Philippine Army

The Philippine Army (PA) (Filipino: Hukbong Katihan ng Pilipinas) is the main, oldest and largest branch of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP), responsible for ground warfare. As of 2025^[update], it had an estimated strength of 110,000 personnel. The service branch was established on December 21, 1935, as the Philippine Commonwealth Army.

The Philippine Army has been engaged in numerous combat operations, including the ongoing Communist rebellion in the Philippines, the Moro conflict and, alongside other national military forces, in conflicts of international scope and on United Nations peacekeeping missions in various parts of the globe.

The Commanding General of the Philippine Army is its professional and overall head. Its main headquarters (Headquarters Philippine Army or HPA) is located at Fort Andres Bonifacio, Taguig City.

Majority of the soldier that served the Captaincy General of the Philippines are Philippine natives, as opposed to their Native-American, Mestizo from the Americas or white counterparts who at first, are mostly Criollos from New Mexico, but then after Mexican independence, are mostly from the Peninsula. Many of them are exiles and are forced to join the military service in the Philippines for crimes committed at home. Philippine natives, in most cases, join the military to pay debts. They participated in many conflicts and pacifications throughout the Spanish Empire. In many cases acting as intermediaries. The reward for service of an elite native are mostly land grant and encomiendas. The annexation of the capital - Manila to the Spanish Empire in 1571 was made possible with the help of the Visayan natives who views Rajah Sulayman as an enemy.

After three centuries of Spanish rule, there were calls for social reforms and an end to the perceived oppressive friar rule. In 1896, Andres Bonifacio founded the Katipunan to prepare his band of Filipinos for armed revolt against the Spanish government. The Katipunan thus formed an army of insurgents.

On March 22, 1897, almost a year after the outbreak of hostilities between the Katipuneros and the Spanish troops, Emilio Aguinaldo was elected as revolutionary president in the Tejeros Convention and revolutionary forces were organized into the Philippine Revolutionary Army (PRA). General Artemio Ricarte was named as its Captain General. This date marks the founding day of the PRA, and is considered by the Armed Forces of the Philippines to be the establishment date of the Philippine Army.

On November 1, the Republic of Biak-na-Bato was established, with the PRA as its military arm. That republic was dissolved on December 14 by the Pact of Biak-na-Bato, with Aguinaldo and other senior leadership going into exile in Hong Kong. During the exile period, some elements of the PRA remained active in the Philippines under the Central Executive Committee established by Francisco Macabulos. On May 19, 1898, during the Spanish–American War, Aguinaldo returned to the Philippines, rekindled the revolution, declared independence from Spain, and became President of the First Philippine Republic which was established during the lull following Spanish surrender to American forces in the Philippines.

The 1898 Treaty of Paris formalized the end of the Spanish–American War, with one of its provisions being cession of the Philippines to America by Spain. Shortly thereafter, the Philippine–American War erupted between that nascent republic and occupying American forces, eventually resulting in American victory and the disbanding of the PRA.