had, during the conflict,

been under Sanson's control. Vicente Alvarez immediately fled to

Mercedes, and thence to Basilan Island, where, aided by Datto Pedro

Cuevas, he organized a brigand band, crossed over to Mindanao Island

again, and made a raid on Oriquieta. Chased from place to place by

American troops, he was finally captured and sent to Bilibid prison

in Manila, but was subsequently pardoned on his taking the oath of

allegiance, and sent back to Zamboanga, where he earns his living

peacefully. Meanwhile, Isidoro Midel had been further rewarded for his

services to the Americans with the office of municipal president, which

he held for about 16 months in defiance of public opinion. The feeling

which prompted public opposition to Midel's appointment was at least

as much anti-American as it was dislike for the nominee. In March,

1901, municipal elections were held, and Mariano Arquiza succeeded,

by popular vote, to the presidency, which he held for two years. Some

weeks before Arquiza vacated office two American miners were murdered

by the natives a few miles up the province. The murderers, when caught,

sought to justify their deed by alleging that a municipal councillor

named Eduardo Alvarez (no relation to the Vicente Alvarez already

mentioned) had persuaded them that the miners were secretly engaged in

poisoning the local wells. The whole municipal council was therefore

cited to appear before the American Governor, who severely reprimanded

Alvarez, whereupon this man withdrew from the audience-chamber, and

his fellow-councillors volunteered such information against him that

the Governor instantly issued a warrant for his apprehension. But the

native police who went to his house to execute the warrant let him

escape on horseback to the mountains, where he organized a band of

outlaws and lived for about four months by robbery and violence. Under

these circumstances the American Governor summarily dismissed Mariano

Arquiza from the municipal presidency in the spring of 1903, and, much

to the public chagrin, re-appointed Midel to the vacancy. The offer of

$1,000 for the capture of Eduardo Alvarez spurred Midel into further

activity, and under his direction the bandit was discovered hiding

in a canoe in a swamp. On the approach of his pursuers the outlaw

threw up his hands in sign of surrender, which was responded to by

a volley of gunshots, for it was Alvarez's corpse which was wanted

in Zamboanga. Isidoro Midel is an interesting character, apparently

about forty-eight years of age. Brought up as a Roman Catholic, he

assured me that he was a Protestant, with the strongest sympathy,

however, for the Aglipayan movement (_vide_ Chap. xxx.).

Another interesting man, closely associated with recent events in

Zamboanga, is the Mahometan Spanish-Moro half-caste Datto Mandi, the

_Rajahmudah_ or heir-apparent to the _Manguiguin_ or Sultan of Mindanao

(_vide_ p. 131). Born about the year 1860, he and his tribe of Samals

lived on friendly terms with the Spaniards, who in 1887 sent him and

a number of his people to the Philippine Exhibition held in Madrid in

that year. His exploits in aid of the Spaniards in Cebu are recorded at

page 406. He speaks Spanish fluently, and can just write his name. He

is very affable and hospitable to visitors. The whole family professes

the Mahometan religion. He has a beautiful daughter Gafas (which

in Moro language signifies "cotton," and in Spanish "spectacles"),

who attended the American School. His young son Facundo also goes to

the American School, and his other son Pelayo went to the Catholic

School in Zamboanga before he was sent to Manila. I was much struck

with the intelligence of this handsome boy Pelayo. In the stirring

events which immediately followed the Spanish evacuation, Datto Mandi

remained neutral, his old antagonism to Alvarez being counterpoised by

the conviction that a Zamboanga republic must end in a fiasco. He at

once accepted the new situation under American dominion, and is headman

of the Samal tribal ward of Magay, a suburb of Zamboanga. He told me

in 1904 that he held under his control 9,600 persons, from 1,700 of

whom he collected capitation tax for the American authorities. At

the instance of the Americans, Datto Mandi issued a proclamation

to his tribe, dated April 19, 1900, abolishing their traditional

custom of slavery. His position is not at all an easy one, and it

needs much tact to maintain an even balance of goodwill between his

Samal subordinates and his American superiors. But Datto Mandi had a

grievance which rankled in his breast. In the year 1868 the Spanish

Government conceded to a christian native family named Fuentebella

some 600 acres of land at Buluan, about 40 miles up the Zamboanga

coast, which in time they converted into a prosperous plantation well

stocked with cattle. During the anarchy which succeeded the Spanish

evacuation, a band of about 600 Moros raided the property, murdered

seven of the christian residents, and stole all they could possibly

carry away from the plantation and well-furnished estate-house. When

Datto Mandi heard of it he went there in person and rescued the

women held in captivity and brought them to Zamboanga, where they

lived in perfect security under his protection until the American

advent. Then, in return for his kindness, these women accused the

_Datto_ of having been the instigator of the crime, or, at least,

a participator in the proceeds thereof, in the hope that, through

the Americans, they would be able to exact an indemnity. The _Datto_

was mulcted in the sum of 5,000 pesos, although he declared to me that

neither before nor after the crime was he in any way concerned in it;

and this was the honest belief of many American officials in Zamboanga.

In January, 1905, Datto Mandi's daughter was married at a little town

a few miles from Yligan (north Mindanao). Several American officers

were present on the occasion, accompanied by a Spanish half-caste

who acted as their interpreter. The assembled guests were having

a merry time when suddenly the festivities were interrupted by the

intrusion of a _juramentado_ Moro fanatic, who sprang forward with

his _campilan_ and at one blow almost severed the interpreter's head

from his body. Then he turned his attention to the other natives,

mortally wounded two, and cut gashes in several others before he fell

dead from the revolver-shots fired by the American officers. After

the dead and wounded were carried away and the pools of blood were

mopped up, the wedding ceremony was proceeded with and the hymeneal

festival was resumed without further untoward incident.

Zamboanga is a clean, pleasant town, and what was left of it

after the Spanish evacution is well built, with many substantial

houses and public offices, a church administered by the Jesuits,

one large and one small jetty, a pretty esplanade facing the sea,

and other open spaces. A canal running through the town adds to

its picturesqueness. At the eastern extremity is the old fortress,

called the _Fuerza del Pilar_, a fine historical monument reminding

one of the Spaniards' many vicissitudes in this region, alluded to

in the preceding pages. Many of the natives concerned, or alleged to

have been concerned, in the Cavite Rising of 1872 (_vide_ p. 106)

were confined in this fortress. They overcame their jailors and

obtained possession of the guns and ammunition. The Spaniards were

consequently in great straits, for possibly their existence depended

on which side the townspeople took. The Zamboanguenos, however, helped

the Spaniards against the revolted convicts, who were finally subdued;

and as a reward for this proof of loyalty Zamboanga received the title

of _Muy leal y valiente Villa_ (very loyal and heroic town). Many years

ago a Moro attack was made on Zamboanga, and the Christian natives

joined with the Spaniards in repelling it. It would have gone rather

badly with them if they had not done so, for a Philippine Christian

was just as good fish for the Moro net as a Spaniard. However, their

co-operation was gratefully acknowledged by declaring the Zamboanguenos

to be Spaniards of the first class.

