The Independence We Celebrate Today

On June 12, 1898, Philippine independence was proclaimed in a ceremony at the an-cestral home of General Emilio Aguinaldo in Cavite del Viejo (now Kawit, Cavite). The flag of the Philippines was unfurled for the first time and the national anthem, now known as Lupang Hinirang, was played by the San Francisco de Malabon marching band.

On August 1, the proclamation was ratified by 190 municipal presidents of towns in 16 provinces – Manila, Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Bulacan, Bataan, Infanta, Morong, Tayabas, Pampanga, Pangasinan, Mindoro, Nueva Ecija, Tarlac, La Union, and Zambales. It was the first constitutional democracy in Asia.

The declaration, however, was not recognized by the United States, whose forces had come to the Philippines in 1898 in the course of the Spanish-American War. General Aguinaldo fought the American forces in the subsequent Philippine-American War but was captured by US forces and the US declared that the “insurrection” had ended on July 2, 1902.