Lesson 6 THE ACT OF PROCLAMATION OF INDEPENDENCE OF THE FILIPINO PEOPLE (ACTA DE LA PROCLAMACION | DE LA INDEPENDENCIA DEL PUEBLO FILIPINO) Learning Outcomes | ae ‘At the end of this lesson, you should be able to: 1. Discuss the context and perspective of the document 2, Explain how the Philippines achieved its independence from Spanish colonial rule 3, Examine the state of Philippine independence today Historical Context The first phase of the Philippine Revolution ended in a stalemate between the Spaniards and the Filipino rebels. In December 1897, a truce was declared between the two ia iit sc Scanned with CamScannerTHEACTOFPROCLAMATIONOFINDEPENDENCEOFTHEFIURNOPEorLE 75 forces with the Filipino leaders, led by Gen. E agreeing to be i 0 Aguinaldo, iled to Hong Kong while the Spaniards paid an indemnity for the damages caused as a result of the conflict. The truce, however, lasted for only a few months before it collapsed. The renewed conflict would have been disastrous for the Filipinos if not for the deteriorating diplomatic relations between Spain and the United States over the another revolution in Cuba. This eventually led to the Spanish-American War in 1898 and the arrival of a new colonizer to the Philippines—the Americans. Even before the Battle of Manila in 1898, Aguinaldo had already been meeting with the Americans in Singapore. He talked with consul E. Spencer Pratt regarding US-Filipino collaboration against the Spaniards before he went back to Hong Kong to meet up with Commodore George Dewey, commander of the Asiatic Fleet. Unfortunately, Dewey had already left for the Philippines to attack the Spanish fleet following America’s declaration of war against Spain in April. Aguinaldo remained in Hong Kong and met with the American consul general Rounseville Wildman. He paid ‘Wildman a total of P117,000 to purchase rifles and ammunition. A first shipment worth P50,000 was made but the other half was never delivered. Wildman never returned the money given to him. On May 19, 1898, Aguinaldo finally returned to the Philippines on board the U.S. cruiser McCulloch. Aguinaldo conferred with Dewey on Philippine conditions and was supplied with arms captured from the Spaniards. From his headquarters in Cavite, Aguinaldo announced the resumption of the revolution against the Spaniards, thus beginning the second phase of the revolution. The Filipinos immediately flocked to the province to join the army. By the end of May, Aguinaldo was in command of an army of 12,000 troops. On May 28, the Filipino forces won their first victory in Alapan, Imus. The newly-made Filipino flag was hoisted in Alapan then later unfurled at the Teatro Cavitefio in Cavite Nuevo (now Cavite City) in front of the Filipinos and captured Scanned with CamScanner76 UNDERSTANDING PERSPECTIVE iers aS rs and soldiers Spanish soldiers, A group of American offi witnessed the ceremony. ck at ; » creation Earlier, On May 24, Aguinaldo announced the °F cule ee ; is t the dictatorial government. The formation of this tYP tion needed nly tem blical was a necessity when the growing na He emphasized that the dictatorship was 0! i uu would be a prelude to the establishment of a rep! government, 4 philippine eclare . On June 12, 1898, Aguinaldo deci" house in ‘ cme ony f independence from Spanish rule at a cerem' i declaration re P autista in American Kawit, Cavite. Ambrosio Rianzares Bautist? that was later signed by 177 persons, including “then known mlitary officer. The Philippine National Anthem, van Felipe, se cMancha Nacional Filipina,” composed oy en i was played by the Banda de San Francisco de Philippine flag was again unfurled. About the Author (Although the actual author of the proclamation was ‘Ambrosio Rianzares Bautista, the initiator of Philippine independence that led to the making of the proclamation was Gen, Emilio Aguinaldo.) Emilio Aguinaldo was born on March 22, 1869 in Kawit, Cavite (Cavite el Viejo), the second to the youngest of eight children of Carlos Aguinaldo and Trinidad Famy. The Aguinaldos were a wealthy and influential family with Carlos being gobernadorcillo for several terms. Following his father’s death in 1883, Emilio assisted his mother in the family business and worked to help earn the family income. Aguinaldo followed in his father’s footsteps and was chosen capitan municipal of Kawit in 1894. Months later, he joined the Katipunan choosing the name Magdalo, a name that was also iy to another branch of the Katipunan (the other was the lagdiwang) which he set up in his province, Scanned with CamScannerqupACTOrPROCLAMATIONOFINDEFENDENCEOFTHEFILIPNOPEORLE = 7 7 When the revolution began in 1896, the Katipunan in Cavite succeeded in driving away the Spaniards from the province. But