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Significance and Role of Military History in The Armed Forces of The Philippines 

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Published: Feb 9, 2022

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03 Feb The Battle of Manila: A Reflection and A Hope

By mark anthony cabigas, 3rd prize winner, battle of manila essay writing contest 2019.

The Battle of Manila of 1945 is one of the many bloody encounters between the American forces and the Japanese Army during the World War II in the Philippines. It lasted for 29 days and it devastated the City of Manila that cost 100,000 innocent lives and millions of pesos of invaluable heritage structures. Hence, it is considered to be the most brutal conflagration in the history of the Philippines. Nonetheless, despite the bad memories it left to millions of Filipinos, this battle is an important battle in Philippine History because this paved way to the attainment of actual independence. After the victory of the Americans in the Battle of Manila, the Commonwealth was eventually revived back in control of the Philippines. The revival of the Commonwealth was essential in the fulfillment of the transitory provisions of the Tydings-McDuffie Law – the concession law recognising Philippine Independence on 1946. Meaning to say, without the Battle of Manila, Philippines could have still been an exclave of the Japanese empire and Filipinos could have not able to establish their own de jure republic. Thus, the Battle of Manila was the key event that opened the opportunity for the Filipinos to finally actualize their dreams of independence and sovereignty from foreign control and even dependence.

However, despite its importance in our history, the Battle of Manila; the World War 2 and the rest of wars in Philippine history are taught in class apathetically — i.e., usually in knowing who were the leaders and whether who won and who lost in the battlefield. I claim because I experienced it myself. Textbook are even on that context. The leaders of war are the focus of the study but little empathy is given to every child’s broken future, to every woman who shattered their dignity, to every father who lost their moment to say even a farewell to their families. The people’s stories of pain, their stories of loss, their stories of eternal trauma are what more valuable than the leaders themselves, than the dates they fought, than the buildings they burnt. Indeed, I may know who Tomoyuki Yamashita, Sanji Iwabuchi and Douglas McArthur, but it is only today that I came to know the story of Julia Lopez who had her breasts sliced off and raped by the Japanese soldiers and had her hair set on fire; the story of the Manila Martyrs — Rev. Peter Fallon, Rev. John Heneghan, Rev. Patrick Kelly, and Rev. Joseph Monaghan, who were kidnapped and killed by the Japanese army; and of all the other terrible stories of loss and suffering during the infamous Manila Massacre and Rape.

Personally, it is important to me because this war is a reminder that I shall foster and cherish my freedom; protect the State’s security from invasion and from its downfall from corruption; and help in sustaining the Republic that our veterans of war have fought for before. Without the Battle of Manila and the eventual recapitulation of the city from the Japanese, I may be suffering the same way other Filipinos had experienced up until today. Moreover, as a future social science teacher, this battle is important to me because this urges me to teach and inspire my future students to love their country more than themselves, to protect and foster their independence and democracy but this time in a way that is diplomatic than through arms and ammunition. I also want to promote the ending of the culture of war and violence as an advocacy and rather promote diplomacy in any form of conflict. The Battle of Manila reminds us that in war, there is no winner, all become losers. And lastly I want to teach history to my future students with empathy and depth to the real victims of war. Today, we are commemorating this unpleasant history through monuments, shrines and markers. But memorares and markers of the Battle of Manila will remain concrete and steel markers and monuments respectively unless we are able to express our empathy and support to the victims and veterans of the war and to realize the fact that wars fruit no good to anyone.

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The Future of Philippine Land Warfare: The Philippine Army's Perspective

2021, The President's Papers

In Philippine military history, wars were fought conventionally, as in the 1896 Philippine Revolution and the Second World War, before its gradual shift to irregular warfare during the Postwar period with the rise of Communist and Islamic terrorist groups. With the advent of the 2014 Russo-Ukrainian War and Chinese aggression in the West Philippine Sea (WPS), however, a new kind of warfare emerged, one that may occur in the Philippines as early as in a decade. Thus, the need to define land warfare in the Philippine context and its future conduct has become more vital than ever as the nature of war evolves and current security threats increase in intensity and number. After closely examining the country’s past and the developments in the strategic environment, the Philippine Army (PA), the branch of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) responsible for land warfare, postulates that the future of Philippine ground warfare is hybrid warfare (HW). HW is the adversary’s employment of various techniques and procedures, both conventional and unconventional, within the same battlespace to exploit enemy weaknesses. An attritional type of warfare, HW features fluid and flexible combatants using state and non-state capabilities, advanced weapons systems for disruptive purposes, irregular tactics, cyber-attacks, mass communication for propaganda, and hard-soft power to achieve victory. This paper attempts to explain the PA’s thesis by discussing the evolution of warfare in Philippine military history, current threats to the land force, and the PA's current capability and force structure, before briefly concluding with a fair assessment of the PA’s readiness in facing hybrid threats.

