“Fought for Nothing?” The War That Made Filipino America, and the Fil-Ams Who Forgot It
“Fought for Nothing?” The War That Made Filipino America, and the Fil-Ams Who Forgot It
Days after Michigan elected Abdul El-Sayed, the first Muslim U.S. senator, a viral post said Muslim politicians winning office makes a veteran’s sacrifice feel like nothing. Filipino Americans of all people should know how much history that argument leaves out, because we are part of it.
On November 3, 2026, Michigan voters elected Abdul El-Sayed, the son of Egyptian immigrants, to the U.S. Senate. He is the first Muslim ever elected to the chamber. Ten days later, on November 13, a Facebook friend shared a post from a public Page. It quotes an unnamed combat veteran who says watching Muslim politicians win office here makes it feel like “everything he and his brothers fought for was for nothing.” The post doesn’t say which officials he means. Its next paragraph cites an advocacy group’s count of Muslim elected officials and names, among others, Senator-elect El-Sayed and Reps. Ilhan Omar, Rashida Tlaib and André Carson. I am not going to argue with the veteran’s grief or litigate the post’s numbers. Loss like that is real, and so is the question underneath it: what was the sacrifice for?
I want to ask that question as a Filipino American, because the war American soldiers fought against Filipinos is a chapter of our own story. Too many of us, Fil-Ams especially, skipped it.
In 1934, the same year Congress set a Filipino immigration quota of 50 a year, Filipino lettuce pickers in California’s Salinas Valley went on strike. Filipinos were harvesting the crop while the law was being rewritten to limit their numbers.
💬 Please comment below ↓
Kasaysayan — kah-sigh-sah-YAHN
History. The word for the account a people keeps of itself, and the one a diaspora has to work hardest to pass down.
- The Philippine-American War began on February 4, 1899. The State Department counts over 4,200 U.S. and over 20,000 Filipino combatant deaths, and as many as 200,000 Filipino civilian deaths.
- After 1898 Filipinos were U.S. nationals: free to travel, barred from citizenship. In 1934 a quota of 50 a year was set, and Filipinos were treated as if they were aliens for immigration purposes.
- U.S. forces fought the Moros, the Muslim Filipinos, into 1913. Bud Dajo, in 1906, was the bloodiest engagement.
- In 1946 Congress reversed promised benefits for Filipino World War II veterans. Recognition came in 1990, 2009 and 2017.
- Every step toward belonging was taken, not given.
The War America Fought Against Filipinos
At the end of the Spanish–American War, Spain ceded the Philippines to the United States in the Treaty of Paris of 1898. That is the version most of us can recite. The next part gets skipped. The Philippines had an independent republic of its own by then. Shots were exchanged in a Manila suburb on February 4, 1899, and by the account of the State Department’s own historians, once it was clear U.S. forces meant to impose American colonial control on the independent Philippine Republic, the early clashes swelled into all-out war.
The United States declared the war over in 1902, but the fighting did not stop there, and Americans argued about it at home. Mark Twain wrote anti-imperialist essays against it. If you want the Spanish chapter that came before, two earlier PinoyBuilt pieces cover how the word “Filipino” was taken from us and what Spain’s empire demanded of Filipinos. And beneath both sits the Laguna Copperplate Inscription, the proof that we had writing, law and trade before any empire arrived. The point of the decolonization lane on this site is one question: whose power set these terms, and who paid for them?
What the Numbers Say
American soldiers died in the Philippines. They were someone’s sons, and nothing below takes that away. But the full ledger has a second column.
| Measure | Figure | Source |
|---|---|---|
| U.S. military deaths | Over 4,200 | U.S. State Department, Office of the Historian |
| Filipino combatant deaths | Over 20,000 | U.S. State Department, Office of the Historian |
| Filipino civilian deaths | As many as 200,000 | U.S. State Department, Office of the Historian |
| Civilian deaths, Filipino historian’s estimate | At least 1,000,000 | Luzviminda Francisco, as cited by the University of Michigan |
The record is not one-sided. U.S. forces at times burned villages, herded civilians into reconcentration zones and tortured suspected guerrillas, and Filipino fighters tortured captured soldiers and terrorized civilians who cooperated with the Americans. Both belong in the record. So does the name: American histories long filed this war under “insurrection,” a word that turns the invaded into the rebels.
The Moro War: The Chapter Closest to This Argument
The war did not end in 1902 for everyone. In the south, in Mindanao and Sulu, U.S. forces fought the Moros, the Muslim Filipinos, in campaigns that ran until 1913. From 1903 the U.S. Army governed the region as the Moro Province, and U.S. military analysts describe it as the first time the American military ran a counterinsurgency campaign inside an Islamic society. U.S. Army and military journals still study it as a precedent.
