Philippine Declaration of Independence
| Philippine Declaration of Independence | |
|---|---|
 |
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| Created | May–June 1898 |
| Ratified | June 12, 1898 (Enacted) September 29, 1898 (Ratified by Malolos Congress) |
| Location | National Library of the Philippines |
| Author(s) |
Ambrosio Rianzares Bautista Emilio Aguinaldo |
| Signatories | 98 delegates |
| Purpose | To proclaim the sovereignty and independence of the Philippines from the colonial rule of Spain |
The Philippine Declaration of Independence (Filipino: Pagpapahayag ng Kasarinlan ng Pilipinas) was proclaimed on June 12, 1898 in Cavite II el Viejo (present-day Kawit, Cavite), Philippines. With the public reading of the Act of the Declaration of independence (Spanish: Acta de la proclamación de independencia del pueblo Filipino; Filipino: Paggawa ng Proklamasyon ng Kasarinlan ng sambayanang Pilipino), Filipino revolutionary forces under General Emilio Aguinaldo proclaimed the sovereignty and independence of the Philippine Islands from the colonial rule of Spain.
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 800,000 pesos and that Aguinaldo and other leaders go into exile in Hong Kong. In April 1898, at the outbreak of the Spanish–American War, Commodore George Dewey aboard the U.S.S. Olympia sailed from Hong Kong to Manila Bay leading the Asiatic Squadron of the 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, and on May 19, he arrived in Cavite.
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 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.
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