Anything Under the Sun
Col. Julio Infante
Very few Ilonggos know that considered the best regimental commander of President Emilio Aguinaldo was an Ilonggo -- Col. Julio Infante.
He is a son of capitan del peublo of Iloilo, Salvador Infante who sent him and his elder brother Carlos to study in Manila.
While there, the two brothers enlisted as privates in the revolutionary army of Aguinaldo serving under Gen. Antonio Luna and Gen. Juan Cailles.
He accompanied Gen. Aguinaldo to Hongkong after the Pact of Biaknabato where he polished his English which he learned from his father in Iloilo.
Back to the Philippines to continue the revolution, he became popular as a regimental commander causing the American to offer $30,000 as reward for his capture.
While commander of the 6th column in Laguna, he was captured by the Americans at a cockpit but they did not know his identity as he told his men not to identify him.
Being of small structure and pretending to be an uneducated private from the farm, Infante was never suspected by his captor Col. George T. Langhorne to be a high ranking revolutionary officer.
He was made a messboy at the American camp and a week after, he communicated in broken Spanish and English that he wanted to visit his sick father. Langhorne trusted him and gave him forty dollars and his pistol with a mission to negotiate for the surrender of Col. Julio Infante.
A week after he left, Langhorne received a letter written in good English telling him there is no need to see Col. Infante and he had already seen him as his messboy. He also challenged the Americans to meet him at a certain place to fight. The Americans were there only to be defeated.
This infuriated Langhorne who found it hard to explain to his superiors the escape of a high ranking revolutionary officer. The American press took notice of this and severely criticized the efficiency of the American forces in the Philippines. Infante surrendered only upon the advice of his superior Gen. Cailles who also surrendered.
During the American regime, he became the first secretary of Municipal Board of Iloilo and a high ranking official of the Philippine National Bank which when he retired, he refused his pension saying his is to serve the country.
During World War I, the Americans organized the Philippine National Guard to be sent to fight the Germans in Europe. Three regiments were organized. Its first Regiment was commanded by an American; the Second Regiment by Col. Adriano Hernandez of Dingle and the Third Regiment by Col. Julio Infante with headquarters in Fort San Pedro composed of volunteers from the Visayas.