Readings in Philippine History

Emilio Aguinaldo: Hero or Gangster?

Submitted by:

IE 1101/Group 2
Bisa, Raven Joie B.
De Padua, Kateleen D.
Factor, Ian Kristofer D.
Generoso, Ethyl C.
 COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING, ARCHITECTURE & FINE ARTS
GED 105 Readings in Philippine History
Midterm

I- Introduction

They say history has always been written by the winners. The ones who lived through
the battle are always the ones who have the last words. When we think about it, we may
actually never know if we are commemorating the right people because no matter their side
was, may it be good or evil, they have the power to write history according to their will.
Just like the story of Emilio Aguinaldo, known as the first president of the Philippines, he
is mostly remembered for leading the independence of the country. But behind this heroic act
lies a darker story. Should he be known as a hero or the opposite? Should he be admired?
Because there are still a lot of things we do not know. And if we were fed with wrong things
about him, are we ready to admit it to ourselves and accept it as the truth that we never know
about?
As we go further in the past, there are several events that will support the arguments of
Aguinaldo as a hero or a traitor. However, there are also various allegations that affects the
society’s point of view regarding a specific event happened in our country. All of us may vary on
the perspective on how we look on him according to what we see through our naked eye, what
we have been taught of, and also how we understand the history specifically the articles that are
all about that specific issue. Some may be used as an evidence for him to be consider as a
hero, however, some are negative facts that lead the Filipino people to be perplexed and have a
disoriented mind.
Emilio Aguinaldo is dead over half a century now, but the argument about him for being
a hero or a gangster, and his role in Philippine history is still being talked about up to this day.
We cannot travel back to see what really happened in the past and change the history.
However, one thing is for sure, a hero will always be a hero, and a traitor will always be a traitor.
II- Background of the Topic

Emilio Aguinaldo is certainly one of the most polarizing figures in Philippine history. Even
though it is stated in the history that he was a real hero, there were individuals who still
contradict to the idea. In fact, it was pointed that he was remembered for leading the country to
obtain independence but there was still a dark story that was been erased in others mind.
Looking back on our history, there are lot of things to be considered as a contribution of
Emilio Aguinaldo. He was a respected local leader who excelled in winning military battles. He
was the first of the great Filipino revolutionaries who led the Filipino revolt against Spain and
fought during the war to free the Philippines from colonial domination. He signed the Pact of
Biak-na-Bato, creating a truce between the Spanish and Philippine revolutionaries. He
proclaimed the independence of the Philippines from Spain. Emilio Aguinaldo was responsible
for the creation of the Philippine flag and composition of the national anthem. Despite of these
contributions and numerous accomplishments that cannot be denied, his role in Philippine
history has been surrounded by controversies that have continued to follow his name up to this
day.
Emilio Aguinaldo's legacy continues to be stained with the deaths of Andres Bonifacio
and Antonio Luna. During that time, he ordered the execution of Andres and his brother
Procopio Bonifacio in the Maragondon mountain ranges because of treason and conspiracy to
kill Aguinaldo. He treated Andres Bonifacio like a common criminal, by ordering to shoot him at
the back and by not giving him a proper burial. Like Andres Bonifacio, Antonio Luna was killed
by Aguinaldo’s men. He was always been linked with Luna's death despite the lack of proof. But
unlike Bonifacio’s, Aguinaldo denied having anything to do with Luna’s murder until his dying
day. On the other hand, he readily confessed to having ordered Bonifacio’s execution. On the
22nd day of March 1948, the day before his birthday, Aguinaldo released a letter saying that he
was indeed the one who ordered the execution of Bonifacio and his brother Procopio. According
to Teodoro Agoncillo, the letter was certified authentic and he even published it in his book
"Revolt of the Masses." Another controversy that has been connected to Emilio Aguinaldo was
the selling of Philippine Revolution to the Spaniards for 800,000 Mexico Pesos. It is said that the
selling of the Philippine Revolution was a tactic to gather funds in order to buy firearms and
recruit more revolutionaries. During the Japanese occupation, Emilio Aguinaldo made speeches
and public appearances on behalf of the enemy. It was undeniable that he was the person
behind the deaths of the important persons in the Philippine History, as well as the betrayals
and the sale of our country.
Was Aguinaldo a real hero or a person who was consumed by his ego and bartered the
country at every opportunity to save his skin?

