PRO AGUINALDO CLAIMS AND SUPPORT
Back in Cavite, Aguinaldo forcibly set up a provisional dictatorship.
After meeting with the Malolos Congress and drafting a constitution for a
new republic, on June 12, 1898, Aguinaldo at last declared Philippine
independence. Announced from his hometown of Kawit, Aguinaldo's
proclamation put an end to four centuries of Philippine oppression under
Spanish Colonial rule. In January of the following year, dressed in a white
suit at Barasoain Church in Malolos City, Aguinaldo was sworn in as the first
president of the new, self-governed Philippine republic.
https://www.biography.com/people/emilio-aguinaldo-9177563
After the Tejeros Convention, the meetings that followed from the
proceedings evolved into discussions of the structure and leadership of the
movement. An election soon followed: Aguinaldo was voted president.
Bonifacio, ranking second to Aguinaldo in the presidential vote, was
instead elected Director of the Interior.
- https://www.pressreader.com/philippines/the-philippine-
star/20120612/283442073537816
At the proclamation of Indepence, Aguinaldo was named dictator of the
country – an inevitability, given the fog of war and the fact that this was the
Filipinos’ first taste of self-rule. He soon formed a revolutionary government
that gave birth to Asia’s first republican government and constitution. His
government introduced reforms for education, fiscal policy, local
jurisdiction, and recognized the freedom of the press and right to assembly.
-https://www.pressreader.com/philippines/the-philippine-
star/20120612/283442073537816
With all the flak Emilio Aguinaldo has been getting from contemporary
Filipinos, it’s good to know the man had his redeeming qualities—namely,
his willingness to resign as President in favor of someone more capable.
In the book The Development of Philippine Politics authored by Maximo
Kalaw, Miong supposedly tendered his resignation as head of the
government sometime in December 1898—a mere month before the
formal establishment of the first Philippine Republic.
- https://filipiknow.net/emilio-aguinaldo-resignation-1898/
Another circumstance to consider in the struggle for supremacy between
Bonifacio and Aguinaldo is that the heart of the rebellion at that stage was
Cavite, and "Heneral Miong" was the recognized leader of the insurgents.
The Cavitenos were the first to drive the Spaniards out of the greater portion
of Cavite, and after accomplishing this they divided the towns of the
province into two provincial councils under the Katipunan. One was called
the Magdiwang and the other the Magdalo. In each council there were a
president, a vice president, a secretary, several secretaries of departments
(interior, justice and finance), and a captaingeneral corresponding to
secretary of war.
Aguinaldo was the Captain-General of the Magdalo council. From the
beginning, he seemed to have the idea that the Katipunan should
continue only as a means of propaganda and that the conquered
provinces should have a different sort of organization.
- https://tubagbohol.mikeligalig.com/archives/andres-bonifacio-vs-
emilio-aguinaldo/
Bonifacio had no record of political compromises. Aguinaldo, an astute
politician, most certainly had, from the Spanish to the Americans to the
Japanese.
- https://opinion.inquirer.net/88098/a-question-of-heroes-aguinaldo-vs-
bonifacio
ADDITIONAL INFO
Was he the only one to blame for the execution of andres bonifacio and
his brother?
According to historian Xiao Chua, while Miong may indeed have had
his faults, the blame should be also placed on his inner circle especially
the elite for their negative influence on the country’s youngest president
who was undeniably a greenhorn in the world of politics.
Remember, the only offices Aguinaldo held before becoming president
was cabeza de barangay of Binakayan and gobernadorcillo capitan
municipal of Cavite el Viejo.
“We have to consider that he was 28 or 29 when he became president,”
Chua said. “He was surrounded by traditional politicians.”
“It was the elite system—“elite democracy” that killed the Supremo,” he
added.
In his letter bearing his signature, Aguinaldo said that while he initially
commuted the brothers’ death sentence to banishment, he was
prevailed upon by his generals Mariano Noriel and Pio del Pilar who
were part of his Council of War to carry out the execution for the
country’s sake.
“Kung ibig po ninyong magpatuloy ang kapanatagan ng
pamahalaang mapanghimagsik, at kung ibig ninyong mabuhay pa
tayo, ay inyo pong bawiin ang iginawad na indukto sa magkapatid na
iyan,” they told him.
In reply, Aguinaldo said: “Dahil dito’y aking binawi at inutos ko kay
Heneral Noriel na ipatupad ang kahatulan ng Consejo de Guerra, na
barilin ang magkapatid, alang-alang sa kapanatagan ng bayan.”
- https://filipiknow.net/who-murdered-andres-bonifacio/
AGAINST AGUINALDO CLAIMS AND DEFENSE
Aguinaldo won in a snap election during the Tejeros Convention
between the Magdiwang and Magdalo — two rival factions of the
Katipunan.
The belief that Bonifacio should be recognized as the first President of
the Philippines is based on his position as Supremo of the Katipunan
revolutionary government from 1896 to 1897.
