Gen. Arthur MacArthur on March 31, 1899.
Aguinaldo could no longer afford costly con-
frontations with better equipped enemy
forces, so he fled north to continue guerrilla
warfare from the mountains.
Over the next two years, MacArthur sys-
tematically reduced rebel strongholds while
pacifying the population with goodwill and
public works. This spirit of generosity and
benevolence helped undermine support for
rebel forces, who occupied smaller and
smaller regions of northern Luzon, the
Visayan Islands, Mindinao, and Sulu. How-
ever, fighting, when it did occur, was heavy
and costly to both sides. At length a new com-
mander, U.S. Col. Frederick Funston, resorted
to a ruse to end the war. Enlisting the aid of a
friendly Filipino contingent, he was taken to
Aguinaldo’s camp as a prisoner until, without
warning, the so-called captives drew their
weapons and captured the elusive rebel
leader. Under intense pressure, Aguinaldo
agreed to swear allegiance to the United
States and help end the war. Thousands of his
rebels, bereft of his leadership, then summar-
ily laid down their arms, although contingents
on Batangas and Samar held out until May
- On July 4, 1902, a new American presi-
dent, Theodore Roosevelt, ordered Aguinaldo
released, and the rebel leader returned to a
life of seclusion. His insurrection cost the
lives of 4,200 Americans, 20,000 Filipino sol-
diers, and upward of 200,000 civilians.
Following his release, Aguinaldo lived a
law-abiding existence, but in public appear-
ances he donned a black bow tie symbolizing
his mourning of Philippine independence.
“My capture, together with the treachery and
betrayal that accompanied it, left me deeply
angered, then distressed, then almost com-
pletely numbed,” he later wrote. But the
readiness with which Aguinaldo bowed to
U.S. pressure cost him considerable standing
among his former adherents, and thereafter
he functioned only as a political figurehead. In
1935, he was spurred to run against Manuel
Quezon for the presidency of the common-
wealth government, only to be soundly de-
feated. Aguinaldo then resumed his self-im-
posed exile until 1941, when Japanese forces
under Gen. Masaharu Hommainvaded and
commenced a long and cruel occupation of
the Philippines. To the surprise of many asso-
ciates, Aguinaldo allied himself with the in-
vader and called for Filipino and American
forces under Gen. Douglas MacArthur to sur-
render. He also lobbied the Japanese to name
him president of their puppet wartime repub-
lic, but they ignored him. After MacArthur’s
reconquest of the Philippines in 1945,
Aguinaldo was arrested for collaborating with
the enemy and briefly jailed. He was subse-
quently freed on an amnesty granted by Presi-
dent Harry S. Truman. However, after 35 years
of struggle, the Philippines finally acquired
complete independence on July 4, 1946.
Aguinaldo’s long-cherished goal had finally
been achieved. He consequently remained a
spokesman for Philippine nationalism and
democracy for the rest of his long life. This
implacable enemy of colonialism, whose rep-
utation was somewhat diminished by his col-
laboration with Japan, died in Manila on Feb-
ruary 6, 1964. Although unsuccessful in his
personal crusade, he had given the Americans
their first taste of protracted guerrilla conflict
in Asia.Bibliography
Aguinaldo, Emilio. My Memoirs. Manila: Cristina
Aguinaldo Suntay, 1967; Bolton, Grania. “Military
Diplomacy and National Liberation: Insurgent—
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lier, J. Phillip. Uncle Sam’s Little Wars: The Spanish-
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