why emilio aguinaldo is a great leader essay

Emilio Aguinaldo

(1869-1964)

Who Was Emilio Aguinaldo?

In 1898, Emilio Aguinaldo 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. Aguinaldo died of a heart attack on February 6, 1964, in Quezon City, Philippines.

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.

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 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.

Philippine-American War

The United States, however, was not eager to accept the Philippines' new government. While the United States 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 to support limited Philippine independence. It wasn't until 1946 that the Philippines would have absolute control of its own sovereignty.

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.

Aguinaldo died of a heart attack at Veterans Memorial Hospital in Quezon City, Philippines, on February 6, 1964, at the age of 94. 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.

QUICK FACTS

• Name: Emilio Aguinaldo
• Birth Year: 1869
• Birth date: March 22, 1869
• Birth City: Kawit, Cavite
• Birth Country: Philippines
• Gender: Male
• Best Known For: Filipino leader Emilio Aguinaldo led his country to achieve independence after fighting off both the Spanish and the Americans.
• War and Militaries
• World Politics
• Astrological Sign: Aries
• Nacionalities
• Death Year: 1964
• Death date: February 6, 1964
• Death City: Quezon City
• Death Country: Philippines

CITATION INFORMATION

• Article Title: Emilio Aguinaldo Biography
• Author: Biography.com Editors
• Website Name: The Biography.com website
• Url: https://www.biography.com/political-figures/emilio-aguinaldo
• Access Date:
• Publisher: A&E; Television Networks
• Last Updated: April 20, 2021
• Original Published Date: April 2, 2014
• I saw my own soldiers die without affecting future events.

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Biography of Emilio Aguinaldo, Filipino Independence Leader

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Philippine Revolution

Spanish-american war, resistance to american occupation, world war ii, post-war era.

• Ph.D., History, Boston University
• J.D., University of Washington School of Law
• B.A., History, Western Washington University

Emilio Aguinaldo y Famy (March 22, 1869–February 6, 1964) was a Filipino politician and military leader who played an important role in the Philippine Revolution. After the revolution, he served as the new country's first president. Aguinaldo later commanded forces during the Philippine-American War.

Fast Facts: Emilio Aguinaldo

• Known For : Aguinaldo served as the first president of the independent Philippines.
• Also Known As : Emilio Aguinaldo y Famy
• Born : March 22, 1869 in Cavite, Philippines
• Parents : Carlos Jamir Aguinaldo and Trinidad Famy-Aguinaldo
• Died : February 6, 1964 in Quezon City, Philippines
• Spouse(s) : Hilaria del Rosario (m. 1896–1921), María Agoncillo (m. 1930–1963)
• Children : Five

Emilio Aguinaldo y Famy was the seventh of eight children born to a wealthy mestizo family in Cavite on March 22, 1869. His father Carlos Aguinaldo y Jamir was the town mayor, or gobernadorcillo , of Old Cavite. Emilio's mother was Trinidad Famy y Valero.

As a boy, he went to elementary school and attended secondary school at the Colegio de San Juan de Letran, but had to drop out before earning his high school diploma when his father passed away in 1883. Emilio stayed home to assist his mother with the family's agricultural holdings.

On January 1, 1895, Aguinaldo made his first foray into politics with an appointment as Cavite's capitan municipal . Like fellow anti-colonial leader Andres Bonifacio , he also joined the Masons.

In 1894, Andres Bonifacio himself inducted Aguinaldo into the Katipunan, a secret anti-colonial organization. The Katipunan called for the removal of Spain from the Philippines by armed force if necessary. In 1896 after the Spanish executed Jose Rizal , the voice of Filipino independence, the Katipunan started their revolution. Meanwhile, Aguinaldo married his first wife, Hilaria del Rosario, who would tend to wounded soldiers through her Hijas de la Revolucion (Daughters of the Revolution) organization.

