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Royal University Militias

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In 1611, the Spanish Dominicans founded in the city of Manila the University of Santo Tomas. In 1780, in it were created four Militia Companies, without a fixed number of posts, therefore dependent on the total number of pupils studying there.[citation needed] In 1785, the termination of these university militias would have been decreed and only when needed would they have been rearmed.[citation needed]

This unit wore a green coat lined with white linen, with a red collar and facings. Vest and breeches were also green with gold buttons. Shod with black cordovan shoes and white silk stockings. On their heads they wore a hat made of felt, with three points, with gold braid hemmed at its edge and a red cockade.[citation needed]

These Royal University militia companies were part of the colonial militia organized after the British occupation of Manila—6 October 1762 through 31 May 1764, or one year, seven months, and twenty-five days—to augment the capabilities of the Spanish colonial army in the Philippines. These Spanish colonial militia units which existed for five years, were first raised in 1762 when two hundred student volunteers were formed into four companies to fight the British. After the disbandment of the Royal University Militias in 1785, the UST military unit would reemerge 151 years later, in 1936, as an American colonial ROTC unit.[citation needed]

In the same manner that the Royal University Militias' Spanish uniforms resembled French infantry uniforms of the period [1], the UST ROTC also had French-inspired uniforms consisting of pale-blue full-dress coats and trousers whose color resembled the horizon blue of French World War I field uniforms. The unit also used Adrian helmet tin replicas, similar to commercially produced aluminum, cork, and felt Adrian helmet replicas privately purchased by French officers for use during parades and ceremonies. These Adrian helmet replicas were the first metal helmets used by an ROTC unit in the Philippines. During the 1936-39 period when UST used uniforms styled after those of France—whose Revolution inspired the leaders of the Revolution four decades earlier—Brig. Gen. Basilio Valdes, who had served in the French military during the Great War, was associated with UST's ROTC program and is listed as one of its graduates.

By contrast, the American colony's other cadet corps sported different looks: khakis and guinit helmets—which closely resembled British Wolseley sun helmets, and which were used by the University of the Philippines even before the colonial regular army had been formed—gave the UP Corps of Cadets a British appearance; whereas PMA remained loyal to the colonial master and opted for West-Point-style uniforms, which at one time were also used by Ateneo.

In 1940, field artillery and medical special units were formed in the UST Corps of Cadets, and by the following year cadets of UST, as well as those of FEU, wore Spanish-style uniforms.

About 180 years after UST students went to war in 1762 for Spain, UST students again participated in a global conflict when UST ROTC cadets volunteered for regular service and became artillerymen of the American colonial army's Second Regular Division, which fought in Bataan during the Pacific War. Prior to active duty, UST cadets and all other ROTC cadets in the Philippines, were ordered to report to their respective commandants to undergo cadre training on 18 December 1941, and a few days later on 23 December all ROTC units were disbanded. After the surrender of the colonial army, some former UST cadets became guerrillas, most notably of the Hunters ROTC.

UST's ROTC unit was reactivated on 13 September 1946 and in 1949 UST advanced ROTC cadets trained in Floridablanca in Pampanga—a province where the Huks were active early in the Cold War. At the military installation there, UST cadets were part of a group of pioneering ROTC men, composed mostly of FEU cadets, who received armor training and learned to operate the American M5 light tank. In the 1950s, the Model Battalion began to use a full-dress uniform patterned after the famous traditional uniform—known as Guard of Honour Order, or Guard Order for short—of the UK's Brigade of Guards. The battalion's distinct headgear, the bearskin, had been used earlier in the eighteenth century by grenadiers of the Spanish colonial army. Other UST cadets wore American-style Class C summer uniforms made of NADECO khaki cloth, and wore various headgears such as the overseas cap, the patrol cap, and the "Pershing" cap. Cadets of the Medical Battalion and Military Police Battalion wore American M1 helmet liners with this uniform. By the following decade uniforms were olive drab, and years later American-style jungle uniforms were used.

Until 2001 when compulsory military service was abolished in Spain, University Militias (Milicias Universitarias) also known as I.M.E.C. were a method for Spaniards to fulfill military service obligation. Militiamen who completed military training became reserve officers or reserve non-commissioned officers. The program is still active, and there exists one for each of Spain's services: Army, Navy (I.M.E.C.A.R.), and Air Force. [citation needed]

References

  • Ancheta, Celedonio A., ed. Historic Documents of World War II in the Philippines. Vol. 3: Triumph in the Philippines, 1941-1946 (The Saga of Bataan and Corregidor). Metro Manila: National Book Store, 1978.
  • Agoncillo, Teodoro A. The Fateful Years: Japan's Adventure in the Philippines, 1941-45. 2 vols. Quezon City: R. P. Garcia Publishing Co., 1965.
  • Alía Plana, Jesús María. El Ejército Español en Filipinas: El Periodo Romántico. Madrid: Tabapress, 1993.
  • Atilano, Bernardo David. End of the Trail. Santa Fe: Sunstone Press, 2017.
  • De Vera, Ruel S. The Zero Hour: The Personal War of Basilio J. Valdes. Makati City: Bookmark, 2001.
  • Jose, Ricardo Trota. The Philippine Army, 1935-1942. Quezon City: Ateneo de Manila University Press, 1992.
  • Manila. Presidential Museum and Library. "Histogravure of Manuel L. Quezon."
  • McCoy, Alfred W. Closer than Brothers: Manhood at the Philippine Military Academy. New Haven, Conn.: Yale University Press, 1999; reprint ed., Manila: Anvil Publishing, n.d.
  • Ministerio de Defensa. Uniformes del Ejército de América y Filipinas. Vol. 3: (Sur de los Estados Unidos, Real Cuerpo de Ingenieros, Médicos y Oficiales Civiles de la Administratión Militar. Filipinas). Madrid: Artegraf, 1991.
  • Mojica, Proculo L. Terry's Hunters (The True Story of the Hunters ROTC Guerrillas). Manila: n.p., 1965.
  • Nuval, Leonardo Q. Pass in Review: The ROTC Cadets During World War II. Manila: Veterans Federation of the Philippines, 2001.
  • Peña, Ambrosio. Bataan's Own. Manila: Second Regular Division Association, 1967.
  • Santos, Vic S. Almanac ng R.O.T.C.-N.S.T.P. Vol. 2: Para sa Advance R.O.T.C., at C.W.T.S./L.T.S. Makati City: GJMCV Publishing Enterprises, 2007.
  • Villaroel, Fidel. A History of the University of Santo Tomas: Four Centuries of Higher Education in the Philippines (1611-2011). Manila: UST Publishing House, 2012.
  • The UST Golden Corps

See also

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