The Philippines: Past and Present (Volume 2 of 2)
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Title: The Philippines: Past and Present (Volume 2 of 2)
Author: Dean C. Worcester
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*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE PHILIPPINES: PAST AND PRESENT (VOLUME 2 OF 2) ***
THE PHILIPPINES PAST AND PRESENT
By
DEAN C. WORCESTER
Secretary of the Interior of the Philippine Islands 1901-1913;
Member of the Philippine Commission, 1900-1913
Author of "The Philippine Islands and Their People"
In Two Volumes -- With 128 Plates
Volume II
New York
The Macmillan Company
1914
CONTENTS
VOL. II
CHAPTER PAGE
XIX. Education 501
XX. The Exploration of Non-Christian Territory 532
XXI. The Government of Non-Christian Tribes 559
XXII. The Government of Non-Christian Tribes (Continued) 591
XXIII. Corrigenda 637
XXIV. Non-Christian Tribe Problems 660
XXV. Slavery and Peonage 676
XXVI. Murder as a Governmental Agency 730
XXVII. The Philippine Legislature 768
XXVIII. The Picturesque Philippines 792
XXIX. Rod, Shotgun and Rifle 806
XXX. Philippine Lands 829
XXXI. Philippine Forests 846
XXXII. Improved Means of Communication 861
XXXIII. Commercial Possibilities of the Philippines 884
XXXIV. Peace and Prosperity 911
XXXV. Some Results of American Rule 921
XXXVI. Is Philippine Independence now Possible? 933
XXXVII. What Then? 961
APPENDIX
Instructions to the First Philippine Commission 975
Proclamation of the First Philippine Commission 977
Instructions to the Second Philippine Commission 980
Past and Present Organization of the Courts of the Philippine
Islands 988
Present accepted Estimate of the Non-Christian Population of
the Philippines 999
INDEX 1005
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
VOL. II
The Metamorphosis of a Bontoc Igorot Frontispiece
Facing Page
Head-hunters' Weapons 508
The Three Leading Men in the Funeral Procession of an Ifugao
who has lost his Head to the Enemy 516
The Sacred Tree of the Ifugaos 524
Entrance to the Quiangan Schoolhouse 534
An Ifugao School 540
The Sub-provincial Building at Quiangan 546
Ifugao Constabulary Soldiers 554
Bontoc Igorot Head-hunters 562
Bontoc Igorot Women in Banana-leaf Costume 570
A Bontoc Igorot Tug-of-war 578
Bontoc Igorot Boys learning to make Furniture 586
A Conference with Ifugao Chiefs 594
Finished Trail built by Ifugaos 602
Difficult Bit of Rock Work on the Mountain Trail in Benguet 610
A Flying Ferry in Operation 618
A Wild Tingian of Apayao 626
Tingian Girls threshing Rice 634
Typical Manobos 640
An Old Bukidnon Chief 650
Typical Street in a Filipino Town 656
A Typical Bukidnon Village Street 656
A Typical Improved Bukidnon House 664
A Typical Neglected Filipino House 664
Making Friends with the Mandayas 670
A Mandayan Boy 678
A Group of Bagobos 686
Moro Boats coming out to meet the Philippine Commission at
Jolo 692
Among the Moros 700
A Moro Chief with his Wives and Daughter 706
Lieutenant-Governor Manuel Fortich of Bukidnon 708
Governor Frederick Johnson of Agusan 714
A Typical Peon 722
The Penalty for Loyalty to the United States 728
The Philippine Assembly in Session 738
Señor Sergio Osmeña, Speaker of the Philippine Assembly 742
The Manila Hotel 750
Mayon Volcano 756
The Crater of Taal Volcano 764
A Bit of the Pagsanjan Gorge 772
A Giant Tree Fern 780
Scene on a Bird Island 788
A Day's Catch 796
After the Hunt 804
Typical Scene at the Edge of a Hardwood Forest 812
A Typical Forest Scene 820
Old-style Road across Lowlands 826
New-style Road across Lowlands 826
Typical Old-style Country Road 836
Typical New-style Country Road 836
A Canga, or Carabao Sledge 844
A New-style Cart, with Broad-tired Wheels, which does not
injure the Roads 844
Road Destroyers at Work 852
An Old-style Culvert 858
The Old Way of Crossing a River 868
The New Way of Crossing a River 868
A Typical Old-style Bridge 878
A Typical Reënforced Concrete Bridge 878
A Collapsible Bridge 886
Map: Manila, the Future Distributing Centre for the Far East 888
Preparing Rice Land for Planting 892
Planting Rice 892
A Three-year-old Coffee Bush 902
A Ceara Rubber Tree 906
A Typical Cocoanut Grove 918
A Typical Filipino Town 922
A Typical Group of Filipinos 930
A Typical Spanish Mestiza 938
A Strange Couple 946
A Member of the Cabaruan Trinity 946
A Typical Old-style Provincial Government Building 962
A Modern Provincial Government Building 962
A Refuge from the Moros 968
A Possible Office-holder 972
THE PHILIPPINES PAST AND PRESENT
CHAPTER XIX
EDUCATION
No work accomplished since the American occupation is of more
fundamental and far-reaching importance than that of the Bureau of
Education. In order to appreciate it one must gain some familiarity
with the conditions which prevailed in Spanish times.
The first evidence of the Spanish governmental attitude toward
education in the Philippines is found in a royal edict of March 21,
1634, [1] in which Felipe IV orders all archbishops and bishops to
take steps for the education of the Filipinos in the Spanish language
and in Christian doctrine.
That this decree was more honoured in the breach than in the
observance is evident from another royal decree of June 20, 1686,
[2] in which the king reminds civil and religious authorities that
the non-observance of the decree of 1634 will be charged against them.
Neither of these documents provided for financing the scheme of
education ordained, but a decree of December 22, 1792, [3] did make
financial provision for the establishment of Spanish schools for
natives. The salaries of teachers were to be paid from the royal
treasury, and deficits were to be made up from the communal properties
and treasuries.
Although this was the first practical attempt to introduce general
native education, there are evidences that individual opportunities
were offered to, and embraced by, Filipinos. It is probable, too,
that in certain localities the most generous of the Spaniards opened
private schools.
The College of San José was founded in 1601, the University of Santo
Tomás in 1619. Neither made provision for educating natives. They were
established for the children of Spaniards only, although both later
admitted Filipinos. But in the rules for the short-lived college of San
Felipe (1641-1645), [4] Corcuera lays down the following: "The college
servants shall be of influential Pampango families, and they shall be
taught to read and write in the Spanish language, and shall be given
clerkships if they show aptitude therefor." We learn that when the
charity school of San Juan de Letran passed under the control of the
Dominicans in 1640, native boys were admitted, on payment of fees,
to share the advantages offered charitably to Spanish orphans. [5]
Primary education for Filipinos secured no real foothold until
1863. [6] In that year, by royal decree, a school system originally
planned for Cuba was extended to the Philippines. It made provision
for the beginnings of primary instruction in all municipalities of the
islands. A summary [7] called forth by a circular of March 1, 1866,
gives information with regard to the progress actually made. This
summary fixes the number of towns at nine hundred, the number of
children attending school at one hundred thirty-five thousand boys
and twelve thousand two hundred sixty girls, and the number of schools
at sixteen hundred seventy-four, but it gives the number of buildings
actually in use for schools as only six hundred forty-one. Instruction
in Spanish was not always, or even generally, given.
In 1863 provision was also made for the establishment of a normal
school at Manila. In 1893, [8] forty years later, the actual
appropriation for the Normal School was $5525. Fourteen years after
the American occupation, the appropriation for the Normal School
was $56,476.42, in addition to $224,500 spent for new buildings and
furniture. [9]
In 1892 there were two thousand one hundred seventy-three schools. The
attendance of these schools was small and irregular. In 1896, at the
outbreak of the insurrection, the Spanish had in operation a public
school system which could call upon the Normal School for teachers
and also upon such graduates of private schools as cared to undertake
the work. Naturally the latter were few. Between 1863 and 1893,
the Normal School had enrolled two thousand and one students.
This may be contrasted with the number of schools which, under the
present régime, prepare the pupils for teaching, as well as for other
occupations. Including the students of the Philippine Normal School,
the Philippine School of Arts and Trades, the Provincial High and
Intermediate Schools, nearly thirty-seven thousand pupils are now
following studies which fit them more or less to undertake the work
of giving instruction to others.
In addition to the Normal School, the Spanish established a
Nautical School in 1820, a School of Commercial Accounting and of
the French and English Languages in 1839, and an Academy of Drawing
and Painting. Their final system of public instruction was not badly
planned, but it was never actually put into full operation.
From the beginning of the insurrection against Spain in 1896 until
the beginning of the insurrection against the United States in 1899,
most of the public schools were closed. The schoolhouses were used
for barracks, prisons, or hospitals. No attempt was made to keep them
in repair, and what scanty equipment they had once possessed was for
the most part destroyed or stolen.
Between 1899 and 1901, many of these buildings were repaired in towns
which were occupied by American soldiers, and the beginnings of a
public school system were made by our victorious army. Wherever our
flag was raised a public school was soon established, soldiers often
serving as teachers, and the moral effect of this upon the Filipinos
was very great.
The city of Manila was naturally the first place to receive
attention. Three weeks after our army entered it on August 13,
1898, seven schools were opened under the supervision of Father
W. D. McKinnon, chaplain of the first California Regiment. In June,
1899, Lieutenant George P. Anderson was detailed as city superintendent
of schools for Manila, and during the following school year he
had an average of forty-five hundred pupils enrolled in the primary
schools. Captain Albert Todd was detailed to act as superintendent of
schools for the islands, but on May 5, 1900, in anticipation of the
transfer of the islands from military to civil government, he gave
way to Dr. Fred W. Atkinson, who had been chosen by the Philippine
Commission as superintendent of public instruction. This title was
changed later to that of director of education.
On January 21, 1901, the commission passed Act 74, the basis of
the present school law. It provided for the appointment of one
thousand American teachers to begin the work of establishing a school
system carried on in English. Appointments were made as rapidly as
possible. By the end of the year, seven hundred sixty-five American
teachers were at work.
When provision was made for the appointment of this large number of
Americans, it was with the idea that they should act as teachers of
English in schools over which there should be Filipino principals,
but there was, at that time, no body of Filipino teachers properly
prepared to carry on school work, and by force of circumstances,
this plan was soon altered.
Ten school divisions were established, covering the archipelago. Each
was presided over by a division superintendent of schools. The teachers
were theoretically subject to his control, but the divisions were
so large that it was impossible for him to exercise control very
effectively. It is perhaps well that many of the teachers were left
free to employ their own ingenuity in meeting local conditions.
The school system finally established represents a composite of the
recommendations of hundreds of teachers scattered throughout the
archipelago, and these recommendations were based on hard-earned
experience.
One of the first duties of teachers was to begin the training of
Filipino assistants. This took form in the organization of so-called
aspirante classes, into which the best of the Filipino youth who were
old enough to teach, and who had already received some education, were
gathered. These aspirante classes were often held side by side with
classes in the primary schools first established by American teachers,
and by the beginning of the year 1902 some of the brightest pupils were
able to assist in primary school work. These classes made possible
the establishment of organized primary schools under the control of
American teachers with Filipino teachers in the lower grades. Their
graduates formed the nuclei of the first secondary schools, which
were established in 1903.
The difficulties which teachers had to overcome at the outset were
numerous. In some of the older and richer towns there were stone or
brick schoolhouses more or less fit for occupation. In such cases a
small number of old wooden benches and a few square feet of blackboard
were usually available. Sometimes there were books provided by the
army: Baldwin's readers in English or in rudely translated vernacular;
Frye's geographies translated into Spanish; and possibly Spanish
editions of the history of the United States. This stock was greatly
improved during the latter half of 1902, and teachers were furnished
books and supplies as rapidly as transportation facilities permitted.
In 1901 the number of school divisions was increased to eighteen, and
in 1902 to thirty-six, making the school divisions identical with the
thirty-six then existing political subdivisions of the islands. The
organization of the public school system gradually crystallized and
assumed something of the form which it has to-day. Barrio [10] schools
were opened, and the work of American teachers who were detailed to
supervise them was thus greatly increased.
The school system took permanent shape in 1903 and 1904. As it
now stands it is controlled by the director of education, who
is responsible for its conduct. Serving with him, and subject
to his control, are an assistant director and a second assistant
director. The directors have immediate charge of the general office,
which has the following divisions: records, accounting, buildings,
property, academic, industrial and publications. Each has a chief
who is directly responsible for its work.
The islands are now divided into thirty-four school divisions,
corresponding, except in two cases, to provinces. Each has its
superintendent of schools.
The divisions are subdivided into districts, over each of which
there is a supervising teacher who is responsible for the conduct of
its work. Certain of the intermediate schools are under supervising
teachers, while others are directly under division superintendents.
The school system to-day extends to the remotest barrios. It is
organized and equipped for effective work, and ready to carry out
promptly and effectively the policies determined upon by the central
office.
In each province there is a central provincial school offering
intermediate and secondary courses. Only twelve of them now give a
full four-year course. Others offer three years, two years or one
year of secondary work. There is also a manual training department
attached to the provincial school, or a trade school. So much for
the provincial school system.
At Manila we have the Philippine Normal School, with an attendance of
six hundred sixty-nine, and the Philippine School of Arts and Trades,
with an attendance of six hundred forty-one. Also, there are the School
of Commerce and the School for the Deaf and Blind, both supported
directly from insular funds. The School of Household Industries
has recently been established for the training of adult women in
embroidery, lace-making and similar arts, so that they may return
to their provinces to establish little centres for the production of
articles of this nature. This is most important work. The Filipinos
are endowed with great patience, and with extraordinary delicacy of
touch and manual dexterity. If productive household industries based
on these valuable characteristics are generalized, the prosperity of
the common people will be very greatly increased.
Of the school system in general it can be said that Filipino teachers
have been gradually employed for the lower grades, and Americans have
thus been freed to take charge of the higher instruction. Primary
instruction is now in the hands of Filipinos, and intermediate
instruction is rapidly being turned over to them. In July, 1913, there
were about eighty-five hundred Filipino teachers, with an estimated
total enrolment of five hundred thirty thousand pupils. The total
enrolment in primary schools was approximately four hundred ninety
thousand, in intermediate schools thirty thousand nine hundred, and in
secondary schools six thousand. When we compare these figures with the
hundred and seventy-seven thousand reported by the Spanish government
in 1897, and when we consider the fact that attendance at that time
was extremely irregular, it is evident that noteworthy progress
has been made. Mere figures, however, come far short of telling the
whole story. There has been very great improvement in the quality of
the instruction given. In the old days children "studied out loud,"
and the resulting uproar was audible at quite a distance.
On their arrival in these islands, Americans found that the educated
Filipinos as a rule held honest manual labor in contempt, while many
of those who had managed to secure professional educations did not
practise their professions, but preferred to live a life of ease. There
were doctors who made no pretence of treating the sick, and lawyers
who had studied simply for the standing which the title would give
them. The Bureau of Education has brought about a profound change in
public sentiment; a change of basic importance to the country. It
was apparent at the outset that any educational system adhering
closely to academic studies would simply serve to perpetuate this
condition of affairs. Fortunately, those in charge of the situation
were untrammelled by tradition, and were free to build up a system
that would meet actual existing needs. The objection to manual labor
offered much difficulty, but it has been largely overcome. There was,
furthermore, a feeling against industrial work on the part of the
people in many regions, based on the idea that teachers meant to
supplement their salaries by the sale of the industrial products
of the schools. This prejudice, which seemed formidable at first,
disappeared when the bureau took up in earnest the introduction of
industrial education and vocational training.
Just as the academic organization grew out of local conditions, so did
industrial education accommodate itself to existing circumstances. In
the Spanish colegios, girls had been taught to do exquisite embroidery
and to make pillow lace. In various parts of the islands, hat weaving
was carried on by families or groups of families. The making of
petates, [11] of rough but durable market baskets and of sugar bags
constituted widespread local industries. American teachers were quick
to see how these vagrant arts could be organized and commercialized. An
intense rivalry sprang up between supervising teachers, and as a
result the arts of pillow lace-making, embroidery, Irish crochet,
hat weaving, basketry and macramé work have been introduced and
standardized throughout the primary and intermediate schools. The
excellence of the output is truly astonishing.
Courses in housekeeping and household arts also received early
attention. The social and economic conditions in the Philippines are
such that the so-called "domestic science" course of American schools
is quite inadequate to meet the needs of Filipina girls. Specialized
instruction in hygiene, in the care of the sick, in household
sanitation and in the feeding and care of infants is included in this
course of housekeeping and household arts, which was taken by fifteen
thousand two hundred twenty-seven girls during 1912-1913.
School gardening was introduced at an early date. This course now
includes the school garden, in which each pupil has his own individual
three and a fourth by thirteen foot plot, and home gardens which
are not less than four times the size of the school plot. By this
arrangement eighty per cent of the garden work is carried on at the
homes of the pupils or on vacant lots under the direct supervision
of teachers.
In the beginning much of the school agricultural work was not very
practical. Teachers who themselves knew nothing about agriculture
were wedded to the small "individual plot" idea, which I regret
to say still continues to prevail in some of the schools. On a bit
of ground about three feet by six the pupil might plant one tomato
plant, one camote vine, one grain of rice, two or three eggplants and
a flowering plant or two. This gave him helpful open-air exercise,
but taught him nothing about agriculture. Weeks after the school year
had opened I once visited a number of school gardens in Mindoro and
found that several of them consisted of rectangular plots marked off
on solid sod with shells picked up on the beach! On my return I told
the director of education that three active hens would have done far
more toward preparing soil for cultivating than had all the children
in these towns.
These conditions have changed rapidly since the adoption, three
years ago, of a definite policy of agricultural education consisting
of standard school and home gardens and farm schools for Filipinos;
and large communal tracts of land cultivated at the Settlement Farm
Schools for non-Christians.
Lieutenant-Governor Frederick Lewis of Bukidnon was as deeply disgusted
with the former play agriculture as was I. Exercising, I fear, rather
arbitrary authority over the local Filipino teachers, but with my
connivance, he persuaded them to turn their active, strong schoolboys
loose on large tracts of the beautiful prairie land found near almost
every school in the sub-province, and raise crops. As a result of this
experiment, first carried out at Tankulan, each boy took home a bushel
or two of unhulled rice. Parents were enthusiastic, and so were the
boys. From this small beginning came the so-called farm-settlement
schools, of which there are thirty-eight among the non-Christian
tribes. On large, well-fenced, carefully cultivated tracts of ground
the schoolboys grow camotes, upland rice, corn, bananas, cowpeas,
beans, pineapples, eggplants, arrowroot, and in some cases, cacao
and coffee. Instead of learning what individual plants will do when
grown quite by themselves under abnormal conditions, they learn to
produce real crops. They become interested in the introduction of
American sweet potatoes in place of the less nutritious camotes,
in the selection of seed corn, in the generalization of the better
varieties of bananas, and in other practical matters. Incidentally
they largely furnish the school food supply.
