 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
Early Life
 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.
Philippine Revolution
 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.
 Spanish-American War
 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.
Presidency
 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.
Resistance to American Occupation
 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.
World War II
 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.
Post-War Era
 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.
Death
 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.
Legacy
 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.
THANK YOU 

SARAH MAE AQUINO