Juan Cailles

Juan Cailles (November 10, 1871 - June 21, 1951) was a Filipino commander who served during the Philippine Revolution and Philippine-American War. He later served as a provincial governor and member of the Philippine Legislature

Early life
Juan Cailles was born in Nasugbu, Batangas to Hippolyte Cailles, a Frenchman. and María Kauppama, a woman of Indian descent from a Maharaja and a Maharani. He was the sixth child of seven.

His early education was at the house of Ovidio Caballero and he graduated from the Escuela Normal run by Jesuits in Manila.

He became a teacher and taught for five years in the public schools of Amaya, Tanza and Rosario, Cavite.

Philippine Revolution
When the premature discovery of the Katipunan in Manila forced Andres Bonifacio to start the Philippine Revolution, Cailles organized a force composed of his pupils' fathers. To them, he remained Maestrong Cailles despite his successive promotions in military rank. He took part in many encounters with the Spaniards, particularly in engagements resulting in the deaths of his superior officers, such General Candido Tria Tirona, Edilberto Evangelista, and Crispulo Aguinaldo, which caused his rapid promotion.

With the Pact of Biak-na-Bato, hostilities ceased.

Philippine-American War
At the outbreak of the Spanish-American War, American forces arrived in the Philippines, defeating the Spanish at the Battle of Manila Bay on May 1, 1898 and subsequently taking possession of Manila in the Battle of Manila of 1898. The Philippine-American War broke out in February 1899 with the 1899 Battle of Manila.

In the Battle of Mabitac, in Laguna Province, on September 17, 1900, Cailles’ troops outmaneuvered and routed a strong American contingent led by Colonel Cheetham. Magnanimous in victory, Cailles allowed Cheetham to recover from the field the bodies of eight slain American soldiers, together with all their personal belongings.

After serving as acting chief of operations in the first zone of Manila during the Philippine-American War, Cailles was appointed by Aguinaldo as military governor of Laguna and half of Tayabas (now Quezon) province. The capture of Aguinaldo in Palanan, Isabela, on March 23, 1901, convinced Cailles that the war was lost, and so he surrendered to the Americans on June 20.

Postwar
Cailles then directed his efforts toward rebuilding the country. He served as governor of Laguna from 1901 to 1910, and again from 1916 to 1925. After his second term, he was appointed representative of the Mountain Province in the Philippine Legislature in 1925 and reappointed in 1928. In 1931, Cailles was again selected governor of Laguna, and reelected in 1934.

It was during his term as governor that the Sakdal uprising flared up on May 2, 1935, in Santa Rosa and Cabuyao, Laguna. The revolt was suppressed in record time, thanks to Cailles’ firm administration and revolutionary experience. Cailles had also a hand in the capture of Teodoro Asedillo, the "Terror of the Sierra".

Cailles died on June 28, 1951, a victim of a heart attack.