Emilio Aguinaldo Biography

President (non-U.S.), General (1869–1964)

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NAME
Emilio Aguinaldo

OCCUPATION
President (non-U.S.), General

BIRTH DATE
March 22, 1869

DEATH DATE
February 6, 1964

PLACE OF BIRTH
Kawit, Cavite, Philippines

PLACE OF DEATH
Quezon City, Philippines

NICKNAME
Miong

FULL NAME
Emilio Aguinaldo
 SYNOPSIS
 EARLY LIFE
 INDEPENDENCE FROM SPAIN
 PHILIPPINE-AMERICAN WAR
 DEATH
 CITE THIS PAGE
 Filipino leader Emilio Aguinaldo led his country to achieve
independence after fighting off both the Spanish and the Americans.
IN THESE GROUPS

 FAMOUS PEOPLE IN MILITARY HISTORY

 FAMOUS GOVERNMENT
 FAMOUS PEOPLE BORN ON MARCH 22
 FAMOUS PEOPLE WHO WENT TO PRISON
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QUOTES
“I saw my own soldiers die without affecting future events.”
—Emilio Aguinaldo
Synopsis

Revolutionary leader Emilio Aguinaldo was born on March 22, 1869, in Kawit, Cavite,
Philippines. In 1898, he achieved independence of the Philippines from Spain and was elected
the first president of the new republic under the Malolos Congress. He also led the Philippine-
American War against U.S. resistance to Philippine independence. Aguinaldo died of a heart
attack on February 6, 1964, in Quezon City, Philippines.

Early Life

Emilio Aguinaldo was born on March 22, 1869, in Kawit, Cavite, Philippines. Nicknamed
Miong, Aguinaldo was the seventh of eight children. His parents were of Chinese and Tagalog
descent. His father, Carlos, died when Aguinaldo was just nine years old. Widowed, his mother,
Trinidad, sent him to attend public school in Manila.

Having had to cut his studies short at the Colegio de San Juan de Letran due to a cholera
outbreak, Aguinaldo returned home to Kawit, where he developed a growing awareness of
Filipino frustration with Spanish colonial rule.

While serving as the head of barter in Manila, he joined the Pilar Lodge chapter of the
Freemasonry in 1895. The Freemasonry was a government- and church-banned resistance group.
It was through his role as municipal captain of this fraternity that Aguinaldo met Andres
Bonifacio, a key figure in the fight to overthrow Spanish rule.

Independence From Spain

Eager to fight for the cause of Philippine independence, in 1895 Aguinaldo took up with a secret
society of revolutionaries headed by fellow lodge member Andres Bonifacio. When a rival
faction executed Bonifacio in 1897, Aguinaldo assumed total leadership of the revolution against
Spain.

By December 1897, Aguinaldo had managed to reach the Truce of Biak-na-Bato with Spain. He
and his rebels agreed to a surrendering of arms and accepted exile to Hong Kong in exchange for
amnesty, indemnity and liberal reform. However, neither side kept up their end of the bargain.
The Spanish government did not deliver in full all that was promised, and the rebels did not truly
surrender arms. In fact, Aguinaldo's revolutionaries used some of Spain's financial compensation
to purchase additional arms for the resistance. From Hong Kong, Aguinaldo also made
arrangements to assist Americans fighting against Spain in the Spanish-American War. As
neither peace nor independence had been achieved, in 1898 Aguinaldo returned to the
Philippines to resume his rebellion against Spanish rule.

Back in Cavite, Aguinaldo forcibly set up a provisional dictatorship. After meeting with the
Malolos Congress and drafting a constitution for a new republic, on June 12, 1898, Aguinaldo at
last declared Philippine independence. Announced from his hometown of Kawit, Aguinaldo's
proclamation put an end to four centuries of Philippine oppression under Spanish Colonial rule.
In January of the following year, dressed in a white suit at Barasoain Church in Malolos City,
Aguinaldo was sworn in as the first president of the new, self-governed Philippine republic.

Philippine-American War

The United States, however, was not eager to accept the Philippines' new government. While the
United States and Spain had been fighting the Spanish-American War, the Philippines had been
ceded by Spain to the United States in the Treaty of Paris in December 1898.

Just two weeks after Aguinaldo's inauguration, an American sentry killed a Philippine soldier
stationed at the San Juan Bridge, in a gesture of resistance against the newfound Philippine
independence. On February 4, 1899, the Philippine-American War exploded into action.
Aguinaldo's revolutionaries quickly resorted to guerilla tactics, resulting in one of the bloodiest
wars in American history, but in little direct progress for Aguinaldo and his cause. Concerning
the apparent futility of his efforts in war, Aguinaldo said, "I saw my own soldiers die without
affecting future events."

