NEWSFLASH
BATTLE OF MANILA BAY REMEMBERED
Manila, June 3, 2000 - The battle of Manila Bay in 1898 was one of the most significant encounters in history. For one, it ushered the United States' rise as a world power and established thenceforth its mighty presence in Asia.
It signaled the end of the Spanish empire that began its long and steady decline with the destruction of its "invincible" armada in 1588 by the British fleet.
During that battle, American Commodore George Dewey destroyed the enemy without losing a single ship or man. All of the seven warships of Spanish Admiral Patricio Montojo's sank, killing or wounding 381 Spanish officers and sailors.
The story of the Battle of Manila Bay did not begin with the outbreak of the Spanish-American War in 1898. Two years before that episode, high ranking US officials had already conceived of a plot to attack Manila and gain a foothold on the lucrative Asian market.
When Theodore Roosevelt, Sr. became the assistant secretary of the US Navy in 1897, he advised President William McKinley that the US Asiatic squadron should "blockade, and if possible, take Manila".
Roosevelt worked hard for the appointment of Dewey as commander of the Asiatic squadron. Meanwhile, relations between Spain and the US deteriorated due to the latter's open support for the Cuban revolution.
On February 15, 1898, the American warship USS Maine was mysteriously blown up at Havana harbor, resulting in the death of 246 Americans. Seeing the incident as an excuse to provoke the US government to declare war against Spain, Roosevelt said, "I would give anything if President McKinley would order the fleet to Havana tomorrow, the Maine was sunk in an act of treachery on the part of the Spaniards."
On February 25, two months before the start of the Spanish-American War, McKinley cabled Dewey in Hong Kong with instructions to attack the Spanish Asian Squadron based in the Philippines in the event of war with Spain.
News of Dewey's victory caused much celebration in the US. Ordinary Americans thought that it was a sweet revenge for Maine and a blow against imperialism.
The Battle of Manila Bay would have truly been a glorious victory had the Americans waged a war against Spain on behalf of oppressed nations. Their true intentions, though, were soon unraveled.
On May 19, 1898, McKinley ordered the military occupation of the entire Philippine archipelago. That order was tantamount to a declaration of war against the Filipinos.
By then, the revolutionists had already reclaimed most of Luzon and the Visayas, and were already poised to capture Manila. The first batch of US troops had yet then to land anywhere in the Philippines.
On August 11, 1898, the US and Spain fought a sham battle so Manila would not fall in Filipino hands. Actually, Spain had already agreed to US conditions for a ceasefire the day before, but the news reached the American military commanders only on August 16.
In December 1898, McKinley gave more specific instructions to subdue, if necessary, the Filipinos to implement the Treaty of Paris which cost the Americans $20 million.
The Filipino revolutionaries under the leadership of Emilio Aguinaldo did most of what could be done to avoid war against the US and gain international recognition of Philippine independence.
All they had hoped for was that the Americans would, in the end, be true to the ideals of their Founding Fathers.
McKinley said the Philippines was a "gift from God", and the Filipinos, a people who they have a responsibility to educate, uplift, civilize, and Christianize.
© Copyright, 2000 by PHILIPPINE
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