Miguel Malvar - Philippine Revolution

Philippine Revolution

Like Macario Sakay, his subsequent successor as President, Malvar was an original Katipunero. That is, he joined the Katipunan before the Philippine Revolution. When the Revolution began by August of 1896, he emerged from a leader of a 70-man army to being the military commander of Batangas. As 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. He once fought with General Edilberto Evangelista, Malvar's senior officer at the time, at the Battle of Zapote Bridge, where the former died in battle. That was February 17, 1897. 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, wherein Aguinaldo won as President, Malvar opted to side with the Katipunan Supremo, Andres 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 did not eventuate. Bonifacio and his brother Procopip were found guilty, despite insufficient evidence, and they were recommended to be executed. Aguinaldo commuted the sentence to deportation or exile on 8 May 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 executed on 10 May 1897 in the mountains of Maragondon.

After the death of Bonifacio, 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 Trias, Paciano Rizal, Manuel Tinio and Artemio Ricarte, was 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.