Who Really is the First Philippine President?

From Coleen N. Luspo

Is it Aguinaldo or is it Bonifacio?

Recent discoveries point out to BONIFACIO. In the Kartilya (Constitution) ng Katipunan, Bonifacio called the Philippines not Republika ng Pilipinas but Republika ng Katagalogan. Further, he defined "Katagalogan" as the entire archipelago and all its native residents as Tagalogs. "Filipinos" or "Pilipinos" at that time was defined as not native residents but mestizos.

At the early stages of the Katipunan, Aguinaldo was just the equivalent of chief of the Armed Froces. When he assumed power, even his letterheads bore the heading Republika ng Katagalogan.

History has recored the fact that Aguinaldo went into exile after being paid 400,000 pesos by the Spaniards but it does not record the fact that he called the people who did not agree on an exile as "Bandidos." The question is where did the money go?

During the Pact of Biak na Bato, negotiations with the Spaniards, Aguinaldo proposed a power sharing and to an extent even submitted a new design of coins: The Royal Crown of Spain on one side and on the obverse, the seal of the Katipunan.

At the height of the Spanish-American War, Aguinaldo, while exiled in Hong Kong, offered the US Consul in Singapore hbis services as an intermediary between the Americans and Spanish Government in the Philippines. Hence, Dewey had him fetch from Hong Kong and rushed to Manila.

Seeing that his former allies, the very same people he called 'bandidos', were still up in arms, he saw the opportunity to again assume power and this time go against the Americans. Several revolutionary factions did not approve of Aguinaldo's actions and as a result, they established their own governments like The Revolutionary Tribunal that even authorized the issuance of their own stamps on July 1, 1898; the Cantonal Government of Bohol, established in August 1898, and remained in control of the entire Bohol Island until late 1899 or about a year after Spain ceded the Philippines to the U.S. in December 10, 1898; the Cantonal Republic of Negros, founded by Generals Aniceto Lacson and Juan A. Araneta, and patterned after the U.S. Federal and Cantonal Government of the Swiss Confederation. It existed from November 27, 1898 to march 4, 1899; the Federal State of the Visayas - Panay, which was founded in Sta. Barbara, Iloilo, on November 17, 1898 (originally called the Provisional Revolutionary Government, replaced by a politico-military government on November 23, 1898, and renamed Federal State of the Visayas - Panay, on December 2, 1898). They also had their own stamps (perhaps someone can confirm this. The Smithsonian has supposedly a set of these rare stamps.)

So the Philippine-American War started on February 4, 1899, when an American soldier accidentally shot and killed a Filipino sentry (officially on March 15, 1898). There is just one bit more of information that is quite interesting. Aguinaldo was captured march 23, 1901 by forces of Gen. Frederick Funston, and on April 19, 1901, less than one month after his capture, took an oath of allegiance to the U.S. For this fact alone, he does not deserve to be called a "General.". - by Abraham Q. Luspo, Jr.

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