Vicente Lim

Vicente Lim
Nickname	Enteng
Born	February 24, 1888(1888-02-24) Calamba City, Laguna, Philippines
Died	December 31, 1944(1944-12-31) (aged 56) Fort Santiago
Place of burial	Manila American Cemetery and Memorial
Allegiance	Republic of the Philippines
Service/branch	Philippine Army
Years of service	1914 – 1944
Rank	Brigadier General
Commands held	41st Philippine Division
Battles/wars	World War I World War II * Battle of the Philippines (1941–42)
Awards	Legion of Merit Purple Heart

Brigadier General Vicente Lim (1888–1944) was a Filipino General in the Philippine Army who served during the Second World War.

Early life

He was born in the town of Calamba, Laguna, on the 24th of February, 1888, the third of Jose Ayala Lim-Yaoco’s four children. His father was a full-blooded Chinese who braided his hair in a queue. His mother, Antonia Podico, was a Chinese mistiza. But Vicente and the other Lim children, Joaquin, Olympia and Basilisa, like many of the offsprings of Filipino-Chinese marriages, grew up identifying themselves with the Filipino rather than the Chinese community. Among the friends of Jose and Antonia was the family of Jose Rizal, later recognized as the country’s national hero.

The Lim Family, like the Rizal Family, leased land owned by the Dominican Order: rice lands in Barrios Lecheria and Real and sugarland in Barrio Barandal. In 1891, recurring disputes between the Spanish administrators of the Dominican estate and the tenants over rental rates and conditions came to a head and resulted in the eviction of many tenants from their lands. Among the victims were the families Lim and Rizal.

Education and Military Service

Lim is the first Filipino graduate of the United States Military Academy (Class of 1914) at West Point, Lim graduated 77th in a class of 107, and was commissioned as Second Lieutenant under the Philippine Scouts. He quickly rose in rank with the Philippine Scouts.  By 1940, he was appointed to the post of Chief of Staff of the Philippine Army.

On the 21st of December, 1935 Commonwealth Act. No. 1 created the Army of the Philippines, a force completely separate from that of the United States. The bill simultaneously decreed the dissolution of the Constabulary as an insular police force. On June 30, 1936, Lim retired from the United States Army with a rank of Lieutenant Colonel. He was admitted into the Philippine Army with a rank of brigadier general and appointed chief of the War Plans Division of the Central General Staff.

When the Philippine Army was incorporated into the American Armed Forces on July 16, 1941, Lim became the top–ranking Filipino under General Douglas MacArthur, placed in command of the 41st Philippine Division, tasked with the defense of southern Luzon. On April 9, 1942, the 41st surrendered on Bataan, along with all American and Filipino forces, to the Japanese 14th Army of General Homma.

Lim survived the Bataan Death March, and on June 6, 1942 was admitted to the Philippine General Hospital for treatment of injuries sustained at Bataan (where he had led the bloody rear guard action against the Japanese in Abucay, Bataan).   He recovered quickly, but with the help of his brother–in–law, Dr. Jose N. Rodriguez, he concealed this fact.   With the Japanese convinced of his incapacitation, he led the guerilla resistance forces of Luzon.   Basically, he conducted secret guerrilla activities while pretending to be confined at the Philippine General Hospital.

In 1944 he was ordered to rejoin General Douglas MacArthur in Australia. He attempted the journey but was captured en route by the Japanese.   He was held for months at Fort Santiago and the Bilibid prison before being beheaded, along with Colonel Antonio Escoda, shortly before the liberation.

Death

General Lim died 31 December 1944 and is listed among the Tablets of the Missing at Manila National Cemetery.

"Lim believed that this nation's strength depends on its national character, that patriotism is a moral quality that must be possessed by all, and that the will to fight makes every citizen a true soldier." — Remarks delivered by then U.S. Deputy Chief of Mission Joseph A. Mussomeli for the Opening of Military Exercise Balikatan 2005 – February 21, 2005

Early Life and Other Career Details

Too young to get involved in the Philippine-American war, the fourteen-year old Vicente was reputed to have organized the children his age to serve as couriers for the forces of General Malvar operating in the Calamba area.

On 1908, Vicente completed his 2-year program in teacher education at the Philippine Normal School. The following year, however, he returned to the Philippine Normal School for further studies. His academic performance and athletic build impressed one of the supervisory teachers who encouraged him to take the entrance examination for the United States Military Academy at West Point which the Bureau of Civil Service would administer. He came out second but cleared the federal requirements as the first choice for the place at the Academy.

He claimed that he got the appointment not through the English portion, but rather the math portion of the exam, which he topped; he could hardly speak English that time.

