When General Diego de los Rios evacuated the Visayas Islands and brought his Spanish troops to Manila, en route for Spain, January, 1899, he himself remained in Manila as a Spanish Government Agent to obtain the release of the prisoners. For the special purpose, by courtesy of the American authorities, he held a kind of semi-official position; but he did not care to risk his person within the rebel lines. A Spanish merchant, Don Antonio Fuset, president of the Spanish Club, undertook the negotiations, and succeeded in inducing Apolinario Mabini to issue a decree signed by Aguinaldo and himself, dated January 22, 1899, giving liberty to all invalid civilians and soldiers. Simultaneously the Spanish Press in Manila was abusing Aguinaldo and his officers, calling them monkeys and using epithets which brought down their vengeance on the captives themselves.
The outbreak of the War of Independence (February 4, 1899) precluded direct American intervention in favour of the Spanish prisoners. General Rios, whose importance was being overshadowed by Señor Fusetʼs productive activity, cabled to Madrid that he would attend to the matter himself. But the didactic tone of his letters to Aguinaldo was not conducive to a happy result, and having frankly confessed his failure, the general made an appeal to the consuls and foreign merchants to exercise conjointly their influence. A letter of appeal from them was therefore drawn up and confided for delivery in the insurgent camp to my late friend Baron Du Marais.[2] This chivalrous gentleman, well known as the personification of integrity and honour, had resided many years in the Islands and spoke Tagálog fluently. On reaching the insurgent camp he was imprisoned on the charge of being a spy, but was shortly afterwards released, and on his way back to the capital he was waylaid by the natives, who foully murdered him. Señor Fuset then resumed his labours, and, as a result of his appeal to the generosity of his countrymen, he was able to set out for Boac and Batangas in the little steamer Castellano to carry supplies to the prisoners detained in those localities. On his journey he distributed to them 500 cotton suits, 290 pairs of shoes, 100 pairs of alpargatas (a sort of hempen shoe or sandal made in Spain), 14,375 packets of cigarettes, and ₱1,287. Several subsequent expeditions carried supplies to the prisoners, the total amount of material aid furnished to them, in goods and money, being estimated at ₱60,000.
After five months of fruitless effort General Diego de los Rios left Manila for Spain on June 3, 1899, and was succeeded by General Nicolás Jaramillo as the negotiator representing Spain. Moreover, it was desirable to recall General Rios, whose cablegrams commenting on the Americansʼ military operations were making him a persona non grata in official circles.
With the requisite passes procured from Aguinaldo, two Spanish envoys, Señores Toral and Rio, and the Filipino Enrique Marcaida set out for the insurgent seat of government, which was then at Tárlac. On their arrival there (June 23) Aguinaldo appointed three commissioners to meet them. At the first meeting the Filipinos agreed to liberate all except the friars, because these might raise trouble. At the next meeting they offered liberty to all on the following terms, impossible of acceptance by the Spanish commissioners, viz.:—
(1) Spain is to recognize the Independence of the Philippines and repudiate the cession of the Islands to America.
(2) After the recognition and repudiation stipulated in Clause 1, the Philippine Republic will liberate all the prisoners, without exception, and will pay their expenses back to Spain. If Spain cannot possibly accede to the conditions of Clause 1, the Philippine Republic will accept, in lieu thereof, arms, munitions and provisions, or their money equivalent.
(3) The Spanish Government is to exchange the receipts given for money subscribed to the Philippine loan for the certificates of that loan.[3]
The Filipinos declined to say what sum they would consider an equivalent, as per Clause 2, and invited the Spaniards to make an offer. The Spaniards then proposed ₱1,000,000.
On June 29, at the third conference, the Filipinos refused to accept less than ₱6,000,000. This demand stupefied the Spaniards, who said they would return to consult General Jaramillo; but they were reluctant to leave the matter unsettled, and a last conference was held the next day, when the Spaniards raised their offer to ₱2,000,000. The Filipinos then reduced their demand to ₱3,000,000, which the Spaniards objected to; but they were successful in obtaining the liberty of the Baler garrison and 22 invalids, with all of whom they returned to Manila (vide Baler garrison, p. [494]).
On July 5 a decree was issued from Tárlac, signed by Emilio Aguinaldo and countersigned by his minister, Pedro A. Paterno, to the effect that all invalid prisoners would be at liberty to embark at certain ports designated, if vessels were sent for them flying only the Spanish flag and a white one bearing the Red Cross. Difficulties, however, arose with the American authorities which impeded the execution of this plan. General Jaramillo was preparing to send his commissioners again to Tárlac when he received a cablegram from Madrid telling him to suspend further overtures to the insurgents because international complications were threatened. It appears that America objected to the proposal to pay to the insurgents a large sum of money.