Philippine Declaration of Independence
Ambrosio Rianzares Bautista
1898
Exported from Wikisource on April 18, 2024
1
In the town of Cavite-Viejo, Province of Cavite, this
12th day of June 1898: BEFORE ME, Ambrosio Rianzares
Bautista, War Counsellor and Special Delegate designated
to proclaim and solemnize this Declaration of Independence
by the Dictatorial Government of the Philippines, pursuant
to, and by virtue of, a Decree issued by the Egregious
Dictator Don Emilio Aguinaldo y Famy,
The undersigned assemblage of military chiefs and
others of the army who could not attend, as well as the
representatives of the various towns,
Taking into account the fact that the people of this
country are already tired of bearing the ominous yoke of
Spanish domination,
Because of arbitrary arrests and abuses of the Civil
Guards who cause deaths in connivance with and even
under the express orders of their superior officers who at
times would order the shooting of those placed under arrest
under the pretext that they attempted to escape in violation
of known Rules and Regulations, which abuses were left
unpunished, and because of unjust deportations of
illustrious Filipinos, especially those decreed by General
Blanco at the instigation of the Archbishop and the friars
interested in keeping them in ignorance for egoistic and
selfish ends, which deportations were carried out through
processes more execrable than those of the Inquisition
2
which every civilized nation repudiates as a trial without
hearing,
Had resolved to start a revolution in August 1896 in
order to regain the independence and sovereignty of which
the people had been deprived by Spain through Governor
Miguel Lopez de Legazpi who, continuing the course
followed by his predecessor Ferdinand Magellan who
landed on the shores of Cebu and occupied said Island by
means of a Pact of Friendship with Chief Tupas, although
he was killed in battle that took place in said shores to
which battle he was provoked by Chief Kalipulako[1] of
Mactan who suspected his evil designs, landed on the Island
of Bohol by entering also into a Blood Compact with its
Chief Sikatuna, with the purpose of later taking by force the
Island of Cebu, and because his successor Tupas did not
allow him to occupy it, he went to Manila, the capital,
winning likewise the friendship of its Chiefs Soliman and
Lakandula, later taking possession of the city and the whole
Archipelago in the name of Spain by virtue of an order of
King Philip II, and with these historical precedents and
because in international law the prescription established by
law to legalize the vicious acquisition of private property is
not recognized, the legitimacy of such revolution can not be
put in doubt which was calmed but not completely stifled
by the pacification proposed by Don Pedro A. Paterno with
Don Emilio Aguinaldo as President of the Republic
established in Biak-na-Bato and accepted by Governor-
General Don Fernando Primo de Rivera under terms, both
3
written and oral, among them being a general amnesty for
all deported and convicted persons; that by reason of the
non-fulfillment of some of the terms, after the destruction
of the Spanish Squadron by the North American Navy, and
bombardment of the plaza of Cavite, Don Emilio Aguinaldo
returned in order to initiate a new revolution and no sooner
had he given the order to rise on the 31st of last month
when several towns anticipating the revolution, rose in
revolt on the 28th, such that a Spanish contingent of 178
men, between Imus and Cavite-Viejo, under the command
of a major of the Marine Infantry capitulated, the
revolutionary movement spreading like wild fire to other
towns of Cavite and the other provinces of Bataan,
Pampanga, Batangas, Bulacan, Laguna, and Morong, some
of them with seaports and such was the success of the
victory of our arms, truly marvelous and without equal in
the history of colonial revolutions that in the first mentioned
province only the Detachments in Naic and Indang
remained to surrender; in the second, all Detachments had
been wiped out; in the third, the resistance of the Spanish
forces was localized in the town of San Fernando where the
greater part of them are concentrated, the remainder in
Macabebe, Sexmoan, and Guagua; in the fourth, in the town
of Lipa; in the fifth, in the capital and in Calumpit; and in
the last two remaining provinces, only in their respective
capitals, and the city of Manila will soon be besieged by our
forces as well as the provinces of Nueva Ecija, Tarlac,
Pangasinan, La Union, Zambales, and some others in the
Visayas where the revolution at the time of the pacification
4
and others even before, so that the independence of our
country and the revindication of our sovereignty is assured.