After three years at war, Aguinaldo was captured by American General Frederick Funston on
March 23, 1901. After swearing an oath of allegiance to the United States, on April 19, 1901,
Aguinaldo officially declared peace with the United States. By this time, the United States was
ready to support limited Philippine independence. It wasn't until 1946 that the Philippines would
have absolute control of its own sovereignty.
Aguinaldo retreated to a private life as a farmer but never forgot the men who fought alongside
him. In their honor, he would later establish the Veterans of the Revolution, an organization that
arranged their pensions, as well as affordable payment plans for land purchases.

Aguinaldo took another stab at politics when he ran for presidency in 1935 against Manuel
Quezon but lost. In 1950 he became a presidential advisor on the Council of State.

Death

Emilio Aguinaldo died of a heart attack at Veterans Memorial Hospital in Quezon City,
Philippines, on February 6, 1964, at the age of 94. His private land and mansion, which he had
donated the prior year, continue to serve as a shrine to both the revolution for Philippine
independence and the revolutionary himself.

Updated September 06, 2016.

Early Life and Education:

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.

The boy 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 agricultural holdings.

On January 1, 1895, Emilio 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.

Katipunan and the Philippine Revolution:

In 1894, Andres Bonifacio himself inducted Emilio Aguinaldo into the Katipunan, a secret anti-colonial
organization. The Katipunan called for the ouster of Spain from the Philippines, by armed force if
necessary.
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In 1896, after the Spanish executed the voice of Filipino independence, Jose Rizal, 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 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 of 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 Andres 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.

This internal dissent seems to have weakened the Cavite Katipunan movement. In June of 1897, Spanish
troops defeated Aguinaldo's forces and retook Cavite. The rebel government regrouped in Biyak na
Bato, a mountain town in Bulacan Province, central Luzon, to the 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 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, Emilio Aguinaldo and other rebel officials arrived in British Hong Kong, where the first
indemnity payment of $400,000 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.

The 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, providing the US with a
pretext to start the Spanish-American War on April 25, 1898.

Aguinaldo sailed back to Manila with the US Asian Squadron, which defeated the Spanish Pacific
Squadron in the May 1 Battle of Manila Bay. By May 19, 1898, Aguinaldo was back on his home soil. On
the 12th of June, 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
US in the Treaty of Paris.

Aguinaldo as President:

Emilio Aguinaldo was officially inaugurated as the first president and dictator of the Philippine Republic
in January of 1899. Prime Minister Apolinario Mabini headed the new cabinet. However, the United
States did not recognize this new independent Filipino government. President William McKinley offered
as one reason the specious 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 in the
Treaty of Paris. Despite rumored promises of independence made by US 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.

To commemorate the United States's most substantial foray into the imperial game, in 1899 the British
author Rudyard Kipling wrote "The White Man's Burden," a poem extolling American power over "Your
new-caught, sullen peoples / Half-devil and half-child."
Resistance to American Occupation:

Obviously, Aguinaldo and the victorious Filipino revolutionaries did not see themselves as half-devil or
half-child. Once they realized that they had been tricked and were indeed "new-caught," the people of
the Philippines reacted with outrage far beyond the "sullen," as well.

Aguinaldo responded to the American "Benevolent Assimilation Proclamation" as follows: "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 of 1899, the first Philippines Commission from the US 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 fought on against this new imperial power, turning to guerrilla
war when 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 north-east 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.

April 1, 1901. Emilio Aguinaldo formally surrendered, swearing allegience to the United States of
America. 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 and Collaboration:

Emilio 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, Hilario, died in 1921. Aguinaldo married for a second time in 1930 at the age of 61. His new
bride was the 49-year-old Maria Agoncillo, niece of a prominent diplomat.

In 1935, the Philippine Commonwealth held its first elections after decades of American rule. Then aged
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 occupiers. After the US recaptured the Philippines in 1945, the
septugenarian Emilio Aguinaldo was arrested and imprisoned as a collaborator. However, he was quickly
pardoned and released, and his reputation was not too severely tarnished by this war-time indiscretion.

Post-World War II 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 in 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, Aguinaldo donated his home to the government as a museum.

Emilio Aguinaldo's Death and Legacy:

On February 6, 1964, the 94-year-old first president of the Philippines passed away due to a coronary
thrombosis. He left behind a complicated legacy. To his credit, Emilio Aguinaldo fought long and hard for
independence for the Philippines, and worked tirelessly to secure veterans' rights. On the other hand,
he ordered the execution of rivals including Andres Bonifacio, and collaborated with the brutal Japanese
occupation of the Philippines.

