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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, following the capture of resistance leader Emilio Aguinaldo by the Americans in 1901. According to some historians, he could have been listed as one of the
presidents of the Philippines Under the 1987 Constitution of the Philippines, the president of the Philippines ( fil, pangulo ng Pilipinas) is both the head of state and the head of government, and serves as the commander-in-chief of the country's armed forces. The presid ...
but, , is not recognized as such by the Philippine government.


Early life

Malvar was born on September 27, 1865, in San Miguel, a barrio in Santo Tomas, Batangas, to Máximo Malvar (locally known as ''Capitán Imoy'') and Tiburcia Carpio (locally known as ''Capitana Tibo''). Malvar's family was well known in town not only for their wealth but for their generosity and diligence as well. For his education, Malvar attended the town school in Santo Tomas. He later attended a private school run by Father Valerio Malabanan in
Tanauan, Batangas Tanauan, officially the City of Tanauan ( fil, Lungsod ng Tanauan), is a 2nd class component city in the province of Batangas, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 193,936 people. It is incorporated as a city und ...
, a well-regarded educational institution in Batangas at the time. Here, Malvar had fellow revolutionary
Apolinario Mabini Apolinario Mabini y Maranan (, July 23, 1864 – May 13, 1903) was a Filipino revolutionary leader, educator, lawyer, and statesman who served first as a legal and constitutional adviser to the Revolutionary Government, and then as the first ...
as his classmate. He then transferred to another school in Bauan, Batangas. He decided not to pursue higher education in
Manila Manila ( , ; fil, Maynila, ), officially the City of Manila ( fil, Lungsod ng Maynila, ), is the capital of the Philippines, and its second-most populous city. It is highly urbanized and, as of 2019, was the world's most densely populated ...
and preferred to settle down as a farmer instead. Instead, he helped his more studious younger brother, Potenciano, study medicine in Spain. Malvar was later elected as ''Capitán municipal'' of his hometown. In 1891, Malvar married Paula Maloles, the beautiful daughter of the ''Capitán municipal'' of Santo Tomas, Don Ambrocio Maloles. ''Don'' Ambrocio was Malvar's successor as ''Capitán 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.


Connections with Rizal

Malvar and his family had a friendship with José Rizal and his family. Rizal mended the harelip of Malvar's wife and Saturnina Rizal lent Malvar 1,000 pesos as an initial capital to start a business. Saturnina's husband, Manuel, was a relative of Malvar's, and Soledad Rizal Quintero's daughter, Amelia married Malvar's eldest son, Bernabe. Also, Paciano was Malvar's fellow revolutionary.


Philippine Revolution

Like Macario Sakay, considered his successor as president by some, Malvar was an original Katipunero as they both joined the Katipunan before the Philippine Revolution. When the Revolution began in August 1896, Malvar emerged from leading a 70-man army to becoming the military commander of Batangas. As a 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. On February 17, 1897, Malvar fought alongside General
Edilberto Evangelista Edilberto Evangelista (February 24, 1862 – February 17, 1897) was a Filipino civil engineer and a revolutionary. Early life and career He was born in Sta. Cruz, Manila, on February 24, 1862. Evangelista finished his Bachelor of Arts at the Col ...
, Malvar's senior officer at the time, at the
Battle of Zapote Bridge The Battle of Zapote River ( fil, Labanan sa Ilog ng Zapote, es, Batalla de Rio de Zapote), also known as the Battle of Zapote Bridge, was fought on the 13 June 1899 between 1,200 Americans and between 4,000~5,000 Filipinos.U.S. War Dept (1900), ...
, where the senior died in battle. 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, in which Aguinaldo won as president, Malvar opted to side with the Katipunan's ''Supremo'', Andrés 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 threat was never implemented. Bonifacio and his brother Procopio were found guilty, despite insufficient evidence, and they were recommended to be executed. Aguinaldo 'issued a commutation of the sentence' to deportation or exile on May 8, 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 murdered on 10 May 1897 in the mountains of Maragondon. After Bonifacio was murdered, the Spanish offensive resumed, now under Governor-General
Fernando Primo de Rivera Fernando Primo de Rivera y Sobremonte, 1st Marquess of Estella (24 July 1831 – 23 May 1921) was a Spanish politician and soldier. Fernando Primo de Rivera was the son of Antonio Hermenegildo Primo de Rivera y Sobremonte and his wife Ana Ma ...
, 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 Zambales, officially the Province of Zambales ( fil, Lalawigan ng Zambales; ilo, Probinsia ti Zambales; Pangasinan: ''Luyag/Probinsia na Zambales''; xsb, Probinsya nin Zambales), is a province in the Philippines located in the Central Luzon re ...
, 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 The Cortes Generales (; en, Spanish Parliament, lit=General Courts) are the bicameral legislative chambers of Spain, consisting of the Congress of Deputies (the lower house), and the Senate (the upper house). The Congress of Deputies m ...
'', 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 Manila ( , ; fil, Maynila, ), officially the City of Manila ( fil, Lungsod ng Maynila, ), is the capital of the Philippines, and its second-most populous city. It is highly urbanized and, as of 2019, was the world's most densely populated ...
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 In diplomacy and international relations, shuttle diplomacy is the action of an outside party in serving as an intermediary between (or among) principals in a dispute, without direct principal-to-principal contact. Originally and usually, the proc ...
, 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 Trías, Paciano Rizal, Manuel Tinio and Artemio Ricarte, as 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.


