Emilio Aguinaldo

GUNITA NG HIMAGSIKAN(MEMOIRS)
 BACKGROUND
• Emilio Aguinaldo was born on March 22, 1869, in Kawit, Cavite,
Philippines. Nicknamed Miong, Aguinaldo was the seventh of eight
children. His parents were of Chinese and Tagalog descent. His
father, Carlos, died when Aguinaldo was just nine years old.
Widowed, his mother, Trinidad, sent him to attend public school in
Manila.
• Having had to cut his studies short at the Colegio de San Juan de
Letran due to a cholera outbreak, Aguinaldo returned home to
Kawit, where he developed a growing awareness of Filipino
frustration with Spanish colonial rule.
• While serving as the head of barter in Manila, he joined the Pilar
Lodge chapter of the Freemasonry in 1895. The Freemasonry was a
government- and church-banned resistance group. It was through
his role as municipal captain of this fraternity that Aguinaldo met
Andres Bonifacio, a key figure in the fight to overthrow Spanish
rule.
Philippine Revolution

In 1894, Aguinaldo joined the "Katipunan", a secretive organization led by Andrés Bonifacio, dedicated to the
expulsion of the Spanish and independence of the Philippines through armed force.Aguinaldo used the nom
de guerre Magdalo, in honor of Mary Magdalene. His local chapter of the Katipunan, headed by his
cousin Baldomero Aguinaldo, was also called Magdalo.
On January 1, 1895, Aguinaldo became a Freemason, joining Pilar Lodge No. 203, Imus, Cavite. He would
later say:
“The Successful Revolution of 1896 was masonically inspired, masonically led, and masonically executed, and
I venture to say that the first Philippine Republic of which I was its humble President, was an achievement
we owe largely, to Masonry and the Masons.”
The Katipunan revolt against the Spanish began in the last week of August 1896 in San Juan del Monte (now
part of Metro Manila). However, Aguinaldo and other Cavite rebels initially refused to join in the offensive
alleging lack of arms. Their absence contributed to Bonifacio's defeat.While Bonifacio and other rebels were
forced to resort to guerrilla warfare, Aguinaldo and the Cavite rebels won major victories in set-piece
battles, temporarily driving the Spanish out of their area.
On 17 February 1897 Aguinaldo and a group of katipuneros defeated Spanish forces led by General Camilo
de Polavieja at the Battle of Zapote Bridge in Cavite. General Edilberto Evangelista, civil engineer,
revolutionary and trench builder, was killed in the battle. The province of Cavite gradually emerged as the
Revolution's hotbed, and the Aguinaldo-led katipuneros had a string of victories there.
• Presidency at Tejeros

Conflict between the Magdalo and Magdiwang Katipunan factions led to

Bonifacio's intervention in the province of Cavite.The Cavite rebels then made
overtures about establishing a revolutionary government in place of the
Katipunan.Though Bonifacio already considered the Katipunan to be a government,
he acquiesced and presided over a convention held on 22 March 1897 in
Tejeros, Cavite. There, the republic of the Philippines was proclaimed, with
Aguinaldo being elected president. Bonifacio was elected Director of the Interior
but, after Daniel Tirona questioned his qualifications for that position, became
angered and declared "I, as chairman of this assembly, and as President of the
Supreme Council of the Katipunan, as all of you do not deny, declare this assembly
dissolved, and I annul all that has been approved and resolved."
Execution of Bonifacio
Bonifacio refused to recognize the revolutionary government headed by Aguinaldo
and attempted to reassert his authority, accusing the Aguinaldo faction of treason
and by issuing orders contravening orders issued by the Aguinaldo faction.(p188) At
Aguinaldo's orders, Bonifacio and his brothers were arrested and, in a mock trial
lasting one day, convicted of treason, and sentenced to death.After some
vacillation, Aguinaldo initially commuted the death sentence. Andrés and Procopio
were executed by firing squad on 10 May 1897 at Mount Hulog,Maragondon,
Cavite.
• Biak-na-BatoPresidency

On the same day as the execution of the Bonifacio brothers, the Spanish army launched an attack which forced
insurgent forces under Aguinaldo into a general retreat.On 24 June 1897 Aguinaldo arrived at Biak-na-Bato
in San Miguel, Bulacan, and established a permanent headquarters there, located in Biak-na-Bato National
Park in what is now known as Aguinaldo Cave.
In late October 1897, Aguinaldo convened an assembly of generals at Biak-naBato, where it was decided to
establish a constitutional republic. A constitution patterned closely after the Cuban Constitution was drawn up
by Isabelo Artacho and Felix Ferrer. The constitution provided for the creation of a Supreme Council composed
of a president, a vice president, a Secretary of War, and a Secretary of the Treasury. Aguinaldo was named
president.