Who the Moros Are
Islam reached the southern Philippines through trade networks long before any European arrived, and the sultanates there were linked to the wider Muslim world. The word “Moro” itself is Spanish. It carries the weight of Spain’s own history with the Moors it expelled, and it was used as a label long before it was reclaimed. The Moros resisted Spain, too. The Americans who arrived in 1899 inherited a people with centuries of practice at refusing a colonial flag.
Bud Dajo, March 1906
Troops under Col. Joseph Duncan, on the orders of Gen. Leonard Wood, governor of the Moro Province, assaulted Bud Dajo, a volcanic crater on Jolo where villagers had gathered. Estimates of the Moro dead, men, women and children, range from about 600 to 1,000, and no firm number was ever established. The most commonly cited account has only six survivors. U.S. losses were between 15 and 21 killed. Historians still dispute whether to call it a battle or a massacre, and whether the people in the crater were hostile at all. Bud Dajo is a sacred site to the Tausūg people.
The record shows how it was received at home. The New York Times ran a headline about women and children killed in the fighting, while President Roosevelt wired his congratulations to the troops. Mark Twain condemned it in print. Under pressure from Congress, Secretary of War William Howard Taft cabled Wood for an explanation of the “wanton slaughter” of women and children, and Wood accepted full responsibility. When fighting returned to Bud Dajo in December 1911, under Gen. John J. Pershing, it ended in a siege instead of an assault.
I am not drawing a straight line from 1906 to a Facebook post in 2026. I am saying something narrower. A Filipino American cannot talk about Muslims and American soldiers without holding Bud Dajo in the other hand. Muslims in the Philippines are Filipinos. They are our kababayan, and the Americans who fought them there did it under a colonial flag.
Nationals: Inside the Flag, Outside the Law
After 1898, Filipinos were classified as U.S. nationals. That status let them travel to the mainland relatively freely, and it denied them naturalization. Many came as farm labor, recruited from Manila for the Hawaiian sugar plantations. Because they were nationals, the 1924 immigration law that shut out nearly all Asian immigration did not apply to them. Their welcome was not warm. In 1930, anti-Filipino race riots broke out in Watsonville, California.
1934: The Law Turns
In 1934, Filipino lettuce pickers in California’s Salinas Valley went on strike, and Congress passed the Tydings-McDuffie Act. The Act promised independence in ten years and set a Filipino immigration quota of 50 a year. For immigration purposes, its own wording has Filipinos who were not U.S. citizens “considered as if they were aliens.” The quota was far lower than demand, and immigration continued above it, in part because agricultural lobbies such as the Hawaiian sugar planters pushed for more workers. Filipinos who joined the U.S. Navy were an exception, which is one reason so many Filipino American families have a Navy story.
The next year, the Filipino Repatriation Act extended the Asian-exclusion policy of the 1924 law to Filipinos who left the country. Anyone who went to the Philippines and tried to come back faced Asian immigration restrictions and would likely never be allowed to return, which kept many families separated for years. We spent decades inside the American flag and outside American law, and the families who built the manong generation in the fields did it under that status.
When America Reversed Its Word: Filipino Veterans
The post asks what a soldier’s sacrifice is for, and whether the country honors it. Filipino history has a direct answer, and it is not comfortable.
In World War II, Filipino soldiers fought alongside U.S. troops in the Pacific. In 1946, Congress passed the First and Second Supplemental Surplus Appropriation Rescission Acts. A guarantee of veterans’ benefits for those Filipinos was reversed: the laws provided that the wartime service of members of the Commonwealth Army of the Philippines and the new Philippine Scouts would not count as U.S. military service for benefits.
The repair came in pieces, and it came late. The Immigration Act of 1990, signed on November 29, 1990, granted U.S. citizenship to about 26,000 Filipino World War II veterans. In 2009, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act created the Filipino Veterans Equity Compensation Fund, with one-time payments of $15,000 for veterans who were U.S. citizens and $9,000 for those who were not. In 2016, the Filipino Veterans of World War II Congressional Gold Medal Act became law, signed on December 14, 2016, and the medal was presented in the Capitol’s Emancipation Hall on October 25, 2017. PinoyBuilt traced that lag in Kagitingan: 84 Years After Bataan, the Valor Was Never Repaid.
From 1946 to 2017 is more than seven decades. Honoring service has never been automatic in this country, and Filipino veterans know that better than anyone. They had to organize, lobby and wait, and many did not live to see the medal. That belongs in any conversation about what sacrifice is owed and who gets to say it was worth it.