I have never been able to discern clearly what material advantage

this brought them, although I have discussed the question on the

spot. The disadvantage of this pompous distinction to the town arose

from the ridiculous popular notion that whereas Spaniards in Spain

are all cavaliers, they too, as Spaniards of the first water, ought to

regard work as a degradation. Hence they are a remarkably indolent and

effete community, and on landing from a ship there is seldom a porter

to be seen to carry one's luggage. Their speech is a dialect called

_Chabucano_--a mixture of very corrupt Spanish and native tongues.

The environment of Zamboanga is very beautiful, with islands to the

south and mountain scenery on the land sides. The climate is healthy,

and with the frequent delightful breezes wafted across the Celebes

Sea is not at all oppressive for a tropical region, and is cooler

than Manila, which is 425 miles north.

The people of _Samar Island_ for a long time tenaciously opposed

the American occupation, under several leaders, notably Vicente

Lucban and his right-hand man, Guevara; but neither here, nor in

_Marinduque Island_ can it be said that native civil government was

established. In the latter Island the insurgent chief was the titular

Colonel Abad, who overran the villages with about 150 followers

armed with rifles. In 1901 Abad surrendered, and hostilities, with

real political aim, definitely ended in these Islands thirteen months

after the capture of Aguinaldo in Luzon. Although in Samar Island the

war was, as elsewhere, a succession of petty encounters, there were

incidents in its prosecution which attracted much public attention

from time to time. At the town of Balangiga, on September 28, 1901,

the local headman and the native parish priest conspired with about

450 armed natives to attack the American camp. The garrison stationed

there was Company "C," 9th Infantry. The headman had represented to

the Americans that he was busy with an important capture of about 90

brigands, and on this pretext some 45 cut-throats were brought into

the town and lodged in the church. Three officers of the garrison were

quartered in the parish-house, and whilst the rank-and-file were at

breakfast in a bamboo building, some distance away from their quarters

where they had left their weapons, another 45 supposed brigands were

led through the town to the church, but naturally the soldiers took

little notice of this expected event. The town is surrounded on one

side by the open valley and on three sides by almost perpendicular

mountains, with defiles between them leading to the interior of the

Island. As soon as the last batch of supposed brigands was brought

in, the church bells were rung as a signal for a mob of natives,

armed with bowie-knives, to creep silently through the defiles on two

sides. The troopers were just then suddenly alarmed by the noise of a

conflict in the parish-house. The 90 so-called brigands having been

passed through from the church into this house, fired at the three

officers and then killed them with their bowie-knives. Simultaneously

the soldiers' quarters were attacked. Whilst the troops made a rush

forward to secure their weapons they were intercepted by an armed

crowd, through which a small party of Americans finally cut their

way and beat off the howling mob, which had already slaughtered many

soldiers, set fire to the quarters, and possessed themselves of over

50 rifles and several thousand rounds of ammunition. A large number

of hostile natives, including the headman, were killed; 28 Americans

effected their escape, but the loss amounted to three officers and

about 70 men killed and several more men wounded. General Hughes, in

command of the Visayas District, was operating in Cebu Island at the

time of this disaster. Public excitement was intense when the news

of this serious reverse was published. The general who was sent to

Samar to pursue the insurgents, or bandits, is alleged to have issued,

in a moment of uncontrollable wrath, an order to "slay all over ten

years and make Samar a howling wilderness." Consequently a great

cry of public protest was raised, and the general and his executive

officer in the affair were cited before a court-martial in April,

1902; but the court having found that the general was justified in

the measures he took, both officers were acquitted. Since the capture

of Lucban (April 27, 1902), lawless agitation has been persistently

rife all over the Island of Samar; but this is the work of brigands

(_vide_ p. 551) and has no political signification.

CHAPTER XXVI

The Spanish Prisoners

Extreme interest was naturally taken by all Europeans in the miserable

fate of the thousands of Spanish soldiers and civilians who had fallen

into the rebels hands up to the capitulation of Manila. [227] Held

captive in groups at different places in the Island of Luzon, many of

them passed a wretched existence, with bad food, scant clothing, and

deprived of every pleasure in life beyond the hope of one day seeing

their native land. Many of them died, either from natural causes or

the effect of their privations (some of starvation in Tayabas), or

as a result of brutal treatment. A minority of them received as good

treatment as possible under the circumstances. The fate of the majority

depended chiefly upon the temperament of the native commander of the

district. There were semi-savage native chiefs, and there were others,

like Aguinaldo himself, with humane instincts. Amongst the former,

for instance, there was Major Francisco Braganza, who, on February

28, 1900, in Camarines Sur, ordered one hundred and three Spanish

soldiers to be tied up to trees and cut and stabbed to death with

bowie-knifes and their bodies stripped and left without burial. He

was tried by court-martial and sentenced to be hanged, September 26,

1901, and the sentence was carried out at Nueva Caceres (Camarines

Sur) on November 15 following. Many prisoners managed to escape, no

doubt with the aid or connivance of natives, until Aguinaldo issued a

decree, dated Malolos, November 5, 1898, imposing a penalty of twenty

years' imprisonment on whomsoever should give such aid. Aguinaldo

told me he was personally inclined to liberate these prisoners, or,

at least, those civilians accustomed to an easy office life who,

if they went free, would have had no inclination whatever to fight,

but would have done their best to embark for Spain. The few who might

have broken their _parole_ would have been easily caught again "for

the last time in their lives," and the women and children were an

obstacle to military operations. Indeed, from time to time, Aguinaldo

did liberate small groups of civilians, amongst whom were some of

my old friends whom I afterwards met in Spain. Aguinaldo's Prime

Minister, Apolinario Mabini (_vide_ p. 546), was, however, strongly

in favour of retaining the Spaniards as hostages until the Spanish

Government should officially recognize the Philippine Republic. It

will be clearly seen from the negotiations entered into between the

respective parties that this recognition was the condition which

the rebels most pertinaciously insisted upon, whilst the Spaniards'

offers of millions of dollars were always met by much larger demands,

which practically implied a refusal to treat on a money basis. The

facts in the negotiations certainly support Aguinaldo's statement

to me that the rebels never sought money, but political advantage,

by the retention of the prisoners.

