Philippine Declaration of Independence
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The Philippine Declaration of Independence occurred on June 12, 1898 in Cavite el Viejo (now Kawit), Cavite, Philippines. With the public reading of the Act of the Declaration of Independence, Filipino revolutionary forces under General Emilio Aguinaldo proclaimed the sovereignty and independence of the Philippine Islands from the colonial rule of Spain, which had been recently defeated at the Battle of Manila Bay during the Spanish-American War.
The declaration, however, was not recognized by the United States or Spain. The Spanish government later ceded the Philippines to the United States in the 1898 Treaty of Paris that ended the Spanish-American War.
The United States recognized Philippine independence on July 4, 1946 in the Treaty of Manila.[1] July 4 was observed in the Philippines as Independence Day until August 4, 1964 when, upon the advice of historians and the urging of nationalists, President Diosdado Macapagal signed into law Republic Act No. 4166 designating June 12 as the country's Independence Day.[2] June 12 had previously been observed as Flag Day.
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[edit] The Proclamation Day
In the presence of a huge crowd, independence was proclaimed on June 12, 1898 between four and five in the afternoon in Cavite at the ancestral home of General Emilio Aguinaldo some 30 kilometers South of Manila . The event saw the unfurling of the National Flag of the Philippines, made in Hong Kong by Mrs. Marcela Agoncillo, Lorenza Agoncillo and Delfina Herboza, and the performance of the Marcha Filipina Magdalo, as the Nation's National Anthem, now known as Lupang Hinirang, which was composed by Julian Felipe and played by the San Francisco de Malabon Marching band.
The Act of the Declaration of Independence was prepared, written, and read by Senior Ambrosio Rianzares Bautista in Spanish. A passage in the Declaration reminds one of another passage in the American Declaration of Independence. The Declaration was signed by ninety-eight people, among them an American army officer who witnessed the proclamation. The final paragraph states that there was a "stranger" (stranger in English translation — etranger in the original Spanish, possibly meaning foreigner) who attended the proceedings, Mr. L. M. Johnson, described as "a citizen of the U.S.A, a Coronel of Artillery".[3] The proclamation of Philippine independence was, however, promulgated on the 1st of August, when many towns had already been organized under the rules laid down by the Dictatorial Government of General Aguinaldo.[4][5]
Later at Malolos, Bulacan, the June 12 proclamation was modified upon the insistence of Apolinario Mabini who objected to that the original proclamation essentially placed the Philippines under the protection of the United States.
[edit] Philippine Independence
Independence: 12 June 1898 (independence proclaimed from Spain); 4 July 1946 (from the US)
National holiday: Independence Day, 12 June (1898); note - 12 June 1898 was date of declaration of independence from Spain; 4 July 1946 was date of independence from US
[edit] History
The event was led by Gen. Emilio Aguinaldo in his mansion on June 12, 1898. The flag of the Philippines, which was made in Hong Kong by Marcela Agoncillo, Lorenza Agoncillo and Delfina Herbosa de Natividad was first flown in that event. It is also where the Philippine National Anthem, composed by Julian Felipe, was first played by the San Francisco de Malabon band. The song was played under the name Marcha Filipina Magdalo, later renamed as Marcha Nacional Filipina.
The Official Flag of the Republic of the Philippines.The Philippines celebrated its Independence Day every July 4, the date in 1946 that the United States granted independence to the nation, until 1962, when President Diosdado Macapagal signed the Presidential Proclamation No. 28, changing the official celebration to June 12, the date in 1898 that Emilio Aguinaldo declared the nation's independence from Spain.[6]
On June 12, 1998, the nation celebrated its centennial year of Independence from Spain. The celebrations were held simultaneously nationwide by then President Fidel V. Ramos and Filipino communities worldwide. A commission was established for the said event, the National Centennial Commission headed by former Vice President Salvador Laurel presided all events around the country. One of the major projects of the commission was the Expo Pilipino, a grand showcase of the Philippines' growth as a nation for the last 100 years, located in the Clark Special Economic Zone (formerly Clark Air Base) in Angeles City, Pampanga.
