Philippine Declaration of Independence 1

Philippine Declaration of Independence

Philippine Declaration of Independence

Created May–June 1898

Ratified June 12, 1898

Location National Library of the Philippines

Author(s) Ambrosio Rianzares Bautista

Emilio Aguinaldo
Signatories 98 delegates

Purpose To proclaim the sovereignty and independence of the Philippines from the colonial rule of Spain

The Philippine Declaration of independence was proclaimed on June 12, 1898 in Cavite II el Viejo (present-day
Kawit, Cavite), Philippines. With the public reading of the Act of the Declaration of independence (Spanish: Acta de
la proclamación de independencia del pueblo Filipino), Filipino revolutionary forces under General Emilio
Aguinaldo proclaimed the sovereignty and independence of the Philippine Islands from the colonial rule of Spain.

History

Background
In 1896, the Philippine Revolution began. Eventually, the Spanish signed an agreement with the revolutionaries and
Emilio Aguinaldo went into exile in Hong Kong. At the outbreak of the Spanish-American War, Commodore
George Dewey sailed from Hong Kong to Manila Bay leading a squadron of U.S. Navy ships. On May 1 1898, the
United States defeated the Spanish in the Battle of Manila Bay. Later that month, the U.S. Navy transported
Aguinaldo back to the Philippines.

The Proclamation on June 12

Independence was proclaimed on June 12, 1898 between four and five
in the afternoon in Cavite at the ancestral home of General Emilio
Aguinaldo some 30 kilometers South of Manila. The event saw the
unfurling of the National Flag of the Philippines, made in Hong Kong
by Marcela Agoncillo, Lorenza Agoncillo, and Delfina Herboza, and
the performance of the Marcha Filipina Magdalo, as the national
anthem, now known as Lupang Hinirang, which was composed by The original Flag raised by President Emilio
Julián Felipe and played by the San Francisco de Malabon marching Aguinaldo in declaring the independence in
band. 1898
Philippine Declaration of Independence 2

The Act of the Declaration of Independence was prepared, written, and read by Ambrosio Rianzares Bautista in
Spanish. The Declaration was signed by ninety-eight people, among them an American army officer who witnessed
the proclamation. The final paragraph states that there was a "stranger" (stranger in English translation —
extrangero in the original Spanish, meaning foreigner) who attended the proceedings, Mr. L. M. Johnson, described
as "a citizen of the U.S.A, a Coronel of Artillery".[1] The proclamation of Philippine independence was, however,
promulgated on 1 August, when many towns had already been organized under the rules laid down by the Dictatorial
Government of General Aguinaldo.[2][3]
Later at Malolos, Bulacan, the Malolos Congress modified the declaration upon the insistence of Apolinario Mabini
who objected to that the original proclamation essentially placed the Philippines under the protection of the United
States.

Subsequent Events
The declaration was not recognized by the United States nor Spain and Spain later sold the Philippines to the United
States in the 1898 Treaty of Paris that ended the Spanish-American War.
The Philippine Revolutionary Government did not recognize the treaty or American sovereignty, and subsequently
fought and lost a conflict with United States now called the Philippine-American War, which ended when Emilio
Aguinaldo was captured by U.S. forces,[4] and issued a statement acknowledging and accepting the sovereignty of
the United States over the Philippines.[5] This was then followed on July 2, 1902, by U.S. Secretary of War Elihu
Root telegraphing that the insurrection the United States had come to an end and that provincial civil governments
had been established everywhere except those areas inhabited by Moro tribes.[6] Pockets of resistance continued for
several years, however.

Following World War II, the US granted independence to the Philippines on 4 July 1946 via the Treaty of Manila.[7]
July 4 was observed in the Philippines as Independence Day until August 4, 1964 when, upon the advice of
historians and the urging of nationalists, President Diosdado Macapagal signed into law Republic Act No. 4166
designating June 12 as the country's Independence Day.[8] June 12 had previously been observed as Flag Day and
many government buildings are urged to display the Philippine Flag in their offices.

The text of the "Act of Proclamation of the Independence of the

Filipino People"
The Act of Proclamation of the Independence of the Filipino People (Spanish: Acta de la proclamación de
independencia del pueblo Filipino) is part of a long line of declarations of independence including the United States
Declaration of Independence. It includes a list of grievances against the Spanish government stretching back to
Ferdinand Magellan's arrival in 1521 and "confer(s) upon our famous Dictator Don Emilio Aguinaldo all the powers
necessary to enable him to discharge the duties of Government, including the prerogatives of granting pardon
and amnesty."[9]
The original proclamation is kept in the National Library of the Philippines in Manila.