While many of the Katipunan rebel bands were ill-trained and had to retreat in the face of Spanish forces, Aguinaldo's troops were able to out-fight the colonial troops even in a pitched battle. Aguinaldo's men drove the Spanish from Cavite. However, they came into conflict with Bonifacio, who had declared himself president of the Philippine Republic, and his supporters.

In March 1897, the two Katipunan factions met in Tejeros for an election. The assembly elected Aguinaldo president in a possibly fraudulent poll, much to the irritation of Bonifacio. He refused to recognize Aguinaldo's government; in response, Aguinaldo had him arrested two months later. Bonifacio and his younger brother were charged with sedition and treason and were executed on May 10, 1897, on Aguinaldo's orders.

Internal dissent seems to have weakened the Cavite Katipunan movement. In June 1897, Spanish troops defeated Aguinaldo's forces and retook Cavite. The rebel government regrouped in Biyak na Bato, a mountain town in Bulacan Province, northeast of Manila.

Aguinaldo and his rebels came under intense pressure from the Spanish and had to negotiate a surrender later that same year. In mid-December 1897, Aguinaldo and his government ministers agreed to dissolve the rebel government and go into exile in Hong Kong . In return, they received legal amnesty and an indemnity of 800,000 Mexican dollars (the standard currency of the Spanish Empire). An additional 900,000 Mexican dollars would indemnify the revolutionaries who stayed in the Philippines; in return for surrendering their weapons, they were granted amnesty and the Spanish government promised reforms.

On December 23, Aguinaldo and other rebel officials arrived in British Hong Kong, where the first indemnity payment of 400,000 Mexican dollars was waiting for them. Despite the amnesty agreement, the Spanish authorities began to arrest real or suspected Katipunan supporters in the Philippines, prompting a renewal of rebel activity.

In the spring of 1898, events half a world away overtook Aguinaldo and the Filipino rebels. The United States naval vessel USS Maine exploded and sank in Havana Harbor, Cuba, in February. Public outrage at Spain's supposed role in the incident, fanned by sensationalist journalism, provided the United States with a pretext to start the Spanish-American War on April 25, 1898.

Aguinaldo sailed back to Manila with the U.S. Asian Squadron, which defeated the Spanish Pacific Squadron in the Battle of Manila Bay . By May 19, 1898, Aguinaldo was back on his home soil. On June 12, 1898, the revolutionary leader declared the Philippines independent, with himself as the unelected president. He commanded Filipino troops in the battle against the Spanish. Meanwhile, close to 11,000 American troops cleared Manila and other Spanish bases of colonial troops and officers. On December 10, Spain surrendered its remaining colonial possessions (including the Philippines) to the United States in the Treaty of Paris.

Aguinaldo was officially inaugurated as the first president and dictator of the Philippine Republic in January 1899. Prime Minister Apolinario Mabini headed the new cabinet. However, the United States refused to recognize the new independent government. President William McKinley claimed that doing so would be at odds with the American goal of "Christianizing" the (largely Roman Catholic) people of the Philippines.

Indeed, although Aguinaldo and other Filipino leaders were unaware of it initially, Spain had handed over direct control of the Philippines to the United States in return for $20 million, as agreed to in the Treaty of Paris. Despite rumored promises of independence made by U.S. military officers eager for Filipino help in the war, the Philippine Republic was not to be a free state. It had simply acquired a new colonial master.

Aguinaldo and the victorious Filipino revolutionaries did not see themselves as the Americans did, as half-devil or half-child. Once they realized they had been tricked and were indeed "new-caught," the people of the Philippines reacted with outrage. On January 1, 1899, Aguinaldo responded to the American "Benevolent Assimilation Proclamation" by publishing his own counter-proclamation:

"My nation cannot remain indifferent in view of such violent and aggressive seizure of a portion of its territory by a nation which has arrogated to itself the title 'Champion of Oppressed Nations.' Thus it is that my government is disposed to open hostilities if the American troops attempt to take forcible possession. I denounce these acts before the world in order that the conscience of mankind may pronounce its infallible verdict as to who are the oppressors of nations and the oppressors of mankind. Upon their heads be all the blood which may be shed!"

