US atrocities in the Philippines

President Rodrigo Duterte often made mention of the Bud Dajo massacre in Jolo, Sulu as worse case of human rights violation committed by the Americans than the extrajudicial killing of drug users and pushers in his war against drugs in the country. Thus, it is a hypocritical proposition especially coming from the worst violator of human rights of them all – one who made no qualms of bombing villages and killing innocent children and women in its war of aggression.

Bud Dajo massacre is just the tip of the iceberg among the atrocities committed by the Americans during their occupation in the country.

Actually, Bud Dajo is a dormant volcano that last erupted in 1897. This is where the Muslims made a gallant stand against the invading American forces. The US Army, led by Colonel J. W. Duncan, assaulted the volcano crater in March 1906 where about 1,000 Tausug villagers were holed up, including women and children. It was the bloodiest engagement between the Muslims and Americans in Mindanao during the Philippine-American war. The superior firepower of the US forces turned the battle into a massacre. Only six of the Muslims survived while the Americans suffered casualties, ranging from 15 to 21 killed and 75 wounded.   

In the battle of Bud Bagsak on the same island of Sulu in June 1913, the defending Muslim resistance fighters were fortified at the top of the mountain when the American forces, led by General John "Black Jack" Pershing, attacked the Muslim defenders and completely annihilated them killing their leader, Datu Amil. More than 500 Muslims perished during the battle.  

In Samar, the Balangiga massacre in 1901 was a grim reminder of brutal war waged by the US against the Filipinos. Earlier on, the guerrillas killed at least 48 members of the US 9th Infantry in the town of Balangiga on September 28 of that year. In retaliation, General Jacob H. Smith, ordered the killing of every male over 10 years old in the island. "I want no prisoners. I wish you to kill and burn; the more you kill and burn, the better it will please me. The interior of Samar must be made a howling wilderness."

US President McKinley issued the "Proclamation of Benevolent Assimilation" to declare in sugar-coated terms a war of aggression against the Filipino people. US troops made a surprise attack on the Filipinos in the vicinity of Manila where at least 3,000 Filipinos were killed with only 250 American casualties. Despite its inferior firepower, the Filipino people heroically stood up to wage a revolutionary war against the American invaders.

By 1902, the US deployed at least 126,468 troops against the 7,000,000 Filipinos. In the ensuing battles, the foreign aggressors suffered a casualty of at least 4,000 killed and almost 3,000 wounded and almost 200,000 Filipinos were slain. Thus, for every US trooper killed, 50 Filipinos were in turn killed. However, a US general estimated the Filipino death casualty to as high as 600,000 or one-sixth of the total population in Luzon alone.

The Americans also practiced genocide of monstrous proportions. They committed various forms of atrocities such as the massacres of captured troops and innocent civilians; pillage on women, homes and property; and ruthless employment of torture, such as dismemberment, the water cure, and the rope torture. Strategic hamletting or forced evacuation into concentration camps was also resorted to in order to put civilians at bay, reminiscent of the Vietnam War.

The total cost in human lives during the American occupation of the country was horrific. It is believed that more Filipinos were killed by US forces during its occupation than by Spanish in more than 300 years of colonization in the country.

So, if the Americans complain of human rights violation by killing not more than 2,000 drug addicts and pushers out of the 3 million drug dependents in the country, a mere drop in the bucket,   they better review history and see for themselves the monstrosity of their violation of human rights in the Philippines.

Rene F. Antiga

Banilad, Mandaue City