Why the American invasion

A. Paulita Roa .

THE book titled “A War of Frontier and Empire” by David J. Silbey (2007) contains many interesting facts about the 1899 – 1902 Philippine  American war that are not found in other books that are written about that historic period. Silbey wrote that of particular interest to the administration of US President William McKinely were the southern provinces of Luzon, Samar and Leyte islands and the northern provinces of Mindanao. On these places grew the best hemp (abaca) in the world critical for rope making. That it was raised by peasant farmers, sold to merchants and shipped out of the port towns of each of these provinces to – among other places – the West Coast of the United States.

Rope was a critical component of the US agricultural industry and the administration, especially since the presidential elections were forthcoming, the government listened to the complaints of the ropemakers. Those rope makers spoke of a “hemp panic” if ports are not opened and traade reestablished because of the war in the Philippines. Then Secretary of War, Elihu Root’s home state New York, had the majority number of businessmen dealing with ropemaking. Root paid attention to their concerns and passed them on the Gen. Elwell Otis, a high ranking American military official assigned in the Philippines. Otis listened to Root, and on Jan. 18, 1900, he sent an amphibious expedition to capture the hemp provinces. Scrounging together some troop transports, Otis loaded up the  Forty-Third and Forty-Seventh Infantries under Brig. Gen. William A. Kobbe. The expediiton first reached Sorsogon at the end of the Bicol Peninsula of Luzon and occupied it without extensive fighting. By the end of February, Kobbe and his men occupied most of the important ports of Leyte and Samar (Silbey  2007).

Research shows that in the 1879 annual report of the Recollect missionaries, it mentioned that in Cagayan de Misamis, there was brisk trading of abaca and palay. And in Camiguin island, fortunes were made by raising abaca – proof of that are those big ancestral houses that we see around the island today. So the Americans came to northern Mindanao for economic reasons – the much coveted hemp or abaca –  using their military might.

Historian Filomeno Bautista wrote that on March 30, 1900, the Kagay-anons were startled to hear the boom of the canon fired from Buntola hill in Macasandig. Then they knew that the Americans have arrived. Some of the revolutionary forces rushed to the defenses in Macabalan wharf while Manuel Corrales, the counselor for peace and order, went to the dock and found an American cruiser at anchor. He met the commander and asked if he would like to see the provincial authorities, but the answer was no. Corrales was informed that the American ships and forces were coming to take possession of the town immediately. He left the boat right away and upon learning that enemy battleships were unloading their forces at the mouth of Cagayan river, he immediately ordered the evacuation of the trenches and to proceed to Cogon (near the cemetery) to wait for further orders.

The Americans knew the plan of the defenses and of the strength of the rebels. This information came from their spies and a a local resident, a Spaniard named Gaspar Cruz. The troops landed at the mouth of Cagayan River, at Telegrafo and the rest boarded the launches passing the Cagayan River under the guidance of Cruz. Those who marched down Calle del Mar (now Apolinar Velez St.) were so great a number and well armed and when they reached the town proper, there American soldiers were posted on every corner of the streets in town Gen. Bates and other officers went directly to Casa Real (the present site of the City Hall complex) where they relieved the provincial president Jose Roa y Casas and other officials of their duties.

However, municipal president Toribio Chaves and the captain of the local police, Cipriano Vamenta were told to continue their official duties until further advice. The Americans also went to the provincial jail and to the barracks of the tiradores, the former Chauco building and relieved the guards of their responsibilities and stationed American guards instead. The occupation of Cagayan de Misamis was done peacefully. Meanwhile, a great number of men and women went up to Gango Plateau where they formed the Liber Troop or the Liberation Army under the leadership of a young lawyer, Nicolas Capistrano.

We all know that a year later, the resistance war against the Americans ended in Misamis Province and the Kagay-anons were then under a new colonial master. Then the Americans went on to control much of our country’s economy even after we were given our independence in 1946. Famous American author, Mark Twain who belonged to an anti-imperialist group in the United States, was very much against the annexation of the Philippines, Puerto Rico and other countries. And he wrote that “God created war so that the Americans will know geography.” For a strong American military presence has been seen around the globe since the late 1890s until today and its always advantageous for the American economy.