Miguel Malvar
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Miguel Malvar y Carpio was a leader in the Philippine Revolution (1896—1898).
He was born on September 27, 1865 in Santo Tomas, Batangas. His father Maximo Malvar, was a wealthy sugarcane and rice farmer, and his success enabled Miguel and his brothers and sisters, to acquire an education.
With his education he prospered in oranges on land he had worked hard for. He also married and had children.
By the mid 1890s, the Philippine Revolution had broken out, and Malvar found himself leading an army he personally put together, with the leader of the revolution Emilio Aguinaldo. But faced with superior fire power, the Katipunan Revolutionaries found themselves losing most of the battles, and were forced into Biak-na-Bato. Here they signed the Pact of Biak-na-Bato, where the Filipino leaders agreed to cease revolutionary actions, in exchange for 20 million pesos, and exile to Hong Kong in 1897.
But soon, the Spanish-American War broke out in 1898, and Admiral Dewey requested the aid of Aguinaldo and his revolutionaries to help in the Philippine Campaign, and soon the Revolution had started all over again.
Then, with his Batangas Brigade, Malvar successfully liberated Tayabas from the Spaniards on June 15, 1898 after a two month battle, and soon the Spaniards were defeated and cornered in Manila.
But the success against the Spaniards was brief, for the Philippine-American War had broken out on February 4, 1899, and Malvar was soon fighting a new enemy.
Fighting the Americans, Malvar and his troops had very few instances of success, and they were soon dissolved (like the rest of the Philippine Army) into guerrilla units. This change in tactics was not as successful as it had been against the Spaniards, and Aguinaldo was soon captured, which led to all the revolutionary forces to be under Malvar's control. With this new authority, Malvar launched an all-out offensive against American-held towns, that stood to testify that the war was far from over.
But this success was also short-lived. For a new General, J. Franklin Bell, had taken over the operations of Batangas and practiced scorched earth tactics that took a heavy toll on both guerrilla fighters and civilians alike. Malvar saw that continuing the war would just harm his people more, and, on April 13, 1902, he and his entire command surrendered to the Americans, where he was treated honorably. After his surrender, the battle for Batangas was over.
Afterwards, he lived a quiet and comfortable life, and prospered the land he fought so hard for. He died in October 1911, the last Philippine General to surrender to the American forces.
[edit] References
- Zaide, Gregorio F. (1984). Philippine History and Government. National Bookstore Printing Press.
