THE MALOLOS REPUBLIC

• The Philippine Republic (Spanish: República Filipina), now officially known as the
First Philippine Republic, also referred to by historians as the Malolos Republic,
was established through the promulgation of the Malolos Constitution on January
22, 1899, in Malolos, Bulacan during the Philippine Revolution and the Spanish–
American War, succeeding the Revolutionary Government of the Philippines.
• It was formally established with Emilio Aguinaldo as president. It maintained
governance until April 1, 1901.
• Territory claimed by the Philippine Republic, most of which it occupied except
Manila and parts of Mindanao.

The Dictatorial Government

• When General Emilio Famy Aguinaldo returned to the country from his exile in Hong Kong
in May 1898 (this was when he entered into an accord with the Spaniards, agreeing to
exile in Hong Kong in exchange for 400,000 pesos), he already had a plan prepared by
Mariano Ponce for the establishment of a REVOLUTIONARY GOVERNMENT.
• BUT, Consul Wildman had advised Aguinaldo that it would be much better if he would
establish a DICTATORIAL GOVERNMENT prior to a REVOLUTIONARY GOVERNMENT
probably because during those critical times, there is a demand in a government with
strong executive, which would be a good strategic move for Aguinaldo.
• The truce signed between Filipino revolutionists and Spaniards at Biak-na-Bato, San
Miguel de Mayumo, Bulacan in December 1897 had been broken in many parts of the
country. Upon the advice of Ambrosio Rianzares, Bautista Aguinaldo established a
dictatorial government of the Philippines. So, In the morning of May 24, 1898, he assumed
the inauguration of the Dictatorial Government.
• Four days later, the Filipino rebels routed the Spaniards in Alapan, Cavite, a victory
celebrated by Aguinaldo with the first, albeit informal, waving of the National Flag on
Philippine soil. The event preempted the May 31st launching of the second phase of the
revolution.
• By July 1898, the Filipinos liberated the provinces of Cavite, Laguna, Batangas,
Pampanga, most of Bulacan and the suburbs surrounding Manila.
• On June 12, 1898, Aguinaldo proclaimed Philippine independence from the window of his
house in Kawit, Cavite, and waved the Philippine Flag officially for the first time to the
martial strains of the new national anthem.
• This decree nullified the orders issued under the authority of biyak-na-bato and made clear
to the Filipinos that the Dictatorial Government was only temporary. "so that, when peace
shall have been reestablished and our legitimate aspiration for unrestricted liberty attained,
it may be modified by the nation, in which rests the principle of authority."
• Mabini’s plan to establish a grassroots government was realised towards the latter half of
June 1898. Aguinaldo issued several important decrees reorganising the government in
the liberated provinces: the decree of June 18 reorganised municipalities and provinces,
through the election of Popular Assemblies, whose heads the town chiefs then elected the
provincial councils.
• The decree also provided for the election of delegates to the Revolutionary Congress by
the town chiefs. To Mabini, the latter were Aguinaldo’s direct link to the masses and on
August 1, 1898, these town officials assembled at Bacoor, then the seat of the
Revolutionary government, and ratified the newly proclaimed Philippine independence.
Revolutionary

