Bridging the Gap
The 'Carrot-and-Stick" policy of the Americans in Iloilo
The war between the Filipinos and the Americans in Panay began on February 11, 1899 as a result of the outbreak of the conflict in Luzon in February 4. Iloilo City and the suburb towns of Molo, Lapaz, Jaro and Mandurriao were immediately occupied by the invading troops. This was done after Fort San Pedro, fronting the Iloilo harbor, fell due to the enemy's heavy bombardment. American advance towards the interior of the province, however, was hindered by the stiff resistance put up by the natives.
The Filipino troops had dug in a long line of defense covering Balantang near the coast to Tacas and Sambag-Ungka area in Jaro, then to Hibao-an (present-day San Miguel). For four months, the native defenders fought bloody skirmishes with the enemy who, at first, numbered about 700 but, with the arrival of reinforcements, reached more than a thousand. Indeed, the native resistance was fierce and determined because it was not until November 1899 that the Americans succeeded in penetrating and occupying the principal interior towns of Iloilo and the rest of the island of Panay. Nevertheless, due to insufficient occupation troops, they were not able to establish immediately effective control over these areas, and some of them reverted to native hands for some time. Even in areas that were reportedly under the effective jurisdiction of the Americans, U.S. soldiers were continuously harassed by the native troops who organized themselves into guerilla units.
By 1900, despite the arrival of additional American troops operating in Iloilo Province, native resistance was still very substantial due to frequent guerilla activities. No other than the commanding general of the Americans' Visayas operations, Gen. Robert Hughes, realized the gravity of the American position. He admitted that the whole native population was supporting the struggle against them. (Phil. Information Society 1901)
To weaken resistance to their rule, the Americans initiated the policy of attraction (carrot) by inviting Ilonggo leaders to join the U.S. controlled government. Good positions with attractive salaries were offered, especially to those who renounced their association with the resistance movement. On the other hand, there was plenty of evidences that the Americans employed threat and violence (stick) in forcing people to submit allegiance to the American flag. They resorted to confiscation of property, subjection of people to torture, forcing them to flee to the mountains, re-concentrating them in specified and fortified villages, and even assassination if the natives did not recognize American sovereignty and take an oath of allegiance before two witnesses. Cases of whole towns and barangay communities razed to the ground by the Americans were recorded (Taylor 1971). Reports of extortion, torture and murder in Iloilo even leaked to the United States that mass meetings of protests against the suppression of truth about Iloilo, in particular, and the Philippines, in general, were held in Boston in the early 1900s. Two celebrated cases in Iloilo reported were: 1) the extortion of the amount of P30,000 and murder of a priest of Molo through the alleged secret orders of General Hughes; 2) torture of a Filipino doctor of Jaro and alleged extortion of $38,000 (Mass Meetings of Protests Against the Suppression of Truth About the Philippines 1903).
What hastened further the taking of the oath of allegiance to the U.S. Government was that those who failed to do so were not only excluded from office, but were also disenfranchised. This certainly, made taking of the oath imperative to the educated ones. It must be pointed out though that many of those who took the oath were not at all sincere in their declarations to cooperate with the Americans, but were just forced to do so.
By early 1901, many of the prominent Ilonggo revolutionary leaders such as Martin Delgado, Adriano Hernandez, Quintin Salas, and others had already submitted themselves to the Americans. Yet, despite the surrenders and subsequent accommodations of prominent ex-revolutionary leaders in the U.S. Government, peace was not attained after 1901. The reports of the U.S. War Department, the Philippine Constabulary, which was organized to campaign for the maintenance of peace and order in the archipelago, and the governor of the Province of Iloilo from 1901 to 1904 show that expectation for peace was illusory. Resistance which the Americans dubbed as "outlawry" persisted in the province, as well as in other parts of Panay. It was precisely because of this "outlawry" that, despite the organization of Philippine Constabulary in the islands, the Americans still had to maintain a strong military presence in the area through the retention of camps or garrisons. The U.S. War Department reported in 1904 that Camp Jossman in Guimaras had 10 companies of infantry and 3 companies of Philippine scouts, while Fort San Pedro in Iloilo City had a garrison of two companies of infantry.