Chapter XVIII.
THE END OF SPANISH RULE.
One of the first things that General Primo de Rivera did after his arrival, for the second time, in the islands, was to issue a proclamation offering amnesty to all who would lay down their arms. Many of the Filipinos who were in revolt accepted the offer, and pledged allegiance to Spain.
They were driven to this step by their fears. The Filipino forces were weakened and discouraged. General Polavieja had carried on the campaign against them with such savage cruelty that the people were filled with terror. No quarter had been given by the Spanish, and in Cavite Province alone over 30,000 Filipinos had lost their lives. Aguinaldo had left Cavite, which province was now cleared of the Filipino forces, and had joined General Llaneras (lyän ār´äs), who was leading the Filipinos in the north, beyond Pampanga.
The state of the country at this time was pitiful. No crops had been planted; there was no food for the people; their young carabaos had been killed; the rice and camotes were all gone. War had reduced the country to a wilderness. Everywhere the authorities were seeking to put down the rebellion, but their cruel measures actually made rebels of the people. The Filipino priests and curates were put in chains, were flogged and tortured, to make them tell what they might have learned, through the confessional, of the secret societies and the movements of the people.
The Spanish campaign in Manila was being conducted by General Monet (Mō´nāt), and there, too, no mercy was shown to natives so unfortunate as to be captured. In Pangasinan General Nuñez (nön´yeth) was fighting the rebels. The war was waged with bitterness; no quarter was given on either side, and the natives lost no opportunity to avenge the punishment which the Spaniards visited upon them.
By this time the rainy weather was telling severely on the unseasoned Spanish soldiers. There was much sickness among them, so that the military hospitals were full. The soldiers had not been paid for several months, and they were bitterly discontented.
The Filipinos, too, were suffering severely. They were poorly fed and poorly armed; but they kept up a constant petty warfare that was very trying to the Spanish, although it was useless, so far as gaining any real end was concerned. They now held two places, Angat (än´gät) and San Mateo, in Bulacan Province. These had been fortified securely, and they were by nature such fortresses that it would have been almost impossible for the Spanish to dislodge any force from them. The Filipinos were not, however, strong enough to make any effective warfare against the enemy, but had to content themselves with holding these two places and harassing the Spanish as much as they could.
On the 2d of July, 1897, the governor-general issued an edict commanding all who were concerned in the rebellion to report themselves to the Spanish authorities by July 10. The edict also ordered all officers, military and civil, to prevent the people from leaving the towns or villages, except to till the fields, to look after their farm properties, or do their daily work. All who were allowed to go out on such business must be provided with passes stating where they were going, by what road they should travel, when they should return, and what was their errand. Any Filipino staying out over time, or found on any road or in any place not mentioned in the pass, was to be treated as a rebel. The edict also declared that after July 10 all persons would be obliged to prove their identity by “cedula personal,” together with the pass. Anyone who failed to observe these orders, it was declared, would be tried by court-martial.