Filipino American History Month 2025: The US's first war in Asia -- The Philippine-American War

After defeating the Spanish, Filipinos, led by Emilio Aguinaldo, right, had to fight the Americans.

Until relatively recently, US history books referred to the Philippine American War as the Philippine Insurrection if it was mentioned at all

By the United States Office of the Historian

After its defeat in the Spanish-American War of 1898, Spain ceded its longstanding colony of the Philippines to the United States in the Treaty of Paris. On February 4, 1899, just two days before the US Senate ratified the treaty, fighting broke out between American forces and Filipino nationalists led by Emilio Aguinaldo who sought independence rather than a change in colonial rulers. 

The ensuing Philippine-American War lasted three years and resulted in the death of over 4,200 American and over 20,000 Filipino combatants. As many as 200,000 Filipino civilians died from violence, famine, and disease.

The decision by US policymakers to annex the Philippines was not without domestic controversy. Americans who advocated annexation evinced a variety of motivations: desire for commercial opportunities in Asia, concern that the Filipinos were incapable of self-rule, and fear that if the United States did not take control of the islands, another power (such as Germany or Japan) might do so. 

FYI:  The Office of the Historian is staffed by professional historians who are experts in the history of U.S. foreign policy and the institutional history of the Department of State. Our historians possess unparalleled research experience in State Department and other government records. The Office is directed by The Historian of the U.S. Department of State.

Meanwhile, American opposition to US colonial rule of the Philippines came in many forms, ranging from those who thought it morally wrong for the United States to be engaged in colonialism, to those who feared that annexation might eventually permit the non-white Filipinos to have a role in American national government. Others were wholly unconcerned about the moral or racial implications of imperialism and sought only to oppose the policies of President William McKinley’s administration.

RELATED: Spain surrenders to the US; the betrayal of 1898

After the Spanish-American War, while the American public and politicians debated the annexation question, Filipino revolutionaries under Aguinaldo seized control of most of the Philippines’ main island of Luzon and proclaimed the establishment of the independent Philippine Republic. When it became clear that US forces were intent on imposing American colonial control over the islands, the early clashes between the two sides in 1899 swelled into an all-out war. Americans tended to refer to the ensuing conflict as an “insurrection” rather than acknowledge the Filipinos’ contention that they were fighting to ward off a foreign invader.

The war was brutal on both sides. U.S. forces at times burned villages, implemented civilian reconcentration policies, and employed torture on suspected guerrillas, while Filipino fighters also tortured captured soldiers and terrorized civilians who cooperated with American forces. Many civilians died during the conflict as a result of the fighting, cholera and malaria epidemics, and food shortages caused by several agricultural catastrophes.

US soldiers stand over the bodies of Filipinos after a battle in the Philippine American War.

Even as the fighting went on, the colonial government that the United States established in the Philippines in 1900 under future President William Howard Taft launched a pacification campaign that became known as the “policy of attraction.” Designed to win over key elites and other Filipinos who did not embrace Aguinaldo’s plans for the Philippines, this policy permitted a significant degree of self-government, introduced social reforms, and implemented plans for economic development. Over time, this program gained important Filipino adherents and undermined the revolutionaries’ popular appeal, which significantly aided the United States’ military effort to win the war.

FYI: Leaern more about Filipino Americans, their history, the heroes and accomplishments and how they fought for dignity, equality and justice.

In 1907, the Philippines convened its first elected assembly, and in 1916, the Jones Act promised the nation eventual independence. The archipelago became an autonomous commonwealth in 1935, and the U.S. granted independence in 1946.

EDITOR'S NOTE: For additional commentary, news, views and chismis from an AANHPI perspective, follow me on Threads, on X, BlueSky or at the blog Views From the Edge. 

• 
  

After 117 years, the Bells of Balangiga returning to the Philippines

U.S. STATE DEPARTMENT

Workmen packed the church bells of Balangiaga in Wyomoing last Nov. 11.

THE BELLS OF BALANGIGA will be returning to the Philippines on Dec. 15.

"Your bells of Balangiga are coming back home. They are scheduled to arrive on December 15 to a simple ceremony at Villamor Airbase in the morning," Philippines Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana said in Ormoc City, Leyte. last week.

For more than a century, the “Bells of Balangiga” have hung at F.E. Warren Air Force Base in Wyoming after being siezed as war trophies by American soldiers of the Philippine-American War in 1901 after 48 American soldiers were killed by Filipino freedom fighters in Balangiga, Eastern Samar. Historians believe one of the bells gave the signal to begin the attack by bolo-wielding  Filipinos. It was the worst defeat of U.S. forces in the war.

