Photos of Taal, Batangas Early in the American Colonial Era

The photos below were digitally extracted from an article published in the October 1903 edition of the Journal of the United States Cavalry Association¹. The article was entitled “Remarks on the Last Days of the Insurrection in Southern Luzon,” written by 1^st Lieutenant Edwin A. Hickman of the United States Army.

What was referred to as the “insurrection” was actually the Philippine-American War, fought from February 1899 to July 1902 between the United States Army and Filipino revolutionaries who had fought the Spaniards late in the preceding century.

The Americans, in fact, referred to the Filipino revolutionaries as “insurrectos,” i.e. rebels. The underlying claim, therefore, of the United States was that colonial government it established after its purchase of the Philippine Islands from Spain in December 1898 was the legitimate one; and that the Filipino revolutionaries were rebelling against it.

Thus, the war bitterly raged on in different parts of the Philippines, although Gen. Emilio Aguinaldo’s capture by the United States Army in March 1901 severely weakened the Filipino position. Still, resistance would continue until the following year, most notably in southern Luzon and the province of Batangas.

Batangas, in fact, would earn the distinction of being the last province to surrender to the Americans. This after the United States Army, under the direction of General J. Franklin Bell, imposed a concentration policy in the province to separate the civilian population from the revolutionaries, thus preventing them from giving aid to the latter.

Gen. Miguel Malvar, leader of the revolutionary army in Batangas, surrendered to the Americans in April of 1902, his act effectively putting an end to the Philippine-American War.

The pictures of Taal below, therefore, must have been taken after the secessation of hostilities; when some semblance of normalcy would have returned to the province. The caption are as they appeared in the publication; and they do not give much in terms of information.