It is of course true that in many of the Filipino towns sufficiently
extensive tracts of land cannot be had near the schools to make such
a system possible, but, wherever it can be done, school children
should be taught how to raise crops on a commercial scale, instead
of spending their time on small individual plots of ground. Even the
latter procedure has good results. It teaches them not to be ashamed
to work. It also makes possible the introduction of home gardens,
and through this means brings the practical production of vegetables
into the home life of the people, with the result that unused yards
and vacant lots are put under cultivation.
The system of establishing home gardens is one which meets with my
unqualified approval. In 1911-1912 there were no less than twenty-two
thousand nine hundred fifty-eight of these. It is said to be true
that a large percentage of them soon pass into family care, and thus
not only help to educate parents, but become a permanent additional
source of food supply.
The schools have proved a useful medium through which to bring
about the introduction of new and valuable plants. There are many
school nurseries in which grow thousands of seedlings, and these are
distributed at opportune times.
Woodworking is one of the industrial branches which received first
attention. As previously stated, every one of the thirty-eight
provinces has either a trade school with first-class equipment, or a
manual training department attached to the provincial school. Eighteen
schools have already been established as regularly equipped trade
schools. The Philippine Normal School and the Philippine School of
Commerce offer special advantages to those studying for the profession
of teaching, or for a business career.
Previous to 1909, industrial instruction was only partially
organized. Experience had shown, by that time, that it was expedient
to introduce a degree of specialization into the courses of study
at an early stage of the child's development. Special intermediate
courses were therefore organized to meet this need. After finishing
the four-year primary course, the child may choose between a course in
teaching, a course in farming, a trade course, a course in housekeeping
and household arts and a general intermediate course. Relatively few
children are at present able to take up secondary courses, and it is
therefore necessary to provide in the lower grades for instruction
which will prepare them for some vocation. So important has become
this line of instruction that it has been found necessary to maintain,
in the general office, an industrial information department, under
a division chief, which employs a botanist, a designer, four native
craftsmen and a force of travelling supervisors who inspect trade
schools, machinery, school gardens, building sites and the general
industrial work done throughout the public school system. This
system of industrial instruction receives the fullest support from
the Filipino people.
The following quotation from the twelfth annual report of the director
of education serves to give some idea of the extent to which industrial
instruction has been developed in the Philippines:--
"As is at once evident, with requirements so definitely fixed for
industrial work in the schools, the great majority of the pupils
who are enrolled must be engaged in some branch of this work. An
examination of the figures included among the statistical tables
of this report will show that of the total enrolment of 235,740
boys and 138,842 girls during the month of February, 1912 (an
average month), 216,290 boys and 125,203 girls--91 per cent of
the entire monthly enrolment--were doing some form of industrial
work. More specifically, it will be found that 21,420 boys were
taking manual training and trade work; 96,167 boys were engaged
in school gardening and farming; 15,463 girls were also engaged in
garden work; and 68,194 girls were taking up various lines which go
under the general caption of minor industries.... Further in this
connection it will be found that in the subject of lace-making
alone 16,439 girls were receiving instruction; in embroidery,
12,339; and in cooking 4768. There were 22,965 boys and 7709 girls
making hats in the industrial classes, 40,264 pupils making mats,
and 104,424 studying the art of basketry.
"... 1309 pupils were enrolled in the regular trade school
classes; 924 in regular trade courses in other schools; and 7360
in the shops operated in connection with provincial and other
intermediate schools. In 401 school shops having an enrolment of
19,949 boys, articles to the value of P142,189.74 were fabricated
and from this product, sales to the amount of P131,418.13 were
made during the school year 1911-12. In addition to the above,
10,356 pupils were doing work in 236 primary woodworking shops
conducted in connection with municipal primary schools in all
parts of the Islands. The figures for trade and manual training
are taken from the March report."
This most important result is due in very large measure to the
determination of the Honourable Newton W. Gilbert, while secretary
of public instruction, to give a practical turn to the activities
of the Bureau of Education. I must confess that at first I was
profoundly dissatisfied with the work which this bureau was doing,
for the reason that, in my opinion, it tended to produce a horde of
graduates fitted to be clerks, in which event they would naturally
desire to feed at the public crib, or be likely to become abogadillos,
[12] who would be constantly stirring up trouble in their own towns,
in order to make business for themselves.
Much of the industrial work originally provided for was at the outset
carried out in a haphazard and half-hearted way. Under Mr. Gilbert's
administration it has been hammered into shape, and we now see in
prospect, and in actual realization, practical results of vital
importance to the country.
Personally, I feel especially indebted to Mr. Gilbert for his attitude
relative to school work among the non-Christian tribes. The children
of the hill people are naturally hard-working. In some places they
were being actually taught idleness in the schools, and in most
the education given them was of little practical value. I found
Igorot children in Lepanto studying geography. I asked a boy what
the world was, and was told that it was a little yellow thing about
the size of his hand! This was a fairly accurate description of
a map, the significance of which had utterly failed to penetrate
his understanding. Filipino teachers who were not considered fit
for appointments in the lowlands were being foisted off on to the
unfortunate hill people, as they were willing to accept very small
salaries in lieu of none at all. Prior to Mr. Gilbert's assumption of
office, my frequent complaints had produced no practical result. He
was kind enough to say to me at the outset that he would give very
serious consideration to my opinions in the matter of educational
work among the people of the non-Christian tribes. To-day industrial
work has taken its proper place in schools established for them, and
considerable numbers of them are being fitted for lives of usefulness,
although it is still true that school facilities among them are,
as a rule, grossly inadequate. In Ifugao, for instance, with at
least a hundred and twenty-five thousand inhabitants, there are but
two schools. In Kalinga, with some seventy-six thousand inhabitants,
the first school has just been opened. However, this condition will
doubtless be remedied in time.
The former tendency of Filipinos to prepare themselves for trades or
professions and then not follow them has been largely overcome. Most
of the students graduating from the Philippine Normal School take
up the profession of teaching, and practically all of the graduates
of the Philippine School of Arts and Trades are following the lines
of work which they have studied. And now I come to what I deem to be
one of the most important accomplishments of the Bureau of Education.
Before the American occupation of the Philippines the Filipinos
had not learned to play. There were no athletics worthy of the
name. Athletic sports had their beginnings in the games played
between soldiers. Gradually Filipinos became interested enough
to attend contests of this nature. Later, through the influence
of American teachers, they began to take part in them. As soon as
athletic sports reached a point where competition between towns and
provinces was possible, they aroused the greatest enthusiasm among
the people. To-day, the athletic policy of the Bureau of Education is
heartily approved by all classes. At first, highly specialized sports
were introduced, but the necessity for developing some form of group
athletics in which a large percentage of the pupils would take part
was soon made manifest. For the past few years this programme has
been pushed. Eighty per cent of the pupils now participate in some
form of athletics, and the number steadily increases.
The results are justifying the hope of the original promoters of this
athletic programme. The physical development of the participants
has been wonderful. The spirit of fair play and sportsmanship,
hitherto lacking, has sprung into being in every section of the
islands. Baseball not only strengthens the muscles of the players, it
sharpens their wits. Furthermore it empties the cock-pits to such an
extent that their beneficiaries have attempted to secure legislation
restricting the time during which it may be played. It has done more
toward abolishing cockfighting than have the laws of the commission and
the efforts of the Moral Progress League [13] combined. It is indeed
a startling sight to see two opposing teams of youthful savages in
Bukidnon or Bontoc "playing the game" with obvious full knowledge of
its refinements, while their ordinarily silent and reserved parents
"root" with unbridled enthusiasm!
Annual meets between athletic teams from various groups of provinces,
and a general interscholastic meet held each year at the Philippine
Carnival, offer advantages of travel to boys who have seldom if ever
left their homes, and promote a general understanding between the
various Filipino peoples. In the "Far Eastern Olympiad" held at Manila
in 1913, in which China, Japan and the Philippines participated, the
victorious teams representing the Philippines were largely composed
of schoolboys.
When the American school system was organized, it was found that
adequate accommodations for school children were almost entirely
lacking. In some of the towns there were long, low stone or brick
buildings, small and poorly lighted. They were usually located in the
larger centres of population, and had no grounds that could be used
for play or garden purposes. In most of the barrios, there were no
schoolhouses at all.
The American teachers at once set to work to put the old buildings
into decent condition. Some private houses were rented, and
others were donated, for school purposes. In a number of cases the
teachers attempted, as best they could, to construct buildings for
the thousands of pupils who wished to avail themselves of school
privileges. At that time the whole burden of such construction fell
upon the municipalities. The insular government had given them no
aid. Many mistakes were made during these early days, and many of the
buildings then erected have long since fallen into ruin. The experience
gained has demonstrated the folly of spending large sums of money on
anything but strong, permanent construction. It will be necessary,
for a long time, to depend to some extent upon temporary buildings;
and when these can be erected at low cost they are good provisional
expedients, but destructive storms and the ravages of wood-eating
insects quickly reduce them to ruins.
The demand upon local funds for the maintenance of schools was so
pressing, and these funds were so limited, that it was found impossible
to erect modern buildings without insular aid. When the necessity
for help was brought to the attention of the insular authorities, the
commission responded by enacting a bill which appropriated $175,000
from the congressional relief fund for the construction of school
buildings. Two years later $150,000 were appropriated and, in August,
1907, an additional $175,000 were voted for this purpose. A total
of $500,000 was thus made available by the Commission before the
Philippine assembly came into existence. This amount was augmented
by provincial and municipal funds and voluntary contributions, and
the erection of twenty-two buildings for provincial high schools,
twenty-six for trade and manual training schools, and fifty-seven
for intermediate schools other than provincial was thus made possible.
The first act of the Philippine Assembly was to vote for an
appropriation of $500,000, available in four equal annual instalments,
to aid municipalities in constructing school buildings. The bill was
duly approved by the commission and became a law. Under its terms,
municipalities received $2 for every dollar furnished locally, the
maximum insular allotment for one project being $2500. This bill was
later supplemented by an act which appropriated an additional $500,000
under similar conditions. Three subsequent acts have been passed,
each appropriating the sum of $175,000 for the aid of municipalities in
constructing school buildings under such conditions as the secretary of
public instruction may see fit to prescribe. The funds made available
by the three appropriations last mentioned are being used chiefly for
the erection of large central school buildings at provincial capitals.
The sums appropriated by the Philippine Legislature since the assembly
was established have made possible the construction of five hundred
twenty-nine school buildings, of which two hundred seventy-three are
finished and three hundred nineteen are being built.
There have been additional appropriations for the construction of a
Philippine Normal School already completed at a cost of $225,000, a
girls' dormitory now building to cost $147,000 and a building for the
Philippine School of Arts and Trades to cost approximately $250,000.
The bureau has required that school sites for central schools shall
have a minimum of one hectare [14] of land, and the barrio schools
a minimum of one-half hectare, for playgrounds and gardens. There
have been secured to date three hundred eighty-nine school sites of
ten thousand or more square metres, and six hundred forty-three sites
of at least five thousand square metres. These represent the results
obtained during the past three years.
The Bureau has formulated a very definite construction policy. Its
programme may be outlined briefly as follows:--
1. The preparation of a set of standard plans for permanent
buildings which provide for a unit system of construction
whereby additions may be made without injury to the original
structure, and which shall be within the limited means
available.
2. The selection of suitable school sites.
3. A decent and creditable standard in temporary buildings.
4. The proper care and maintenance of schoolhouses and grounds.
5. The equipment of every school with the necessary furniture
and appliances of simple but substantial character.
From the beginning, other branches of the government have clearly
seen that no agency is so effective as the Bureau of Education in
the dissemination of knowledge among the people. It has therefore
been called upon frequently to spread information, either through
classroom instruction or through the system of civico-educational
lectures established by an act of the Philippine Legislature. The
Bureau of Health has frequently requested it to instruct the people
in the means to be used for the prevention of diseases, particularly
cholera, smallpox and dysentery, and has always met with a ready
response. Great good has doubtless been accomplished in this way,
but with regret I must call attention to the fact that in connection
with a matter of fundamental importance the Bureau of Education has
signally failed to practice what it preached, or at all events what
it was requested to preach. The Philippines are constantly menaced
by epidemic diseases, such as cholera and bacillary dysentery, while
amoebic dysentery occurs in every municipality in the islands and is
a very serious factor in the annual death-rate, hook-worm disease is
common, and typhoid fever is gradually increasing in frequency. The
question of the proper disposition of human feces is therefore one
of fundamental importance. It seems incredible, but is nevertheless
true, that in connection with a large majority of the modern school
buildings which have been erected there are no sanitary facilities
of any sort whatsoever. The condition of the ground in the rear of
many of these buildings can better be imagined than described. This
state of affairs not only sets an evil example to the children, but
exposes them to actual danger of infection with the above-mentioned
diseases. In many of the special provincial government towns where
a great effort has been made to have the people clean up, I have
found school grounds and the private premises of school teachers,
including, I regret to say, those of American school teachers, to be
in a more unsanitary state than were any others in town; and finally,
in despair of securing improvement in any other way, I have fallen
back on the courts and caused teachers responsible for such conditions
to be brought before justices of the peace and fined.
The Teachers' Camp at Baguio was long maintained in a shockingly
unsanitary condition; and as a result many persons who went there
seeking health and recreation became infected with intestinal
diseases, and were incapacitated for work during more or less prolonged
periods. In dealing with this situation I finally resorted to radical
measures, but got results.
Such a state of affairs is wholly incomprehensible to
me. School-teachers should be the first to set the people practical
examples in sane living, which means sanitary living, and should
improve the great practical opportunity afforded by the public schools
to bring home to their pupils certain homely but much-needed lessons
in ordinary decency.
In another important particular the Bureau of Education has, in
my opinion, fallen short of performing its manifest duty. Not only
does beri-beri kill some five thousand Filipinos outright, annually,
and cripple ten times as many, but it is believed to be a determining
factor in the deaths of large numbers of infants through its untoward
influence upon their mothers. As previously stated, the fact that
it is due to a diet made up too largely of polished rice has been
demonstrated beyond a reasonable doubt. Persons who eat unpolished
rice do not contract it. Tiqui-tiqui, the substance removed from rice
in the process of polishing, has proved to be a very effective remedy
for it. The use of polished rice should therefore be discouraged,
yet at the Philippine Normal School, where the brightest and best
youths of the land receive their final education before going out to
teach their fellows, polished rice is furnished the students; and
the director of health, and I myself, have sought in vain to have
the unpolished article substituted for it.
The secretary of public instruction has stated, with obvious truth,
that it is only when polished rice forms a very large element in the
diet that there is actual danger of its causing beri-beri, and so far
as I am aware no case of beri-beri has occurred at this school; but the
practical result of the present practice will be that the graduates,
while instructing their pupils in the dangers of the use of polished
rice, will themselves continue to use it. There exists at the present
time a foolish prejudice against unpolished rice, which, although far
more nutritious and actually more palatable than the polished article,
does not look so attractive and is commonly considered "poor man's
food." So long as the instructors in the public schools continue to
teach by precept that its use is dangerous, and by example that it is
safe, the undiscriminating and ignorant Filipino public, which does
not draw fine distinctions, will be encouraged to continue to eat it,
will eat it in excess, and will pay the penalty.
The Bureau of Education has coöperated with the Bureau of Lands
in instructing the people as to the right to acquire homesteads
and free patents. It has also given the Bureau of Public Works
assistance in promoting the campaign for good roads. Its system of
civico-educational lectures has met with fair results. Thousands of
people have secured information relative to the rights and duties
of citizens, the prevention of human and animal diseases, and the
growing of corn, coconuts and other useful crops. A corn-raising
contest in 1912 was participated in by more than thirty thousand boys,
and thousands of people attended the demonstrations which formed a
part of the campaign. This is a most important matter. Corn is a far
better food than rice.
At first the only books available for use in the schools were those
prepared for American children. These were soon found to be unsuited
to the needs of Filipino children, and teachers were set to work to
prepare more suitable text-books. Book companies in the United States
quickly interested themselves, and as a result there is now in general
use a comprehensive series of text-books particularly adapted to the
needs of Filipinos.
In the secondary grades American text-books are quite generally used,
although a few special texts dealing with literature, rhetoric,
economic conditions and colonial history have been prepared in the
islands.
In order to keep the teacher in the field well informed, the Bureau
of Education has issued a large number of bulletins and circulars on
matters of current interest. These bulletins have covered instruction
in domestic science, drawing, manners and right conduct, school
buildings and grounds, embroidery and athletics, and have conveyed
information as to the general and special courses of study followed in
such schools as the School of Arts and Trades, the School of Commerce
and the Normal School. They have received much commendation from
educators in the United States and the Orient.
When public schools were first opened children crowded into them by
thousands. With them came many adults who believed that they could
learn English in a period of a few weeks, or in a few months at the
most. No doubt they entered the schools in many cases with the idea
of thus conciliating the victorious American nation. It was not long
until they realized that there was no royal road to learning. Then came
a slump in attendance. Largely through the influence of the American
teacher and his Filipino assistants, the attendance was again built
up. This time the people clearly understood that education is not a
matter of a few months or weeks. It is greatly to their credit that
they have now settled down to a realization of what public education
is, and are giving the public school system most loyal support.
The industrial programme has been accepted with enthusiasm, and
without doubt there are in the islands to-day thousands of people
who believe that it is a Filipino product.
There is an interest in athletic sports that can hardly be equalled in
any other country. The crowds of enthusiastic spectators that attend
every meet of importance testify to the hold that such sports have
taken upon the people, whose attitude toward all forms of education
is such that it needs only adequate revenue to develop an effective
school system along the broadest lines.
Manhood suffrage does not exist in the Philippines. The qualifications
for an elector are as follows: he must be a male citizen at least
twenty-three years of age, with a legal residence of six months
previous to election in the municipality where his vote is cast,
and must belong to at least one of the three following classes:--
1. Those who, previous to August 13, 1898, held the office of
municipal captain, gobernadorcillo, alcalde, lieutenant,
cabeza de barangay, or member of any ayuntamiento.
2. Those who hold real property to the value of $250 or annually
pay $15 or more of established taxes.
3. Those who speak, read or write English or Spanish.
With a population of approximately eight million people, there were,
in 1912, two hundred forty-eight thousand qualified voters. Of these
a large number had obtained the franchise because they belonged to
class 1 or class 2. Death yearly claims its quota from both these
classes, but the public schools more than make up the decrease by
their yearly contribution. Any boy who finishes the primary course
possesses the literary qualifications of an elector, and will become
one on attaining legal age.
In 1912 there were graduated from the primary schools 11,200 pupils,
of whom approximately 7466 were males; from the intermediate schools
3062 pupils, of whom 2295 were males; and from the secondary schools
221 pupils, of whom 175 were males. In that year alone the schools
therefore contributed 9936 to the contingent of persons qualified
by literary attainments to vote. Of these 175 are perhaps capable
of intelligently holding municipal and provincial offices, and to
this number may probably be added half of the 2295 intermediate male
graduates, making an increase of 1362 in the possible leaders of
the people.
