Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
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About the Philippine-American Wars (1899-1913)  


FAQ Topics: 

Pre-Independence War Period (May 1, 1898-February 3, 1899) 

  • Q. What are the two important events that constitute the pre-war period? 

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  • Q. What were the important events that occurred during the resumption of the Philippine Revolution? 

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  • Q. Why was the Philippines involved in the Spanish-American War? 

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  • Q. How did the U.S. get involved in the Philippines? 

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  • Q. Prior to the American involvement in 1898, what was the situation in the Philippines? 

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  • Q. What was the Philippine situation when the Americans came to destroy the Spanish navy? 

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  • Q. How many revolutions were there in the Philippines? 

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  • Q. What is the connection between the Philippine Revolts and the Spanish-American War? 

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  • Q. What was the effect of the American naval victory in Manila? 

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  • Q. After the May 1, 1898 naval victory, did the U.S. conquer Manila? 

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  • Q. When did Commodore Dewey receive troop reinforcement from the U.S.? 

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  • Q. How did Aguinaldo fit into the picture? 

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  • Q. What did Aguinaldo do upon arrival in the Philippines? 

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  • Q. Was Aguinaldo's Declaration of Philippine Independence recognized by the superpowers? 

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  • Q. Why did the U.S. allow Aguinaldo to declare the Philippine independence? 

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  • Q. Who were these superpowers who made colonial advances to the Philippines? 

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  • Q. What was the relationship between the Filipinos and the Americans at that time? 

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  • Q. When did the Americans completed the land conquest of Manila? 

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  • Q. After the Spanish defeat in battle at Manila, what did the Americans do to the Philippines? 

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  • Q. What was the Peace Protocol? 

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  • Q. Did the Americans follow the Peace Protocol? 

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  • Q. When did the rift in Filipino-American relationship begun? 

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  • Q. Why was the Philippines excluded in the negotiation for the Treaty of Paris? 

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  • Q. What was the "Iloilo fiasco" about? 

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  • Q. During the four-month truce period (Aug. 12, 1898-Dec. 10, 1898) who controlled the Philippines? 

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  • Q. What was to be considered the most important event during the Pre-War days other than the Declaration of Independence? 

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  • Q. For its Philippine involvement, what were the events considered important to the U.S.? 

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Independence War Period (February 4, 1899-July 4, 1902) 
Luzon/Visayas [Christian] Front 

  • Q. How and when did the Philippine-American War break? 

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  • Q. What was the status of the Philippine government at the outbreak of the war? 

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  • Q. Could the war have been prevented? 

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  • Q. How did the Filipinos fare in the war? 

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  • Q. In the face of a superior enemy, what did the Filipinos do? 

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  • Q. What is guerrilla warfare? 

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  • Q. How effective was guerrilla warfare? 

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  • Q. If the Americans were superior in arms, why didn't the Filipinos lost time to surrender? 

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  • Q. What were the Filipinos interested about in talking to Gen. Otis? 

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  • Q. What was General Luna's contribution to the War? 

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  • Q. Were the Filipinos united during the war? 

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  • Q. Were Americans united on the Philippine issue? 

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  • Q. Who were the personalities involved in both camps? 

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  • Q. What was the consequence of the power struggle? 

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  • Q. What was the strategy of the Americans while Aguinaldo was on retreat? 

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  • Q. While there was a war, the religious schism intensified. What was this about? 

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  • Q. What did Fr. Aglipay do during the war? 

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  • Q. After the war, what did Fr. Aglipay do? 

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  • Q. When did the Philippine Republic collapse? 

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  • Q. What prolonged the American manhunt for General Aguinaldo? 

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  • Q. How and where was Aguinaldo finally captured? 

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  • Q. Why is the Philippine-American War called Philippine "Insurrection" until today? 

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  • Q. How does the title "revolution," "independence war" or the "insurrection" relate to the Philippines conflict? 

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  • Q. What are the "reconcentrados"? 

