Emilio Famy Aguinaldo QSC PLH is the First Revolutionary President of the Philippines
and led Philippine forces first against Spain in the latter part of the Philippine Revolution,
and then in the Spanish-American War, and finally against the United States during the
Philippine-American War.
He was captured in 1901.
In 1935 Aguinaldo ran unsuccessfully for president of the Philippine Commonwealth against Manuel
Quezon.
After the Japanese invasion of the Philippines in 1941, he cooperated with the new rulers,
even making a radio appeal for the surrender of the American and Filipino forces on Bataan.
He was arrested as a collaborationist after the Americans returned but was later freed
in a general amnesty.
He explained his action by saying, "I was just remembering the fight I led.
We were outnumbered, too, in constant retreat.
I saw my own soldiers die without affecting future events.
To me that seemed to be what was happening on Bataan, and it seemed like a good thing
to stop."
Early life and career
Emilio Famy Aguinaldo was born on 22 March 1869 in Cavite Viejo, in Cavite, to Carlos
Aguinaldo and Trinidad Famy, a Chinese mestizo couple who had eight children, the seventh
of whom was Emilio.
The Aguinaldo family was quite well-to-do, as his father, Carlos Aguinaldo was the community's
appointed gobernadorcillo in the Spanish colonial administration.
Emilio became the "Cabeza de Barangay" of Binakayan, a chief barrio of Cavite del Viejo,
when he was only 17 years old.
In 1895 the Maura Law that called for the reorganization of local governments was enacted.
At the age of 26 Aguinaldo became Cavite Viejo's first "gobernadorcillo capitan municipal".
Personal life On 1 January 1896, he married Hilaria del
Rosario.
They had five children: Carmen Aguinaldo Melencio, Emilio Aguinaldo, Jr, Maria Aguinaldo Poblete,
Cristina Aguinaldo Suntay and Miguel Aguinaldo.
Hilaria died of leprosy on 6 March 1921 at the age of 45.
Nine years later, on 14 July 1930, Aguinaldo married Maria Agoncillo at Barasoain Church.
She died on 29 May 1963 at the age of 82, a year before Aguinaldo himself.
Revolutionary and political career 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.
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.
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 Buntis, Maragondon,
Cavite.
Biak-na-Bato Presidency
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-na Bato, 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" 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.
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.
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.
Post-presidency U.S. territorial period
During the American occupation, Aguinaldo supported groups that advocated immediate
independence, and helped veterans of the struggle.
He organized the Asociación de los Veteranos de la Revolución, which worked to secure
pensions for its members and made arrangements for them to buy land on installment from the
government.
The display of the Philippine flag was declared illegal by the Sedition Act of 1907.
This law was repealed on 30 October 1919.
Following this, Aguinaldo transformed his home in Kawit into a monument to the flag,
the revolution and the declaration of Independence.
As of 2011, his home still stands and is known as the Aguinaldo Shrine.
Aguinaldo retired from public life for many years.
In 1935, when the Commonwealth of the Philippines was established in preparation for Philippine
independence, he ran for president in the Philippine presidential election, 1935, but
lost by a landslide to Manuel L. Quezon.
The two men formally reconciled in 1941, when President Quezon moved Flag Day to 12 June,
to commemorate the proclamation of Philippine independence.
During the Japanese occupation, Aguinaldo cooperated with the Japanese, making speeches,
issuing articles and radio addresses in support of the Japanese — including a radio appeal
to Gen. Douglas MacArthur on Corregidor to surrender in order to "spare the innocence
of the Filipino youth."
After the combined American and Filipino troops retook the Philippines, Aguinaldo was arrested
along with several others accused of collaboration with the Japanese, and jailed for some months
in Bilibid prison.
He was released by presidential amnesty.
Aguinaldo was 77 when the United States Government fully recognized Philippine independence in
the Treaty of Manila, in accordance with the Tydings–McDuffie Act of 1934.
Post-American era
In 1950, President Elpidio Quirino appointed Aguinaldo as a member of the Council of State,
where he served a full term.
He returned to retirement soon after, dedicating his time and attention to veteran soldiers'
"interests and welfare."
He was made an honorary Doctor of Laws, Honoris Causa, by the University of the Philippines
in 1953.
In 1962, President Diosdado Macapagal changed the celebration of Independence Day from 4
July to 12 June.
Aguinaldo rose from his sickbed to attend the celebration of independence 64 years after
he declared it.
Death and Legacy
Aguinaldo was rushed to Veterans Memorial Medical Center in Quezon City on October 5,
1962 where he stayed there for 469 days until he died of coronary thrombosis at age 94 on
6 February 1964.
A year before his death, he donated his lot and mansion to the government.
This property now serves as a shrine to "perpetuate the spirit of the Revolution of 1896."
In 1985, Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas made a new 5-peso bill depicting a portrait of
Aguinaldo on the front.
The back features the declaration of the Philippine independence on 12 June 1898.
Printing was discontinued in 1995, when it was replaced with a 5₱ coin whose obverse
features a portrait of Aguinaldo.
Media portrayal El Presidente, a 2012 biopic based on his
life as the first president of the Philippine Republic, stars Jeorge Estregan, governor
of Laguna province, as Aguinaldo.
See also Flag of the Philippines
History of the Philippines Tagalog people
Tejeros Convention Notes
References
Further reading Aguinaldo, Emilio, Mga Gunita ng Himagsikan
Zaide, Gregorio F., Philippine History and Government, National Bookstore Printing Press
External links The Philippine Presidency Project
CAUTUSAN: Gobierno Revolucionario nang Filipinas at the Wayback Machine [in Tagalog] A decree
dated 2 January 1899 signed by Emilio Aguinaldo establishing a council of government.
Aguinaldo: A Narrative of Filipino Ambitions at the Wayback Machine Book written by American
Consul Wildman of Hong Kong regarding Emilio Aguinaldo and the Filipino–American War
during the early 1900s.
General Emilio Aguinaldo’s “Confession” at the Wayback Machine.
[in Tagalog] Works by Emilio Aguinaldo at Project Gutenberg