In February 1899, the first Philippines Commission from the United States arrived in Manila to find 15,000 American troops holding the city, facing off from trenches against 13,000 of Aguinaldo's men, who were arrayed all around Manila. By November, Aguinaldo was once again running for the mountains, his troops in disarray. However, the Filipinos continued to resist this new imperial power, turning to guerrilla war after conventional fighting failed them.

For two years, Aguinaldo and a shrinking band of followers evaded concerted American efforts to locate and capture the rebel leadership. On March 23, 1901, however, American special forces disguised as prisoners of war infiltrated Aguinaldo's camp at Palanan on the northeast coast of Luzon. Local scouts dressed in Philippine Army uniforms led General Frederick Funston and other Americans into Aguinaldo's headquarters, where they quickly overwhelmed the guards and seized the president.

On April 1, 1901, Aguinaldo formally surrendered and swore allegiance to the United States. 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.

Aguinaldo continued to be an outspoken advocate of independence for the Philippines. His organization, the Asociacion de los Veteranos de la Revolucion (Association of Revolutionary Veterans), worked to ensure that former rebel fighters had access to land and pensions.

His first wife Hilaria died in 1921. Aguinaldo married for a second time in 1930 at the age of 61. His new bride was 49-year-old María Agoncillo, the niece of a prominent diplomat.

In 1935, the Philippine Commonwealth held its first elections after decades of American rule. Then 66, Aguinaldo ran for president but was soundly defeated by Manuel Quezon .

When Japan seized the Philippines during World War II, Aguinaldo cooperated with the occupation. He joined the Japanese-sponsored Council of State and made speeches urging an end to Filipino and American opposition to the Japanese. After the United States recaptured the Philippines in 1945, the septuagenarian Aguinaldo was arrested and imprisoned as a collaborator. However, he was quickly pardoned and released, and his reputation was not too severely tarnished.

Aguinaldo was appointed to the Council of State again in 1950, this time by President Elpidio Quirino. He served one term before returning to his work on behalf of veterans.

In 1962, President Diosdado Macapagal asserted pride in Philippine independence from the United States by making a highly symbolic gesture; he moved the celebration of Independence Day from July 4 to June 12, the date of Aguinaldo's declaration of the First Philippine Republic. Aguinaldo himself joined in the festivities, although he was 92 years old and rather frail. The following year, before his final hospitalization, he donated his home to the government as a museum.

On February 6, 1964, the 94-year-old first president of the Philippines passed away from coronary thrombosis. He left behind a complicated legacy. Aguinaldo fought long and hard for independence for the Philippines and worked tirelessly to secure veterans' rights. At the same time, he ordered the execution of his rivals—including Andres Bonifacio—and collaborated with the brutal Japanese occupation of the Philippines.

Although Aguinaldo is today often heralded as a symbol of the democratic and independent spirit of the Philippines, he was a self-proclaimed dictator during his short period of rule. Other members of the Chinese/Tagalog elite, such as Ferdinand Marcos , would later wield that power more successfully.

• “Emilio Aguinaldo y Famy.”   Emilio Aguinaldo y Famy - The World of 1898: The Spanish-American War (Hispanic Division, Library of Congress).
• Kinzer, Stephen. "The True Flag: Theodore Roosevelt, Mark Twain, and the Birth of American Empire." St. Martin's Griffin, 2018.
•  Ooi, Keat Gin. "Southeast Asia a Historical Encyclopedia, from Angkor Wat to East Timor." ABC-CLIO, 2007.
• Silbey, David. "A War of Frontier and Empire: the Philippine-American War, 1899-1902." Hill and Wang, 2007.
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• Miong: Emilio Aguinaldo of his time and in our time

Sometimes, if not most of the time, as a Philippine history teacher, I am faced with innocent questions from my students about the events of the past. There are even inquiries that put me in a state of pondering on what really happened, but because I am neither the husband of The Time Traveler’s Wife who can jump from one timeline to the other nor Hermoine Grander with her time-turner, the only way for me to answer them is using what are written in the books.