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  • Q. Why was the war casualty figure so controversial? 

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  • Q. What single incident relates to the independence war? 

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  • Q. Describe briefly the Balangiga Incident. 

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  • Q. How did the the U.S. react to the Balangiga Incident? 

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  • Q. Who won the independence war? 

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Moro Resistance War Period (1902-1913) 
Mindanao [Muslim] Front 
  • Q. Realizing the threat of the Moros, what did the U.S. do to contain them? 

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  • Q. What significance did the Bates-Sultan of Jolo Treaty gave to the war? 

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  • Q. What is the basis of the historical claim for this "divide and conquer" U.S. strategy? 

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  • Q. How long did the Bates-Sultan of Jolo Treaty last? 

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  • Q. Who are the famous U.S. commanders who were once associated with the Moro wars? 

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  • Q. Who were the most influential Moros during the war? 

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  • Q. Despite a longer war period of roughly a decade, why did the Mindanao front accounted for lesser war casualties? 

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  • Q. The Christian War was officially closed by the U.S. What about the Moro (Moslem) War? 

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Pre-War Period (May 1, 1898-February 3, 1899) 
Q.  What are the two important events that constitute the pre-war period? 
A.  The pre-war period consist of overlapping events such as: 
  1. Aguinaldo's resumption of the Philippine Revolution (Phase II) under his sole over-all command. 
  2. The Spanish-American War of 1898 consisting of the Caribbean front and the Pacific front. The Pacific front consisted of the Philippines and Guam and other minor island possessions of Spain. 
Q.  What were the important events that occurred during the resumption of the Philippine Revolution? 
A.  The following events during this period may be enumerated as follows: 
  1. The declaration of Philippine independence from Spain on June 12, 1898 by General Emilio Aguinaldo, 
  2. The religious schism involving Rev. Fr. Gregorio Aglipay and Archbishop Bernardino Nozaleda which eventually led to Fr. Aglipay's formation of the Philippine Independent Church. 
  3. The mass evacuation of the Spanish colonial administrators and their families immediately after the signing of the Treaty of Paris on December 10, 1898. 
  4. Arrival of the U.S. expeditionary forces under the over-all command of Major-General Wesley Merritt to reinforce Commodore Dewey's naval victory at Battle of Manila Bay. 
Q.  Why was the Philippines involved in the Spanish-American War? 
A.  The Spanish-American War of 1898 created two war fronts: the Caribbean front (Cuba and Puerto Rico) and the Pacific front (Philippines, Guam and Ladrones Islands) for which the Philippines was part of the Pacific front being a territory of Spain harboring its Asiatic naval fleet. The Philippines, as a colony of Spain, was indirectly involved in that war. 
Q.  How did the U.S. get involved in the Philippines? 
A.  The U.S. got involved in the Philippines for military reasons.  When the Spanish-American War broke out, Commodore George Dewey was ordered to search and destroy the Spanish Asiatic naval fleet commanded by Admiral Patricio Montojo.  In the Battle of Manila Bay on May 1, 1898, the American naval fleet defeated and completely destroyed the Spanish naval fleet. 
Q.  Prior to the American involvement in 1898, what was the situation in the Philippines? 
A.  There was an uprising or a revolution that erupted on August 29, 1896 by the Filipinos led by the Katipunan forces of Andres Bonifacio and Emilio Aguinaldo against the colonial rule of the Spaniards.  This uprising is also known as the Katipunan Revolt or the Philippine Revolution (Phase I). 
Q.  What was the Philippine situation when the Americans came to destroy the Spanish navy? 
A.  The Katipunan Revolt was in a state of dormancy after the revolutionary government headed by Emilio Aguinaldo signed a truce known as the Pact of Biak-na-Bato which provided for Aguinaldo's exile in Hong Kong in exchange for certain compensation to the revolutionary forces as the major provision of the truce. 
Q.  How many revolutions were there in the Philippines? 