At West Point, Lim became known as the “Cannibal” because of his dark complexion, imperfect command of English, his origins as a colonial and because of his general ignorance of his classmates about the Philippines. Vicente Lim was one of the 133 cadets who entered the Academy in 1910, but only 107 survived the course, with Lim occupying the 77th place. Upon his graduation on 12 June 1914 (Lim received a commission as a second lieutenant in the Philippine Constabulary), Manuel Quezon, then Resident Commissioner in Washington, advised Lim to stop by Europe on the way home to study the European armies. Lim was in Russia in August 1914, when World War I broke out. He managed to make his way back to the Far East via the Trans Siberian Railway.

Vicente Lim was a good bridge player, which he learned at West Point. In 1914, when Philippine High Commissioner Manuel Quezon visited him, he spent time touring the main square doing punishment tours for playing too much bridge.

In 1916, Lim was assigned to the faculty of the Philippine Constabulary School (later on Camp Allen) at Baguio City. Lim taught courses in Military Art, Military Law and Topography and also handled Equitation and Athletics.

Maj. Vicente Lim commanded the 45th Infantry Battalion, Philippine Scouts, that was based on Fort McKinley (now Fort Bonifacio).

For some time, Vicente Lim commanded the ROTC of San Juan de Letran.

American Prejudice Towards Filipinos

From his student days at West Point, Lim had always shown a sensitiveness to any form of racial discrimination. He was reflective enough, however, to recognize his tendency to regard any slur on the Philippines and the Filipinos as a personal insult and to respond in personal – and often physical – way. He was completely intolerant of American enlisted men failing to salute Filipino officers. In 1918, in behalf of the 11 Filipinos in the Philippine Scouts, he presented to Quezon a case of for uniform retirement and pension policies for the institution. Lim pointed out the inequity and asked that the laws covering disabled Americans also apply to the Filipinos.

In 1922, he clashed for the first time with American General Douglas MacArthur, then, in command of the Philippine Scout Brigade. Lim rejected a reassignment from Fort McKinley to Corregidor when it became apparent that the reason for the order was to free living quarters at the for incoming American officers. MacArthur relented and allowed Lim to remain in McKinley.

Accomplishments and Recognitions

For his military service he received the Legion of Merit and the Purple Heart posthumously.

In addition to his military service, he also authored, To inspire and to lead:  The letters of General Vicente Lim, 1938–1942 and was, in 1936, a charter member of the Boy Scouts of the Philippines.

In recognition of his services to the Filipino people, General Lim appears on the Philippine 1,000 Peso banknote in 2010.

The former Camp Paciano Rizal was renamed to Camp Vicente Lim, located in Laguna, pursuant to GO Nr. 457, GHQ, AFP in honor of Brig. General Vicente P Lim who commanded the 41st Infantry Division. Camp Vicente Lim used to be a vast track of land in the early 1937. It became training ground during the mobilization period sometime in 1937, when American forces started to call able bodied young men to go on military training due to the outbreak of war in the western hemisphere. On September 1, 1941, the 41st filed Artillery Regiment Philippine Army was mobilized in this camp. On September 8, 1946, it became the Headquarters of the 4th Military district which covers the whole southern Luzon.

Pilar Hidalgo–Lim

In Baguio, Pilar Hidalgo was spending the summer at the Holy Family College, quite close to the Constabulary School. It was an opportunity for Lim to renew his acquaintance with Pilar, who had gained distinction as one of the country’s female mathematician (also an instructor of Mathematics in University of the Philippines). The two met each other for the second time in April, 1917. The American declaration of war forced Lim to press for a quick engagement and an early wedding. The military wedding was on the 12th of August 1917 at the Quiapo Catholic Cathedral.

Pilar Hidalgo-Lim, was a founder of the Girl Scouts of the Philippines. She was the Centro Escolar University's third president after the death of Carmen de Luna. She steered the university during the reconstruction and normalization of school operations after World War II. The General and Mrs. Lim had six children: Luis, Roberto, Vicente Jr., Patricio, Eulalia, and Maria.

Quotation

"A man can be led, although I admit it to be rather difficult and tedious, in the right direction through sound reasoning and confidence in the leaders.”

"No matter how crooked, how weak the next President is... as long as the army is strong, honest, and free from politics, the nation will stand. The Army has always been the backbone of all nations, barring none in the world."

External links

• American BattleField Monuments Commission
• Remarks delivered by U.S. Deputy Chief of Mission Joseph Mussomeli concerning General Vicente Lim
• Bbbpics5 at www.battlingbastardsbataan.com