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“Hundreds of deaths daily for two weeks,” blared the Manila Times. “Dead bodies being thrown in the river.” By the end of 1903, there were 200,222 persons dead from the Asiatic cholera. Such was the enormity of the 1902-1904 cholera epidemic, the worst recorded epidemic in Philippine history. 

Just what is cholera and how can this disease kill so many Filipinos? The bacterium is called Vibrio cholerae. It is transmitted by ingestion of contaminated food and water. An infected person would suffer uncontrollable diarrhea leading to quick dehydration and death. The person’s excrement is highly infectious and must be properly disposed of.

In the early 1900’s, people were not educated on how to prevent cholera from spreading. The contaminated water supply, rampant defecation in the rivers, and lack of hospitals contributed to the rapid spread of the disease.

This nightmare started on March 20, 1902. At 2:30 p.m., two cases resembling cholera were admitted at San Juan de Dios Hospital for treatment. Hospital physicians immediately notified the Board of Health. Within an hour, Health Commissioner L. M. Maus arrived and confirmed the diagnosis. 


Just as cholera had done in other countries, the Philippines also proved to be a fertile ground. In the first three days, thirty-seven cases were confirmed. In ten days, the cases ballooned to 102 with an astounding death rate of ninety per cent!


Secretary of Interior Dean Worcester traced the cholera source to the unsanitary shanties of the Farola district in Tondo. Without hesitation, he immediately ordered American soldiers to quarantine the entire district. In fear and confusion, the Filipinos valiantly tried to escape. By the third day of quarantine, a cholera-stricken native had escaped, spreading the disease to the nearby province of Rizal. 


Realizing the gravity of the situation, the Board of Health carried out Government Order 66, which called for the burning of infected nipa huts. Thus, on March 27, 1902, the entire Farola district was burned down to the confusion of the natives. Then gossip spread that the huts were being burned to make room for future dwellings of rich Americans. Some Filipinos even blamed the Americans for poisoning the wells. 


Just six days after the destruction of Farola, reports came out on the concealment of bodies in outlandish ways. Under the cover of night, cholera-stricken corpses were disposed of in the Pasig River further disseminating the bacteria. In one case, a mother hastily buried her seven-month old infant under a shallow grave.


The American health officials were incensed by the natives’ defiance. This prompted the Americans to utilize more stringent measures, but this only inflamed the natives’ belief. Hence, we see the vicious cycle that contributed to the discord between Filipinos and Americans.

As the cholera epidemic raged on and on, the American health commissioners were helpless against the disease. The first health commissioner Lieut. Col. L.M. Maus could not handle the strain and suffered a mental breakdown. His replacement Dr. Frank S. Bourns stayed on for only a month and resigned to pursue his own business interests. 

Finally, the strong-willed Major E.C. Carter was called in from the States to handle the epidemic. But after two years of battling with cholera, Major Carter was a beaten man. In his last report, Carter desperately wrote: “Nothing could be done except to relieve the suffering of the sick and the destitute, and the epidemic would cease only when the vulnerable material were exhausted.”

All in all, the “vulnerable material” consisted of 200,222 lives including 66,000 children. It’s been exactly a hundred years ago, but some say that the ignorance, the garbage, and the filth could still pass for today.

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