A.  The overall revolution against the Spaniards in the 1890s may be considered only as one. To be specific, however, in identifying their occurrences the Revolution was conducted in two phases: the first phase was the Katipunan Revolt led by the separate forces of Andres Bonifacio and Emilio Aguinaldo.  The second phase was the Aguinaldo's Revolt or the resumption of the dormant Katipunan Revolt after Aguinaldo's return from his Hong Kong exile. 
Q.  What is the connection between the Philippine Revolts and the Spanish-American War? 
A.  As for the Katipunan Revolt or Philippine Revolution (Phase I), none. The situation for the Philippine Revolution (Phase II) was different with the American presence in Manila because of the Spanish-American War, while the Filipinos were conducting a rebellion -both parties fighting against Spain as their common enemy.  Besides, the collaboration between Commodore Dewey [which he denied in the U.S. Senate hearings later] and General Aguinaldo during the first 90 days of the U.S. Philippine involvement undeniably establishes the connection between the Aguinaldo Revolt and the Spanish-American War. 
Q.  What was the effect of the American naval victory in Manila? 
A.  It stunned the whole world and catapulted America as a new superpower. The victory also attracted other superpowers, such as England, Germany and Japan, to the Philippines to seek for colonial opportunity should the U.S. decide to abandon the Philippines.  As far the Filipinos, especially for Aguinaldo, it emboldened their cause for independence. 
Q.  After the May 1, 1898 naval victory, did the U.S. conquer Manila? 
A.  No. Although the U.S. had control of the Manila Bay but it didn't have necessary land forces to carry a complete land conquest of Manila. 
Q.  When did Commodore Dewey receive troop reinforcement from the U.S.? 
A.  It was not until July 25, 1898 when General Wesley Merritt arrived in Manila to assume the overall commanded of the U.S. troop reinforcement that had recently arrived from the U.S. 
Q.  How did Aguinaldo fit into the picture? 
A.  While in exile in Hong Kong,/Singapore, Aguinaldo received encouragement from the U.S. Consul of Singapore and Hong Kong to return to Manila join forces with the U.S. in fighting the Spaniards.  Buoyed by this verbal promises of support and recognition by the U.S. Consuls and upon invitation from Commodore Dewey, Aguinaldo sailed for Manila aboard the USS McCullock , a U.S. naval Vessel, arriving in Cavite on May 19, 1898 
Q.  What did Aguinaldo do upon his arrival in the Philippines?
A.  Without delay and waste of time, Aguinaldo resumed his revolutionary activities with swift actions and decisions which may be enumerated as follows: 
  1. Summoned Apolinario Mabini, a brilliant lawyer, to craft a series of decrees for the setting up an emergency dictatorial government on May 24, 1898; 
  2. Reorganized his armed forces with captured Spanish guns provided by Commodore Dewey; 
  3. Declared the Philippine independence on June 12, 1898; 
  4. Dissolved the dictatorial government on June 23, 1898 and transformed the same into a revolutionary government, naming himself the President; 
  5. Called for a revolutionary congress, which was later known as the Malolos Congress [after the town of Malolos, Bulacan province, the seat of the Philippine government]. 
Q.  Was Aguinaldo's Declaration of Philippine Independence recognized by the superpowers? 
A.  No. The Philippine independence that was declared by Aguinaldo received no recognition from the superpowers even from Germany who was known to have shown deep interest in colonizing the Philippines. 
Q.  Why did the U.S. allow Aguinaldo to declare the Philippine independence? 
A.  At this point, the U.S. had no clear-cut colonial intentions for the Philippines. The focus of Washington was to defeat the Spaniards who were still holding the Walled City in Manila.  At this point also, Aguinaldo thought that the U.S. was his ally in his fight against a common enemy that of Spain and that the independence declaration would eventually be recognized by the U.S. 
Q.  Who were these superpowers who made colonial advances to the Philippines? 
A.  The naval victory of Commodore Dewey in Manila Bay stunned and attracted the superpowers to the colonial affairs of the Philippines.  The British, Germans and Japanese fleet were seen in Manila Bay during the middle part of 1898 and Germany was conducting rescue missions to her subjects, many of them were trapped in the southern major cities of Iloilo, Cebu, Bacolod and Zamboanga. 
Q.  What was the relationship between the Filipinos and the Americans at that time? 
A.  During the first few months (May-July 1898) of America's Philippine involvement there was a collaboration between the Filipinos and the Americans in their efforts to defeat the Spaniards who were still held up in Manila. 
Q.  When did the Americans completed the land conquest of Manila? 