III- Evidences

 Is Emilio Aguinaldo a hero?

1. In 1894, Emilio Aguinaldo joined the KKK or Kataas-taasan, Kagalang-galangang Katipunan

ng mgaAnak ng Bayan, an organization whose purpose was to fight the Spaniards and redeem
our country’s freedom which was founded by Andres Bonifacio. Aguinaldo and the Cavite rebels
won major victories driving the Spaniards temporarily out of the place. In 1897, Aguinaldo and
his group defeated Spaniards in the Battle of Zapote Bridge in Cavite.

2. Emilio Aguinaldo became the first president of the Philippines after, and has done many
things in ruling the Philippines. Even if the Americans returned him from exile, he still hadn’t lost
his spirit of nationalism. When the Philippine-American war started after an innocent Filipino
was shot by an American soldier, Aguinaldo again leaded the Filipino rebels. Aguinaldo was
captured and was forced to surrender and to recognize America’s sovereignty over the
Philippines.

3.Even after his term, during the American occupation, Aguinaldo maintained his love for the
country and the Filipinos. He organized an association for the veterans of the revolution, which
secured their pensions and bought them land. He made his house in Kawit, Cavite a monument
to the Philippine flag.

4.After the world war, Aguinaldo dedicated the rest of his life in helping the Filipino veterans. In
1962, at the age of 92, he joined the celebration of independence 64 years after he declared it.
He donated a lot of his properties to the government during the time.

5. Emilio Aguinaldo made many achievements in his life, mostly contributing for the good of the
Philippines. Even in the latter part of his life, he dedicated it to help the Filipinos. By reading his
life, we can see that Emilio Aguinaldo is also an ideal national hero of the Philippines.
  Is Emilio Aguinaldo a gangster?

1. There were two rival Katipunan councils in Cavite. One council was the Magdalo, of which
Aguinaldo was a member. The other was the Magdiwang council, headed by Mariano Alvarez, a
relative of Bonifacio’s wife.
Aguinaldo and the Magdalo group believed it was time to form a new kind of
government. Aguinaldo had suggested that the Katipunan government be changed to a
revolutionary form of government modeled after the American system. Although he was only a
Magdalo flag lieutenant at the time, his bold ideas challenged the power of the Supremo.
Bonifacio and the Magdiwang men believed that the Katipunan government was still useful. It
could still answer the Filipino’s need for change. It had its own constitution and bylaws.
The rivalry between the two groups weakened the rebels’ hold on Cavite.
Aguinald’sMagdalo soldiers did not want to help defend the towns held by Magdiwang soldiers
when they were attacked by the Spaniards. Bonifacio’s Magdiwang soldiers did not help the
Magdalo rebels when the enemy attacked their towns. The result was that almost all the towns
once held by the Katipuneros easily fell one by one to the Spaniards.
He’s the reason why Katipunan was broken in half. He’s the reason why the Magdalo
and Magdiwang were born. These two runs under the banner “Katipunan” but no, they are two
separate groups.

