View source for Philippine Declaration of Independence

{{Short description|1898 assertion of Philippine independence from Spanish colonial rule}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=December 2022}}
{{Use Philippine English|date=December 2022}}
{{Infobox document
|document_name=Philippine Declaration of Independence
|image=Philippine independence.jpg
|image_width=
|image_caption=Official draft copy of the Declaration of Independence
|title_orig=([[Spanish language|Spanish]]) Acta de la proclamación de independencia del pueblo Filipino<br>({{literal translation|Proclamation Act of Independence of the Filipino People}})
|date_created=May–June 1898
|date_presented=June 12, 1898, in [[Kawit|Cavite el Viejo]], [[Cavite]]
|date_ratified=August 1, 1898 <br>(first ratification in [[Bacoor]], [[Cavite]])<br>September 29, 1898 (official ratification by the [[Malolos Congress]])
|location_of_document=[[National Library of the Philippines]]<ref name=ABSCBN>{{cite news|last=Rufo|first=Aries|title=Court set to decide on National Library pilferage of historical documents|url=http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/nation/05/26/08/court-set-decide-national-library-pilferage-historical-documents|access-date=January 29, 2013|newspaper=Abs-cbnNEWS.com/Newsbreak|date=May 26, 2008|quote=Around 8,183 documents, mostly classified as Philippine Revolutionary Papers, were returned to the National Library. One University of the Philippines professor returned more than 6,000 documents. Among the retrieved documents were the manuscript of Andres Bonifacio’s trial, the Declaration of Independence, the Pact of Biac-na-Bato and Leonor Rivera’s letter to Rizal’s parents dated Dec. 10,1893.}}</ref> 
|commissioned= [[Dictatorial Government of the Philippines|Dictator]] [[Emilio Aguinaldo]]
|writer=[[Ambrosio Rianzares Bautista]]
|signers=98 delegates
|purpose=To proclaim the sovereignty and independence of the [[Philippines]] from the colonial rule of the [[Spanish Empire]]
}}
{{Campaignbox Philippine Revolution}}

The '''Philippine Declaration of Independence''' ({{langx|fil|Pagpapahayag ng Kasarinlan ng Pilipinas}}; {{langx|es|Declaración de Independencia de Filipinas}}){{efn|Full name: ''Act of the Proclamation of Independence of the Filipino People'' ({{langx|fil|Kasulatan ng Pagpapahayag ng Kasarinlan ng Sambayanang Pilipino|link=no}}; {{langx|es|Acta de la proclamación de independencia del pueblo Filipino|link=no}})}} was proclaimed by Filipino revolutionary forces general [[Emilio Aguinaldo]] on June 12, 1898, in Cavite el Viejo (present-day [[Kawit]], [[Cavite]]), [[Philippines]]. It asserted the [[sovereignty]] and [[Philippine Independence|independence of the Philippine islands]] from the 300 years of [[History of the Philippines (1565–1898)|colonial rule]] from [[Spanish Empire|Spain]].

[[File:Flag of the Philippines (1898–1901).svg|thumb|<small>The original flag raised by [[Emilio Aguinaldo]] in declaring independence in 1898</small>]]

==History==
{{main|Philippine Revolution|History of the Philippines (1898–1946)}}

In 1896, the [[Philippine Revolution]] began. In December 1897, the Spanish government and the revolutionaries signed a truce, the [[Pact of Biak-na-Bato]], requiring that the Spanish pay the revolutionaries $[[Mexican peso#First peso|MXN]]800,000{{efn|name=mex-us|1=The Mexican dollar at the time was worth about 50 US cents, equivalent to about ${{#expr:{{inflation|US|1|1897|r=2}}/2 round 2}} today.<ref>*{{Cite book
|last=Halstead
|first=Murat 
|title=The Story of the Philippines and Our New Possessions
|url=http://www.gutenberg.org/catalog/world/readfile?fk_files=58428&pageno=1
|chapter=XII. The American Army in Manila
|chapter-url=http://www.gutenberg.org/catalog/world/readfile?fk_files=58428&pageno=122
|year=1898
|publication-date=May 22, 2004
|page=[http://www.gutenberg.org/catalog/world/readfile?fk_files=58428&pageno=126 126]}}.</ref> The ''[[Philippine peso fuerte|peso fuerte]]'' and the Mexican dollar were interchangeable at par.}} and that Aguinaldo and other leaders go into exile in [[British Hong Kong|Hong Kong]]. In April 1898, shortly after the beginning of the [[Spanish–American War]], Commodore [[George Dewey]], aboard the [[USS Olympia (C-6)|USS ''Olympia'']], sailed into [[Manila Bay]], leading the [[Asiatic Squadron]] of the [[United States Navy|U.S. Navy]]. On May 1, 1898, the United States defeated the Spanish in the [[Battle of Manila Bay]]. [[Emilio Aguinaldo]] decided to return to the Philippines to help American forces defeat the Spaniards. The U.S. Navy agreed to transport him back aboard the [[USS McCulloch (1897)|USS ''McCulloch'']], and on May 19, he arrived in Cavite.<ref>Agoncillo, page 157</ref>