A.  On August 13, 1898, the Spaniards surrendered to the Americans after conducting a brief sham battle without the knowledge of Aguinaldo who was then supposed to be an ally of the U.S.  The sham battle was carried out to necessitate a face-saving measure for the Spanish officers and to prevent a court martial in Madrid should they show refusal to fight the enemy. 
Q.  After the Spanish defeat in battle at Manila, what did the Americans do to the Philippines? 
A.  Not much, except to follow the provision of the Peace Protocol (truce) which was "to occupy and hold the city, bay and harbor of Manila, pending the conclusion of a treaty of peace" [Treaty of Paris, December, 10, 1898]. 
Q.  What was the Peace Protocol? 
A.  The Peace Protocol was a truce agreement  ordering the ending of hostilities in the Spanish-American War that was singed in Washington on August 12, 1898 between representatives of the warring countries.  Unfortunately, the text of the protocol could not be transmitted to the Philippines on time to prevent the land battle at Manila because Commodore Dewey had cut the cables prior to his attack of the Spanish fleet at Manila Bay.  The peace protocol was received in Manila only on August 16, 1898 or some three days after the sham battle. 
Q.  Did the Americans lived to the provisions of the Peace Protocol? 
A.  No. The Americans violated the provision of the peace protocol which was for them to confine themselves only within Manila.  They kept inching out their definition of the boundary of Manila until they occupied the suburbs prior to the outbreak of the war. 
Q.  When did the rift in Filipino-American relationship begun? 
A.  The Filipino-American rift may be enumerated in a successive events, as follows: 
  1. It begun when the U.S. troop reinforcement started to arrive in Cavite thereby making Aguinaldo grew suspicious of the U.S. intentions; 
  2. The rift was compounded when General Wesley Merritt bypassed and ignored Aguinaldo in the planning for the occupation of Manila; 
  3. The bullying tactic of General Elwell Otis forcing Aguinaldo to give up the strategic positions in favor of the Americans; 
  4. The rift worsened when Aguinaldo's forces were denied joint occupation of Manila after the surrender of the Spaniards to the Americans and especially so when the Filipinos learned about the existence of the Peace Protocol; and 
  5. The rift reached beyond repair after the signing Treaty of Paris of December 10, 1898 which excluded the participation of the Filipinos. 
Q.  Why was the Philippines excluded in the negotiation for the Treaty of Paris? 
A.  Over the objection of Spain, the Philippines was excluded in the peace negotiations in the pretext that the Filipinos were insurrectionists and that Aguinaldo's independence declaration was not recognized by the superpowers.  This was an obvious argument because Spain had intended to make the Philippines as a bargaining chip in the Paris peace negotiation. 
Q.  What was the "Iloilo fiasco" about? 
A.  During the middle part of December 1898, the Americans attempted to invade Iloilo to rescue some Americans trapped in the city during the fighting between the Spaniards and the Filipinos. General Otis sent General Marcus Miller to carry out the rescue mission only to find out that the foreigners were already rescued by the German navy and that city had already surrendered to the Filipino army.  Upon their arrival in Iloilo, General Miller's troops were denied landing rights and when the war broke, they finally landed only to find out that the city was left burned by the Filipino forces. 
Q.  During the four-month truce period of August 12, 1898 (signing of the Peace Protocol)  to December 10, 1899 (signing of the Treaty of  Paris), who controlled the Philippines? 
A.  The Americans controlled the city of Manila and suburbs.  The Filipino forces led by General Emilio Aguinaldo controlled the whole archipelago, except the Morolands in Mindanao. 
Q.  What was to be considered the most important event during the Pre-War days other than the Declaration of Independence? 
A.  The convening of the Philippine Congress on September 15, 1898 at Malolos, Bulacan and the ensuing drafting of the Constitution of a republican form of government. This congress is also known as the "Malolos Congress" or the "Revolutionary Congress."  The Malolos Constitution that paved the way to a republican form of government was ratified on October 1, 1898. 
Q.  For its Philippine involvement, what were the events in the pre-Independence War period that were considered significant in its importance to the U.S.? 
A.  First was the defeat and destruction of the Spanish naval fleet at the Battle of Manila Bay on May 1, 1898. Secondly was the conquest of the Spaniards in a sham battle at Manila on August 13, 1898.