• Pact of Biak-na-Bato and exiled in Hong Kong

From as early as March 1897, Fernando Primo de Rivera, as Spanish Governor-General of the Philippines had
been encouraging prominent Filipinos to contact Aguinaldo for a peaceful settlement of the conflict. On 9
August, Manila lawyer Pedro Paterno met with Aguinaldo at Biak-na-Bato with a proposal for peace based on
reforms and amnesty. In succeeding months, Paterno conducted shuttle diplomacy, acting as an intermediary
between de Rivera and Aguinaldo. On 14 December and 15 December 1897 Aguinaldo signed the Pact of Biak-
na-Bato, under which Aguinaldo effectively agreed to end hostilities and dissolve his government in exchange
for amnesty and "$800,000 (Mexican)" (Aguinaldo's description of the amount) as an indemnity.The documents
were signed on 14 December and 15 December 1897. On 23 December, Aguinaldo and other insurgent officials
departed for Hong Kong to enter voluntary exile. $400,000, representing the first installment of the indemnity,
was deposited into Hong Kong banks.
While in exile, Aguinaldo reorganized his revolutionary government into the so-called "Hong Kong Junta" and
enlarging it into the "Supreme Council of the Nation".
• Return to the Philippines and Philippine Declaration of Independence

On April 25, the Spanish–American War began. While the war mostly focused on
Cuba, the United States Navy's Asiatic Squadron was in Hong Kong, and
commanded Commodore George Dewey, it sailed for the Philippines, one of two
Spanish colonies in the Pacific (the other being Guam). On 1 May 1898, in
the Battle of Manila Bay, the squadron engaged and destroyed the Spanish navy's
Pacific Squadron and proceeded to blockade Manila. Several days later, Dewey
agreed to transport Aguinaldo from Hong Kong to the Philippines aboard the USS
McCulloch, which left Hong Kong with Aguinaldo on May 16. arriving in Cavite on
May 19. Aguinaldo promptly resumed command of revolutionary forces and
besieged Manila.
On 24 May 1898 in Cavite, 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 Aquinaldo issued the Philippine Declaration of Independence from
Spain and on 18 June, he issued a decree formally establishing his dictatorial
government.
On 23 June, Aguinaldo issued a decree replacing his dictatorial government with a
revolutionary government, with himself as President.
• First Philippine President

The insurgent First Philippine Republic was formally established with the proclamation of the Malolos Constitution on 21 January 1899
in Malolos,Bulacan and endured until the capture of Emilio Aguinaldo by the American forces on 23 March 1901 in Palanan, Isabela, which
effectively dissolved the First Republic.

Aguinaldo appointed two Prime Ministers of the Philippines in his tenure, Apolinario Mabini and Pedro Paterno. He had two cabinets in the
year 1899. Thereafter, the military situation resulted in his ruling by decree.

Philippine–American War

On 12 August 1898, American forces captured Manila during the Battle of Manila and on 14 August 1898 established the United States
Military Government of the Philippine Islands, with Major General Wesley Merritt as the first American Military Governor.On the night of 4
February 1899, a Filipino was shot by an American sentry. This incident is considered the beginning of the Philippine–American War, and
precipitated the 1899 Battle of Manila between American and Filipino forces. Superior American firepower drove Filipino troops away from
the city, and Aguinaldo's government had to move from one place to another as the military situation developed. Aguinaldo led resistance
to the Americans, then retreated to northern Luzon with the Americans on his trail.

On 23 March 1901, Aguinaldo was captured at his headquarters in Palanan, Isabela. On 19 April 1901, Aguinaldo took an oath of allegiance
to the United States, formally ending the First Republic and recognizing the sovereignty of the United States over the Philippines.(pp274–
275) After Aguinaldo's surrender, some Filipino commanders continued the revolution. On 30 July 1901 General Miguel Malvar issued a
manifesto saying, "Forward, without ever turning back... All wars of independence have been obliged to suffer terrible tests!"General
Malvar surrendered to U.S forces in Lipa, Batangas on 16 April 1902. The war was formally ended by a unilateral proclamation of general
amnesty by U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt on 4 July 1902