The public schools, however, do not limit their contributions to
that part of the electoral body having literary qualifications
only. Vocational training, it is true, is limited in the primary
grades to cottage industries; but no pupil is graduated from the
primary schools with only literary qualifications. In some form or
other, he has had a vocational start. His own energy must determine
the use he makes of it.
The intermediate schools add vocational training to increased academic
training. All their graduates have done three years' work in the
general course, leading to a literary course in the high schools,
the course in farming, the course in teaching, the business course,
the course in housekeeping and household arts or the trade course.
Of the graduates of secondary schools a small part have highly
specialized vocational training; but the great majority have followed
the literary course and have undoubtedly done this with the idea of
entering political life. Rome was not built in a day, and in spite of
herculean American efforts, it will be a long time before Filipinos
cease to regard a certain kind of literary culture as the proper
basis for statesmanship. It has been said of them that they have
"the fatal gift of oratory"! The future leaders of the Filipino
people, dependent or independent, must be the output of the public
schools. The danger is that the number of would-be leaders will be
disproportionately great in comparison with that of the useful but
relatively inconspicuous rank and file.
There are in the Philippine Islands fully twelve hundred thousand
children of school age. The present available resources are sufficient
to educate less than one-half of that number.
The claim has been made that a due proportion of the very limited
revenues of the insular government has not been expended for
educational purposes. It is not justified by the facts. It is certainly
important to keep the Filipinos alive, and if this is not done, they
can hardly be educated. The expenditure to date [15] from insular
funds for health work, including cost of necessary new buildings,
has been approximately $9,630,000; that for educational purposes,
also including buildings, approximately $21,376,000.
As a simple matter of fact, the Bureau of Education has been
treated not only with liberality but in one regard with very great
leniency. Taking advantage of the friendly attitude of the legislative
body and of the people toward education, one of its earlier directors
incurred expense with utter disregard for appropriations. He repeatedly
made deficits of $150,000 to $250,000 and then in effect calmly
asked us what we were going to do about it. After stating that I,
for one, would never vote to make good another deficit incurred by
him while he was allowed to remain in the service, and at a time
when I was threatening to hold the director of forestry personally
responsible for a deficit of $5000 resulting in his bureau from
unforeseen expenditures by forest officers in remote places, and
therefore more or less excusable, I learned that the usual shortage
in the Bureau of Education had again occurred and was being covered
by the quiet transfer of a sum approximating $200,000.
The present director of education believes that the total number
of children who would enter the public schools without compulsion,
if adequate facilities were provided, is approximately eight hundred
thousand. Until revenues materially increase not many more than five
hundred thousand of these can be educated, if due regard is had for
other imperative necessities of the government and the people. If the
people of the United States, or any political body composed of them,
really desire to help the Filipinos toward the practical realization
of their ideal of an independent, self-sustaining government, let them
stop talking about the advisability of now conferring upon the present
generation of adults additional rights and privileges, and provide the
hard cash necessary to make intelligent, well-trained citizens out of
the three hundred thousand children who are now annually left without
educational advantages which they earnestly desire, and greatly need.
Under the Spanish régime private education as distinguished from that
provided for by the government attained considerable importance. At the
time of the American occupation, Santo Tomás, the oldest university
under the American flag, had colleges of medicine and surgery,
theology, law, engineering and philosophy. There were also numerous
private so-called "colleges" for boys and girls and very numerous
smaller private institutions. At first the establishment of public
schools had no apparent effect on those conducted privately other than
to induce them to introduce the study of English, but as years went
by, the organization, modern methods and industrial development of the
public schools forced the private institutions into activity. The law
provides that the secretary of public instruction may give approval
and recognition to such private schools as meet certain requirements,
and in 1910 a division superintendent of schools was detailed to
assist him in carrying out this provision. His report for the period
ending September 1, 1912, is a very interesting document. It compares
the Philippine private schools with those of South America, very much
to the disadvantage of the former. It notes particularly the lack of
manual training in boys' schools and the lack of standardization in
the manual training of girls' schools; and speaks of the allegiance
of the Filipino institution to the classical programme of mediæval
institutions of learning. It is a notable fact, however, that English
is gaining. Thirty-four private schools are giving their entire primary
and intermediate courses in that language; nine are giving primary,
intermediate and high school courses in it, and two are so giving
all courses, including the college course.
These private institutions are employing public and normal school
graduates as teachers to a constantly increasing extent. They are
bringing their courses of study into conformity and competition with
those of the public schools; are introducing athletics; using standard
patterns and materials in their industrial work, and rapidly improving
their buildings and equipment. During the year 1911-1912 improvements
to the value of $100,000 were made in four of the Manila private
schools: the Jesuits are planning a new college to cost $1,000,000;
the Dominicans an expenditure of $500,000 on a new university, and
the Liceo de Manila looks forward to becoming the most modern and
best equipped school in the islands.
Twenty-five private schools have already received government
recognition and approval.
No account of education would be complete without mention of the
University of the Philippines. Higher education is the great conscious
goal of Filipino desire; and to meet the growing need for it, an
act passed June 18, 1908, established this institution. Subsequent
amendments authorized, when practicable, colleges of liberal arts,
law, social and political science, medicine and surgery, pharmacy,
dentistry, veterinary science, engineering, mines, agriculture and
fine arts. At present there are in actual operation the colleges of
liberal arts, veterinary science, engineering, medicine and surgery,
law, agriculture and the school of fine arts. Instruction in pharmacy
is given in the College of Liberal Arts, and instruction in forestry is
given in the College of Agriculture. By special acts of the Philippine
legislature, several scholarships have been provided, but for the most
part the university is open only to those who can afford to live in
Manila during their period of attendance.
The opening of some of these colleges has served sharply to call
attention to one of the present weaknesses of the Filipino people. It
is but a few years since agriculture was well-nigh prostrated as a
result of the decimation of cattle and horses throughout the islands
by contagious diseases. The need for well-trained veterinarians
was, and is, imperative. Filipinos properly qualified to undertake
veterinary work would be certain of profitable employment. A good
veterinary course was offered in 1909. At the same time the School
of Fine Arts was opened. No one took the veterinary course the
first year. Admissions to the School of Fine Arts were closed when
they reached seven hundred fourteen. At the end of the school year
1912-1913 the students in the Veterinary College numbered twenty-seven
as compared with six hundred ninety-four in the School of Fine
Arts. The grand total enrolment of this latter institution since
its organization is thirty-two hundred twenty-nine, while that of
the Veterinary College during the same period is forty-seven. It is
necessary to restrict attendance at the School of Fine Arts. Until
there is a livelier and more general interest in saving carabaos
than in painting them, the country will not attain to a high degree
of material prosperity through the efforts of its own people.
I take genuine pleasure and pride in briefly describing the work of
the Philippine Training School for Nurses. I have always believed
that young Filipina women would make excellent trained nurses, and
I earnestly endeavoured to have a certain number of them included
among the first government students sent to the United States for
education soon after the establishment of civil government. In this
effort I rather ignominiously failed. The prejudices of the Filipino
people were then radically opposed to such a course, and my colleagues
of the commission were not convinced that it would lead to useful
practical results.
To the Bureau of Education must be given credit for inaugurating
the movement which has resulted in the firm establishment of the
profession of nursing in the Philippine Islands as an honourable
avocation for women. At an early date it employed an American trained
nurse to give instruction, and inaugurated a preparatory course at its
Normal School dormitory. The work at the outset could not be made of a
very practical nature, but after a number of bright and well-trained
young women had become interested in it arrangements were perfected
for giving them actual training at the government institution then
known as the Civil Hospital. Here strong racial prejudices of the
Filipinos were gradually overcome, and the student nurses soon showed
themselves to be unexpectedly practical, faithful and efficient.
Later when the great Philippine General Hospital was established it
became possible for the Bureau of Health to open a school under the
immediate control of the chief nurse, and to take over all the work of
training nurses. Students at this school are supported at government
expense while in training. Its opportunities and advantages are open
to young men, as well as to young women, and may be extended to a
number not exceeding one hundred six of each sex at a given time.
The training of young women began sooner, and thus far has resulted
more satisfactorily, than has that of young men, although many of
the latter are now making good progress.
The work is popular, and as there are more candidates than places only
the more promising are admitted. They have shown that they possessed
common-sense by avoiding the traps set for them by Filipino politicians
and newspaper reporters. Their tact and self-respect have brought them
safely through many embarrassing, and a few cruelly trying, situations
forced upon them by the unkindness or brutality of those whom they
have sought to serve. Their gentleness and kindness have endeared
them to their patients, and it is now a common thing for Americans
to request the services of Filipina nurses. Their faithfulness
and efficiency have won the confidence of patients and physicians
alike. Their courage has enabled them to triumph over the prejudices
of their own people, and to perform many hard, disagreeable tasks,
and meet some very real dangers, without faltering. The gratefulness
which they have shown for the opportunity to help their people, no
less than for the interest taken in them by Americans, has won them
many friends. The training of Filipina nurses has passed far beyond
the experimental stage; it is a great success.
Instruction in the Philippine Nurses' Training School is now largely
given by members of the university faculty and the graduates of this
school must certainly be numbered among the most highly educated
women of the Philippines. More of them are sadly needed, not only in
government institutions, but in private hospitals, and especially
in the provincial towns, where a few of them are already engaging
in district nursing with unqualified success. The country might well
get on for the present with fewer lawyers, and fewer artists, if the
number of nurses could be increased.
Equally praiseworthy is the work of the students and graduates of
the College of Medicine and Surgery, which is housed in a commodious
and adequate building. Their theoretical instruction is of a very
high character, and they have almost unrivalled facilities for
practical clinical work in the Philippine General Hospital. Entrance
requirements are high and the course of study is severe. A number of
the best students do post-graduate work in the hospital, where they
are employed as internes and assistants. As a result, the college is
turning out graduates admirably qualified for the great work which
awaits them among their own people.
The other colleges of the university are, for the most part, doing
their work efficiently and well, and as a rule their students are
showing appreciation of the opportunities afforded them, and are
utilizing them to good advantage.
Important educational work is being carried on by various bureaus
of the government. The Bureau of Lands has an excellent school for
surveyors. The Bureau of Printing is in itself a great industrial
school, and ninety-five per cent of its work is now done by Filipinos
trained within its walls, while many others who have had practical
instruction there have found profitable private employment.
An excellent school is conducted in Bilibid Prison with convicts as
teachers. A very large proportion of the prisoners receive practical
instruction in manual training and are fitted to earn honest livings
when their sentences expire. Furthermore, they readily secure
employment, as the men discharged from this institution have in many
cases earned well-deserved reputations for honesty and industry.
All the women confined at Bilibid are taught to make pillow lace.
At the Bontoc Prison, the non-Christian tribe convicts of the islands
are taught useful industries, and so satisfactory are the results that
I have formed the habit of calling the institution my "university."
At the Iwahig agricultural penal colony convicts are taught modern
agricultural methods under a system such that they gradually become
owners of houses, land and agricultural implements and may in the
end have their families with them so that they are well settled
for life when their sentences expire, if they take advantage of the
opportunities given them.
The educational policy which the United States has adopted in
dealing with the Filipinos is without a parallel in history. I am
glad to have assisted in its inauguration, and I am proud of its
results, which will make themselves felt more and more as the years
go by. Even now English is far more widely spoken in the Philippine
Islands than Spanish ever was, and this is a boon the magnitude of
which cannot be appreciated by those who have not had brought home
to them by experience the disadvantages incident to the existence of
very numerous dialects among the inhabitants of one country.
When it is remembered that in the present instance each of these
dialects is very poor in literature, and that its use is limited to
a million or two of human beings at the most, the enormous value of
instruction in English will be realized, to some extent at least.
CHAPTER XX
THE EXPLORATION OF NON-CHRISTIAN TERRITORY
At the time of their discovery the Philippine Islands were inhabited
by a very large number of distinct tribes the civilization of which
was directly comparable with that of the Negritos, the Igorots and
the Moros as they exist to-day. Do not understand me to imply that
the Negritos, the Igorots and the Moros have attained to the same
stage of civilization.
The Negritos belong to a distinct race. They are woolly-headed, nearly
black, and of almost dwarfish stature. They seem to be incapable of
any considerable progress and cannot be civilized. Intellectually
they stand close to the bottom of the human series, being about on
a par with the South African bushmen and the Australian blacks.
The Igorots are of Malayan origin. They are undoubtedly the descendants
of the earlier, if not the earliest, of the Malay invaders of the
Philippines, and up to the time of the American occupation had retained
their primitive characteristics.
The Moros, or Mohammedan Malays of the southern Philippines,
exemplify what may be considered the highest stage of civilization
to which Malays have ever attained unaided. They are the descendants
of the latest Malay invaders and were, at the time of the discovery
of the islands, rapidly prosecuting an effective campaign for their
mohammedanization.
At the outset the Spaniards made extraordinary progress in subduing,
with comparatively little bloodshed, many of these different peoples,
but the Moros at first successfully resisted them, were not brought
under anything approaching control until the day of steam gun-boats
and modern firearms, and were still causing serious trouble when
Spanish sovereignty ended.
As time elapsed the political and military establishments of Spain in
the Philippines seem to have lost much of their virility. At all events
the campaign for the control and advancement of even the non-Mohammedan
wild peoples was never pushed to a successful termination, and there
to-day remains a very extensive territory, amounting to about one-half
of the total land area, which is populated by non-Christian peoples
so far as it is populated at all. Such peoples make up approximately
an eighth of the entire population.
When civil government was established I was put in general
executive control of matters pertaining to the non-Christian
tribes. Incidentally, a word about that rather unsatisfactory term
"non-Christian." It has been found excessively difficult to find
a single word which would satisfactorily designate the peoples,
other than the civilized and Christianized peoples commonly known
as Filipinos, which inhabit the Philippines. They cannot be called
pagan because some of them are Mohammedan, while others seem to have
no form of religious worship. They cannot be called wild, for some
of them are quite as gentle, and as highly civilized, as are their
Christian neighbours. The one characteristic which they have in common
is their refusal to accept the Christian faith, and their adherence to
their ancient religious beliefs, or their lack of such beliefs as the
case may be. I am therefore forced to employ the term "non-Christian"
in designating them, although I fully recognize its awkwardness.
While serving with the First Philippine Commission I was charged
with the duty of writing up the non-Christian tribes for its report,
and tried to exhaust all available sources of information. The result
of my investigations was most unsatisfactory to me. I could neither
find out how many wild tribes there were, nor could I learn with any
degree of accuracy the territory which the known tribes occupied,
much less obtain accurate information relative to their physical
characteristics, their customs or their beliefs.
The most satisfactory source of information was the work of
Blumentritt, an Austrian ethnological writer; but Blumentritt had never
set foot in the Philippines, and I suspected at the outset what later
proved to be the case, that his statements were very inaccurate. He
recognized more than eighty tribes of which thirty-six were said by
him to be found in northern Luzón.
As it was obviously impossible to draft adequate legislation for
the control and civilization of numerous savage or barbarous peoples
without reliable data on which to base it, and as such data were not
available, I had to get them for myself, and undertook a series of
explorations, carried out during the dry seasons so far as possible,
in order to gather my information on the ground.
I first visited Benguet in July and August, 1900.
On my second northern trip I traversed the province of Benguet from
south to north, arrived at Cervantes in Lepanto, and was about to
leave for the territory of the Bontoc head-hunters when I received
a telegraphic summons to return to Manila for the inauguration of
Governor Taft on July 4, 1901.
The following year such time as could be spared from my duties at
Manila was necessarily devoted to the search for a suitable island
for the site of a proposed leper colony; but in 1903 I was able to
make a somewhat extended exploring trip, traversing the country of
the Tingians in Abra, passing through the mountains which separate
that province from Lepanto, visiting the numerous settlements of the
Lepanto Igorots and continuing my journey to Cayan, Bagnin, Sagada
and Bontoc; and thence through various settlements of the Bontoc
Igorots to Banaue in the territory of the Ifugaos.
The latter portion of the trip was not unattended with excitement. A
few weeks before a fairly strong constabulary detachment, armed with
carbines, had been driven to the top of a conical hill in the Ifugao
country and besieged there until a runner made his way out at night
and brought assistance. We felt that there was some uncertainty as
to the reception which would be accorded us. The Bontoc Igorots who
accompanied us did not feel that there was any uncertainty whatever as
to what awaited them, but were more than anxious to go along with us,
as they were spoiling for a fight with their ancient enemies.
We had to use them for carriers to transport our baggage, and each
carrier insisted on having an armed companion to lug his lance and
shield. As a precautionary measure we took with us twenty-five Bontoc
Igorot constabulary soldiers armed with carbines, while each of the
five American members of the party carried a heavy six-shooter. We
also had with us a dog which was supposed to be especially clever at
seasonably discovering ambushes and giving warning.
We were able to use horses more or less as far as the top of the
Polis range, but the trail down its eastern slopes was impracticable
for horses and dangerous for pedestrians.
We shivered for a night on a chilly mountain crest, and the next day
continued our journey to Banaue. When still several miles from the
town, we were met by an old Ifugao chief with two companions. They
marched boldly up to us and inquired whether we were planning to visit
Banaue. On receiving an affirmative reply, the chief asked if our visit
was friendly or hostile. I assured him that we were friends who had
come to get acquainted with the Ifugaos. He said he was glad to hear
this, but that after all it did not really matter. If we wished to be
friends, they were willing to be friendly; but if we wanted to fight,
they would be glad to give us a chance. As he and his companions were
facing a column of eighty-seven armed men I rather admired his courage.
He next presented me with what I now know to be an Ifugao gift of
friendship, to wit, a white rooster and six eggs, after which he
took from one of his companions a bottle filled with bubud, [16]
and having first taken a drink to show me that it was not poisoned,
handed it to me. I did my duty, and we were friends.
We then proceeded on our way to Banaue, being obliged to plunge down
through the rice terraces to the bottom of a deep cañon and then climb
two almost perpendicular earthen walls before reaching the house of
the chief.
I was completely exhausted when I began this climb, and did not feel
comfortable clinging like a tree frog to the face of a clay bank
with nothing to support me except rather shallow holes which could be
better negotiated by Ifugaos, possessed of prehensile toes, than by
men wearing shoes. Seeing my predicament, an Ifugao climbed down from
above, pulled my coat-tails up over my head and hung on to them, while
another came up behind me, put his hands on my heels and carefully
placed my toes in the holes prepared for their reception. Thus aided,
I finally reached the top.
The Ifugaos did not invite us to enter their houses, but allowed us
to camp under them. I was assigned quarters under the house of the
chief. It was tastefully ornamented, at the height of the floor, with
a very striking frieze of alternating human skulls and carabao skulls.
One of my reasons for coming to Banaue at this time was that I had
heard that the people of seven other towns had recently formed a
confederation and attacked it, losing about a hundred and fifty heads
before they were driven off. I therefore thought that there might
be a favourable opportunity to learn something of head-hunting, and
to secure some photographs illustrating customs which I hoped would
become rare in the near future, as indeed they did.
