TO MARIANO TRIAS, AUGUST 15, 1900

Exhibit 1333.

[Original in Spanish. Rough draft . P . I . R ., 1197 . 5 ]

CAMP OF MATUGUINAO, SAMAR, Aug. 15, 1900.

Sr. MARIANO TRIAS, Lieutenant General Philippine Army, Cavite.

DEAR SIR AND RESPECTED GENERAL: I received your very courteous and respected letter, dated May 23rd last, the contents of which I have noted, and will comply with all your instructions therein contained; I am always doing this, without allowing the enemy to rest.

Although I perfectly understand that to write to a superior in a lengthy manner, under the present circumstances, is to take up much attention, nevertheless, as this is the first time that a propitious occasion has presented itself to open the valve through which I can breathe my experiences in this province since the outbreak of hostilities with the enemy, I do so, requesting first that you pardon me and take the trouble to read it.

On January 27th last, about 5 a.m. I received a communication from the Military Commander of Kalbayog to the effect that nine hostile vessels had anchored in said port, opening hostilities against said post; in view thereof, I took the necessary precautions in the town of Katbalogan in order to make a defense and sustain the combat; I left one artillery officer in the garrison to receive the enemy's emissary, and five soldiers of the same corps for the purpose of setting fire to the town as soon as fire should be opened. In fact, about eight a.m. of the same morning, the enemy's vessels were sighted entering the roadstead, and about 9 a.m. they cast anchor in the bay of Katbalogan. Immediately a launch cast off with an emissary from the enemy, who was received by our officer, and the surrender which he demanded having been refused, he returned on board after allowing two hours before the opening of fire; but they did not await the expiration of this time, for as soon as he had returned on board an infinite number of American soldiers which we estimated at 2,000, immediately disembarked, and as soon as they landed they opened fire, under the protection of the guns on their vessels, advancing to our batteries. We answered their fire, an engagement then ensuing which, notwithstanding the inequality by reason of the superiority of the enemy, lasted until the following day, when our soldiers began to suffer from hunger. I withdrew to the arsenal which is about two miles from the town. We inflicted a loss of more than 300 on the enemy, of which fact the natives of Katbalogan are witnesses, as they saw the enemy remove their dead in carts drawn by mules. On our side we suffered the loss of our artilleryman who was shot while trying to set fire to the convent; another was killed by the explosion of one of our guns, an artillery officer had his head grazed by a bullet and a corporal of the same corps was wounded.

As there is not one grain of rice in the arsenal to eat, because you will understand that the ports here were closed for almost ten months before the outbreak of hostilities; hence it was necessary to sustain the troops on "gave," sweet potatoes, and rice once in a while, as the little that there was in the said arsenal was eaten by the poor pacific people and our soldiers, and then I was obliged to order a retreat the afternoon of the 28th, as reenforcements from the other towns had not arrived. On this retreat my troubles began, because I was being pursued by two great enemies first, hunger, and then, the Yankees; and as the latter had observed and knew that we had nothing more to eat, they pursued us day and night without cessation, until we were demoralized; for which reason the carriers of the funds becoming exhausted, I ordered that about 50,000 pesos should be thrown to the bottom of a waterfall of great depth, and those who still had sufficient strength carried the remainder of the load, which they later abandoned in the woods; about 9,000 pesos were taken by Sr. Claro Guevara, Captain Director at the time of the arsenal, to the then second in command, Sr. Sabater, who received the same in the hamlet of Blanca Aurora; but as in these Visayan islands they were making me drink and eat things which my dignity did not permit, my Councillor of Revenues, Sr. Francisco Conje, in the hamlet of Hernandez (Gandara) about 12 midnight when I arrived there, desired to turn over to me before the public, the gold and banking paper which he had in his possession, and I did not receive it for reasons of dignity in order to avoid such offers; yet notwithstanding this, you will see what followed.

I arrived in the barrio of Blanca Aurora where Sr. Benedicto Sabater, the ex-second in command was, to whom I gave orders that all officers and soldiers should remain disguised in the barrios and hamlets, and that the rifles, ammunition and powder should be buried or hidden in the caves in the mountains, until a mountain should be found in which to establish the Government and from such point conduct the operations, as we did in Biac-na-bato, which I could not take the entire column along, as they were in a state of mutiny on account of the lack of food. I found a place called Buan, at the foot of Mount Jurao, within the jurisdiction of the town of Paranas, which I reached after marching day and night, eating nothing but "obod" and palms and with no companions but two little boys as servants and a hunter who served as a guide for four days.

