01/10/2023
Trivia no.8 The forgotten president
Who is Miguel Malvar ?
Miguel Malvar y Carpio (September 27, 1865 – October 13, 1911) was a Filipino general who served during the Philippine Revolution and, subsequently, during the Philippine–American War. He assumed command of the Philippine revolutionary forces during the latter, following the capture of resistance leader Emilio Aguinaldo by the Americans in 1901. According to some historians, he could have been listed as one of the presidents of the Philippines but, as of 2022, is not recognized as such by the Philippine government.
Malvar was born on September 27, 1865, in San Miguel, a barrio in Santo Tomas, Batangas, to Máximo Malvar (locally known as Capitán Imoy) and Tiburcia Carpio (locally known as Capitana Tibo). Malvar's family was well known in town not only for their wealth but for their generosity and diligence as well.
For his education, Malvar attended the town school in Santo Tomas. He later attended a private school run by Father Valerio Malabanan in Tanauan, Batangas, a well-regarded educational institution in Batangas at the time. Here, Malvar had fellow revolutionary Apolinario Mabini as his classmate. He then transferred to another school in Bauan, Batangas. He decided not to pursue higher education in Manila and preferred to settle down as a farmer instead. Instead, he helped his more studious younger brother, Potenciano, study medicine in Spain. Malvar was later elected as Capitán municipal of his hometown.
In 1891, Malvar married Paula Maloles, the daughter of the Capitán municipal of Santo Tomas, Don Ambrocio Maloles. Don Ambrocio was Malvar's successor as Capitán municipal. Ulay, as she was locally known, bore Malvar thirteen children, but only eleven of them survived: Bernabe, Aurelia, Marciano, Maximo, Crispina, Mariquita, Luz Constancia, Miguel (Junior), Pablo, Paula, and Isabel.Malvar had the habit of bringing his family with him as he went to battle during the Philippine Revolution and the Philippine–American War.
Malvar and his family had a friendship with José Rizal and his family. Rizal mended the harelip of Malvar's wife and Saturnina Rizal lent Malvar 1,000 pesos as an initial capital to start a business.Saturnina's husband, Manuel, was a relative of Malvar's, and Soledad Rizal Quintero's daughter, Amelia married Malvar's eldest son, Bernabe. Also, Paciano was Malvar's fellow revolutionary.
Like Macario Sakay, considered his successor as president by some,citation needed Malvar was an original Katipunero as they both joined the Katipunan before the Philippine Revolution. When the Revolution began in August 1896, Malvar emerged from leading a 70-man army to becoming the military commander of Batangas. As a military commander, he coordinated offensives with General Emilio Aguinaldo, leader of the revolutionaries in Cavite, and General Paciano Rizal, leader of the revolutionaries in Laguna.On February 17, 1897, Malvar fought alongside General Edilberto Evangelista, Malvar's senior officer at the time, at the Battle of Zapote Bridge, where the senior died in battle. Succeeding Evangelista's generalship, Malvar had set up his own headquarters at Indang, Cavite, where he stayed until the Tejeros Convention.
After the Tejeros Convention, in which Aguinaldo won as president, Malvar opted to side with the Katipunan's Supremo, Andrés Bonifacio. In response to Malvar's support, Bonifacio gave them assistance in fighting their battles. Seeing the mutual relations between Malvar and Bonifacio, Aguinaldo decided to use his newly acquired position to put Batangas, as well as Malvar, under his jurisdiction.Malvar was also threatened with punishment if he did not break ties with Bonifacio, but this threat was never implemented. Bonifacio and his brother Procopio were found guilty, despite insufficient evidence, and they were recommended to be executed. Aguinaldo 'issued a commutation of the sentence' to deportation or exile on May 8, 1897, but Pío del Pilar and Mariano Noriel, both former supporters of Bonifacio, persuaded Aguinaldo to withdraw the order for the sake of preserving unity. In this they were seconded by Mamerto Natividád and other bona fide supporters of Aguinaldo.The Bonifacio brothers were murdered on May 10, 1897, in the mountains of Maragondon.
After Bonifacio was murdered, the Spanish offensive resumed, now under Governor-General Fernando Primo de Rivera, and forced Aguinaldo out of Cavite. Aguinaldo slipped through the Spanish cordon and, with 500 picked men, proceeded to Biak-na-Bató, a wilderness area at the tri-boundaries of the towns of San Miguel, San Ildefonso and Doña Remedios in Bulacan.When news of Aguinaldo's arrival there reached the towns of central Luzon, men from the Ilocos provinces, Nueva Ecija, Pangasinan, Tarlac, and Zambales, renewed their armed resistance against the Spanish.
On November 1, 1897, the provisional constitution for the Biak-na-Bato Republic was signed.By the end of 1897, Governor-General Primo de Rivera accepted the impossibility of quelling the revolution by force of arms. In a statement to the Cortes Generales, he said, "I can take Biak-na-Bato, any military man can take it, but I can not answer that I could crush the rebellion." Desiring to make peace with Aguinaldo, he sent emissaries to Aguinaldo seeking a peaceful settlement. Nothing was accomplished until Pedro A. Paterno, a distinguished lawyer from Manila perhaps wanting a Spanish nobility title,volunteered to act as negotiator. On August 9, 1897, Paterno proposed a peace based on reforms and amnesty to Aguinaldo. In succeeding months, practicing shuttle diplomacy, Paterno traveled back and forth between Manila and Biak-na-Bato carrying proposals and counterproposals. Paterno's efforts led to a peace agreement called the Pact of Biak-na-Bato. This consisted of three documents, the first two being signed on December 14, 1897, and the third being signed on December 15; effectively ending the Republic of Biak-na-Bato.
Malvar, along with other generals like Mariano Trías, Paciano Rizal, Manuel Tinio and Artemio Ricarte, as opposed to the pact, believing it was a ruse of the Spanish to get rid of the Revolution easily, and therefore resumed military offensives. Aguinaldo, seeing the stiff resistance of Malvar and his sympathizers, issued a circular ordering the revolutionary generals to stop fighting. On January 6, 1898, Malvar ceased his offensives.
