25 NOVEMBER

Imperialist U.S. Gen. Henry W. Lawton, Fil-Am War

1899 - Nine months into the protracted  Filipino-American War (1899-1914), some 115  Spanish prisoners, $75,000 Philippine Republic  money, and other properties are captured near  Tayug, Pangasinan, by the troops of imperialist  United States General Henry Ware Lawton; the  sizable capture came less than a month before   Lawton, veteran of the Indian pacification wars,  including the Geronimo campaign, will be felled by  the sharpshooting Tiradores de la Muerte  (Marksmen of Death) troops of another  Geronimo--Filipino Gen. Licerio Geronimo-- in what  would be the Philippines' biggest prey catch in their  war for freedom against the invading Bald Eagles.

1804 - The Spanish King receives the  recommendation for the nationalization of churches  in the colony, the Philippines, from  Governor-General Rafael Maria de Aguilar y Ponce de Leon; some nine years earlier on June 13, 1795,  a royal decree had underlined the spiritual  development of the curacies in the colony; de  Aguilar, who serves from 1793-1806 and  responsible for opening Manila to foreign trade, will  later express his regard of the Philippine Islands as  "the most valuable colony in the world," being "so  extensive, so valuable and so productive."


Photo credit: Filipiniana.net