Trouble promptly arose between our Bontoc friends and the Ifugaos. The
Bontocs wanted to purchase food. Some baskets of camotes were brought
and thrown down before them and they were told that they were welcome
to camotes, which were suitable food for Bontoc Igorots and pigs, but
that if they wanted rice they would have to come out and get it. As
twenty-five of them were armed with carbines and all the rest had
lances, shields and head-axes, they were more than anxious to go, but
this we could hardly permit! So we put them in a stockade under guard,
and subsisted them ourselves, a thing which necessarily rendered our
stay brief, as provisions soon ran low.
The Ifugaos of Banaue showed themselves most friendly, but warned
us that a large hostile party was waiting to attack us at Kababuyan,
a short distance down the trail. My mission to the Ifugao country was
to establish kindly relations with the people rather than kill them,
so I did my best to get on good terms with the inhabitants of the
more friendly settlements.
The day before we left, people came in haste from a neighbouring
village to advise us that one of their men had lost his head to
the Ifugaos of Cambúlo, and begged us to join them in a punitive
expedition, assuring us that there were numerous pigs and chickens
at Cambúlo and that our combined forces would have no difficulty
in whipping the people of that place, after which we could have a
most enjoyable time plundering the town, while they would secure
a goodly toll of heads which might be advantageously employed in
further ornamenting their Banaue homes. They were greatly disgusted
when we declined to join them, and said they would do the job anyhow,
as no doubt they did.
First, however, they insisted that we come with them to see that the
story they had told us was true. We soon overtook a procession carrying
a very much beheaded man who was being borne out for burial on his
shield, and were readily granted permission to attend his funeral. It
was an interesting and weird affair. After it was over we hastened
back to Banaue, in constant fear of breaking our necks by falling
down the high, nearly perpendicular, walls of the rice terraces,
on the tops of which we had to walk. Most of us discarded our shoes,
in order to minimize the danger of a fall. One member of the party,
who insisted on wearing his, glissaded down a steep wall and had to
be pulled out of the mud and water at the bottom. Fortunately he was
not injured.
Having succeeded beyond our expectations in establishing friendly
relations with the Ifugaos of Banaue we took our departure, requesting
them to tell their neighbours about us and promising to visit them
again. I returned to Bontoc and made my way to Baguio in Benguet
through the Agno River valley, stopping at numerous settlements of
the Benguet Igorots on the way.
It was not possible for me to make further explorations in the
territory of the Luzón wild people until 1905. In this year I
set out, accompanied by Mr. Samuel E. Kane, an American who spoke
Ilocano exceptionally well, and Colonel Blas Villamor, a former
Insurgent officer, who was more familiar with the territory which
I desired to visit than any one else of whom I could learn. He had
established friendly relations with some of its inhabitants during
the insurrection.
We visited several of the wilder settlements of the Tingians in Abra,
then made a hard climb over Mount Pico de Loro and descended its
eastern slopes to the Tingian village of Balbalasan in the Saltan
River valley. Its people, while not really head-hunters, were often
obliged to defend themselves against their Kalinga neighbours, and
were consequently well armed.
After a brief rest we continued our journey down the Saltan River,
visiting settlements on the high hills in its immediate vicinity.
At Salecsec we had an extended conference with an old chief named
Atumpa, a very acute man of wide experience and sound judgment,
who exercised great influence in the territory through which we had
just passed.
Atumpa, satisfied as to our good intentions, consented to accompany us
into the Kalinga country. A Kalinga chief named Saking, whom Villamor
had known during the insurrection, met us here, and told us of a war
trail into his territory which would greatly shorten our proposed
journey, and make it possible for us to reach in one day the first of
the previously unknown Kalinga settlements of the Mabaca River valley.
Saking, observing that the people in the Saltan valley had cleaned
off their old trails, and in some cases had built new ones for our
convenience, went ahead of us to his own country in order to try to
persuade his people to do some trail work, leaving us to follow him.
Our route lay over the top of a high peak called "Dead Man's Mountain"
because a good many people who tried to climb it never came down,
the true explanation of their failure to appear being no doubt that
they perished from exposure during violent storms.
While ascending this mountain I suffered an attack of partial paralysis
of the legs, due, as I now have reason to believe, to heart strain,
but was able to continue the journey after a brief rest and the use
of stimulants.
A considerable part of our trip down the steep northern slopes of
this mountain was made by utilizing a stream bed in lieu of a trail,
and was in consequence very uncomfortable and somewhat dangerous,
as the chance for broken bones was good. Fortunately, however, no
one was badly hurt.
At the first Kalinga village we found about a hundred and twenty
fighting men armed with shields and head-axes, but Saking and his
brother Bakidan at once came forward to greet us and we did not
suspect mischief.
I had brought with me from Manila a great bag of newly coined
pennies. They looked like gold, and we distributed them among the
warriors, who were greatly delighted and promptly proceeded to place
them in the ends of the huge ear plugs which the men of this tribe are
so fond of wearing. Every one seemed friendly enough at the outset,
but soon a rather disturbing incident occurred.
There were eight chiefs present. I noticed that they suddenly withdrew
a short distance and squatted all together in a circle as if by word
of command. After a brief but very animated discussion they rose
simultaneously, and six of them started down the trail at a run,
while Bakidan and Saking came to us and somewhat anxiously suggested
that it was time to be moving on.
Our way lay through enormous runo grass which closed in over our
heads, so that we were marching in a rather low tunnel through the
vegetation. Bakidan went ahead of us, Saking brought up the rear,
and both were evidently on the alert. Bakidan suggested that we keep
our revolvers handy, which we did.
A short march brought us to Saking's place. Here a still larger body
of fighting men awaited us, and there were no women in evidence except
Saking's wife, who, at the direction of her husband, came forward,
and under his instructions sought to shake hands with us. This was
a new ceremony to the Kalingas, and she gave us her left hand.
Standing in a conspicuous place in front of Saking's house were two
baskets filled with flowers which were wet with blood. We surmised,
rightly, as it later proved, that these baskets had contained
human heads just before our arrival, and that we had interrupted a
head-cañao. [17]
One did not need to be an expert in the moods of wild men to see that
the people of this place were feeling ugly, and after shaking hands
with Saking's wife we promptly marched on.
It was fortunate for us that we did so. We later learned that the
conference of the eight chiefs which aroused our suspicion had been
held to discuss our fate. Six of them were in favor of killing us
immediately, arguing that we were the first white men to penetrate
their country; that they might have to carry our baggage, which would
be a lot of trouble; and that if they allowed us to pass through others
might follow us, whereas if they killed us they would have no further
trouble with strangers. Saking was severely criticized for having
told us the whereabouts of the war trail over which we had come,
and was appointed a committee of one on extermination, with power
to act. In fact, he was directed to take his people and kill us, but
he declined to obey instructions, and the other chiefs had run down
the trail ahead of us in order to gather a sufficient force to wipe
our party out. Saking's people were somewhat loath to act under the
orders of any one else, and our sojourn among them was so brief that
they did not have time definitely to make up their minds to attack us.
We now rapidly completed our journey to Bakidan's place, where we
were to spend the night. Here again a crowd of armed fighting men
awaited us. It was momentarily augmented by the arrival of recruits
from the villages through which we had just passed.
Still unsuspicious of mischief, we turned our revolvers over to
one of our Ilocano companions, a man named Lucio, who had served as
Aguinaldo's mail-carrier during the latter days of the insurrection. We
then walked into the middle of the crowd and sat down on pieces of
our own luggage.
Bakidan immediately brought me a small wicker basket of very dirty
looking bananas. I was nauseated as a result of severe exertion in
climbing Dead Man's Mountain, and the bananas did not look appetizing,
so I thanked him and put the basket on my lap. Instantly I felt
strong tension rising in the crowd. We had brought along chief Atumpa
and several friendly Kalingas from the Saltan River valley. They
seized their head-axes and stepped in behind us, facing out. Bakidan
instantly withdrew into his own house, and from a point where hardly
any one except myself could see him made emphatic gestures, indicating
that I was to eat. Little suspecting the significance of the act,
but desirous of placating his outraged feelings if he felt that
his hospitality had not been appreciated, I hastily peeled a banana
and took a bite. To my amazement, there was an instant and obvious
relaxation of tension in the crowd. The Kalinga warriors loosened
their grip on their head-axes and began to walk about and talk. My
own old men also assumed an air of indifference.
Much puzzled, I made up my mind to look into this matter further,
and later learned that when people from one Kalinga settlement visit
those of another if the latter wish to be friendly it is customary
for them to offer the visitors salt if they have it, bananas if salt
is lacking, and water in the event that neither salt nor bananas
are available. If the visitors wish to accept the friendship thus
proffered, they promptly eat or drink, as the case may be; otherwise
it is understood that they have come looking for trouble.
Bakidan had ceremonially proffered the friendship of himself and his
people, and in my ignorance I had practically declared war on the
whole outfit! When I learned these facts I asked Bakidan why they did
not kill us at once. He said they were afraid. I expressed my surprise
that they should be afraid of three unarmed men, and he explained that
it was very bad etiquette in the Kalinga country for a person with a
head-axe to go behind another, and that we had amazed every one when
we walked into the midst of that gathering of armed men and sat down
with our backs to half of them. They instantly concluded that we had,
concealed about our persons, some new and strange device with which
we could annihilate a crowd, hence they were afraid!
Here, as at Saking's place, we had interrupted a head-cañao. The head
had been smuggled out of sight just before our arrival. The cañao
was now renewed and continued all night, although the head was not
again put in evidence. It is needless to say that we attended. We
witnessed one of the weirdest sights I have ever seen.
The following day was spent in distributing presents to the Kalinga
head-men, in taking photographs, and in getting a little much needed
rest. As evening drew near Bakidan suggested that it was about time
we formally made friends with each other. We were beginning to feel
rather far away from home, and wanted all the friends we could get,
so promptly acceded to his suggestion and repaired to his house at
eight o'clock, the hour he had indicated.
The ceremony proved very simple. His wife fried some boiled rice in
fat--dog fat as we afterward learned, but fortunately we did not know
this at the moment! We all squatted on the floor, Bakidan facing us,
and the dish of fried rice was placed between us. He squeezed a mass
of it into a ball and gave it to me. I ate it, and then rendered
him a similar service. He ate in turn, and we were friends! The same
procedure was followed with each of my companions.
In the midst of the ceremony there came a very unexpected
interruption. A Kalinga woman was standing near me holding a torch. She
had been silent and had seemed timid. I chanced to stretch out my
right hand palm up. To my surprise she uttered an exclamation which
was almost a shriek, seized my wrist and began to point excitedly to
the lines in my palm. The other Kalingas gathered about, evidently
greatly interested. Several of them showed the lines in the palms of
their own hands, and an animated conversation ensued. I asked what
it all meant, and was informed that I was going to become a man of
great influence! I had already modestly introduced myself as the
ruler of all non-Christians, so found this reply unsatisfactory,
but could get no other.
It was fortunate indeed for us that we made friends with Bakidan. On
the following day we continued our journey down the valley. Our
baggage was carried by women, children and a few old and more or less
decrepit warriors who obviously felt deeply insulted at being required
to render such a menial service, and were decidedly resentful toward
Bakidan for having ordered them to do it.
Before we started Bakidan warned us that the Kalingas were queer
people, and in consequence it would be well for us very quietly to go
around certain of their settlements. Others we would visit. Their
inhabitants would be sure to invite us to stay and enjoy their
hospitality. He would second every such invitation. We were to pay
no attention to his words, but were to note whether or not he sat
down. If he did, we might accept the invitation. Otherwise we must
plead an urgent engagement farther down the valley and move on.
Things came out exactly as he had foretold. In several villages we
heard noises decidedly suggestive of head cañaos, and discreetly
circled these places. We declined all invitations seconded by Bakidan
when he did not seat himself, and rested comfortably for a time in
several villages where he did.
Toward noon we walked straight into an ambush laid for us in the runo
grass, discovering it only when Bakidan began to deliver a forceful
oration in which he set forth the fact that he had a right to stroll
down his own valley with a party of friends without being annoyed
by having his fellow tribesmen hide beside the trail and prepare to
throw lances.
Bakidan, who was himself a famous warrior, told these men that
they might kill us if they saw fit to do so, but must kill him
first. Apparently rather ashamed of themselves, they came out on to
the trail and slunk off to their town. Bakidan, greatly disgusted,
suggested that we follow them and lunch in their village just to show
that we were not afraid of them, and we did this.
After lunch I photographed a number of our late opponents, and we then
continued our journey, escorted by a Kalinga chief named Bogauit from
Took-Took. This man had previously descended to the Cagayan valley,
where he had seen white people, and hearing of our advent in the
Kalinga country, and fearing that we might have trouble in getting
carriers for our baggage, had come with his fighting men to help
us out.
The people of his village received us in a most friendly spirit,
and after attending a bit of a cañao organized in our honour, and
doing our best to entertain the crowd with a few simple experiments in
physics, and some sleight-of-hand tricks, we retired, as we supposed,
for a peaceful night's rest.
No such good fortune awaited us. We were aroused in the middle of
the night by a fearful din only to find our hut surrounded by a
great circle of armed men. The people who had attempted to ambush
us earlier in the day had repented of their action in letting us
pass through unharmed, had gathered a strong force of fighting men,
had surrounded our house and were now vociferously demanding to be
allowed to take our heads.
Old Bakidan was apparently fighting a duel with their chief in the
midst of the circle. The two men were dancing around each other with
cat-like steps, occasionally coming to close quarters and clashing
shields, then leaping apart, swinging their head-axes and obviously
watching for an opportunity to strike home. Had either of them gained
any decided advantage of position he would doubtless have used his
head-axe, and this would have started a fight which could have had
but one ending.
Owing to a mistake made when the ammunition for our trip was
purchased, we had just twenty-two revolver cartridges amongst us,
and in the darkness they would have been worth about as much as
so many firecrackers. The roof of the house was dry as tinder; a
blazing brand thrown on it would promptly have forced us into the
open. We should have been met by a flight of head-axes and lances,
and this book would not have been written!
The majority of the crowd were determined to take our heads. The
Took-Took people, greatly outnumbered, were evidently on the fence,
and Bakidan was our only advocate. He still insisted that any one
who wished to kill us must kill him first. His reputation stood
him in good stead, and no one tackled the job. The uproar continued
until nearly morning. Bási, a strong native liquor, was constantly
passed. Indeed, every one but Bakidan had been drunk when we were
first awakened. Finally food was handed around, and when the excited
warriors stopped yelling in order to eat it the liquor had a chance
to work, and most of them went to sleep.
We might probably have then effected our escape for the time being,
but it was utterly impossible for us to get out of the country without
the assistance of the Kalingas, and we decided to see the thing out
right there.
In the morning the crowd was uglier than ever. As we crossed the little
plaza they suddenly closed in on us with the obvious intention of
doing for us, and we thought the end had come. At this critical moment
a diversion was created in our favour by the wholly unexpected arrival
of a letter brought in by a Kalinga runner. It had followed us all the
way from Abra, and contained information about two pieces of baggage
which were missing when we started. Its arrival greatly alarmed the
hostiles, who interrogated me as to whether soldiers were coming. They
had heard of soldiers, but had never seen them. I assured them that
the arrival or non-arrival of soldiers would depend on the way they
treated us, and to our utter amazement, they presently faded away.
The Took-Took people again showed themselves friendly when their
unwelcome visitors had departed, and made us bamboo rafts on which
we descended the river.
Our voyage was a decidedly adventurous one. Our rafts were repeatedly
smashed by the swift current. As we approached each Kalinga village
we were met by a reception committee carrying a bunch of bananas,
followed at a short interval by a crowd of fighting men fully armed,
and were thus given an opportunity to decide whether there should be
peace or war. Needless to say, we voted for peace every time. I ate
bananas until it was difficult to find room for more!
We spent the night at the rancheria of a friendly, white-haired old
chief who had been to Tuguegarao, the capital of Cagayan, and knew
a few words of Spanish. The next day we reached the settlement of
Chief Doget, who had a wonderful house of red narra, a wood which
closely resembles mahogany. It was furnished with beds, chairs and
tables obtained from the Spaniards. Here we were able to rest in peace.
After sleeping the clock twice around, we continued our journey, and
at dusk reached the Filipino town of Tuao, glad enough to get back to
civilization and feeling that the kindly Providence which watches over
fools, drunken men and children had had its eye on us. Without escort,
and armed only with six-shooters rendered almost useless by lack of
ammunition, we had completed the first trip ever made through the
Kalinga country, and had done it without firing a shot and without
losing a man.
This trip marked for me the beginning of friendly relations with the
Kalingas. They have never since been interrupted, and now, when I ride
a fast American horse rapidly over the splendid trails which cross
their country from south to north and from west to east, or meet at
Lubuagan the fighting men who were once so anxious to take my head
but now make a long journey yearly in order to see me, I realize, as
perhaps no one else does, how very materially conditions in Kalinga
have changed.
It had been our intention, after spending a brief period in
recuperation at Tuao, to proceed to Malaueg and continue our journey
through the absolutely unknown country of the Apayaos, but we found
it impossible to secure guides. The leading men of Malaueg, who
came to Tuao to meet us, assured us that there were no trails known
to them, which was untrue, and added that they would not under any
circumstances consider trying to enter the territory of the fierce
Apayao head-hunters.
We accordingly proceeded to Tuguegarao, the capital of Cagayan,
intending to descend the Cagayan River to Aparri, go overland to
Abulúg or Pamplona and there get guides and carriers.
At Tuguegarao, however, we found assembled the presidentes of all the
Cagayan towns. Those from Abulúg and Pamplona positively assured me
that there were no trails thence into the Apayao country, and that
guides and carriers would be absolutely unobtainable. I insisted that
I would visit their towns and ask them to accompany me, whereupon they
actually wrung their hands and wept, complaining that the people of
Apayao used bows and poisoned arrows.
In disgust I told them that I would abandon the trip for that year,
but the following year would go to Laoág in North Ilocos, cross the
"Cordillera Central" and come out through the Apayao country, taking
with me Ilocano guides and carriers, as the Ilocanos were real men.
I then proceeded up the river to Ilagan and went overland through Nueva
Vizcaya, ultimately crossing Ifugao from east to west and thoroughly
exploring the territory from which I had been excluded on my previous
trip; proceeding thence to Bontoc and Cervantes over a route new to me,
and finally returning through Benguet and Pangasinán to the railroad,
where I took train for Manila.
The following year I carried out my promise, taking with me Colonel
Villamor, who had rendered very valuable and satisfactory assistance on
my previous trip. I also had three white companions, Dr. Paul C. Freer,
superintendent of government laboratories, Major Samuel Crawford and
Lieutenant L. D. Atkins. These officers commanded a detachment of
twenty-five Ilocano constabulary soldiers which I reluctantly took
along, warned by my experience of the previous year and convinced by
the arguments of my Ilocano carriers, who declined to accompany me
unless I took an armed escort.
Prior to my departure from Manila I had received an urgent telegram
from the governor of North Ilocos informing me that one Abaya, a wild
Tingian from Apayao, had been sentenced to a term of imprisonment in
Bilibid, the insular penitentiary, and urging me to arrange if possible
to have him detained at Laoag until my arrival there, which I did.
