1897: Constitution of

Biak-na-Bato
• Signed on November 18, 1897.
• The Biak-na-Bato Constitution provided for the
creation of a Supreme Council to serve as the supreme
body of the Republic`s government. He also described
some fundamental human rights, such as freedom of
religion, freedom of the press and the right to
education.
• Emilio Aguinaldo and Mariano Trias were elected
respectively President of the Supreme Council and
Vice-President. 
 The organs of the government under the
constitution
1. The supreme council(vested with the power of the republic)
• President: Emillio Aguinaldo
• Vice President: Mariano Triad
• Sec. of the Interior: Isabelo Artacho
• Sec. of Foreign Affairs: Antonio Montenegro
• Sec. of Treasury: Baldomero Aguinaldo
• Sec. of War: Emlliano Riego de Dios
2.Consejo Supremo de Y Justicia(Supreme Council of Grace and
Justice)
• They were given the authority to make decisions and affirm or
disapprove the sentences rendered by other courts and dictate rules
for the administration of justice
3. Asembleas de Representantes(Assembly of Representative)
• They were to be convened after the revolution to create a new
institution and to elect new council of Government and
Representatives of the people
•  The Biak-na-Bato pact Pedro Paterno, a Spaniard born in the Philippines,
volunteered to be a negotiator between Aguinaldo and Governor Primo de
Rivera to end the clashes. 
• Paterno`s efforts paid off when he signed the pact on 15 December 1897
as a representative of the revolutionaries and of Rivera as a representative
of the Spanish government. 
• The heads of state and government are: Emilio Aguinaldo President,
Mariano Trias- Vice-President, Antonio Montenegro Secretary, Baldomero
Aguinaldo Treasurer and Emilio Riego de Dios. On 23 December 1897,
Generals Celestino Tejero and Ricardo Monet of the Spanish Army arrived
in Biak-na-Bato and became hostages of the rebels. 
• Both sides have declared a ceasefire and an agreement
has been reached between Aguinaldo and the Spanish
armed forces for the Spanish government to self-govern
in the Philippines in three years, when Aguinaldo goes
into exile and surrenders his weapons. In exchange,
Aguinaldo received the P800,000 (Mexican pesos) in
compensation for revolutionaries and an amnesty.
•  After receiving a partial payment of 400,000 P,
Aguinaldo went to Hong Kong on 27 December 1897.
• However, some Filipino generals did not believe in the
sincerity of the Spaniards. They refused to surrender their
weapons. 
• Yet the Te Deum was sung on January 23, 1898. The biak
na-bato pact, we revolutionaries have fulfilled our
obligation to surrender our weapons, which, as everyone
knows, exceed a thousand, since it was published in the
newspapers of Manila.
• But the captain, General Primo de Rivera, did not respect
the agreement as faithfully as we did.
• The other payments were never paid; the brothers were not limited in their
acts of tyranny and oppression, nor to drive them out, nor to secularize
religious orders; The requested reforms were not inaugurated, although
the Te Deumwas were sung. 
• This failure of the Spanish authorities to respect the terms of the treaty
caused me and my companions a great deal of misery, which quickly
turned into irritation when I received a letter from Lieutenant-Colonel
Don Miguel Primo de Rivera (nephew and private secretary of the general
mentioned above) informing me that I and my companions could never
return to Manila. 
• On November 18, 1897, Aguinaldo and several
revolutionaries convened a citizens` assembly to draft a
provisional constitution for the Philippines, now known
as the Biak na-Bato Constitution.

• The government was to be governed by a Supreme

Council, consisting of a president, a vice-president and
four secretaries empowered to govern.
• However, this plan never came about because
Aguinaldo had begun negotiations with the
Spanish government. The result was an agreement
under which the Philippine revolutionaries would
go into exile in Hong Kong and surrender their
weapons in exchange for financial compensation
and pardons. The Biak-na-Bato Pact, as it was
later called, was signed on December 15, 1897.
• On December 24, 1897, Aguinaldo and the revolutionaries left for Hong
Kong.