The intense excitement in Spain over the prisoners' doom called into

existence meetings, liberation societies, frequent discussions in

and out of Parliament, and continual protests against the apparent

Ministerial lethargy. In reality, the Spanish Government, fearful of

a rupture with America, could take no official action in the matter,

further than appeal, indirectly, to the generosity of the captors, and

remind America of her undertaking under Article 6 of the treaty. In

January, 1899, the Colonial Minister cabled to several people in

Manila, begging them to use their influence--but they themselves

were already in the rebel camp. No form of compensation in money or

armament for the captives' liberty could be officially made without

involving Spain in a _casus belli_ with America. Recognition of a

Philippine Republic would have been in direct opposition to the spirit

of the treaty of peace. In September, 1898, the Superiors of the

regular clergy in Manila appealed to Rome; the Vatican communicated

with President McKinley, and the President sent an inquiry to

Maj.-General E. S. Otis concerning the captive friars. General

Otis, after investigation, reported that these prisoners were fairly

well treated. In the following month, whilst the Treaty of Paris was

under discussion, the Spanish Government appealed to the United States

Government to aid them in the rescue of the prisoners, and orders to do

so were transmitted to General Otis. The Filipinos and the Americans

were ostensibly on good terms at that period, and General Otis

suggested to Aguinaldo that the friars and civilian Spaniards should be

set free. On the subject of this request, Aguinaldo replied to General

Otis by letter dated Malolos, November 3, 1898, as follows, viz:--"The

Philippine people wish to retain the Spanish civil functionaries in

order to obtain the liberty of the Filipinos who are banished and

under arrest, and the friars in order to obtain from the Vatican a

recognition of the rights of the Philippine secular clergy.... It is

not hatred or vengeance which inspires the Filipinos to retain the

Spanish civil and religious functionaries, but political expediency,

and the tranquillity of the Philippine people demands this measure."

At this date there were hundreds of Philippine prisoners held by

the Spanish Government in different places, some of them under

worse conditions than the Spanish prisoners. For instance, 218 were

deported to the fever-stricken colony of Fernando Po, and only 94 of

them came out alive. The treaty of peace was still being discussed,

and on its conclusion, Article 6 stipulated a release of "all persons

detained or imprisoned for political offences in connection with

the insurrections in Cuba and the Philippines," and that the United

States would "undertake to obtain the release of all Spanish prisoners

in the hands of the insurgents"; but there was no proviso that the

release of the Philippine prisoners should depend on that of the

Spanish prisoners, and after the treaty was signed, Spain showed no

particular haste immediately to carry out her undertaking to return

the Philippine prisoners to their islands.

When General Diego de los Rios evacuated the Visayas Islands and

brought his Spanish troops to Manila, _en route_ for Spain, January,

1899, he himself remained in Manila as a Spanish Government Agent

to obtain the release of the prisoners. For the special purpose, by

courtesy of the American authorities, he held a kind of semi-official

position; but he did not care to risk his person within

the rebel lines. A Spanish merchant, Don Antonio Fuset, president of

the Spanish Club, undertook the negotiations, and succeeded in inducing

Apolinario Mabini to issue a decree signed by Aguinaldo and himself,

dated January 22, 1899, giving liberty to all invalid civilians

and soldiers. Simultaneously the Spanish Press in Manila was abusing

Aguinaldo and his officers, calling them monkeys and using epithets

which brought down their vengeance on the captives themselves.

The outbreak of the War of Independence (February 4, 1899)

precluded direct American intervention in favour of the Spanish

prisoners. General Rios, whose importance was being overshadowed by

Senor Fuset's productive activity, cabled to Madrid that he would

attend to the matter himself. But the didactic tone of his letters

to Aguinaldo was not conducive to a happy result, and having frankly

confessed his failure, the general made an appeal to the consuls and

foreign merchants to exercise conjointly their influence. A letter

of appeal from them was therefore drawn up and confided for delivery

in the insurgent camp to my late friend Baron Du Marais. [228] This

chivalrous gentleman, well known as the personification of integrity

and honour, had resided many years in the Islands and spoke Tagalog

fluently. On reaching the insurgent camp he was imprisoned on the

charge of being a spy, but was shortly afterwards released, and on

his way back to the capital he was waylaid by the natives, who foully

murdered him. Senor Fuset then resumed his labours, and, as a result

of his appeal to the generosity of his countrymen, he was able to

set out for Boac and Batangas in the little steamer _Castellano_ to

carry supplies to the prisoners detained in those localities. On his

journey he distributed to them 500 cotton suits, 290 pairs of shoes,

100 pairs of _alpargatas_ (a sort of hempen shoe or sandal made in

Spain), 14,375 packets of cigarettes, and P1,287. Several subsequent

expeditions carried supplies to the prisoners, the total amount of

material aid furnished to them, in goods and money, being estimated

at P60,000.

After five months of fruitless effort General Diego de los Rios

left Manila for Spain on June 3, 1899, and was succeeded by General

Nicolas Jaramillo as the negotiator representing Spain. Moreover,

it was desirable to recall General Rios, whose cablegrams commenting

on the Americans' military operations were making him a _persona non

grata_ in official circles.

With the requisite passes procured from Aguinaldo, two Spanish envoys,

Senores Toral and Rio, and the Filipino Enrique Marcaida set out for

the insurgent seat of government, which was then at Tarlac. On their

arrival there (June 23) Aguinaldo appointed three commissioners to

meet them. At the first meeting the Filipinos agreed to liberate

all except the friars, because these might raise trouble. At the

next meeting they offered liberty to all on the following terms,

impossible of acceptance by the Spanish commissioners, viz.:--

(1) Spain is to recognize the Independence of the Philippines and

repudiate the cession of the Islands to America.

(2) After the recognition and repudiation stipulated in Clause 1, the

Philippine Republic will liberate all the prisoners, without exception,

and will pay their expenses back to Spain. If Spain cannot possibly

accede to the conditions of Clause 1, the Philippine Republic will

accept, in lieu thereof, arms, munitions and provisions, or their

money equivalent.

(3) The Spanish Government is to exchange the receipts given for

money subscribed to the Philippine loan for the certificates of that

loan. [229]

The Filipinos declined to say what sum they would consider an

equivalent, as per Clause 2, and invited the Spaniards to make an

offer. The Spaniards then proposed P1,000,000.

On June 29, at the third conference, the Filipinos refused to accept

less than P6,000,000. This demand stupefied the Spaniards, who said

they would return to consult General Jaramillo; but they were reluctant

to leave the matter unsettled, and a last conference was held the next

day, when the Spaniards raised their offer to P2,000,000. The Filipinos

then reduced their demand to P3,000,000, which the Spaniards objected

to; but they were successful in obtaining the liberty of the Baler

garrison and 22 invalids, with all of whom they returned to Manila

(_vide_ Baler garrison, p. 494).

