Plotter of Balangiga lived to tell story (1)

Eugenio Daza y Salazar planned the Battle of Balangiga, Sept. 28, 1901. As infantry major of the Filipino revolutionary army in Samar, he was at the forefront of the early morning attack on the American outpost. Though poorly armed, the rebels wiped out the well-trained US Army company, except for two wounded escapees. American reinforcements then retaliated, massacring unarmed townsfolk. Daza lived to tell the story, three decades later, in a sworn Memorandum (Memoir).

A memoir, it is said, is not a reconstruction of the past, but a record of the time it is written and the mental state of the person remembering. By the time he wrote his Memorandum, Daza had worked with US officials to build a government through the national advisory assembly. Some passages in his recollection sound sympathetic to the former enemy. Still, Daza’s retelling is “realistic,” historian Augusto de Viana annotates in “The I-Stories: Eyewitness Accounts in the Philippine Revolution and Filipino-American War.” “Daza planned his attack very carefully, taking note of details: that the American commander warned his men against molesting native women; that the Americans had taken to drinking coconut water for fear of being poisoned; and that a pintakasi was to be held in town on the day of the attack.”

Another vital info from Daza was that US Capt. Thomas C. Connell had commandeered all the men to cut weeds and grass around the town, de Viana writes. Connell was concerned about sanitation and the health of the people of Balangiga from catching dysentery and malaria, as well as to deny the insurgents possible hiding places. But Sept. 28 being a cockfight Sunday, Daza was able to send even more men into town without arousing the suspicion of American sentries.

De Viana counterchecks Daza’s recollection with other reports. Though the Filipinos struck by surprise, the Americans were able to kill 28 revolutionaries. Thirty-six Americans were slain, according to Hurley, “Jungle Patrol” (New York: E.P. Dutton, 1936); and Schott, “The Ordeal of Samar” (Indianapolis & New York: Bobbs-Merrill Co., 1964). It was a battle, not a one-sided massacre of Americans. The massacre was by the American reinforcements who executed the 20 Filipinos they had forced to dig the graves of their fallen comrades.

Daza’s story was written in 1935, later published in a souvenir program in his honor:

“On Aug. 11, 1901, a company of American soldiers on board the US Army transport Liskum landed in the town of Balangiga, province of Samar under the command of a Major, a Captain, and a Lieutenant. The major and the other officers occupied the convent; the greater portion of the soldiers quartered themselves in the municipal building; two platoons commanded by Sergeants occupied two private houses without paying any rent. On the night of Aug. 11, 1901, the Captain called a meeting of the inhabitants of the town, where the organization of a municipal police was ordered, leaving to the discretion of the town leaders the selection and appointment of those who were to compose the police body. The next day, Aug. 12, a meeting was also held in the house of the Municipal President who had been appointed together with a secretary. In said meeting Mr. Valeriano Abanador, delegate of police in the revolutionary government, was appointed Chief of Police with forty-six municipal policemen.

“The Americans, foreseeing what may happen and in order not to (be) easily surprised by rebels, quartered themselves in the four houses mentioned by forming a square so the enemy could be seen from all directions.

“Months before the occupation by the enemy, I was in the very town of Balangiga. I was an infantry Captain of the revolutionary army in charge of collecting money to support the revolution and provide food supplies to my countrymen. I considered that incident providential and I conceived then a very daring plan to capture all the Americans together with their arms and ammunitions in the most practicable manner under the circumstances. To carry out such a reckless plan of attack, I called a secret meeting of the principal residents of the town, held in the very same house of the Municipal President, Mr. Pedro Abayan. Once gathered, I reminded them of the duty we had to perform on that occasion if we were to be real patriots fighting for our liberty and independence, and I informed them of the idea I had conceived to surprise the enemy.

“It was decided that we were to stage a general uprising on Oct. 6, 1901, which was necessary for us to prepare the plan very well. In the meantime, as it usually happens in wars between civilized nations, the army occupying a certain place can dispose of the life and property of the inhabitants. The American soldiers, taking advantage of their strength and probably without the knowledge of the officers, forcibly took possession of chickens, pigs, cows, bananas, camote, coconuts, and other properties of the people without paying for their value. Such misconduct aroused the resentment of the inhabitants who decided to wreak vengeance on the American soldiers and their officers. On Sept. 8, 1901, we again held a meeting of the leaders in a house near the town in order to perfect the plan of uprising, because the people could no longer stand the abuses of the American soldiers. In the meeting, it was decided to stage the uprising on Sept. 28, and the meeting was dissolved at 2:00 in the morning. On Sept. 24, 25, and 26, 1901, I went to all the barrios of the town of Balangiga and held conferences with the officers of the different revolutionary camps and barrio lieutenants, instructing them that on the night of Sept. 27 they should unite all their forces in a place called Canlara near the town of Balangiga, armed with lances, bolos, clubs, and daggers...” (To be continued Wednesday)

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Prof. Augusto de Viana chairs the University of Santo Tomas Department of History. “The I-Stories,” which he compiled and edited, includes first-person accounts as well of the founding of the Katipunan, its discovery by the Spanish authorities, how Rizal's Noli Me Tangere was smuggled into Manila, the assassination of General Luna, the capture of Aguinaldo, the mutinies of Iligan and Jolo, and more. The book is available at the UST Publishing House, España Boulevard, Sampaloc, Manila. Telefax +632 7313522; telephone +632 4061611 local 8252 or 8278; email [email protected].

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