Independence War Period (February 4, 1899-July 4, 1902) 
Luzon/Visayas [Christian] Front 
Q.  How and when did the Philippine-American War break? 
A.  An incident in a suburban bridge in Manila where an American sentry shot three Filipinos, triggering the war on the evening of February 4, 1899. 
Q.  What was the status of the Philippine government at the outbreak of the war? 
A.  The Malolos Constitution was promulgated by Emilio Aguinaldo on January 21, 1898. At the outbreak of the war, the Philippine government was barely a 15-day old republican government. 
Q.  Could the war have been prevented? 
A.  No. The war was an incident that was ready to happen anytime as the tense situation in Manila became a powder keg after the Filipinos were denied joint occupation by the Americans.  On the other hand, the American commanders were hungry for action as most of them were veterans of previous American wars such as the Civil War (1860s), the Indian Wars (1890s), and the brief Spanish-American War (1898).  The ordinary American soldiers, who bore racial hatred at the "gugus," were anxious to go for action to shoot some "injuns," "jack-rabbits," and "niggers." 
Q.  How did the Filipinos fare in the war? 
A.  In frontal and formal battles, it was a route for the Filipinos against the superior and well-armed Americans, without mentioning the superior military training of the American commanders. 
Q.  In the face of a superior enemy, what did the Filipinos do? 
A.  In the first six months of the war the Filipinos fought numerous frontal battle against the Americans with little success.  The Filipinos were forced to abandon the formal battles lest they face complete annihilation by the Americans and changed their tactic to guerrilla warfare during the late 1999.  From year 1900 until the end of the war in 1902, it was all guerrilla warfare. 
Q.  What is guerrilla warfare? 
A.  The American captor of General Aguinaldo, General Frederick Funston, defined guerrilla warfare as: 
"When pursued too closely they hide their rifles and scatter to their homes, and no longer wear uniforms or any distinctive insignia but use the dress of noncombatants of the country ." 
Q.  How effective was guerrilla warfare? 
A.  Very effective as it gave the Filipinos, who were limited in logistics, to conduct a war of harassment against the Americans.  Its effectiveness can be measured in the "killed-to-wounded" ratio on the Filipino side as it changed the ratio to 1-to-5 against the old ratio of "1-to-15" during the formal war days. In other words, the Americans were counting lesser wounded Filipino soldiers for every "insurrecto" killed during guerrilla warfare period in comparison to the formal battles during the early days of the war. 
Q.  If the Americans were superior in arms, why didn't the Filipinos lost time to surrender? 
A.  During the first 90 days of the war, Aguinaldo sent several feelers to General Otis, the U.S. commanding officer, to sue for peace. But General Otis demanded "unconditional surrender" from the Filipinos.  At one point he told the Filipino emissaries that "the fighting having begun, must go on to the grim end."  The uncompromising demand and bullying tactic of General Otis was unacceptable to Aguinaldo and too humiliating to his army, thus leaving no recourse for the Filipinos but to hopelessly continue its fight for honor and dignity. 
Q.  What were the Filipinos interested about in talking to Gen. Otis? 
A.  The Filipinos, especially the ilustrados , wanted to relay to General Otis their willingness accept the autonomy concept of self-rule under the sovereignty of the American flag.  This proposal caused a bitter disagreement from the hard-liners composed of Apolinario Mabini and General Antonio Luna who were uncompromising in their stand for Philippine independence and their resistance to the American colonial rule. 
Q.  What was General Antonio Luna's contribution to the War? 
A.  General Luna brought discipline to his soldiers being a strict and disciplinarian soldier in nature. Against the combined forces of General Lloyd Wheaton, General Arthur MacArthur and General Henry Lawton, he fought a strong defense in the Battle of Bagbag/Calumpit where he was wounded.  General Luna conceived a brilliant idea and recommended it to Aguinaldo that the Filipino Forces set up a defense fortification in the northern Luzon mountains but was turned down by Aguinaldo. 
