First Philippine Republic
Philippine Republic | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1899–1901 (de jure) or 1902 (de facto) | |||||||||
| Motto: Libertad, Justicia, y Igualdad (English: "Liberty, Justice, and Equality") (Tagalog: "Kalayaan, Katarungan, at Kapantay-pantayan") | |||||||||
| Anthem: Marcha Nacional Filipina (English: "Philippine National March") | |||||||||
Territory controlled by the Philippine Republic, most of which it occupied except Manila and parts of Mindanao. | |||||||||
| Status | Unrecognized state | ||||||||
| Capital | Malolos | ||||||||
| Largest city | Manila (until February 5, 1899) | ||||||||
| Official languages | Spanish | ||||||||
| Common languages | Philippine languages | ||||||||
| Religion | Secular state Majority: Roman Catholicism Minority: Indigenous religion, Sunni Islam | ||||||||
| Demonym | Filipino | ||||||||
| Government | 1899: Unitary parliamentary constitutional republic under a military dictatorship 1899–1902: Unitary parliamentary republic with an executive presidency | ||||||||
| President | |||||||||
• 1899–1901 | Emilio Aguinaldo (first) | ||||||||
• 1901–1902 | Miguel Malvar (last; unofficial) | ||||||||
| Prime Minister | |||||||||
• 1899 | Apolinario Mabini (first) | ||||||||
• 1899 | Pedro Paterno (last) | ||||||||
| Legislature | National Assembly | ||||||||
| Historical era | Philippine–American War | ||||||||
| January 23, 1899 | |||||||||
• De jure dissolution | 19 April 1901 | ||||||||
• De facto dissolution | 16 April 1902 | ||||||||
| Area | |||||||||
| 1898 | 298,719 km2 (115,336 sq mi) | ||||||||
| Population | |||||||||
• 1898 | 7,832,719 | ||||||||
| Currency | Peso | ||||||||
| |||||||||
The Philippine Republic (Spanish: República Filipina), retroactively known as the First Philippine Republic or the Malolos Republic, was a state established in Malolos, Bulacan, during the Philippine Revolution against the Spanish Empire (1896–1898) through the promulgation of the Malolos Constitution on January 23, 1899, succeeding the Revolutionary Government of the Philippines. Emilio Aguinaldo was its inaugural president. It was not recognized by any foreign power, but remained a de facto government. Following the American victory at the Battle of Manila Bay, Aguinaldo returned to the Philippines, issued the Philippine Declaration of Independence on June 12, 1898, and proclaimed successive revolutionary Philippine governments on June 18 and 23 of that year, under which regimes the liberation of Philippine territory from Spain was conducted.
In December 1898, Spain and the United States signed the 1898 Treaty of Paris, ending the Spanish–American war. As part of the treaty, Spain ceded its claim to the Philippines to the United States. The treaty was not considered as in effect until April 11, 1899, when mutual ratifications were exchanged. The Revolutionary Government considered the treaty invalid, and in the meantime had been drafting a republican constitution to succeed its current regime. On January 21, 1899, the Malolos Constitution was promulgated, and the Republic was inaugurated on January 23. On February 4, fighting erupted in Manila between American and Filipino forces in what developed into the Philippine–American War. Aguinaldo was captured by the American forces on March 23, 1901, in Palanan, Isabela, and he declared allegiance to the U.S. on April 19, 1901, effectively ending the Philippine Republic.
The First Philippine Republic is sometimes characterized as the first proper constitutional republic in Asia, although there were several Asian republics predating it – for example, the Mahajanapadas of ancient India, the Lanfang Republic, the Republic of Formosa, or the Republic of Ezo. Aguinaldo himself had led a number of governments prior to Malolos, like those established at Tejeros and Biak-na-Bato which both styled themselves República de Filipinas ("Republic of the Philippines"). Unlike the founding documents of those governments, however, the Malolos Constitution was drafted and approved by a partially elected congress and called for a true representative democracy.