The school year is almost over; my grade five students are already in the last few topics in their syllabus, one of which is about the Katipunan, that organization that has been associated with the name Andres Bonifacio as its Supremo. I can still remember what I did in class during my lesson about it.

I brought two coins, an old and a new version of the five-peso coin. To initiate or at least motivate the class, I asked them to get the same denomination from their pocket or wallet, as most of them still had the old one. After doing that, they were tasked to take a partner with the different version of the coin. And then I provoked their thinking with one question: The yellow coin has Emilio Aguinaldo on it, while the silver one, which is the new one, has Andres Bonfacio. Why is that? Then speculations started to rise.

I love seeing my students reasoning out to support their claims. Though personally, I do not know why they changed Emilio with Andres, but one thing I am certain of, there is a politically correct explanation on this issue.

After my class, one of my co-teachers approached me and asked me if I would be free over the weekend. I said that I am not yet sure, but because I do not have any schedule yet on my planner, probably I will be free. She handed me two tickets with a bold writing in all caps saying MIONG “My friend gave me these. She is a relative of Emilio Aguinaldo. There will be a musical about his life on Saturday at Greenbelt 1. I thought that this might interest you, because you are the history teacher. If you will be watching, just please take a selfie with the person you are with so that I can send it to her.”

I gladly accepted the tickets and said that I will watch, though I was not yet sure to whom I will give the other ticket. As usual, I first thought of inviting her, even if I knew that she will turn down my offer. I don’t know, but there’s this feeling that constantly pulls me closer to her, but farther from the reality that we cannot be together.

It was Saturday morning. I woke up earlier than my alarm. I got used to this, just like how I get used to her presence in her absence.

The musical will still be in the afternoon, but I have decided to go to Makati before lunch to walk around the blocks. I always loved spending time on the streets, keenly observing people and places, zooming in every detail that can be left unnoticed by the usual in-a-hurry eyes, because I always believed that the best way to hide things is to put it on plain site. Well, at least that is what I learned from the TV series, How to Get Away with Murder.

Around 2 p.m., when I decided to go to the Repertory Philippines in Greenbelt 1 where the musical will be staged. I wrestled in my thoughts to not be too critical with what I was about to watch. In less than an hour before the show, without receiving any text from her, I went inside the theater.

There were more people than I expected, certainly came from various walks of life. I sat on the upper orchestra. Beside me was an empty seat. This was supposed to be for her, only if she came.

The musical started on time. It literally gave me goosebumps when I heard the first song. I was like travelling back to a recent past wherein I was condemned to know the other side of story. Of course, as a viewer, I had my preconceived notion of Emilio Aguinaldo, but I tried my best to put it on the side to see how they will portray him.

Miong’s life went like the usual children of the principalía during the Spanish rule in the Philippines—educated in a prestigious school and having the full benefits of the alta sociedad. Like most of us, he showed that heroes were also human, falling in love and having fun, at times.

There’s this scene in San Bartolome that was still vivid in my mind. The place where he met the girl who made his heart pump harder than the usual, but of course, as what the director said, most of the content of the musical were true, aside from the songs they sang. Though for me, whose heart will not sing and whose feet will not move when you’re in love? Maybe, that is the magic of love, makes us do things beyond reason.

When Miong was appointed as the cabeza de barangay, the story went its full turn. That signaled the making of a hero. It also showed the vulnerability of a man, depicting not the usual god-like portrait, but rather a human being that was bound to commit mistakes and doubt, at times.

Then a lady came to his life, his wife, who stood with Miong through his tough times until the end. I would like to assume that she was his additional source of strength.

After the performance, I was able to have the opportunity to converse with the director, Joy Virata.

“Well, this was originally written for the centennial, on June 12, 1998. And that’s when we first showed it. And this is a repeat. But when we first showed it, that was the reason, and we are repeating now because we think it’s time. There are some things that a lot of people don’t know.” She answered when I asked about how they came about the concept for the musical.

