A truce between Spanish authorities and Filipino revolutionaries was signed, ending a phase of the Philippine Revolution. Under the agreement, Emilio Aguinaldo and other leaders went into exile in Hong Kong, temporarily weakening centralized revolutionary leadership. The unresolved issues behind the revolt would soon return.
As the Spanish-American War expanded into the Philippines, Aguinaldo returned from exile. His return helped restart revolutionary organizing and allowed Filipino forces to expand control in many provinces. This set the stage for a new attempt at national government.
Filipino leaders proclaimed independence from Spain in Kawit, Cavite. While the declaration was not recognized by major foreign powers at the time, it expressed the revolutionary movement’s goal of full sovereignty. It also provided political momentum for building a national state structure.
Aguinaldo issued a decree reorganizing the revolutionary leadership into a Revolutionary Government and outlining how a congress would be formed. This was an effort to move from military leadership toward a civil government with written rules. It directly prepared the way for a constitution-making assembly.
Representatives gathered in Malolos, Bulacan to form a revolutionary congress, often called the First Philippine Congress. The congress became the main body for debating national policy and drafting a constitution. It helped transform revolutionary authority into a more formal state system.
Spain and the United States signed the Treaty of Paris ending the Spanish-American War. In the treaty, Spain ceded the Philippines to the United States, directly conflicting with Filipino claims of independence. The transfer created the conditions for a new conflict between Filipino republicans and U.S. forces.
U.S. President William McKinley issued a proclamation describing U.S. plans to extend American authority in the Philippines. Filipino leaders saw the proclamation as confirmation that the United States intended to govern the islands rather than recognize independence. Tensions between Filipino forces and U.S. troops around Manila increased sharply afterward.
The Malolos Congress ratified the Malolos Constitution, creating a written framework for a republican government. The constitution aimed to establish a separation of powers and define civil rights and governance during a revolutionary period. It became the legal foundation for the First Philippine Republic.
The First Philippine Republic (often called the Malolos Republic) was inaugurated, with Emilio Aguinaldo as president. This marked the formal shift from a revolutionary government toward a constitutional republic with a national assembly. However, the new republic faced immediate pressure because the United States also claimed sovereignty.
Armed clashes broke out between Filipino forces and U.S. troops in Manila on February 4–5, 1899. The fighting quickly expanded beyond the city, turning the political dispute over sovereignty into a full-scale war. This conflict severely limited the republic’s ability to operate as a normal civil government.
U.S. forces captured Malolos at the end of March 1899, a major symbolic and practical blow to the republic. The republican government withdrew and relocated its seat as the war moved north. Losing Malolos showed that holding a fixed capital was difficult under U.S. military pressure.
General Antonio Luna, a leading military commander of the republic, was killed in Cabanatuan in June 1899. His death highlighted serious divisions within the revolutionary leadership and weakened organized resistance. The loss made coordinated conventional defense against U.S. forces even harder.
By November 1899, Filipino forces largely abandoned conventional battlefield tactics and shifted to guerrilla warfare (small, mobile units using ambushes and raids). This change reflected the republic’s reduced ability to hold territory against a better-equipped army. It also turned the conflict into a longer and more decentralized struggle.
A small Filipino rear guard under Gregorio del Pilar fought at Tirad Pass in northern Luzon to delay U.S. troops while Aguinaldo’s party fled. Del Pilar was killed, and the action became a famous example of rearguard defense during the republic’s retreat. The event showed how the republic increasingly depended on delaying actions and flight rather than holding positions.
U.S. forces captured Emilio Aguinaldo at his headquarters in Palanan on March 23, 1901. The capture removed the republic’s most visible national leader and weakened coordination among remaining forces. It also marked a turning point in the United States’ effort to end organized resistance.
After his capture, Aguinaldo took an oath of allegiance to the United States on April 1, 1901. This public shift signaled the collapse of the First Philippine Republic as a functioning national government, even though fighting continued in some areas. The republic’s main political project—an independent constitutional state—was effectively ended by U.S. control and continuing war conditions.
First Philippine Republic (Malolos Republic) (1898-1901)