Although today Aguinaldo is 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, later would wield that power more successfully.
Emilio Aguinaldo, First President

Emilio Aguinaldo (1869 – 1964)

The president of the first Philippine republic (1899)

He started as a member of the Magdalo Chapter of the Katipunan in Cavite, then was elected president
of the revolutionary government at the Tejeros Convention on March 22,1897, and, later, Biak-na-Bato
Republic. He proclaimed Philippine independence at Kawit on June 12, 1898. His capture foreshadowed
the end of large-scale armed resistance to American rule. He ran against Manuel Quezon for the
presidency of the commonwealth in 1935 but lost.

–––

Emilio Aguinaldo y Famy was born into the local elite of Cavite on the island of Luzon in the Philippines.
His father had been mayor of Kawit (Cavite viejo) at the time of his death in 1878, a post Aguinaldo
himself would hold in 1895. That same year Aguinaldo joined the secret, nationalist brotherhood
Katipunan founded by Andrés Bonifacio. After the Philippines erupted in revolt against the Spaniards in
1896, Aguinaldo won several victories in Cavite Province. When Bonifacio came out of hiding in March
1897 and tried to reassert his leadership of Katipunan, Aguinaldo ordered his arrest, imprisonment, and
eventual execution on May 10, 1897.

Katipunan forces retreated into the mountains in the face of Spanish attacks. Ultimately he entered into
an accord with the Spaniards, agreeing to exile in Hong Kong in exchange for 400,000 pesos. Soon after
his arrival there, Aguinaldo purchased the weapons his troops would require to continue the struggle.

After the U.S. declared war on Spain, Aguinaldo saw a possibility that the Philippines might achieve its
independence; the U.S. hoped instead that Aguinaldo would lend his troops to its effort against Spain.
He returned to Manila on May 19, 1898 and declared Philippine independence on June 12.

When it became clear that the United States had no interest in the liberation of the islands, Aguinaldo’s
forces remained apart from U.S. troops. On January 1, 1899 following the meetings of a constitutional
convention, Aguinaldo was proclaimed president of the Philippine Republic. Not surprisingly, the United
States refused to recognize Aguinaldo’s authority and on February 4, 1899 he declared war on the U.S.
forces in the islands. After his capture on March 23, 1901, Aguinaldo agreed to swear allegiance to the
United States, and then left public life. His dream of Philippine independence came true on July 4, 1946.
He died in Manila in 1964.
 ilio Aguinaldo, (born March 22/23, 1869, near Cavite, Luzon, Philippines—
died February 6, 1964, Quezon City), Filipino leader and politician who fought
first against Spain and later against the United States for the independence of
the Philippines.


Emilio Aguinaldo.
Brown Brothers

Aguinaldo was of Chinese and Tagalog parentage. He completed his

education at the University of Santo Tomás in Manila. In August 1896 he was
mayor of Cavite Viejo (present-day Kawit; adjacent to Cavite city) and was the
local leader of the Katipunan, a revolutionary society that fought bitterly and
successfully against the Spanish. In December 1897 he signed an agreement
called the Pact of Biac-na-Bató with the Spanish governor general. Aguinaldo
agreed to leave the Philippines and to remain permanently in exile on
condition of a substantial financial reward from Spain coupled with the
promise of liberal reforms. While first in Hong Kong and then in Singapore, he
made arrangements with representatives of the American consulates and of
Commodore George Dewey to return to the Philippines to assist the United
States in the war against Spain.
Aguinaldo returned to the Philippines May 19, 1898, and announced renewal
of the struggle with Spain. The Filipinos, who declared their independence of
Spain on June 12, 1898, proclaimed a provisional republic, of which Aguinaldo
was to become president; and in September a revolutionary assembly met
and ratified Filipino independence. However, the Philippines, along
with Puerto Rico and Guam, were ceded by Spain to the United States by
the Treaty of Paris, which was signed on December 10, 1898.
 Relations between the Americans and the Filipinos were unfriendly and grew
steadily worse. On January 23, 1899, the Malolos Constitution—by virtue of
which the Philippines was declared a republic and which had been approved
by the assembly and by Aguinaldo—was proclaimed. Aguinaldo, who had
been president of the provisional government, was elected president.

On the night of February 4 the inevitable conflict between the Americans and
Filipinos surrounding Manila was precipitated. By the morning of February 5
the Filipinos, who had fought bravely, had been defeated at all points. While
the fighting was in progress, Aguinaldo issued a proclamation of war against
the United States, which immediately sent reinforcements to the Philippines.
The Filipino government fled northward. In November 1899 the Filipinos
resorted to guerrilla warfare.
After three years of costly fighting the insurrection was finally brought to an
end when, in a daring operation on March 23, 1901, led by Gen. Frederick
Funston, Aguinaldo was captured in his secret headquarters at Palanan in
northern Luzon. Aguinaldo took an oath of allegiance to the United States,
was granted a pension from the U.S. government, and retired to private life.
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In 1935 the commonwealth government of the Philippines was established in