===The Proclamation on June 12===
[[File:NDS reverse 5 Philippine peso bill.jpg|thumb|The Proclamation of Independence on June 12, 1898, as depicted on the back of the [[Philippine five peso bill]]]]
[[File:Site of the Proclamation of Philippine Indepedence Historical Markers, Kawit, Cavite.jpg|thumb|left|Proclamation of Philippine Independence Historical Markers at the [[Aguinaldo Shrine]] in [[Kawit]], [[Cavite]]]]

Independence was proclaimed on June 12, 1898, between four and five in the afternoon in Cavite at the [[Aguinaldo Shrine|ancestral home]] of General [[Emilio Aguinaldo]] in Cavite el Viejo (present-day [[Kawit]]), [[Cavite]], some {{convert|30|km|sp=us}} south of [[Manila]]. The event saw the unfurling of the [[flag of the Philippines]], made in Hong Kong by Marcela Agoncillo, Lorenza Agoncillo, and Delfina Herboza, and the performance of the ''Marcha Filipina Magdalo'', as the [[national anthem]], now known as ''[[Lupang Hinirang]]'', which was composed by Julián Felipe and played by the ''San Francisco de Malabon'' marching band.

The Act of the Declaration of Independence was prepared, written, and read by [[Ambrosio Rianzares Bautista]] in Spanish.<ref>{{cite book | last=Sagmit | first=E.A. | title=The Filipino Moving Onward 5' 2007 Ed. | publisher=Rex Bookstore, Inc. | isbn=978-971-23-4154-0 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SIq_FvJUr40C | page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=SIq_FvJUr40C&pg=PA162&dq=%22declaration+of+independence%22+ambrosio+bautista 162] }}</ref> The Declaration was signed by 98 people,<ref>{{cite book|last=Environment|first=United States. Congress. House. Committee on Foreign Affairs. Subcommittee on Asia, the Pacific, and the Global|title=Honoring the 111th Anniversary of the Independence of the Philippines: Markup Before the Subcommittee on Asia, the Pacific, and the Global Environment of the Committee on Foreign Affairs, House of Representatives, One Hundred Eleventh Congress, First Session, on H. Con. Res. 153, October 14, 2009|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bmvS7Ggm8OcC|year=2009|publisher=U.S. Government Printing Office|isbn=978-0-16-084875-9|page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=bmvS7Ggm8OcC&dq=philippine+%22declaration+of+independence%22+%22signed+by%22&pg=PA5 5]}}</ref> among them a [[United States Army]] officer who witnessed the proclamation. The final paragraph states that there was a "stranger" (''stranger'' in English translation—''extranjero'' in the original Spanish, meaning ''foreigner'') who attended the proceedings, Mr. L. M. Johnson, described as "a citizen of the U.S.A., a Colonel of Artillery".<ref>[[Dean Conant Worcester]], in his 1914 book ''The Philippines: Past and Present'' {{Harv|Worcester|1914}}, says:
:"Invitations to the ceremony of the declaration of independence were sent to [[George Dewey|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 a 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!"
Worcester attributes this to "Taylor, 26 A J.", referring to Major J. R. M. Taylor, who translated and compiled insurgent records</ref> Despite his prior military experience, Johnson had no official role in the Philippines.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=T_alCgAAQBAJ|title=America, Sea Power, and the World|first=James C.|last=Bradford|page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=T_alCgAAQBAJ&dq=Johnson&pg=PA150 150]|publisher=John Wiley & Sons|year=2016|isbn=9781118927922}}</ref> The only copy of the "Acta de la Proclamacion de Independencia del Pueblo Filipino" or "The Birth Certificate of the Filipino Nation", [[Handwriting|handwritten]] by Lt. Col. Jose Bañuelo, was sold for P11.4 million at the Leon Gallery auction on September 14, 2024.<ref>{{cite news |last1= Yap|first1= Jade|title=How Leon Gallery got a hold of the copy of declaration of Philippine independence for auction|url=https://www.gmanetwork.com/news/lifestyle/artandculture/920066/how-leon-gallery-got-a-hold-of-the-copy-of-declaration-of-philippine-independence-for-auction/story/ |accessdate=September 11, 2024 |work=[[GMA Network]] |date=September 11, 2024}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=  Nakpil|first1=Lisa Guerrero  |title=Copy of declaration of Philippines independence sold for P11.4 million|url= https://www.philstar.com/headlines/2024/09/17/2385837/copy-declaration-philippines-independence-sold-p114-million|accessdate=September 18, 2024 |work= [[The Philippine Star]]|date=September 17, 2024}}</ref>