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For centuries, states and individuals all around the world have been in the business of understanding the enduring nature and changing character of war. Global defense forces of today scramble to identify, assess, and define the movers and shapers of their security landscape, and proceed to calculate and determine which conflicts they will most likely be involved in in the future, and how these wars will be conducted. For the Philippines, a nation faced with different security threats – both external and internal, traditional and nontraditional – it is only apt for the country’s defense establishment to define and contextualize the future of warfare according to the peculiarities of the Philippine strategic environment, operational space, and battle experience. There is a need to ‘reconceptualize warfare and reimagine conflict’ to ‘rehearse’ the future, for us to explore possibilities and trajectories in defense posturing, doctrine development, and force modernization vis-à-vis our country’s national interests. Given the resumption of Great-Power competition between the United States of America and the People’s Republic of China, as well as the accelerated pace of developments in technology and geopolitics, a lot more attention is being paid to the probable future of warfare within the coming decades. 2030 is expected to see the maturation and induction of new capabilities to the arsenals of great powers, and even non-state actors can expect to leverage new technologies to amplify their power. This paper argues that the future of war in the coming decades will call into question longstanding Philippine assumptions about defense, security and warfare, and that there will be a need to rethink these concepts to ensure the Philippines’ defense.

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The closure of the U.S. Military Bases in the Philippines in 2001 created a vacuum in regional defence both for the Philippines and the U.S. The U.S. lost its only South-East Asian military base, and the Philippine National Administration lost substantial foreign military aid which had been vital in helping it contain domestic insurgency, which for the most part was Muslim in nature. After the terrorist events in the U.S. in September 2001, the Philippine National Administration of President Gloria Arroyo established closer military cooperation with the George W. Bush Administration. However, to receive increased U.S. military aid President Arroyo had to be 'seen' to be containing or confronting Muslim insurgency/terrorism in her country. In other words, domestic counterinsurgency had to be redefined and readdressed. This thesis examines the methods, and rationale, the Arroyo Administration has been using to confront insurgency in the Philippines, particularly in the provinc...

jiana aurigue

Name: Mariah Jiana Patrice Corazon F. Aurigue Course & Section: AB Foreign Service Major in Diplomacy FS302 Subject: International Political Economy Date: February 26, 2018 Professor: Jumel G. Estrañero Piercing Through The False Woes Of Our Foes: Analysis on the Long-standing CPP-NPA Insurgency in the Philippines

Since 2011, the Aquino administration has bolstered the development of a credible external defense posture of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) in the face of China’s territorial expansion in the South China Sea. This move entailed the upgrading of the Philippine Navy’s and the Philippine Air Force’s capabilities for maritime domain awareness and naval interdiction. The Aquino administration also anchored its strategic agenda on the 60-year-old Philippines-U.S. alliance by signing the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement (EDCA). The election of President Rodrigo Roa Duterte as the 16th president of the Philippines, however, generated uncertainties on whether or not he will continue building the AFP’s territorial defense capabilities. Eventually, Duterte decided to continue the Aquino administration’s build-up as a hedge, in case he should find it imperative in the future to pursue his predecessor’s policy of challenging China’s expansive claim in the South China Sea. The article concludes that like Aquino’s security policy, the Duterte administration is also committed to building up the Philippine military’s credible defense posture—in light of the growing uncertainties in the region marked by China’s emergence and the perceived retreat of the United States as a Pacific power. Key words: credible defense, Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement, Rodrigo Duterte, South China Sea, U.S. alliance 自2011年起, 阿基诺政府就已加强了菲律宾武装部队（Armed Forces of the Philippines

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The Philippines, the US, and a century of military alliance

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For a few nights in late 1991, a 74-year-old army veteran, newly arrived in Los Angeles and looking for family members, needed to sleep outside. Pastor Amarillento was a recently naturalized Filipino American, based on a 1990 law granting citizenship to Philippine Army soldiers from World War II. Amarillento had fought at Bataan. But after being naturalized in San Francisco, his money had been stolen on the bus down to Los Angeles.