This province being in the habit of securing rice from the merchants, without paying any attention to my circulars regarding the sowing of rice and tubers which I have issued from the time I set foot in this province, and on the other hand the confidence that the Americans would not come in view of the fact that the enemy's men-of-war had withdrawn after having demanded my surrender, said provinc'e continued to cultivate hemp and when the hostilities broke out and on our retreating, no one had sufficient rice stored.

In this place of Buan I gathered sufficient sweet potatoes, the only food to be found here, and on the 4th of February I made a report of what had taken place in this province in writing to the Captain General. This same day, February 4th, between 7 and 8 p.m., there appeared before me the said Captain and Director, Sr. Claro Guevara, and the 2nd Lieutenant of Infantry, Sr. Florentino Peņaranda, who reported the dispersion of the 2nd Company under the command of the then Captain and Commander of the garrison of Kalbayog, Sr. Francisco Rafael, due also to hunger. The following day, the 5th, I ordered the said second in command to report here in Buan with the forces, because I had gathered some sweet potatoes; but in reply I received a letter from Captain Alcede, in which he told me that the said Second in Command, Sr. Francisco Lobato had surrendered with rifles to the Government of Occupation, ordering the officers to do so also, under their strictest liability; some of them blindly obeyed him, all of them surrendering in Katbalogan and Kalbayog.

From this moment my deep suffering increased more and more, because the forces had been entirely scattered and demoralized on account of this treason, From this arose the murmurings, calumnies and belittlements of my person, to the effect that I had escaped to the Camarines, taking with me all the funds, that I was an impostor and had done nothing but deceive the province; this reached the point of three persons residents of Tiabong, arriving at the place where I was, with the bad intention of poisoning me, in order subsequently to present my head to the Yankees, as the latter had offered 5,000 pesos for my head. Desiring to teach those who do not know, I ordered the author of the poisoning to be arrested, whose life I gave him, teaching him how a Filipino citizen should act, the manner of conspiring, attacking and repulsing the enemy, until he became a good pupil, and is now one of my most active assistants working in our favor; being pleased with such good conduct, I presented him with a revolver, being successful in having him again assume command of his town. This gentleman is called Felipe Zuņiga, whose work since he again assumed charge of his command is giving good results; because I am convinced that we Chiefs are the ones who should drink the bitter cup, and go to the altar to be sacrificed, because he who redeems is always crucified, in order to liberate the people from slavery.

I now began to receive information that the Yankee government is good because it charges only one peseta as contribution and that the Americanistas had shown the Americans where I had ordered the money hidden as well as the places where I had buried the tools of the arsenal. The Americans sought the said funds, and in order to win over the people, they distributed a portion of the funds to the inhabitants, one of them being Vicente Jazmines, then the local chief of Katbalogan, who received, according to information from the American commander himself, the sum of 5,000 pesos.

This province has never seen a war, and the demoralization and fear caused by the invasion of the enemy is a natural consequence; but as I have always believed that after fear comes reflection, and that reflection is followed by reaction, during the period of reflection of the people I ordered the issue of a proclamation under date of February 4, of which I enclose a copy, and which certainly did bear good results, suspending afterwards all citizenship contributions and all imposts, the only question being to secure something to eat to again raise the moral and material force which had been totally lost.