Philippine–American War

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 General Trías, 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. General Trías, Aguinaldo's chosen successor as president and Commander-In-Chief of the Filipino forces, had already surrendered 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. Beginning January 1902, American General
J. Franklin Bell James Franklin Bell (January 9, 1856 – January 8, 1919) was an officer in the United States Army who served as Chief of Staff of the United States Army from 1906 to 1910. Bell was a major general in the Regular United States Army, commanding ...
took command of operations in Batangas and practiced scorched earth tactics that took a heavy toll on both guerrilla fighters and civilians alike. Malvar escaped American patrols by putting on disguises. So, as early as August 1901, the Americans released an exact description of Malvar's physical features. According to the description given, Malvar was of dark complexion and stood around . He weighed about and wore a 5 or 6 size of shoes. He surrendered to Bell on April 16, 1902 in Rosario, Batangas, mainly due to desertion of his top officers and to put an end to the sufferings of his countrymen.


Later life and death

After the war, he refused any position offered to him in the American colonial government. His death in Manila on October 13, 1911 is suspected to have been due to kidney disease.


Attributions as president

On September 18, 2007, Oriental Mindoro 1st district representative Rodolfo Valencia filed House Bill 2594, that declared Malvar as the second philippine president, alleging that it is incorrect to consider Manuel L. Quezon as the second president of the Philippine Republic serving after Emilio Aguinaldo: "''General Malvar took over the revolutionary government after General Emilio Aguinaldo, first president of the Republic, was captured on March 23, 1901, and asexiled in Hong Kong by the American colonial government—since he was next in command.''" In October 2011, Vice President Jejomar Binay sought the help of historians in proclaiming revolutionary General Miguel Malvar as the rightful second president of the Philippines.


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. * Various streets were also named after him. * In 2015, the National Historical Commission of the Philippines will open a museum in
Santo Tomas Santo Tomás is Spanish for Saint Thomas. Santo Tomas may also refer to: Places Argentina * Santo Tomás, Buenos Aires, Carlos Casares Partido, Buenos Aires Province * Santo Tomás, Neuquén Colombia * Santo Tomás, Atlantico Cuba ...
to celebrate the 150th anniversary of Malvar's birthday on September 27. * In 2015, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) released the 10-peso commemorative coin in honor of Malvar's 150th birth anniversary. , Malvar monument in Malvar, Batangas File:BRP Miguel Malvar (PS-19).jpg,
BRP Miguel Malvar (PS-19) BRP ''Miguel Malvar'' (PS-19) is the lead ship of the of corvettes of the Philippine Navy. She was originally built as USS Brattleboro ''PCE(R)-852'', a for the United States Navy during World War II. In 1966 she was transferred to South Vietnam ...
, the lead ship of the Miguel Malvar class corvette File:Commemorative Miguel Malvar PHP10 Peso Coin.jpg, Commemorative ₱10 coin released in 2015 by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas in commemoration of Malvar's 150th birth anniversary. The obverse is shown on the left, while the reverse is on the right. File:Malvar Shrine (Santo Tomas, Batangas; 08-31-2019.jpg, Malvar Shrine in Santo Tomas, Batangas


See also

* List of unofficial presidents of the Philippines


Notes


References


Sources

*. * *. *


Further reading

*


External links


Miguel Malvar
at www.geocities.com

at www.geocities.com
General Miguel Malvar
at www.malvar.net

at www.bibingka.com

at www.worldstatesmen.org {{DEFAULTSORT:Malvar, Miguel 1865 births 1907 deaths Filipino generals Katipunan members Paramilitary Filipinos People from Batangas People of the Philippine–American War People of the Philippine Revolution Unofficial Presidents of the Philippines Deaths from liver failure