Then she continued “I got everything from books: The Young Aguinaldo by Carlos Quirino, Saga and Triumph: The Filipino Revolution Against Spain by Onofre Corpuz, and Emilio Aguinaldo by Alfredo Saulo.

“Everything I said there, you can look up in the books. Except the scene in San Bartolome of course, he was in San Bartolome but the fun side of the event, I like to think it happened that way.”

Those words made me realize the need for the director to be faithful with the history and be creative at times to show the audience the human side of each character.

After the conversation with Director Joy, I was also able to talk with Tim Pavino, the man who stood as Emilio Aguinaldo. And from Tim’s own words on internalizing Miong’s character “There’s so much in putting someone who is not just a character on stage, but a real life person, to bring that person back to life. And in my own way, I had to dissect the history of our country as well as the history of his life and to find out what his weaknesses were, what his strengths were, to make that a part of me. And that was one of the biggest challenges to bringing Emilio back to life on the stage.”

Finally, as how Tim ended his statement on his experiences as Emilio Aguinaldo “It’s okay to be human, it’s okay to be vulnerable, it’s okay to not to know that right answer, and what is important is to know that your heart is in the right place.

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Is Emilio Aguinaldo a true hero? Historian weighs in

As the country celebrates the 150th anniversary of Emilio Aguinaldo's birth on March 22, a historian weighs in on the long-standing debate on whether he is actually the hero history books portray him to be.

Interviewed on News To Go on Friday, Arius Raposas said Aquinaldo "qualifies" as a hero "if we say that a hero is being admired by many."

"But if you say that being a hero means being a moral person, something to emulate, there's gray area there," added Raposas.

However, Raposas said people "shouldn't see heroes and villains black and white because everyone's human. They have their flaws."

Aquinaldo is the first President of the Republic of the Philippines under the Malolos Congress, and, at 27 years, the youngest ever to lead the country. He lived until 1964 and even ran for re-election.

According to Raposas, despite living a long life, Aguinaldo carried a lot of issues most of his life and yet did not take the opportunity to clean his record.

"For example, the letter saying that he signed Bonifacio's death sentence. It took him 50 years and he only showed up 1948, but he did sign it," he said.

"He carried it for a long time that people began to believe that he's not as heroic."

However, Aguinaldo still had merits since he was a military figure during a time of revolution with numerous stakes on the line, and yet, he was able to ascend to presidency intact, said Raposas.

Regarding the alleged cheating during the Tejeros Convention, Raposas said Aguinaldo was suspected to have an involvement because he was elected during his birthday.

"He was elected on his birthday so they would say it's a birthday gift for hi," Raposas said, but added that it is unlikely that Aguinaldo had a part in any cheating.

"In the first place he was not there, he was in absentia. He can not directly influence the election because he was not there, he was fighting," he said.

"But the ones who nominated him were his allies especially the Batangeros," Raposas added.

Aguinaldo, according to Raposas, had a total of 146 votes in comparison to Bonifacio's 80 votes.

"So hindi niya (Bonifacio) siguro nakita na fighting in Aguinaldo's home turf, Bonifacio he did not see he would lose. Because he's Supremo. He saw his standing as higher than others." —Kaela Malig/KBK, GMA News

• Decode , What's Happening?

Explainer: Why some people say Andres Bonifacio should have been the first Philippine President 

• PUBLISHED ON November 30, 2022

Recently updated on February 7, 2023 05:35 pm

FOR some historians and Filipinos, the Philippines’ first president is not Emilio Aguinaldo, but revolutionary leader Andres Bonifacio. 

As late as 2021, then Manila Rep. John Marvin “Yul Servo” Nieto filed a resolution seeking to formally recognize Bonifacio, the father of the Philippine revolution, as the country’s first President.

Aguinaldo is recognized as the first President of the Philippines, proclaimed on January 23, 1899.

