Philippine Army
The Philippine Army is the main, oldest and largest branch of the Armed Forces of the Philippines, responsible for ground warfare., it had an estimated strength of 110,000 personnel. The service branch was established on December 21, 1935, as the Philippine Commonwealth Army.
The Philippine Army has been engaged in numerous combat operations, including the ongoing Communist rebellion in the Philippines, the Moro conflict and, alongside other national military forces, in conflicts of international scope and on United Nations peacekeeping missions in various parts of the globe.
The Commanding General of the Philippine Army is its professional and overall head. Its main headquarters is located at Fort Andres Bonifacio, Taguig City.
Background
Spanish Era
Majority of the soldier that served the Captaincy General of the Philippines are Philippine natives, as opposed to their Native-American, Mestizo from the Americas or white counterparts who at first, are mostly Criollos from New Mexico, but then after Mexican independence, are mostly from the Peninsula. Many of them are exiles and are forced to join the military service in the Philippines for crimes committed at home. Philippine natives, in most cases, join the military to pay debts. They participated in many conflicts and pacifications throughout the Spanish Empire. In many cases acting as intermediaries. The reward for service of an elite native are mostly land grant and encomiendas. The annexation of the capital - Manila to the Spanish Empire in 1571 was made possible with the help of the Visayan natives who views Rajah Sulayman as an enemy.Philippine Revolution (1896–1898)
After three centuries of Spanish rule, there were calls for social reforms and an end to the perceived oppressive friar rule. In 1896, Andres Bonifacio founded the Katipunan to prepare his band of Filipinos for armed revolt against the Spanish government. The Katipunan thus formed an army of insurgents.On March 22, 1897, almost a year after the outbreak of hostilities between the Katipuneros and the Spanish troops, Emilio Aguinaldo was elected as revolutionary president in the Tejeros Convention and revolutionary forces were organized into the Philippine Revolutionary Army. General Artemio Ricarte was named as its Captain General. This date marks the founding day of the PRA, and is considered by the Armed Forces of the Philippines to be the establishment date of the Philippine Army.
On November 1, the Republic of Biak-na-Bato was established, with the PRA as its military arm. That republic was dissolved on December 14 by the Pact of Biak-na-Bato, with Aguinaldo and other senior leadership going into exile in Hong Kong. During the exile period, some elements of the PRA remained active in the Philippines under the Central Executive Committee established by Francisco Macabulos. On May 19, 1898, during the Spanish–American War, Aguinaldo returned to the Philippines, rekindled the revolution, declared independence from Spain, and became President of the First Philippine Republic which was established during the lull following Spanish surrender to American forces in the Philippines.
Philippine–American War (1899–1902)
The 1898 Treaty of Paris formalized the end of the Spanish–American War, with one of its provisions being cession of the Philippines to America by Spain. Shortly thereafter, the Philippine–American War erupted between that nascent republic and occupying American forces, eventually resulting in American victory and the disbanding of the PRA.During the final years of the Philippine–American War, with the notable successes by the all-Filipino Macabebe Scouts cavalry squadron under U.S. command against the PRA, the American President Theodore Roosevelt officially sanctioned the raising of the Philippine Scouts as part of the United States Army, with full effect starting from October 1901. Earlier, in August that same year, came the colonial civil government's decision to found the Philippine Constabulary as the national gendarmerie force for law enforcement. Both of these organizations and their victories over the PRA; the Scouts were integrated into the U.S. Army, and the Constabulary gradually took over the responsibility for suppressing hostile forces' activities from United States Army units. This contributed to ending the conflict in 1902, even as resistance continued through 1914.
Starting in 1910, one Philippine Scout soldier was sent to the United States Military Academy each year. Several of these graduates who had served with the Scouts, along with PC officers, formed part of the first officer corps of the revitalized Philippine Army established in 1935.
World War I (1914–1918)
In 1917 the Philippine Assembly created the Philippine National Guard with the intent to join the American Expeditionary Force. By the time it was absorbed into the National Army it had grown to 25,000 soldiers. However, these units did not see action. The first Filipino to die in World War I was Private Tomas Mateo Claudio who served with the U.S. Army as part of the American Expeditionary Forces to Europe. He died in the Battle of Chateau Thierry in France on June 29, 1918. The Tomas Claudio Memorial College in Morong Rizal, Philippines, which was founded in 1950, was named in his honor.Post-war (1918–1935)
The Philippine National Guard unit of the U.S. Army was deactivated following World War I, then formally disbanded in 1921. During most of the Interwar period, spanning about 20 years from 11 November 1918 to 1 September 1939, the Philippines had no armed forces other than the Philippine Scouts, the Constabulary, and some semimilitary units which were generally privately organized and had no connection with conventional military forces.History
Commonwealth period (1935–1946)
The Philippine Army of today was initially organized under the National Defense Act of 1935 that formally created the Armed Forces of the Philippines. The act specified that insofar as may be practicable, original appointments by the President in grades above third lieutenant "shall be made from among those formerly holding Reserve Commissions in the United States Army, from among former officers of the Philippine Scouts and Constabulary, from among former officers of the National Guard and from such others who possess exceptional ability or special training and skill."After the establishment of the Philippine Commonwealth on November 15, 1935, President Manuel L. Quezon sought the services of General of the Army Douglas MacArthur to evolve a national defense plan. The official rebirth of the Philippine Army occurred with the passage of Commonwealth Act No. 1, approved on December 21, 1935, which effected the organization of a Council of National Defense and of the Army of the Philippines. The act set forth the organizational structure of the army in some detail, set forth enlistment procedures, and established mobilization procedures. With this act, the AFP was officially established.
The development of the by now renewed Philippine Army was slow. The year 1936 was devoted to the building of camps, organization of cadres, and the special training of instructors, drawn largely from the Constabulary, which joined the new force as the Constabulary Division. The commander of the Philippine Department provided Philippine Scouts as instructors and detailed U.S. Army officers to assist in the inspection, instruction, and administration of the program. By the end of the year instructors had been trained and camps established.
The first group of 20,000 men was called up on January 1, 1937, and by the end of 1939 there were 4,800 officers and 104,000 men in the reserves. Infantry training was given at camps scattered throughout the Philippines. Field artillery training was concentrated in the vicinity of the U.S. Army's Fort Stotsenburg near Angeles, about fifty miles north of Manila, and specialized training was given at Fort William McKinley just south of Manila. Coast artillery instruction was carried on at Fort Stotsenburg and at Grande Island in Subic Bay by personnel supplied largely by the American commander at Corregidor.File:Philippine Scouts at Fort McKinley.jpg|thumb|250px|Philippine Scouts operating a 37 mm gun M3 at Fort McKinley.With the threat of war with Japan becoming imminent, on July 26, 1941, a new U.S. command in the Far East was created, known as the United States Army Forces Far East under the command of General MacArthur. On the same date, U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt, issued a Presidential Order which called the Philippine Army into the service of the Armed Forces of the United States. The Presidential Order did not order all the military forces of the Philippine government into the service of the United States Armed Forces; only those units and personnel indicated in orders issued by a general officer of the United States Army were mobilized and made an integral part of the United States Army Forces Far East, and only those members of a unit who physically reported for duty were inducted. With an annual appropriation of 16 million pesos, the mobilized units trained new Filipino members in defending the nation and protecting its people.
World War II
When World War II broke out in December 1941, two regular and ten reserve divisions of the Philippine Army undertook the defense of the Philippines. These divisions were incorporated into the United States Armed Forces in the Far East under the command of General Jhun De Silva and General MacArthur.Japanese forces invaded the Philippines after the bombing of Pearl Harbor on the island of Oahu on December 7, 1941. At this time, two regular and ten reserve divisions of the Philippine Army undertook the defense of the Philippines. This included North Luzon Force, South Luzon Force activated December 13, 1941 under Brig. Gen. George M. Parker Jr., the Visayas-Mindanao Force under Colonel W.F. Sharp in the southern islands, and the Reserve Force. North Luzon Force included the 11th, 21st, and 31st Divisions, all reserve. South Luzon Force include the 1st Division, and the 41st, 51st, and 71st Divisions. These divisions were incorporated into the United States Army Forces in the Far East.
The equipment of these units included: Renault FT tank ; 75mm SPM ; Bren Gun Carrier ; Canon de 155 mm GPF; Canon de 155 C modèle 1917 Schneider 75 mm Gun M1917; 2.95 inch QF Mountain gun; 3-inch naval gun; 6-pounder naval gun; Stokes Mortar; Brandt mle 27/31; Canon d'Infanterie de 37 modèle 1916 TRP; M2 Browning machine gun; M1917 Browning machine gun; AN/M2; M1918 Browning automatic rifle; M1917 Enfield rifle; M1903 Springfield rifle; Thompson submachine gun; M1911 pistol; M1917 revolver; Colt New Service; Smith & Wesson Model 10; Colt Official Police; and the Colt Model 1903 Pocket Hammerless.
After the Battle of Bataan, the Japanese began the siege and Battle of Corregidor. Defending forces included regiments of the Harbor Defenses of Manila and Subic Bays, the 4th Marine Regiment and other Philippine, U.S. Army and Navy units and soldiers. Japanese forces landed at Corregidor on May 5, 1942. The island's fall led to the surrender of all defending Filipino and American forces on May 6, 1942. About 4,000 of the 11,000 American and Filipino prisoners of war from the island were marched through the streets of Manila to incarceration at Fort Santiago in Intramuros and Bilibid Prison in Muntinlupa, Rizal, which had become Japanese camps.
With the fall of Corregidor, Filipino and U.S. forces under U.S. command surrendered. After the surrender, thousands of Filipinos formerly under U.S. command evaded Japanese confinement and hid in the jungle. Every major island had guerrilla groups; Luzon had a dozen, including the Communist Huks. After initial clashes based on religious and political rivalries order was gradually restored, with most willing to trust the United States to grant independence in time. Many of these groups worked under the control of General Douglas MacArthur's General Headquarters, Southwest Pacific Area. The Japanese occupation of the Philippines saw repeated combat between the Japanese imperial forces, their collaborators and Filipino guerrillas. The American and Allied liberation force which began landing on October 17, 1944, was aided by local Filipino soldiers and recognized guerrillas in the liberation of the Philippines.
President Sergio Osmeña and Major General Basilio J. Valdes ordered the re-establishment of the army. The general headquarters of the Philippine Army and the United States Army Forces in the Far East moved to Tacloban, Leyte on October 23. From October 17, 1944, to September 2, 1945, local Philippine Constabulary troops, guerrilla units and the American liberation forces fought Imperial Japanese and Kempeitai troops which were supported by the Bureau of Constabulary and Makapili militia.
After the restoration of the Commonwealth of the Philippines on October 20, 1944, President Sergio Osmeña, the government, military officials and cabinet returned from exile in the United States.
After the war, four military areas were activated to take the place of military districts. The Armed Forces were reorganized, thereby giving birth to its four major services. Headquarters National Defense Forces was renamed General Headquarters Armed Forces of the Philippines.