Q.  Were the Filipinos united during the war? 
A.  No. There was a power struggle between Aguinaldo and General Luna over the control of the army and this was a public knowledge then.  Many Filipinos also collaborated to the Americans when they began to realize that Aguinaldo's forces were crumbling and became militarily a losing one. 
Q.  Were Americans united on the Philippine issue? 
A.  No. The American nation was divided into two camps, namely: the "imperialists" and the "anti-imperialist". 
Q.  Who were the personalities involved in both U.S. camps? 
A.  Theodore Roosevelt, U.S. Senators Henry Cabot Lodge and Albert Beveridge were the leading imperialists. The famous writer Mark Twain and business Tycoon Andrew Carnegie and labor leader Samuel Gompers were the leading "anti-imperialists."  Mark Twain wrote numerous satirical essays criticizing the U.S. for the war and its policies and bitterly criticized the colonial provisions of the Treaty of Paris. The colonial mood of the time, however, was so strong that President McKinley had to carry out vigorously his Philippine policy of "benevolent assimilation". 
Q.  What was the consequence of the power struggle? 
A.  General Luna was assassinated in Cabanatuan, Nueva Ecija by men loyal to Aguinaldo. Luna's death hastened the collapse of the independence war.  It demoralized the Filipino troops and intensified the distrust of the Filipino officers among its other, thus causing low morale from which they could never recover. In his memoirs La Revolucion Filipinas, Apolinario bitterly blamed Aguinaldo for the death of Luna. 
Q.  What was the strategy of the Americans while Aguinaldo was on retreat? 
A.  The Taft colonial administration instituted a "policy of attraction" by hiring ilustrado Filipinos to government positions in the colonial administration.  For the Filipino hard-liners, this was considered collaboration and foremost to benefit this policy was Cayetano Arellano who was appointed as Chief Justice of the Philippine Supreme Court on May 29, 1899 or barely 4 months after the outbreak of the war. 
Q.  While there was a war, the religious schism in the Philippines intensified. What was this about? 
A.  The religious schism started during the revolutionary days when Emilio Aguinaldo appointed Rev. Fr. Gregorio Aglipay as Vicar-General of the revolutionary forces.  The revolutionary activities of Aglipay infuriated Archbishop Bernardino Nozaleda enough for him to excommunicate Fr. Aglipay.  In retaliation, Fr. Aglipay organized the Philippine Independent Church and also excommunicated the Archbishop Nozaleda in return. 
Q.  What did Fr. Aglipay do during the war? 
A.  As vicar-general of the Filipino army, Fr. Aglipay was supportive all the way to the cause of the Filipino independence struggle with the belief that a victory by the Filipinos will emancipate the Catholic church from the control of the Spanish friars.  He led a guerrilla group in Ilocos Norte along with the Tinio Brigade and fought gallantly against the Americans. 
Q.  After the war, what did Fr. Aglipay do? 
A.  When the war ended, and sensing that the Americans favored the retention of the Spanish friars to remain in the Philippines, Fr. Aglipay formally formed the Philippine Independence Church with himself appointed  as the Obispo Maximo. 
Q.  When did the Philippine Republic collapse? 
A.  In the middle of November 1899, General Aguinaldo made a final retreat by departing from Bayambang, Pangasinan.  At this point, the Philippine Republic was barely functioning. Its mere existence was embodied in Aguinaldo who became only a symbol of Philippine resistance the moment he departed Bayambang.  Aguinaldo gave final order decentralizing the command of the army and instructed them to conduct a "mini wars", to be known later in military science and tactics as " guerrilla warfare." 
Q.  What prolonged the American manhunt for General Aguinaldo? 
A.  In retreating to the mountains of Banaue and Cordilleras, Aguinaldo's rear column was covered by his young Generals acting as rear guards.  First, General Gregorio del Pilar conducted a delaying tactic by sacrificing his own life at the Battle of Tirad Pass.  With General del Pilar's death, General Manuel Tinio took over the rear guarding responsibility by bugging down the pursuing Americans by means of illusive and deadly guerrilla warfare. 
