The fateful end of P.C. officers who have been Malacanan aides

Title

Language

English

Source

Khaki and Red : Official Organ of the Philippine Constabulary Volume XIII (No. 7) July 1933

Year

1933

Rights

In Copyright - Educational Use Permitted

Fulltext

July, 1933 KHAKI -and RED PAGE 45 The Fateful End Of P.C. Major Baviera, retired, here Officers Who _ Have Been Malacaiian Aides gives an interesting account w-· I of the incidents in the lives of aides-de-camps to former Govm·nors-General. By MAJOR LUCAS BA VIERA, Retired The readers of Khaki and Red who are mostly Constabulary officers should be interested to know the curious and ironical luck of their brother officers who have been assigned as Aides-de-Camp to former Governors General of the Philippines. Fate hf,ts, apparently, worked against all--of them for many we1e untimely and forcedly separated from the service . Untimely because they were able 'to reach the twenty or more years period required for the retirement with life pension. Some of them died relatively young of protracted and painful diseases. The chronological order and brief story ·of each one of the Constabulary aides at Malacafiang follows: Maj•or .George S. Holmes, a handsome and tall rna~, was the first P. C. Ofl'icer who was assigned as aide-de-camp to former Governor General Camer,on ··.Forbes and afterward Governor General Francis B. ;Har:l is on.'· He conducted and accompanied Mrs: F .''B. -Rarrisen· on 'the s . s. Manchuria bound, for the States which· was stranded near the coast of Japan. He was ·a.fter\ovard appointed SuperintendenL of the Constabulary Academy. [Later on he was confi'ned in ~ .. hospital, suffering from a sort of mental deran~emerit~ ;which was the cause Of his separation .from -the !Service. Cap~ain Michael J. E.yrne was· aide-de-camp to ~ormer Vice-Governor Gilbert. Shortly after this assignment he resigned . Captain Jeff D. -Gallman -~s Senior Inspector of the Ifu~ao sub-province. Due to his exceptionally good service·3 rendered among the Ifugaos, Go vet nor Forbes, offered him the positi•on of aidede-camp. Unfortunately, on their return trip to Manila, the Captain behaved in a manner that displeased the Governor, for he was under the influence of some irritating substance. Upon their arrival in Manila, he was ordered. back to Quiangan, hi& station. Shortly after he resigned,. Captain :Gallman was one of the finest officers in the service. All his promotions were due to meritorious service rendered in the field among the primitive people of the mountains. Colonel R. W. Jones was the aide-de-camp to former Governor General Francis B. Harrison. While the Colonel was performing this duty, he was given another assignment as Brigadier General of the .National Guard. In spite of an un-known disease-a sort of general spasm of the muscles-which required him to go to the States several MAJOR LUCAS BAVIERA, .C ... RETIRED times and cons• ult the best known specialists, he wa~ able to reach the retirement perriod with a life pension. Shortly after hi,'S separation from the serv.· ice, he died comparatively young, from tlH.i same disease, after a long period o£ suffering. Lieutenant Colonel Francisco Ofiatc, former Chief Surgeon of the organizatioo1i wa:> the· first Filipino officer to achieve the distinction of becoming· the aide-de-camp to a Governor General of the Islands. This officer accompanied former Governor General iHarrison and1 his brother, Archibald, on their trip 'L·o the States in 1918-1919, as the Governor's private physic.i~n. - His separation from the service was untimely for he was unable to retire with a life pension. Back in the year 1914, Colonel Ofiate ~as appointed a political officer to work jointly wit.h General Charles E. Nathorst, then still a Majot, for the passage or the Constabulary Pension 'Retirement Act. It is the irony of Fate that an offker who worked hard for our actual Pension and RetirePAGE 46 ICHAKJ and RED July, 1933 ment Act, left the service without enjoying the benefits of the same. Colonel Lucien R. Sweet was first aide-decamp to former Vice-Governor Yeater, who was at the time Acting Governor General. Subsequently he become aide to Governor General Leonard Wood. Agai• nst his will he had to go on leave due too hi& dreadful disease-Cancer. While he was confined in a hospital, he w as unexpectedJy promoted General and Chief of Constabulary. Shortly aftetW'ard, he died of a malignant tumor. Before his death he had a long period of terrible pain. His ·desire to come back to the Islands and work in the capacity of Chief was not fulfilled. Fate was against him. He was well-known flor his uprightness, squareness and fairness. Tha last of the series of Constabulary aides at Malacafiang was Colonel R. A. Duckworth-Ford. This officer was an English subject. He was ordered by Governor General Wood to go to Hawaii to investigate labor conditions among the Filipinos in the Territory. While he was doing this work, he took advantage of this opportunity to secure American citizenship in one of the Federal Courts. After about ten years separation from the service, he was one of those ilive American officers who were appointed Majors during General Wood's regime. It was· reported that his well-written and complimentary articles conc~rning ·Governor. General Wood's administration which were published in the London Times were rewarded with his assignment as Malacafiang aide. He had hardly had his twenty years service when he retired. As in Colonel Onate's case, the real cause ·of his separation is a mystery, for immediately after his long vaca'lion abroad in 1932, when he was supposed to be in the height of fitness, he retired or was forced to re1:ire. He had the reputati·on of being a good writer. J{ha.ki and Red has published some of his articles and stories. Destiny was against him for his. desire to stay longer in the service was not achieved. Fortunately i~or the Contabulary, all the officers above cited have beeu promoted by sheer merit, from one rank to the next higher one, cl,emonstrated in field service in the different provinces. to which they had been formerly assigned. If the rapid promoti• on of an officer is due to social graces, intimate connection with the publishers of newspapers of· wide circulation, who indirectly publish h~s· name and picture and to the management of banquets. for the powerful ones, etc. and not to sheer merit the organization will become demoralized. This story may serve as a warning to the officers of the service who aspire to be an aide-decamp to the Chief Executive of the Islands, that the position may carry with it a tragic and sad end. 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