The man in the picture would have been called in the early years of American Colonial Period in the Philippines a rebel, an insurgent… a “low-life” if we want an approximate equivalent to the denigration of this man. Perhaps, it would be more disturbing if we show this specific photo to most Filipino students today who don’t have an inkling of the past, much less remember one of the most forgotten segment in Philippine history, the Philippine-American War, that war which began when an American soldier fired upon a Filipino soldier on February 4, 1899.

American Brigadier General James Franklin Bell, during that war, released in a circular the following description of the man in the photo:

Complexion rather dark, weighs about 145 pounds, about 5 feet 2 indies in height, short and heavy set; with unusually thick and heavy jawbones; hair blade; with perhaps a few gray hairs, about 40 or 42 years old, wears a gold ring with a stone set on the third finger of the left hand, feet a little broad, wean a 5 or 6 shoe (when wearing shoes), has well-shaped hands.

His hair is liable to grow long in front of his ears, giving an appearance of small ride whiskers. He usually wears a small black mustache, and while conversing with anyone is liable to bat his eyes in a peculiar way.

Goes about country with an Indian shirt and trousers cut off or rolled up to the knee (to avoid detection). If captured, will affect being very simple, inoffensive, and ignorant native who knows nothing, and will give a wrong name. Mouth large, nose ordinary, but slightly resembling Philippine nose, eyes black. Sometimes chews betel nut.

Would you, as a Filipino, even give the man a second look?

Indeed, as the First Philippine Republic capitulated when President Emilio Aguinaldo was captured by the Americans on March 23, 1901 at Palanan, Isabela, this man who was always behind the scenes, rose up to take command of the remnant forces of the “Ejercito Filipino” (Filipino army) and assumed the title of Commander-in-Chief of the Republica Filipina, then doing guerrilla warfare. 

One must wonder how such a Filipino of small stature would have the guts of continuing the fight for his nation’s independence against a new superpower, which, in all its might and technological advancement in warfare, defeated the First Philippine Republic within two years. 

Miguel Malvar, as he was named, was born on September 27, 1865 at the town of Santo Tomas in Batangas. Born in a well-to-do family with a sugarcane business, the first of three children, he rose up to be elected as gobernadorcillo of the town. Saturnina Rizal herself, the eldest sister of Jose Rizal, invested on Malvar PhP 1,000.00 to start a business. Malvar was witness to the unfair treatment on the local elections in 1892 where the parochial priest and the governor went against him. He joined the Philippine Revolution that began on August 1896, and by January 1897, he offered his service to Emilio Aguinaldo, who drafted him to lead the revolution in Batangas. 

Malvar was there on the conclusion of the Pact of Biak-na-Bato, a temporary settlement that made the Spaniards concede the basic rights of Filipinos in return for the voluntary exile of the leaders of the Revolutionary forces. He became the treasurer of the revolutionaries in exile in Hong Kong. But things were not going well, as the Spaniards and Revolutionaries never intended to follow the stipulations of the pact.

With the resumption of the Revolution upon Aguinaldo’s return to the Philippines, Malvar supported the move, returning to the country two days after the Proclamation of Independence. 

With the outbreak of the Philippine-American War, Malvar lead the charge, defending the towns of Pagsanjan, Pila and Santa Cruz in Laguna, against the American advancement towards the south. However, with the howitzer and gatling guns of the American forces, the battles took a toll on the Filipino soldiers. But even when General Antonio Luna was assassinated by Filipinos (that caused much disorganization among Filipino ranks) and the capture of President Aguinaldo in 1901, he took on the fight, with the Hong Kong Junta (Filipinos in Hong Kong) supporting him. 

It was a year after, due to much exertion, his men deserting him, with low supplies and ammunition, that he surrendered to the Americans. But did such a surrender warrant a surrender of his principles?

Perhaps, like many Filipinos of his generation who were disillusioned of the leadership of his country, he shifted the battle for his country’s freedom, from the blood of the battlefield to tilling the field. One would see how he held on to his principles, when General Bell, the American general whom he surrendered to, offered him a position in politics. He simply, and succinctly declined. 

For many people, this photo may not mean much. There were many Filipinos who had their photographs taken then, but behind a photo is a story, and behind this particular story was a man who may just appear as a footnote in Philippine history, but will and always should be remembered as one of the last generals of the First Philippine Republic to surrender to the Americans.

This spirit animated the call of a generation of Filipinos to fight for independence in the field of politics, culminating in the formation of the Philippine Commonwealth government in 1935, that 10-year transitional government to ultimate independence. 

Today, in General Miguel Malvar’s birth sesquicentennial, we celebrate his life and his great contribution to this imagined community we call Pilipinas.

Photo courtesy of Arnaldo Dumindin’s website on the Philippine-American War.