Neha Patil (Editor)

Republic of Biak na Bato

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Languages
  
Historical era
  
Disestablished
  
December 14, 1897 1897

Founded
  
1897

Government
  
Republic

Established
  
November 1, 1897

Preceded by
  
Succeeded by

Area
  
300,000 km²

Date dissolved
  
1897

The Philippine negotiators for the Pact of Biak-na-Bato. Seated from left to right: Pedro Paterno and Emilio Aguinaldo with five companions

Republic of biak na bato


The Republic of Biak-na-Bato (Tagalog: Repúbliká ng̃ Biak-na-Bató, Spanish: República de Biac-na-Bató), officially referred to in its constitution as the Republic of the Philippines (Tagalog: Repúbliká ng̃ Filipinas, Spanish: República de Filipinas), was the first republic ever declared in the Philippines by revolutionary leader Emilio Aguinaldo and his fellow revolutionaries. Despite its successes, including the establishment of the Philippines' first ever constitution, the republic lasted just over a month. It was disestablished by a peace treaty signed by Aguinaldo and the Spanish Governor-General, Fernando Primo de Rivera which included provision for exile of Aguinaldo and key associates to Hong Kong.

Contents

The Philippine negotiators for the Pact of Biak-na-Bato. Seated from left to right: Pedro Paterno and Emilio Aguinaldo with five companions

Government

Emilio Aguinaldo seated third from right with other insurgent leaders

The constitution of the Republic of Biak-na-Bato was written by Felix Ferrer and Isabelo Artacho, who copied the Cuban Constitution of Jimaguayú nearly word-for-word. It provided for the creation of a Supreme Council, which was created on November 2, 1897, with the following as officers having been elected:

History

Emilio Aguinaldo sitting on the rock while holding a sword and wearing  a black long sleeve, black pants, and black boots

The initial concept of the republic began during the latter part of the Philippine Revolution, when the leader of the Katipunan, Emilio Aguinaldo, became surrounded by Spanish forces at his headquarters in Talisay, Batangas. Aguinaldo slipped through the Spanish cordon and, with 500 picked men, proceeded to Biak-na-Bató, a wilderness area at the town of San Miguel, Bulacan (now parts of San Miguel, San Ildefonso and Doña Remedios in Bulacan). When news of Aguinaldo's arrival there reached the towns of central Luzon, men from the Ilocos provinces, Nueva Ecija, Pangasinan, Tarlac, and Zambales renewed their armed resistance against the Spanish.

Aguinaldo Mural - Constitution of Biak-na-Bato

Unable to persuade the revolutionaries to give up their arms, Governor-General Primo de Rivera issued a decree on July 2, 1897, which prohibited inhabitants from leaving their villages and towns. Contrary to his expectations, they continued fighting. Within days, Aguinaldo and his men planned the establishment of a Republic. Aguinaldo issued a proclamation from his hideout in Biak-na-Bato entitled "To the Brave Sons of the Philippines", in which he listed his revolutionary demands as:

Information about the Pact of Biak-na-Bato
  1. the expulsion of the Friars and the return to the Filipinos of the lands which they had appropriated for themselves;
  2. representation in the Spanish Cortes;
  3. freedom of the press and tolerance of all religious sects;
  4. equal treatment and pay for Peninsular and Insular civil servants;
  5. abolition of the power of the Government to banish civil citizens;
  6. legal equality of all persons.
The Philippine negotiators for the Pact of Biak-na-Bato. Seated from left to right: Pedro Paterno and Emilio Aguinaldo with five companions

On November 1, 1897, the provisional constitution for the Biak-na-Bato Republic was signed. The preamble of the constitution included the statement that

NHI Marker, 1973 Biak-na-Bato Memorial

By the end of 1897, Governor-General Primo de Rivera accepted the impossibility of quelling the revolution by force of arms. In a statement to the Cortes Generales, he said, "I can take Biak-na-Bato, any military man can take it, but I can not answer that I could crush the rebellion." Desiring to make peace with Aguinaldo, he sent emissaries to Aguinaldo seeking a peaceful settlement. Nothing was accomplished until Pedro A. Paterno, a distinguished lawyer from Manila, volunteered to act as negotiator.

NHI Marker, 1973 Biak-na-Bato Memorial

On August 9, 1897, Paterno proposed a peace based on reforms and amnesty to Aguinaldo. In succeeding months, practicing shuttle diplomacy, Paterno traveled back and forth between Manila and Biak-na-Bato carrying proposals and counterproposals. Paterno's efforts led to a peace agreement called the Pact of Biak-na-Bato. This consisted of three documents, the first two being signed on December 14, 1897, and the third being signed on December 15; effectively ending the Republic of Biak-na-Bato.

In 1899, Aguinaldo wrote in retrospect that the principal conditions of the pact were:

The Mother of Biak-na-Bato

Trinidad Tecson: Katipunan of San Miguel, Bulacan.

On November 16, 1937, a 2,117 hectares (8.17 sq mi) block in the Biak-na-Bato area was declared a national park by Manuel L. Quezon in honor of the Republic. In the 1970s, Ferdinand Marcos issued orders guiding mineral prospecting and exploitation in government reservation which impacted the park boundaries. On April 11, 1989, Corazon Aquino issued Proclamation No. 401, which re-defined the boundaries of the Biak-na-Bato National Park. The proclamation set aside 952 hectares (3.68 sq mi) hectares as mineral reservation, 938 hectares (3.62 sq mi) hectares as watershed reservation and 480 hectares (1.9 sq mi) hectares as forest reserve.

References

Republic of Biak-na-Bato Wikipedia


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