Q.  How and where was Aguinaldo finally captured? 
A.  Aguinaldo was finally captured in Palanan, Isabela on March 23, 1901 by General Frederick Funston and his Macabebe escorts through a controversial, if not treacherous method conceived by Funston and approved by General Arthur MacArthur.   The job gave Funston an instant celebrity status back in the U.S. but as the controversial methods used were leaked to the U.S. media, Funston was bitterly attacked and reviled. 
Q.  Why is the Philippine-American War called Philippine "Insurrection" until today? 
A.  At first it was called "war" but as the forces of Aguinaldo crumbled, the U.S. War Department thinking that the war was winding down and in order to avoid combat pay for the U.S. soldiers, asserted that the Philippine conflict was "merely an insurrection."  When President Theodore Roosevelt officially ended the war, he made reference in his proclamation the title of the conflict as "insurrection" and describing the Filipinos involved as "insurrectionists." Since then the title of the Philippine conflict has been institutionalized as "insurrection." 
Q.  How does the title "revolution," "independence war" or the "insurrection" relate to the Philippines conflicts? 
A.  The title "revolution" or "insurrection" are titles appropriate to use when describing the Filipino-Spanish conflict because the Spaniards were the established authorities of the islands when the uprising occurred in 1896. When describing the conflict against the Americans, however, the "independence war" is more correct and appropriate.  "Insurrection" is a downgraded title adopted by the U.S. War Department in order to avoid paying combat pay to the U.S. soldiers. 
Q.  What are the "reconcentrados" ? 
A.  It was a preventive practice adopted by General Valeriano Weyler, the Spanish military governor in during the Cuban insurrection to deny the rebels from getting support from the local population resulting in death to thousand civilians due to hunger and diseases.  This technique was known to be adopted in Batangas and Marinduque during the Philippine war. 
Q.  Why was the war casualty figure so controversial? 
A.  When a casualty figure is high it becomes controversial. In the case of the Philippine conflict, there was an unaccounted population of roughly one million when a 1903 U.S. census was taken when compared to the prewar population.  It doesn't mean, however, that the "roughly one million" was the total war casualty for there were other factors that accounted for a bulk of that figure, such as: 
  1. Accuracy of the prewar Spanish population census. 
  2. Mass evacuation of the foreigners back to their country of origin during the war. 
  3. Natural causes such as diseases, famine, typhoon, and other natural causes. 
Q.  What single incident relates to the independence war? 
A.  The Balangiga incident is the most significant event that is associated with the independence war. 
Q.  Describe briefly the Balangiga Incident. 
A.  The Balangiga Incident was a surprise early morning bolo attack of the native forces of General Vicente Lukban and Major Eugenio Daza, with the aid of the local town Presidente Pedro Abaya, against the U.S. troops under Company "C" of the Ninth Infantry commanded by Captain Thomas Connell at Balangiga, Samar on September 26, 1901.  In this surprise attack 54 American soldiers were killed and 20 survivors were able to manage their escape to Basey, Leyte using barotos (native dugout canoes); Captain Connell was not one of the survivors. 
Q.  How did the the U.S. react to the Balangiga Incident? 
A.  The Taft Administration with Major-General Adnan Chaffee as the over-all military commander ordered Gen. Jacob "Howling Jake" Smith to send a swift retaliatory and punitive expedition.  In an infamous order, General Smith ordered his officers  to "kill everyone over ten" to make Samar "a place of howling wilderness." 
Q.  Who won the independence war? 
A.  The American victory of the war was a triumph of technology over sheer courage and patriotism of the Filipinos who gallantly fought an honorable war.  But the U.S. victory was to be silently supplanted in the later years by the parliamentary manipulation of the landed and elite ilustrados who were eventually made the beneficiaries of the conquest by their colonial masters. 


