In March 1897, Emilio Aguinaldo, a member of the Katipunan, was elected as president of a revolutionary government established after the Tejeros Convention.
Exiled in Hong Kong after the Pact of Biak-na-Bato, he returned to the Philippines to renew revolutionary activities with the advent of the Spanish–American War and, in May 1898, formed a dictatorial government.
It can be found in a power to rule and make law that rests on a political fact for which no purely legal explanation can be provided.
Magellan sought friendship among the natives beginning with Humabon, the chieftain of Sugbu (now Cebu), and took special pride in converting them to Catholicism.
On February 8, 1597, King Philip II, near the end of his 42-year reign, issued a Royal Cedula instructing to Francisco de Tello de Guzmán, then Governor-General of the Philippines in severe terms to fulfill the laws of tributes and to provide for restitution of ill-gotten taxes imposed on the natives.
Muslim Moros from western Mindanao and the Sulu Archipelago constantly raided the coastal Christian areas of Luzon and the Visayas and occasionally brought home loot and abducted women.
On July 7, 1892, the Filipino José Rizal was exiled to Dapitan, Andrés Bonifacio, Teodoro Plata, Ladislao Diwa, and others founded the Katipunan, a secret organization opposed to Spanish rule.
[13] On November 1, 1897, a constitution written by Felix Ferrer and Isabelo Archero established the Republic of Biak-na-Bato, with Aguinaldo as President.
On December 14–15, 1897, the Pact of Biak-na-Bato suspended the revolution, with Aguinaldo and other Katipunan leaders agreeing to go into voluntary exile abroad.
On May 24, in the wake of his military victories, Aguinaldo announced that he was assuming "command of all the troops in the struggle for the attainment of our lofty aspirations, inaugurating a dictatorial government to be administered by decrees promulgated under my sole responsibility...".
This was done under the authority of the Biak-na-Bato republic, nullifying orders issued prior to the signing of the Pact of Biak-na-Bato and asserting that the Dictatorial Government was temporary in nature, "... so that, when peace shall have been reestablished and our legitimate aspiration for unrestricted liberty attained, it may be modified by the nation, in which rests the principle of authority.
"[16] On June 12, 1898, the Philippine Declaration of Independence was proclaimed at an event led by Emilio Aguinaldo in his mansion in Kawit, Cavite (this proclamation did not address the de jure status of the Spanish colonial government, which continued to exist under the Spanish national government then embroiled in the Spanish–American War).
On January 4, 1899, U.S. General Elwell Otis issued a proclamation announcing that the United States had obtained possession and control of all of the Philippines from the Spanish.
[25] Felipe Agoncillo, who had been assigned by Aguinaldo as Ambassador to the United States, had traveled to Paris but had been refused admission to the conference.
Returning to Paris, he sent a message to Aguinaldo about the refusal of the United States and other foreign powers to recognize the independence of the Philippines.
[26] During the entire time that the Filipino revolutionary movement developed as described above, first under Bonifacio and later under Makabulos and Aguinaldo, the Philippines was under Spanish sovereignty.
Although the 1898 annexation of the Philippines by the U.S. would arguably have been unlawful by today's standards,[citation needed] it does not follow that the U.S. claims of sovereignty are unfounded.
He issued decrees on June 24 and August 10 establishing the Hongkong Junta whose members were to represent the Philippines in different countries.
Felipe Agoncillo went to the U.S. to work for American recognition and secured an audience with U.S. President William McKinley, but only with the understanding was received as a private citizen and not as a representative of Aguinaldo.
[37] With the eruption of hostilities, Agoncillo fled the U.S.[34] That same day, Aguinaldo issued an order commanding "... That peace and friendly relations with the Americans be broken and that the latter be treated as enemies, ..."[38] On March 30, U.S.
[40] The treaty between Spain and the U.S. completed ratification on April 11, 1900 and sovereignty over the Philippines passed to the U.S. On March 23, 1901, after about two years of war, Aguinaldo was captured in Palanan, Isabela.
On April 1, 1901, Aguinaldo swore an oath accepting the authority of the United States over the Philippines and pledging his allegiance to the American government.
[49] The period 1935–1946 would ideally be devoted to the final adjustments required for a peaceful transition to full independence, a great latitude in autonomy being granted in the meantime.
On May 14, 1935, an election to fill the newly created office of President of the Commonwealth of the Philippines was won by Manuel L. Quezon (Nacionalista Party) and a Filipino government was formed on the basis of principles superficially similar to the US Constitution.
Philippine President Manuel L. Quezon had declared Manila, the capital, an "open city" and left it under the rule of Jorge B. Vargas, as mayor.
In accordance with the Tydings–McDuffie Act, President Harry S. Truman issued Proclamation 2695 of July 4, 1946, officially recognizing the independence of the Philippines.
[56] On April 28, 2012, Ramon Paje, director of the Philippine Department of Environment and Natural Resources announced that the claim had been approved by the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).
[66] In the Manila Accord, signed on 31 July 1963, the governments of the Philippines, Indonesia, and Malaysia agreed to establish machinery for frequent and regular consultations regarding this and other matters of common interest.
[67] These consultations did not result in resolution of the dispute, and the Philippines proposed for a judicial settlement through the International Court of Justice.
[68][69] Also, territorial cessations made by the Sultan of Sulu have led to sovereignty disputes over the Philippine island of Palawan.