Emilio Aguinaldo
Emilio Aguinaldo y Famy QSC CCLH PMM KGCR[e] (Spanish: [eˈmiljo aɣiˈnaldoj ˈfami]: March 22, 1869 – February 6, 1964) was a Filipino revolutionary, statesman, and military leader who is the youngest president of the Philippines (1899–1901) and became the first president of the Philippines and of an Asian constitutional republic. He led the Philippine forces first against Spain in the Philippine Revolution (1896–1898), then in the Spanish–American War (1898), and finally against the United States during the Philippine–American War (1899–1901).
"General Emilio Aguinaldo" redirects here. For the municipality in Cavite, see General Emilio Aguinaldo, Cavite.
Emilio Aguinaldo
- Apolinario Mabini
- (January 23 – May 7, 1899)
- Pedro Paterno
- (May 7 – November 13, 1899)
Position established
Diego de los Ríos (as Governor-General of the Philippines)
Position abolished
Miguel Malvar[c]
Manuel L. Quezon[d]
- Apolinario Mabini
- (January 2–22, 1899)
Position established
Position abolished (Revolutionary government superseded by the First Philippine Republic)
Himself
Position established
Position abolished (Dictatorial government replaced by a revolutionary government with Aguinaldo assuming the title president)
Position established
Position abolished
Position established
Position abolished (Tejeros government superseded by the Republic of Biak-na-Bato)
March 22, 1869
Cavite el Viejo, Cavite, Captaincy General of the Philippines, Spanish Empire
February 6, 1964 (aged 94)
Quezon City, Philippines
Emilio Aguinaldo Shrine, Kawit, Cavite, Philippines
- National Socialist (1935–1936)[infobox 1]
- Independent (until 1935)
-
María Agoncillo(m. 1930; died 1963)
5
- Statesman
- Military leader
- "Kapitan Miong"
- "Heneral Miong"
- "Ka Miong"
- "El Caudillo"
- "Magdalo"
- "Hermano Colon"
1896 Katipunan (Magdalo)
1897 Republic of Biak-na-Bato
1899 Philippine Republic
1901 United States
1919 Insular government
1935 U.S. Commonwealth
1941 Japan
1943 Republic under Japan- 1945 U.S. Commonwealth
1946 Republic of the Philippines
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1896–1901
Aguinaldo is known as a national hero in the Philippines.[10] However, he is also somewhat controversial in the country due to his alleged involvement in the deaths of the revolutionary leader Andrés Bonifacio and general Antonio Luna, and for his collaboration with the Japanese Empire during their occupation of the Philippines in World War II.[11]
Early life and career[edit]
Emilio Aguinaldo y Famy was born on March 22, 1869[f] in Cavite el Viejo (present-day Kawit) in the province of Cavite to Carlos Aguinaldo y Jamir and Trinidad Famy y Villanueva,[e] a couple that had eight children, the seventh of whom was Emilio Sr. He was baptized and raised in Roman Catholicism.[18] The Aguinaldo family was quite well-to-do as his father, Carlos Aguinaldo, was the community's appointed gobernadorcillo (municipal governor) in the Spanish Viceregal administration.[19] He studied at Colegio de San Juan de Letran, but could not finish his studies because of an outbreak of cholera in 1882.
He became a cabeza de barangay in 1895 when the Maura Law called for the reorganization of local governments. At the age of 25, Aguinaldo became Cavite el Viejo's first gobernadorcillo capitan municipal (municipal governor-captain) while he was on a business trip in Mindoro.
Controversies[edit]
Execution of Bonifacio brothers[edit]
Bonifacio refused to recognize the revolutionary government that was elected in the Tejeros Convention and reasserted his authority via the Acta de Tejeros and the Naic Military Agreement. He accused the Magdalo faction of treason and issued orders that are contradictory and contravention to the revolutionary government.[64] On April 25, 1897, several complaints were sent to Aguinaldo, notably by Severino de las Alas, a known supporter and loyalist of Bonifacio, along with Jose Coronel, and many others, that Bonifacio and his men ransacked, pillaged and burned the town of Indang, stealing the carabaos and other work animals by force and killed them for food and terrorized the townspeople for being unable to give enough supplies and other provisions due to poor harvest.[65][66][67] Aguinaldo was then forced to order the arrest of Bonifacio. After the trials, Andrés and his brother, Procopio, were ordered by the Consejo dela Guerra (Council of War) to be executed by firing squad under the command of Major Lazaro Macapagal on May 10, 1897, near Mount Nagpatong, Mount Buntis, Mount Pumutok, and Maragondon, Cavite.[68] Aguinaldo had pardoned the Bonifacio brothers and that they should be exiled in Pico de Loro, but Pío del Pilar and Mariano Noriel, both former supporters and loyalist of Bonifacio, along with other high-ranking generals of the revolution, forced Aguinaldo to withdraw the order for the sake of preserving unity.[69] According to Aguinaldo, in his two books "Mga Gunita ng Himagsikan" and "A Second Look at America", he stated that his withdrawal of the commutation order/exile did not mean immediate implementation of the death verdict, that Noriel had misconstrued this and acted hastily. He says he wanted a little more time for a cooling-off period so that eventually the Bonifacio brothers would be forgiven and pardoned.
World War II[edit]
Collaboration with Japan and Second Republic[edit]
On December 8, 1941, the Imperial Japanese Army invaded the Philippines. The invasion came ten hours after the attack on Pearl Harbor that had brought the United States into World War II. Aguinaldo, a longtime admirer of the Japanese Empire, sided with them, as he had previously supported groups that demanded the immediate independence of the Philippines, and entrusted that Japan would free the islands from American occupation. In January 1942, Aguinaldo met with General Masami Maeda at the former's Cavite residence to discuss the creation of a pro-Japanese provisional government.[11] On February 1, Aguinaldo delivered a radio address calling upon General Douglas MacArthur and all American and Filipino troops fighting in the Battle of Bataan to surrender to the Japanese army.
In 1931, an American Pre-Code documentary film, Around the World in 80 Minutes with Douglas Fairbanks, had Douglas Fairbanks pose and speak for the camera as he talked with Aguinaldo.[118]
Aguinaldo was also portrayed in various films that featured or centered on the Revolution. He was portrayed by the following actors in these films: