Government Republic Governor General of the Provinces Melecio Severino Historical era New Imperialism Capital Bacolod Political structure Insular area (1899–1901) | President Aniceto Lacson Legislature Chamber of Deputies Founded 1898 Date dissolved 1901 | |
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Languages Hiligaynon, Cebuano, Tagalog and Spanish | ||
The Republic of Negros (Spanish: República de Negros; Hiligaynon: Republika sang Negros; Cebuano: Republika sa Negros; Filipino: Republika ng Negros) was a short-lived revolutionary republic, and later, an administrative division, which existed while the Philippines was under Spanish and American sovereignty. It took its name from Negros Island.
Contents
History
From 3 November to 6 November 1898, the people of Negros rose in revolt against the Spanish authorities headed by politico-military governor, colonel Isidro de Castro. The Spaniards decided to surrender upon seeing armed troops marching in a pincer movement towards Bacolod, the main city of the island. The revolutionaries, led by generals Juan Araneta, from Bago and Aniceto Lacson, from Talisay, were actually carrying fake arms consisting of rifles carved out of palm fronds and cannons of rolled bamboo mats painted black. By the afternoon of 6 November, colonel de Castro signed the Act of Capitulation, thus ending Spanish colonial rule in both Negros Occidental and Negros Oriental.
On November 27, 1898, the unicameral Chamber of Deputies (Spanish: Cámara de Diputados) met in Bacolod and declared the establishment of the Cantonal Republic of Negros (Spanish: República Cantonal de Negros). The Chamber of Deputies acted as a Constituent Assembly to draft a constitution.
With the looming invasion of the United States Army, President Aniceto Lacson raised the American flag in the Casa Real to welcome the army as a friendly force. Despite the initial protest from the Negros Oriental deputies, the republic came under U.S. protection on April 30, 1899 as a separate state from the rest of the Philippine Islands and on the next day, the constitution was passed. On 22 July 1899, it was renamed the Republic of Negros. However, on 30 April 1901, it had been dissolved and the island of Negros was annexed to the Philippine Islands by the United States, who retained control until the Japanese imperial occupation in the Second World War.
Republican leaders
The leaders of the short-lived republic were:
Commemoration
In Bago City, the event was chronicled in a historic marker found in the Public Plaza, which bears the following inscriptions:
5 November has been observed as a special non-working holiday in Negros Occidental through Republic Act № 6709, signed by President Corazon Aquino on 10 February 1989.