History has not been kind to Januario Galut, the man known by many as the one who supposedly betrayed Gregorio del Pilar at the Battle of Tirad Pass, leading to the latter's death at the hands of the Americans. However, was Galut really a low-life traitor as history has made him out to be?

Unfortunately for a polarizing figure such as Galut, little is known about his actual life and the circumstances that may have led him to side with the Americans. However, as what can be inferred during his time, his tribe may have been compelled to switch sides after the thorough discrimination an all-Igorot contingent suffered at the hands of the revolutionaries when they were forcibly recruited to fight the Americans in Caloocan.

Along their journey from the Cordilleras to Manila, the Igorots were discriminated by the residents and were also deprived of proper rations and rest by the revolutionaries. Aside from that, they were also threatened with execution should they desert. Nevertheless, the 200 Igorot warriors-armed only with spears and axes-surrendered to the Americans after the Battle of Caloocan and later on became their guides in the mountains-an act which could be interpreted as payback for the ill-treatment they received from their fellow Filipinos.

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Credits: Ka Totoy Talastas - Liwanagin Natin