[edit] Surrounding events
[edit] The Philippine Revolution
[edit] The Spanish-American War
[edit] The Malolos Congress
[edit] The Philippine-American War
[edit] See also
- Katipunan
- Araw ng Kalayaan (Independence Day of the Philippines)
- Declaration of Independence
- Filipino-American Friendship Day
- History of the Philippines
- Philippine Independence Day Parade
[edit] Notes
- ^ (pdf) TREATY OF GENERAL RELATIONS BETWEEN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA AND THE REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES. SIGNED AT MANILA, ON 4 JULY 1946, United Nations, http://untreaty.un.org/unts/1_60000/1/6/00000254.pdf, retrieved on 2007-12-10
- ^ REPUBLIC ACT NO. 4166 - AN ACT CHANGING THE DATE OF PHILIPPINE INDEPENDENCE DAY FROM JULY FOUR TO JUNE TWELVE, AND DECLARING JULY FOUR AS PHILIPPINE REPUBLIC DAY, FURTHER AMENDING FOR THE PURPOSE SECTION TWENTY-NINE OF THE REVISED ADMINISTRATIVE CODE, Chanrobles law library, August 4, 1964, http://www.chanrobles.com/republicacts/republicactno4166.html, retrieved on 2008-06-11
- ^ Dean Conant Worcester, in his 1914 book The Philippines: Past and Present (Worcester 1914), says:
- "Invitations to the ceremony of the declaration of independence were sent to Admiral Dewey; but neither he nor any of his officers were present. It was, however, important to Aguinaldo that some American should be there whom the assembled people would consider a representative of the United States. 'Colonel' Johnson, ex-hotel keeper of Shanghai, who was in the Philippines exhibiting a cinematograph, kindly consented to appear on this occasion as Aguinaldo's Chief of Artillery and the representative of the North American nation. His name does not appear subsequently among the papers of Aguinaldo. It is possible that his position as colonel and chief of artillery was a merely temporary one which enabled him to appear in a uniform which would befit the character of the representative of a great people upon so solemn an occasion!"
- ^ Guevara, Sulpico, ed. (2005), "Philippine Declaration of Independence", The laws of the first Philippine Republic (the laws of Malolos) 1898-1899., Ann Arbor, Michigan: University of Michigan Library (published 1972), http://quod.lib.umich.edu/cgi/t/text/pageviewer-idx?c=philamer;cc=philamer;rgn=full%20text;idno=aab1246.0001.001;didno=aab1246.0001.001;view=image;seq=00000221, retrieved on 2008-03-26. (English translation by Sulpicio Guevara)
- ^ Guevara, Sulpico, ed. (2005), "Facsimile of the Proclamation of the Philippine Independence at Kawit, Cavite, June 12, 1898", The laws of the first Philippine Republic (the laws of Malolos) 1898-1899., Ann Arbor, Michigan: University of Michigan Library (published 1972), http://quod.lib.umich.edu/cgi/t/text/pageviewer-idx?c=philamer&cc=philamer&idno=aab1246.0001.001&frm=frameset&view=image&seq=203, retrieved on 2008-03-26. (Original handwritten Spanish)
- ^ PROCLAMATION NO. 28 DECLARING JUNE 12 AS PHILIPPINE INDEPENDENCE DAY, Philippine History group of Los Angeles, May 12, 1962, http://www.bibingka.com/phg/documents/jun12.htm, retrieved on 2008-06-17
[edit] References
- History of the Filipino People. Teodoro A. Agoncillo
- National Library of the Philippines
- Philippine History Group of Los Angeles
- Worcester, Dean Conant (1914), The Philippines: Past and Present (vol. 1 of 2), Macmillan, http://www.gutenberg.org/etext/12077, retrieved on 2008-01-17
[edit] External links
- Acta de la proclamación de la independencia del pueblo Filipino Spanish version by Corpus Juris online Philippine law library
- Declaration of Philippine Independence English version by Corpus Juris online Philippine law library
- The Act of Declaration of Philippine Independence
- Philippine History Group of Los Angeles
- July 4, 1946: Philippine Independence from the United States of America [1]
- June 12, 1898 as Independence Day [2]
- Philippines, CIA World Factbook
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