In response, U.S. Brig. Gen. (Howling) Jacob H. Smith ordered that Balangiga and Samar be turned into a "howling wilderness" and allegedly said that any Filipino male above 10 years of age capable of bearing arms should be shot. The result was a 6-month long campaign resulting in the massacre of thousands of men, women and children.
The three church bells were seized as war booty. Two of the bells were brought to the U.S. and housed at Warren Air Force Base in Wyoming.  The third bell was transported to a U.S. military museum in South Korea. 

The bells have been a bone of contention between the U.S. and Philippines for decades. President Rodrigo Duterte revived the request. He said he would not visit the U.S. until the bells were returned.

 “Those bells are reminders of the gallantry and heroism of our forebears who resisted the American colonizers and sacrificed their lives in the process,” Duterte said last year.

“Give us back those Balangiga bells,” he added. “They are ours. They belong to the Philippines. They are part of our national heritage. Give them back. It’s painful for us.”

Defense Secretary James Mattis promised that he would deliver the bells. He told the U.S. Congress that it was a matter of national security to return the bells.

Wyoming leaders and veterans groups fought against the bells' return to the Philippines but two major veterans groups -- The Veterans of Foreign Wars and the Ameriican Legion -- threw their support for the bells' return. They lobbied for a bill that would fund the restoration and return of the bells to the Philippine church where they were originally housed.

A structure has been built outside of the church in Balangiga where the bells will be on display telling the story of the Filipinos defending their country from invaders.

___________________________________________________________________________

FilAm History: SF monument to tell truth about start of Philippine American War

WIKIMEDIA COMMONS

The Dewey Monument in San Francisco's Union Square will be corrected to reflect the true history of the historic battle that ended one war  and launched another.

FOR A LONG TIME, the monument to Commodore George Perry and the Battle of Manila Bay has been a sore point with the Filipino American community. It was like a slap in the face.
Placed in Union Square, it is also the place where the Filipino American community stages one of its largest celebrations of June 12, Philippine Independence Day, the presence of the Nike the Goddess of Victory atop the tall column added insult to injury even though most attendees never took the time to read the four panel inscription at the monument's base.

Seen as a military victory for the United States, Dewey's defeat of the Spanish Armada and the end of the Spanish American War was also the start of the Philippine American War, but there was no mention of the role of the Philippines independence movement, the betrayal of the American allies and the resultant war that took hundreds of thousands lives of combatants and civilians.

Earlier in October, the Visual Arts Committee of the San Francisco Arts Commission endorsed the idea to tell "the rest of the story."

“First Philippine President General Emilio Aguinaldo made sure that we are already independent even before the Americans came to our country after he followed international protocol in declaring Philippine independence. So we were already independent by the time Commodore Dewey defeated the Spanish fleet and not be granted independence by the Americans,” explained Rudy Asercion, one of most persistent advocates for the historical correction. 

“Some people celebrate the Filipino American History Month but we are part of making history today with this unanimous approval. It was a big help that the Filipino community, not just by one person or one organization but the whole community, showed and up and spoke in behalf and in favor of the plaque,” Asercion beamed. “Basically we are doing this thing for our children so that they know that rich history of the Filipinos with regards to the Filipino American war.”

The full SFAC will formally confirm the visual arts committee recommendation of the proposed on the Dewey monument inscription, including the text and historical accuracy of what is written there, in their November 5 meeting. It is hoped that the new inscriiption will be formally dedicated in time for Filipino American History Month in October of 2019.

“This is obviously a great step in Filipino American History Month. The intergenerational collaboration you really paved the way for young people to really step up,” said National Federation of Filipino American Association executive director Jason Tengco.

“How many of us have gone to Union Square, seen this monument not knowing what it means or what it stands for but again you have paved the way for us and to so many future generations to learn what it is," said Tengco.

The current inscriiption reads:

Ironically, work on the monument began in 1901 and it was dedicated in 1903 while the Philippine American War was still taking place.

Robert Ingersoll Aitken was hired to sculpt a 9-foot (2.7 m) statue representing Nike, the ancient Greek Goddess of Victory in honor of President William McKinley and Dewey. The statue holds a trident that represents Dewey and a wreath that represents McKinley.

Architect Newton Tharp designed the base and column within a budget of $45,000. The column, over 5 ft (1.5 m) in diameter and over 85 ft (25.9 m) in height, was assembled from individual blocks weighing 40,000 lb (18,144 kg). 

The proposed new inscription reads:

The Battle of Manila Bay and the Philippine American War

The people of the Philippines struggled against Spanish colonial rule for over 300 years. At the outbreak of the Spanish American War, Filipinos joined with American forces and rejoiced in Commodore George Dewey’s decisive defeat of the archipelago’s Spanish fleet in May 1, 1898 Battle of Manila Bay.

Within a month of that naval victory, the Philippines declared its freedom from Spain, marking June 12, 1898 as Philippine Independence Day. Filipinos took the historic occasion to declare their national sovereignty and to establish the first republic of record in Southeast Asia.

The Spanish American War ended with the Treat of Paris in December, 1898. However, the United States’ continued military presence in the Philippines led to the conflict later known as the Philippine American War. In that dark period, 4,400 American soldiers died, together with 20,000 Filipino combatants. Civilian lives lost numbered in the hundreds of thousands. The Philippines remained a colony of the United States from 1899 to 1935, and granted commonwealth status thereafter.

The crucible of World War II bonded together the United States and the Philippines as never before against a common enemy. The extraordinary sacrifice and heroism of Filipinos in that struggle for freedom led to the United States’ acknowledgement of Philippine Independence on July 4, 1946.

_______________________________________________________________________________ 

Filipino American History Month Theme: War in 1898 and Student Strike in 1968

2018 MARKS the anniversary of three important chapters in American history that are often neglected  or skipped over in U.S. history classes.

It is the 120th anniversaries of the declaration of Philippine independence and establishment of the First Philippine Republic and the advent of the Spanish American War. It is also the 50th anniversary of the birth of the Asian American student movement in which Filipinos played a crucial role in bridging the civil rights struggles of black and Latino students with that of Asian students and the creation of Ethnic Studies as a legitimate field of study.

These three anniversaries form the "Turning Points" theme adopted by the Filipino American National Historical Society for observing the 2018 Filipino American History Month. These three historical events changed forever the lives of Filipinos and Filipino Americans. These events were turning points in Filipina/o/x American history. 

FANHS encourages particular attention to the following events, which have both shaped the Filipina/o/x American experience. FANHS also reminds everyone that the month is HISTORY month, not “Heritage” month. “History” encompasses the experiences and events that have shaped our lives, as well as culture and heritage.

In 2018, we will celebrate the 120th Anniversary of the declaration of Philippine independence from Spain in 1898 and mark (not celebrate) the 120th Anniversary of the Spanish-American War. Spain and the U.S. engaged in a brief war in May, 1898 when it was believed that a U.S. ship, The USS Maine, was bombed by the Spanish in Havana Harbor. 

Meanwhile, Emilio Aguinaldo, leader of the Philippine Revolutionary forces, declared independence from Spain on June 12, 1898 and proceeded to establish the First Philippine Republic. Despite this, in the Treaty of Paris, signed on December 10, 1898, Spain sold its remaining colonies – the Philippines, Puerto Rico, Guam – to the United States for $20 Million, marking the end of the once-sprawling Spanish Empire and the beginning of the American Empire. 

The treaty marks the beginning of US colonial control and an American military presence in the Philippines that lasted formally until 1946 and continues to this day. A brutal Philippine-American War followed from 1899-1913, in which the Philippine Republic battled US forces for control of the archipelago. One million Filipinas/os died in the Philippine-American War. 

Filipinos were classified as “nationals” and their entry was not restricted. This was the catalyst for the 20th century migration of millions of Filipinas/os across the American empire to Hawai’i, Guam, and the US mainland.

2018 marks the 50th Anniversary of the establishment of Ethnic Studies at San Francisco State University, and at UC Berkeley and UC Davis, the result of student protests in which Filipino Americans played a significant role. 

At San Francisco State University, the Pilipino American Collegiate Endeavor (PACE), joined with the Black Student Union, Latin American Student Organization, La Raza, Asian American Political Alliance, Pilipino American Collegiate Endeavor, and Native American Students Union at San Francisco State University to form the Third World Liberation Front (TWLF). 

Students’ experiences were shaped by the civil rights, anti-war, and feminist movements. The student strike the TWLF organized that began on November 6, 1968 and ended in March, 1969, was the longest student strike in American history. Students demanded open admissions of students of color and a relevant, student-centered and community-based curriculum which challenged the Eurocentric curriculum which reflected Western values and canons. 

At San Francisco State, these efforts resulted in the establishment of the nation’s first College of Ethnic Studies and the first Filipino American Studies courses. Parallel efforts at UC Berkeley and UC Davis resulted.

in the establishment of ethnic studies at those campuses. Ethnic Studies classes and programs now proliferate across the nation. The now-thriving discipline of Filipina/o/x American Studies was borne from the struggle for Ethnic Studies.

October was chosen as the month to celebrate Filipino American history. It was Oct. 15, 1587, when "Luzones Indios" stepped on the shores of North Amerca. They came as part of the crew of the Spanish Galleon, Nuestra Señora de Esperanza and landed at what is now Morro Bay, California. 

In 2009, U.S. Congress recognized October as Filipino American History Month in the United States. Various states, counties and cities in the U.S. have have established proclamations and resolutions declaring observance of Filipino American History Month. The late Dr. Fred Cordova, along with his wife, FANHS Founder Dr. Dorothy Laigo Cordova, first introduced October as Filipino American History Month in 1992 with a resolution from the FANHS National Board of Trustees.
________________________________________________________________________________