"From that point on, the Katipunan ceased to be a mere revolutionary
organization into a revolutionary government. Ang unang pambansang
pamahalaan sa Pilipinas," historian Xiao Chua said.
- http://www.gmanetwork.com/news/lifestyle/content/323562/the-
case-for-andres-bonifacio-as-the-first-philippine-president/story/
Dirty elections
Aguinaldo won the elections, of course.
But after a violent incident with the insulting Daniel Tirona, Bonifacio,
being Presidente Supremo of the Katipunan Supreme Council, declared
the results null and void and dissolved the assembly.
The following day, Aguinaldo was said to have “surreptitiously” taken his
oath of office as president in a chapel officiated by a priest
(contradicting the Mason affiliation of the Katipunan). And this despite
his Captain-General Artemio Ricarte’s declaration that he found the
elections “dirty or shady” and “not in conformity with the true will of the
people.”
- https://opinion.inquirer.net/88098/a-question-of-heroes-aguinaldo-vs-
bonifacio
ADDITIONAL INFO
He did not investigate the (alleged) rape of Bonifacio’s wife.
One of the lesser-known controversies surrounding the Aguinaldo-
Bonifacio rivalry concerns that of the alleged rape of Gregoria de Jesus
by Aguinaldo’s men shortly after they captured her husband. Although
de Jesus herself never categorically said she was raped, General
Mariano Noriel (a member of the War Council and ironically one of those
who voted for Bonifacio’s execution) asked Aguinaldo to investigate the
incident.
Unfortunately for de Jesus, Aguinaldo never investigated nor punished
the offending officers. What’s worse, this wouldn’t be the last act of
impunity that Aguinaldo would allow his men to get away witH.
-https://filipiknow.net/facts-about-emilio-aguinaldo/
He could have saved Bonifacio’s life but didn’t.
To his credit, he initially did commute Bonifacio and his brother
Procopio’s death sentences to banishment. However, his War Council
and associates persuaded him to carry out the execution. They claimed
that to let Bonifacio alive would be to endanger Aguinaldo’s life and
the integrity of the revolution.
-https://filipiknow.net/facts-about-emilio-aguinaldo/
-Bonifacio had no record of political compromises. Aguinaldo, an astute
politician, most certainly had, from the Spanish to the Americans to the
Japanese.
-Counter: To recognize Bonifacio’s presidency is to recognize the first
manifestation of a government of national unity in the Philippines which
eventually led to the birth of the First Constitutional Democratic Republic in Asia,
the Republica Filipina, led by General Emilio Aguinaldo.
-Also, Aguinaldo had issued a manifesto proclaiming a provisional revolutionary
government, in effect denying the existence of the Katipunan government,
which had a constitution, laws and local governments.
-The pro-Aguinaldo faction argued he had led a string of victories in Cavite,
mostly turning points in the revolution, whereas Bonifacio met mostly defeats in
Manila and environs.
-Counter: The pro-Bonifacio faction countered that major Spanish forces were
concentrated in Manila, while Cavite’s battles were no more than skirmishes
with the constabulary in streets and alleys.
-All the electors were friends of Don Emilio Aguinaldo and Don Mariano Trias,
who were united, while Bonifacio, although he had established his integrity, was
looked upon with distrust only because he was not a native of the province.”
And there was the prototype of “dagdag-bawas,” the rigged ballot boxes, as
testified to by some.
https://www.google.com.ph/amp/s/opinion.inquirer.net/88098/a-question-of-
heroes-aguinaldo-vs-bonifacio/amp
-The board of the National Historical Institute, in a unanimous ruling last July 7,
1994, declared that the petition to grant a state funeral for Andres Bonifacio as
the head of the Filipino Nation or State cannot be fully granted because it
“necessarily reverses the verdict of death by an Aguinaldo-constituted judicial
process a century ago against the Bonifacio brothers.”
https://www.tsikot.com/forums/travel-tourism-holidays-148/aguinaldo-vs-
bonifacio-rightful-1st-philippine-president-91481/
-They said original and authentic documents of the Philippine Revolution against
Spain attested to by historians of note such as Milagros Guerrero, Emmanuel
Encarnacion and Ramon Villegas said Bonifacio founded the first national
government of the Philippines and served as its president from Aug. 24, 1896 until
his tragic death on May 10, 1897.
-Counter: The lawmakers said the August 1896 transformation of the Katipunan
into a revolutionary government and the ensuing election of Bonifacio to the
presidency were also confirmed by Pio Valenzuela in his testimony before
Spanish authorities upon his surrender on Sept. 2, 1896.
http://manilastandard.net/mobile/article/193176
-Aguinaldo won in a snap election during the Tejeros Convention between the
Magdiwang and Magdalo — two rival factions of the Katipunan.
-Counter: The belief that Bonifacio should be recognized as the first President of
the Philippines is based on his position as Supremo of the Katipunan
revolutionary government from 1896 to 1897.
LA ASEMBLEA NACIONAL
