Aguinaldo's government and the First Republic[edit]

Emilio Aguinaldo and ten of the Malolos Congress delegates that passed the Constitución Política de la
República Filipina in 1899

In March 1897, during the Philippine Revolution against Spain, Emilio Aguinaldo was elected

president of the revolutionary government at the Tejeros Convention.[13] The new government was
meant to replace the Katipunan, though the latter was not formally abolished until 1899. Aguinaldo
was again elected President at Biak-na-Bato in November, leading the Republic of Biak-na-Bato.
Aguinaldo therefore signed the Pact of Biak-na-Bato and went into exile in Hong Kong at the end of
1897.
In April 1898, the Spanish–American War broke out, and the Asiatic Squadron of the United States
Navy sailed for the Philippines. At the Battle of Manila Bay on May 1, 1898 the American Navy d