The Filipino Soldier

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        Throughout known history, the Filipino soldier earned
        an honored place on the battlefield.  The annals
        of history are full of praise for the Filipino warrior
        and soldier.
        
        If we venture back to the writings of the Chinese
        and Muslims,  it may be that the ancient Filipinos
        were mentioned in the notices of Sanfotsi, Zabag
        and related kingdoms.   This author explores this
        possibility on a linked webpage
        discussing the medieval Philippines.
        
        Whether the Philippines constituted the kingdoms
        mentioned,  the latter certainly belonged to the
        vast archipelago inhabited by Filipinos and our
        Malay relatives.  Thus, much of the characteristics
        ascribed to the Sanfotsi or other warriors would
        also apply, for the most part, to Filipinos.
        
        
         The Chinese Testimony
        
        
        Regarding Sanfotsi, the geographical encyclopedia
        written by Ma Tuan-lin states:
        
        
                "They are all very brave; in fighting on land or water
                 they are superior to other nations.  They have a sea port
                 at the point where commerce passes and they compel the
                 merchants to stop there.  If some should attempt to pass
                 without recognizing them, they would immediately launch
                 a naval assault against them.  All would be ready to
                 take them without fail, no matter how energetic the
                 resistance.  The result of this is that the port
                 of Sanfotsi is the entrepot of the merchants of all
                 countries."  (Author's translation of D'Harvey St. Denis's
                 French translation)
        
        
        Another medieval Chinese writer, Chau Ju-kua's wrote
        concerning Sanfotsi:
        
                "They are skilled at fighting on land or water. When
                they are about to make war on another state they assemble
                and send for the such a force as the occasion demands.
                They appoint chiefs and leaders, and all provide their
                own military equipment and the necessary provisions.
                In facing the enemy and braving death they have not
                their equal among other nations."
                (Chu-fan-chi translated by Hirth and Rockhill)
        
        
        The medieval geography of Chou Ku-fei says something very
        similar regarding the warriors of Sanfotsi:
        
                "...the people are skilled in fighting. When they are
                about to fight, they cover their bodies with a medicine
                which prevents swords wounding them. In fighting on land
                or on water none surpass them in impetousity of attack;
                even the Kulin people come after them. If some foreign
                ship, passing this place, should not enter here, an
                armed party would certainly come out kill them to the
                last."
        
        
        
        The Muslim Testimony
        
        
         The Muslim writers had pretty much the same impression of
         the Malay people.
        
         Ibn al-Fakih says of the Sanfotsi (Zabag): "...they are of a
         great character resembling a nation of ferocious beasts." In a
         way, this resembles, Draper's descriptions of the Pampangos
         as a "fierce and barbarous people."
        
         In describing the island of Niyan which was located somewhere
         between Sanfotsi and Toupo, a Muslim writer states: "The
         inhabitants are remarkable for their great energy and great
         courage."
        
         Another Muslim writer describes the same people as "of indomitable
         character and hostile to strangers."
        
        
        The Coming of the Europeans
        
        
         When Pigafetta visited the island of Mindanao during the
         expedition of Magellan he was impressed by an exceptionally
         brave tribe of long-haired warriors living on that island.
        
         Magellan was eventually killed himself in a battle with
         the local raha, Lapu-lapu.
        
         However, Magellan had started the process by which
         the islands were eventually subjugated.  He managed
         to convert a local king and his subjects to Christianity.
         And for awhile, he pitted the zealous new convert
         against other local kings.  When Legazpi came to conquer
         the Philippines he did the same thing, but more
         successfully.  The main contingent during Legazpi's
         invasion of Luzon was a force of Cebuano mercenaries
         who provided their own native warships.
        
        
        The Spanish Testimony
        
        Even under foreign rule, the Filipino established
        a reputation as an excellent soldier.  One
        Spanish writer declared that the Filipino soldier
        was the bravest of all the subjects of the king
        of Spain, at a time when the Spanish empire was
        at its height.
        
        Father Delgado, responding to criticism leveled
        against the Indio stated:
        
        
                "On the contrary, it must be said that
                the Indians are those who defend us from
                our enemies; for, in the presidios, who are
                the soldiers, who sail in the war fleets, who
                are in the vanguard in war?  Could the
                Spaniards, perchance, maintain themselves
                alone in the country, if the Indians did not
                aid in everything?"
        
                (Blair & Robertson, The Philippine Islands,
                1493-1898, Vol. VI, pp. 270-271)
        
        
        The records of the Spaniards were full of the daring
        exploits of Filipino soldiers. In a letter by Juan
        Grau y Monfalcon he wrote of the Filipinos:
        
        
                "Those Indians, mingled with Spaniards,
                serve as soldiers in war, and have proved
                excellent therein.  Especially are the
                Pampangos valiant soldiers, who have performed
                and are daily performing valiant exploits at
                the side of the Spanish.  They were at the taking
                of Terrenate; and, whenever occasion offers, they
                with other companies come to guard the city of
                Manila."
        
                (Conrado Benitez, History of the Philippines,
                Boston, 1929, p. 258)
        
        
        When the British invaded Manila they encountered stirring
        resistance from the Filipino defenders.  Here is what
        Draper says in his journal:
        
        
                "Had their skill and weapons been equal to their
                strength and ferocity, it might have cost us dear.
                Although armed chiefly with bows, arrows, and lances,
                they advanced up to the very muzzles of our pieces,
                repeated their assaults, and died like wild beasts,
                gnawing the bayonets."
        
        
        
         Because of their dependence on Filipino soldiers, so Spaniards
         worried about the possibility of revolt.  Bernardino Maldanado
         in his report to the king warns of this danger:
        
        
                 "They are a people of great boldness only needing a
                 leader whom they would recognize, and the are so many
                 in number that it is a matter that must be feared
                 considerably, and one of which your Majesty orders
                 us to be fearful and watchful."
        