====Ratification====
The proclamation of Philippine independence was only promulgated on August 1, when many towns had already been organized under the rules laid down by the [[Dictatorial Government of the Philippines|Dictatorial Government]] of General Aguinaldo.<ref>{{Citation|chapter-url=https://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|chapter=Philippine Declaration of Independence|title=The Laws of the First Philippine Republic (The Laws of Malolos) 1898-1899.|url=https://quod.lib.umich.edu/cgi/t/text/text-idx?c=philamer;iel=1;view=toc;idno=aab1246.0001.001|location=Manila|publisher=National Historical Commission|editor-last=Guevara|editor-first=Sulpicio|year=1972|access-date=March 26, 2008}}. (English translation by Sulpicio Guevara)</ref><ref>{{Citation
|chapter-url=http://quod.lib.umich.edu/cgi/t/text/pageviewer-idx?c=philamer&cc=philamer&idno=aab1246.0001.001&frm=frameset&view=image&seq=203|chapter=Facsimile of the Proclamation of the Philippine Independence at Kawit, Cavite, June 12, 1898|title=The Laws of the First Philippine Republic (The Laws of Malolos) 1898-1899.|url=https://quod.lib.umich.edu/cgi/t/text/text-idx?c=philamer;iel=1;view=toc;idno=aab1246.0001.001|location=Manila|publisher=National Historical Commission|editor-last=Guevara|editor-first=Sulpicio|year=1972
|access-date=March 26, 2008}}. (Original handwritten Spanish)</ref> There were 190 municipal presidents from different towns in 16 provinces—[[Manila]], [[Cavite]], [[Laguna (province)|Laguna]], [[Batangas]], [[Bulacan]], [[Bataan]], [[Infanta, Quezon|Infanta]], [[Morong, Rizal|Morong]], [[Tayabas]], [[Pampanga]], [[Pangasinan]], [[Mindoro]], [[Nueva Ecija]], [[Tarlac]], [[La Union]], and [[Zambales]]—who ratified the Proclamation of Independence in [[Bacoor]], [[Cavite]].

Later, at [[Malolos]], [[Bulacan]], the [[Malolos Congress]] modified the declaration upon the insistence of [[Apolinario Mabini]], who objected to the original proclamation, which essentially placed the Philippines under the protection of the United States.

===Struggle for independence===
The declaration was never recognized by either the [[United States]] or [[Spain]]. Instead, Spain [[Cession|ceded]] the Philippines to the United States in the [[1898 Treaty of Paris]] that took effect afer the exchange of ratifications on April 11, 1899, marking the end of the Spanish-American War.

The Philippine Revolutionary Government did not recognize the treaty or American sovereignty and subsequently fought and lost a conflict with the United States originally referred to by the Americans as the "Philippine Insurrection" but now generally and officially called the [[Philippine–American War]]. Emilio Aguinaldo was captured by U.S. forces on March 23, 1901,<ref>{{Harvnb|Worcester|1914|p=[http://www.gutenberg.org/catalog/world/readfile?fk_files=56151&pageno=175 175]}}</ref>{{failed verification|date=June 2024}}{{dead link|date=June 2024}} and issued a statement acknowledging and accepting the sovereignty of the United States over the Philippines.<ref>{{Harvnb|Worcester|1914|pp=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cession[http://www.gutenberg.org/catalog/world/readfile?fk_files=56151&pageno=175 175–176]}}</ref>{{failed verification|date=June 2024}}{{dead link|date=June 2024}} On July 2, 1902, [[United States Secretary of War|U.S. Secretary of War]] [[Elihu Root]] telegraphed that the Filipino insurrection had come to an end, and provincial civil governments had been established everywhere except those areas inhabited by [[Moro people|Moro]] tribes.<ref>{{Harvnb|Worcester|1914|p=[https://archive.org/details/philippinespastp01worcuoft/page/293/mode/1up 293]}}</ref> Pockets of resistance continued for several years.

