DELGADO DECREE, MAY 25, 1899

Exhibit 1253.

[Original in Spanish Contemporary copy P. I. R. , Books, B. 4.]

GENERAL HEADQUARTERS OF SANTA BARBARA,

May 25th, 1899.

Martin Delgado y Bermejo, Lieutenant General of the National Army of the Visayan Islands and General in Chief of the military operations of the same.

Judging from the conduct of the enemy, it is evident that they intend, at any cost, to reduce us to a state of starvation, believing perhaps that by absolutely prohibiting both importation and exportation of native articles of prime necessity in the town of Iloilo and hence enforcing a complete blockade, they can succeed in establishing their sovereignty in Our beloved soil which has so many times been drenched with the generous blood of many martyrs, and in subduing us. For our part, with a view to showing them, and other nations, the grandeur of our determination in bearing all the consequences of this war, bitter though they be, until our constancy is rewarded by the attainment of our noble ideals; and in order to show them, further, that in carrying on this unequal struggle we need nothing from the outside, even though it last indefinitely; I, as General-in-chief, and in the use of the ample powers granted me by the Government, do hereby order and direct:

1. That the purchase of any article from Europe, America, China, Japan, or Manila, in large or small amounts, is absolutely prohibited.

2. All Local Authorities, and the Military Chiefs of detachments and scout organizations will see to the strict enforcement of these provisions from the day of their publication.

3. Any person who infringes the provisions of this decree in any way whatever will be considered as a traitor to his country, and these General Headquarters reserves the right to punish him in accordance with the military laws in force in Luzon.

4. The inhabitants are further absolutely prohibited from selling articles of prime necessity in the plazas of Iloilo, Jaro, Manduriao, and Molo.

Publish and communicate the foregoing for general information of all concerned.

M. DELGADO.