On reaching Laoag, I was amazed to find a large delegation of fully
armed Apayao men waiting for me at the river bank. They followed me to
the house where my quarters were to be, and sat down on the stairway,
with the obvious intention of seeing that I did not leave without
their knowledge.
On asking the meaning of this occurrence, I was told that they were
friends of Abaya and wished to talk with me. When given an opportunity
to do so, they told me a singular tale, which admirably illustrates
the relations prevailing in that region between the wild men and
their Filipino neighbours.
Abaya was one of a few men in Apayao who dared to descend to the
lowlands. He came down occasionally, bringing tobacco and wax to
barter for cloth, steel, salt and other necessaries not obtainable
in Apayao. Being unable to speak Ilocano well, he obtained a Filipino
agent known as his "commissioner," who transacted his business for him,
withholding for himself a liberal percentage of the proceeds.
On the occasion of his last visit to the lowlands, the "commissioner"
had told Abaya that he had a Negrito slave who was planning to escape,
and had directed him to take his head-axe and kill the Negrito,
promising him half of a large pig in payment for this service.
Abaya, nothing loth, hastened to execute the order, hunting up the
Negrito and aiming a terrific blow at him. Fortunately the Negrito saw
it coming and jumped so that he received it on his shoulder instead
of his neck. It inflicted a horrible wound, but he nevertheless
ran away so fast that Abaya was unable to catch him and finish the
job. He returned and regretfully reported his lack of success to his
"commissioner." To his amazement he was arrested, taken to Laoag
and held for trial. Both he and his friends were convinced that the
reason for this was his failure to kill the Negrito, and the friends
assured me in the most positive terms that Abaya had done his very
best and that it was through no fault of his that the Negrito had
escaped! They demanded his immediate release.
Meanwhile I had been informed by the governor of the province that
Abaya's people had threatened to come and wipe out the village where
his "commissioner" lived, and also to kill all of the Negritos in that
vicinity in revenge for the arrest and imprisonment of their chief.
It struck me that the "commissioner" was the man who ought to be in
jail, but I did not care to allow the Apayao people to think that they
could make such threats with impunity, so asked them whether it was
true that they were planning to wipe out the village in question. They
said yes. I then told them that they must not do it. They expressed
a willingness to obey any instructions that I might give to them. I
asked whether their promise to let the village alone was dependent upon
Abaya's being set at liberty, and they answered no. We then took up
the question of killing the Negritos. They were greatly amazed that I
should object to this, urging that they had always fought the Negritos,
and that the latter were bad people who constantly made trouble with
their poisoned arrows; theretofore it had been considered commendable
to kill as many as possible. However, they said that they would let
the Negritos alone if I insisted upon it, irrespective of whether or
not Abaya was released. Having duly impressed them with the fact that
the matter of the release of Abaya must stand on its own merits,
and could not be made to depend on their subsequent good or bad
conduct, and having interviewed the Filipino judge who sentenced
Abaya and learned that he had been puzzled to know what to do and
was heartily in favour of having him pardoned, I telegraphed to the
acting governor-general requesting that this be done, and continued
my journey, leaving word that Abaya should follow me if set at liberty.
He was promptly pardoned. His people insisted that he join them
and take to the mountains, but he told his friends that since I
had secured his release he would do what I had asked. He overtook
me before I had finished my second day's march, and stayed with me
until I gave him leave to go his way!
Our climb over the cordillera was by no means a pleasure trip. We
were forced to use beds of streams and Tingian warpaths in lieu of
trails. At one time our way lay over wet limestone rocks which were
slippery as ice. Here our hobnailed shoes were a positive source of
danger. The feet of our carriers were badly torn, and we ourselves
suffered from occasional falls on the sharp rocks. We secured the
help of some additional Tingians whom we met journeying to the coast,
paying them liberally enough so that they were willing to abandon
their proposed trip and accompany us.
We sent all of our Tingian companions ahead to give notice of our
friendly intentions before reaching the first village in Apayao,
but its inhabitants nevertheless ran away. Thoroughly exhausted, we
decided to spend a night there. In the course of the afternoon our
men were able to bring in some of their fellow tribesmen who lived
in the vicinity, and we made friends with them.
From this point a half day's march brought us to the head-waters of the
Abulúg River at a point where it was navigable for bamboo rafts. We
delayed at a little village until we could construct rafts enough to
float our large party, and then started downstream, knowing that we
should meet plenty of people, for the Tingians of Apayao are fond of
placing their villages on river banks.
Our trip was a wild and adventurous one. Fortunately I had purchased
some twenty dollars' worth of beads and with these I made at least
twenty-five hundred presents! The friendship of the women at the first
town which we met was thus secured, and thereafter the "grapevine
telegraph" worked ahead of us and we found waiting delegations of
women and girls on the river bank at almost every village. So long
as they were about, it was reasonably certain that the men would not
make any hostile demonstration.
The trip proved a great success in every way. Many of the numerous
settlements which we visited were at war with each other. One had
just been attacked, and a number of its people had lost their heads,
literally. We were constantly warned that the residents of the next
town down the river were "bad people" and that "five hundred" of them
were waiting in the river bed to attack us, but only once were we in
any real danger of being molested, and even then diplomacy prevailed.
We were careful to respect local customs. One town was reported to be
cañao, which is equivalent to "taboo," because of the death of the
wife of the headman, and we religiously kept away from it. Another
was cañao because of a virulent epidemic of smallpox, and we were
more than willing to keep away from that one!
We bumped down rapids and shot over several low falls. Again and again
our rafts were torn to pieces and we were precipitated into the rushing
stream. At one time a constabulary soldier was under water for some
ten minutes, and we thought him dead when he was first fished out,
but finally succeeded in resuscitating him.
We had been told that the trip would take eight days and had made
our plans accordingly. It took fifteen. Food ran short. Shoes and
clothing gave out. Some of our soldiers were dressed in clouts before
we reached civilization, and crawfishes on which our men could pounce
along the edges of the river were out of luck!
I shall long remember the shout of delight which our Filipino
companions set up when we finally passed through the last mountain
gap and came out into the open country, but as a matter of fact the
most disagreeable part of our journey lay before us. Up to that time
our progress had been rapid and exciting. Now the current of the river
grew sluggish, and we were largely dependent on it, as our rafts were
too heavy to paddle and the stream was in many places so deep that
we could not pole them.
We found ourselves in the country of very wild Negritos. Our Tingian
friends had informed us that these people would certainly sneak up
and shoot arrows into our camps at night, but nothing of the sort
occurred. On the contrary, through the liberal use of scarlet cotton
cloth, we were able to establish very friendly relations with the
Negritos encountered, some of whom gave us in exchange deer meat
enough for a feast, which was highly appreciated by all concerned.
On arrival at Abulúg we were received with great surprise by the
people, who had heard that we had been attacked and killed. There I
developed malaria and contracted bronchitis.
We made our way up the Cagayan River to Ilagan and thence proceeded
overland to the Kalinga villages in the vicinity of Sili. At the
latter place we had an amusing experience. Knowing that we were
going to Mayoyao, some Ifugaos from that town had joined our party
for protection. A delegation of Sili Kalingas waited on us during the
lunch hour and politely asked to be allowed to take the heads of these
Ifugaos, saying that they needed some fresh heads, and that it would
save a lot of trouble if they could have these, so providentially
brought to them by their respective owners. I explained to them that
we really needed the Ifugaos, and they politely waived their claim
to them in our favour!
I had been assured that I could ride a horse to Mayoyao in two and
a half days. The trip took five days. Much of the way horses were
worse than useless. Before we reached our destination my bronchitis
had developed into pneumonia and I was very ill. My white companions
on the Apayao trip had long since left me, but at Ilagan I had been
joined by Señor Claraval, who was later elected governor of Isabela,
and by an American school-teacher. Colonel Villamor had stayed with
me. Now all my companions turned back and I continued my journey
accompanied only by Ifugaos and by a young lieutenant of constabulary
named Gallman, who had then just come to the Ifugao country but was
later destined to play a most remarkable part in bringing its warlike
people under control and starting them on the road toward civilization.
Our route from Mayoyao to Banaue of necessity followed the Ifugao
war trails, which invariably run along the crests of mountains so as
to command a view in both directions. The country through which we
passed was frightfully broken, and I could hardly stand.
Wherever it was humanly possible to do so, the Ifugaos carried me in
a blanket slung under a pole. They took me up almost perpendicular
ascents in this way, but in some cases the ascents were quite
perpendicular and the descents the same, so that I had to try to
climb, constantly falling as the result of weakness and exhaustion,
in spite of the efforts of the Ifugaos to keep me on my feet. We
reached Dukligan at dusk and there we spent the night.
In the morning I found myself unable to rise, so took a stiff dose of
whiskey. As this failed to produce the desired result, I took a second
and finally a third. Under the potent influence of the stimulant I
managed to get up. The willing Ifugaos carried me clear to the rice
terraces near Banaue, making a joke of the hard work involved. There
were always a dozen men on the pole, and whenever one set of carriers
grew weary there was a scramble, closely approaching a fight, to
determine who should be allowed next to take their places.
These jolly people constantly gave a peculiar shout which was
ridiculously like an American college cheer. Ill as I was, I almost
enjoyed the trip, and conceived a great liking for the splendidly
developed men who were seeing me through in such gallant style. Had
it not been for their kindness, I should certainly have left my bones
somewhere between Mayoyao and Banaue.
They were determined to lug me through the rice terraces, but as
it took at least four men to carry me, and the weight of the five
of us was sufficient to cause the tops of the high terrace walls to
crumble so that I had several narrow escapes from falling down them,
I climbed out of my extemporized hammock, took one more big drink of
raw whiskey and on the strength of it managed to stagger along to
the river, where I was amazed to find a horse awaiting me. Nothing
ever looked better to me than did that somewhat decrepit animal!
I was absolutely unfit to travel, but having rested at Banaue for
half a day, and realizing that it was imperatively necessary that I
should get to a doctor at once, I made what was then record time to
Banaue, Bontoc, Cervantes and Baguio, and on arrival at the latter
place proceeded to go to bed and be comfortably ill.
Tramping over the northern Luzón mountains with my lungs partly
solidified left my pumping machinery in such shape that I have never
since been able to make a hard trip on foot, but that is no longer
necessary. Splendid horse trails now make travel through this region
a pleasure.
When we crossed Apayao only one other white man had achieved the
feat. This was a good missionary priest who in 1741 traversed the
country between Abulúg and one of the North Ilocos towns.
Lieutenant Gilmore's [18] Filipino captors took him and his companions
across a corner of Apayao, and instead of murdering them in the forest,
as they had been ordered to do, turned them loose. They made their way
across a portion of the territory traversed by us, and had reached
the Abulúg River and were attempting to build rafts when overtaken
by a rescue party of American soldiers. All hands then descended the
river to the town of Abulúg, and proceeded overland to Aparri.
Colonel Hood, who was commanding the United States forces there,
declined to let them enter the town until they had been provided with
decent clothing, thinking that the sight of American soldiers clad
in clouts might be too much of a shock to the inhabitants!
In 1907 I was able to land at various points along the then absolutely
unknown Pacific coast of northeastern Luzón, but failed to get
into touch with the Negritos, who constitute its sole inhabitants,
until near Palanan, the northernmost settlement of Filipinos on the
east coast.
With this trip my exploration work in northern Luzón ended, although
I have ever since made extended annual trips through the non-Christian
territory of the island.
During the years covered by this hasty narrative, I also made trips
to the territory of the wild men in Mindoro, Palawan, and Mindanao,
as opportunity offered. In Spanish days I had lived among the
Moros and had visited the mountains of Negros and Panay and seen
something of the wild men living there, so that I finally gained a
fairly comprehensive knowledge of the non-Christian tribes of the
Philippines, having seen representatives of nearly all of them, [19]
and lived for longer or shorter periods among all except some of the
more unimportant peoples in the interior of Mindanao.
As a result of these personal investigations I was able to reduce to
twenty-seven the eighty-two non-Christian tribes said by Blumentritt
to inhabit the Philippines; to determine with reasonable accuracy
the territory occupied by each, and not only to become familiar with
the manners and customs of the people of each important tribe, but
to establish relations of personal friendship with many chiefs and
headmen which have proved invaluable to me in my subsequent work for
the betterment of the non-Christian peoples which has so irritated
certain Filipino politicians who have wished to continue to oppress
and exploit them, or, like Judge Blount, have sought to minimize
their importance.
The latter individual seems to regard my past efforts to portray
actual conditions among the wild men as a personal grievance, and
has devoted an entire chapter to the shortcomings of "Non-Christian
Worcester." In it he says of me that I impressed him as "an
overbearing bully of the beggar-on-horseback type"; that I am "the
P. T. Barnum of the 'non-Christian tribe' industry"; that "in the
early nineties he [Non-Christian Worcester] had made a trip to the
Philippines, confining himself then mostly to creeping things and
quadrupeds--lizards, alligators, pythons, unusual wild beasts, and
other forms of animal life of the kind much coveted as specimens by
museums and universities," and goes on to tell how it was that "the
reptile-finder ultimately became a statesman." The Honourable Judge
summarizes his views concerning me by stating that he "considers
Professor Worcester the direst calamity that has befallen the
Filipinos since the American occupation, neither war, pestilence,
famine, reconcentration nor tariff-wrought poverty excepted." He
describes the experience on which he bases these statements as follows:
"During all my stay in the Philippines I never did have any official
relations of any sort with the Professor, and only met him, casually,
once, in 1901."
This latter statement is correct to the best of my recollection. "A man
is known by the company he keeps." I feel that I have been fortunate
in my friends and singularly blessed in my enemies! If I do not in
turn attack the Philippine career of Judge Blount, it is not for lack
of abundant ammunition, but for the reason that I believe that the
American public will be more interested in the truth or falsity of the
allegations concerning more important matters which we respectively
make than in our opinions of each other.
The Judge seems to have overlooked the fact that invective is not
argument. I leave to him the use of needlessly abusive and insulting
language. He has also apparently overlooked the further fact that
disregard of the truth is apt, sooner or later, to bring its own
peculiar reward. Later I call attention to certain of his misstatements
concerning the wild peoples of the Philippines, and correct them.
CHAPTER XXI
THE GOVERNMENT OF THE NON-CHRISTIAN TRIBES
When I visited Benguet in July and August of 1900, I found conditions
there such that the early establishment of civil government seemed
practicable and desirable. The people had taken no part in the
insurrection and nowhere in the province was there any resistance
to American authority. An act providing for the government of the
province and its settlements was accordingly passed on November 23,
1900, Benguet being thus the first province to pass from the control
of the military.
In drafting this act I was fortunate in having the coöperation of
Mr. Otto Scheerer, a German citizen who had lived for a number of
years among the Benguet Igorots, understood them fully and was most
kindly disposed toward them.
The Benguet law, in considerably amplified form, was applied to Nueva
Vizcaya when that province was organized on January 28, 1902, and on
April 7, 1902, a carefully considered act entitled "An Act providing
for the Establishment of Local Civil Governments in the Townships
and Settlements of Nueva Vizcaya" was passed by the commission.
On May 28, 1902, the province of Lepanto-Bontoc was established. It
had three sub-provinces, Amburayan, Lepanto and Bontoc. The two Nueva
Vizcaya acts above mentioned were made applicable to it, and to its
towns, respectively.
On June 23, 1902, an act was passed organizing the province of Palawan
(Paragua) and extending to it, and to its towns, the more essential
provisions of the two Nueva Vizcaya acts.
On the same day Mindoro was incorporated with the province of
Marinduque under the regular Provincial Government Act, which was
then being made applicable to all provinces populated chiefly by
Filipinos. As might have been anticipated, it did not prove feasible
properly to administer the affairs of Mindoro under this act, and on
November 10, 1902, a province of Mindoro, including the main island
and numerous neighbouring small islands, was established under a law
embodying the essential provisions of the Nueva Vizcaya Act. Certain
provisions of the Nueva Vizcaya township and settlement act were made
applicable to its municipalities, while on December 4, 1902, other
provisions of the same act were made applicable to the settlements
of the wild Mangyans, who occupy the whole interior of this great
island so far as it is occupied at all.
The desirability of uniform legislation for the government of the
non-Christian tribes, except those of the Moro Province, soon became
evident, and after much experience in the practical working of the
several acts above mentioned under the conditions presented in the
five provinces, Benguet, Nueva Vizcaya, Lepanto-Bontoc, Palawan and
Mindoro, I drafted the so-called "Special Provincial Government Act,"
and "The Township Government Act." The former was made applicable to
the five provinces above mentioned, and the latter to all settlements
of non-Christian tribes throughout the Philippines except those of
the Moro Province.
On August 20, 1907, an act was passed carving the province of Agusan
out of territory which had previously belonged to Surigao and Misamis,
and organizing it under the Special Provincial Government Act.
Finally, on August 18, 1908, the Mountain Province was established
in northern Luzón.
At the same time that the Ifugao territory was separated from
Nueva Vizcaya there was added to the latter province the Ilongot
territory previously divided between Isabela, Tayabas, Nueva Ecija
and Pangasinán.
Before considering the details of the work accomplished in the
several special government provinces and sub-provinces, I will state
the general principles which have been found useful in bringing the
non-Christian peoples under control and in establishing friendly
relations with them, and will explain how these principles have been
applied in actual practice.
I have always considered the opening up of adequate lines of
communication an indispensable prerequisite to the control and
development of any country, and this is especially true of the
territory of the wild man. No matter how unruly he may be, he is apt
to become good when one can call on him at 2.30 A.M., since that is
the hour when devils, anítos and asuáng are abroad, and he therefore
wants to stay peaceably in his own house! Again and again we have
built a trail to an ugly, fighting, head-hunting settlement whose
people have at first thrown spears at our road labourers, but later,
when they found that the trail was really going to arrive, have ended
by building one out to meet it. Constabulary garrisons which we have
expected to be forced to establish have often proved unnecessary when
communication was opened up.
We have had scanty funds for public works in these regions. At the
outset I had to get along with four or five thousand dollars a year
in the territory now included in the Mountain Province and the task
which confronted me seemed utterly hopeless. Nevertheless, I made
a beginning and did the best I could. Now the Mountain Province has
annual receipts of about $85,000, of which some $65,000 are expended
for public works and permanent improvements. This is made possible by
the fact that the salaries and wages of the provincial officers, and
certain contingent expenses as well, are met by direct appropriation
of insular funds.
Another principle to which I have steadfastly adhered is never to
impose taxes on a wild man until he can be made to realize that direct
good to him will result from their collection. One of several reasons
why the Spaniards never could dominate the hill people of Luzón was
that they insisted at the very outset upon exacting "tribute" from
them. The hill people regarded the money thus contributed as a present
to the man who collected it, and rebelled against making presents to
people who did not treat them well and whom they did not like.
The most important tax in the special government provinces is the
so-called "public improvement tax."
The law imposing it does not become operative on the non-Christians
of any given territory without the prior approval of the secretary
of the interior.
