Manuel Tinio - 1898

1898

Would history have been different if the Spanish authorities had not reneged on the terms of the Pact and withheld the amount of P900,000 which was supposed to have been divided among non-combatants who had suffered in the fighting? Thus shortchanged, considering themselves no longer honor bound to lay down arms, the revolutionists rose again. Once again fighting broke out all over Luzon. In Nueva Ecija, the rebels captured the towns again one by one.

But American intervention was on the way. As early as February 1898 an American naval squadron had steamed into Manila Bay. On May 1, less than a week after the declaration of the Spanish–American War, the American naval squadron completely destroyed the Spanish fleet. Admiral Dewey of the United States of America immediately dispatched the revenue cutter "McCulloch" to Hongkong to fetch Aguinaldo, who returned to the Philippines on May 19. On May 21 Aguinaldo issued a proclamation asking the nation to rally behind him in a second attempt to obtain independence. Revolutionary leaders promptly stepped up their raids and ambuscades on Spanish garrisons in Central Luzon, capturing more than 5,000 prisoners. By the end of May, the whole of central and southern Luzon, except Manila, was practically in Filipino hands. Aguinaldo promptly established a Dictatorial Government on May 24, with himself as Supremo (supreme commander) and proclaimed Philippine Independence on June 12, 1898. Apolinario Mabini, however, prevailed upon Aguinaldo to decree the establishment of a Revolutionary Government on June 23.