                (Conrado Benitez, History of the Philippines,
                Boston, 1929, p. 248)
        
        
        
        One of the finest compliments to the Filipino as a soldier
        might be the following Spanish saying regarding the
        people of Pampanga province:
        
        
                 "One Spaniard and nine Pampanguenos are more than
                 a match for ten men from any nation."
        
                  (Sturtevant, Popular Uprisings in the Philippines:
                  1840-1940, p. 90))
        
        
        
        The Coming of the Americans
        
        
        When the Americans engaged in a war of conquest against
        the Philippines they met stiff resistance.  Although
        the ill-equipped Philppine Army was defeated after
        two years,  armed rebellion continued from 1902 to
        1917.   In particular, the Moros of Mindanao and the
        Pulanjanis offered "fanatical" resistance.
        
        However, even at the start of the conflict, the Americans,
        like the Spaniards, had already recruited native allies in
        the Macabebe, Igorot, Cagayan and Ilokano Scouts.
        
        Later on, these initial scout units became the core of
        the renowned Philippine Scouts of the U.S. Army.  Like
        the Spanish, the Americans quickly realized the value
        of the Filipino soldier.  In an article in the April
        1905 issue of Infantry Journal, Major William
        H. Johnson states:
        
        
                "The Philippine Scouts fill an important role
                and in that role are without an equal.  For
                service in the islands they can frequently be
                of more service than American troops."
        
        
        Americans serving with the Scouts often developed
        a liking for the dedicated Filipino soldiers.
        Colonel Edmund J. Lilly, CO of the 57th Infantry,
        wrote:
        
        
                "When I think of them (Philippine Scouts),
                Kipling's words run through my head. "I
                have eaten your bread and salt.  I have drunk
                your water and wine, and the deaths you died
                I have watched beside and the lives you lived
                were mine."
        
                (The Philippine Scout Heritage Foundation,
                The Philippine Scouts,,  1996, p. 107)
        
        
        Many illustrious American military figures served
        with the Scouts and they all had high praise.  The
        following comments from a an Army publication of
        1949 illustrates this fact:
        
        
                "You must be very proud to belong to an
                organization that is famous among military
                men throughout the world.  Such distinguished
                leaders as the late General of the Armies
                John J Pershing, Major General Leonard Wood,
                Lt. General Jonathan Wainwright, and General
                Douglas MacArthur have given the highest
                praise of the Scouts."*
        
        
                (The Philippine Scout Heritage Foundation,
                The Philippine Scouts,,  1996, p. 457)
        
        
        The acts of bravery displayed by the Scouts during
        World War II captured the imagination of the world.
        General MacArthur was particularly moved by incident
        he observed among the Igorot units:
        
        
        
                "Many desperate acts of courage and heroism have fallen
                under my observation on many fields of batlle in many
                parts of the world. I have seen last-ditch stands and
                innumerable acts of personal heroism that defy description,
                but for sheer breathtaking and heart-stopping desperation,
                I have never known the equal of those Igorots. Gentlemen,
                when you tell that story, stand in tribute to these
                gallant Igorots."
                
        
        The following poem was written by 1st Lieutenant Henry
        Lee, an American officer with the 12th Military Police
        Company during the Battle of Bataan:
        
        
                The desperate fight is lost; the battle is done.
                The brown lean ranks are scattered to the breeze.
                Their cherished weapons resting in the sun.
                Their moldering guidons hidden by the leaves.
                No more the men who did not fear to die
                Will plug the broken line while through the din
                Their beaten comrades raise the welcome cry,
                Make way, make way, the Scouts are moving in!"
        
                The jungle takes the long defended lines
                The trenches erode; the wires rust away,
                The lush dank grasses and the trailing vines
                Soon hide the human remains of the fray.
                The Battle ended and the story told
                To open to the Scouts as they unfold
                The tired little soldiers enter in.
        
                The men who were besieged on every side
                Who knew the dissolution of retreat
                And still retained thir fierce exultant pride
                And still were soldiers - even in defeat,
                Now meet the vetrans of ten thousand years
                Now find a welcome worthy of their trade
                From men who fought with crossbows and with spears
                With bullet and with arrow and with spade.
        
                The grizzled veterans of Rome built upon
                The Death-head horde of Attila the Hun
                The Yellow Horror of the greatest Khan
                The guardmen of the First Napoleon
                All the men in every nameless fight
                Since first Man strove against Man to prove his worth
                Shall grett the tired Scouts as is their right
                No finer soldiers ever walked the Earth.
        
                And then the Scouts will be formed to be reviewed
                Each scattered unit now once more complete
                Each weapon and bright crisp flag renewed
                And high above their cadence their feet
                Will come the loud clear virile welcoming shout
                From many throats, before the feats begin,
                Their badge of Honor mid their comrades shout
                "Make way, make way, the Scouts are moving in!"
        
        
                (The Philippine Scout Heritage Foundation,
                The Philippine Scouts,,  1996, p. 463)
        
        
         After Independence
        
         Filipino soldiers continued to distinguish themselves
         in the Philippine military and as units serving with
         the United Nations.  Thus, the long, glorious traditon
         of the Filipino soldier continues.  In this respect,
         we have not even covered the exploits of the Filipino
         sailor.
        
         At the present time (1997),  Filipino veterans of World
         War II are protesting the treatment they received after
         such valiant service.  Some veterans began a hunger
         strike in Los Angeles demanding restitution for Filipino
         veterans.   Let's give them our support.
                     
                   
        Finis

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        Thanks to Manong Ken Ilio for the ethnic background. Check out his site at http://www.mcs.net/~asia/website.html (Tribung Pinoy)

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