The American Legacy 6. What was the Philippine Republic’s war strategy? How was it employed? Good strategy, bad tactics. The revolutionary forces recognized that they could not defeat the enemy militarily but they could however drive them out through political-military means. General Macabulos had divulged that the Philippine Republic’s aim in the war was “not to vanquish the U.S. Army but to inflict on them constant losses.”12 They hoped that this would create an anti-war sentiment among American voters to make their ally, pro-labor, William Jennings Bryan, presidential candidate of the American Anti-Imperialist league, win over Theodore Roosevelt in the 1890 US Presidential elections. A friendly US president who will recognize the Philippine Republic would end the war, pull out US troops and establish an equal and mutually beneficial relationship with the Philippines. This strategy most likely emanated from Apolinario Mabini, who was then the chief adviser of Emilio Aguinaldo and the head of his War Cabinet. The operationalization of the strategy, however, was flawed. It called for the maintenance of a 100,000 troop level that would fight in a series of blocking forces in trenches and fortified positions where troops of the Republic could inflict significant casualties on the advancing enemy troops before retreating to another fortified position in the next town or advantageous position. Antonio Luna used the train system from Caloocan to Dagupan to ferry troops and logistical supplies and as his command headquarters. The weakness of the system was that it removed the element of surprise and did not allow for the employment of tactical superiority of engaging a column that was on the move and isolated from the bulk of enemy forces. Tens of thousands of Filipinos were mobilized from the barrios to dig the trenches, allowing US reconnaissance teams to spot them easily and prepare. The US army were methodical and did not succumb to the temptation to advance on contact. They built their own trenches, positioned their artillery and machine guns, massed their troops in these fortifications, beefed up their logistics, and positioned their warships in coastlines near the battle area to deliver artillery support when possible. These preparations sometimes took days to accomplish as soldiers of the Philippine Republic waited. 59