On July 5 a decree was issued from Tarlac, signed by Emilio Aguinaldo

and countersigned by his minister, Pedro A. Paterno, to the effect that

all invalid prisoners would be at liberty to embark at certain ports

designated, if vessels were sent for them flying only the Spanish

flag and a white one bearing the Red Cross. Difficulties, however,

arose with the American authorities which impeded the execution of

this plan. General Jaramillo was preparing to send his commissioners

again to Tarlac when he received a cablegram from Madrid telling him

to suspend further overtures to the insurgents because international

complications were threatened. It appears that America objected to

the proposal to pay to the insurgents a large sum of money.

On August 9 General Jaramillo wished to send the Spanish warship

_General Alava_, or a Spanish merchant vessel with the Red Cross

flag, to San Fernando de la Union with provisions for the prisoners,

but General E. S. Otis objected to the proposed proceeding on the

ground that it would compromise the dignity of America. But General

Jaramillo still persisted in his project, and after a lapse of three

days he again addressed a note on the subject to General E. S. Otis,

from whom he received another negative reply. On September 5 General

Jaramillo informed General Otis that the prisoners were concentrated in

the ports named in the insurgents' decree, and solicited permission to

send a vessel flying the Red Cross flag to receive them. Three days

afterwards General Otis replied that a recognition of Aguinaldo's

pretension to designate certain ports for the Spaniards' embarkation

would be not only humiliating but ridiculous. Furthermore, he was

expecting reinforcements shortly, with which peace would be assured

and all the ports re-opened, and then America would co-operate for

the liberty of the prisoners. General Jaramillo replied to this

communication by addressing to General Otis a lengthy philosophical

epistle on the principles involved in the question, but as General

Otis did not care to continue the correspondence, General Jaramillo

sought to bring pressure on him by notifying him that the s.s. _P. de

Satrustegui_ would be detained 48 hours in order to learn his decision

as to whether that vessel could call for the prisoners. As General

Otis did not reply within the prescribed period General Jaramillo

went to see him personally and ineffectually opened his heart to him

in very energetic terms, which General Otis complacently tolerated

but persisted in his negative resolution, and the interview ended

with the suggestion that General Jaramillo should obtain Aguinaldo's

consent for a vessel carrying the American flag to enter the ports

and bring away the prisoners.

About this time an incident occurred which, but for the graciousness

of General Otis, might have operated very adversely to the interests

of those concerned. In September, 1899, a Spanish lady arrived in

Manila saying that she was the representative of a Society of Barcelona

Ladies formed to negotiate the liberation of the prisoners. She brought

with her a petition addressed to Aguinaldo, said to bear about 3,000

signatures. But unfortunately the document contained so many offensive

allusions to the Americans that General Jaramillo declined to be

associated with it in any way. No obstacle was placed in the way of

the lady if she wished to present her petition privately to Aguinaldo;

but, apparently out of spite, she had a large number of copies printed

and published broadcast in Manila. General Jaramillo felt it his duty

to apologize to General Otis and repudiate all connexion with this

offensive proceeding, which General Otis very affably excused as an

eccentricity not worthy of serious notice.

On September 29 the Spanish commissioners, Toral and Rio, again started

for the insurgent capital, Tarlac. The proposal for vessels to enter

the ports under the American flag was rejected by Aguinaldo's advisers,

Pedro A. Paterno and Felipe Buencamino, and negotiations were resumed

on the money indemnity basis. The Aguinaldo party had already had sore

experience of the worth of an agreement made with Spanish officials,

and during the discussion they raised the question of the validity of

their powers and the guarantee for their proposed undertakings. The

real difficulty was that America might object to Spain officially

making any compact whatsoever which must necessarily involve a

recognition of the Philippine Republic; and even as it was, the

renewed suggestion of a payment of millions of dollars was a secret

negotiation. The Spanish commissioners started by proposing that

Aguinaldo should give up 80 per cent. of the prisoners on certain

conditions _to be agreed upon thereafter_, and retain the 20 per

cent. as guarantee for the fulfilment of these hypothetical terms;

moreover, even the 20 per cent. were to be concentrated at a place to

be _mutually agreed upon,_ etc. The artfulness of the commissioners'

scheme was too apparent for Paterno and Buencamino to accept it. The

commissioners then presented the Insurgent Government with a voluminous

philosophical dissertation on the subject, whilst the Filipinos sought

brief facts and tangible conditions. The Filipinos then offered to

address a note to the Spanish Consul in Manila to the effect that

the prisoners who were infirm would be delivered at certain ports

as already stated, and that he could send ships for them on certain

terms. Still the commissioners lingered in Tarlac, and on October 23

the Filipinos made the following proposals, which were practically

an intimation to close the debate.

1. Recognition of the Philippine Republic as soon as the difficulties

with America should be overcome.

2. The payment of seven millions of pesos.

These conditions having been rejected by the commissioners, Aguinaldo's

advisers drew up a document stating the reasons why the negotiations

had fallen through, with special reference to the insufficiency of

the commissioners' powers and the inadmissibility of their attitude

in desiring to treat with Aguinaldo individually instead of with

his Government, for which reasons the Philippine Republic formally

declared its resolution definitely to cease all negotiations with the

Spanish commissioners, preferring to deal directly with the Spanish

Government. Not satisfied with this formal intimation the commissioners

asked that the conditions of the liberation already granted since

January to the invalid prisoners should be modified, and that they

should be handed over to them--the very persons already declared to

be insufficiently authorized. In response to this importunity the

requisite passports were immediately sent to the commissioners to

enable them to quit the Philippine Republic's seat of government and

territory forthwith.

Apart from the moral aspect of the case, and regarded only in

the light of a business transaction, it does not appear that the

Filipinos were ever offered a solid guarantee for the fulfilment of

any of the proposed conditions. But the insuperable difficulty was

Spain's inability to comply with the Filipinos' essential condition

of recognition of the Philippine Republic.

Finally, in the prosecution of the War of Independence, the American

troops drove the insurgents so hard, capturing town after town, that

they were constrained to abandon the custody of the Spanish survivors,

who flocked in groups to the American posts, and eventually embarked

for their native land. On May 20, 1900, the Spanish Commission received

a letter from the insurgent General Trias stating that orders had

been issued to liberate all the prisoners.

