EMILIO AGUINALDO
1ST PRESIDENT OF THE PHILIPPINES
EARLY LIFE AND CAREER
Emilio Aguinaldo y Famy was born on March 22, 1869 in Cavite el Viejo (present-day Kawit) in the
province of Cavite to Carlos Aguinaldo y Jamir and Trinidad Famy y Villanueva, a couple that had eight
children, the seventh of whom was Emilio Sr. He was baptized and raised in Roman Catholicism.[18] The
Aguinaldo family was quite well-to-do as his father, Carlos Aguinaldo, was the community's
appointed gobernadorcillo (municipal governor) in the Spanish colonial administration and his
grandparents Eugenio Aguinaldo y Kajigas and María Jamir y de los Santos. He studied at Colegio de San
Juan de Letran, but could not finish his studies because of an outbreak of cholera in 1882.
He became a cabeza de barangay in 1895 when the Maura Law called for the reorganization of local
governments. At the age of 25, Aguinaldo became Cavite el Viejo's first gobernadorcillo capitan
municipal (municipal governor-captain) while he was on a business trip in Mindoro.
Emilio Aguinaldo y Famy (Spanish: [eˈmiljo aɣiˈnaldoj ˈfami]: March 22, 1869 – February 6, 1964)
was a Filipino revolutionary, statesman, and military leader who is the youngest president of the
Philippines (1899–1901) and became the first president of the Philippines and of an Asian constitutional
republic. He led the Philippine forces first against Spain in the Philippine Revolution (1896–1898), then
in the Spanish–American War (1898), and finally against the United States during the Philippine–
American War (1899–1901).
Aguinaldo is known as a national hero in the Philippines. However, he is also somewhat controversial in
the country due to his alleged involvement in the deaths of the revolutionary leader Andrés Bonifacio and
general Antonio Luna, and for his collaboration with the Japanese Empire during their occupation of the
Philippines in World War II.
General Emilio Aguinaldo" redirects here. For the municipality in Cavite, see General Emilio Aguinaldo,
Cavite.
In this Spanish name, the first or paternal surname is Aguinaldo and the second or maternal family
name is Famy.
PHILIPPINE REVOLUTION
On January 1, 1895, Aguinaldo became a Freemason, joining Pilar Lodge No. 203, Imus, Cavite by the
codename "Colon".
On March 7, 1895, Santiago Alvarez, whose father was a Capitan Municipal (Mayor) of Noveleta,
encouraged Aguinaldo to join the "Katipunan", a secret organization led by Andrés Bonifacio that was
dedicated to the expulsion of the Spanish and the independence of the Philippines through armed force.
[20] Aguinaldo joined the organization and used the nom de guerre Magdalo in honor of Mary
Magdalene. The local chapter of Katipunan in Cavite was established and named Sangguniang Magdalo,
and Aguinaldo's cousin Baldomero Aguinaldo was appointed leader.
BATTLE OF IMUS
In August 1896, as coordinated attacks broke out and sparked the revolution beginning in Manila.
Aguinaldo marched from Kawit with 600 men and launched a series of skirmishes at Imus that eventually
ended in open hostilities against Spanish troops stationed there.
TEJEROS CONVENTION
Conflict within the ranks of the Katipunan factions, specifically between the Magdalo and Magdiwang,
led to the Imus assembly in Cavite Province, presided over by Bonifacio. The rebels of Cavite were
rumored to have made overtures to establish 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 March 22, 1897, in Tejeros, Cavite. Aguinaldo was elected president,
even though he was occupied with military matters in Imus and not in attendance. Mariano Trias was
elected as vice-president, Artemio Ricarte as captain-general, Emiliano Riego de Dios as the director of
war, and Andres Bonifacio as director of the interior. The results were questioned by Daniel Tirona for
Bonifacio's qualifications for that position. Bonifacio was insulted 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."Regardless of the
nullification, Aguinaldo traveled surreptitiously to Malabon (now Tanza) where, on the evening of March
23, he took an oath assuming the office to which he had been elected as Generalissimo of the Philippine
Islands.