territorial and logistical problems between the two groups soon forced Aguinaldo to ask for help from Supremo Andres Bonifacio in settling the conflict. Bonifacio’s intervention, however, only worsened the situation and the only solution the two factions saw was to create a revolutionary igure g, Gen, Emilio Aguinaldo government. Elections for a pamahalaang panghihimagsik were held in Barrio Tejeros, San Francisco de Malabon (now General Trias) on March 22, 1897. Aguinaldo was elected President with Mariano Trias (Vice-President), Artemio Ricarte (Captain- General), Emiliano Riego de Dios (Director of War), and Andres Bonifacio (Director of the Interior). But the elections were disrupted following a protest over Bonifacio’s educational qualification for such a position, Bonifacio angrily declared the result of the elections null and void and walked out. The Magdalos, however, considered the election binding and the new government was founded. When Bonifacio tried to put up his own government with an armed group, he was arrested and tried for sedition. Found guilty, the Supremo and his brother Procopio were executed on May 10, 1897. The internal dissent caused by Bonifacio’s death weakened the Katipunan further. The Spanish troops regained Cavite and Aguinaldo was forced to retreat to the mountains of Biak-na- Bato. But the Spaniards soon realized that going after the rebels in their mountain hideout was futile. A stalemate ensued broken only by a truce proposal to which the rebels agreed. In exchange for an indemnity, amnesty, and colonial reform, Aguinaldo and his officers went into exile in Hong Kong in December 1897. Scanned with CamScanner78 UNDERSTANDING PERSPECTIVE 5 pine Independence FIGURE 9. Declaration of Philip yentually changed The Spanish-American War in 1898 © Philippine history. After the Americans won the Battle of Manila Bay in 1898, Aguinaldo returned to the Philippines with their help and announced the resumption of the revolution against Spain. After winning several victories against the Spaniards, he declared Philippine independence on June 12, 1898. But the Filipinos soon realized that the Americans were to become their new colonizers. ‘After the Spanish defeat in 1898, the United States began to send fresh troops to the Philippines. In 1899, Aguinaldo convened a Congress in Malolos, Bulacan in which the delegates wrote a Constitution and established the Philippine Republic with Aguinaldo as President in January 1899. Three weeks later, the continuing friction with the Americans erupted into a conflict in February 1899. The Philippine- American War eventually ended in 1901 with the capture of Aguinaldo. Soon after, he pledged allegiance to the United States and returned to private life on his family farm. He briefly hugged the limelight when he ran for the presidency of the Philippine Commonwealth but lost to Manuel L. Quezon. Aguinaldo was charged with collaboration by the Americans for helping the Japanese during World War II but was later freed Scanned with CamScanner79 ‘THE ACT OF PROCLAMATION OF INDEPENDENCE OF THE FILIPINO PEOPLE in a general amnesty. As a private citizen, he devoted his time to the cause of veteran revolucionarios until his death at the age of 94 on February 6, 1964. About the Text On June 10, 1896, Gen. Emilio Aguinaldo issued a one- sentence decree appointing his Auditor General of War, Ambrosio , as a “special commissioner” to write the Rianzares Bautis Act of the Declaration of the Independence. The result was a sixteen-page document that contained the aspirations of freedom from Spanish rule, the sacrifices made, and the revolution that resulted from it. It was the text of this declaration that was read in Kawit in the afternoon of the celebration of the declaration of independence. Copies of the document were made and distributed. However, there was a problem in determining how many witnesses really signed the declaration. The copies classified under Philippine Revolutionary Papers (PRP) in the National Library had varying numbers. Later research by historian-writer Jim Richardson placed the total number of signees at 177. The Act of Proclamation of Independence of the Filipino People In the town of Cavite-Viejo, Province of Cavite, this 12th day of June 1898: Before me, Ambrosio Rianzares Bautista, War Counselor and Special Delegate designated to proclaim and solemnize this Declaration of Independence by the Dictatorial Government of the Philippines, pursuant to, and by virtue of, a Decree issued by the Egregious Dictator Don Emilio Aguinaldo y Famy, The undersigned assemblage of military chiefs and others of the army who could not attend, as well as the representatives of the various towns, Scanned with CamScanner