They were not the Admiral’s only allegations on this subject.  When testifying before the Senate committee he said:—­

“Admiral Dewey.  I knew that there was no government in the whole of the Philippines.  Our fleet had destroyed the only government there was, and there was no other government; there was a reign of terror throughout the Philippines, looting, robbing, murdering; a reign of terror throughout the islands.”

La Laguna

Having brought our tourist friends safely back to Manila, we must now leave them there and strike out by ourselves if we are to see other provinces.

La Laguna lies just east of Manila.  Of it we learn that: 

“Laguna Province was so overrun by bands of robbers that the head of the pueblo of San Pablo ordered the people to concentrate in the town to avoid their attacks.” [305]

Bataan

The province of Bataan lies just across the bay from Manila.

“On January 10, 1899, the secretary of the interior directed the governor of Bataan Province to ascertain the whereabouts of a number of men who had just deserted with their rifles from the commands there.  He was to appeal to their patriotism and tell them that if they would but return to their companies their complaints would be attended to and they would be pardoned.” [306]

Zambales

Zambales joins Bataan on the west and north.  On November 13, 1898, Wenceslao Vinvegra wrote to Aguinaldo describing the state of affairs in this province.  From his letter we learn that two brothers named Teodoro and Doroteo Pansacula, claiming to be governor and brigadier general respectively, who are charged with abandonment of their posts in the field, disobedience and attempts against the union of the Insurgents, had been committing all manner of abuses.  They had organized a band of cut-throats, armed with rifles and bolos, and were terrorizing the towns, committing robberies and murders and ordering that money be furnished for themselves and food for their men.

They were also encouraging the people to disobey the local authorities and refuse to pay taxes, and were promulgating a theory, popular with the masses, that the time had come for the rich to be poor and the poor rich.

They had furthermore induced regular Insurgent troops to rise up in arms. [307]

From this communication it would appear that the Insurgent government had not been entirely effective in Zambales up to November 13th, 1898.

From other communications we learn that the soldiers at Alaminos were about to desert on November 30th, 1898; [308] that it was deemed necessary to restrict travel between Tarlac, Pampanga, Bataan and Zambales in order to prevent robberies; [309] and that on January 9, 1899, the governor of the province found it impossible to continue the inspection of a number of towns, as many of their officials had fled to escape the abuses of the military. [310] Conditions were obviously very serious in Zambales at this time.