No doubt about the bravery of Filipino soldiers in all its wars.
However, I have to make a slight correction that bolo wielding
fanatics won the day. This is not true. From historical photographs
of the revolutionary army I could see that they are fairly well
armed. They have standard issue uniforms, webbing and other
soldier's kit.
The distinction between officers and the ordinary trooper is that
the officers wear boots while the private prefers to go barefooted.
A custom popular among the peasants at that time. What the
revolutionary army lacked in my opinion is substantial mobile
artillery as opposed to what the invading american army fielded like
the gatling gun and numerous howitzers in 1899. Regardless, the
revolutionary army have won military engagements against them toe to
toe. Also, the revolutionaries are already seasoned veterans on the
battlefield compared to the green American soldier who thought they
are being sent to Cuba.
The revolutionary army have been defeated in the long run because of
superior American logistics. There are artifacts of Filipino
soldier's kit taken as war booty in museums and in private
collections in the U.S. I've seen one such war booty from a private
collection featured in an illustrated military history magazine.
It is virtually impossible for any military armed only with bolos to
achieve victory in a battlefield. This is improbable. Not unless a
military commander is incompetent enough not to prepare access for a
steady supply of ammunition directly to its troops like what
happened in South Africa between the British and the Zulus.
Furthermore, the American army though made up of raw recruits are
more than compensated for by a highly skilled officer corps.
I also would like to put into doubt on whether Bonifacio really
wielded a bolo as romanticized in paintings and statues. All
indications point to a well groomed Andres Bonifacio armed with a
pistol. No first hand or secondary accounts have ever described
Bonifacio to be either barefooted or bolo wielding.
Bankaw Itomon