In fact, after one month of countless hardships and labor to revive that lost force; I succeeded in collecting eight rifles, four of which I immediately sent into the field of operations, forming the detachment of Paranas assisted by the bolomen or sandatahan, on March 11, last, and the other four I retained for the defense of my poor self, because the enemy immediately placed 14 detachments throughout the province, without counting their flying columns which passed from mountain to mountain. Some soldiers, slaves to their duty, who did not obey the said Sabater, concealed their rifles and ammunition, and when the firing took place in Paranas these most worthy soldiers immediately went thither with their arms, having been enabled to collect more than 30 rifles; then the Director of the arsenal, Sr. Guevara, was promoted by me to major, appointing him at the same time the second in command of the province. Part of said arms I sent to attack the detachment of Gandara, under the command of said Guevara, and the other part to the detachment of Borongan, on the shore of the Pacific Ocean, under the command of Captain Serrano, as I was at that time sick and obliged to withdraw to the slope of Mount Jurao, to a place called Tamay. Said Captain Serrano entered the 15th of March, being successful in expelling the enemy, and the Second in command, Sr. Claro Guevara, attacked Gandara, where 50 Americans were stationed; the decision of our troops spread terror among them, to such an extent that they not only withdrew the latter detachments but also those at Tauiraro and Matuguinao, and towards the South those at Kabiga and Loquilocon.

Having recovered our force to a certain extent, and my health also, and having 50 rifles with those seized from the enemy, I personally directed the operations, marching day and night, attacking Katubig the 15th of April, that is on Easter Sunday, fire being opened at 5 a. m. This battle lasted 5 days, and we were successful in occupying the town and raising our flag; 25 rifles and 12,000 cartridges were captured from the enemy. In view hereof, I immediately organized 2 Battalions, I promoted Sr. Guevara to Colonel, and Captains Narciso Abuke and Francisco Rafael, to Majors. I sent Major Abuke with 12 rifles to the town of Katarman, in the Northern part of this province, for the purpose of attacking the detachment of the enemy stationed there, and Captain Serrano to harrass the enemy in Katbalogan in order to prevent assistance; after having given these directions, I came to the hamlet of Matuguinao for the purpose of studying the new plan, and two days after having arrived, the Vice-President of Katarman, Sr. Jose Hermosillo, appeared before me asking assistance for said town, because the local chief of the same, named Gervasio Mendiola, had been captured by the enemy; in view hereof, I left the government to the second in command, Sr. Guevara, and undertook the march to Katarman, with the column. Some hours before I arrived in the town, Sr. Abuke had succeeded in ousting the enemy, and without loss of time I returned at once to this hamlet of Matuguinao. On the road Sr. Guevara reported to me that he had repulsed the enemy, who, to the number of 130 had attempted to take the garrison, and inflicted a loss of more than 50, including one Captain, one Lieutenant of the Staff, and an infantry Lieutenant, while we suffered a loss of 2 soldiers and six bolomen, who heroically died in the trenches.

In view of my policy ahove mentioned, I believe that this province has appreciated my efforts, balancing them in their minds against the calumnies and treasonable acts directed against me hy the said Sabater, and I raised the patriotism of the same in such a manner, that I myself have been surprised, because I did not expect such a marvel.

The province being convinced of the falsity of the calumnious charges made by the Americans and the Americanistas, the inhabitants discontinued the cultivation of hemp, so that commerce here is total1y paralyzed, and all are engaging in the sowing of rice and tubers; this has been going on now for four months, but unfortunately the locusts have appeared. In order that the troops may have clothing, the women are weaving sinamay, which is what the soldiers are wearing.

As my supply of cartridges and ammunition was becoming exhausted, I fixed the residence of the Government here in Matuguinao in order to superintend the manufacture of cartridge shells and ammunition. I must inform you that the cartridge shells used now by the battalion of the province are made of the galvanized iron taken from the churches and convents burned, where the enemy intrenched himself; so that our cartridge shells are all made of galvanized iron. I am daily receiving here from all the towns of the province, rice, palay, provisions of all kinds, including meat, salted and fresh, all voluntary contributions of war, and also canned goods, wine and money. I have collected up to this date 3,250.11 pesos, of which sum I delivered to the gentleman whom you sent, the sum of 2,500 pesos in Mexican silver, because the remainder was necessary to meet the expenses for the arsenal and for our soldiers, although all of us, from your unworthy subject to the last soldier, have refused our salaries.

The two battalions which I have organized are at the present time operating in Katbalogan and Kalbayog, one-half the battalion operating in the day time, the other half at night. In the pueblo of Laoang, the worthy commissioner of police of the same, Sr. Marcos Espiņas, is conducting the operations, whom I directed to assume the command of said town, by reason of its local chief being in the enemy's camp; I send you herewith a statement of his feats of arms, as well as an extract from the diary of operations, for your information.

