Miguel Malvar

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Miguel Malvar bigraphy, stories - Filipino general

Miguel Malvar : biography

September 27, 1865 – October 13, 1911

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 conflict following the capture of Emilio Aguinaldo in 1901. According to some historians, he could have been listed as one of the presidents of the Philippines but is currently not recognized as such by the Philippine government.

Early life and career

Malvar was born on September 27, 1865 in San Miguel, a barrio in Santo Tomas, Batangas, to Máximo Malvar (locally known as Capitan Imoy) and Tiburcia Carpio (locally known as Capitana Tibo). Malvar’s family was not only well known in town for their wealth but also for their generosity and diligence. For his education, Malvar first attended the town school in Santo Tomas. Later, he attended the private school run by Father Valerio Malabanan in Tanauan, Batangas, a famous educational institution in Batangas at the time, where Malvar had fellow revolutionary Apolinario Mabini as his classmate. He then transferred to another school in Bauan, Batangas, after which he decided not to pursue higher education in Manila, preferring to settle down as a farmer. In turn, he helped his more studious younger brother, Potenciano, to study medicine in Spain. He was later elected as capitan municipal of his hometown.

In 1891, Malvar married Paula Maloles, the beautiful daughter of the capitan municipal of Santo Tomas, Don Ambrocio Maloles. Don Ambrocio was his successor as capitan 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.

Commemoration

  • The Miguel Malvar class corvette, named after Malvar, is a ship class of patrol corvettes of the Philippine Navy, and are currently its oldest class of corvettes.
  • Extra Mile Productions conducted the General Miguel Malvar Essay Writing Contest in commemoration of the 100th Death Anniversary of General Miguel Malvar.
  • Malvar, Batangas, a second class municipality in the Philippines, was named after him.

Philippine–American War

Malvar at the age of 34 On May 19, 1898, Aguinaldo, aboard the American revenue cutter McCulloch, returned to the Philippines with 13 of his military staff. After four days, the first delivery of arms from Hong Kong arrived. It amounted to 2,000 rifles and 200,000 rounds of ammunition. With Aguinaldo’s return, the Filipinos, numbering around 12,000, who enlisted under the Spanish flag in the war against America defected to Aguinaldo’s banner. By June, Philippine independence was declared in Kawit, Cavite and Manila found herself surrounded by Aguinaldo’s troops. But on August 13, 1898, it was the Americans who captured Manila.

On February 4, 1899, hostilities began between Americans and Filipinos. On February 7, Malvar was appointed second-in-command of Trias, who was the overall commander of the Filipino forces in southern Luzon. On February 23, General Antonio Luna needed Malvar and his unit to take part in a Filipino counterattack that was planned to regain ground lost earlier by Filipinos and capture Manila. However, the Filipino offensive collapsed mainly due to the insubordination of the Kawit Battalion. During the following months, Malvar harassed American troops south of Manila as he and his 3,000-man brigade conducted offensives in Muntinlupa. By July 1899, the Americans under General Robert Hall captured Calamba, Laguna. With ten companies (around 2,000 men) of American troops in the town, Malvar unsuccessfully besieged Calamba from August to December 1899.

On November 13, 1899, Aguinaldo disbanded the Filipino regular army, forming them into guerrilla units at Bayambang, Pangasinan and afterwards conducted his escape journey to Palanan, Isabela, which he reached by September 6, 1900. This change in tactics was not as successful as it had been against the Spaniards, and Aguinaldo was captured on March 23, 1901, by General Frederick Funston with help from some Macabebe scouts. Trias, Aguinaldo’s chosen successor as President and Commander-In-Chief of the Filipino forces, surrendered earlier, on March 15, 1901. Therefore, as designated in Aguinaldo’s decreed line of succession, Malvar became President of the Philippine Republic. The Hong Kong Junta affirmed Malvar’s authority in succeeding Aguinaldo. As he took over the affairs of the Republic, Malvar reorganized Filipino forces in southern Luzon and renamed the combined armed forces as "Army of Liberation", which possessed around 10,000 rifles at the time. He also reorganized the regional departments of the Republic, which included the Marianas as a separate province.