preparation for independence. Aguinaldo ran for president, but he was
decisively beaten. He returned to private life until the Japanese invaded the
Philippines in December 1941. The Japanese used Aguinaldo as an anti-
American tool. He made speeches and signed articles. In early 1942 he
addressed a radio appeal to U.S. Gen. Douglas MacArthur—who at that time
was with the U.S. garrison holding out against the Japanese on Corregidor
Island—to surrender (the troops there did surrender in May 1942, but
MacArthur had already been evacuated).
The Americans returned to the Philippines in late 1944, and, after they had
retaken Manila in 1945, Aguinaldo was arrested. He and others accused of
collaboration with the Japanese were imprisoned for some months before they
were released by presidential amnesty. In 1950 Aguinaldo was appointed by
Pres. Elpidio Quirino as a member of the Council of State. In his later years he
devoted much attention to veterans’ affairs, the promotion
of nationalism and democracy in the Philippines, and the improvement of
relations between the Philippines and the United States.
milio F. Aguinaldo

(Born- March 22, 1869, died- February 6, 1964)

President of the First Philippine Republic

(Term: 1898- 1901)

Filipino leader who fought first against Spain and later against the United States for the Independence
of the Philippines.

Born of Chinese and Filipino parentage, Gen. Emilio Aguinaldo, whom providence had placed
as the supreme leader of his people at the critical period in their history. He was born in Kawit,
Cavite, on March 22, 1869. He was the seventh among eight children of the spouses Carlos
Aguinaldo and Trinidad Famy.

He took up his secondary course at the Letran de Manila where he finished only three years of
high school. His favorite subject was geography. He did not finish the secondary course
education.

At the age of 17, Emilio was elected as cabeza de barangay of Binakayan, the most progressive
barrio of Kawit, Cavite. He served for his town-mates for eight years. He also engaged in inter-
island shipping, travelling as far as Visayas and even Jolo, Philippines. On January 1, 1895, he
was elected capitan municipal of Kawit the first to bear that title in accordance with the Mauro
Law. At that time a capitan municipal received no salary except 3% of taxes he could collect. In
August 1896 he was the local leader of the Katipunan, a revolutionary society that fought
bitterly and successfully against Spanish. In December 1897 he signed an agreement called the
Pact of Biac-na-Bato with the Spanish governor-general. He agreed to leave the Philippines and
to remain permanently in exile on condition of a substantial financial award from Spain coupled
with the promise of liberal reforms. While in Hong Kong and Singapore he made arrangement
with representative of the American consulates and of Commodore George Dewey to return to
the Philippines to assist the United States in the war against Spain.

Aguinaldo return to the Philippines on May 19, 1898 and announced renewal of the struggle
with Spain. Upon the advice of Apolinario Mabini to Aguinaldo he should change the form of
dictatorship to president of revolutionary government. The Filipinos, who declared their
independence of Spain on June 12, 1898, proclaimed a provisional republic, of which
Aguinaldo was to became president, and in September a revolutionary assembly met and
ratified Filipino independence. However, the Philippines along with Puerto Rico and Guam
were ceded by Spain to the United States by the Treaty of Paris, December 10, 1898.

Relation between the Americans and the Filipinos were unfriendly and grew steadily worse. On
January 23, 1899, the Malolos constitution by virtue of which the Philippines was a republic
and which he had been approved by the assembly and by Aguinaldo was proclaimed.
Aguinaldo, who had been president of the provisional government, was elected president.

Aguinaldo formally established the first Philippine republic. He also designated diplomats who
were assigned in the major world capitals to seek recognition of Philippine independence.

In 1935 when the commonwealth government of the Philippines was established in preparation
for independence, Aguinaldo ran for president but was decisively beaten. He returned to private
life until the Japanese invaded the Philippines in 1941. The Japanese used Aguinaldo as an anti-
American tool. They caused him to make speeches, to sign articles, and to address a radio
appeal to General Douglas McArthur on Corregidor to surrender in order to spare the flower of
Filipino youth.

When the Americans returned, Aguinaldo was arrested and together with the others accused of
collaboration with the Japanese was held for several months in Bilibid Prison until released by
presidential amnesty. As a token vindication of his honor, he was appointed by president
Elpidio Quirino as a member of the Council of State in 1950. In the latter years of his life, he
devoted his major attention to veterans affairs, the promotion of nationalism and democracy in
the Philippines, and the improvement of relation between the Philippines and the United States.

Aguinaldo resumed his life of retirement. In June 12, 1963, on the occasion of the celebration of
Philippine independence, Aguinaldo veiled his historic mansion in Kawit, together with all the
relics contained therein, to the Philippine government.

On February 6, 1964, he died at the age of 95 years old.