Readings in Philippine History

EMILIO AGUINALDO,
MGA GUNITA NG HIMAGSIKAN

SUMMARY OF THE EVENTS

Heneral Emilio Aguinaldo was the first and the youngest president of the Philippines.
His leadership was attacked by numerous controversies from the death of Procopio and
Andres Bomifacio to the different governments he established. This made his
memoir/book more intriguing to read with the expectation that he would present his side
or story on the different issues he was involved with.

He won most of the battles he and his comrades fought with compared to the forces of
Bonifacio. He was able to strategically entered into an encounter with a Spanish troops
in Cavite despite the lack of weapons and ammunitions.

Prior to his election as president to the new republic in Tejeros convention he was
able to held the following positions:

1. Cabeza de Barangay
 2. Gobernadorcillo capitan municipal (Municipal Governor-Captain)

3. War General (Magdalo, a Katipunan faction headed by his cousin Baldomero

Aguinaldo).

On March 22, 1897, while Aguinaldo in Pasong Santol, Dasmariñas, Cavite, Tejeros
convention was held and resulted to election of Emilio Aguinaldo as president where
Andres Bonifacio did not recognize instead declaring the results as null and void.

In the chapter 44 of Aguinaldo’s memoirs, Andres Bonifacio and his brother Procopio
were arrested with criminal charges of Treason, Sedition and a conspiracy to murder
Emilio Aguinaldo. The military court found the two Bonifacio’s guilty and hence
subjected to death penalty.

According to Aguinaldo, he tried to commute the sentence (charge the penalty to less
severe) of the Bonifacios’ but Heneral Pio del Pilar and Mariano Noriel persuaded him
to impose the original penalty. Aguinaldo, as president, established different types of
government;

1. Biak na Bato a republican government where its constitution was patterned from
Cuban constitution. It was a short love republic because Governor General
Fernando Primo de Rivero and Aguinaldo entered into a pact which is now
known as Pact of Biak na Bato.

2. Dictatorial Government was established upon Aguinaldo’s returned to the

Philippines. This type of government was advised by Aguinaldo’s war counselor
Ambrosio Riazares Bautista to control all the government powers temporarily.

3. Revolutionary government as an insurgent government that was established

by Aguinaldo while they are preparing for declaration of independence with new
constitution. The known adviser with this government was Apolinario Mabini as
Brains of the Revolution or Utak ng Himagsikan.

4. First Philippine Republic. This republic was established when the declaration of
independence was done in Kawit, Cavite and the ratification of 1899 Philippine
Constitution/Malolos Constitution by Malolos congress. The inauguration of the
republic was on January 23, 1899 at the Barasoain Church in Bulacan.

HISTORICAL CRITICISM

Aguinaldo scribbled a lot in his old age. Between 1928 and 1946, he produced in long
hand the first volume or his memoirs, “Mga Gunita ng Himagsikan” (1964) translated
from the original tagalog as “Memoirs of the Revolution” (1967). In his preface,
Aguinaldo says that memoirs was based on a diary he kept, documents he preserved,
and family lore gathered from his elders. We do not know whether this diary is extant or
whether a promised second volume of the memoirs were fully written out. All we have is
an account of his birth and early years, ending with the 1897 Treaty of Biak na Bato.

The second volume would cover the resumption of the Philippine Revolution against
Spain and the Philippine-American War. Aguinaldo wanted to correct history by making
reference to the historian’s confused accounts on the beginning of the Revolution.

“Except for those that were written other details had been forgotten. Many details
showed inconsistencies because not all sources were documented for lack of reliable
references. For instance, the rough day of the First Cry of Balintawak could not ne
ascertained. Some say this took place on August 23,1896 at the old Bonifacio
Monument in Balintawak, others claim it happened on August 24, 1886, we now have
too many markers for a single event.”

HISTORICAL SOURCES

The work of Emilio Aguinaldo, which is the Mga Gunita ng Himagsikan, is considered
as relevant to the grand narrative of the Philippine history since it does not only contain
memoirs of Emilio Aguinaldo, but also contains historical information about our history
such as information about Filipino ancestors. Similarly, it shows how the people of our
country had passionately fought back against the Spaniards in order to gain our
freedom.

The document transcribed below does not bear any

heading or title, but is widely known as the “Acta de
Tejeros”. It proclaims that the convention held at Tejeros
the previous day had been so disorderly, so tarnished by
skullduggery, that its decisions were illegitimate and invalid.
Patriots who remain true to the ideals of the Katipunan, the
signatories in effect affirm, should not recognize the
government or republic instituted at the convention, and
should disregard the election of its leaders- Emilio
Aguinaldo as President; Mariano Trias as Vice President;
Artemio Ricarte as Captain General; Emilio Riego de Dios
as Director of War, and Andres Bonifacio as Director of the
Interior.

The Tejeros convention was pivotal event in the

Philippine revolution, and its consequences remains contentious to this day. Because
the protestations voiced in the “Acta” ultimately failed to nullify its outcome, it was the
point at which the overall leadership of the struggle against Spain passed from the
Katipunan to the nascent government, and from Bonifacio to Aguinaldo. And it had a
deeper significance beyond organizational structures and personalities, some nationalist
historians argue, because it symbolized the seizure of the revolutionary movement by
the Caviteño elite, and the defeat of the revolution of the masses.

SELF POINT OF VIEW ABOUT THE EVENT

The memoirs of the revolution revealed a lot of untold stories behind the Philippine
history. It given the readers a prior knowledge on what are the specific events that
happened during the colonization of the Spanish and Americans. The memoirs of the
revolution also focused on the war strategies that were developed by the katipunans.

It also explained the difference between the two factions which are the Magdalo and
Magdiwang faction. Emilio Aguinaldo’s point of view gives a different, yet not well-
known, view of how American imperialism was established in the Philippines through
the eyes of the Philippine’s first president, Emilio Aguinaldo. He is credited for leading
the revolution against Spanish rule, which the filipinos had endured for over 300 years.

The memoirs lf the revolution gave us essential information that we need to know
during the foreign colonization. Giving its readers a brief preview on the important
events that happened in the Philippine history. It also specified some details that are
helpful in understanding the situations of the Filipino people under the Spanish regime.

IMPORTANCE OF THE EVENT IN OUR PRESENT TIME

The importance of event in our present time is Aguinaldo’s contribution which is

filipino became independence in a war covered by Philippine-American War. Aguinaldo
sign the alliance with americans that’s why we celebrate Independence Day in our
present time. Aguinaldo is the one who approved all the pension that need by the
Filipinos.

All Filipino now a days became independent by the help of former President of the
Philippines which is Emilio Aguinaldo, also by the help of Filipino who fought in a war
during Aguinaldo’s time became a hero in our country.