Colonial Resistance War Period (1902-1913) 
Mindanao [Muslim] Front 
Q.  Realizing the threat of the Moros, what did the U.S. do to contain them? 
A.  Through General John Gates, the U.S. signed a treaty with the Sultan of Jolo on August 20, 1899 for the purpose of containing the Moros while the U.S. was still at war with the Luzon-Visayan Christian forces of the Philippine Republic. 
Q.  What significance did the Bates-Sultan of Jolo Treaty gave to the war?
A.  The signing of the treaty made it appear that the U.S. divided the Philippines into a two-front war: the Christian [Luzon/Visayas] front and the Muslim [Mindanao] front, as if the U.S. conducted an undeclared religious war. The Bates-Sultan treaty was a U.S. strategy of "divide and conquer" rather than a religious one, the religions and geography being purely incidental. 
Q.  What is the basis of the historical claim for this "divide and conquer" U.S. strategy? 
A.  John Foreman, the British historian who lived in Manila for many years and author of the book titled The Philippine Islands , wrote: 
". . .in the Report of the Secretary of War for 1902, p. 19, there is a paragraph beginning thus: "Now that the insurrection has been disposed of we shall be able to turn our attention, not to the slave trade, but to the already existing slavery among the Moros." 
Q.  How long did the Bates-Sultan of Jolo Treaty last? 
A.  The treaty lasted until 1904 when it was unilaterally abrogated by the U.S. upon recommendation by General Leonard Wood for reason that the treaty was an obstacle to effective colonial administration. 
Q.  Who are the famous U.S. commanders who were once associated with the Moro wars? 
A.  The names of General John "Black Jack" Pershing and General Leonard Wood. General Pershing started his military career in the Mindanao (Muslim front). General Wood, on the other hand, started his military career during the Indian Wars in the capture of Apache chief Geronimo and in Cuba during the Spanish-American War. 
Q.  Who were the most influential Moros during the war? 
A.  The names of Sultan of Jolo and Datto Piang are always associated with the Moroland history during the early part of the century. The Sultan controlled the Sulu Archipelago while Datto Piang controlled the Cotabato area of Mindanao. 
Q.  Despite a longer war period of roughly a decade, why did the Mindanao front accounted for lesser war casualties? 
A.  There was no known concentration camps ( reconcentrados ) that existed in Mindanao in contrast to the Batangas campaign of General Franklin Bell where there was systematic extermination of thousands of Filipinos.  Besides the Batangas, Samar and Marinduque incidents were publicly known thus preventing the Mindanao front commanders from repeating their "civilizing" methods. 
Q.  The Christian War was officially closed by the U.S. Was the Moro (Moslem) War officially closed? 
A.  No. There was never any official U.S. document that formally closed the Moro Wars, except a reminder of the July 4, 1902 proclamation of Pres. Theodore Roosevelt, the portion of which read as follows: 
"Whereas the insurrection against the authority and sovereignty of the United States is now at an end, and peace has been established in all parts of the archipelago except in the country inhabited by the Moro tribes, to which this proclamation does not apply;" 
The title insurrection is in reference to the Independence War (1899-1902). 


 
 

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