Emilio Aguinaldo y Famy (Spanish: [eˈmiljo aɣiˈnaldo j ˈfami]: March 22, 1869 – February 6, 1964) was a Filipino revolutionary, politician, and military leader who served as president of the Philippines from 1899 to 1901, and the president of the first constitutional republic in Asia. He led Philippine forces first against Spain in the Philippine Revolution (1896–1898), then in the Spanish–American War (1898), and later against the United States during the Philippine–American War (1899–1901). He is regarded in the Philippines as the country's first president during the period of the First Philippine Republic, although his presidency was not widely recognized outside of the revolutionary Philippines.
Aguinaldo is known as a national hero in the Philippines, and designed the flag of the Philippines. However, he was also involved in the deaths of the revolutionary leader Andrés Bonifacio and general Antonio Luna. In World War II, he collaborated as a puppet leader with the Empire of Japan during its occupation of the Philippines.
Emilio Aguinaldo was born on March 22, 1869 in Cavite el Viejo (present-day Kawit) in the province of Cavite to Carlos Aguinaldo y Jamir and Trinidad Famy y Villanueva, a couple that had eight children, the seventh of whom was Emilio. He was baptized and raised in Roman Catholicism. 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. He studied at Colegio de San Juan de Letran, but could not finish his studies due to an outbreak of cholera in 1882. On April 30, 1888, he entered the lottery of the Spanish auxiliary conscription with number 221.
He became a cabeza de barangay in 1893, before 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.
On January 1, 1895, Aguinaldo became a Freemason, joining Pilar Lodge No. 203, Imus, Cavite by the codename "Colon".
On March 7, 1895, Santiago Alvarez, whose father was a Capitan Municipal (Mayor) of Noveleta, encouraged Aguinaldo to join the "Katipunan", a secret organization led by Andrés Bonifacio that was dedicated to the expulsion of the Spanish and the independence of the Philippines through armed force. Aguinaldo joined the organization and used the nom de guerre Magdalo in honor of Mary Magdalene. The local chapter of Katipunan in Cavite was established and named Sangguniang Magdalo, and Aguinaldo's cousin Baldomero Aguinaldo was appointed leader.
The Katipunan-led Philippine Revolution against the Spanish began in the last week of August 1896 in San Juan del Monte (now part of Metro Manila). However, Aguinaldo and other Cavite rebels initially refused to join in the offensive for lack of arms. Bonifacio and other rebels were forced to resort to guerrilla warfare, but Aguinaldo and the Cavite rebels won major victories in carefully planned and well-timed set-piece battles and temporarily drove the Spanish out of their area. On August 31, 1896, Aguinaldo started the assault by beginning as a skirmish to the full-blown revolt Kawit Revolt. He marched with his army of bolomen to the town center of Kawit. Prior to the battle, Aguinaldo had strictly ordered his men not to kill anyone in his hometown. Upon his men's arrival at the town center, the guards, armed with Remingtons and unaware of the preceding events, were caught completely by surprise and surrendered immediately. The guns there were captured by the Katipuneros, and the revolt was a major success for Aguinaldo and his men. Later that afternoon, they raised the Magdalo flag at the town hall to a large crowd of people from Kawit that had assembled after it heard of the city's liberation.
The Magdalo faction of the Katipunan, which also operated in Cavite under Gen. Aguinaldo, used flags similar to those used by the Magdiwang faction and featuring a white sun with a red baybayin symbol for Ka.
The symbol has recently been revived by a breakaway group of army officers to show the end of war with Spain after the peace agreement. The flag became the first official banner of the revolutionary forces and was blessed in a crowd celebrating at Imus. Aguinaldo referred to this flag in his proclamation of October 31, 1896: "Filipino people!! The hour has arrived to shed blood for the conquest of our liberty. Assemble and follow the flag of the Revolution – it stands for Liberty, Equality and Fraternity."
In August 1896, as coordinated attacks broke out and sparked the revolution beginning in Manila. Aguinaldo marched from Kawit with 600 men and launched a series of skirmishes at Imus that eventually ended in open hostilities against Spanish troops stationed there. On September 1, with the aid of Captain Jose Tagle of Imus, they laid siege against Imus to draw the Spanish out. A Spanish relief column commanded by Brigadier-General Ernesto de Aguirre had been dispatched from Manila to aid the beleaguered Spanish defenders of Imus. Supported only by 100 troops and by cavalry, Aguirre gave the impression that he had been sent out to suppress a minor disturbance. Aguinaldo and his men counterattacked but suffered heavy losses that almost cost his own life. Despite the success, Aguirre did not press the attack, felt the inadequacy of his troops, and hastened back to Manila to get reinforcements. During the lull in the fighting, Aguinaldo's troops reorganized and prepared for another Spanish attack. On September 3, Aguirre came back with a much larger force of 3,000 men. When Spanish troops arrived at the Isabel II Bridge, they were fired upon by the concealed rebels. The Spanish force was routed, withdrawing in disorder with substantial casualties. Among the abandoned Spanish weapons was Aguirre's sword, which was carried by Aguinaldo in future battles.
Battles of Binakayan–Dalahican
Alarmed by a previous siege, led by General Aguinaldo in Imus, in September 1896, Governor-General Ramón Blanco y Erenas ordered the 4th Battalion of Cazadores from Spain to aid him in quelling the rebellion in Cavite. On November 3, 1896, the battalion arrived carrying a squadron of 1,328 men and some 55 officers. Also, Blanco ordered about 8,000 men who recently came from Cuba and Spain to join in suppressing the rebellion. Prior to the land attacks, Spanish naval raids were conducted on the shores of Cavite, where cannons bombarded the revolutionary fortifications in Bacoor, Noveleta, Binakayan, and Cavite Viejo. The most fortified locations in Noveleta were the Dalahican and Dagatan shores, defended by Magdiwang soldiers commanded by General Santiago Alvarez, and the adjacent fishing village of Binakayan in Kawit was fortified by Magdalo under General Aguinaldo. Spanish naval operations were determined to crush the fortifications in these areas, mainly because the lake around Dalahican was strategic by connecting to the interior of Cavite. Apart from defending Binakayan, the Magdalo soldiers also kept the lower part of Dagatan up to Cavite's border near Manila province. Between the barrios of Binakayan and Dalahican, the Spanish forces lost decisively since the Filipino rebels, led by Aguinaldo and Alvarez, routed them back to Cavite Nuevo in which the remaining Spanish troops would eventually surrender. The successful defenses of Binakayan and Dalahican was considered to be the first major victory of the Filipinos over a colonial power.
Newly appointed Governor-General Camilo de Polavieja, was now fully aware that the main weight of the revolution was in Cavite and so decided to launch a two-pronged assault to defeat the revolutionaries, led by Aguinaldo. He ordered General José de Lachambre with a much bigger force to march against Silang to take on the Katipuneros from the rear, and he would engage the Filipinos head on. On February 13, 1897, Aguinaldo ordered soldiers to plant dynamite along the bridge and to place pointed bamboo sticks in the river beds below the bridge. Several hours later, 12,000 Spaniards began to cross the bridge. The trap was sprung, and the dynamite was detonated, which killed several Spanish troops and injured many more. The rebels then emerged from the bushes, fought hand to hand, and repelled consecutive waves of enemy troops charging across the river. Edilberto Evangelista was shot in the head and died. Cavite Province gradually emerged as the Revolution's hotbed, and the Aguinaldo-led Katipuneros had a string of victories there. After the battle, the demoralized Spanish soldiers retreated towards Muntinlupa.