And having as witness to the rectitude of our intentions
the Supreme Judge of the Universe, and under the
protection of the Powerful and Humanitarian Nation, the
United States of America, we do hereby proclaim and
declare solemnly in the name and by authority of the people
of these Philippine Islands,
That they are and have the right to be free and
independent; that they have ceased to have any allegiance to
the Crown of Spain; that all political ties between them are
and should be completely severed and annulled; and that,
like other free and independent States, they enjoy the full
power to make War and Peace, conclude commercial
treaties, enter into alliances, regulate commerce, and do all
other acts and things which an Independent State has a right
to do,
And imbued with firm confidence in Divine
Providence, we hereby mutually bind ourselves to support
this Declaration with our lives, our fortunes, and with our
most sacred possession, our Honor.
We recognize, approve, and ratify, with all the orders
emanating from the same, the Dictatorship established by
Don Emilio Aguinaldo whom we revere as the Supreme
Head of this Nation, which today begins to have a life of its
5
own, in the conviction that he has been the instrument
chosen by God, in spite of his humble origin, to effectuate
the redemption of this unfortunate country as foretold by
Dr. Don José Rizal in his magnificent verses which he
composed in his prison cell prior to his execution, liberating
it from the Yoke of Spanish domination,
And in punishment for the impunity with which the
Government sanctioned the commission of abuses by its
officials, and for the unjust execution of Rizal and others
who were sacrificed in order to please the insatiable friars
in their hydropical thirst for vengeance against and
extermination of all those who oppose their Machiavellian
ends, trampling upon the Penal Code of these Islands, and
of those suspected persons arrested by the Chiefs of
Detachments at the instigation of the friars, without any
form nor semblance of trial and without any spiritual aid of
our sacred Religion; and likewise, and for the same ends,
eminent Filipino priests, Doctor Don José Burgos, Don
Mariano Gomez, and Don Jacinto Zamora were hanged
whose innocent blood was shed due to the intrigues of these
so-called Religious corporations which made the authorities
to believe that the military uprising at the fort of San Felipe
in Cavite on the night of January 21, 1872 was instigated by
those Filipino martyrs, thereby impeding the execution of
the decree-sentence issued by the Council of State in the
appeal in the administrative case interposed by the secular
clergy against the Royal Orders that directed that the
parishes under them within the jurisdiction of this Bishopric
6
be turned over to the Recollects in exchange for those
controlled by them in Mindanao which were to be
transferred to the Jesuits, thus revoking them completely
and ordering the return of those parishes, all of which
proceedings are on file with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs
to which they are sent last month of last year for the
issuance of the proper Royal Degree which, in turn, caused
the growth of the tree of liberty in this our dear land that
grew more and more through the iniquitous measures of
oppression, until the last drop from our chalice of suffering
having been drained, the first spark of revolution broke out
in Caloocan, spread out to Santamesa and continued its
course to the adjoining regions of the province where the
unequalled heroism of its inhabitants fought a one-sided
battle against superior forces of General Blanco and
General Polavieja for a period of three months, without
proper arms nor ammunitions, except bolos, pointed
bamboos, and arrows.