In due course the Spanish warships sunk at the Battle of Cavite were

raised by the Americans, and the dead bodies of Spain's defenders on

that memorable day were handed over to a Spanish Commission. The same

organization also took charge of the bodies recovered from Baler (east

coast of Luzon), and after a _Requiem_ mass was said at the Cathedral

these mortal remains were conducted with appropriate solemnity on

board the s.s. _Isla de Panay_, which left Manila for Barcelona on

February 14, 1904.

CHAPTER XXVII

End of the War of Independence and After

In the month of May, 1901, the prisons were overflowing with captured

insurgents, and the military authorities found an ostensible reason

for liberating a number of them. A General Order was issued that to

"signalize the recent surrender of General Manuel Tinio [230] and

other prominent leaders," one thousand prisoners of war would be

released on taking the oath of allegiance. The flame of organized

insurrection was almost extinguished, but there still remained some

dangerous embers. Bands of armed natives wandered through the provinces

under the name of insurgents, and on July 31, 1901, one of Aguinaldo's

subordinate generals, named Miguel Malvar, a native of Santo Tomas

(Batangas) issued a manifesto from the "Slopes of the Maquiling"

(Laguna Province), announcing that he had assumed the position of

Supreme Chief. Before the war he had little to lose, but fishing

in troubled waters and gulling the people with _anting-anting_ and

the "signs in the clouds" proved to be a profitable occupation to

many. An expedition was sent against him, and he was utterly routed

in an engagement which took place near his native town. After Miguel

Malvar surrendered (April 16, 1902) and Vicente Lucban was captured

in Samar (April 27, 1902), the war (officially termed "insurrection")

actually terminated, and was formally declared ended on the publication

of President Roosevelt's Peace Proclamation and Amnesty grant, dated

July 4, 1902. A sedition law was passed under which every disturber

of the public peace would be thenceforth arraigned, and all acts of

violence, pillage, etc., would come under the common laws affecting

those crimes. In short, insurgency ceased to be a valid plea; if it

existed in fact, officially it had become a dead letter. Those who

still lingered in the penumbra between belligerence and brigandage

were thenceforth treated as common outlaws whose acts bore no political

significance whatever. The notorious "General" San Miguel, for a long

time the terror of Rizal Province, was given no quarter, but shot on

the field at Corral-na-bato in March, 1903. One of the famous bandits,

claiming to be an insurgent, was Faustino Guillermo, who made laws,

levied tribute, issued army commissions, divided the country up into

military departments, and defied the Government until his stratagem

to induce the constabulary to desert brought about his own capture in

the Bosoboso Mountain (Morong) in June, 1903. A mass of papers seized

revealed his pretension to be a patriotic saviour of his people, but

it is difficult indeed to follow the reasoning of a man who starts on

that line by sacking his own countrymen's villages. Another interesting

individual was Artemio Ricarte, formerly a primary schoolmaster. In

1899 he led a column under Aguinaldo, and was subsequently his

general specially commissioned to raise revolt inside the capital;

but the attempt failed, and many arrests followed. During the war he

was captured by the Americans, to whom he refused to take the oath

of allegiance and was deported to Guam. In Washington it was decided

to release the political prisoners on that island, and Ricarte and

Mabini were brought back to Manila. As Ricarte still refused to take

the oath, he was banished, and went to Hong-Kong in February, 1903. In

the following December he returned to Manila disguised as a seaman,

and stole ashore in the crowd of stevedore labourers. Assuming the

ludicrous title of the "Viper," he established what he called the

"triumvirate" government in the provinces, and declared war on the

Americans. His operations in this direction were mostly limited to

sending crackbrained letters to the Civil Governor in Manila from his

"camp in the sky," but his perturbation of the rural districts had to

be suppressed. At length, after a long search, he was taken prisoner

at the cockpit in Mariveles in May, 1904. He and his confederates were

brought to trial on the two counts of carrying arms without licence

and sedition, the revelations of the "triumvirate," which were comical

in the extreme, affording much amusement to the reading public. The

judgement of the court on Ricarte was six years' imprisonment and a

fine of $6,000.

Apolinario Mabini, Ricarte's companion in exile, was one of the most

conspicuous figures in the War of Independence. Of poor parentage,

he was born at Tanauan (Batangas) in May, 1864, and having finished

his studies in Manila he took up the law as a profession, living in

obscurity until the Rebellion, during which he became the recognized

leader of the Irreconcilables and Prime Minister in the Malolos

Government. In the political sphere he was the soul of the insurgent

movement, the ruling power behind the presidency of Aguinaldo. It

was he who drafted the Constitution of the Philippine Republic, dated

January 21, 1899 (_vide_ p. 486). Taken prisoner by the Americans in

December, 1899, he was imprisoned on his refusal to subscribe to the

oath of allegiance. On August 1, 1900, he was granted leave to appear

before the Philippine Commission, presided over by Mr. W. H. Taft. He

desired to show that, according to his lights, he was not stubbornly

holding out against reason. As Mabini was not permitted to discuss

abstract matters, and Mr. Taft reiterated the intention to establish

American sovereignty in the Islands, their views were at variance,

and Mabini was deported to Guam, but allowed the privilege of taking

his son there as his companion in exile. On his return to Manila in

February, 1903, he reluctantly took the required oath and was permitted

to remain in the capital. Suffering from paralysis for years previous,

his mental energy, as a chronic invalid, was amazing. Three months

after his return to the metropolis he was seized with cholera, to

which he succumbed on May 13, 1903, at the early age of thirty-nine, to

the great regret of his countrymen and of his many European admirers.

