THE PHILIPPINE REVOLUTION
In August 1896, Spanish friars discovered evidence of the Katipunan's plans, leading to revolts in several provinces around Manila. After months of fighting, severe Spanish retaliation forced the revolutionary armies to retreat to the hills. In December 1897, a truce was concluded with the Spanish, and Emilio Aguinaldo, a municipal mayor and commander of the rebel forces, was paid a large sum and allowed to go to Hong Kong with other leaders. The Spanish promised reforms, but small bands of rebels kept their arms, leading to more frequent clashes.
The Spanish-American War broke out between Spain and the United States, and after the U.S. naval victory in the Battle of Manila Bay in May 1898, Aguinaldo and his entourage returned to the Philippines with the help of Adm. George Dewey. Confident of U.S. support, Aguinaldo reorganized his forces and liberated several towns south of Manila. Independence was declared on June 12, 1899, and a constitutional congress met in Malolos, north of Manila, which drew up a fundamental law derived from European and Latin American precedents. A government was formed on the basis of that constitution in January 1899, with Aguinaldo as president of the new country, popularly known as the "Malolos Republic."
the time the treaty was ratified, hostilities had already broken out between U.S. and Filipino forces. Filipino leaders did not recognize U.S. sovereignty over the islands and U.S. commanders gave no weight to Filipino claims of independence, making the conflict inevitable. It took two years of counterinsurgency warfare and some wise conciliatory moves in the political arena to break the back of the nationalist resistance. Aguinaldo was captured in March 1901 and appealed to his countrymen to accept U.S. rule.