2. With the death of Andres Bonifacio, the Philippine revolutionary stronghold started to lose
grip, prompting Aguinaldo and his cohorts to take refuge in a remote cave in the province of
Bulacan, called Biak naBato. Together with his cabinets and loyalist, they have agreed on and
signed a pact selling the Philippine Revolution to the Spanish empire for 800,000 Mexican Peso,
half of which will be Aguinaldo’s and the other half will be distributed to the entire party.
At that point in time, the move made some Filipinos, most specially those who are still
fighting and not present in the Pact of Biak naBato, angry and felt betrayed more overly those
who are relatives of the one’s who were killed in action.
However, later on, it was refuted by the Aguinaldo loyalist that the move is some sort of
a tactic to gather funds and ground in order to purchase firearms and recruit more
revolutionaries, in relation to the second salvo of the revolution. Also, they claimed that without
the Pact of Biak naBato, the Spanish could have still went after the revolutionaries but all of it
died down with the sale.
The Spanish purchased the revolution but agreed to only pay Aguinaldo in half 400,000
Mexican Pesos, and promise to pay the other half after his exile in Hong Kong. The other
400,000 Mexican Pesos was never fulfilled and Aguinaldo never had purchased additional
firearms and revolutionaries with his money.

3. Antonio Luna was Aguinaldo’s highest commanding general but had gained many enemies
along the line, including some other generals and advisers of Aguinaldo.
Gen. Antonio Luna arrived in the kumbento of Cabanatuan for a meeting with Emilio Aguinaldo
as he will be named secretary of war only to find out Felipe Buencamino, behind Aguinaldo’s
seat. Tired from traveling over 100 kilometers from his base in Bayambang, he was
understandably upset to be told that the Aguinaldo had left earlier in the day.
After a verbal disagreement with Buencamino, Luna, together with his aide Col. Paco
Roman, was killed. Luna suffered over 30 wounds from bolos, bayonets and bullets. A lesser
man would have died instantly from half of his wounds, but the general was able to stagger out
of the building, cursing his murderers, before falling lifeless on the church patio. After Gen. Luna
was killed, Dona Trinidad Famy Aguinaldo (Aguinaldo’s mother), who watched the slaughter
from a church window, said: “Nagalaw pa baiyan (Is he still alive)?”
Aguinaldo let Luna’s killers go unpunished. Instead, a commission designated by
Aguinaldo cleared the killers and himself from any culpability. The commission’s report blamed
Luna for openly insulting the guards and officers stationed to protect the president’s house.
Incidentally, Aguinaldo also had all Luna’s men disarmed and his officers arrested, tortured, or
even killed in order to suppress any revolts by the deceased general’s troops.

4. The northern span of the bridge was ordered struck down by revolutionary leader Emilio
Aguinaldo for the imminent conflict on September 3,1896 with the incoming Spanish soldiers
from Manila. A temporary span made of bamboo was constructed to connect the bridge.
For all the controversies surrounding Emilio Aguinaldo, one thing that can’t be disputed
is his military prowess. The Revolution would have essentially died out if Aguinaldo didn’t win
the Battle of Imus and his other battles against the Spanish. During this three-day battle, the
fate of the Revolution hung on whether Aguinaldo and his men would win or lose. After taking
the town of Imus in a hard-fought fight with the Spanish, Aguinaldo expertly laid a trap for the
500 incoming Spanish soldiers led by General Ernest de Aguirre at the Bridge of Isabel II above
Imus River.
The Spanish needed to cross the bridge which led all the way to the town. Aguinaldo
destroyed one section of the bridge, concealed it, and then hid his men in strategic areas all
over the river bank. The plan worked. The arriving soldiers did not see the destroyed section of
the bridge until the last moment, at which point Aguinaldo ordered his men to open fire and
attack the Spanish. He also closed off any means of escape when he deftly led his men across
the shoulder-deep river towards the rear of the Spanish.
After the battle, the victorious revolutionaries retrieved 70 rifles and other much-needed
military equipment. Aguinaldo, on the other hand, picked up the saber left by General de Aguirre
in his haste to escape. It later became his personal sword.