Notes
[1] Dean Conant Worcester, in his 1914 book The Philippines: Past and Present (Worcester 1914), says:

"Invitations to the ceremony of the declaration of independence were sent to Admiral Dewey; but neither he
nor any of his officers were present. It was, however, important to Aguinaldo that some American should be
there whom the assembled people would consider a representative of the United States. 'Colonel' Johnson,
ex-hotel keeper of Shanghai, who was in the Philippines exhibiting a cinematograph, kindly consented to
appear on this occasion as Aguinaldo's Chief of Artillery and the representative of the North American nation.
His name does not appear subsequently among the papers of Aguinaldo. It is possible that his position as
Philippine Declaration of Independence 3

colonel and chief of artillery was a merely temporary one which enabled him to appear in a uniform which
would befit the character of the representative of a great people upon so solemn an occasion!"
Worcester attributes this to "Taylor, 26 A J.", referring to Major J. R. M. Taylor, who translated and compiled Insurgent records
2 Guevara, Sulpicio, ed. (1972), "Philippine Declaration of Independence" (http://quod.lib.umich.edu/cgi/t/text/
pageviewer-idx?c=philamer;cc=philamer;rgn=full text;idno=aab1246.0001.001;didno=aab1246.0001.001;view=image;seq=00000221),
The Laws of the First Philippine Republic (The Laws of Malolos) 1898-1899. (http://quod.lib.umich.edu/cgi/t/text/
text-idx?c=philamer;iel=1;view=toc;idno=aab1246.0001.001), Manila: National Historical Commission, , retrieved 2008-03-26.
(English translation by Sulpicio Guevara)
3 Guevara, Sulpicio, ed. (1972), "Facsimile of the Proclamation of the Philippine Independence at Kawit, Cavite, June 12, 1898"
(http://quod. lib.umich.edu/cgi/t/text/pageviewer-
idx?c=philamer&cc=philamer&idno=aab1246.0001.001&frm=frameset&view=image&seq=203),
The Laws of the First Philippine Republic (The Laws of Malolos) 1898-1899. (http://quod.lib.umich.edu/cgi/t/text/
text-idx?c=philamer;iel=1;view=toc;idno=aab1246.0001.001), Manila: National Historical Commission, , retrieved 2008-03-26.
(Original handwritten Spanish)
4 Worcester 1914, p. 175 (http://www.gutenberg.org/catalog/world/readfile?fk_files=56151&pageno=175)
5 Worcester 1914, pp. 175-176 (http://www.gutenberg.org/catalog/world/readfile?fk_files=56151&pageno=175)
6 Worcester 1914, p. 180 (http://www.gutenberg.org/catalog/world/readfile?fk_files=56151&pageno=180)
7 TREATY OF GENERAL RELATIONS BETWEEN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA AND THE REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES.
SIGNED AT MANILA, ON 4 JULY 1946 (http://web.archive.org/web/20090326035729/http://untreaty.un.org/unts/1_60000/1/6/
00000254.pdf), United Nations, archived from the original (http://untreaty.un.org/unts/1_60000/1/6/00000254.pdf) on 2009-03-26, ,
retrieved 2007-12-10
8 REPUBLIC ACT NO. 4166 - AN ACT CHANGING THE DATE OF PHILIPPINE INDEPENDENCE DAY FROM JULY FOUR TO JUNE
TWELVE, AND DECLARING JULY FOUR AS PHILIPPINE REPUBLIC DAY, FURTHER AMENDING FOR THE PURPOSE SECTION
TWENTY-NINE OF THE REVISED ADMINISTRATIVE CODE (http://www.chanrobles.com/republicacts/republicactno4166.html),
Chanrobles law library, August 4, 1964, , retrieved 2008-06-11
9 "Philippine Declaration of Independence" (http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Philippine_Declaration_of_Independence). . Retrieved 12
June 2012.

References
• History of the Filipino People. Teodoro A. Agoncillo
• National Library of the Philippines
• Philippine History Group of Los Angeles (http://www.bibingka.com/phg/documents/jun12.htm)
• Worcester, Dean Conant (1914), The Philippines: Past and Present (vol. 1 of 2) (http://www.gutenberg.org/
ebooks/12077), Macmillan, retrieved 2008-01-17

External links
• Acta de la proclamación de la independencia del pueblo Filipino (http://web.archive.org/web/
20090616115557/http://www.thecorpusjuris.com/laws/constitutions/9-others/
112-philippine-declaration-of-independence.html?start=1) Spanish version by Corpus Juris online Philippine law
library (http://www.thecorpusjuris.com/)
• Declaration of Philippine Independence (http://web.archive.org/web/20090615050112/http://www.
thecorpusjuris.com/laws/constitutions/9-others/112-philippine-declaration-of-independence.html) English
version by Corpus Juris online Philippine law library (http://www.thecorpusjuris.com/)
Article Sources and Contributors 4

Article Sources and Contributors

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THEN WHO WAS PHONE?, Tim!, Tpbradbury, Trevor MacInnis, Vonjobi, WORLD POETRY LIBRARY, WayKurat, Wiki alf, Wikipelli, Wknight94, Writer shack, Wtmitchell, Xeltran,
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