On the contrary, without just cause, he includes
this great island, with its 4881 square miles of territory and its
560,776 inhabitants, in the area over which he claims that Aguinaldo
exercised complete control.
At Iloilo the American troops encountered opposition when they planned
to land. Negotiations had been entered into with the local Filipino
officers, but the latter, under the influence of representatives
whom Aguinaldo had sent from Luzon, announced themselves as adherents
of his government, and when the American troops finally disembarked
fired the town ahead of them. It has been claimed that in doing this
they were inspired by pure patriotism, but the facts shown by their
own records present a very different picture.
In writing to Aguinaldo on April 8, 1899, Mabini says:
"We have received a communication forwarded from Iloilo, from General
Martin Delgado and Francisco Soriano, your commissioner. Soriano states
that the troops of Diocno have done nothing except commit excesses
and steal money during the attack by the Americans upon the town of
Iloilo, even going so far as to break their guns by using them as
poles to carry the stolen money which they took to Capiz. It is said
that these forces, besides being unwilling to fight the Americans,
refuse to give their guns to those who do wish to fight and do not want
Capiz to aid the people of Iloilo, who are the ones who support the
entire forces, including the troops of Diocno who went there.
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