The Thread Already Had the Answer
Under the post, another commenter reminded everyone of the Vietnamese refugees who settled here after fleeing a war America fought, and the original poster agreed those refugees were no threat. That is the pattern. The war comes first, and the people who survive it come after. Vietnamese Americans arrived that way. So did we. The country does not get to fight the war and then act surprised by who shows up.
The Ignorance We Own
Here is the forgetting I mean, and it is ours as much as anyone’s. It is the Fil-Am who can name every Filipino-owned restaurant in town and cannot say why Filipinos were nationals. It is the Fil-Am professional who treats the ladder as if it had always been there, when our families came up on rungs that were added in 1946, 1952 and 1965. A Fil-Am who tells a newer arrival, or a Muslim neighbor, that they have to earn their place here is arguing against our own record. We were the ones the law called aliens while we picked the lettuce.
The record also holds the other half. Within a few generations, Filipinos in this country went from the 50-a-year quota to a first Filipino in the California Legislature, in 2012, and then to the Attorney General’s office. Rob Bonta was appointed in April 2021 and was re-elected on November 3, 2026. PinoyBuilt looked at what that means for Fil-Am political power in Rob Bonta’s Next Move. Belonging in America was never a gift. It was taken, in court and at the ballot box, by people the law had once written out.
Filipino America and the Law, 1898–2026
The reference version, for anyone who needs the dates in one place.
| Year | What happened |
|---|---|
| 1898 | Treaty of Paris: Spain cedes the Philippines to the United States. |
| 1899–1902 | Philippine-American War. Filipinos are classified as U.S. nationals: free to move to the mainland, barred from naturalization. |
| 1903–1913 | The U.S. Army governs the Moro Province. |
| 1906 | Bud Dajo: hundreds of Moro men, women and children are killed on Jolo. |
| 1924 | Immigration law excludes nearly all Asians. Filipinos are exempt because they are nationals. |
| 1930 | Anti-Filipino race riots in Watsonville, California. |
| 1934 | Tydings-McDuffie Act: independence in ten years, a quota of 50 a year, and Filipinos treated as if they were aliens for immigration purposes. Filipino lettuce workers strike in the Salinas Valley. |
| 1935 | Filipino Repatriation Act extends Asian-exclusion policy to Filipinos who leave. |
| 1946 | The Rescission Acts reverse veterans’ benefits for Filipino soldiers. The Luce-Celler Act (July 2) sets a quota of 100 and opens naturalization. The Philippines becomes independent (July 4). |
| 1952 | The Immigration and Nationality Act lets Asian immigrants, Filipinos included, become citizens. |
| 1965 | Amendments end the national-origins quota system. The current immigration wave begins, with many nurses among the arrivals. |
| 1990 | Immigration Act grants citizenship to about 26,000 Filipino World War II veterans. |
| 2009 | Filipino Veterans Equity Compensation Fund created. |
| 2012 | Rob Bonta becomes the first Filipino American in the California Legislature. |
| 2016–2017 | Congressional Gold Medal for Filipino World War II veterans: law signed December 14, 2016, medal presented October 25, 2017. |
| 2021 | Rob Bonta becomes California’s first Filipino American Attorney General. |
| 2026 | Rob Bonta is re-elected Attorney General on November 3. |
Quick Answers
When was the Philippine-American War, and how many people died?
Fighting between the United States and the Philippine Republic began on February 4, 1899, and the United States declared the war over in 1902, though fighting continued in the Muslim south for years. The State Department’s Office of the Historian reports over 4,200 American and over 20,000 Filipino combatant deaths, and as many as 200,000 Filipino civilian deaths. Some Filipino historians put civilian deaths at 1,000,000 or more.
Were Filipinos U.S. citizens after the United States took the Philippines?
No. They were U.S. nationals, which allowed relatively free travel to the mainland and denied them naturalization. The 1934 Tydings-McDuffie Act promised independence, set a quota of 50 a year, and for immigration purposes treated Filipinos as if they were aliens. The Luce-Celler Act of 1946 opened naturalization.
What happened at Bud Dajo?
In March 1906, U.S. troops assaulted the volcanic crater of Bud Dajo on Jolo. Estimates of the Moro dead, including women and children, range from about 600 to 1,000, with no firm number ever established. The most commonly cited account has only six survivors. U.S. losses were between 15 and 21 killed.
What was the Rescission Act of 1946?
The Rescission Acts reversed a promise of veterans’ benefits to Filipino soldiers who fought alongside U.S. troops in World War II, providing that their service would not count as U.S. military service for benefits. About 26,000 veterans received citizenship under the Immigration Act of 1990, the Filipino Veterans Equity Compensation Fund followed in 2009, and Congress awarded a Gold Medal in 2016, presented in 2017.
