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Philippine Declaration of Independence by Emilio Aguinaldo

When
1898
Where
Cavite el Viejo
Episodes
1

General Emilio Aguinaldo proclaimed Philippine independence from Spain on June 12, 1898, at Cavite el Viejo. This act followed the Pact of Biak-na-Bato and the outbreak of the Spanish-American War, marking the end of over three centuries of Spanish rule. The declaration occurred amidst military victories in Cavite and the arrival of American naval forces in Manila Bay.

Episodes

  1. 1898-06-12 · Cavite el ViejoDeclaration of Independence

    Aguinaldo proclaimed independence from Spain at Cavite el Viejo on June 12, 1898, ending Spanish rule.

Background and detail

Background. Following the Pact of Biak-na-Bato in December 1897, Aguinaldo went into exile in Hong Kong. The Spanish-American War began in April 1898, leading to the US victory at the Battle of Manila Bay on May 1. By May 1898, Filipino troops had cleared Cavite of Spanish forces, setting the stage for the proclamation.

Proclamation Details. Independence was proclaimed on June 12, 1898, between four and five in the afternoon at Aguinaldo's ancestral home in Cavite el Viejo. The event marked the end of Spanish dominance. The declaration was made by Filipino revolutionary forces general Emilio Aguinaldo.

Immediate Aftermath. Spain ceded the Philippines to the United States in the 1898 Treaty of Paris, effective April 11, 1899. The revolutionary government did not recognize this treaty or American sovereignty, leading to the outbreak of the Philippine-American War on February 4, 1899.

People involved

Sources

  1. Philippine Declaration of Independence Wikipedia, revision of 2026-09-22
  2. Emilio Aguinaldo Wikipedia, revision of 2026-10-07

Machine-drafted from the cited Wikipedia passages and checked by a reviewing model, not by a human editor. Every passage cites the revision it was written from; dates and places follow those passages.