Thus Amarillento had “marched under General Douglas MacArthur, only to find himself, 50 years later, sleeping in MacArthur Park,” writes MIT historian Christopher Capozzola in a new book about the unique relationship between the Philippines and the United States.

Amarillento soon found relatives in Orange County, thanks to help from a shelter in the Filipinotown neighborhood, near downtown Los Angeles. Still, this episode symbolizes some contours of the larger Filipino American experience. Filipinos have long been staunch U.S. military soldiers, sailors, and servicemembers while receiving modest, belated rewards for their efforts. The countries’ ties have led to extensive immigration — there are 4 million Filipino-Americans in the U.S. — but even for decorated veterans, entry into U.S. society has not always been easy.

Capozzola’s new book, “Bound by War: How the United States and Philippines Built America’s First Pacific Century,” published by Basic Books, details both the military relationship between the countries, from the U.S. conquest of the Philippines in 1898 onward, and the way that military engagement shaped social connections between the nations.

“This is not a book about foreign policy, but foreign relations,” Capozzola says. “Not just what generals and presidents were doing, but what ordinary soldiers and immigrants were doing.”

New beginnings

After winning the Spanish-American War in 1898, the U.S. was granted control of the Philippines, a long-time Spanish possession. Then it squelched a Philippine independence movement, in what Capozzola calls a “very intense and brutal war.” It was a huge imperial leap across the Pacific for the U.S., which eventually installed over 20 military bases in the Philippines and ruled the land as a colony until 1946.

“This is really the heart of the relationship between these two countries,” Capozzola says.

Before long, Filipinos started enlisting in the U.S. army and navy, and Filipinos soon had new immigration opportunities as well. For a spell after 1924, the Philippines was the only country in Asia from which the U.S. allowed immigration. The number of Filipinos in the U.S. swelled from 5,600 in 1920 to about 56,000 in 1930, with substantial Filipino-American communities springing up near San Diego, in the Bay Area, and around Norfolk and Virginia Beach — close to Navy bases.

But while many Filipinos had come to the U.S. hoping to acquire more education and better work, they often landed on farms, in fisheries, or in service jobs, as Capozzola documents.

“When Filipinos migrated to the United States in the early 20th century, they faced the same forms of discrimination that most Asian immigrants did: restrictions on housing and education and the professions, [while] being relegated to low-status, low-paying jobs,” Capozzola says. “It could have been otherwise. And that’s a running theme throughout the book as well. There is a series of broken promises.”

Still, as Capozzola writes, the military service of many Filipino men gave their familes “a language of patriotism and sacrifice — and therefore of equality.” That sense of belonging helped spur battles for civic justice. It was Filipino grape pickers who initiated what became famous as the United Farm Workers strike of the 1960s.

In the sphere of veteran’s rights, 64,000 of the 76,000 prisoners on the Bataan Death March had been Filipinos, fighting for the U.S. — yet they did not receive equitable military benefits. Only after a concerted effort, including a year-long vigil in MacArthur Park in the 1990s, was compensation folded into the 2009 American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.

Only about 12,400 Filipino veterans realized those payments, leading one advocate for Filipino veterans to call the settlement “yet another beginning” in the battle for Filipino-American rights and benefits. There may be similar fights for inclusion in the future: In the Iraq War, about 31,000 U.S. troops were not citizens, and 20 percent of those were Filipino.

“The book is a way to think about who serves in and with and for our armed forces, [and] to ask what we owe them in return,” Capozzola says. “If we really want to understand big forces like war and globalization, we need to look at that full frame.”

With or without the U.S.?

While it explores immigration and social integration, “Bound by War” also examines politics in both countries after 1946, when the Philippines gained independence but remained in the U.S. sphere of influence.

“In many ways the Philippines enters the community of nations on the back foot,” Capozzola observes. “It’s devastated by the war, its economy is destroyed, and there is an emerging Cold War threat. This requires Philippine politicians to maintain ties to the U.S. in order to protect their country.”

But many voices have criticized that arrangement, Capozzola notes: “If there’s one central question in Philippine foreign policy that’s consistent from 1946 to the present, it is this: Are we better off with the Americans, or without them?”