5. During World War II, Aguinaldo quickly cemented his reputation as the ‘first Filipino Quisling’
(traitor) after he called on General Douglas MacArthur to surrender.
The Japanese invaded the Philippines in December 1941. For the duration of the
Japanese occupation, the Japanese used Aguinaldo as an anti-American tool, Aguinaldo made
public appearances and speeches on behalf of the enemy. In fairness to him, he later claimed
that he only collaborated with the Japanese because he didn’t want his countrymen, especially
the youth, to suffer or die needlessly.
During his post-war trial, it was also revealed that the Japanese threatened to murder his
entire family if he didn’t cooperate, so maybe we do have to cut him some slack on this issue.

IV- Comparison and Contradiction of the arguments.

COMPARISON CONTRAST
He claimed that he collaborated with the Aguinaldo keep his love for his
Japanese because he was threatened to countrymen but he let murderers go
murder and he doesn’t want the Filipinos unpunished and the blame for himself
to suffer or die and for the murderers were cleared just
to protect their names or to avoid the
penalties

Aguinaldo won major victories against Aguinaldo leaded the Filipino when the
Spaniards to regain the freedom of the Philippine-American war started but
 Philippines under these conditions, Aguinaldo’s
attempt to fight a war in the first few
months of the conflict proved to be a
mistake. The Filipino Army suffered
severe losses in men and material before
switching to the guerrilla tactics that might
have been more effective if employed
from the beginning of the conflict

He has done many things in governing Aguinaldo’s Magdalo soldiers did not
the Philippines so he had proposed that want to help defend the towns held by
the Katipunan Government need for a Magdiwang soldiers when they were
change to a Revolutionary form of attacked by the Spaniards but Aguinaldo
government himself didn’t failed to help the veterans
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.

V- Formulation of own argument

Based on the evidences that we have gathered, we formulated that Aguinaldo is a

gangster. We cannot hide the truth that he is one of the greatest leaders of our country, but
behind those are the opposite sides that happened during his governance.He is the kind of
person who doesn't think deeply ofwhat might be the consequences of his actions and
decisions.He used his own authority for his own good and betrayed his countrymen for his
benefit. He is indeed a smart leader but a gangster. Aguinaldo provoked his companion and
created rivalry between them instead of being the one uniting them.He also deceived his own
 soldiers and abandoned them when they needed him the most. He did not protect his men but
rather ran away with their weapons when they died.
Moreover, he was the one behind the ignition of Filipino-Spanish war and Filipino-
American war.He is not a hero but a gangster because he took advantage of his people and
used them for advancing to higher position. Thus, leading them to destruction. He destroyed
their unity and neglected their needs for a powerful yet merciful leader that will understand and
improve their status.Furthermore, history considered him as a traitor because he is known for
despising his enemies and removing alliances that may hinder his motives.

VI- Relevance and Importance

"Emilio Aguinaldo: Hero or Gangster?" is an important topic to know to give us further

knowledge and understanding about what happened and what does Emilio Aguinaldo
contributed during that time. Is he really a hero or not? Emilio Aguinaldo faced many
controversies over the years but he still managed and choose to protect and save our country in
order for the us, Filipinos, to claim the freedom that we really want to have. The topic allows us
to understand the past, which in turn allows us to understand our present. People often say that
"history repeats itself," but if we study the past like what happened during the time of Emilio
Aguinaldo, we may, ideally, be able to learn from our mistakes and avoid repeating them in the
future.

VII- Effects to the Philippine history

The role of the first President of the Republic of the Philippines, General Emilio
Aguinaldo brought a large impact on Filipino especially on their beliefs when it comes to
heroism and villainy. This became a big issue and controversy in today’s living particularly when
we are talking about the declaration of the Philippine Independence, revolution, and even in
politics. His name was always linked in these kinds of matter and lead to various issues such as
controversy in the death of Bonifacio and Luna. The citizens of this country have different
perspective regarding Aguinaldo’s role during his reign, but what matters most is we should
know what the effects of his doings are, and how it affects every Filipinos since it is part the
Philippine History.
Most Filipinos know General Emilio Aguinaldo as one of the Philippine National Hero
who organized an association for the veterans of the revolution, and maintained his love for the
Filipinos and the country. During his presidency, he ordered the creation of the Philippine flag
and composition of the national anthem, and declared the nation’s independence from Spain on
June 12, 1898, which means freedom from being governed or ruled from this said country. He
made a lot of accomplishment mostly contributing for the good of the Philippines that results to
good feedback from the Filipinos which caused him to be considered as hero.