The Irreconcilables, even at the present day, persist in qualifying

as legitimate warfare that condition of provincial perturbation

which the Americans and the Federal Party hold to be outlawry

and brigandage. Hence the most desperate leaders and their bands

of cut-throats are, in the Irreconcilables' phraseology, merely

insurgents still protesting against American dominion. As late

as February, 1902, an attempt was made to revive the war in Leyte

Island. At that date a certain Florentino Penaranda, styling himself

the Insurrectionary Political-Military Chief, issued a proclamation

in his island addressed "in particular to those who are serving under

the Americans." This document, the preamble of which is indited in

lofty language, carrying the reader mentally all round North and

South America, Abyssinia and Europe, terminates with a concession of

pardon to all who repent their delinquency in serving the Americans,

and an invitation to Filipinos and foreigners to join his standard. It

had little immediate effect, but it may have given an impulse to the

brigandage which was subsequently carried on so ferociously under a

notorious, wary ruffian named Tumayo. Thousands, too long accustomed

to a lawless, emotional existence to settle down to prosaic civil

life, went to swell the ranks of brigands, but it would exceed the

limits of this work to refer to the over 15,000 expeditions made

to suppress them. Brigandage (_vide_ p. 235) has been rife in the

Islands for a century and a half, and will probably continue to exist

until a network of railways in each large island makes it almost

impossible. But brigandage in Spanish times was very mild compared

with what it is now. Such a thing as a common highwayman was almost

unknown. The brigands of that period--the _Tulisanes_ of the north

and the _Pulajanes_ of the south--went in parties who took days to

concoct a plan for attacking a country residence, or a homestead, for

robbery and murder. The assault was almost invariably made at night,

and the marauders lived in the mountains, avoiding the highroads and

the well-known tracks. The traveller might then go about the Islands

for years without ever seeing a brigand; now that they have increased

so enormously since the war, there is not business enough for them

in the old way, and they infest the highways and villages. One effect

of the revolution has been to diminish greatly the awe with which the

native regarded the European before they had crossed swords in regular

warfare. Again, since 1898, the fact that here and there a white man

made common cause with outlaws has had a detrimental effect on the

white man's prestige, and the new caste of bandits which has come

into existence is far more audacious than its predecessor. Formerly

the outlaws had only bowie-knives and a few fowling-pieces; now they

have an ample supply of rifles. Hence, since the American advent,

the single traveller and his servant journey at great risk in the

so-called civilized provinces, especially if the traveller has

Anglo-Saxon features. Parties of three or four, well armed, are

fairly safe. Fierce fights with outlaws are of common occurrence;

a full record of brigand depredations would fill a volume, and one

can only here refer to a few remarkable cases.

Early in 1904 a Spanish planter of many years' standing, named

Amechazurra, and his brother-in-law, Joaquin Guaso, were kidnapped

and held for ransom. When the sum was carried to the brigands'

haunt, Guaso was found with his wrists broken and severely tortured

with bowie-knife cuts and lance-thrusts. Having no power to use his

hands, his black beard was full of white maggots. In this state he

was delivered to his rescuers and died the next day. Since the close

of the war up to the present day the provinces of Batangas and Cavite,

less than a day's journey from the capital, have not ceased to be in a

deplorable condition of lawlessness. The principal leaders, Montalon

and Felizardo, [231] were formerly officers under the command of the

insurgent General Manuel Trias, who surrendered to the Americans

and afterwards accepted office as Civil Governor of the Province

of Cavite. In this capacity he made many unsuccessful attempts to

capture his former colleagues, but owing to his failure to restore

tranquillity to the province he resigned his governorship in 1903. The

Montalon and Felizardo bands, well armed, constantly overran the two

adjoining provinces to murder the people, pillage their homes, and

set fire to the villages. They bore an inveterate hatred towards all

who accepted American dominion, and specially detested their former

chief Trias, who, since his return from the St. Louis Exhibition,

has shown a very pro-American tendency. The history of their crimes

covers a period of five years. Felizardo was remarkable for his

audacity, his fine horsemanship, and his expert marksmanship. During

an attack on Paranaque, mounted on a beautiful pony stolen from the

race-track of Pasay, he rode swiftly past a constabulary sentinel,

who shot at him and missed him, whilst Felizardo, from his seat in the

saddle, shot the sentinel dead. The evening before the day Governor

Taft intended to sail for the United States, on his retirement from

the governorship, Montalon hanged two constabulary men at a place

within sight of Manila. In December, 1904, all this district was

so infested with cut-throats that Manuel Trias, although no longer

an official, offered to organize and lead a party of 300 volunteers

against them. On January 24, 1905, the same bandits, Felizardo and

Montalon, at the head of about 300 of their class, including two

American negroes, raided Trias's native town of San Francisco de

Malabon, murdered an American surgeon and one constabulary private,

and seriously wounded three more. They looted the municipal treasury

of 2,000 pesos and 25 carbines, and carried off Trias's wife and two

children, presumably to hold them for ransom. The chief object of

the attack was to murder Trias, their arch-enemy, but he was away

from home at the time. On his return he set out in pursuit of the

band at the head of the native constabulary. The outlaws had about

160 small firearms, and during the chase several fierce fights took

place. Being hunted from place to place incessantly, they eventually

released Trias's wife and children so as to facilitate their own

escape. Constabulary was insufficient to cope with the marauders,

and regular troops had to be sent to these provinces. In February,

1905, a posse of 25 Moro fighting-men was brought up from Siassi

(Tapul group) to hunt down the brigands. Launches patrolled the

Bay of Manila with constabulary on board to intercept the passage

of brigands from one province to another, for lawlessness was, more

or less, constantly rife in several of the Luzon provinces and half

a dozen other islands for years after the end of the war. From 1902

onwards, half the provinces of Albay, Bulacan, Bataan, Cavite, Ilocos

Sur, and the islands of Camaguin, Samar, Leyte, Negros, Cebu, etc.,

have been infested, at different times, with brigands, or latter-day

insurgents, as the different parties choose to call them. The regular

troops, the constabulary, and other armed forces combined were unable

to exterminate brigandage. The system of "concentration" circuits,

which had given such adverse results during the Rebellion (_vide_

p. 392), was revived in the provinces of Batangas and Cavite, obliging

the waverers between submission and recalcitration to accept a defined

legal or illegal status. Consequently many of the common people went to

swell the roving bands of outlaws, whilst those who had a greater love

for home, or property at stake, remained within the prescribed limits,

in discontented, sullen compliance with the inevitable. The system

interrupted the people's usual occupations, retarded agriculture,

and produced general dissatisfaction. The Insular Government then

had recourse to an extreme measure which practically implied the

imposition of compulsory military service on every male American,

foreign, or native inhabitant between the ages of eighteen to fifty

years, with the exception of certain professions specified in the

Philippine Commission Act No. 1309, dated March 22, 1905. Under this

law the native mayor of a town can compel any able-bodied American

(not exempted under the Act) to give five days a month service in

hunting down brigands, under a maximum penalty of P100 fine and three

months' imprisonment. And, subject to the same penalty for refusal,

any proprietor or tenant (white, coloured, or native) residing in any

municipality, or ward, must report, within 24 hours, to the municipal

authority, the name, residence, and description of _any_ person (not

being a resident) to whom he gave assistance or lodging. In no colony

where the value of the white man's prestige is appreciated would such

a law have been promulgated.

The proceedings of the constabulary in the disturbed provinces

having been publicly impugned in a long series of articles and

reports published in the Manila newspaper _El Renacimiento,_ the

editors of that public organ were brought to trial on a charge of

libel in July, 1905. The substance of the published allegations

was that peaceable citizens were molested in their homes and were

coerced into performing constabulary and military duties by becoming

unwilling brigand-hunters. Among other witnesses who appeared at the

trial was Emilio Aguinaldo, who testified that he had been forced to

leave his home and present himself to a constabulary officer, who,

he affirmed, bullied and insulted him because he refused to leave his

daily occupations and risk his life in brigand-hunting. In view of

the peculiar position of Aguinaldo as a fallen foe, perhaps it would

have been better not to have disturbed him in his peaceful life as

a law-abiding citizen, lest the world should misconstrue the intention.