President Ferdinand Marcos declared martial law in the Philippines in 1972 and ruled over a police state until the “People Power” movement ousted him in 1986 — with the U.S. only belatedly grasping the strength of opposition leader Corazon Aquino. Yet despite solid U.S. backing, Marcos actually made rhetorical overtures to China in the 1970s, perhaps trying to play off the two powers against each other. In 2016, President Rodrigo Duterte surprised the U.S. by announcing the Philippines would “realign” with China, but has not followed through on the idea.

On the ground, the U.S.-Philippines relationship evolved again in 1965 when U.S. immigration law allowed Asians back into the country — especially white-collar workers. In the 1970s, Filipinos were the second-largest group immigrating to the U.S., behind only Mexicans.

Today Filipino emigration is worldwide, with workers settling in the Gulf States, elsewhere in Asia, and some parts of Europe. Overall, Filipino immigrants sent an estimated $10 billion in remittances back home in 2005.

“The core aspects of the U.S.-Philippine military relationship are remarkably unchanged from the early 20th century to today,” Capozzola says. “What has changed is the power of Filipinos themselves. The economy is substantially different and not as tied to the United States. Filipino migrations are global, and the United States is not by any means the largest recipient country. Through their everyday choices, the relationship is being remade. And I think ultimately that will shift the U.S.-Philippine military relationship.”

So while it is important to know formal military history, Capozzola thinks, it is also vital to regard military history as something more than wars and strategies.

“To understand 20th-century America, you need to understand the U.S. military,” Capozzola says. “Not only as a [fighting] force, although of course that’s what it was designed for, but also a generative force that transforms social relationships, immigration patterns, ideas about race and culture. This book is a way to bring that to the center of the story.”

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Prof. Christopher Capozzola speaks with Bob DeCastro of Good Day LA about the campaign to name a U.S. Navy Warship after Fireman 2nd Class Telesforo Trinidad, the only American national of Asian and Filipino descent to have received a Congressional Medal of Honor. “I think in some ways, there’s no better tribute to the century of work that Filipinos sailors did to keep the ship going than to name one of our ships after one of the most heroic Filipino sailors that we know,” says Capozzola.

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THE PHILIPPINE ARMY HISTORY

Battles before colonization.

The beginnings of the Filipino land forces dates back before the Spanish and American colonial period. In that time, clans and barangays from different regions form their own armed groups primarily composed of hunters and land fighters. They served as defenders of the tribes or as warriors sent on strike missions against other barangays. On occasions, some clan forces would form alliances to attack more powerful opponents. Conventional weaponry during the pre‐colonial era includes Kris and Kampilan, Blowguns, and Lantaka. War-fare instruments of the Filipino forces continued to develop over time.

The Forces’ First Test (1521)

On April 27, 1521, the Filipino land forces were put to test. The Spaniards’ arrival in the 16 th century in Mactan, Cebu ignited the Battle of Mactan as Lapu-Lapu defied to render loyalty to Magellan. The incident demonstrated the combined might of Filipino land forces complemented by early naval elements. Lapu-Lapu’s force was not “formally organized” as a Filipino Army during that time but the present‐day Philippine Army traces its beginnings to this brave and proud force of warriors of the Philippine Islands.

The Fight for Freedom (1892-1898)

The three century rule of the Spaniards led the Filipino warriors to form resistance movements to fight for their freedom. The Filipino people were clamoring for reforms and an end to the foreign rule because of the growing restiveness in the colony. On July 7, 1892, Andres Bonifacio founded the Samahang Kataastaasan, Kagalanggalang Katipunan ng mga Anak ng Bayan, or simply “Katipunan” to muster freedom loving Filipinos for armed revolt. The Katipunan formed the nucleus of the Revolutionary Philippine Army.

Almost a year after the outbreak of war between the members of the Katipunan and the Spanish troops, another freedom fighter from a prominent clan ‒ Emilio Aguinaldo ‒ was elected President of the Philippine Revolutionary Government at the Tejeros Convention on March 22, 1897 in Tejeros, San Francisco de Malabon in Cavite. Artemio Ricarte, a Katipunan leader of numerous Filipino battles against Spain was also elected as Captain General of the Ejercito en la Republica de las Islas Filipinas or the Army of the Philippine Republic.

After years of fighting for freedom, of On June 12, 1898, the Filipino people achieved their awaited freedom as General Emilio Aguinaldo declared the Philippine’s Independence from Spain.

