Video: Philippine-American War in Marinduque 1900.-1901. Historical photos and footages on the commemoration of the Battle of Pulang Lupa in Marinduque. Featuring "Awit sa Pulang Lupa" written and composed by Eli J. Obligacion, with Teatro Balangaw and Marinduque Provincial Capitol Choir..
Battle of Pulang
Lupa, September 13, 1900
From 1899-1901 during the Philippine American War there were
numerous encounters between Philippine and American Forces. In seven of the
engagements where Filipinos had the upper hand that spelled victory, two of
them occurred in the island of Marinduque. (These were the Battle of Paye, and
the Battle of Pulang Lupa).
The other Filipino victories took place in the Battle of
San Mateo (Morong), Siege of Catubig (Samar), Battle of Makahambos Hill, Battle
of Mabitac, Battle of Balangiga (Samar).
The Battle of Pulang Lupa, however, is considered a
milestone in Philippine History. This was the engagement that sent shock waves through
the American high command and was considered the worst defeat suffered by the
Americans during that war.
This battle however, led to the first application in the Philippines
of concentration camps in the island’s town centers, a highly
coercive measure that finally led to the surrender of the Filipino soldiers led
by Lt. Col. Maximo Abad with his remaining men on April 15, 1901.
The success of this population concentration first experimented
in Marinduque was then applied to other provinces in the country including
Batangas, Laguna and Samar.
Of the harshness and hardships suffered by the people of
Marinduque, Gov. Gen. William H. Taft, future U.S. president said: “The
severity with which the inhabitants have been dealt with would not look well if
a complete history were written out”.
Some details of that history appears in The U.S. Army's
Pacification of Marinduque, Philippine Islands, April 1900-April 1901 by Andrew
J. Birtle.
On the Battle of Pulang
Lupa that took place on September 13, 1900, Birtle wrote in part:
“While the Boac garrison cowered, Shields endeavored to
maintain some semblance of pressure on the guerrillas, making thirteen
expeditions during July and August. None of these operations went more than ten
miles from Santa Cruz, which, like Boac, was down to about twenty-five percent
of its pre-occupation population. Protected by the people and the island's
difficult topography, Abad easily avoided Shields. In August, however, Shields
made some headway on the civil front, organizing the election of a pro-American
mayor and arresting twenty-five civilians on charges of aiding the guerrillas.
"On 11 September, Shields decided to take advantage of a
visit by the gunboat U.S.S. Villalobos. Leaving Lieutenant Wilson and forty-one
men to hold Santa Cruz, he loaded fifty-one enlisted men, a hospital corps-man,
and his black servant onto the gunboat and sailed to Torrijos, disembarking
that evening. The next day he had his first contact with insurgent forces since
his company had been on the island, dispersing a band of twenty guerrillas and destroying
their cuartel.
"On the thirteenth, Shields led his detachment into the mountains
with the intention of returning to Santa Cruz. Well informed about Shields's movements,
Abad had concentrated nearly his entire force of approximately 250 riflemen and
2,000 bolomen along a steep ridge overlooking the trail. Shields walked right
into the ambush. A fire fight ensued for several hours before Shields ordered a
retreat into a covered ravine. What began as a slow withdrawal quickly turned
into a race down a rocky stream bed, as the Americans scrambled to escape the
pincers that were moving to surround them. After retreating for about three and
a half miles, the beleaguered detachment entered a rice field near the barrio
of Massiquisie (Masagisi). Here renewed enemy fire forced the Americans to take
cover behind some paddy dikes. Shields fell seriously wounded.
"After ordering that a message be passed to the senior NCO, Sergeant James A. Gwynne, to lead the command out of the closing trap, Shields raised a white flag to surrender himself and the other wounded. The insurgents thought the flag meant that the command was surrendering. So too did Gwynne, who later claimed never to have received the escape order, and thus the entire force lay down its arms. All told, the Insurgents killed four Americans and captured fifty, six of whom, including Shields, were wounded. Shields later claimed that the Filipinos lost thirty dead, though this number was never confirmed.
"After ordering that a message be passed to the senior NCO, Sergeant James A. Gwynne, to lead the command out of the closing trap, Shields raised a white flag to surrender himself and the other wounded. The insurgents thought the flag meant that the command was surrendering. So too did Gwynne, who later claimed never to have received the escape order, and thus the entire force lay down its arms. All told, the Insurgents killed four Americans and captured fifty, six of whom, including Shields, were wounded. Shields later claimed that the Filipinos lost thirty dead, though this number was never confirmed.
"After months of hiding, Abad in a few short hours had
destroyed nearly a third of the entire American garrison on Marinduque.”
Recognizing the
Battle of Pulang Lupa:
While the Battle of Pulang Lupa is not mentioned in
Philippine History textbooks, it has been commemorated annually in Marinduque since 1965.
The Battle of Pulang Lupa was first celebrated in Marinduque on September 13, 1965, during the incumbency of President Diosdado
Macapagal, with Miguel Manguera as governor of Marinduque.
The event was then
known at that time in press releases as “Marinduque Day” by virtue of Macapagal’s Proclamation 435. The following year, under President Ferdinand Marcos (under Proclamation No. 104), September 13 was likewise declared as a special public holiday in Marinduque the more to inspire the people "to greater deeds for their country".
A similar Proclamation No. 2306 s. 1983 was issued by Marcos declaring a special public holiday in Marinduque to commemorate the heroism of our forefathers in the 'Battle of Pulang Lupa'.
During the
Second Regular Session of Congress (1988), however, Republic Act No. 6702 was
passed, an Act declaring September Thirteen as “Battle of Pulang Lupa Day” and
a Special Non-Working Holiday in the Province of Marinduque. This was sponsored
by then Cong. Carmencita O. Reyes and was finally passed on September 22, 1988 (by
Congress) and December 2, 1988 (by Senate) respectively. The Act lapsed after
the prescribed period and came into force without the signature of President
Corazon C. Aquino.