Confined to Pangasinan and La Union provinces, there is an organization

known as the "Guards of Honour." Its recruits are very numerous,

their chief vocation being cattle-stealing and filching other people's

goods without unnecessary violence. It is feared they may extend their

operations to other branches of perversity. The society is said to

be a continuation of the _Guardia de Honor_ created by the Spaniards

and stimulated by the friars in Pangasinan as a check on the rebels

during the events of 1896-98. At the American advent they continued

to operate independently against the insurgents, whom they harassed

very considerably during the flight northwards from Tarlac. It was

to escape the vengeance of this party that Aguinaldo's Secretary of

State (according to his verbal statement to me) allowed himself to

fall prisoner to the Americans.

The _Pulajanes_ of Samar seem to be as much in possession of that

Island as the Americans themselves, and its history, from the

revolution up to date, is a lugubrious repetition of bloodshed,

pillage, and incendiarism. The deeds of the notorious Vicente Lucban

were condoned under the Amnesty of 1902, but the marauding organization

is maintained and revived by brigands of the first water. Every

move of the government troops is known to the _pulajanes_. The spy,

stationed at a pass, after shouting the news of the enemy's approach

to the next spy, darts into the jungle, and so on all along the line,

in most orderly fashion, until the main column is advised. In July,

1904, they slaughtered half the inhabitants of the little coast village

of Taviran, mutilated their corpses, and then set out for the town of

Santa Elena, which was burnt to the ground. In December of that year

over a thousand _pulajanes_ besieged the town of Taft (formerly Tubig),

held by a detachment of native scouts, whilst another party, hidden

in the mountains, fell like an avalanche upon a squad of 43 scouts,

led by an American lieutenant, on their way to the town of Dolores,

and in ten minutes killed the officer and 37 of his men. After this

mournful victory the brigands went to reinforce their comrades at

Taft, swelling their forces _en route_, so that the besiegers of Taft

amounted to a total of about 2,000 men. About the same time some 400

_pulajanes_ were met by a few hundred so-called native volunteers, who,

instead of fighting, joined forces and attacked a scout detachment

whilst crossing a river. Twenty of the scouts were cut to pieces and

mutilated, whilst thirteen more died of their wounds.

Communication in the Island is extremely difficult; the maintenance of

telegraph-lines is impossible through a hostile country, and messages

sent by natives are often intercepted, or, as sometimes happens,

the messengers, to save their lives, naturally make common cause

with the bandits whom they meet on the way. The hemp-growers and

coast-trading population, who have no sympathy with the brigands,

are indeed obliged, for their own security, to give them passive

support. Hundreds in the coast villages who are too poor to give, have

to flee into hiding and live like animals in dread of constabulary

and _pulajanes_ alike. Between "insurgency" and "brigandage," in this

Island, there was never a very wide difference, and when General Allen,

the Chief of the Constabulary, took the field in person in December,

1904, he had reason to believe that the notorious ex-insurgent Colonel

Guevara was the moving spirit in the lawlessness. Guevara, who had

been disappointed at not securing the civil governorship of the

Island, was suddenly seized and confined at Catbalogan jail to await

his trial. The Samar _pulajanes_ are organized like regular troops,

with their generals and officers, but they are deluded by a sort of

mystic religious teaching under the guidance of a native pope. In

January, 1905, the town of Balangiga (_vide_ p. 536), so sadly famous

in the history of Samar on account of the massacre of American troops

during the war, became a _pulajan_ recruiting station. A raid upon the

place resulted in the capture of twenty chiefs, gorgeously uniformed,

with gaudy _anting-anting _amulets on their breasts to protect them

from American bullets. At this time the regimental Camp Connell, at

Calbayoc, was so depleted of troops that less than a hundred men were

left to defend it. Situated on a pretty site, the camp consists of two

lines of wooden buildings running along the shore for about a mile. At

one extremity is the hospital and at the other the quartermaster's

depot. It has no defences whatever, and as I rode along the central

avenue of beautiful palms, after meeting the ladies at a ball, I

pictured to myself the chapter of horror which a determined attack

might one day add to the doleful annals of dark Samar.

Matters became so serious that in March, 1905, the divisional

commander, General Corbin, joined General Allen in the operations

in this Island. Full of tragedy is the record of this region, and

amongst its numerous heroes was a Captain Hendryx. In 1902, whilst

out with a detachment of constabulary, he was attacked, defeated, and

reported killed. He was seen to drop and roll into a gully. But four

days later there wandered back to the camp a man half dead with hunger

and covered with festering wounds, some so infected that, but for the

application of tobacco, gangrene would have set in. It was Captain

Hendryx. Delirious for a while, he finally recovered and resumed his

duties. A couple of years afterwards he was shipwrecked going round

the coast on the _Masbate_. For days he and the ship-master alone

battled with the stormy waves, a howling wind ahead, and a murderous

rabble on the coast waiting for their blood. On the verge of death

they reached a desolate spot whence the poor captain saved his body

from destruction, but with prostrate nerves, rendering him quite unfit

for further service. And the carnage in the Samar jungles, which has

caused many a sorrow in the homeland, continues to the present day

with unabated ferocity. By nature a lovely island, picturesque in

the extreme, there is a gloom in its loveliness. The friendly native

has fled for his life; the patches of lowland once planted with sweet

potatoes or rows of hemp-trees, are merging into jungle for want of

the tiller's hand. The voice of an unseen man gives one a shudder,

lest it be that of a fanatic lurking in the _cogon_ grass to seek his

fellow's blood. Near the coast, half-burnt bamboos show where villages

once stood; bleached human bones mark the sites of human conflict,

whilst decay and mournful silence impress one with the desolation of

this fertile land. The narrow navigable channel separating Samar from

Leyte Island is one of the most delightful bits of tropical scenery.

The Constabulary Service Reports for 1903 and 1904 show that in

the former period there were 357 engagements between brigand bands

and the constabulary (exclusive of the army operations), and in the

latter period 235 similar engagements. More than 5,000 expeditions

were undertaken against the outlaws in each year; 1,185 outlaws

were killed in 1903, and 431 in 1904, 2,722 were wounded or captured

in 1903, and 1,503 in 1904; 3,446 arms of all sorts were seized in

1903, and 994 in 1904. The constabulary losses in killed, wounded,

died of wounds and disease, and deserted were 223 in 1904. In Cavite

Province alone, with a population of 134,779, there were, in 1903,

over 400 expeditions, resulting in 20 brigands killed, 23 wounded,

and 253 captured. At this date brigandage is one of the greatest

deterrents to the prosperous development of the Islands.