Due to the energy of our troops, Major Allen, who had come long before, returned defeated to Tacloban. At the present time I am fighting a Colonel, who appears to be of the regular army. But the enemy's force in the provinces of Sorsogon, Masbate and here in the Visayas, including Surigao, have abandoned those places to concentrate here; for this reason I request you to order the military commanders of said provinces to contract their respective operations in order to prevent reinforcements, because it is my intention after the enemy shall have been expelled from here, to assist them; but if they do not contract their operations somewhat, they will become the principal target (tanguero) - pardon this expression - and we would never be able to assist each other, and furthermore, my province may tire, notwithstanding that we have observed that those who have a mouthful to cat, deprive themselves thereof and send it to us, being convinced that the charges brought against me were calumnies and treasonable acts on the part of the said Sabater; were it not for the latter I would now be resting with my forces.

En resume, all the funds of that period have been lost; all that remains are the gold and paper in the hands of the Councillor of Revenues, who is in the enemy's camp.

I have brought military proceedings against the former second in command, Sr. Sabater, and I understand that he has gone to Manila, securing influence.

I have also heard that the great Americanista of this province, Sr. Andres Reyes, has submitted a document to your respected headquarters, with various signatures in addition to his own, charging that I have committed abuses and robberies in this province. I request that you save that document, because I demand justice; you will understand that if I remain silent, my silence would be construed as an acknowledgment of having committed such abuses and robberies. Do not think that I wish to seek revenge on said Americanista; my only desire is that the latter prove his charges, and failing to do so, instead of the court imposing a penalty for calumny, I will pardon him and publish my pardon in the press, but his confession must also be public, because in truth, my Lieutenant General, there are many here who have not liked me because they could not commit their robberies, a custom acquired under the past Government, and a majority of these two faced patriots are too much given to calumny. They even produce witnesses in support of their statements, which they are enabled to do because the town of Katbalogan has no life of its own, neither in agriculture, industry or commerce, and therefore, the people are obliged to do anything they can to gain a subsistence; so that in the fullest sense of the word they are Quixotes whose random shots do injury to many.

The carrier of this who is your own messenger, has been given some secret instructions not herein written; he will give you my message verbally. He has been delayed here awaiting the funds which were deposited in certain towns and he has also been sick.

Our companion, Sr. Moxica, wrote me in May last asking me to furnish him 2,000 cartridge shells; as I also was in need of them, it was not possible for me to comply with his request and I told him that all I could do was to increase my operations here in order that the enemy might continue to ask for reinforcements from the province of Leyte. In this manner the number of the enemy there would be decreased, and he would be able to repulse them when weakened and reduced. I also sent him a sergeant of mine from the arsenal, in order that he might manufacture saltpeter, and I showed his seven soldiers who came how to fill shells [sic], how to make them, how to repair rifles, etc. You will understand that before the outbreak those people thought of nothing but luxury and now that the time has come, they remember the arsenal which I organized there and which they ridiculed. (Remainder of paragraph unintelligible.)

In order to facilitate the work of the government somewhat, it has appeared advisable to me, to divide the province iuto six districts; at the head of each of these districts there is a subdelegate to manage administrative and military matters. These subdelegates are worthy men, who do not abuse, but work well and are active.

I regret in my soul the terrible hecatomb which overtook this provoince, which has been a blot on our cause; but as it has already been washed out by the energetical measures which you took by protesting to the Nations, the Government of Samar, and especially your humble subordinate applaud you and extend to you the most sincere congratulations on your zeal and activity, and join you in the attainment of our ideals.

I nm also thinking of sending manufacturers of ammunition to Camarines, Sorsogon and Albay; with this end in view, I already have a personnel prepared which is destined for those points.

On account of an involuntary omission, it was not possible to copy in the proper place, the attached regulations by which I created a kind of battalion of territorial militia, under the command of an officer on probation, on account of the forces being dispersed; but now that we are organized, this has been abolished and the appointments of the acting officers have been annulled.

I am your subordinate who, etc'.

(Unsigned.)

A true copy of the original filed in these Headquarters. In testimony whereof, I issue these presents, vised by the Military Commander of Matuguinao (Samar), this ----,