This year marks the 116th anniversary of the outbreak of the Philippine-American War, a violent US war of aggression to occupy the Philippines. The Philippine-American War is the beginning of the one-century rule of US power in our country.

Historians estimate that up to 1.5 million Filipinos were killed in this war. In Central Philippines alone, there are up to 600,000 dead Filipinos, according to conservative estimates by The New York Times. On the other hand, 4,234 American soldiers were killed in battle.

But no one knows too much about this history especially the young people of the present generation. It seems that the Filipino people have suffered only from the hand of the abusive and deceptive US imperialist.

In the face of continued US intervention in our country, it is important to deepen the realities of the Philippine-American War and break the illusion of friendship between the two countries.

The American people have long covered the tragic history of the Philippine-American War, and have come to terms with the heroic resistance of the Filipino nationalists.

Instead it promoted the image of Americans as a savior and gave Filipinos democracy and freedom. Even during the direct colonial rule of the US this lie was spreading.

Using colonial public education and dominant media, American colonialists erased the collective memory of the Filipinos in this tragedy.

The beginning of the US war of aggression

The success of the Philippine revolution against the colonial rule of the Spaniards had already come to light when the new American conqueror arrived and seized this victory.

The US-led war of aggression began in the Philippines with the surprise that American troops attacked the Filipino revolutionaries in Sta. Mesa, Manila on February 4, 1899.

But even before this war began, conditions were set for direct American aggression. One of these was the mock battle in Manila of the US and Spain in August 1898.

The signing of the Treaty of Paris followed the announcement that it would provide the Philippine archipelago with US $ 20 million and the declaration of US President McKinley's "benevolent assimilation" in December 1898.

The Filipino people's heroic fight against the US lasted several years. Up to 126,000 American troops were sent by the United States to take part in the war of aggression in the Philippines.

But despite the brutality of the American soldiers and its superior weapons, the Filipino people's broad and heroic resistance against the war of aggression against US imperialism was not quickly overcome.

US President Theodore Roosevelt's war was declared ended when the leader of the First Republic of the Philippines was arrested under the leadership of Emilio Aguinaldo on July 4, 1902. But Filipinos continued to struggle across the country, and especially by the Philippines. Moro in Mindanao, until the year 1916.

Part I