EMILIO AGUINALDO


Emilio Aguinaldo (1869-1964), First President of Philippine Republic.
[Source of Photo: Joseph Wheeler, 1899]

Emilio Aguinaldo was born from a local elite family in Cavite. His father was mayor of Kawit, Cavite, a post he himself held. He joined the secret organization of Katipunan founded by Andres Bonifacio, but came to be its leader when the two Katipunan factions united and elected the officers of what would become the Revolutionary Government.

Aguinaldo declared Philippine independence from Spain on June 12, 1898, and a year later was proclaimed president of the Philippine Republic. The United States did not recognize his authority, having earlier won the Philippine Islands as a war trophy in the US-Spanish War of 1898. In February 1899, Aguinaldo declared war on the US and led what was to become the Philippine-American War that lasted until Aguinaldo's capture in March 1901. Filipino resistance, however, continued until 1902.

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