The Philippines: Past and Present (Volume 2 of 2)Worcester, Dean C. (Dean Conant)
History
The Philippines: Past and Present (Volume 2 of 2)
Worcester, Dean C. (Dean Conant)
Philippines; Philippines -- History -- 1898-1946
At the request of Lieutenant-Governor Lewis, I had furnished two disk
plows with the necessary animals to pull them, in order that the land
might be plowed the first time for those who were willing to cultivate
it. Thereafter they were left to care for it themselves. This plan
had aroused great enthusiasm. As I approached Sumilao I saw a crowd
of men busily engaged in some task, and when I drew near was amazed
and delighted to find that, although the disk plow intended for use
at that place had arrived before the animals which were to pull it,
fifteen men had harnessed themselves to it and were vigorously breaking
the sod. I decided on the spot that the Bukidnon people had a future,
and have never changed my mind. The progress which they have since
made is almost unbelievable.
Efforts to destroy the government which we had established in
Bukidnon, and to reëstablish the system of peonage under which
its peaceful, industrious inhabitants had so long groaned, were
persistently continued. During my third annual inspection trip,
I found that there was a plan on foot to trump up criminal charges
against Lieutenant-Governor Lewis and Señor Manuel Fortich, whose
services I had meanwhile secured as an assistant to Mr. Lewis upon
his severing his connection with the constabulary. The efforts of
the mischief-makers had become so persistent and so vicious that I
decided to declare war on them. Accordingly, I ran over to Cagayan
and summoned the provincial officers and several other prominent
citizens, with whom I went straight to the point, telling them that I
had not anticipated that they would readily adapt themselves to the
changed conditions which resulted from the separation of Bukidnon
as a distinct subprovince, and had patiently waited three years for
them to accept the inevitable, but that I had grown weary of their
constant efforts to nullify the work which we were doing, and that I
was aware of the plan to destroy the usefulness of Lewis and Fortich;
adding that they must let the Bukidnon officials alone, and that in
the event of future failure to do so I would temporarily transfer my
office to Cagayan de Misamis and devote my time and attention to making
things interesting for certain of them. I named no names, and it was
not necessary to do so. The individuals referred to knew whom I meant.
Conditions now rapidly improved for a time, but in November I
was called to Washington to be investigated by the Committee on
Insular Affairs with reference to my administration of public and
friar lands, and the enemies of the Bukidnon government promptly
became active. Governor Lewis was arrested and tried on two criminal
charges, while his assistant, Señor Fortich, was charged with murder,
no less. If the charges of estafa and falsification of public documents
brought against Lewis failed, it was proposed to prosecute him for
adultery, the minimum penalty for which in the Philippine Islands is
imprisonment for two years, four months and one day.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account