Following the end of World War II, the United States granted independence to the Philippines on July 4, 1946, via the [[Treaty of Manila (1946)|Treaty of Manila]].<ref>{{Citation|url=http://untreaty.un.org/unts/1_60000/1/6/00000254.pdf|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090326035729/http://untreaty.un.org/unts/1_60000/1/6/00000254.pdf|archive-date=March 26, 2009|title=TREATY OF GENERAL RELATIONS BETWEEN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA AND THE REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES. SIGNED AT MANILA, ON 4 JULY 1946|publisher=United Nations|access-date=December 10, 2007}}</ref> 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''.<ref>{{Citation|url=http://www.chanrobles.com/republicacts/republicactno4166.html|title=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 PURPOSE SECTION TWENTY-NINE OF THE REVISED ADMINISTRATIVE CODE|date=August 4, 1964|publisher=Chanrobles law library|access-date=June 11, 2008}}</ref> June 12 was previously observed as ''Flag Day'', and many government buildings are urged to display the Philippine Flag in their offices.

===Current location of the Declaration===
The Declaration is currently housed in the [[National Library of the Philippines]].<ref name=ABSCBN /> It is not on public display, but like any other document held by the National Library, it can be viewed with permission.

During the Philippine–American War, the American government captured and sent to the United States about 400,000 historical documents.<ref name=CNN /> In 1958, the documents were given to the Philippine government along with two sets of microfilm of the entire collection, with the U.S. Federal Government keeping one set.<ref name=CNN />

The Declaration was stolen from the National Library sometime in the 1980s or 1990s.<ref name=ABSCBN /> As part of a larger investigation into the widespread theft of historical documents and a subsequent public appeal for the return of stolen documents, the Declaration was returned to the National Library in 1994 by historian and [[University of the Philippines]] professor Milagros Guerrero, who mediated the return of the documents.<ref name=CNN>{{cite news|title=Asiaweek|url=http://articles.cnn.com/1999-08-31/world/96_0830_nat9_1_philippine-independence-filipinos-batangas?_s=PM:ASIANOW|archive-url=https://archive.today/20130215174535/http://articles.cnn.com/1999-08-31/world/96_0830_nat9_1_philippine-independence-filipinos-batangas?_s=PM:ASIANOW|url-status=dead|archive-date=February 15, 2013|access-date=January 29, 2013|publisher=CNN|date=August 31, 1999}}</ref>

==The text of the "Act of the Proclamation of Independence of the Filipino People"==
{{wikisource|Philippine Declaration of Independence}}
{{Expand section|date=June 2012}}
The Act of the Proclamation of Independence of the Filipino People ({{langx|es|Acta de la proclamación de independencia del pueblo Filipino}}; {{langx|fil|Katitikan ng Pagpapahayag ng Kasarinlan ng Sambayanang Pilipino}}) is part of a long line of [[declarations of independence]], including the [[United States Declaration of Independence]]. It includes a list of grievances against the Spanish government stretching back to [[Ferdinand Magellan]]'s arrival in 1521. It confers upon "our famous Dictator Don Emilio Aguinaldo all the powers necessary to enable him to discharge the duties of Government, including the prerogatives of granting pardon and amnesty."<ref>[[Wikisource:Philippine Declaration of Independence]]</ref>

==See also==
*[[First Philippine Republic]]
*[[Republic Day (Philippines)]]
*[[Philippine Independence Day Parade]]

==Notes==
{{Notelist}}
{{Reflist|30em}}

==References==
*''History of the Filipino People''. Teodoro A. Agoncillo
*National Library of the Philippines
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20090512212522/http://www.bibingka.com/phg/documents/jun12.htm Philippine History Group of Los Angeles]
*{{Citation
|last=Worcester
|first=Dean Conant
|title=The Philippines: Past and Present (vol. 1 of 2)
|url=https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/12077
|publisher=Macmillan
|year=1914
|access-date=January 17, 2008}}

==External links==
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20090616115557/http://www.thecorpusjuris.com/laws/constitutions/9-others/112-philippine-declaration-of-independence.html?start=1 Acta de la proclamación de la independencia del pueblo Filipino] (Spanish) by [http://www.thecorpusjuris.com/ Corpus Juris online Philippine law library]
*[https://www.thecorpusjuris.com/constitutions/declaration-of-independence.php Declaration of Independence] (English translation) by [http://www.thecorpusjuris.com/ Corpus Juris online Philippine law library]

{{Philippine Revolution}}

[[Category:Declarations of independence]]
[[Category:Public holidays in the Philippines]]
[[Category:Philippine–American War]]
[[Category:Philippine Revolution]]
[[Category:Separatism in Spain]]
[[Category:1898 in international relations]]
[[Category:June 1898 in Asia]]
[[Category:1898 documents]]