Copyright Quisumbing Family 2007. All rights reserved.
the inaugural ball in his honor to be held at the Marble Hall of the Ayuntamiento and Malacanang, respectively, on November 24, 1909.45
The wedded couple had their first child, Carlos (the author’s father), who was born in Manila on September 9, 1910. Carling’s godmother was his mother’s first cousin, Felicidad Z. Garcia, the daughter of Felipe Q. Zamora, personal physician of Maria Rizal, Jose Rizal’s elder sister.46 After Carlos followed Pacita (1912), Consolacion (1913) dying as an infant, Emilio, Jr. (1915), Manuel (1918), Alberto (1922) and Ricardo (1925).47
In 1914 the couple with their two children, Carlos and Pacita, moved their residence from M.H. del Pilar Street to an accessoria owned by Don Vicente Reyes along Pennsylvania Avenue (now Leon Guinto Street). The rest of their children were born in this new home. Emilio was then connected with Carriedo Waterworks, the waterworks section of Manila City Hall.48 In this connection, he anticipated the critical water situation of Manila as follows:
Previous to this time, the water necessary for drinking and domestic purposes was either obtained from cisterns (algibes), which served as reservoirs for the rain water received by the roofs of the buildings, or procured from the springs at San Juan de Monte and the Pasig River. The cost of transportation coupled with the limited supply raised the price of water to an exhorbitant rate so that its use was limited to the well-to-do classes, and the common people had to be content {sic} with the water of the Pasig River for their domestic use. Drinking water for animals was taken from wells; and to overcome its salty taste, it was sweetened with molasses (miel de cana). For washing purposes this water was also used; consequently clothes were of short duration. The owners of the few industries which required potable water were forced to bring it from somewhere else, or to use the water which had to be clarified (purified) from the Pasig River or from the esteros. For bathing, the use of potable water was not common on account of its cost; and all had to rely on well water or water from the Pasig. During the periods of drought, the water was supplied practically at a limited quantity, and the majority of the people had to drink the water from the polluted Pasig River. To this practice was attributed the cause of cholera outbreaks on many occasions.49
Three years later, Emilio had to face a new challenge in his life. This challenge was his military experience as an officer of the Philippine National Guard for about one year.
His Brief Military CareerIn view of the authority granted by Act No. 2715 of the Fourth Philippine Legislature on March 17, 1917, the Governor General (Francis B. Harrison) as commander-in-chief organized the Philippine National Guard and at various occasions offered to the President of the United States (Woodrow Wilson) one infantry division for Federal service as a National Guard unit.50 Thus, the officers, non-commissioned officers, and enlisted men who possessed the required qualifications were to be recruited from both Filipinos and Americans to compose the First Division of the Philippine National Guard consisting of the following troops:51
First Infantry Brigade, Philippine National Guard
First Infantry, Philippine National Guard
Second Infantry, Philippine National Guard
Third Infantry, Philippine National Guard
Second Infantry Brigade, Philippine National Guard
Fourth Infantry, Philippine National Guard
Fifth Infantry, Philippine National Guard
Sixth Infantry, Philippine National Guard
Third Infantry Brigade, Philippine National Guard
Seventh Infantry, Philippine National Guard
Eighth Infantry, Philippine National Guard
Ninth Infantry, Philippine National Guard
Divisional Troops
First Engineers, Philippine National Guard
First Field Signal Battalion, Philippine National Guard
On January 26, 1918, the American President approved a law authorizing locally organized military forces in the Philippine Islands to enter into United States service in the same way as the National Guard of the States.52 Its application to the Philippine National Guard only took effect in the later part of that year as shown below.
With the recruitment of officers for the Philippine National Guard in progress, a certain Colonel Stroke, the former chief of the Irrigation Division under the Bureau of Public Works and the incumbent commanding officer of the Corps of Engineers (Chief of Engineers) in the Philippine National Guard, invited Emilio to join his unit with the rank of major. The former persuaded the latter to accept his offer by giving Emilio the privilege of visiting India, Egypt, French Indo-China (Vietnam), Siam (Thailand) and Netherlands East Indies (Indonesia) as well as of observing and studying the different irrigations in these countries. The latter accepted the invitation, attached with an attractive bonus, after resigning from his position at the Manila City Hall.53
It should be noted here that the Corps of Engineers in the Philippine National Guard was commanded by a colonel with his staff of officers. This Corps had the strength of one battalion with three companies headed by a major. Each company had a captain as commanding officer. The total personnel of this Corps consisted of twenty four officers, seventy nine non-commissioned officers and 252 enlisted men.54
With his acceptance of military service, Emilio and other Filipino and American officers took their officers’ training at Fort William McKinley (now Fort Andres Bonifacio) serving as the officers’ training school since January 1918.55 The required officer personnel of the Philippine National Guard were recruited from this training school since July 5, 1918.56 Emilio and other officers probably composed the fourth series of officers’ training covering the period of May 15 to September 1, 1918 numbering twenty four graduates.57
Adjoining this Fort on the south, Camp Tomas Claudio named after the first Filipino casualty in France during the First World War was established as a mobilization and training camp for the Philippine Division, the Philippine National Guard, at
