Pulajans
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Pulaganism was a religious movement and warrior cult that swept through the Philippines in days following the Philippine-American War, around 1902-1910. At its peak, it numbered around 10-15 thousand fanatic highlanders. Its began after the Philippine Constabulary took over patrols in Samar, after the U.S. military believed it to be pacified.
It was a simple religion, with no complicated rituals, but basic worship of both nature and fanatical combat. Pulajans dressed in bright red shirts, with white flowing capes, and baggy pants. Their weapon of choice was a heavy, crescent-shaped bolo. Their battle preparations consisted of bottles of holy oil, prayer books, consecrated anting-antings (magical charms), and other religious paraphernalia. Along with Spanish Mauser, Krag, and Springfield rifles, the pulajans were usually better armed than their Constabulary enemies. But poor marksmanship and ammunition usually dampered this advantage.
Led by priest-warlords, pulajans were notorious fighters, usually disreguarding better technology (such as firearms), just to fight in hand to hand with their enemy with their infamous talibongs. Adding to this, the pulajan sought nothing but death in battle, making them very dangerous combatants and also contributing to high casualty figures. In seeking death in battle, they believed that those who perished would be sent to paradise.
Their fanatic zeal exceeded their level of military knowledge. Their tactics were very basic. Even when greatly outnumbering their enemies they still suffered defeat, due to lack of discipline and poor tactics, usually resulting in very high casualties.
The Pulajans main battle tactic, was simply advance upon the enemy, fire a volley, then throw down their firearms and rush in to try and fight their enemies in hand to hand comabt. Screaming "Tad Tad!" ("Chop To Pieces") as they charged, and waving brightly colored flags and banners.
Their lack of strategy is reflected even in their victory, with high casualty figures. It was not uncommon for a pulajan force to lose 300 or more men in one day of combat. Often facing Constabulary Soldiers outnumbered 20 or 30 to 1, or sometimes more than that. In the Massacre at Dolores, a company of less than fifty men managed to repel countless attacks of one-thousand pulajans, before they were killed.
Still, the pulajans, regardless of military knowledge, were reasonably well organized, grouped into a complete military corps. The hillsmen were organized into regiments and brigades with line and staff officers.
In the end, the battles and skirmishes with better armed and disciplined Constabulary and Regular Army soldiers exacted a heavy toll on the Pulajans. In less than a decade they were defeated and disbanded.
It should also be noted that these Filipino fanatics were entirely different from Katipuneros led by Emilio Aguinaldo, and had no part in the first phase of the Philippine-American War. Rather the Pulajans, along with the Moros, were the only combatants in the latter part of the war in the Philippines.
