Location of G. Del Pilar's looted effects

[insurrectomad]

Has any of the items looted from the corps of Greg. Del Pilar at Tirad Pass ever been located in the States? I'm also interested to Know the whereabouts of the documents seized by the Americans from Gen. Makabulos at Tarlac. One solitary button was returned which the Hist. Museum in Manila labeled as coming from Del Pilar's tunic worn at Tirad. He wore a new khaki uniform that day, but this button is still sewn to a piece of rayadillo. it is silver and triangular in shape with a triangle & 3 stars (one at each corner) and the Malay freedom symbol in the center. Just asking!!! David

[dimasalang]

Feb 28, 2009 7:39:52 GMT -5 insurrectomad said:

Has any of the items looted from the corps of Greg. Del Pilar at Tirad Pass ever been located in the States? I'm also interested to Know the whereabouts of the documents seized by the Americans from Gen. Makabulos at Tarlac. One solitary button was returned which the Hist. Museum in Manila labeled as coming from Del Pilar's tunic worn at Tirad. He wore a new khaki uniform that day, but this button is still sewn to a piece of rayadillo. it is silver and triangular in shape with a triangle & 3 stars (one at each corner) and the Malay freedom symbol in the center. Just asking!!! David

Nope. All that stuff is unaccounted for.
One important document was the diary that was turned in and kept personally by Peyton March; along with all the official documents and love letters written to and from his fiancee Delores Jose...all of it has to be somewhere. Out of all the generals, del Pilar’s story seems to be the most famous and the most romanticized about…Particularly because he was good looking, so young, and in love. Another sad point in this story that seems to always be left out; del Pilar was to be wed at Dagupan City, Pangasinan just 2 weeks prior to his death, the Americans forces entered Dagupan just days before the wedding date and del Pilar had to leave…sad really. I bet it would not be too hard to find out who Delores Jose was and what became of her...she was said to be from a well known family of Pangasinan, but it seems no one has tried uncovering those facts either.

[insurrectomad]

Nick Joaquin wrote in his book "A Question of Heroes" I strongly recommend it, that our baby faced hero was in fact willing, and preparing to carry out Aguinaldo's instruction to assassinate Luna when events made his trip unnecessary. He personally tortured Luna's most loyal and close friends and supporters, directed the murders of pro Luna officers in the 'field' and oversaw to disbandment of some of Luna's regts. N. Joaquin also contends that "Goyo" died as a result of his vain stupidity at Tirad Pass! Book cost P195 at Phil. Nat.Book Store. ISBN 971-27-1546-9 (np) ISBN 971-27-1545-0 (bp) Anvil Pub. Various contemparies of "Goyo" brand him as a Cad having a string of "sweethearts" at a time. I do remember on the TV show 'Antique Road Show' a Catholic priest sold a 18th cent. old Spanish painting of a saint for around 2 million dollars after it had been valued at $200. It was dark and had been put in the vestry years ago. Donated to the church around 1900! Looted from the Philippines perhaps? The Us troops looted so much it took trains loaded full to remove from the ships returning from the Phils.

[dimasalang]

Nick Joaquin makes all of our heroes out to be selfish criminals, and evil. Every hero has dirt on them, and there are two sides to every coin...we see the forefathers of the US and patriotic heroes, but on the other side you can also say they were evil selfish traitors. The dirt Nick Joaquin digs up is his interpretation and his way of explaining how serious these issues were...there are ways of explaining things and there are extreme ways of explain things. Making mountains out of mole hills so to speak. Personally I hate reading most writings from him.

[insurrectomad]

take your point, Dimasalang, as I had never read or heard of N. Joaguin before. Given all the rumours & divisions within the Republican high command, Luna's raging temper and wild behavour, it's little wonder Aquinaldo saw him as a grave threat! Aquinaldo knew he could not dismiss Luna from the army as he coursed more disturbances when away from the battlefront and circulating his national newspaper, don't you feel?

[dimasalang]

Mar 5, 2009 7:06:57 GMT -5 insurrectomad said:

take your point, Dimasalang, as I had never read or heard of N. Joaguin before. Given all the rumours & divisions within the Republican high command, Luna's raging temper and wild behavour, it's little wonder Aquinaldo saw him as a grave threat! Aquinaldo knew he could not dismiss Luna from the army as he coursed more disturbances when away from the battlefront and circulating his national newspaper, don't you feel?

Aguinaldo had no choice but to kill Luna. He was in a catch-22. Kill Luna, morale and support will cease. Or, keep Luna alive, and face civil war and divide the country in two. Killing Luna is the better choice even if it meant destroying ones self and character and losing troop support...also, if he left Luna alive it would of shown tremendous weakness on his part, he had to show and prove he was still the head hancho in charge. Afterwards that all backfired...funny how he did not learn anything when he off'd Bonifacio during the revolution.

