En todas las notas que han pasado los yanquis al Capitán Gral. estos días pasados, ha dominado la idea de suplicar al Gral. que capitule para evitar los efectos desastrosos del bombardeo. (…) Las noticias de estas súplicas de los yanquis parece que levanta algo el abatido espíritu de la gente, pues algunos hay que dos días atrás optaban por la rendición á quienes ya les parece mejor la resistencia. No ha habido bombardeo, gracias a Dios. (…) Las trincheras insurrectas que rodean á Manila están coronadas de banderas blancas. Los P.P. Clotet y Martínez que han ido á Sta. Ana, han sido testigos del amigable consorcio en que viven leales é insurrectos por aquel lado.
In all the notes passed on by the Yankees to the captain general these past days, the dominant theme was a request to capitulate in order to avoid the disastrous effects of a bombardment. The Yankees have strongly insisted they do not want to shed blood, that in any case they would do so against their will, that the extremely high sense of military honor of our armed forces was such that it cannot be stained by an honorable surrender after three-and-a-half months’ siege. News of these Yankee requests seems to have eased a bit the demoralization of the people. There are some who two days previously opted for surrender to those they perceived to be stronger. Thank God, there has been no bombardment. The two Yankee ships which have been detailed to guard the mouth of the river from afar have changed anchorage and approached the plaza. The insurgent trenches around Manila are crowned with white flags. Frs. Clotet and Martinez who have gone to Santa Ana have been witnesses to the friendly relations among the loyal Filipinos and the insurgents there. This very morning, the leader Pio del Pilar was in our villa house, visiting Sr. Acevedo, the commander of the militia volunteers from Bayambang. The latter, at the same time that he shows his loyalty, is the object of Aguinaldo’s and his men’s sympathies, and he is even rumored to have been named lieutenant general. A Yankee Catholic priest, chaplain of the Pennsylvania Regiment, came to speak with the archbishop and the captain general. Fr. Simo was his interpreter before the archbishop. He regretted that the intransigence of the Manila authorities may force the Yankees to inflict a mortal blow to the population. He told us some of the chief officers of the Yankee army are Catholics, among them Commodore Dewey, Anderson, and others; that in his regiment there are 700 Catholic soldiers who made their confession and received holy communion a few days ago.