• Mabini’s plan to establish a grassroots government was realised towards the latter half of
June 1898. Aguinaldo issued several important decrees reorganising the government in
the liberated provinces: the decree of June 18 reorganised municipalities and provinces,
through the election of Popular Assemblies, whose heads the town chiefs then elected the
provincial councils.
• The decree also provided for the election of delegates to the Revolutionary Congress by
the town chiefs. On June 20, Aguinaldo issued a decree organising the judiciary, and on
June 23, again upon Mabini’s advice, major changes were promulgated and implemented:
change of government from Dictatorial to Revolutionary; change of the Executive title from
Dictator to President; the establishment of four major departments including that of foreign
affairs, navy and commerce; war and public works, police and internal order; and finance,
agriculture and manufacture industries (this was later expanded to six departments with
addition of welfare and treasury departments); the appointment of delegates to the
Revolutionary Congress from the non-liberated provinces, to ensure wider representation,
and the creation of the Executive Board of the Revolutionary Committee at Hong Kong,
which served as the diplomatic and international propaganda arm of the Republic. Two
underlying principles motivated the establishment of a revolutionary government: to help
the country achieve true independence and pave the way towards the formation of a “true
republic”.
• To Mabini, the latter were Aguinaldo’s direct link to the masses and on August 1, 1898,
these town officials assembled at Bacoor, then the seat of the Revolutionary government,
and ratified the newly proclaimed Philippine independence.
• As Mabini envisioned it, the Revolutionary Congress created by the June 18 decree had
several aims: to promote the interest of the Filipinos through the passage of relevant laws
and to serve as the Executive’s advisory body.
• On September 15 Aguinaldo formally opened the revolutionary congress at the church of
Barasoain in Malolos. Later the representatives elected their officers:
• Pedro Paterno, president
• Benito Legarda, Vice President
• Gregorio Araneta, First Secretary
• Pablo Ocampo, Second Secretary
• It was not long after their first convening that the Malolos Representatives ran into conflict
with Mabini, who believed that the times demanded not the writing of a supreme law,
which required the luxury of time, but an executive made strong by congressional support.
In the end Congress prevailed over Mabini, and began their constitutional work.
• There were three draft constitutions presented: one authored by Mabini, another by
Paterno and a third drafted by Felipe Calderon, a Cavite lawyer. The latter’s draft,
influenced by constitutions of various South American nations, was eventually chosen.
• The Revolutionary Government of the Philippines had reached its end on January 23,1899
when the Malolos Constitution had established a Philippine Republic government, the very
first republic in Asia.

Malolos Constitution

• Malolos Constitution is the first Philippine republic. Written by Felipe Calderón y Roca and
Felipe Buencamino as an alternative to a pair of proposals to the Malolos Congress by
Apolinario Mabini and Pedro Paterno.
• Despite its brief existence, the Malolos Congress earned its place in Philippine history if
only for two achievements:
 • the ratification of the declaration of independence on September 29, 1898
• The framing of the Malolos Constitution, which was promulgated by President
Aguinaldo on January 21, 1899.
• To its eternal credit, the Malolos Congress transcended its elite background by producing
a supreme law distinguished for its democratic and pluralist ideals. These were embodied
in the following provisions: the distribution of power in three separate branches of
government:
• legislature which was unicameral - the “Assembly” of elected representatives;
• Executive branch, represented by the President supported by a Cabinet;
• Judiciary composed of the Supreme Court, headed by a Chief Justice to be elected
by the Assembly, and lower courts.
• The Constitution likewise protected the people against the abuse of power with a registry
of individual and national rights. Most important, it was imbued with the principle that
sovereignty resides in the people.