In his resolution, Nieto shared the views of experts and historians who explained why Bonifacio should be considered the first Philippine president.

National government

The first Filipino national government was established on August 24,1986, when the Philippine revolution erupted, they said. 

Nieto’s resolution stated that Bonifacio founded the first national government through the Kataastaasan, Kagalanggalangang Katipunan ng mga Anak ng Bayan, which turned into the revolutionary government Haring Bayang Katagalugan. 

The Katipunan’s primer uses “Tagalog” to refer to “all those born in his archipelago,” it said.  

The Katipunan’s national assemby also declared a nationwide armed revolution to win freedom from Spain, established the national government, and elected officials to lead the nation and army, it said. 

Research by historians John R.M. Taylor, Gregorio Zaide, and Teodoro Agoncillo found that under Bonifacio’s leadership, the Katipunan ceased to be a secret society after it was forced to reveal that it was a revolutionary government with its own written laws, a bureaucratic structure, and elective leadership, it added.

“The KKK was more than a secret society; it was a government, the Katipunan intention from the start is to govern the whole archipelago and to overthrow the Spanish rule. Said government was democratic in nature and national in scope,” the resolution said.

Contemporary Spanish publications likewise acknowledged and recognized Bonifacio’s presidency. These described him as the president of the Tagalog nation, or “Andres Bonifacio/ Titulado (Presidente) de la Republica Tagala,” it further said.  During this time “Tagala” refers to the whole country and not just Luzon.

Petition for Bonifacio

In 2015, historian Michael Charleston Chua also filed a change.org petition seeking to take the necessary steps to recognize Bonifacio as the first Philippine President. 

The petition had over 7,400 supporters by the time it closed. 

Chua noted that as early as 1993, established Katipunan experts and historians Dr. Milagros Guerrero, Ramon Villegas and Emmanuel Encarnacion shared their position that Bonifacio, and not Emilio Aguinaldo, should be the country’s first president. 

This is because when the revolution took place, the Katipunan was not just an organization but had been transformed into a revolutionary government, according to documents. Bonifacio, as leader of the Katipunan, became its president. 

“The fact was that Aguinaldo’s leadership of the Revolution derived its authority from having wrestled it from the Supremo of the Katipunan by his execution in Cavite in May of 1897,” Chua said in his petition.

He also said the documents stored at the Archivo General Militar de Madrid showed that the Katipunan had a centralized working government.

Available documents were also enough to prove that there was a working government, with jurisdiction over Katipunan areas, that was in touch with its president Bonifacio even a few days before his arrest in Cavite on orders of the Aguinaldo group. This continued on independent of the Aguinaldo government even after Bonifacio’s death, he said. 

Stick to facts

Chua noted that there had been some emotional arguments made against recognizing Bonifacio as the first president, as he is already hailed as a Philippine hero. But he said the facts should be acknowledged. 

“The fact was that he ran a government with a national character and he was the president,” he said. 

Moreover, he said recognizing Bonifacio’s presidency would be very significant.

“To recognize Bonifacio’s presidency is to recognize the first manifestation of a government of national unity in the Philippines (lahat ng tumubo sa Sangakapuluang ito) which eventually led to the birth of the First Constitutional Democratic Republic in Asia, the Republica Filipina, led by President General Emilio Aguinaldo,” he said.

It would be akin to recognizing a concept of government that came from the “bayan,” and one that is not a duplication of Western-style democracy, he said. 

“And more importantly, to recognize Andres Bonifacio’s presidency is to give justice to the man who fathered the Filipino Nation,” he said.

So far, the efforts to recognize Bonifacio as the country’s first President have yet to bear fruit, along with moves to give him a state funeral, which the National Historical Institute rejected in 1994. 

But the Philippines continues to honor Bonifacio’s contribution, and celebrates November 30 of every year as Bonifacio Day to remember his role in rising up against Spanish colonizers. People also still study history.

As long as these continue, the idea of Bonifacio as the first Philippine president may live on. 

• TAGGED: andres bonifacio , philippines

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