A rundown of some Filipinos who earned their reputation in betraying the country

The Philippines withstood crude and shrewd regimes from the West and one from the East. As we all know, what our nation had gone through wasn’t always triumphal because of some people who are too greedy to realize they were getting played by the subjugators.

These are the traitors and the balimbings or turncoats of our history, the bane of our heroes. It really sucks to think we had chances to prevail from the enemy if it just wasn’t for these selfish pricks. And here they are. Here are some Filipinos from decades ago who earned their reputation in betraying the country and their countrymen.

Pedro Paterno

Pedro Paterno is the first and “original” balimbing in the Philippines, says historian Ambeth Ocampo. He was “first on the Spanish side and then wormed his way to power to become President of Malolos Convention in 1899.”

He was a Filipino politician, novelist, and poet who mediated the signing of the Biak-na-Bato Pact between Gen. Emilio Aguinaldo and Spanish Governor-General Fernando Primo de Rivera. The signing marked the end of the Philippine Revolution and Aguinaldo’s expatriation to Hong Kong. After the signing, Paterno requested dukedom, a seat in the Spanish Senate, and a million bucks as reward. Primo de Rivera refused to grant his request.

Upon Aguinaldo’s return, Paterno wheedled his way to become Malolos Congress’ president and the head of the general’s cabinet. When the Philippine-American War started, Paterno pushed the government to accept America’s sovereignty.

Felipe Buencamino, Sr.

During the Philippine Revolution, lawyer Felipe Buencamino, Sr. was one of those who sided with the Spaniards until the conquistadors imprisoned him. He later joined the Filipino camp and even became Aguinaldo’s cabinet member.

When the Americans came to our shores, Buencamino drew the ire the Filipino revolutionaries as he switched sides again. His encounter with enraged Gen. Antonio Luna was actually famous—there were accounts that say the general slapped Buencamino in the face, but Ocampo said Luna didn’t. The two just had a heated argument because Buencamino was in favor of the proposed autonomy by the Americans.

Januario Galut

Discussions are long on whether Januario Galut really was a traitor or not (some say Galut didn’t consider himself part of the Philippine army and was subjected to discrimination by lowlanders). Nevertheless, Galut is a Christian Igorot who guided the Americans around Tirad Pass. This led to the overthrowing of Gen. Gregorio del Pilar’s forces.

Makapili people

The group of Filipinos recruited by the Japanese Army during World War II who acted like spies, informants, and torturers is called Makapili or Makabayang Katipunan ng mga Pilipino. They would turn over suspected guerilla fighters who they knew personally in pursuit of some sort of personal revenge over who knows what. This resulted in destroying trust within the communities, which was imperative for survival.

Teodoro Patiño

Teodoro Patiño is a katipunero who got into a fight with fellow katipunero Apolonio de la Cruz because of the two-peso wage increase in the printing shop of Diario de Manila. Because of this, Patiño went to his sister Honoria and revealed the secrets and plans of the KKK. Honoria then went to tell the head nun about this. The nun urged Patiño to tell the secrets to the parish priest. The priest then divulged what he just learned to the authorities until the Guardia Civil raided the Diario de Manila office. This also resulted in “Juez de Cuchillo” or “total annihilation” of indios in one of the places where KKK would uprise.