It provides for the collection from every able-bodied adult male
between the ages of 18 and 55 of an annual contribution of two
pesos. [20] The taxpayer is allowed to render ten days of service
upon public works in lieu of cash payment if he prefers, and most
non-Christians do prefer to settle the obligation in this way. All
money derived from this source is expended on public works, going to
pay for supervision, dynamite, powder, caps, fuse, steel, road tools
and the like, as it is seldom necessary to hire labourers.
We paid for all labour on the first trails constructed, and it was
only when the people themselves learned to comprehend the usefulness
to them of improved means of communication that I made the public
improvement tax applicable to them.
Except under very special circumstances, I did not allow the
construction of a trail with a grade higher than six per cent. There
are two reasons for this rule. First, the torrential rain-storms of
the tropics rapidly destroy high-grade trails in spite of all efforts
to provide adequate drainage; second, if trails are constructed on
low grades, every shovelful of earth which is thrown is just so much
accomplished toward the eventual opening up of cart roads, carriage
roads or automobile roads, the whole subsequent question involved
being one of widening and surfacing.
In constructing a trail we first carefully stake what seems the best
possible line between the two points to be connected; then build on
this line a path which is cut into the hill [21] four feet, the dirt
being thrown outward. No special effort is made to give the bank
a proper slope; the Almighty does this in the course of the first
rainy season, when the earth sloughs off on to the trail in those
places where it stands too steeply. It is then promptly thrown off
the road-bed while still loose, and much hard pick and shovel work and
many "pop shots" are thus saved. Only the most necessary drainage is
provided before the first rainy season, for the reason that experience
has shown that what seem dry beds of streams and look as if they would
be converted into raging torrents during the rainy season sometimes
then hardly carry water enough to wash one's face in; while, on the
other hand, destructive torrents come charging down the crests of
hogbacks in places where one would least expect them, and cut out
the trail completely where they strike it. With the first rain the
maintenance gangs get to work, noting where drainage is especially
needed and providing it, throwing off loose earth and stones when
slides occur, and widening the trail or cutting off sharp corners
when not otherwise engaged.
American and Filipino road foremen were at first used for trail
construction, but the Igorots, Ifugaos and Kalingas, all of whom
are very intelligent people, soon learned to serve as foremen. I had
Ifugaos who ran about clad in clouts only, but were nevertheless quite
capable of carrying a road or trail across the face of a precipice,
doing all of the powder work.
The wild men soon learn to take great pride in their trails, and
usually keep them in an excellent state of repair. It is a remarkable
fact that on the thousand miles of road and trail which have been
constructed since the American occupation in the Mountain Province
and Nueva Vizcaya no one has as yet been murdered. In the wildest
regions there has been an understanding from the outset that people
travelling over government roads were to be let alone!
The establishment of government, and of a decent state of public
order, have gone hand in hand with the opening up of lines of
communication. Wherever practicable it is highly desirable to police
the wild man's country with wild men, and this has proved far easier
than was anticipated. The Bontoc Igorots make good, and the Ifugaos
most excellent, constabulary soldiers. They are faithful, efficient,
absolutely loyal and implicitly obedient. The Ifugaos are born
riflemen, and their carbine practice is little short of marvellous when
one considers their very limited experience. Natural fighters as they
are, the people of these two tribes make the best of soldiers. They are
absolutely fearless, and fight much as do the Ghurkas of India. Benguet
Igorots and Kalingas are now being enlisted as constabulary soldiers,
and from the very outset the people of many of the non-Christian tribes
of the islands have been used as policemen in their own territory.
The annual inspection trip which the secretary of the interior is
required by law to make to every province organized under the special
provincial government act has become very important in the control
and advancement of the non-Christian tribes.
It is now customary to hold fiestas, or as they are locally designated,
cañaos, at central points, to which are invited great numbers of
the wild people from the neighbouring country. At the outset these
gatherings served to bring together men who had hardly seen each other
except over the tops of their shields when lances were flying. They
were all friendly with me, but they were by no means friendly with
each other, and trouble threatened on various occasions. Within the
space of thirty seconds I have seen a couple of thousand men draw
their war knives and snatch up their lances, and have feared that a
record killing was about to occur, but in the end the excited warriors
always quieted down.
We took advantage of these great gatherings to bring about the
settlement of old difficulties between hostile towns and they have
thus proved an important factor in the establishment of peace and
order throughout the wild man's territory. Furthermore, they afford
excellent opportunity to discuss past events and future plans under the
most favourable conditions. I well remember the occasion on which the
Ifugao headman of Quiangan requested that the public improvement tax
be imposed upon them and their fellow tribesmen. There was at that
time but one decent trail in this sub-province. It had been built
by paid labour. Some of the headmen who had gone to Bontoc with me
had seen excellent trails there and had asked why Ifugao could not
have some just as good. I had replied that the Bontoc Igorots were
more civilized than the Ifugaos and had come so to appreciate the
benefit of trails that they were willing to build them without being
paid for their labour. Vehement exception was taken to my contention
that the Bontoc Igorots were further advanced than the Ifugaos. The
latter insisted that they were much better men than the Igorots, and
could and would build better trails. I explained to them in detail
the practical working of the public improvement tax, and asked if
they would be willing to have this contribution imposed on them. They
insisted that they wanted it, and I finally gave it to them, although
I doubted their ability to bring their people into line. On the
following day there was a precisely similar occurrence at Banaue. I
soon found that I had underrated the influence of the headmen. That
year twenty thousand Ifugaos worked out their road tax. The following
year twenty-four thousand men rendered the prescribed ten days'
service; and the number has steadily increased year by year ever since,
with the result that the sub-province is crisscrossed with trails,
many of which are already wide enough for considerable distances to
permit the passage of automobiles if they could be brought there,
while the main line of communication with Bontoc on the one hand and
the capital of Nueva Vizcaya on the other is open for cart travel
from the western to the eastern boundary of the sub-province.
At many of the cañaos we have athletic contests, which the wild
men, with their splendid physical development, greatly enjoy. It
is much better for two hostile towns to settle their differences
by a tug-of-war, or a wrestling match, than by fighting over them,
and they are now often quite willing to adopt these more pacific
means provided the audience is sufficiently large and enthusiastic,
for the average wild man has a very human love of playing to the
gallery. He takes to the athletic contests of the American like a
duck to the water, and soon learns to excel in them. No sooner is a
cañao over than those who have taken part in it begin to look forward
to the next one, and the small expense involved is repaid a thousand
fold in the good feeling produced.
In the course of a year the people of each of the non-Christian tribes
do many things for us simply because we want them to, and it seems
only fair that we should give them at least one opportunity during
the same period to have a good time in their own way.
The personal equation is of vital importance in dealing with wild
men. They know nothing of laws or policies, but they understand
individuals uncommonly well.
The men in immediate control of them must be absolutely fearless,
must make good every promise or threat, must never punish except in
case of deliberate wrong-doing committed in spite of warning duly
given, and must, when punishment is thus made necessary, inflict it
sternly but not in anger. The wild man thus dealt with is likely to
call quits when he has had enough, and if he promises to behave must
be treated like a man of his word, which he usually is.
As a result of such just, firm and kindly treatment governors and
lieutenant-governors soon find themselves endowed by their people
with powers far in excess of those conferred on them by law. They are
ex officio justices of the peace, but are just as apt to be asked to
settle a head-hunting feud between towns, which has caused a dozen
bloody murders, as a quarrel growing out of the joint ownership of
a pig. They are the law and the prophets, and no appeals are taken
from any just decisions which they may make, nor is their authority
questioned. On the contrary, their people usually object when sent
to the courts, as is of course often necessary.
These officers are always on the watch for opportunities to get the
people of hostile towns to swap head-axes, or dance together, and so
become friends.
When one town has been in the very act of raiding another the timely
appearance of an unarmed Apo [22] has sufficed to shame the culprits
into laying down their arms and going home without them.
No one who has not seen for himself can appreciate the courage,
tact and patience of the handful of Americans who have not only
brought under control the wildest tribes of the Philippines, but have
established the most friendly relations with them.
Having now outlined in a general way the principles which have been
followed in the work for the non-Christian tribes of the special
government provinces, I will set forth some of the more important
results which have been obtained.
In Benguet, which under the Spanish régime was organized
as a comandancia, [23] there dwell a kindly, industrious,
self-respecting, silent tribe of agriculturists known as the Benguet
Igorots. Governmental control was established over them by the
Spaniards. They have never indulged in head-hunting nor caused any
serious disturbance of public order, but have persistently refused
to give up their ancient religious beliefs, and for this reason were
not allowed by the Spaniards to obtain education, so that, with rare
individual exceptions, they were completely illiterate. When I first
visited their country I found the men clad in clouts, supplemented in
the case of the more wealthy by cotton blankets. The women usually
wore both skirts and upper garments, and bound towels around their
heads for turbans.
The Benguet Igorots were formerly compelled to trade for the
necessaries of life in the lowlands of the neighbouring province of
Union, where they were shamelessly exploited by the Filipinos. They
had been obliged by the Spaniards to pay taxes for which they received
no adequate return. They had furthermore been roughly treated by the
Insurgents during the war, and were extremely fearful and timid. Men
ran away at my approach. Women overtaken unexpectedly on the trail
leaped down the steep mountain sides, squatting where they first
struck the ground and covering their faces with their hands.
It proved a simple matter to establish friendly and helpful relations
with these simple and gentle people. Fortunately for them Mr. Otto
Scheerer, who had lived among them for years, helped organize their
settlements. Some of them were still so wild that they ran away at
his approach, sitting up on the high mountain sides and watching him
from a distance, but declining to come down. Patience, perseverance
and kindness soon overcame their fears, and local governments were
established in the several settlements.
Travel through Benguet was then dangerous and difficult because of the
condition of the trails, which were mere footpaths. None of the streams
were bridged. Work was promptly begun upon a trail system, and now
one can ride a large horse rapidly to every settlement of importance.
At first the people had nothing to sell, and no money with which to
buy what they needed. From time to time they packed coffee and Irish
potatoes down to the lowlands and traded them for salt, cloth and
steel, which they needed, and for vino, which was poison to them.
We have protected them in their property rights and encouraged them
to increase their agricultural holdings. As they were too ignorant to
understand and exercise their right to obtain free patent to small
tracts of land which they had long occupied and cultivated, I sent
out a special survey party to help them make out their applications
in due form.
The gradual development of Baguio, first as a health resort and later
as the summer capital, afforded them an ever increasing market for
their products; while trail construction, the opening of the Benguet
Road and the erection of buildings at Baguio made it possible for every
one desiring it to secure remunerative employment. In the old Spanish
days they had been forced to build trails without compensation, and
to feed themselves while doing it. When they realized that the new
régime had come to stay, their gratitude knew no bounds.
For a time they could not be persuaded to try the white man's
medicines, but ultimately the wife of the most important chief
in the province, who was dying of dysentery, was persuaded to let
Dr. J. B. Thomas, a very competent American government physician, treat
her case. She recovered, and the news spread far and wide. After that
Igorots came in constantly increasing numbers to the hospital which
had meanwhile been established, and to-day their sick and injured
are often carried to it from a distance of fifty miles or more.
Schools were soon established in several important settlements. The
boys proved apt pupils. At the outset parents would not allow their
girls to attend. Gradually the prejudice against sending them to
school was overcome, and at three different places girls are now
given instruction in English and in practical industrial work.
The children learn English readily and the old folks pick it
up from them. Mrs. Alice M. Kelly, who started the first Igorot
school, taught her boys respectfully to salute her in the morning,
and shortly thereafter American travellers over the Benguet trails
were addressed by Igorots with the cheerful greeting, "Good morning,
Mrs. Kelly." Their feelings were doubtless identical with those of the
traveller in Japan to whom a beginning student of book English said,
"Good morning, Sir, or Madam, as the case may be!"
The Benguet Igorots have responded quickly to the opportunities
afforded them, and several serious dangers which have threatened
their progress have been met and overcome.
The Filipino peoples will never become victims of alcoholism. They
drink in moderation, but seldom become intoxicated. The non-Christian
peoples, on the contrary, never lose an opportunity to get
boiling drunk. All of them make fermented alcoholic drinks of their
own. Fortunately most of these beverages are comparatively mild and
harmless; but if a hill man can get hold of bad vino or worse whiskey
he will get so drunk that he thinks he has to hang on to the grass
in order to lie on the ground.
The Filipinos had long taken advantage of this weakness of the
Benguet-Lepanto Igorots to debauch them with vino and cheat them
while they were intoxicated. I regret to say that since the American
occupation some white men who wanted them as labourers have used liquor
as a bait. Because of these conditions, and of more or less similar
ones throughout the rest of the wild man's territory, I drafted
and secured the passage of an act making it a criminal offence to
sell or give white man's liquor to a wild man, or for such a man to
drink such liquor or have it in his possession. This law has been very
successfully enforced. Although Benguet-Lepanto Igorots have sometimes
succeeded in purchasing liquor at Baguio or Cervantes, their use of
strong alcoholic stimulants has steadily decreased, and throughout much
of the wild man's territory strong drink is absolutely unobtainable.
The Benguet Igorots have an abiding love for gambling, and some of
them learned new tricks, which did them no good, through contact with
Filipinos when working on the Benguet Road. Strict enforcement of the
law against gambling has, however, prevented any considerable spread
of this evil.
One of the most interesting results thus far obtained is the arousing
of a strong commercial instinct among them. It was literally true
at the outset that one could not buy from them an egg, a chicken or
a basket of camotes, much less a pig or a cow. Now special market
buildings have been erected for them at Baguio, and they are thronged
on Sundays. The Igorots have money and spend it wisely. They also
have farm products to sell, know what they are worth, and insist on
getting full value for them. Among other things there may be mentioned
sleek cattle, the best fat hogs grown in the Philippines, chickens,
eggs, cabbages, Irish potatoes, peas, beans, tomatoes, squashes,
camotes and strawberries.
There have been some interesting episodes in connection with the
work for the Benguet Igorots. At one time it became necessary for the
provincial governor, Wm. F. Pack, to undergo a severe and dangerous
surgical operation. Word spread through Benguet that the doctors
were going to cut him to pieces. Palasi, an old Igorot chief of Atok,
gathered his cohorts and came in hot haste to Baguio to stop it. He
was assured by Governor Pack himself that the cutting was to be done
with his consent, but still entertained some doubts about the matter
and asked to be allowed to be present. His request was granted. There
was then no operating room in Baguio, so one was extemporized in the
governor's house. He walked out to the operating table, and Palasi,
who was standing by, once more asked him if he was to be cut up with
his own consent, offering to stop the performance even then if the
governor so wished!
On March 30, 1913, I sat at a luncheon given at Trinidad, Benguet,
in honour of former Lieutenant-Governor E. A. Eckman, who had just
been promoted to the governorship of the Mountain Province. At the
long tables were seated a representative gathering of decently clad
Benguet Igorot head-men, the hosts of the occasion. They understood
the use of knives, forks and spoons. At the close of the luncheon they
presented Governor Eckman with a beautiful silver cup. The presentation
speech was made by an Igorot named Juan Cariño, who had been shot and
badly wounded by American soldiers from whom he foolishly endeavoured
to escape in 1900!
Fortunately old Juan was not killed. Like every other Igorot in Benguet
he is to-day a good friend of the Americans. The people of his tribe
are now sober, industrious, cheerful, contented and prosperous. As
time passes they keep cleaner, wear more and better clothes and build
better houses. In this case, at least, a primitive people has come
in close contact with the white man and has profited by it.
Lepanto, like Benguet, was a comandancia in the Spanish days. Its
Igorot inhabitants are fellow-tribesmen of their Benguet neighbours,
and like them are, and have long been, peaceful agriculturists,
raising camotes, rice, coffee and cattle. They also mine gold and
copper. In the extreme southeastern and the extreme northern parts
of Lepanto the people are wilder and less law-abiding than those of
Benguet, and some of them are prone to indulge in cattle stealing.
This subprovince has one Ilocano town, Cervantes, which was made the
capital of the province of Lepanto-Bontoc. At the outset communication
with the coast was maintained over a very bad horse-trail crossing the
coast range at Tilad Pass. It zigzagged up one slope of the mountains
and down the other on a grade such as to make travel over it very
difficult. Furthermore, after reaching the lowlands on the west side
of the range, it crossed a river some fourteen times. During the rainy
season there were weeks at a time during which this stream could not
be forded. In the early days of the American occupation a good wagon
road was built from the coast to the point where the trail began,
and the trail itself was put in the best possible condition. It was
subsequently well maintained, but after the establishment of a Filipino
provincial government in South Ilocos the wagon road was allowed
to fall into such a state of neglect that travel over it, even for
persons on horseback, became impossible during wet weather. Mr. Kane,
the supervisor of the Mountain Province, was nearly drowned in mud
when trying to ride over it, being thrown from his horse into soft
ooze so deep that his hands did not reach bottom, and had it not
been for a timely rescue by Filipinos who chanced to be passing,
he would certainly have lost his life.
Although forty or fifty thousand pesos' worth of supplies were annually
sent into the mountain country by the people of South Ilocos over this
trail, that province refused to spend a peso in keeping the connecting
road up. The constantly growing trade of the mountain country made it,
in my opinion, necessary that it should have a good outlet to the
coast, and a route for a road was surveyed from Cervantes directly
west over the Malaya range, traversing the subprovince of Amburayan
from east to west and coming out at the municipality of Tagudin. In
order to prevent the occurrence of a state of affairs such as had
rendered the Tilad Pass trail practically useless during much of
the rainy season, this Ilocano town was annexed to Lepanto-Bontoc,
thus giving the province a route to the coast within the limits of
its own territory.
The people of Tagudin were at first inclined to protest against
annexation to the country of the non-Christians, but soon discovered
that the change was greatly to their advantage. Their town had long
been threatened with destruction by the encroachment of the Amburayan
River, and they had appealed in vain to South Ilocos for help. The
Mountain Province gave them assistance in the construction of a
protecting wall which held the river within bounds and adequately
safeguarded the town. Their business rapidly increased when Tagudin
became the western terminus of an important trade route. They soon
began to take an active interest in improving local conditions, and
their municipality was gradually changed from a dirty, down-at-the-heel
place to a neat, clean, sanitary town in which its people could take
justifiable pride. An old feud which had long separated the leading
men into two parties so bitterly hostile to each other that the mere
fact of advocacy of a given measure by one of them was sufficient to
cause determined opposition to it by the other, died out, and Tagudin
is to-day quite a model place in comparison with the general run of
Filipino towns.
The opening up of transportation lines has placed the people of
Lepanto within much easier reach of a market for their rice, coffee
and cattle. The successful combating of cattle disease by the Bureau
of Agriculture has been a great boon to them, as has the suppression of
the liquor traffic. Schools have been established in a number of their
settlements. Last, but by no means least, their lives are no longer
endangered by the head-hunting Bontoc Igorots. They are now a peaceful,
prosperous people, and are progressing steadily in civilization.
In Spanish days there was a comandancia known as Amburayan wedged in
between the provinces of La Union and Ilocos Sur. After the American
occupation this territory was at first organized as a part of Ilocos
Sur, but it soon became necessary to make of it a separate subprovince
and add it to Lepanto-Bontoc, to the end that its people might be
adequately protected. In contact on two sides with Christian Filipinos,
they were shamefully maltreated and oppressed, and they appealed to
me for help.