What I Want My Children to Read in 2070
I left Marikina for Chicago at nine, already reading about Rizal, Bonifacio and the Katipunan. I have spent the decades since loving the country that received us and refusing to pretend it never did what it did. Those are not two positions. They are one: gratitude and honesty at the same time.
If Nica, Chesca and Jian, or whoever comes after them, open this site in 2070 and wonder what their lolo had to say when the arguments about who belongs got loud, I want this to be in the archive. A veteran’s sacrifice deserves honor. A people’s memory deserves protection. A diaspora that forgets how it arrived is easy to turn against the next one.
If this kind of history belongs in your feed, subscribe to the PinoyBuilt YouTube channel and watch its videos. It helps PinoyBuilt get approved for YouTube ads, which pays for more of this work.
- U.S. Department of State, Office of the Historian: The Philippine-American War, 1899–1902
- U.S. Government Publishing Office (GovInfo): Philippine Independence Act, 48 Stat. 456 (March 24, 1934)
- U.S. Supreme Court, Rabang v. Boyd, 353 U.S. 427 (1957), quoting the 1934 Act (Cornell Legal Information Institute)
- U.S. Government Publishing Office (GovInfo): Act of July 2, 1946, Public Law 483, 60 Stat. 416 (Luce-Celler)
- U.S. Congress, H. Res. 774 (119th Congress): Rescission Acts of 1946 and the Immigration Act of 1990
- U.S. Congress, S. Res. 423 (119th Congress): Filipino Veterans Equity Compensation Fund, American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009
- Congressional Record (GovInfo): Filipino Veterans of World War II Congressional Gold Medal Act, Public Law 114-265, signed December 14, 2016
- U.S. Congress, H. Res. 724 (117th Congress): Gold Medal presented October 25, 2017
- California Legislature, AJR 37 (2015–16): Filipino World War II veterans and the Rescission Acts
- Small Wars Journal: American Counterinsurgency Strategy During the Moro Rebellion in the Philippines, 1903–1913
- U.S. Army Heritage and Education Center: Moro Pacification, 1902–1913 (working bibliography)
- University of Michigan, Michigan in the World: Filipinos During the War
- PBS, Ancestors in the Americas: Asian American timeline (1924 and 1934)
- City of San Diego: History and Background of Public Participation (nationals, 1952 and 1965 acts)
- Kitsap History Museum: Who Is a Pioneer? (nationals and Hawaiian sugar plantation recruitment)
- EBSCO Research Starters: Filipino Repatriation Act of 1935 (includes the 1930 Watsonville riots reading list)
- Encyclopedia of American Immigration (Salem Press): Filipino immigration and the Luce-Celler Act
- Tydings-McDuffie Act (quota enforcement, the Navy exception and the Repatriation Act)
- History of Filipino Americans (1965 wave and nurses)
- First Battle of Bud Dajo (casualty ranges, the battle-or-massacre dispute, Taft’s cable and the 1911 siege)
- Inquirer Global Nation: Trump, Pershing and the Battle of Bud Dajo (the 1906 press coverage and Roosevelt’s message)
- Quezon.ph: Bud Dajo, Americans, Filipinos, and Moros
- PinoyBuilt: Kagitingan, 84 Years After Bataan, the Valor Was Never Repaid
- Iron Mountain Daily News (Michigan): El-Sayed edges Stevens in Democratic primary for U.S. Senate
- WDBO (Associated Press report): Abdul El-Sayed wins U.S. Senate seat in Michigan
- Public Facebook Page post discussed in the opening (November 13, 2026)
- NBC Los Angeles: Rob Bonta reelected California attorney general, NBC News projects
- KCRA (Sacramento): California OKs Rob Bonta as first Filipino American attorney general
- KCRW: Newsom appoints Rob Bonta as California’s next attorney general
Help Us Become the #1 Filipino-American Media Platform in the U.S.
PinoyBuilt is built by the community, for the community. If this article meant something to you — if it made you proud, informed, or connected — we need your help to reach every kababayan out there.
💬 Drop a comment below — tell us what chapter of Filipino American history you wish you had been taught.
📲 Text this article to a friend, a tita, a teammate — anyone who needs to see this.
📣 Share it on your socials — every share brings us closer.
4.6 million Filipinos in the U.S. One platform telling our stories. Salamat, kababayan.
Founder & Editor
J.F.R. Perseveranda
J.F. (Jonjo) left the Philippines at age nine, spending a lifetime bridging the gap between his Marikina roots and his Chicago/Vallejo upbringing. A proud Hogan Spartan from East Vallejo and resident of LA/SF, he founded PinoyBuilt not just as a digital archive, but as a cultural compass for his three children to navigate their heritage, language, and identity with Pinoy Pride.
Comments
Post a Comment
Hi! Thank you for dropping by. Please leave us a comment. Sige na!