The
Philippine Declaration of Independence occurred on June 12,
1898 in Cavite II el Viejo (now
Kawit),
Cavite,
Philippines. With the public reading of the
Act of the Declaration of Independence, Filipino revolutionary forces under General
Emilio Aguinaldo proclaimed the sovereignty and independence of the Philippine Islands from the colonial rule of Spain, which had been recently defeated at the
Battle of Manila Bay during the
Spanish-American War.
The declaration, however, was neither recognized by the
United States nor
Spain. The Spanish government later ceded the Philippines to the United States in the
1898 Treaty of Paris that ended the Spanish-American War. The United States finally recognized Philippine independence on July 4, 1946 in the
Treaty of Manila. July 4 was observed in the Philippines as
Independence Day until August 4, 1964 when, upon the advice of historians and the urging of nationalists, President
Diosdado Macapagal signed into law Republic Act No. 4166 designating June 12 as the country's
Independence Day. June 12 had previously been observed as
Flag Day and many government buildings are urged to display the Philippine Flag in their offices.
The Proclamation Day
.In the presence of a huge crowd, independence was proclaimed on June 12, 1898 between four and five in the afternoon in Cavite at the ancestral home of General
Emilio Aguinaldo some 30 kilometers South of
Manila . The event saw the unfurling of...
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