Gen. Emilio Aguinaldo played the leading role in the
Philippine struggle for independence first against the Spanish sovereignty and
later the Americans from his election as President of the Revolutionary
Government during the Tejeros Convention (March 22, 1897) to his capture in
Palanan, Isabela (March 23, 1901).
He did not only served as Commander-in-chief of the armed
forces but also served as President of the first Revolutionary Government
(March 22 to November 1, 1897), President of the “Biyak-na-Bato”Republic
(November 1-15, 1897), Dictator of the Philippines (May 24-June 23, 1898),
President of the Philippine Republic (January 23, 1899 – March 23, 1901) which
was inaugurated in Malolos, Bulacan.
Gen. Aguinaldo, the seventh of eight children of Don Carlos
Aguinaldo and Doña Trinidad Famy, was born in Kawit, Cavite on March 22, 1869.
He was not a highly educated man, for according to his
Memoirs he only reached the third year of the secondary course at San Juan de
Letran College, Manila.
The untimely demise of his father Carlos forced him and
his brothers to quit their studies and return to home to help their widowed
mother in supporting the family.
He, accompanied by about eight companions, made trips to
Capiz, Mindoro, Marinduque, Tablas Island and Masbate on board a Paraw
christened San Bartolome. To those places, they trade salt, and bolos of Kawit.
On their return trip, they had diliman, nige, cows and carabaos.
He continued this high profitable business until he was
chosen capitan municipal of municipal
mayor of Kawit on New Year’s Day in 1895. He previous served as cabeza de barangay of Barrio Binakayan
for seven years.
The evening of the day he was installed as mayor of
Kawit, Aguinaldo was initiated into Masonry, a society that has for its motto
“Liberty, Equality, and Fraternity.” Later he was induced by his friend
Santiago Alvarez to join the patriotic society called the Katipunan. The
discovery of the Katipunan in August 1896 led to the outbreak of the Revolution
against Spain. Aguinaldo was among the first Katipunan leaders to raise the
standard of revolt in Cavite.
He was later elected president of the revolutionary
government in absentia on March 22, 1897 at Tejeros, San Francisco de Malabon.
Gen. Aguinaldo and his men set up the independent Philippine state. He first
re-established the government for the entire country with himself as dictator.
Next, he proclaimed Philippine Independence in Kawit, Cavite, June 12, 1898.
The new anthem and flag was adopted on the same day. It was followed by the calling
of the Revolutionary Congress in Malolos which drafted the so-called “Malolos
Constitution.” And finally, the Philippine Republic was inaugurated in Malolos
on January 23, 1899 with Gen. Aguinaldo as President.
After the war was over, Gen Aguinaldo lived in retirement
in his Kawit home and devoted himself to farming and to helping his fellow
veterans of the revolution.
After seeing action for five long years of war, here are
some of the important achievements of Gen. Aguinaldo as pointed out by Prof.
Gabriel Fabella:
1. Aguinaldo was the first Filipino to make the world
conscious of the existence of the Philippines by leading two revolutions
against Spain and a war of defense of the Filipinos’ newly established Republic
against the United States.
2. He helped weld the Filipinos into a nation through
deeds rather than by pen or words.
3. He was the first to demonstrate that a Filipino is
capable of running an orderly government of his own making.
4. He bequeathed permanent legacies:
-a Philippine Independence Day
-a
Filipino Flag
-a
National Anthem”
As for his character, Gen. Alejandrino, in 1941, made
reference to his fine character and incorruptibility. According to Gen.
Alejandrino, a well-known Chinese merchant told him “that Aguinaldo no person,
is angel; I speak to him of a business wherein he can make money; he alone put
saliva, but he does not like. That man, him no person, that angel.”
The late President Manuel Quezon also spoke of Gen.
Aguinaldo’s honesty and integrity in 1914:
“Aguinaldo is not a rich man today. He is a modest
farmer. He has not accepted any position from the American Government. Although
it is authoritatively stated that he was offered a good one…he wanted to show
that world that he fought for his country, not because of any desire for
personal profit or power, but out of patriotism.”
And Justice George A. Malcolm, in 1935, wrote of Gen.
Aguinaldo:
“…there are those who make of Aguinaldo a mere
figurehead, the usual method being to eulogize his compatriots in order to
belittle his accomplishments. Certainly full credit should be given to the able
men who advised Aguinaldo. Yet when impartial history is written, it must
adjudge that Aguinaldo knew how to listen to his advisers, but always the
decision was his, and he was the unquestioned executor of the decision thus
reached; that he represented cohesion and unity…
_______________
*Culled from Aguinaldo:
Father of the Philippine Republic by Esteban A. de Ocampo, former chairman,
National Historical Commission. Published in the MLQU Graduate Journal, Vol. 1,
No. 1, 2nd Semester, 1971-72.
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