The Philippine Republic

• The Republic was inaugurated on January 23, 1899 at Barasoain Church, Malolos, in
ceremonies marked by the reading of the whole Constitution, by Secretary Ocampo;
proclamation of the Republic of the Philippines by Congress president Paterno, followed
by the proclamation of Aguinaldo as the elected President of the new Republic, and
speeches by Aguinaldo and Paterno.
• The Central government of the new Republic was constituted in part as follows:
• President- Emilio Aguinaldo
• Department Secretaries- War – Baldomero Aguinaldo
• Interior- Leandro Ibarra
• Foreign Affairs- Cayetano Arellano (later replaced by Mabini)
• Finance- Mariano Trias - Justice- Gregorio Araneta
• Welfare- Felipe Buencamino
• Even as it battled a new enemy disguised by US President William McKinley’s “Benevolent
Assimilation” proclamation, the new government suffered dissension within its ranks. The
Mabini Cabinet was replaced by the Paterno Cabinet around May 9, 1899.
• Meanwhile, Felipe Agoncillo, foremost Filipino diplomat, exerted all efforts to obtain
European and American recognition of Philippine independence and sovereignty,
especially after the signing of the Treaty of Paris in December 1898 ceded the Philippines
to the United States. In January 1899 he tried every means to prevent the ratification of
the Treaty of Paris by the US Senate, knowing this would seal the fate of the Filipinos,
again to no avail.
• Postscript to the Republic. February 4, 1899, less than two weeks after the Republic’s
inauguration, an American soldier on Sociego corner Silencio Streets in Santa Mesa,
Manila, fired a shot against Filipino patrols in the area, sparking the Filipino-American War.
The outbreak of hostilities between Filipino and American forces caused the imperialist
agenda in the US Senate to gain the upper hand, resulting in the ratification of the Treaty
of Paris on February 6, thus justifying the United States all-out pursuit of war against the
fledgling Philippine Republic.
• On March 31 Malolos, seat of the Philippine Republic, fell into enemy hands, followed on
April 26 by Calumpit, where the Filipino forces led by overall commander Gen. Luna was
also routed.
• On May 9, the Central government moved to Cabanatuan, Nueva Ecija, only four days
after Congress convened at neighbouring San Isidro town. As the American army closed
in on him Aguinaldo moved the government to Tarlac, and then to Bayambang,
 Pangasinan. The latter fell on November 13. In a final bid to swing the odds in their favour,
Aguinaldo ordered the shift from regular to guerrilla warfare even as he began his exodus
to the north. It did not take long before the government of the Filipinos disintegrated with
the capture of its officials Buencamino in November and Mabini in December 1899,
Paterno in April 1900. Aguinaldo himself was captured in Palanan, Isabela, on March 23,
1901, a day after his 32nd birthday. When he took the oath of allegiance to the United
States nine days later, the First Philippine Republic came to an end.

Treaty of Paris
• Commissioners from the United States and Spain met in Paris on October 1, 1898 to
produce a treaty that would bring an end to the war after six months of hostilities. The
American peace commission consisted of William R. Day, Sen. Cushman K. Davis, Sen.
William P. Frye, Sen. George Gray, and the Honourable Whitelaw Reid. The Spanish
commission was headed by Don Eugenio Montero Rios, the President of the Senate. Jules
Cambon, a French diplomat, also negotiated on Spain's behalf. The American
commissioners negotiated in a hostile atmosphere because all Europe, except England,
was sympathetic to the Spanish side.
• Although the Conference discussed Cuba and debt questions, the major conflict
concerned the situation of the Philippines. Admiral Dewey's victory had come as a great
surprise and it marked the entrance of the United States into the Pacific. Spanish
commissioners argued that Manila had surrendered after the armistice and therefore the
Philippines could not be demanded as a war conquest, but they eventually yielded
because they had no other choice, and the U.S. ultimately paid Spain 20 million dollars
for possession of the Philippines. The islands of Puerto Rico and Guam were also placed
under American control, and Spain relinquished its claim to Cuba. The treaty was signed
on December 10, 1898.
Works Cited
Filipino.biz.ph. (2009). The Philippine Revolution. Retrieved from Philippine Culture:
http://msc.edu.ph/centennial/revolutionary.html?fbclid=IwAR1VrL9XyzbmCVJuFuesL0f
On4Wa-KY0lEGmUda-kGYq_H6TGQg8N3V_trY
The First Philippine Republic. (2012, September 7). Retrieved from National Historical
Commission Of The Philippines: https://nhcp.gov.ph/the-first-philippine-
republic/?fbclid=IwAR2zxIG9ODVymt1EVK0PwPNC_VmTJ66sZ3BTMvyfgxJ0yc72zXLpoQ
CG89k
Malolos Constitution. (n.d.). Retrieved from DBpedia:
https://dbpedia.org/page/Malolos_Constitution?fbclid=IwAR0kgU8BU2uJts3NB-
LbMvrW_JgWITI-1m4Qyf8Z3ydPEpl31a_oGdKKOuw