The establishment of airfields on the various islands was a slow and difficult process. Negotiation for the purchase of land for airfield sites was heated as landowners attempted to raise land prices in the belief that they would ultimately be paid by the Government. The establishment of the airmail delivery was also slow, with few commercial commitments. These factors, along with the expense of establishing and operating a fledgling Air Service that continued to grow beyond the existing budget, took its toll.

Soon the spiraling expense of the Air Service forced the Militia Commission to create an Emergency Board for the beleaguered service to review and approve all expenses. Based upon their current and projected expenditures, the board recommended only 50 percent of the appropriations for the operation of the Philippine Air Service to the Council of State, and this amount was not even a guarantee for the service's operation.

By April 1921, the .Emergency Board recommended and further reduced the funding of the Philippine Air Service by 100,000 pesos. They believed that the 420,000-peso annual operating budget was far too high considering "this is a new activity whose needs were not felt before it was created." The Emergency Board and the Council of State did not have the vision to comprehend the long-term value of aviation for commercial or military purposes.

Despite the cries of the Philippine Air Service's critics, some political leaders fought to keep the Air Service alive. Representative Leuterio, a member of both the Emergency Board and the Militia Commission, argued with eloquence and determination that the "Philippine Air Service was needed for both communications and the defense of the Islands." Leuterio also pointed out that the bulk of the Service's largest expenses had already been incurred with the purchase of aircraft, hangars, and the hiring of technical advisors who were under one-year contracts. But his argument fell upon deaf ears.

By August, 1921, the Philippine Air Service's budget had been cut to the bone, with barely enough funding to cover the cost of fuel. The Militia Commission decided. to reduce expenses further by releasing three pilots and keeping the remaining three at half their former salary. Lieutenants Zablan and Fernando returned to the Constabulary and Captain Reyes, the Air Service's Executive Officer resigned from the Philippine Air Service. The remaining pilots, Calvo, Perez and Malinao, could see on the horizon the end of the Philippine Air Service.

The final deathblow to the fledgling Philippine Air Service came with the change in Administration in Washington, D.C. With the election of a Republican President, Warren G. Harding, there was a change in the administration of the Philippine Islands. The new Governor General, Leonard Wood, with the aid of William Cameron Forbes, began a fact-finding mission on the progress the Islands had made toward self-sufficiency and independence. Wood had run for the Republican Presidential nomination against Warren G. Harding and after losing his party's nomination, threw his support behind Harding and helped him to win the Presidency. The appointment of Wood as Governor General of the Philippine Islands was his reward.

The new Administration took little time to criticize former Governor General Harrison and his Filipinization programs. Wood declared that "the Philippines would not be ready for independence for some time." He quickly alienated Filipino leadership who favored independence and proceeded to curb the steps taken by Harrison during his administration that would have helped the Islands to become commercially and militarily independent. One area that Wood considered unnecessary was a Philippine Air Service manned by Filipinos. So with a stroke of a pen. Governor General Leonard Wood ended the first indigenous Air Service in Asia.

The Philippine Air Service formally ended when all its aircraft, spare parts, equipment, and hangars at Camp Claudio were handed over to the U.S. Army Air Service. These aircraft, including four Jennys, two F-5Ls and 3 HS-2Ls, were eventually sold. The Bureau of Plant Industry acquired two of the Jennys, which were used for agricultural aerial spraying with Leoncio Malinao as pilot.  Curtiss  School  of Aviation  graduate Alfredo Camelo purchased one of the Jennys as did an American pilot named Lefert.

The demise of the Philippine Air Service marked the end of the first Filipino Military Air Service in the Islands. It would be another 15 years before native Filipino military pilots would take to the skies with their own silver wings. With that, the Philippine Air Service faded into aviation history.

Special thanks to the following individuals who provided invaluable assistance in preparing this article: Capt. Albert Anido; Daniel Hagedom; Donald Lopez; R.E.G. Davies and Philip D. Edwards.

Joseph T.N. Suarez serves as the Director of The National Air and Space Society at the Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum. As Director of the Society, Joe is directly involved in the fundraising efforts in support of the building of the new National Air and Space Museum's Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center which will open at Washington Dulles International Airport in 2003.

An avid collector and historian, Joe has researched various aspects of military unit histories pertaining to the Imperial Russian Army, the Imperial German Navy, the early Philippine Constabulary and the Philippine Scout Regiments prior to World War II for over 25 years. He is a marketing executive with a degree in Government .and Polities from the University of Maryland.