Philippine Constabulary

Philippine Constabulary Hukbóng Pamayapà ng Pilipinas Policia General de Filipinas
Philippine Constabulary Emblem
Active	August 8, 1901 - January 29, 1991
Country	Philippines
Allegiance	United States (1901-1935)  Commonwealth of the Philippines (1935-1946)  Republic of the Philippines (1946-1991)
Type	Constabulary
Motto(s)	Always outnumbered but never outfought!
Engagements	Philippine–American War Moro Rebellion World War II * Japanese Invasion (1941–1942) * Allied Liberation (1944–45) Hukbalahap Rebellion
Disbanded	1991

The Philippine Constabulary (abbreviated PC; Filipino: Hukbóng Pamayapà ng Pilipinas, HPP) was a gendarmerie-type police force of the Philippines from 1901 to 1991. It was created by the American colonial government to replace the Spanish colonial Guardia Civil. It was the first of the four service commands of the Armed Forces of the Philippines. On January 29, 1991, it was merged with the Integrated National Police to form the Philippine National Police.

The Philippine Constabulary (PC) was established on August 18, 1901, under the general supervision of the civil Governor-General of the Philippines, by authority of Act. No. 175 of the Second Philippine Commission, for the purpose of maintaining peace, law, and order in the various provinces of the Philippine Islands. By the end of 1901, a total of 180 officers had been commissioned.

The constabulary assisted the United States military in combating the remaining irreconcilable revolutionaries following the March 23 capture of General Emilio Aguinaldo and his 1 April pledge of allegiance to the United States. This phase of the Philippine–American War ended in Luzon by 1906, with the surrender and execution of one of its last remaining generals, Macario Sakay.

Continued disorder and brigandry prompted Governor-General William Howard Taft to maintain the PC to combat insurgents. Captain Henry T. Allen of the 6th U.S. Cavalry, a Kentucky-born graduate of West Point (Class 1882), was named as the chief of the force, and was later dubbed as the "Father of the Philippine Constabulary". With the help of four other army officers, Captains David Baker, W. Goldsborough, H. Atkinson, and J.S. Garwood, Captain Allen organized the force, trained, equipped and armed the men as best as could be done at the time. Although the bulk of the officers were recruited from among U.S. commissioned and non-commissioned officers, two Filipinos qualified for appointment as 3rd Lieutenants during the first month of the PC: Jose Velasquez of Nueva Ecija and Felix Llorente of Manila. Llorente retired as a Colonel in 1921 while Velasquez retired as Major in 1927.