On September 28, 1901, the residents of Balanggiga south of Samar killed American soldiers using only their swords (tabak). In retaliation for the destruction or confiscation of their food stocks, and their mission to free their fellowmen who had been held for forced labor and detained for days starving in congested conditions, the locals surprised the American troops at their breakfast table with an outraging attack using only their bolos.
The Americans retaliated by burning the whole town and by killing all civilians from 10 years old and above. The one year campaign to take back Samar turned the whole island into an area of inhospitable surroundings.
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