Los Angeles herald., 1909-08-05

- 7SsSS1ANILA,-Among the BEN
lA vi eflts that have accrued to
IN the Filipinos from the
IM NI EI American occupation is
Ia @Aal the suppression of brig
Issz-a1HA4aI andage. When civil gov
ernment was established
ladronism had reduced the tao" and
many persons of the upper classes. to
terrorism, and the ,"bosque" was in
tested with pulajanes. While there
was a difference in method and in
tention between the ladrones and the
pulajanes, both the ladronS and the
pulajan were dangerous outlaws.
Both were survivors of the Spanish
rule, under which brigandage was
never suppressed.
1t would be unfair to say that the
conditions of the first few years after
the American occupation were normal,
but when reconstruction was marked
by an increase in outlawry, Filipinos
predicted the failure of the American
attempt to tree. smoke out and dis
pose of the brigands. AS this letter
is being written there are only two
outlaw chieftains in the bush, and
they will soon be captured The rest
are in Bilibid prison, awaiting trial,
or in another world. where they were
ushered by rifle shots or Manila hemp.
Respect for American law is the re-
suit.
The neutrality-suspicious. it "pula-
hahnes," were so called because
cluded a red badge They were led
by chieftains who called themselves
popes. These leaders rallied restless
spirits to their standards by pretend
ing to wage holy war against the
white oppressors." Without regard
ing the ethics of civilized or savage
warfare, they murdered and pillaged
whenever the opportunity presented
itself, Many puajan leaders pre-
tended to hold charmed lives. Some
wore bullet proof" shirts curiously
ornamented with meaningless pic
lures and inscriptions In bad Spanish.
One who possessed a powerful anting-
anting that warned him of the ap-
proach of Americans, confessed when
captured that his charm was an or
dinary electric light bulb. When he
desired to ascertain whether the en-
emy was near he pressed the bulb
bled violently the enemy was ap-
preaching. Another was killed de-
spite his anting-anting but his fol-
lowers said that this was because he
had been in the rain and water and
destroyed the charm.
One pope" promised his adherents
independence. He carried it about with
him in box, promising to distribute ii
among the faithful at the proper time.
No one else, he said, either Spanish or
American, had ever had any inde-
pendence to exhibit. The box was prop
erly labeled and was carried by three
virgins selected for the sacred duty.
When 1t was opened, the "deliverer''
hax In oh ~ ha h.. IA.
Americanos. it was full of slips of
paper with Independence" written up
on them. Most of these pulajan leaders
proclaimed themselves immortal. II
killed they declared they would rise
again. Sometimes when one was killed
another outlaw arose, pretending to be
the resurrected chieftain. This made
the task Of extermipating pulajanism
difficult, because the privates in the
pulajan armies believed the second
leader to be really the~frst one resur-
rected.
Pulajan popes sometimes performed
miracles. One of them would disappear
for three days, and upon his return
assert that he had been to Germany
comforting With the emperor, who would
soon send battleships and an army to
kill off the hated Americanos. Another
astonished his followers by appearing
from the heart of a fire under a tree.
This miracle was worked by building a
large smudge under a low hanging limb,
dropping down into the dense smoke
and stepping quickly into the open.
Papa Pablo" whose real name was
Pablo Bulan and who proclaimed him
self the leader of all pulajans, was the
head OF a sect called Dios Dios during
Spanish times. Before the arrival of
the Americans he was captured by in
surgents. The insurgent leader, Lux
ban, gave him liberty and induced him
to organize his followers under the
name of "El Battalion de Cazadores de
Samar y Leyte." He made much
trouble during the insurrection against
the Americans. When the insurrection
was crushed he preferred bushwhack-
ing to peace and declined to come in
He managed to create a deal. of trouble
before he was killed.
In Bilibid prison may be seen a mild
looking individual who was known as
Papa Isio" before he began to answer
to a number Papa Isio" has had his
ups and downs. He was christened
Dionisio Magbuela, and was one of a
good Catholic family. When he grew
up he became a cattle herder upon the
Montilla estate near Magallon. In q
personal difficulty he killed a Span
lard and rather than face the garrote