Emilio Aguinaldo
(Cavite, 1869-Manila, 1964) Filipino politician who led the first attempt at independence from the Philippines.Son of a Chinese father and a Tagalog mother, Emilio Aguinaldo studied at the University of Santo Tomás in Manila; He was a school teacher and was later appointed mayor of Cavite Viejo ( Kawit ).When the uprising of August 1896 broke out, he contributed to the formation of a secret society called Katipunan, made up of some 40,000 men, who fought fiercely against Spanish rule.The following year he signed the Peace of Byak-Na-Bató with Spain, by which he agreed to go into exile in exchange for the promise of liberal reforms and investments in the archipelago.
Emilio Aguinaldo
He resided in Hong-Kong until the United States claimed him to resume the war, in exchange for the recognition of independence; on May 19, 1898, he landed with a group of insurgents in Cavite, under the protection of Admiral George Dewey's fleet; After the death of Andrés Bonifacio, the other prominent Filipino leader, at the hands of the Tagalos themselves, Emilio Aguinaldo became the main leader of the cause.It played an important role in the defeat of Spain; However, the Queen Regent María Cristina de Borbón granted him the distinction of the Red Cross for his humanitarian treatment of Spanish prisoners.
On June 12, 1898 the independence of the Republic (provisional) was proclaimed from the Philippines, and Aguinaldo was elected president.But, after the Treaty of Paris, its territory was placed under the dominion of the United States, which, in fact, already occupied the country militarily.In January 1899 a new assembly of patriots met, chaired by himself, which, by virtue of the promises received during the war against Spain, approved the constitution of Malolos and then (February 4, 1899), rose in arms against the North American troops despite their notorious inferiority.
Aguinaldo led and relentlessly encouraged the war against the occupiers, until in March 1901 he was captured in his Palanan barracks by the forces of General Frederick Funston; Forced to sign a declaration of allegiance to the United States, he retired from public life with a life pension.This fact was a severe setback for the patriots, who were finally defeated in 1906 after new uprisings.North American rule lasted several decades.
When autonomy was finally granted in 1934, Aguinaldo ran for the first presidential elections of 1935, and lost them to Manuel L.Quezón.During World War II (1939-1945), the Japanese invaders returned him to public life to use as a symbol of the anti-American struggle, a time when the episode of his call for the surrender of the isolated forces of General MacArthur was famous.in Corregidor (May 1942).
After the end of the war, he was accused of collaborationism and imprisoned in Bilibid prison, where he remained for several months.Once released, the Philippine government rehabilitated him in recognition of his fight for the freedom of the country.In 1950 he was appointed a member of the Council of State by President Elpidio Quirino.In his last years he vindicated the rights of war veterans and tried to improve relations with the United States.
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