Teresa Magbanua Part 7 - The Final High

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Those of us who look back on those days in 1898 and 1899 know Teresa Magbanua. Not well, mind you, but we were left with remnants of her tale, enough of them that we can feel as if we could know her as one knows a distant relative or friend. We know what she has done, and in some sense we know her spirit. We know the role she played, but at the time, it was easy to overlook her if not more directly snub her because she was a woman without a formal title. For many, this came easily. In fact, they could recite many reasons to dismiss her and overlook her achievements. 

For one, really, she was simply a teacher who had once married well but before that had first come from a well connected family. And it was those connections that gave her her command. Those victories she had? Flukes against a weakened and battered army. And then when it came time to go up against the US forces, one that was fresher and more capable than what came before, it was a humiliating defeat for the Filipino forces. The Americans had not had a single casualty on their side of things but had a beautiful city to show for it.

But most damning of all, many of them would have said, was simply that Teresa Magbanua was a woman, and women--they would say--were not fit for war. 

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Maybe Teresa Magbanua heard these whispers. Maybe she knew she was going up against those attitudes. Maybe she knew how likely it was that her name would slip away into the wind. I’m not inclined to think that she did what she did for glory, so whether or not she knew, it might not have deterred her. And there would have hardly been a single reason for her to give it any mind. 

On the other hand, there was a similar dismissive attitude towards her army, and that likely would have bothered her much more. She was invested in their wellbeing, after all. She was their commander. She fought besides that army, and she knew how diligently they fought and how much they were risking. She knew the stakes. She knew the horrors the Spanish had inflicted upon them. She knew the horrors of colonialism. Those horrors were not guaranteed to go away just because the US would rule over them now. She knew the dangers. She knew the hopes. She knew the Filipino heart, and disparaging remarks against it would likely be something she would have found so much more difficult to swallow.

It certainly didn’t seem deserved. Not after everything they had been through. Yes, Filipino forces had retreated against the US, which was not a good look, but it was a strategic retreat. It was the sort of retreat that guaranteed the army would fight another day. That other day could bring about another battle, and if that battle were a victory, then what would the failures of other days even mean? Revolutions are not won in the moment, but they can certainly be lost that quickly.

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As Filipino forces retreated from cannon fire, they did hold out one last time, having lured General Marcus Miller and his men from their cannons or another battle on the road outside of the city, near the city of Jaro. This battle--a small skirmish by other standards--was meant to be a last stand of sorts, but how that went is unclear in many regards. 

I find the records that exist of this battle to be slanted, mentioning the occasional attacks of small forces seeking to be a hindrance or to otherwise slow down progress rather offering than any real pushback. And maybe it was just about slowing down American forces, getting them to waste resources and be otherwise demoralized by constant pestering. Or maybe this was about sizing up this new force, to understand what they were truly capable of with the weapons they had brought with them from the US. Or maybe it was just that: small attacks because this army could not muster any more.

Listener, you and I have followed this tale so long that we want it to end differently. We want it to end like Teresa Magbanua hoped it would, even though we might know better. 

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Today, Jaro is a district of Iloilo City, but from what I can gather, it’s incorporation was not until the 1940s or slightly earlier. In 1899, Jaro was somewhat a distinct city. Though having lived in Phoenix, Arizona, I can tell you that the term ‘distinct city’ can mean very little as places expand and people make their lives straddling those lines. 

Regardless, at the time, there was a very clear difference between Iloilo City and Jaro, especially to Teresa Magbanua. To Teresa and one of her young brothers, General Pascual Magbanua, Jaro was takeable. Filipino forces could reclaim that city as their own. Iloilo City, on the other hand, was not. 

Where the other generals were in this, I cannot definitively say. General Delgado, from the battle in Iloilo City, is somewhat unaccounted for. The most plausible reason might have been his surrender or capture. But his surrender, insofar as it is documented, would happen some time later. But where else could he have gone? This was the battle front he was tied to. This was his field. But maybe he had stepped aside to some other endeavor, some other battle plan, leaving a space that General Magbanua could fill. Beside his older sister. It was a special place, after all, and their relationship--likely--was too. Perhaps he was the only person at the time who could really see Teresa Magbanua for all that she was.

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Much like Teresa, my mother is also an older sister. It is a place that, from what I’ve seen, comes with a great deal of responsibility and obligation. As the older sister, you are the leader. You are the one who must guide your siblings through not just their childhood but through the rest of their lives. You are the rock upon which your parents lay your siblings down. But no pressure or anything like that.

But maybe Pascual knew his sister had schemes and plans that would win them the day. Maybe he knew she could do it because it was not unlike her to take these challenges head on. Maybe she knew could take care of it because she had always taken care of him. Maybe Pascual knew his sister could piece together a plan, though they had fewer men and fewer and inferior weapons that the US forces did. She could figure out this seemingly impossible puzzle. He believed in her both as his older sister and because she had won two battles on her own prior to this. That was with a… Less than ideal command. It certainly wasn’t the same thing the other… Well, he couldn’t even say, ‘other generals’ by many standards. She had not been given the same lot as them nor the title. She had the dedication and fortitude, the resourcefulness, the care, compassion, everything you would want in a general. But that was not what she was called.  

You could take pause there. Perhaps, you can see a moment where brother and sister come together, bruised and battered but not broken. Or maybe that seems too dramatic to you. Regardless, General Pascual Magbanua believed in his sister. And he did not send her away, though perhaps she would not have left if he tried. After all, that plan had gone oh so well for her husband, don’t forget. But that must have felt like a lifetime ago. Regardless, a brother would know her better. He would know not to bother, and he would know that there was no need. Maybe that’s why he was the one by her side in the battle, in the battle to reclaim Jaro, almost a month after Teresa was run out of Iloilo City. Maybe it was just because he knew what no other general had bothered to learn.

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There are few details about what fighting skills Teresa Magbanua had cultivated. She could ride a horse and shoot a pistol, but beyond that, with battle plans lost and relatively few details of her life recorded, it’s hard to know the details of her skill set. But they were impressive. Her dedication was too. 

How that materialized on the battlefield, I don’t know. I could not even find much about the exact layout of the then city of Jaro. It’s neighbor--Iloilo City--was known for its beauty and commerce. Whereas, Jaro was just there. It just existed in a space without much thought. The battle details have been treated similarly in the historical record. The battle occurred and not much thought is given to it beyond that.

We know Teresa Magbanua was there. She was at the helm and that her brother was beside her. And together, there was a victory, and once again, she showed how strong of a leader she really was. Maybe others were inclined to dismiss her but not her brother and not her soldiers. Regardless of where General Delgado or anyone else were, the soldiers joined in the charge. And this time, they won the day. Jaro belonged to Filipino forces for now, but with 400 Americans dead, it would not be allowed to stay that way for long. 

But that would come some other time. There would come a time when Teresa was seemingly directly punished for her role in this battle. But that’s another part of the story. At this juncture, there;s a moment of celebration. Of exultation, even for the woman Teresa Magbanua who was winning more support behind her with every new win under her belt. And that made her a threat, of some kind.

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This has been a production of Miscellany Media Studios with music licensed from the Sounds like an Earful music supply. Thanks for listening! Find more information about our shows at miscellanymedia.online or follow us on Twitter @miscellanymedia for updates on current and future projects.

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