On a nit-picky note, aside from nit-picking on costumes, some details like calling him “Emilio Famy Aguinaldo” is an anachronism –that’s how most people enumerate their names today, but not then: it would have been Emilio Aguinaldo y Famy (and he only ever signed his name Emilio Aguinaldo). Details like that torpedo my enjoyment of period films. Jessica Zafra once wrote a devastating critique of many Filipino period films so I won’t dwell on the matter further, thank you very much. 

Symbols over the generations

Tomorrow is Rizal Day, the most venerable of our secular national observances, the first Decree mandating it as a day of national remembrance and mourning having been issued by Aguinaldo in 1898.

Many of the tangible aspects of our nationhood, as the Rizal Day decree suggests, date to Aguinaldo. There is, for example, the national anthem itself, which is one part Marcha Real (the Spanish anthem); Verdi’s Grand March from his opera, Aida; and Marseillaise (the French anthem):

There, is, too, the national flag itself, which in turn pays homage to the Katipunan, and the revolutionary movements of the Americas:

The Filipino Garibaldi and his era

A British historian once called Aguinaldo “The Filipino Garibaldi,” after the leader of the Italian unification movement; here are some readings and reflections on Aguinaldo and his era:

It’s also interesting to see the development of the Revolution throughout its various stages, culminating in the First Republic. A useful way to look at the era is through maps.

Tying it all together

This is an essay I wrote which tries to tie together the various threads of our history:

Aguinaldo in the eyes of his contemporaries

Aguinaldo outlived his contemporaries and actively sought to explain his role throughout the revolution and first republic. In 1949, he posed for a photo taken by E.Z. Izon and was interviewed by Teodoro M. Locsin:

Starting as a 2nd Lieutenant, then as Captain and then Major, Quezon joined the Philippine Army during the Philippine-American War and became an aide-de-camp to President Aguinaldo. In this Filipino translation of his memoirs, he recalls the time he spent as Aguinaldo’s aide-de-camp:

After serving as Aguinaldo’s aide-de-camp, Quezon was then assigned to Gen. Tomas Mascardo in Bataan, and in his autobiography, he recounts his period of service there:

The photo below is of Quezon in the uniform of a Major in the Philippine Army. He recounts how he ended up visiting the captured Aguinaldo in Malacañan Palace:

The 1920s and 1930s, however, would be spent with Aguinaldo and Quezon as bitter political enemies, even if they smiled from time to time for the cameras.

But a very interesting development was the reconciliation of the two leaders in July, 1940. The biography of their common friend, Daniel Maramba, who arranged the reconciliation, gives details:

Larry Henares also recounted the reconciliation, which he says he witnessed:

The outcome was the first public celebration of June 12, which was made Flag Day in 1941:

Here is another photograph of the June 12, 1941 commemoration of Flag Day: