On September 28, the country commemorated the 115th anniversary of the successful mass uprising against US occupation troops in Balangiga, Eastern Samar. In this occasion, the National Democratic Front-Eastern Visayas (NDF-EV) welcomed GRP President Rodrigo Duterte’s stand against US intervention in the Philippines.
According to Fr. Santiago “Ka Sanny” Salas, spokesperson of the NDF-EV, they are ready to enter into a tactical alliance with the Duterte government within the framework of the on-going peace negotiations. They look forward to fruitful peace negotiations with the Duterte government to achieve socio-economic reforms that will include ending US neoliberal control of the Philippines.
Townsfolk commemorate the Balangiga Uprising at the town’s annual fiesta where the youth re-enact the events on the encounter site. This refreshes the people’s consciousness of the victory they achieved through their unity and struggle.
“The Balangiga uprising was a victory for patriotic Filipinos, and the so-called ‘Balangiga massacre’ wasn’t committed by Filipinos but by US troops who in revenge killed up to 50,000 people in the town and the rest of Samar,” said Fr. Salas. “In that light, we cite the Balangiga uprising as additional historical support for GRP President Duterte’s calling attention to US atrocities in Mindanao during the Filipino-American War and afterwards,” he added.
Struggle of the Balangiganon
It was on August 11, 1901, when troops of Company C, 9th U.S. Infantry occupied Balangiga. They encamped at the plaza, used public buildings and the church, molested women, forced the people to work for them, and prevented them from performing their own livelihood. They imprisoned 143 Balangiganon men in wooden pens and forced them to sleep standing in the rain, and the women allowed to bring in only drinking water. The few who got sick were replaced with new prisoners.By early morning on September 28, 1901, two groups of men in women’s clothing had positioned themselves in the church and near the soldiers’ mess hall, with bolos and daggers hidden in the folds of their skirts, inside a coffin, and within bamboo tubes used for carrying water.
They launched the attack when church bells began pealing at five o’clock in the morning, joined by the other residents who used bolos, knives, pickaxes, clubs and other tools against the American soldiers’ Krag rifles. They slashed the ropes of the kitchen tent where the soldiers were eating breakfast and hacked those who were caught inside the collapsed roof. Forty-four to 48 American soldiers were killed and the remaining more or less 20 wounded fled aboard a boat. The Filipinos seized 100 rifles and 28,000 rounds of ammunition from the Americans.
Although some soldiers were able to fight back, killing 28 Filipinos, the Balangiga Uprising is recorded in history as one of the US’ worst defeats in a single battle in the Philippines. Until now, official documents of the US government remain silent on the actual number of casualties in this battle.
The Company G of the 9th Infantry sent reinforcements with machine guns and cannons, but the organized townspeople had already deserted the town. Twenty barrio folk who were caught in the town’s periphery were brought to the plaza, doused with petroleum and set on fire. All houses were also burned.
The American troops took the church bells as war booty. Two of these are presently on display at the Warren Air Force Base in Cheyenne, Wyoming, while one is in South Korea. The US government refuses to let the bells go despite many appeals to return the bells to the people of Balangiga.
US troops’ policy of atrocity
Atrocity is an official US government policy against the Filipino people. US Pres. Theodore Roosevelt himself ordered the “pacification” of the Philippines which was implemented by Gen. Jacob Smith in Samar. In retaliation for their severe defeat, the general ordered his men to kill and burn, to turn Samar into a “howling wilderness” so that “even birds could not live there.” Males above ten years old were ordered massacred and whole towns were burned down.The escaped priest who rang the bells was hunted down till he was captured in Tanawan, at the adjoining province of Leyte. He was brought to Calbiga, Samar, where he was tortured together with other arrested priests of Catubig and Basey towns, where similar uprisings had been staged.
This policy of atrocity was echoed in other parts of the country. Brig. Gen. James Franklin Bell ordered to turn Luzon into a “desert waste” where tens of thousands of people were massacred, numerous towns were razed and hamletted, especially the whole Batangas and Laguna provinces. This was reflected in turn by Gen. Hughes’ campaign of massacre and burning in Iloilo and Capiz in Panay where women, children, and elderly people were wantonly killed.
Continuing atrocities and resistance
US imperialism’s policy of aggression and atrocity continue today not only in Balangiga or the Philippines but all over the world, including Iraq, Syria, Afghanistan and others.The NDF-EV called upon the people, especially the youth, to take a patriotic stand against US imperialism and fight for national freedom and democracy. “Let us continue the unfinished revolution of our revolutionary ancestors who rose up against US troops in Balangiga. Join the New People’s Army to defend the motherland against US imperialism, fascism and all reaction.” Salas declared.
http://www.cpp.ph/remembering-balangiga-uprising/
Ang Bayan (The Nation) is the official propaganda/news organ of the Communist Party of the Philippines and is issued by the party's Central Committee. It describes the actions of party as well as its point of view on issues and events in the Philippines.
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