The Founding of the First Philippine Republic
The search of the Filipino people for its independence started with the revolution of 1896 by the Katipunan. The failure of the Reform movement led to the creation of the Katipunan, a Tagalog group which wanted to liberate the Philippines from Spanish rule. The ilustrados like José Rizal, Marcelo del Pilar, and Graciano López Jaena wanted to reform the government systems and rectify its errors but they have failed in accomplishing their goals: Philippine representation at the courts of Cádiz in which it was terminated in 1837, assimilation to Spain in where the Filipino would have the same rights as the Spaniard, and reforms for the colony. With these failures, some Filipinos decided to rebel in order to be liberated and become an independent nation.
After Rizal’s arrest, in which he was exiled to Dapitan in Mindanao by the colonial government in relation to his subversive activities, some Tagalogs decided to form a secret revolutionary group to instigate an uprising against Spanish rule.
The Philippine revolution was at first a revolution by Tagalogs and did try to reach to non-Tagalogs. Procopio Bonifacio, brother of Andrés Bonifacio, reached out to Cándido Iban, a Visayan, to try to set up the revolution in Visayas. The other ethnic groups of the Philippines would only join the revolution against Spain later. A year after the start of the revolution, the Tejeros convention of 1897 took place, where in the members of the Katipunan, specifically the two councils, Magdiwang and Magdalo, needed to elect people to form a revolutionary government. Months after what happened in Tejeros, Emilio Aguinaldo met with Governor General Primo de Rivera to talk of peace and cessation of hostilities in December 1897. This pact ended the first phase of the revolution, with Aguinaldo and his allies exiled to Hong Kong. Some sporadic fighting occurred between Tagalog rebels and Spanish forces while the revolutionary government was outside of the Philippines. Both mistrusted each other in maintaining the pact.
By the time the Spanish-American War broke out months later in 1898, the government of Aguinaldo took the opportunity to return to the Philippines and resume hostilities against the Spaniards with the help of a new ally, the Americans, upon receiving news of the American victory at the Battle of Manila Bay, in which the forces under the command of George Dewey destroyed the ships of the Spanish Navy. Aguinaldo, heeding the advice of Ambrosio Bautista, declared a dictatorial government on May 24 upon his return. Eventually Aguinaldo proclaimed the independence of the Philippines on June 12, 1898. It was firstly a dictatorial government which lasted five days until it became a revolutionary government, according to the advice of Apolinario Mabini. The declaration of independence was ratified in August to legitimize the government. In September the Malolos Congress convened to prepare the draft of the first constitution of the Philippines. The draft was approved in November with some recommendations by Aguinaldo, which were rejected. The final draft was approved in December and finally promulgated by Aguinaldo in January 1899. According to the National Historical Commission of the Philippines, the Malolos Congress accomplished two things; the ratifying of the declaration of independence and framing of the constitution. The separation of powers of the government were present in the constitution; a legislative branch with a national assembly of elected representatives, an executive branch represented by the president and supported by a cabinet, and a judiciary branch constituted of the Supreme Court.
The Spaniards and Americans did not recognize the government and decided to talk of transferring sovereignty of the Philippines to the winning power while the Filipinos were organizing themselves in becoming an independent nation, in what became the Treaty of Paris. Diplomat Felipe Agoncillo went to Paris to participate in the negotiations between the Spaniards and Americans to no avail. The treaty was unfair for the Filipinos who fought to attain independence, it seemed to them that they were betrayed by their new ally. The result of the treaty was that Cuba became independent, and Puerto Rico and the Philippines became part of the United States. The Philippine-American War broke out in February 1899 months after the signing of said treaty. After the capture of Emilio Aguinaldo in March 1901 by forces under the command of Frederick Funston, the first Philippine Republic ceased to exist.
Although the republic was short lived, its founding had shown that Filipinos wanted to be capable of self-government. The figures who made it possible in that time had fought and sacrificed so much to show the Spanish Empire and the United States of America that the Filipino people were a united people with a government that represented them proudly.
