ACT OF DECLARATION OF

THE PHILIPPINE
INDEPENDENCE
As the War Counsellor and
Special Delegate, Ambrosio
Rianzares Bautista read the Act
of Declaration of
the Philippine Independence at
the balcony Emilio
Aguinaldo’s ancestral house in
Kawit, Cavite on June 12,
1898. Bautista was a generous
man and a lawyer, famous
among the peasants and laborers
who sought his legal
advice and defended their cases
in court for free. He became one
of the officers of the La Liga
Filipina, helped
publish the La Solidaridad, and
wrote articles for the La
Independencia. With
Aguinaldo’s return to Cavite
from
Hong Kong, Bautista
volunteered to become his
adviser. He served as the
solicitor general of the
revolutionary
government and patterned the
document of the Declaration of
the Philippine Independence.
It was Emilio Aguinaldo’s
aspiration to influence other
Filipinos to step up and fight
against the Spanish
rule in the country, as well as
for other countries to
acknowledge the sovereignty of
the Philippines. With the
establishment of a dictatorial
government, he believed it was
the right time to declare the
nation’s independence.
The solemn declaration was
attended by thousands of people
from different provinces,
together with military and
civil officials from the
government. The ceremony
began with the dramatic
unfurling of the Filipino flag
and the
playing of the Philippine
National Anthem. The
proclamation narrated a long list
of complaints and objections
against the Spaniards, stretching
back to Magellan’s arrival in
1521. It continued with the
official declaration of
the country’s independence,
providing the country with
different rights and privileges as
a sovereign land. It also
recognized and approved the
leadership of Emilio Aguinaldo
as the first Dictator and
President of the Philippine
Republic, granting him all the
powers necessary to enable him
to fully exercise his authority in
governing the
country. It was also during the
declaration when the Philippine
flag was instituted that being
the blue and red
band with the white triangle
bearing a sun with eight rays
and three stars, each having
different representations
as to the relative history and
identity of the country, where
everyone must swear their full
reverence and loyalty
to the motherland until the last
drop of their blood. The
document was signed by
Bautista himself along with 98
other men who testified as
witnesses of the proceeding.
This event announced the
Filipinos’ long desire to
exercise their inherent and
inalienable right to freedom
and independence. Primarily
authored by Ambrosio
Bautista using the Spanish
language and translated by
Sulpicio Guevarra into English,
the document of the declaration
marks a significant achievement
for Aguinaldo
whose decision to proclaim
independence gifted the
Filipinos with the liberty they
have fought for a very long
time. The document provided us
with a firsthand experience of
what happened during the
declaration and signified
the determination and unity of
local government leaders to
revolt against the colonizers. It
sparked the beginning
of progress in the country
and gave birth to the first
democratic republic outside
the Western Hemisphere.
Therefore, it is important as
it encapsulates the thoughts
of the day, the reasoning of
the men behind the
momentous occasion, and gave
us with a good idea of just how
significant that day was.
The nation’s rough yet
triumphant journey to freedom
is one of the things Filipinos
should never forget.
Commemorating the Philippine
th
independence every 12 day of
June is an admonition for
Filipinos to cultivate a
thirst for knowing the rich
history of the country, including
its struggle for independence.