BIAK-NA-BATO AND EXILE
The Spanish Army launched an attack that forced the revolutionary forces under Aguinaldo into a retreat.
On June 24, 1897, Aguinaldo arrived at Biak-na-Bato, San Miguel, Bulacan, and established a
headquarters there in what is now called "Aguinaldo Cave" in Biak-na-Bato National Park. In late
October 1897, Aguinaldo convened an assembly of generals at Biak-na-Bato that decided to establish a
constitutional republic. A constitution, patterned closely after the Cuban Constitution, was drawn up by
Isabelo Artacho and Felix Ferrer and 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.
In March 1897, Fernando Primo de Rivera, 1st Marquis of Estella, the Spanish Governor-General of the
Philippines, had been encouraging prominent Filipinos to contact Aguinaldo for a peaceful settlement of
the conflict. On August 9, the 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 December 14–15, 1897,
Aguinaldo signed the Pact of Biak-na-Bato under which Aguinaldo effectively agreed to end hostilities
and to dissolve his government in exchange for amnesty and "₱800,000 (Mexican)" (Aguinaldo's
description of the $MXN800,000[g] amount) as an indemnity. The documents were signed on December
14–15, 1897. On December 23, Aguinaldo and other revolutionary officials departed for Hong Kong to
enter voluntary exile. MXN$400,000,[g] representing the first installment of the indemnity, was deposited
into Hong Kong banks. In exile, Aguinaldo reorganized his revolutionary government into the "Hong
Kong Junta" and enlarged it into the "Supreme Council of the Nation".
FIRST PHILIPPINE REPUBLIC
The First Philippine Republic was formally established with the proclamation of the Malolos
Constitution on January 21, 1899, in Malolos, Bulacan and endured until capture of Aguinaldo by the
American forces on March 23, 1901, in Palanan, Isabela, which effectively dissolved the First Republic.
Aguinaldo wrote in Tarlac during the First Republic the Tagalog manuscript of his autobiographical
work, which would later be translated by Felipe Buencamino into Spanish and released as Reseña
Veridica de la Revolucion Filipina (in English, True Account of the Philippine Revolution).[55]
Aguinaldo boarding USS Vicksburg following his capture in 1901
On August 13, 1898, American forces had captured Manila during the "mock" Battle of Manila and on
August 14, 1898, established the United States Military Government of the Philippine Islands, with
Major-General Wesley Merritt as the first American Military Governor.[56] On the night of February 4,
1899, a Filipino was shot by an American sentry. That incident was considered to be the beginning of
the Philippine–American War, and culminated in the 1899 Battle of Manila between American and
Filipino forces. Superior American technology drove Filipino troops away from the city, and Aguinaldo's
government had to move from one place to another as the military situation escalated.[57] At the Battle of
Marilao River, Aguinaldo himself led his forces to prevent American crossings. The Americans gained
superiority in the battle only after severe fighting and the use of gunboats in the river that "made great
execution" of Filipino soldiers.[58] On November 13, 1899, Aguinaldo disbanded the regular Filipino
army and decreed that guerrilla warfare would now be the strategy. Aguinaldo led the war against the
Americans but retreated to Northern Luzon.[59]
CAPTURE OF AGUINALDO
On March 23, 1901, with the aid of Macabebe Scouts forces led by General Frederick Funston, Aguinaldo
was captured in his headquarters in Palanan, Isabela.[60] On April 19, 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.[61] After the capture of Aguinaldo, some Filipino commanders
continued the insurrection. One of the forces was led by General Macario Sakay, who established
the Tagalog Republic. On July 30, 1901, General Miguel Malvar issued a manifesto saying, "Forward,
without ever turning back... all wars of independence have been obliged to suffer terrible tests!"
