Fort Bonifacio
Fort Bonifacio
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Fort Bonifacio

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Fort Bonifacio

Fort Andres Bonifacio (formerly Fort William McKinley) is the site of the national headquarters of the Philippine Army (Headquarters Philippine Army or HPA) located in Taguig City, Philippines. The camp is named after Andres Bonifacio, the revolutionary leader of the Katipunan during the Philippine Revolution.

It is located near Villamor Air Base, the national headquarters of the Philippine Air Force (PAF).

Fort William McKinley, now Fort Bonifacio, was established during the Philippine–American War in 1901. The land is situated south of the Pasig River, down to the creek Alabang, near Manila. It was declared a U.S. military reservation by U.S. Secretary of War Elihu Root.

In 1916, the 3rd Battalion of the 31st Infantry Regiment was formed here. Until December 1920, this was the home of the 31st Infantry Regiment. During World War II, the USAFFE headquarters for the Philippine Department and the Philippine Division were at the fort. The bulk of the Philippine Division was stationed there and this was where, under the National Defense Act of 1935, specialized artillery training was conducted.[citation needed]

On March 18, 1926, U.S. Army Lieutenant John Sewell Thompson was executed by hanging at Fort McKinley for murdering his fiancée, 16-year-old Audrey Burleigh. He was the first American officer executed in peacetime, and to date, he is the only graduate of the United States Military Academy to have been executed.

After Philippine independence on July 4, 1946, the US surrendered to the Republic of the Philippines all rights of possession, jurisdiction, supervision, and control over the Philippine territory except for the use of their military bases. On May 14, 1949, Fort McKinley was turned over to the Philippine government. The facility became the home of the Philippine Army and later the Philippine Navy and was renamed Fort Bonifacio. It lies in the present-day cities of Pasay, Parañaque, Pasig and Taguig, all former parts of the province of Rizal.

The Manila American Cemetery and Memorial was later established there.

When President Ferdinand Marcos placed the Philippines under martial law in 1972, Fort Bonifacio became the host of three detention centers full of political prisoners - the Ipil Reception Center (sometimes called the Ipil Detention Center), a higher security facility called the Youth Rehabilitation Center (YRC), and the Maximum Security Unit where Senators Jose W. Diokno and Benigno Aquino Jr. were detained.

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