Moreover, we confer 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,
And, lastly, it was resolved unanimously that this
Nation, already free and independent as of this day, must
use the same flag which up to now is being used, whose
design and colors are found described in the attached
drawing, the white triangle signifying the distinctive
7
emblem of the famous Society of the "Katipunan" which by
means of its blood compact inspired the masses to rise in
revolution; the three stars, signifying the three principal
Islands of this Archipelago-Luzon, Mindanao, and Panay
where this revolutionary movement started; the sun
representing the gigantic steps made by the sons of the
country along the path of Progress and Civilization; the
eight rays, signifying the eight provinces—Manila, Cavite,
Bulacan, Pampanga, Nueva Ecija, Bataan, Laguna, and
Batangas—which declared themselves in a state of war as
soon as the first revolt was initiated; and the colors of Blue,
Red, and White, commemorating the flag of the United
States of North America, as a manifestation of our profound
gratitude towards this Great Nation for its disinterested
protection which it lent us and continues lending us.
And holding up this flag of ours, I present it to the
gentlemen here assembled—Don Segundo Arellano, Don
Tiburcio del Rosario, Sergio Matias, Don Agapito Zialcita,
Don Flaviano Alonzo, Don Mariano Legazpi, Don Jose
Turiano Santiago y Acosta, Don Aurelio Tolentino, Don
Felix Ferrer, Don Felipe Buencamino, Don Fernando Canon
Faustino, (Hijo), Don Anastacio Pinzun, Don Timoteo
Bernabe, Don Flaviano Rodríguez, Don Gavino (?)
Masancay, Don Narciso Mayuga, Don Gregorio Villa, Don
Luis Perez Tagle, Don Canuto Celestino, Don Marcos
Jocson, Don Martin de los Reyes, Don Ciriaco Bausa, Don
Manuel Santos, Don Mariano Toribio, Don Gabriel Reyes,
Don Hugo Lim, Don Emiliano Lim, Don Fausto Tinorio (?),
8
Don Rosendo Simon, Don Leon Tanjanque (?), Don
Gregorio Bonifacio, Don Manuel Salafranca, Don Simon
Villareal, Don Calixto Lara, Don Buenaventura Toribio,
Don Zacarias Fajardo, Don Florencio Manalo, Don Ramon
Gana, Don Marcelino Gomez, Don Valentin Polintan, Don
Felix Polintan, Don Evaristo Dimalanta, Don Gregorio
Alvarez, Don Sabas de Guzman, Don Esteban Francisco,
Don Guido Yaptinchay, Don Mariano Rianzares Bautista,
Don Francisco Arambulo, Don Antonio Gonzalez, Don
Juan Arevalo, Don Ramon Delfino, Don Honorio Tiongco,
Don Francisco del Rosario, Don Epifanio Saguil, Don
Ladislao Afable Jose, Don Sixto Roldan, Don Luis de Lara,
Don Marcelo Basa, Don Jose Medina, Don Epifanio Cirisia
(?), Don Pastor Lopez de Leon, Don Mariano de los Santos,
Don Santiago Garcia, Don Claudio Tria Tirona, Don
Estanislao Tria Tirona, Don Daniel Tria Tirona, Don Andres
Tria Tirona, Don Carlos Tria Tirona, Don Sulpicio P.
Antony, Don Epitacio Asuncion, Don Catalino Ramon, Don
Juan Bordador, Don Jose del Rosario, Don Proceso Pulido,
Don Jose Maria del Rosario, Don Ramon Magcamco (?),
Don Antonio Calingo, Don Pedro Mendiola, Don
Estanislao Galinco, Don Numeriano Castillo, Don Federico
Tomacruz, Don Teodoro Yatco, Don Ladislao Diwa (?),
Who solemnly swear to recognize and defend it unto
the last drop of their blood.
In witness thereof, I certify that this Act of Declaration
of Independence was signed by me and by all those here
9
assembled including the only stranger who attended those
proceedings, a citizen of the U.S.A., Mr. L. M. Johnson, a
Coronel of Artillery.
10
This work is in the public domain because
it is a work of the Philippine government
(see Republic Act No. 8293 Sec. 176).
All official Philippine texts of a legislative,
administrative, or judicial nature, or any
official translation thereof, are ineligible for
copyright.
1. ↑ Now known as Lapu-Lapu
11
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