I believe I mentioned this before somewhere, when congress asked Taft if the Philippines should be given independence just as they gave to Cuba, Taft used Aguinaldos killing of Luna and Bonifacio as an example as to why the Philippines should remain under control. Elaborating further to congress that such a man and his devious government cronies would be left to rule the Philippines and it would be tyranny for the islands all over again...in essence America was doing the Philippine natives a favor by colonizing the islands and protecting them from Aguinaldo and/or outsides countries that would eventually invade. Even some of the anti-imperialists couldn't refute that point.

I consider Aguinaldo one of our national heroes, but he is not one of my favorites and I hold little respect for the man.

[insurrectomad]

A similar situation befell Gen Micheal Collins in Ireland following the the Brits, granting Independence to 20 of the 26 counties of the country. The leader Develera wanted to continue fighting for all 26 counties, but Collins hand already agreed & signed a peace agreement. WW1 having ended the British Army could now be transferred from Europe to Ireland and inflict a "Barbarous war of terror" as W. Churchill vowed (then UK Cabinet minister) or sign a peace agreement. Civil war broke out between the 2 republican factions. Collins led the Irish National Army & Develera the Irish Republican Army (IRA) . Collins was invited to a secret conference to be held between Himself & Develera who was in hiding in the hills. Rushing to make the meeting, Collins's small escort were ambushed at a narrow pass by snipers in the rocks high above. Collins was shot, leared to his death by his president.

[mag]

i went to a museum in malolos back in the 1990's. i was surprised to find that on display were the supposed effects (letter, buttons, silver thingee, cant really remember) of the boy general supposedly returned by a private in the US Army. I asked the curator about it and I was told that the museum received a package from the states containing the effects. I surprised that this bit of information has not been publicized. dont know if its still there.

[VeeVee]

Thanks for that info. Do you remember what the museum's name is?

[gaspy]

I cant remember. but it was very near the church.

[paopadd]

It will be nice to know more about these relics... anyway, inside the (private ) Aguinaldo Museum of Baguio City there is an original flag of Hen Gregorio del Pilar, there is also a spanish flag captured by him when fought against spanish troops.

[bulikiti2]

Is anybody familiar with Gen. Simeon Ola?

[insurrectomad]

I saw the button of Gen. Greg. Del Pila at the National History Museum in T. Kalaw Street, Manila, 6yrs ago. It is a silver trianguler shaped button, small and flat with a star incised on it comprising 2 triangles (one upside down). it is still stitched to a tiny piece of Rayadillo cloth. I don't think it is a tunic button as the shape would not be easy to keep undoing and being thin plate would soon get bent. Del Pilar wore a new Khaki uniform that day. I believe that if it was taken form his body then it is more likely to be a shirt button. I don't recall any other of his personal items being on display on display. There was Aguinaldo's epaulette 'boards' in the same glass cabinet. I did not see the letter. That is not to say all these items were there but at that time the dispay units were very old and shabby, dusty and inscriptions very faded with age being hand written. The lighting was very poor also. Since then the authorities have been restoring the museum. Alas being a Filipino Govt. project it has ground to a halt due to lack of money ("The budget isn't sufficient to complete the project at this time"). The same old story from one end of the country to the other. Corruption & theft ensure no official works is 100% successful. It is still closed, with no sign of work in progress when passing the museum in Jan. 2009! Confirmed on the tourist website "Closed until further notice". Where the relics are being kept, I don't know but I pray somewhere safe and secure from the elements & rats!--Insurrectomad

[RayAdillO]

I wonder if the Philippine Military Academy has any personal effects or relics of General Del Pilar? It is, after all, "Fort Del Pilar"?

Another unlikely but still plausible factor which may have caused the scarcity of Del Pilar artifacts for public display may be some notion that these can be used as "anting-anting" or "aphrodisiacs", knowing of our cultural mania for occult mystics and the boy-general's celebrated winning ways with the ladies?

I wouldn't be surprised at all if his bones were grounded up into powder to make potions or "gayuma",...he, he. ;D

[RayAdillO]

Mar 5, 2009 7:06:57 GMT -5 insurrectomad said:

take your point, Dimasalang, as I had never read or heard of N. Joaguin before. Given all the rumours & divisions within the Republican high command, Luna's raging temper and wild behavour, it's little wonder Aquinaldo saw him as a grave threat! Aquinaldo knew he could not dismiss Luna from the army as he coursed more disturbances when away from the battlefront and circulating his national newspaper, don't you feel?

Here are a few additional things with regards to Luna and Aguinaldo:

1) The feud really began when the Americans started attracting some highly influential members of Aguinaldo's own cabinet with a promise of "autonomy" as a compromise short of independence.

2) So the division was between a "peace faction" that was pro-autonomy vs the "war faction" made up of those who were for outright independence, the war faction being championed by Antonio Luna.

3) As president of the Philippine Republic, it was a matter of honor that Aguinaldo should not be seen as favoring any compromise solution short of an independence recognition from the U.S., without at least satisfying the "Honor of Filipino Arms". One or two noisy and spectacular european style battles would be have been enough.

But what could he do? Here was Antonio Luna who egging him on to fight to the last, go into guerilla warfare and so on.