Philippine Army’s Rebirth (1898-1935)

The Filipino troops were to enjoy only a brief sense of victory and respite from combat when American forces came in to establish rule in the islands by virtue of the Treaty of Paris, which Spain co-signed with America on December 10, 1898. The treaty ceded the Philippines to the United States.

The Filipino-American War erupted on February 4, 1899. Due to the superiority of American arms, the Filipinos fell from one position to another until they were forced to disband. Even after the official cessation of hostilities and as the Americans have established government in 1901, the Filipino revolutionaries continued their struggle for freedom.

Aguinaldo was captured by American forces on March 23, 1901. The surrender of one of the most prominent leaders of the Philippine Revolution, General Miguel Malvar, on April 16, 1902 marked the official end of the “Philippine insurrection.” When the Philippines was established as a Commonwealth Republic of the United States of America on 15 November 1935, its President, Manuel Luis Quezon signed Commonwealth Act No.1, popularly known as the National Defense Act, which paved way for the birth of the new Philippine Army.

In World War II (1941-1945)

The onset of World War II in 1941 tested the might of the Commonwealth Philippine Army. Its two regular and ten reserve divisions undertook the defense of the Philippines. These divisions were incorporated into the United States Armed Forces in the Far East (USAFFE) under the command of General Douglas McArthur. Four military areas were activated after the war. The National Defense Forces organized under the National Defense Act was reorganized into the Armed Forces of the Philippines along which came the birth of four major services.

The post‐WWII Philippine Army was to be seen fulfilling the Philippine government’s commitment as a member of the United Nations to help bring peace in war‐ torn neighbor states. The Philippine Army spared five battalions which formed the Philippine Expeditionary Forces to Korea (PEFTOK) to carry out the campaign for democracy. The Philippine Civic Action Group to Vietnam (PhilCAGV) was sent to South Vietnam on a mission of peace, where army engineers helped build communities and army doctors and nurses provided medical services to the people.

Building the Headquarters; Expanding Horizons (1957- Early 70’s)

On July 10, 1957, the Philippine Army established its headquarters under the leadership of Brigadier General Leoncio S. Tan. The onset of the sixties ushered an expansion of the army's roles, which include participation in the socio-economic programs of the country, among others. To achieve greater flexibility and effectiveness, infantry divisions took the place of the military areas in the seventies.

The Army as a Nation Builder (1972-1986)

On September 21, 1972, the Martial Law era began. During the decade, military operations supported by civic action blocked the escalation of insurgency. The 1980s saw the Philippine Army in increasing peace and development roles and in a period of transition after the EDSA‐People Power Revolution, which spurred various initiatives toward transformation and reforms in internal security operations. The Philippine Army became more cognizant of its role not only as protector of the Filipino people, but also a partner in nation building.

Continued Sacrifice, Bravery and Patriotism (2000s)

On September 9, 2013, the Philippine Army prevented members of the Moro National Liberation Front to take over Zamboanga City which led to three-week fight. Twenty five government soldiers made the ultimate sacrifice in order to save innocent civilians and regain peace in the city.

On May 2017 to October 2017, a five-month long siege brought casualties and displaced individuals from their homes in Marawi, Lanao del Sur. The Battle of Marawi was one of the largest and longest urban warfare of the Philippine Army. One hundred sixty five government forces lost their lives to liberate the city from conflict. The Philippine Army continue play an important role in rebuilding the city.

The Philippine Army Today

Today, the Philippine Army supports the government’s whole-of-nation approach against insurgency led by the National Task Force to End the Local Communist Armed Conflict. The Army provides efficient instrument and structure for the employment of the whole-of-nation approach and also assists in the implementation of the Enhanced Comprehensive Local Integration Program offered to former rebels. These efforts complement the Army’s sustained anti-terrorism operations on the ground.

Moreover, the Philippine Army’s mandate led to a breakthrough with the framing of the Army Transformation Roadmap 2028, which was implemented in 2010. Capability upgrades, modernization initiatives, and campaigns for good governance and performance excellence in the transformation program ushered the Philippine Army to welcome paradigm shifts and optimistic milestones, which continue to fire up the enthusiasm of members of the force to fulfil the Army’s purpose to serve the nation and secure our people and territory. With continuing and steady successes in its strategic initiatives and base camps, the Philippine Army is confident that it will realize its 2028 vision to be a world class Army that is a source of national pride.

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