EMILIO F.

AGUINALDO
FIRST PRESIDENT OF THE PHILIPPINES
(1897-1901)
WHO IS EMILIO F. AGUINALDO?
 Emilio Aguinaldo was born on
22 March 1869 in Cavite Viejo
(present-day Kawit), Cavite, to
Carlos Aguinaldo and Trinidad
Famy, a Chinese mestizo
couple who had eight children,
the seventh of which was
Emilio.
 EARLY LIFE
At the age of 17, Emilio was elected as cabeza de barangay
of Binakayan, the most progressive barrio of Kawit,
Cavite. He served for his town-mates for eight years.
 On January 1, 1895, he was elected capitan municipal of
Kawit the first to bear that title in accordance with the
Mauro Law.
 In 1894, Andres Bonifacio himself inducted Emilio
Aguinaldo into the Katipunan, a secret anti-colonial
organization. The Katipunan called for the ouster of Spain
from the Philippines, by armed force if necessary.
 In August 1896 he was the local leader of the Katipunan, a
revolutionary society that fought bitterly and successfully
against Spanish.
 In March of 1897, the two Katipunan factions (Magdalo and
Magdiwang) met in Tejeros for an election. The assembly
elected Aguinaldo as President in a possibly fraudulent poll.
 When a rival faction executed Bonifacio in 1897, Aguinaldo
assumed total leadership of the revolution against Spain.
 By December 1897, Aguinaldo had managed to reach the
Truce of Biak-na-Bato with Spain. He and his rebels agreed
to a surrendering of arms and accepted exile to Hong Kong
in exchange for amnesty, indemnity and liberal reform.

Emilio Aguinaldo with the exiled revolutionaries

In Hongkong.
 In 1898 Aguinaldo returned to the Philippines to resume his rebellion
against Spanish rule.
 After five days, Aguinaldo issued a proclamation in which he assumed
command of all Philippine forces and established a dictatorial
government with himself as dictator.
 On 12 June, at Aguinaldo's ancestral home in Cavite, Philippine
independence was proclaimed and The Act of Declaration of
Philippine Independence was read. The act had been prepared and
written in Spanish by Ambrosio Rianzares Bautista, who also read its
proclamation.
After meeting with the Malolos Congress and drafting a constitution
for a new republic, on June 12, 1898, Aguinaldo at last declared
Philippine independence. Announced from his hometown of Kawit,
Aguinaldo's proclamation put an end to four centuries of Philippine
oppression under Spanish Colonial rule.
 In January of the following year, dressed in a white suit at
Barasoain Church in Malolos City, Aguinaldo was sworn in as
the first president of the new, self-governed Philippine
republic.
 Emilio Aguinaldo was officially inaugurated as the first
president and dictator of the Philippine Republic in January
of 1899.
 Just two weeks after Aguinaldo's inauguration, an American
sentry killed a Philippine soldier stationed at the San Juan
Bridge, in a gesture of resistance against the newfound
Philippine independence. On February 4, 1899, the
Philippine-American War exploded into action. Aguinaldo's
revolutionaries quickly resorted to guerilla tactics, resulting
in one of the bloodiest wars in American history, but in little
direct progress for Aguinaldo and his cause.
 After three years at war, Aguinaldo was captured by
American General Frederick Funston on March 23, 1901.
 April 1, 1901. Emilio Aguinaldo formally surrendered,
swearing allegience to the United States of America. He then
retired to his family farm in Cavite. His defeat marked the
end of the First Philippine Republic, but not the end of the
guerrilla resistance.
By this time, the United States was ready to support limited
Philippine independence. It wasn't until 1946 that the
Philippines would have absolute control of its own
sovereignty.
 In 1935 when the commonwealth government of the Philippines was
established in preparation for independence, Aguinaldo ran for
president but was decisively beaten. He returned to private life until
the Japanese invaded the Philippines in 1941.
 As a token vindication of his honor, he was appointed by president
Elpidio Quirino as a member of the Council of State in 1950. In the
latter years of his life, he devoted his major attention to veterans
affairs, the promotion of nationalism and democracy in the
Philippines, and the improvement of relation between the
Philippines and the United States.
 Aguinaldo resumed his life of retirement. In June 12, 1963, on the
occasion of the celebration of Philippine independence, Aguinaldo
veiled his historic mansion in Kawit, together with all the relics
contained therein, to the Philippine government.
 On February 6, 1964, he died at the age of 94 years old.
 Presidency
 The insurgent First Philippine Republic was formally
established with the proclamation of the Malolos
Constitution on January 21, 1899 in Malolos, Bulacan and
endured until the capture of Emilio Aguinaldo by the
American forces on March 23, 1901 in Palanan, Isabela, which
effectively dissolved the First Republic.