The Philippines: Past and Present (Volume 1 of 2)Worcester, Dean C. (Dean Conant)
History
The Philippines: Past and Present (Volume 1 of 2)
Worcester, Dean C. (Dean Conant)
Philippines; Philippines -- History -- 1898-1946
"_Admiral Dewey_. I knew that there was no government in the
whole of the Philippines. Our fleet had destroyed the only
government there was, and there was no other government; there
was a reign of terror throughout the Philippines, looting,
robbing, murdering; a reign of terror throughout the islands."
_La Laguna_
Having brought our tourist friends safely back to Manila, we must
now leave them there and strike out by ourselves if we are to see
other provinces.
La Laguna lies just east of Manila. Of it we learn that:
"Laguna Province was so overrun by bands of robbers that
the head of the pueblo of San Pablo ordered the people to
concentrate in the town to avoid their attacks." [305]
_Bataan_
The province of Bataan lies just across the bay from Manila.
"On January 10, 1899, the secretary of the interior directed
the governor of Bataan Province to ascertain the whereabouts of
a number of men who had just deserted with their rifles from
the commands there. He was to appeal to their patriotism and
tell them that if they would but return to their companies
their complaints would be attended to and they would be
pardoned." [306]
_Zambales_
Zambales joins Bataan on the west and north. On November 13, 1898,
Wenceslao Vinvegra wrote to Aguinaldo describing the state of affairs
in this province. From his letter we learn that two brothers named
Teodoro and Doroteo Pansacula, claiming to be governor and brigadier
general respectively, who are charged with abandonment of their
posts in the field, disobedience and attempts against the union
of the Insurgents, had been committing all manner of abuses. They
had organized a band of cut-throats, armed with rifles and bolos,
and were terrorizing the towns, committing robberies and murders and
ordering that money be furnished for themselves and food for their men.
They were also encouraging the people to disobey the local authorities
and refuse to pay taxes, and were promulgating a theory, popular with
the masses, that the time had come for the rich to be poor and the
poor rich.
They had furthermore induced regular Insurgent troops to rise up in
arms. [307]
From this communication it would appear that the Insurgent government
had not been entirely effective in Zambales up to November 13th, 1898.
From other communications we learn that the soldiers at Alaminos were
about to desert on November 30th, 1898; [308] that it was deemed
necessary to restrict travel between Tarlac, Pampanga, Bataan and
Zambales in order to prevent robberies; [309] and that on January 9,
1899, the governor of the province found it impossible to continue
the inspection of a number of towns, as many of their officials had
fled to escape the abuses of the military. [310] Conditions were
obviously very serious in Zambales at this time.
_Cavite_
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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