Apolinario Mabini, (born July 23, 1864, Talaga, Phil.

—died May 13, 1903, Manila), Filipino theoretician

and spokesman of the Philippine Revolution, who wrote the constitution for the short-lived republic of
1898–99.

Born into a peasant family, Mabini studied at San Juan de Letran College in Manila and won a law degree
from the University of Santo Tomás in 1894. In an insurrection organized in August 1896 by nationalists,
he joined the forces of the patriot general Emilio Aguinaldo and soon became his right-hand man. When
the Spanish–American War broke out in 1898, Mabini urged cooperation with the United States as a
means to gain freedom from Spain. At a convention held at the market town of Malolos in September
and October 1898, an independent republic was proclaimed with Aguinaldo as its president; Mabini
drew up its constitution, which resembled that of the United States. When the United States
announced, however, that it would annex the Philippines, Mabini joined Aguinaldo in a renewed
struggle for independence. He was captured by U.S. troops in December 1899 and, because he refused
to swear allegiance to the United States, was exiled to Guam, not being allowed to return home until a
few months before his death. Mabini wrote La revolución filipina, which was published in 1931.