Emilio Aguinaldo (1869 - 1964)

Mon Mar 22, 1869

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Emilio Aguinaldo, born on this day in 1869, was a Filipino revolutionary, politician, and military leader who became the first President of the Philippines (1899 - 1901), and the first president of an Asian constitutional republic.

In his mid-20s, Aguinaldo joined the “Katipunan”, a secret organization dedicated to ousting Spanish colonizers. His military career against the Spanish began in August 1896 with the Katipunan-led Philippine Revolution.

Aguinaldo would go on to lead Philippine forces against multiple colonizing forces - first against Spain in the Philippine Revolution (1896 - 1898), again in the Spanish-American War (1898), and finally against the United States during the Philippine-American War (1899-1901).

Aguinaldo was involved in multiple controversies as a government leader, most notably his role in the execution of Andrés Bonifacio (1863 - 1897), the leader of the Katipunan group. Bonifacio was a prominent revolutionary and political dissident to Aguinaldo’s authority. The trial in which he was convicted is now seen as dubious.

Although Aguinaldo was the first president of an Asian constitutional republic, this government was dissolved by invading U.S. forces, and he was forced to swear an oath of allegiance to the U.S. Aguinaldo was 77 when the United States finally recognized Philippine independence in the Treaty of Manila on July 4th, 1946, in accordance with the Tydings–McDuffie Act of 1934.