h governor of Ilocos may
really have been, there is testimony to show that some of the other
prisoners, especially the priests, were abused and outraged under the
direction of S. Villa and Colonel Leyba, both of whom were very close
to Aguinaldo. Some of the Spanish civil officials were put in stocks
and beaten, and one of the officers who had surrendered at Aparri was
tortured to death. This was done with the purpose of extorting money
from them, for it was believed that they had hidden funds in place
of turning them over. All the Spaniards were immediately stripped
of everything they had. The priests were subjected to a systematic
series of insults and abuse under the direction of Villa in order
to destroy their influence over the people by degrading them in
their eyes. It was for this that they were beaten and exposed naked
in the sun; and other torture, such as pouring tile wax of burning
candles into their eyes, was used to make them disclose where they
had hidden church vessels and church funds. The testimony of a friar
who suffered these outrages is that the great mass of the people saw
such treatment of their parish priests with horror, and were present
at it only through fear of the organized force of the Katipunan."

Taylor's statement is mildness itself in view of the well-established
facts.

The question of killing the Spanish prisoners, including the friars,
had previously been seriously considered, [275] but it was deemed wiser
to keep most of the friars alive, extort money from them by torture,
and offer to liberate them in return for a large cash indemnity, or for
political concessions. Day after day and week after week Villa presided
at, or himself conducted, the torture of ill-fated priests and other
Spaniards who fell into his hands. Even Filipinos whom he suspected
of knowing the where-abouts of hidden friar money did not escape.

The following information relative to the conduct of the Insurgents in
the Cagayan valley is chiefly taken from manuscript copy of _"Historia
de la Conquista de Cagayan por los Tagalos Revolucionarios,"_ in
which the narratives of certain captured friars are transcribed and
compiled by Father Julian Malumbres of the Dominican Order.

The formal surrender of Aparri occurred on August 26. Tirona, his
officers and his soldiers, promptly pillaged the _convento_. [276]
The officers left the Bishop of Vigan ten pesos, but the soldiers
subsequently took them away from him. War