Revolutionary leader Emilio Aguinaldo y Famy was born March 23, 1869 in
Cavite, Philippines. In 1898 he achieved independence of the Philippines from
Spain and was elected the first president of the new republic under the Malolos
Congress. He also led the Philippine-American War against U.S. resistance to
Philippine independence. He died of a heart attack on February 6, 1964 in
Quezon City, Philippines.
Early
Life
Emilio Aguinaldo
was born March 23, 1869 in Kawit, Cavite, Province, Philippines. Nicknamed
Miong, he 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.
After graduating
from the University of Santo Thomas in Manila, 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.
Independence From Spain
Eager to fight
for the cause of Philippine independence, in 1895 Aguinaldo took up with a
secret society of revolutionaries headed by fellow lodge member Andres
Bonifacio. 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. However, neither side
kept up their end of the bargain. The Spanish government did not deliver in
full all that was promised, and the rebels did not truly surrender arms. In
fact, Aguinaldo's revolutionaries used some of Spain's financial compensation
to purchase additional arms for the resistance. From Hong Kong, Aguinaldo also
made arrangements to assist Americans fighting against Spain in the
Spanish-American War. As neither peace nor independence had been achieved, in
1898 Aguinaldo returned to the Philippines to resume his rebellion against
Spanish rule.
Back in Cavite,
Aguinaldo forcibly set up a provisional dictatorship. 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
home town of Kawit, Aguinaldo's proclamation put an end to four centuries of
Philippine oppression under Spanish Colonial rule. In January of the next 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.
Philippine-American War
The United
States, however, was not eager to accept the Philippines' new government. While
the U.S. and Spain had been fighting the Spanish-American War, the Philippines
had been ceded by Spain to the United States in the Treaty of Paris in December
1898.
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. Concerning the
apparent futility of his efforts in war, Aguinaldo said, "I saw my own
soldiers die without affecting future events."
After three
years at war, Aguinaldo was captured by American General Frederick Funston on
March 23, 1901. After swearing an oath of allegiance to the United States, on
April 19, 1901, Aguinaldo officially declared peace with the United States. By
this time, the United States was ready support Philippine independence.
Friendly relations, along with an American civil government, were established.
Aguinaldo retreated to a private life as a farmer but never forgot the men who
fought alongside him.
In their honor, he would
later establish the Veterans of the Revolution, an organization that arranged
their pensions, as well as affordable payment plans for land purchases.
Aguinaldo took
another stab at politics when he ran for presidency in 1935 against Manuel
Quezon but lost. In 1950 he became a presidential advisor on the Council of
State.
Death
Emilio Aguinaldo
died of a heart attack at Veterans Memorial Hospital in Quezon City,
Philippines, on February 6, 1964. His private land and mansion, which he had
donated the prior year, continue to serve as a shrine to both the revolution
for Philippine independence and the revolutionary himself.
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