On the other hand, some Filipinos got confused and somewhat change their perception
to General Emilio Aguinaldo since the Film, General Luna was released which is all about his
leadership of the Philippine Revolutionary Army during the Philippine–American War and
present a more rounded portrayal of Aguinaldo. Issues and controversies take place because of
the plot of the story which the portrayal itself hinge on character motivations. From then, the
Filipinos started to look on the negative side which includes the death of the Andres Bonifacio
and Antonio Luna, and the selling of the Philippine Revolutionary that vanishes his legacy and
contributions during his rule in this country.

Despite this issue of being a hero or a gangster, the celebration of one of the most
significant dates in the Philippine’s history, the Independence Day which is one of the
trademarks of Emilio Aguinaldo, was celebrated annually by the Filipino. It marks the nation’s
independence from the Spanish rule on June 12, 1898, where the Philippines’ flag was raised
and its national anthem was played for the first time. However, liberty was short-lived because
Spain and the United States did not recognize the declaration.

Since Aguinaldo plays a vital role in Philippine History, we need to get involved in this
kind of matter in able to have a basic concept on that particular argument that will be used when
choosing the best and appropriate side concerning his controversial role of being a hero or a
gangster based on the gathered evidences from different sources.

VIII- Bibliography

10 Reasons Many Filipinos Do Not Like Emilio Aguinaldo. (2013, August 6). Retrieved October
20, 2018, from https://ourhappyschool.com/history/10-reasons-many-filipinos-do-not-emilio-
aguinaldo

16 Interesting Facts About Emilio Aguinaldo. (2018). Retrieved October 20, 2018, from
https://filipiknow.net/facts-about-emilio-aguinaldo/
Auntie Sosyal. (2016, March 29). Retrieved October 20, 2018, from
https://auntiesosyal.wordpress.com/2016/03/29/the-betrayals-of-gen-emilio-aguinaldo/

Chua, M. (2013). This Letter Reveals Who Really Killed Andres Bonifacio. Retrieved October
20, 2018, from https://filipiknow.net/who-murdered-andres-bonifacio/

Emilio Aguinaldo Biography. (2016, October 21). Retrieved October 23, 2018, from
https://www.biography.com/people/emilio-aguinaldo-9177563

Independence Day in Philippines. (2018). Retrieved October 20, 2018, from

https://www.timeanddate.com/holidays/philippines/independence-day

Lizares, L. (2016, June 16). Emilio Aguinaldo: Hero or zero? Retrieved October 20, 2018, from
https://www.sunstar.com.ph/article/80476

Ocampo, A. R. (2015, June 5). Who really ordered Luna’s murder? Retrieved October 20, 2018,
from https://opinion.inquirer.net/85501/who-really-ordered-lunas-murder

Philippine Nationalism. (2012, October 14). Retrieved October 19, 2018, from
https://philippinenationalismh1fg6.weebly.com/heroes-of-the-philippines/the-ideal-national-hero

Quintos, P. (2015, September 28). Hero or traitor? Historian weighs in on Aguinaldo, Luna.
Retrieved October 20, 2018, from https://news.abs-cbn.com/focus/09/28/15/hero-or-traitor-
historian-weighs-aguinaldo-luna

Sinha, S. (2013, July 4). Biography of Emilio Aguinaldo. Retrieved October 20, 2018, from
https://www.britannica.com/biography/Emilio-Aguinaldo

The Bohol Chronicle.(2015, September 30). Who is the real national hero? Retrieved October
20, 2018, from http://www.boholchronicle.com.ph/2015/09/30/who-is-the-real-national-hero/