4) Aguinaldo's main problem was he never really thought that winning a war against the U.S. was possible, and not without good reason. So if the war was inevitably going to be lost anyway, his best option was to be the sole Filipino arbiter of any peace which the Americans would be able to get with the Filipinos.

It's like the situation in WW2 where the Americans realized that the key person to talk to in totally ending the war with Japan was the Japanese emperor himself.

This means that the Americans had no choice but to respect the imperial dignity of the emperor of Japan. Likewise, if Aguinaldo can convince the Americans that he was the only person of such stature then the U.S. will have to recognize some semblance of his own personal authority over the Filipinos. So even as the U.S. gains control over the Philippines, it will still be through Aguinaldo. In that way, Aguinaldo gets to consolidate power.

Come to think of it, even should the U.S. have recognized Philippine Independence in 1898, Aguinaldo knew very well that he would still need U.S. backing to prop up his regime which would have essentially brought the same scenario.

It wasn't at all Luna's hot temper which caused Aguinaldo to fear and dislike him. It would have suited Aguinldo just fine had Luna been just another pompous, hot headed, and unpopular general in the army. Aguinaldo initially hired Luna only because he felt it would help improve his relations with overseas illustrados (like his brother, Juan Luna).

Aguinaldo's big mistake was at the very beginning, he gave general Luna no particular command nor clear and specific duties, Luna sort of just found for himself things to do. Aguinaldo never countermanded anything Luna did, but never backed up or gave him support either, hoping perhaps that would keep the guy in check. But then, this only made Antonio Luna more independent of Aguinaldo's control.

What Aguinaldo truly feared was tha Luna was gaining a cosiderable following from within the ranks of the army, this is what made Luna a very dangerous man.

And when you have a dangerous man in your midst, you don't just let him go or accept his resignation. You will fear that he is fully capable of mischief from the outside, moreso when you can't monitor his activties. This is why Aguinaldo insisted on keeping Luna.

I think the turining point when Aguinaldo felt it was really time for Luna to "disappear" was when Mascardo started to obey Luna's orders. If Luna can cow a man like Mascardo, then he can make anyone else follow him. This sealed Luna's fate.

Luna knew that the position in Calumpit was going to be a loser anyway. Luna wanted guerilla warfare to begin already. Holding a fixed line in a conventional battle and expending away his best troops in the effort would have been a waste of time and resources. In that sense it was a sideshow compared to the "example" he wanted to make with the insubordination of Mascardo.

BTW, I have read your storyline script and I thnik it's pretty good. I guess it really depends on who are the people funding this project and what are their expectations. If it is a theatrical play to be filmed then that puts limitations which are not the same as a "short film" , a TV series, or docu-drama. I would always prefer to do a music video as you can put a large amount of images, symbolisms and thoughts into a less than a five minute production.

[dimasalang]

Apr 6, 2009 4:25:44 GMT -5 RayAdillO said:

I wonder if the Philippine Military Academy has any personal effects or relics of General Del Pilar? It is, after all, "Fort Del Pilar"?

On my last trip to the Philippines, 2006, I visited the PMA in Baguio and ventured over to their museum. I also figured, since the PMA is named after the general, they should obviously have some sort of artifacts related to del Pilar. To my surprise, they didn't have anything in regards to del Pilar.

[insurrectomad]

I have spoken with Jayson Pabalan of the Bicong Del Rosarrio's Academy of Per. Arts in Angeles, Pam., about the idea of making a musical DVD of 2-5mins long; & he is very keen & willing to do it. We plan to meet-up after Easter with Danny Dizon, who is also on the committee ! We are blessed in Pampanga with some very influentual people who are directly descended from prim personal who feature in our story. These Include The President, Prov. Govnr, Mayor, and major company owners. At the moment we need a song to get started. I've asked the lads of BNK in Manila to buy a couple of CD's of period songs & marching tunes. We already have some cracking good singers. A showing on YouTube would help promote a DVD to raise finance for a short Film & could act as a key to gaining the interest of TV producers & TV Chat Hosts. The Pinoy TV station in LA may show greater interest than Manila. Regarding the PMA in Bagio, one must remember it was created by the Americans for American Colonial Officers & to this day the Phil. Army is still enraptured by everything American, I think. No attempt has been made by the PMA to get involved with any event or activity related to the Fil. Republican Army or the Army of the Revolution before it. Do thay have Rayadillo uniforms of the time? Mausers or Remingtons? Dedicated museum, or historical research center (Like the one in Sandhurst Milt. Academy in England)? Have they thought to recreate a example of the fine trenches, blockhses or barricades of the 1896-904 period? No to the lot! I asked Danny Dizon, if The PMA had made any effort to secure the old cadet rifles that the Nat. Security Dept. & Police had removed from college cadet units and stores to impound. He threw his hands up & shook his head. It is most likely they have been destroyed. When I was Visiting the PMA in Bagio back in 2003, I got the impression that any thing relating to events prior to 1942 was of no interest & events before the 1920's was 'Taboo'. The film 'Balar' may awaken a spark of interest amongst some people in Phils. but it still shows the 'Patriots' in a poor & negative light, alas. -Insurrectomad