The Adjutant-General's Report issued in Washington in December, 1901,

gives some interesting figures relating to the Army, for the War of

Independence period, i.e., from February 4, 1899, to June 30, 1901. The

total number of troops sent to the Islands was as follows, viz.:--

Officers. Men.

Regular Army 1,342 60,933

Volunteers 2,135 47,867

3,477 108,800

Some were returning from, whilst others were going to the Islands;

the largest number in the Islands at any one time (year 1900) was

about 70,000 men.

The total casualties in the above period were as follows, viz.:--

Officers. Men. Total.

Dead (all causes) 115 3,384 3,499

Wounded 170 2,609 2,779

285 5,993 6,278

In the same period the following arms were taken from the insurgents

(captured and surrendered):--

Revolvers 868

Rifles 15,693

Cannon 122

Bowie-knives 3,516

The _Insurgent Navy,_ consisting of four small steamers purchased in

Singapore and a few steam-launches, dwindled away to nothing. The

"Admiral," who lived on shore at Gagalangin (near Manila), escaped

to Hong-Kong, but returned to Manila, surrendered, and took the oath

of allegiance on March 3, 1905.

_Sedition_, in its more virulent and active forms, having been

frustrated by the authorities since the conclusion of the war, the

Irreconcilables conceived the idea of inflaming the passions of the

people through the medium of the native drama. How the seditious

dramatists could have ever hoped to succeed in the capital itself,

in public theatres, before the eyes of the Americans, is one of those

mysteries which the closest student of native philosophy must fail

to solve.

The most notable of these plays were _Hindi aco patay_ ("I am not

dead"), _Ualang sugat_ ("There is no wound"), _Dabas ng pilac_ ("Power

of Silver"), and _Cahapon, Ngayon at Bucas_ ("Yesterday, to-day, and

to-morrow"). In each case there was an extra last scene not on the

programme. Secret police and American spectators besieged the stage,

and after a free fight, a cracking of heads, and a riotous scuffle

the curtain dropped (if there were anything left of it) on a general

panic of the innocent and the arrest of the guilty. The latter were

brought to trial, and their careers cut short by process of law.

The simple plot of _Hindi aco patay_ is as follows, viz.:--_Maimbot_

(personifying America) is establishing dominion over the Islands,

assisted by his son _Macamcam_ (American Government), and _Katuiran_

(Reason, Right, and Justice) is called upon to condemn the conduct

of a renegade Filipino who has accepted America's dominion, and

thereby become an outcast among his own people and even his own

family. There is to be a wedding, but, before it takes place, a

funeral cortege passes the house of _Karangalan_ (the bride) with

the body of _Tangulan_ (the fighting patriot). _Maimbot_ (America)

exclaims, "Go, bury that man, that Karangalan and her mother may see

him no more." _Tangulan_, however, rising from his coffin, tells them,

"They must not be married, for I am not dead." And as he cries _Hindi

aco patay,_ "I am not dead," a radiant sun appears, rising above

the mountain peaks, simultaneously with the red flag of Philippine

liberty. Then _Katuiran_ (Reason, Right, and Justice) declares that

"Independence has returned," and goes on to explain that the new

insurrection having discouraged America in her attempt to enslave the

people, she will await a better opportunity. The flag of Philippine

Independence is then waved to salute the sun which has shone upon

the Filipinos to regenerate them and cast away their bondage.

The theme of _Cahapon, ngayon at Bucas_ is somewhat similar--a protest

against American rule, a threat to rise and expel it, a call to arms,

and a final triumph of the Revolution. About the same time (May,

1903) a seditious play entitled _Cadena de Oro_ ("The golden chain")

was produced in Batangas, and its author was prosecuted. It must,

however, be pointed out that there are also many excellent plays

written in Tagalog, with liberty to produce them, one of the best

native dramatists being Don Pedro A. Paterno.

There will probably be for a long time to come a certain amount of

disaffection and a class of wire-pullers, men of property, chiefly

half-castes, constantly in the background, urging the masses forward

to their own destruction. Lucrative employments have satisfied the

ambition of so many educated Filipinos who must find a living, that

the same principle--a creation of material interest--might perhaps be

advantageously extended to the uneducated classes. All the malcontents

cannot become State dependents, but they might easily be helped to

acquire an interest in the soil. The native who has his patch of

settled land with _unassailable title_ would be loth to risk his all

for the chimerical advantages of insurrection. The native boor who

has worked land for years on sufferance, without title, exposed to

eviction by a more cunning individual clever enough to follow the

tortuous path which leads to land settlement with absolute title,

falls an easy prey to the instigator of rebellion. These illiterate

people need more than a liberal land law--they need to be taken in

hand like children and placed upon the parcelled-out State lands

with indisputable titles thereto. And if American enterprise were

fostered and encouraged in the neighbourhood of their holdings,

good example might root them to the soil and convert the _boloman_

into the industrious husbandman.

The poorest native who cannot sow for himself must necessarily

feed on what his neighbour reaps, and hunger compels him to become

a wandering criminal. It is not difficult partially to account for

the greater number in this condition to-day as compared with Spanish

times. In those days there was what the natives termed _cayinin_. It

was a temporary clearance of a patch of State land on which the

native would raise a crop one, two, or more seasons. Having no legal

right to the soil he tilled, and consequently no attachment to it,

he would move on to other virgin land and repeat the operation. In

making the clearance the squatter had no respect for State property,

and the damage which he did in indiscriminate destruction of valuable

timber by fire was not inconsiderable. The law did not countenance the

_cayinin_, but serious measures were seldom taken to prevent it. The

local or municipal headmen refrained from interference because, having

no interest whatever in public lands, they did not care, as landowners,

to go out of their way to create a bad feeling against themselves

which might one day have fatal consequences. Although no one would

for a moment suggest a revival of the system, there is the undeniable

fact that in Spanish times thousands of natives lived for years in this

way, and if they had been summarily evicted, or prosecuted by a forest

bureau, necessity would have driven them into brigandage. High wages,

government service, and public works are no remedy; on the contrary,

if the people are thereby attracted to the towns, what will become of

the true source of Philippine wealth, which is agriculture? Even in

industrial England the cry of "Back to the soil" has been lately raised

by an eminent Englishman known by name to every educated American.

CHAPTER XXVIII

Modern Manila