Filipinos were graciously permitting them to cut firewood and lumber
in the public forests, and taking the lion's share of the products
in return for their consent! They were debauching the Igorots with
vino. I remember particularly the case of one unfortunate individual
who owned five carabaos, two of which got to fighting. As usually
happens with these animals, the one that was whipped ran away, and
the victor blindly pursued it. Both charged over a precipice and broke
their legs. The owner killed them, dressed them, and divided the meat
among his family and friends. He was arrested, given a mock trial for
killing carabaos without a license, and fined three carabaos--all he
had left--which of course went to his persecutors!
Instances of this sort of thing could be indefinitely multiplied.
Amburayan was freed from the vino traffic soon after it became a
subprovince of Lepanto-Bontoc. This alone was a great boon to its
Igorot inhabitants, who little by little were helped to assert
their rights as they gained greater confidence in their American
lieutenant-governor and learned to go to him freely with their
troubles. They had so long been helpless and hopeless that it was some
time before they could be convinced that a new day had dawned for them.
And now let us betake ourselves to the country of the real wild man,
and consider briefly past and present conditions in the subprovince
of Ifugao.
The people of the tribe known as Ifugaos are a remarkable lot. Their
country is almost entirely made up of exceptionally steep mountain
sides with hardly a naturally level piece of ground in it. On almost
precipitous slopes they have built wonderful series of irrigated rice
terraces held in position by stone retaining walls which have been laid
without mortar or cementing material of any kind, and are so skilfully
constructed that they withstand even the terrific rains which sometimes
occur during typhoons. Accurate rainfall statistics for Ifugao are not
obtainable, but, as we have seen, in the neighbouring subprovince of
Benguet, there is of record a period of twenty-four hours during which
forty-nine and nine tenths inches of rain fell! Under such conditions
as this, exceptionally good work is necessary to prevent structures of
any sort built on mountain sides from sliding into the valleys below.
Up to the time of the American occupation the Ifugaos had always
been inveterate head-hunters. Unlike the Bontoc Igorots, who depend
on large numbers of fighting men for protection, they live in small
villages usually placed in inaccessible spots which can be reached
only by ascending the almost perpendicular rice-terrace walls.
Not only were the people of this tribe then constantly fighting among
themselves, but they from time to time raided the Bontoc country or
that of the Kalingas, and they persistently victimized the people of
Nueva Vizcaya, making travel so unsafe on the main road between Nueva
Vizcaya and Isabela that the Spaniards found it necessary to maintain
several garrisons along it, and forbade private persons to pass over
it without a military escort. Even so, parties of travellers were cut
down from time to time, the savages making their attacks at the noon
hour when Spanish soldiers had a way of going to sleep beside the road.
I have already narrated my earliest experiences in this subprovince,
which occurred in 1903, and have called attention to the fact that
when I returned in 1905 I was able to traverse it from east to west
without the slightest danger. This condition of affairs was due to the
efforts of Governor Louis G. Knight, supplemented by those of Captain
L. E. Case of the Philippine constabulary, who had established his
headquarters at Banaue and had exercised a strong influence over his
unruly constituents.
Perhaps I ought to change my statement and say that order was
established by Captain Case, assisted by Governor Knight. Captain Case
was very fortunate in his dealings with the Ifugaos. He was a kindly
man, who won their friendship at the outset. He resorted to stern
measures only when such measures were so imperatively necessary that
the Ifugaos themselves fully recognized the justice of employing them.
On my trip through the Ifugao country in 1906 I was accompanied from
Mayoyao to Banaue by Lieutenant Jeff D. Gallman, who had come to the
former place to meet me. This young man had been especially selected
by Colonel Rivers, of the Philippine constabulary, to be trained for
work among the Ifugaos. Never was a selection more fortunate. When
Captain Case injured himself by over-exertion in climbing a steep,
terraced mountain side in the hot sun, and had to return to the United
States for recuperation, Gallman took up his work and devoted himself
most effectively to the task of bringing the Ifugaos under control,
protecting them, and improving their conditions. He was a dead shot
with revolver and carbine; was absolutely fearless; was of a kindly,
cheerful disposition, and soon not only won their respect but gained
their love.
As the years went by, the Ifugaos came to regard him as but little
less than a god. He had extraordinary success in training them
for service as constabulary soldiers. On the occasion of the first
general rifle competition between all the constabulary organizations
in northern Luzón ten Ifugao soldiers were sent to the lowlands to
participate. Gallman, who had trained them, was travelling with me at
the time, so they were taken down by a comparatively inexperienced
officer who, instead of selecting the best ten men from among the
ninety possible candidates, took ten from the twenty who happened to
be stationed at Mayoyao.
The hot climate of the lowlands troubled them. The Filipino
constabulary soldiers made fun of them because they wore no trousers,
and bedevilled them in various ways. The best shot among them lost his
nerve in consequence. Nevertheless, when the competition was over they
ranked Nos. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, and 10, respectively, an Ilocano
soldier from the lowlands being tied with the last man for tenth place!
Ifugao soldiers are submissive to discipline, obey orders implicitly,
and are loyal and brave to a fault. When on duty they attend strictly
to business. No prisoner ever yet escaped from one of them. This is
more than can be said of the Bontoc Igorots. It is of record that on
one occasion when a prisoner guarded by a raw recruit of the latter
tribe made a break for liberty, the recruit followed him, firing
as he ran. After missing the fleeing man five times, he threw his
carbine at him, lance-fashion, and speared him with the bayonet! So
long as an Ifugao has a cartridge in his magazine he does not indulge
in bayonet practice.
The same general policy was pursued in Ifugao which had been found
so effective elsewhere. Lines of communication were opened up;
after a short time criminals were for the most part apprehended and
turned in by the head-men themselves; whenever possible, hostile
towns were left to sulk until they had learned from the experience
of their neighbours that there was nothing to be afraid of or to
complain about, and voluntarily came into the fold; head-hunting was
suppressed with a heavy hand, but only after due warning as to what
the fate of transgressors would be. It is now some six years since a
head has been taken in this region. Travel not only in Nueva Vizcaya
but in Ifugao itself is at present absolutely safe, and general
conditions as to law and order are better than those which prevail
in many American communities. The people have been assisted in the
construction of irrigation ditches, and little by little are being
persuaded to come down from their steep and overpopulated mountain
sides to the neighbouring fertile, level vacant plains. They are loyal
and friendly to a marked degree, and I experience no greater pleasure
than that which I derive from travelling through their country.
Credit for this happy result is chiefly due to the efforts of Jeff
D. Gallman, who speedily rose to be a captain in the constabulary and
at an early date was made lieutenant-governor of Ifugao. He has done
a monumental work for civilization in the Philippines.
The Kalinga country was at the outset administered as a
part of Bontoc. This made that subprovince so large that one
lieutenant-governor could not hope satisfactorily to cover it,
especially as there were no good lines of communication. Although a
constabulary garrison was early stationed at the town of Lubuagan,
comparatively little progress was made in bringing the Kalingas under
effective control until their territory was made a separate subprovince
of the Mountain Province and Lieutenant-Governor Walter F. Hale,
of Amburayan, was transferred to it as its lieutenant-governor.
Lieutenant-Governor Hale has now been in the special government
service longer than any other man who remains in it, and has an
admirable record for quiet efficiency. Like Gallman, he is a man with
chilled-steel nerve, and he needed it in the early days in Kalinga
where the people, who had been allowed to run wild too long, did not
take as kindly to the establishment of governmental control as had
the Bontoc Igorots and the Ifugaos. The Kalingas are a fine lot of
head-hunting savages, physically magnificently developed, mentally
acute, but naturally very wild. Hale soon made friends with many of
the local chiefs, and thereafter when he received invitations from
outlying rancherias to come over and have his head taken would quietly
accept to the extent of setting out accompanied by a few soldiers,
or none at all, and talking the matter over with the people who had
made the threat! In the end they always decided that he was too good
a man to kill.
Here, as in Ifugao, we felt our way, avoiding trouble with hostile
settlements as long as it was possible to do so. And here, as in
Bontoc and Ifugao, head-hunting was abolished and law and order
were established practically without killing. In a few instances
settlements which absolutely refused to come into the fold, and
persisted in raiding and killing in the territory of people who
had already become friendly, were given severe lessons, which they
invariably took in good part.
One of the pleasant things about dealing with people like the Kalingas
and the Ifugaos is their manliness when they fight. They let one know,
so plainly that there can be no mistake about it, whether they are
friendly or hostile, and even if thoroughly whipped they bear no ill
will provided they know that they deserve a whipping, but come calmly
walking into camp to tell you that they have had enough and are going
to be good. And they keep their promises.
In Kalinga, as elsewhere throughout the Mountain Province outside of
Apayao, an admirable trail system has now been opened up and travel
is not only safe but comfortable. The people are most friendly and
loyal, and while head-hunting has not completely disappeared, cases
of it are extremely rare and occur only in the most remote parts of
the subprovince.
Apayao has proved a hard nut to crack. As previously stated, I made
a trip across this subprovince from west to east in 1906, without
encountering any hostility whatsoever. Unfortunately, the officer
who commanded my escort saw fit to go blundering back there with a
constabulary command a few weeks later. He managed to get into a fight
and was whipped and chased out of the country. A so-called punitive
expedition was then sent in, which came near meeting a similar fate,
but finally withdrew in fairly good order after having inflicted
slight damage on the town of Guennéd, the people of which made the
original attack.
Apayao was at first organized as a subprovince of Cagayan, and
Colonel Blas Villamor, who had accompanied me on my two longest
exploration trips through northern Luzón, was appointed its
lieutenant-governor. The attitude of the provincial officials of
Cagayan toward the difficult task which confronted them in Apayao was
most unsatisfactory. Indeed, the governor of that province informed me
that in his opinion the best way to settle the Apayao problem was to
kill all of the inhabitants. As Colonel Villamor reported that there
were some fifty-three thousand of them [24] this procedure would have
presented practical, as well as moral, difficulties! I myself was of
the opinion that the Apayao people, who proved to be wild Tingians,
were altogether too good to kill.
Colonel Villamor was a native of Abra, where approximately half the
population is made up of Tingians who have attained to a high degree
of civilization. He was already quite familiar with the dialect
spoken by these people, and speedily learned the language of their
wild brethren in Apayao, many of whom understood Ilocano, which was
his native tongue.
At the outset he made excellent progress in bringing his people
under control. The task was undoubtedly more difficult than that
in any other subprovince of the Mountain Province, both because the
Spaniards had failed to penetrate into this region, leaving the people
untouched by civilization up to the time of the American occupation,
and for the further reason that their head-hunting is connected with
religious beliefs. They think that when a man dies his prospect for a
good time in the future world is bad unless the members of his family
take a head within six months, and this idea has a tendency to keep
society in a somewhat disturbed condition.
For reasons which I have never been able fully to fathom, Villamor's
progress in establishing governmental control grew steadily slower as
time went by, and ultimately came to a standstill. During my absence
from the islands it was deemed best to accept his resignation, for
reasons not immediately connected with his administration of the
affairs of his subprovince. Before surrendering his post he caused
word to be spread among the Tingians that the kindly policy which
had thus far been pursued in dealing with them was to be superseded
by one of severity, greatly alarming them, and seriously retarding
work which he had quite auspiciously begun. There was absolutely no
justification for his statements, as no one thought for a moment of
dealing with the Apayao Tingians in a fashion differing at all from
that invariably followed in our relations with non-Christians in the
special government provinces.
Mr. Norman G. Connor was appointed to succeed Señor
Villamor. Mr. Connor had been acting governor of Nueva Vizcaya and
had rendered very satisfactory service. He has made material progress
in establishing control over the people of Apayao, where the work
of trail construction has now begun. At the outset communication
was maintained by boats on the Abulúg River and its branches, near
which most of the wild Tingian villages are situated, but it is a
dangerous stream to navigate, especially when in flood, and lines of
land communication must therefore be opened up.
We found the subprovince of Bontoc peopled by a tribe of wild, warlike,
head-hunting Igorots over whom the Spaniards had never been able to
establish effective control. At the time of the American occupation
their numerous settlements were constantly at war with each other,
and with the Kalingas and the Ifugaos as well.
The Bontoc Igorots build large towns and depend on the numbers of their
hardy fighting men for protection. Each town formerly kept a profit and
loss account of heads with every town of its enemies. Physically these
people are splendid men, and we soon found that they were usually both
brave and fair in their fighting, formally making and breaking peace,
and serving due notice on their enemies before attacking.
If a small town felt itself aggrieved by a big one, it would send
a messenger to say, "You have more fighting men than we have, but
they are no good! Pick fifteen of the best from your thousand and
send them to a certain place at a certain time to meet fifteen real
fighting men selected from among our five hundred." At the appointed
time the thirty warriors would meet in deadly combat, while their
fellow-townsmen looked on.
The Bontoc Igorots are naturally truthful and honest, and they soon
became most friendly, gladly bringing many of their troubles to their
lieutenant-governor for settlement. Fortunately, head-accounts between
different towns can be adjusted by proper payments made by those who
hold the highest scores. We took advantage of this fact to establish
peace between the towns, and when once established it was, as a rule,
religiously kept.
Trail construction was promptly inaugurated and has been steadily
pushed. Most of the towns have thus been made readily accessible.
When friendly relations had been established, and we were in a position
to back orders with force if necessary, settlement after settlement
was warned that head-hunting must cease and was further informed as to
what would happen if the mandate was disobeyed. Certain dare-devils
promptly broke over, partly, I fancy, to see what would happen,
and partly, no doubt, because they found the influence of tribal
customs too strong to resist. We made our warnings come true. One
settlement required three bitter lessons. For others a single mild
one sufficed. The majority of the towns were content to get their
experience vicariously. We were amazed at our own success in stopping
this horrible practice. At the outset we burned towns if their people
engaged in head-hunting. [25] The Igorots recognized the justice of
this action because the whole town was invariably cognizant of, and
party to, every head-hunting raid made by any of its people. Later,
when head-hunting became comparatively rare, we began to deal with
the individuals concerned. They were arrested, brought before the
courts, and tried like any other criminals. To-day head-hunting in
Bontoc is almost unknown. When it does occur the people themselves
usually capture and turn over the culprits.
The respect of the Bontoc Igorots for the law is extraordinary. In
1910 a Constabulary soldier shot the presidente of Tinglayan without
just cause. The people of the place rushed to arms, meaning to kill
the soldier. Chief Agpad, assisted by the son of the murdered man,
took station before the door of the house in which the assailant had
sought refuge, and the two stood off their fellow-townsmen, saying
that the government had promised to kill evil-doers and that this
man must be turned over to the government to be killed! When I passed
through their town a few weeks later, with Governor-General Forbes,
they begged to have him killed promptly.
In the early days I myself had a rather stormy clash with some of the
Bontoc Igorots. During Aguinaldo's long flight he had passed through
half a dozen of their towns, as had the American soldiers who pursued
him. The Igorots did not like this, so tore out the trail to Ifugao,
between Bontoc and Samoqui, and built high-walled rice paddies where
it had been, with the result that persons making the journey had to
use the river bed for several miles. This was all very well if the
river was low, but was no joke if it chanced to be in flood.
I ordered that the trail be rebuilt, the Igorots to be paid for their
work, and for the resulting damage to their rice fields, and this
was done.
The lieutenant-governor was a weak man, and the Igorots, after getting
their money, tore the trail out again and rebuilt their stone terrace
walls across the place where it had been, just to see what he would
do about it. He did nothing. I found things in this condition when
I arrived, and was obliged to come down the river bed at dusk, with
the result that my horse and I took several impromptu baths.
The Samoqui warriors came dancing out to meet me, playing their gansas
[26] and making a grand hullabaloo. Summoning my sternest expression,
I refused to shake hands with them, telling them to go home and to
report at Bontoc at nine the following morning.
The fighting men of the town of Bontoc met me on the other side of
the river, and I served them the same way. The official under whose
nose they had destroyed the trail was greatly alarmed, and assured me
that if I ordered it rebuilt, as I told him I would do, there would
be a fight, and the Igorots would cut the heads off all the Americans
in town, including the ladies. He added, "Think how the ladies would
look without any heads!" While this was a disquieting reflection,
I remained obdurate.
At the appointed hour the Samoqui and Bontoc men appeared, armed with
head-axes and lances. I asked them if they would rebuild that trail,
and they said no! I told them that if they did not I would cut their
main irrigating ditch and put a constabulary guard on it to see that
it was not repaired until they changed their minds. This might have
meant the loss of their rice crop. They knew me quite as well as
they did their lieutenant-governor, and promptly rebuilt the trail
for nothing, as I told them they must.
When the Mountain Province was established, the town of Bontoc
was made the capital, as Cervantes, which had been the capital of
Lepanto-Bontoc, was hot, had proved unhealthful, and was not centrally
situated. Bontoc has a cool, delightful climate, is near the geographic
center of the province, and from it radiates a road and trail system
of constantly increasing importance. Things have moved rapidly there
since the status of the place was changed.
To-day the town has modern public buildings of brick and stone. The
bricks have been made, burned and laid by Igorots. Much of the stone
has been cut and laid by Igorots. The mortar used has been mixed
by Igorots with lime burned by Igorots. Some of the carpenter work
has been done by Igorots. There is a modern hospital to which the
Igorots flock. There are schools in which Igorot boys and girls
learn the English language, and become adept in the practice of
useful industries.
Perhaps the most unique of the Bontoc institutions is the provincial
jail. Years ago I discovered to my horror that a two-year sentence
to Bilibid, the insular penitentiary, was a death sentence for a
hill-man! Not all who were sent there died, but the average term
of life of men from the hills was two years only, while those who
served out their sentences and returned to their mountain homes had
invariably become adepts in crime as the result of prolonged contact
with vicious Filipinos. I promptly drafted an act providing for
the establishment at Bontoc of a penitentiary where all prisoners
from the highlands should be confined, and the commission passed
it. The prison has been made a real educational institution. Most
of its inmates have been guilty of crimes of violence, committed in
accordance with tribal customs, and are not vicious at heart. The
jail building is perfectly sanitary. Its occupants are required to
keep their persons clean and their quarters both clean and in perfect
order. They live amid healthful surroundings and receive abundant and
nourishing food. They are taught useful trades and are compelled to
work hard, which they do not in the least mind, as industry is the
rule in the mountain country. They usually leave the jail better men
than when they entered it, and thereafter, instead of being a menace
to law and order, assist in their enforcement and maintenance.
We do odd things with some of these prisoners. Last year we paroled
a man from Ifugao who had a score of heads to his credit. Learning
that his people believed him to be dead and were greatly troubled,
we told him to go home, show himself to them, tell them how he was
treated in jail, and come back. He did it!
Proof of the kindliness of the relations which have existed with the
Bontoc Igorots is found in the fact that no member of this tribe has
ever yet turned his hand against an American. On the contrary, there
are not a few Americans who owe their lives to Igorots. Agpad, of
Tinglayan, has twice dived into rivers swollen by typhoons and rescued
Americans who had sunk for the last time beneath the rushing, muddy
waters, while their fellow-countrymen stood by paralyzed with fear.
