The Philippines: Past and Present Volume I Part 61

"1. From this date forward all private citizens are absolutely prohibited from wearing military uniforms.

"2. All authorities, both civil and military, under this Government, are obliged to see to the strict enforcements of this edict.

"3. All persons who, not being in the military service, are, after the publication of this edict, found wearing military uniforms, and who cannot show that they are in the military service, will be suspected as evil-doers and will be sent to this Government to be subjected to the corresponding corrective measures.

(Signed) " _Martin Delgado_,

"_Governor-General-President_."

--P.I.R., 881. 4.

[399] "On April 10, 1899, General Delgado wrote that, benignity having failed, rigorous methods would be used to enforce collections and that if the people did not pay--

"'I shall, with great pain, see myself under the necessity of withdrawing all my forces to the mountains and leaving them [the pueblos] to the fate which G.o.d will decide upon,' which of course meant that he would leave them to the mercy of the bandits who stood ready to descend upon them."--P.I.R., B., 4.

"This threat was not an idle one."--Taylor, 67 HS. E-L.

[400] "_Santa Cruz, Laguna_, July, 1899.

"_Hon. Sr. Emilio Aguinaldo_....

"There was a notorious bandit here who was the terror of the province with his gang; I had him arrested and shot and the robberies ceased. Murders were being committed; I had the murderers caught, shot one of them, and there were no more murders; officers of the reserve would consider themselves kings in their towns, they would shoot the local _presidentes_ and commit other unlawful acts; I disarmed them, and tried the most celebrated one, called Arcadio Castillo, alias Bancucane, who attempted to escape and was killed. With the death of these persons order has been completely reestablished in this province. Several had rifles that were used only for robbery and after two or three trials all turned over their rifles, and the arming of the battalion was completed.

(Signed) "_Juan Cailles_."

--P.I.R., 7 & 8.

[401] "_Regional Revolutionary Government of the Visayas_.

"_Office of the President_.

"_Kabatuan_, March 16, 1899.

"_To the Honourable President of the Philippine Republic_,

"_Senor Emilio Aguinaldo y Famy_,

"_Most Distinguished President_:

"In order to avoid the distress which the knowledge of the abuses which are already unbearable, daily committed by the troops of Senor Diocno, will cause you, this government has hesitated to communicate them to you, but, as there is almost a reign of terror here, it feels that it must inform you of them in order to remedy them. The death of private individuals and a.s.saults committed in the towns are daily reported as having been committed by the troops of General Diocno. Of the numerous companies of Senor Diocno, only two under the orders of General Araneta fight against the enemy, the remainder are the terror of the town and it is a week since Sr. Diocno went to Capiz without telling any one what he was going to do.

"In view of the facts pointed out, the soldiers of this General const.i.tuting a constant danger to the town, this government asks you to order General Diocno to turn over his rifles to us to kill Americans with and to enable the towns to recover their former tranquillity; this government asks this of you, relying upon the well-known justice with which you act and it wishes for you many years of life for our liberty and our independence.

"_Kabatuan_, March 16, 1899.

(Signed) "_Jovito Yusay_,

"_Temporary President._

(Signed) "_Francisco Soriano_,

"_General Secretary._"

--P.I.R., 52. 5.

[402] "Martin Delgado y Bermejo, lieutenant general and general in chief of the republican army of the Visayan Islands.

"_General Headquarters of Santa Barbara_,

"April 20, 1899.

"The existence of a state of war, and the trying circ.u.mstances through which the country is now pa.s.sing have brought about a complete change in the order of nearly all the pueblos; and I have noticed with profound regret that sacking, robbery, sequestrations, and other crimes highly dishonourable to our n.o.ble cause, are of daily occurrence. With a view to preventing such conduct in the future, and in order to guarantee to the inhabitants of the military district under my command the most complete tranquillity, I hereby decree:

"1. That any person or persons who commit acts of brigandage, sequestration, incendiarism, rape, or other disturbances of a public nature calculated to excite the public, or which infringe individual or property rights, shall be severely punished in accordance with military law.

"2. That all offenders who present themselves to the Local or Military Authorities within the 30 days immediately following this date, and who turn over their arms and join our forces and help to fight other outlaws and to defend the nation, will be pardoned for the crimes they have committed.

"3. That when the period of 30 days above mentioned has pa.s.sed, any person taken in the act of committing robbery, or who attempts to rob with an organized band of outlaws, or who steals, rapes, or performs acts of incendiarism, or any other criminal act, will be summarily condemned to death by a military tribunal.

"The Local Juntas of the various towns in conjunction with citizens of standing and the military authorities will organize a vigilance service to maintain public order and the authority of the law.

"_M. Delgado_."

--P.I.R., Books B 4.

[403] "February 13, 1899.

(In the margin: A stamp which says:) "Philippine Republic--Headquarters of operations of the provinces of Southern Luzon.

"It is with great regret that I have learned that robberies, a.s.saults, kidnapping, and other crimes which are committed only by barbarous and savage tribes, are taking place in our towns, without taking into consideration that the purpose of the insurrection which has given origin to our social regeneration is true justice, for the reestablishment of which the lives and property are being sacrificed of all who are proud of being called Filipinos. These acts are being committed without restriction by civilians as well as soldiers perhaps with the cooperation of their respective chiefs, to the shame of the authority vested in them and to the prejudice of the society to which they unworthily belong, and even to the integrity itself of the Republic. And in order that these barbarous and savage acts may disappear and that rigorous and exemplary punishment be meted out, I have deemed it proper to forward to you for general information the proclamation of these Headquarters of February 12th last, which is as follows":

(Signed) "_Mariano Trias_.

"_Lieutenant-General_.

"_To the Politico-Military Chief of Infanta_."--P.I.R., 896-9.

[404] "There does not seem to have been the faintest conception that there was any reason for not using the white flag to deceive people who were foolish enough to believe that Aguinaldo was going to adhere to the rules prescribed for its use. The writer in the early spring of 1899 once watched an insurgent party advance under a white flag upon an American line of trenches. When an officer and a bugler went forward to receive them they threw down the flag and immediately opened fire with the rifles which they were then seen to be dragging behind them."--_Taylor_, 48 HS.

[405] "Such ammunition was not effective unless fired from very close quarters, but even its possession made the guerrillas stronger than the people of the country and undoubtedly had much to do with securing their cooperation, not only as bolomen but also in the digging of the pits which were placed in the trails and also set about the towns. These were required to be constructed by the local authorities. In the bottom was set a sharp spike of bamboo, sometimes poisoned; and the pit was covered with leaves and soil upon a fragile framework; so that if a man stood upon it he would fall through upon the spike. Bows were set in the jungle with a string set across the trail so that any one stumbling over it would discharge a sharp bamboo shaft with a poisoned head. On September 18, 1900, Lukban congratulated the people of the town of Katubig upon the efficient use they had made of arrows with the heads dipped in 'dita,' a native poison. (P.I.R., 502. 8.)"

--_Taylor_, 83 HS.

[406] See also the chapter ent.i.tled "Murder as a Governmental Inst.i.tution."

[407] See p. 313.

[408] The following newspaper supplement printed in Tagalog for the benefit of the common people, is typical of this cla.s.s of literature, with which the country was kept flooded: