Apiado Christian Ivan P.

W06

09/12/15

The balangiga massare

he brutality of the war was best exemplified by the Balangiga Massacre. In August 1901,
Balangiga was a small seaside village of 200 nipa houses in Samar, Visayas. The US
Army 9th Infantry Regiment of the U.S. army was sent to the town to establish a
garrison and assist in the pacification of the Visayan Islands. Upon arrival, the American
soldierrs took over the affairs of the town and forcibly occupied some of the local huts.
All male residents, eighteen years and above, were ordered to leave their families to
clear the surrounding forests that were suspected to be the refuge of guerrillas. At night,
these men were hauled into open wooden pens unsuitable for lodging. To aggravate
matters, an American even raped a village lass.
Finally, on September 28, 1901, while all 74 American soldiers were eating their
breakfast, they were suddenly attacked by the townsfolk, resulting in 54 deaths and 18
wounded. So grisly were the deaths that it was prominently played up in the news.
Survivors recounted how the night before there was a procession of women followed by
baby coffins. The women turned out to be men and the coffins contained rifles. At 6:30
a.m., the bells of Balangiga were rung, signaling the attack of 400 men led by the
highest town official.
The deaths of the Americans resulted in a punitive expedition and a reign of terror.
General Jake Smith ordered the American soldiers to "kill and burn", to shoot down
anybody capable of carrying arms including boys over ten years old." When the smoke
had cleared, Samar had been turned into a "howling wilderness." The American forces
completed the pillaged by taking the two Balangiga church bells and a rare 1557
cannon as war booty and shipping them to Wyoming. Almost a hundred years after the
Balangiga incident, the current Philippine government is making representations to
retrieve these national treasures.