Last year there occurred an event of profound significance. In
the past, American officials have often worked hard for days to get
representatives of two hostile towns to dance together, for this would
make friends of them. On the occasion in question there had gathered
at Bontoc to meet me representatives from every settlement in the
subprovince. Each town had brought its gansas and its dancers. On
the second day of my visit the people of one of the towns started
a dance on the plaza. They were promptly joined by representatives
from another town which had long been hostile to them. People from
yet other towns followed suit, until finally the plaza swarmed with a
great crowd of dancers in which every settlement in the subprovince
was represented. Even at that late day I should not have dared to
attempt to bring about such a thing. It happened of itself, and to
the initiated told an eloquent tale of the results of our years of
patient work!
The first time I climbed Polis Mountain, on my way from the Bontoc
country to the land of the Ifugaos, four Igorots went ahead of me,
armed with head-axes and lances, carrying their shields in position. At
each turn in the steep, worn-out trail, they drew back their lances
ready to throw. I had eighty-six armed men with me, and knew that I
might need them. To-day I travel through the length and breadth of
the Mountain Province unescorted and unarmed. Furthermore, I usually
take my wife with me.
Prior to 1903, if an Ifugao showed himself on the north side of the
Polis range he lost his head. Now people of this tribe stroll into
the town of Bontoc almost daily. They travel north through the Bontoc
Igorot country to Lubuagan, in Kalinga, and west to Cervantes, in
Lepanto, or even to Tagudin on the coast, crossing three subprovinces
on the latter trip. They also go south to Baguio.
All freight was formerly packed in from the coast on men's backs a
distance of eighty odd miles over steep, narrow, stony trails which
were really foot-paths. Now it comes in carts over a good road which
has a maximum grade of six per cent.
The people of the settlement had to get their water from the river. Now
it is piped into town.
There was not a shop in the place, and every one had to go to the
coast to make the smallest purchases. There are at present half a
dozen good stores, beside the provincial exchange, a store where the
government sells the Igorots what they want at reasonable prices,
thus preventing shopkeepers from overcharging them.
Commodious quarters for visiting Igorots and Ifugaos have been
provided, and there is a fine market where they may display and sell
their products. This market is a busy place.
The population is rapidly increasing, now that head-hunting has
practically ceased. The area of cultivated lands steadily grows larger,
for the men are freed from the necessity of being constantly under
arms, and we are helping them to get more irrigation water, so that
they can extend their rice fields.
There are a thousand or so Bontoc Igorots in Benguet to-day,
contracting for railroad excavation work. Times have changed.
When Nueva Vizcaya was first organized, its non-Christian inhabitants
greatly outnumbered its Filipino population, as there were at least
one hundred fifteen thousand Ifugaos in addition to several thousand
Ilongots and a few Benguet Igorots, locally known as Isinayes,
who had strayed over the boundary line. With the transfer of the
Ifugao territory to the Mountain Province, the Filipinos were left
in the decided majority. Later all of the Ilongot territory which
had previously belonged to the provinces of Isabela, Tayabas, Nueva
Ecija and Pangasinán was added to Nueva Vizcaya, in order that the
members of this wild and primitive tribe might be brought under one
provincial administration.
The Ilongots are a strictly forest-inhabiting people. Many of them
have a considerable admixture of Negrito blood and live a semi-nomadic
life. Their settlements, which are small and more or less transient,
are usually situated in remote and inaccessible places surrounded by
the densest jungle. It is at present impracticable to open up horse
trails through their country, for the number of inhabitants is so
small, in comparison with the area occupied, that such trails could
not be built with Ilongot labour, nor indeed could they be maintained
even if built. One main trail is, however, being constructed, and it
is planned to build foot trails from this to the more important of
the settlements which it does not reach.
A special assistant to the Provincial Governor of Nueva Vizcaya for
work among the Ilongots has been appointed and assigned to duty at
Baler, on the Pacific coast of Luzón, from which place he can more
conveniently reach the Ilongots east of the coast range. These people
were very wild at the outset, and it proved difficult to establish
friendly relations with them, but this has now been successfully
accomplished, and their fear of the white man is largely a thing of
the past.
There is a school for Ilongot children at Campoté. They prove to be
bright, capable pupils.
At the same place there has been established a government exchange,
where the Ilongots can sell such articles of their own manufacture as
they wish to market, and can purchase what they need at moderate cost.
They still fight more or less with each other, but depredations by
them upon Filipinos have ceased.
CHAPTER XXII
THE GOVERNMENT OF THE NON-CHRISTIAN TRIBES (continued)
The province of Mindoro includes numerous small islands, all peopled
by Tagálogs, and the main island of Mindoro, which has a narrow broken
fringe of Tagálog settlements along its coast. Its whole interior
is populated, so far as it is inhabited at all, by the Mangyans,
a primitive semi-nomadic tribe which is of Malayan origin but has
considerable Negrito blood. No one knows even approximately how many
of them there are, for although the island has been crossed in several
different places, much of it is still quite unexplored. In most of
the interior regions thus far visited the population is very sparse,
but one quite thickly settled district has been found. It is believed
that the Mangyans number something like 15,000.
The Filipino settlements were so disorderly, filthy, and unhealthy
that the energies of the first governor, Captain R. G. Offley, and
those of his successor, Captain Louis G. Van Schaick, were to a large
extent expended in efforts for the betterment of the Tagálogs. It
is a pleasure to record the fact that these efforts met with a very
large degree of success.
The condition of most of the Tagálog towns is now good. Mangarin
is the chief exception to this statement. Its surroundings are such
as to make it impossible successfully to combat malaria, from which
every one of its inhabitants suffers. We are still endeavouring to
persuade its unfortunate people to move to a healthy site!
Governor Offley did some work for the Mangyans. They have advanced
but slightly beyond the Negritos in civilization. Many of them live
under shelters not worthy of the name of huts, and in the vicinity
of Mt. Halcon even the women are clad only in clouts. Houses are
placed singly in the dense forests, or at the most are gathered in
very small groups. It proved a most difficult undertaking to persuade
any considerable number of Mangyans to gather together and construct
decent dwellings. It had been their custom to abandon their forest
homes whenever a death occurred, leaving behind all their belongings,
and perhaps even changing their names on the theory that their old
names were unlucky and new ones might prove advantageous.
With admirable patience Governor Offley organized a little village
called Lalauigan on the south coast of Mindoro. Lalauigan has
prospered. It is very clean; the houses of its Mangyan residents are
quite presentable. The neighbouring fields are planted with corn and
rice. It has a school, and the children prove to be apt pupils.
Another Mangyan village, organized near the west coast, was
short-lived. The Tagálog Filipinos look with great disfavour on
the gathering of the Mangyans into settlements where they can be
protected, as this renders it difficult to hold them in a state of
peonage. Whenever Governor Offley got a little group together, they
did their best to scatter it. In this instance they passed the word
that smallpox had broken out in a neighbouring Tagálog village. All
Mangyans are deathly afraid of this disease, and this particular set
built a great fire, jumped through the flames to purify themselves
from contagion, took to the hills, and have not been seen since!
While in hearty sympathy with the admirable work which was being
done among the Tagálogs, I was dissatisfied with the failure to push
explorations in the interior more actively and to get more closely
in touch with the wild inhabitants. When the Tagálog settlements
had at last been put in really good condition, I gave Governor Van
Schaick, who had succeeded Governor Offley, positive instructions
that more attention must be paid to the Mangyans. He then began
active explorations, and pushed them with considerable success up
to the time when he was compelled to tender his resignation by the
terms of the Army Appropriation Bill for 1913, which necessitated
his return to his regiment. Prior to his departure he succeeded in
establishing a new Mangyan village which has continued to prosper up
to the present time. His successor, Governor R. E. Walters, was kept
from actively pushing exploration work during the past "dry" season,
by unprecedented rains.
Road and trail construction began several years ago and is going
forward as rapidly as limited funds will permit.
The great trouble with the Tagálogs of Mindoro is that nature has
been too kind to them. They have only to plough a bit of ground
at the beginning of the rainy season, scatter a little rice on it,
and harvest the crop when ripe, to be able to live idly the rest of
the year, and too many of them adopt this course. However, some good
towns, like Pinamalayan, are waking up as the result of immigration
from Marinduque.
Two great services have been rendered to the more orderly of the
inhabitants of Mindoro, which was, in Spanish days, a rendezvous
for evil-doers from Luzón. Indeed, it was the most disorderly
province north of Mindanao. An excellent state of public order has
been established, and there has not been an armed ladrone [27] in
the province for years. It was famous for its "bad climate." We have
shown that its climate is good, making its towns really healthful by
merely cleaning them up.
The establishment of a great modern sugar estate on the southwest
coast has doubled the daily wage, and given profitable employment
to all who wanted to work, and the people are beginning to bestir
themselves. The public schools, of which every town has one, are
materially assisting the awakening now in progress.
Palawan, like Mindoro, is made up of one large island, which bears
the name of the province, and a number of smaller ones. Indeed, it
includes more small islands than does any other province, with the
possible exception of Moro.
The bulk of its Christian population are found on the smaller islands,
several of which are very thickly settled.
The non-Christian inhabitants are divided between three tribes,--the
Moros, Tagbanuas and Bataks. The latter are Negritos of very pure
blood. Their number is quite limited. They extend across the island
from the east coast to the west in the region north of Bahia Honda.
Until within a short time there have been Moro settlements scattered
along both east and west coasts of the southern third of the main
island. The Moro population of Palawan is largely composed of renegades
who have been driven out of Joló, Tawi Tawi, Cagayan de Joló, British
North Borneo and Banguey by their own people because of infractions of
the laws of their tribe. When the province was organized, they were
not cultivating a hectare of land amongst them. They lived in part
by fishing, but chiefly on what they stole, or on the products of the
labour of the hill people in the interior, many of whom they enslaved
or held in a state of peonage, taking their rice and other agricultural
products with or without giving compensation, as seemed to them good.
The hill people, who occupy the higher mountains in the interior of
southern Palawan, and who in the central and northern portions of the
island extend down to the very coast, are known as Paluanes in the
south and as Tagbanuas elsewhere. Tagbanuas are also found on Dumarán
and Linapácan, and quite generally throughout the Calamianes Islands,
especially on Culion and Busuanga. I have failed to discover any real
tribal differences between the Paluanes and the Tagbanuas and believe
that they should be classed as one people, although the Paluanes are
more inclined to stand up for their rights than are the Tagbanuas, and
by using blow guns and poisoned arrows have succeeded in keeping the
Moros out of the interior highlands. They were, however, long forced
to trade with the Moros in order to obtain cloth, steel, salt and other
things not produced in their own country, and so were at their mercy.
The Tagbanuas are a rather timid and docile people, giving evidence
of a considerable amount of Negrito blood. They are at times quite
industrious, and raise considerable quantities of rice and camotes,
but live, in part, on fish, game and forest products.
Communication in this province was very difficult. The main island
of Palawan, which is some two hundred fifty miles in length and very
narrow, extends in a northeasterly and southwesterly direction, and as
a result both of its coasts are swept by each monsoon so that there
are only about two months of the year when travel by sea in small
boats is comfortable and safe. At the outset there was not a mile of
trail on the island. This latter condition is being rapidly remedied.
The first governor appointed for the newly established province of
Palawan was Lieutenant E. Y. Miller, U. S. A., a man of splendid
physique, tireless energy, and indomitable courage.
Governor Miller set to work very actively to better the condition of
the Filipinos and to establish friendly and helpful relations with
the non-Christians.
The bulk of the Christians are unusually poor and ignorant and
many of them were held in a miserable state of peonage by a few
caciques. Vigorous efforts extending through a long term of years
have weakened the grip of the caciques, but have by no means broken it.
At an early date the new governor won the admiration of the Moros, who
like courage, by a series of very brave acts. A number of constabulary
soldiers who were coasting along the west shore of Palawan in a
sail-boat went ashore, leaving their rifles on board guarded by two
or three of their comrades. They also left several Moros on the boat,
and the latter, watching their opportunity, killed the guards and
got away with the rifles, taking them to Dato Tumay, their chief,
who armed his people with them.
Governor Miller, with Captain Louden, of the constabulary company
concerned, promptly attacked Tumay's place and drove him into the
hills. Tumay took refuge in a Tagbanua village, never dreaming that
he would be pursued into the mountain fastnesses. Miller and his
companions succeeded in getting into the place before Tumay knew
they were in the vicinity, and there followed a fight to the death
at close quarters. Two soldiers, standing one to the right and one to
the left of Governor Miller, were shot dead, but he was not scratched.
On a number of other occasions he displayed a bravery approaching
recklessness. Hearing that a fleet of some fifty Moro boats had put
to sea on a piratical expedition, he embarked in a twenty-foot launch
accompanied only by a captain of constabulary, and the two of them
ran down and disarmed the pirates and sent them home. They nearly sank
their tiny launch with the dead weight of the weapons which they took
on board. The thing seems preposterous, and only Miller's extraordinary
moral influence over these unruly people made it humanly possible.
When I visited Palawan on my regular inspection trip in the year 1909,
I found Mrs. Miller much worried about her husband, who was absent from
the capital, having gone to arrest some Moro murderers at Lara. As
usual, he had taken with him only a constabulary captain and three
or four soldiers, and Mrs. Miller feared that he might be killed.
I hastened down the coast of the island at the full speed of my
steamer, keeping a close watch for his boat, and finally located
it at Bonabóna, where he had succeeded in arresting several of the
criminals. On his way down he had stopped at Lara and had learned
that a brother of the local chief, Dato Pula, was responsible for the
murder, having ordered it and paid the assassins who committed it,
one of whom was lurking in the vicinity, while others had gone to
Bonabóna. Governor Miller called upon Dato Pula to deliver both his
brother and the murderer, who was then at Lara, and stated that he
would be back on a certain day to receive them. As he insisted on
returning at the appointed time and attempting to arrest these men,
I took him on my steamer, together with his American companion and
one constabulary soldier. The other soldiers remained on his boat to
guard the prisoners he had already taken.
We returned to Lara, but were unable to land in front of the
town as a heavy surf was thundering on the beach. A mile to the
north we found a sheltered spot where we could safely disembark
and our little party, consisting of Governor Miller armed with a
six-shooter, a constabulary captain armed with a Winchester shotgun
and a six-shooter, a constabulary soldier armed with a carbine,
ex-Insurgent Colonel Pablo Tecson armed with my double-barrelled
shotgun, Governor Pack of the Mountain Province, my brother George
S. Worcester, and my stenographer, all of whom were without weapons,
and myself carrying an automatic Winchester rifle, marched on the
town. Governor Miller sent the soldier ahead to warn the Moros that
they must meet us unarmed. A small reception committee did so.
On the very outskirts of Lara we waded a creek nearly up to our necks
in water, then marched up the street and entered Pula's house. Just as
we did so I saw twenty or thirty fully armed Moros come in on the run
and hastily conceal themselves in one of the numerous neighbouring
houses. I further promptly discovered that two rooms partitioned
off in the corners of the great living room of Pula's house were
crowded full of men armed to the teeth, and that a second-story
room, immediately under the roof and over our heads, was similarly
occupied. I asked Governor Pack quietly to ascertain how many of
the houses in the village were occupied by fully equipped fighting
men, and he soon informed me that every one of them was packed. We
estimated that there were several hundred warriors in town, which
meant that Pula had raked the coast of the island north and south
for miles and brought in every male Moro big enough to wield a weapon.
We seated ourselves on a table, back to back and facing out, with
our own weapons very handy, and had a talk with Pula which lasted
until late in the afternoon. Standing within striking distance of us
most of the day, were two stalwart Moros, each of whom had a kriss
dagger firmly gripped in his right hand and concealed between his
folded arms. When one remembers that the average Moro fighter does
not seem to know when he is dead, but keeps on doing damage after he
ought to be busily occupied in passing to the other world, it will
be seen that our situation left much to be desired.
Under the pretext of sending for a phonograph with which to entertain
the crowd while our negotiations continued, I communicated with
the captain of our steamer, advising him of the facts. He got out
ammunition for his two one-pounder rapid-fire guns and took up a
position immediately in front of the town. We did not ask him for
reënforcements, believing that any attempt on his part to send them
would precipitate an attack on us.
Never did I pass a more peculiar, or a more unpleasant, day. Miller
steadfastly insisted that Pula's brother and the hired assassin be
given up. Pula produced two thoroughly cowed Tagbanuas whom he had
induced by threats to declare that they had committed the murders,
and most emphatically declined to turn over either his brother or
the true murderer. Our discussions were punctuated by tunes played
on the phonograph which created great excitement among the Moros,
some of whom got up and danced to the music!
Finally, late in the afternoon, Pula gave in, turned the murderer
over to us, and promised to turn over his brother, but said that
the latter must first be allowed to go home to get some clothes,
and that he would then send him on board our ship.
We improved this our first opportunity to beat a retreat without
losing face. Our Moro "friends" bid us good-by on the beach, then
armed themselves and followed us at a short distance as we marched
back to the landing place where our launch was pounding in the surf,
awaiting our return. Three strong fighting parties came out of the
dense vegetation which bordered the beach immediately after we had
passed the places where they were concealed. They had obviously been
waiting there to cut off our retreat if trouble started, and could
most certainly have done it. In fact, they could have shot us down
from the brush without showing themselves.
It required all the self-control which I could muster to keep my
back toward the strong and constantly growing group of armed men who
followed us, and to look unconcerned, yet I knew, as did every other
member of the party, that our seeing the light of another day probably
depended on our ability to do both things. The slightest evidence of
alarm would have precipitated a fight which could have had but one
outcome for us.
When opposite the launch, we turned and faced the Moros and then the
several members of the party went aboard, one at a time. Never did a
widening strip of water look better to me than did that which finally
began to separate us from the shore.
To our great amazement Dato Pula kept his word and sent his brother
on board!
No man ever laboured more diligently for the good of alien peoples
than did Governor Miller. He evolved a wise plan for improving the
condition of the Tagbanuas living in the vicinity of Puerto Princesa,
many of whom, as is so often the case with the uncivilized peoples of
the Philippines, were reduced to a state of peonage by their Filipino
neighbours. A large reservation was set aside for their exclusive use,
and they were persuaded to retire to it. At the cost of infinite labour
and pains Governor Miller built there a fine set of school buildings,
and the Bureau of Education started a school which gives instruction
in English, arithmetic and manual training to Tagbanua boys and girls.
Governor Miller's keen interest in this project led him to stop to
inspect the progress of the work when returning from a long trip around
the island. In the face of a coming storm he ascended the Aborlan River
to the school site, where he remained until after dark, oblivious
of the fact that a tremendous downpour of rain in the neighbouring
mountains had produced a sudden flood in the river. Returning to
his launch, he jumped on board and cast off before the engine was
started. The current swept the launch away like a straw, carried it in
close to the bank, and an overhanging branch, which ordinarily would
have been high above the water, struck the governor a stunning blow
on the head, knocking him overboard. He never came to the surface,
and twenty-four hours elapsed before his body was recovered.
Mr. John H. Evans, then serving a
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