Aguinaldo and the Hong Kong junta?

Answer 1

The Hong Kong Junta played a crucial role in the Revolution and the succeeding war against the United States. The campaign of the Hong Kong Junta may have differed from the armed struggle of the revolutionists back in the home country because their means was diplomacy and propaganda, still their objective was the same: Philippine independence.

Historical data point to the ambiguity of the beginnings of the Hong Kong Junta. According to Gregorio Zaide1 the origin of the Hong Kong Junta may be traced to the creation in late 1897 of a Central Revolutionary Committee in Hong Kong by the revolutionary government of Biac-na-bato headed by General Emilio Aguinaldo. Jose Ma. Basa, a veteran of the reformist movement of the late 1860s who was implicated in the Cavite Mutiny of 1872 headed this Committee. Imprisoned in Guam for two years, Basa gained his release in 1874 and settled in Hong Kong, where the Revolution found him. However, Esteban De Ocampo2 mentions the earlier establishment in December 1896 of a group of Filipinos in Hong Kong some of whom, such as Felipe Agoncillo, had fled to the British colony to escape political persecution. The group called themselves the "Filipino Revolutionary Committee" in December 1896, and was headed by Basa, followed shortly by Agoncillo, an activist lawyer from Batangas whose commitment in giving free legal assistance to poor, oppressed Filipinos had provoked the ire of the colonial administration. Forming the committee was the Filipino expatriates' response to the call for Revolution-- made by Andres Bonifacio and his Katipunan in August 1896-and took it upon themselves to rally support for the Revolution by collecting funds, food, and other provisions, and later tried to obtain ordnance for the revolutionary soldiers. The latter job-- the procurement of ordnance-- eventually became one of the chief functions of the group that was to become the Hong Kong Junta.

The Hong Kong Junta as such was organized in the aftermath of the signing of the Treaty of Biac-na-bato in November-December 1897, early during the self-exile in Hong Kong of revolutionary leaders led by Gen. Aguinaldo. De Ocampo states it was fittingly called a junta since its membership was made up of both civilians and military officers (of the Biac-na-bato government), and it worked for the replacement of the colonial government with that of the Filipinos.

Membership of the Hong Kong Junta went through several changes due to members' change of assignment or appointment and resignation for personal reasons or political differences. At one time or another members included, aside from those already mentioned, Miguel Malvar, Mariano Llanera, Jose Alejandrino, Galicano Apacible, Teodoro Sandico, Gracio Gonzaga, Antonio Montenegro, Doroteo Lopez, Anastacio Francisco, Severo Buenaventura, Faustino Lichauco, Andres Garchitorena and Maximo Kabigting.

The Junta supported the leadership of Aguinaldo over that of the disgruntled leaders left behind in the Philippines who maneuvered to obtain the second payment of indemnification from the colonial government. It also seconded Aguinaldo and the other revolutionists' decision in February 1898 to void the treaty owing to the violations committed by the Spanish government against the terms of the agreement, through a manifesto dated April 1898. Signing the document under the name "La Junta Patriotica" (Patriotic Junta), it also delineated in the document its aspirations for the Filipino nation, including, among others, an elected representative government; democratic rights such as freedom of religion; agrarian justice through the recognition of the right of tenant farmers to own the land they till (even if owned by the religious orders); protection for tenants against dispossession of their land titles; removal of onerous land taxes; reformation of public education; and strengthening of Filipino industries.

It also served as the revolutionary government's representative in the negotiations with the Spaniards in its campaign to secure the Filipinos' support in the Spanish-American War. By the end of April 1898, however, the Filipino revolutionists, convinced of the sincerity of the American officials in Singapore and Hong Kong, had already agreed to form an alliance with the United States against their common enemy Spain. As a body, the Hong Kong Junta supported this move, as manifested in the communiqué written on behalf of Aguinaldo and delivered by Junta member Jose Alejandrino, who returned to the Philippines aboard a United States vessel.

The Junta likewise functioned as adviser to Aguinaldo, and one such instance occurred in early May 1898, when Aguinaldo was hard put to decide on whether or not he should return to the Philippines at the time. In the end Aguinaldo was convinced by the Junta to do so and he re-launched the Revolution.

In the course of its dealings with American officials, the Junta had reservations on the true intentions of America vis-à-vis the Philippines. This was evidenced by another communiqué written by a "J. Basa" that expressed, perhaps for the first time, the fear of American colonization, and exhorted the Filipino people to "rise up in arms" against such an event. It is not clear whether the "J. Basa" of this manifesto was the same as the Jose Ma. Basa that headed the forerunner of the Hong Kong Junta, but the confusion is further reinforced by fact that Jose Ma. Basa became a leader of the group of Hong Kong-based Filipinos who also happened to be members of the Junta, which advocated Philippine annexation to the United States.

The disagreement on how Filipinos should attain nationhood sparked the division of the Junta, though temporary, into two factions. Those who opposed annexation were led by Agoncillo and Alejandrino, while those who favored it were composed of Sandico, Gonzaga, Montenegro and Garchitorena. Ultimately, the group overcame their differences thus benefiting the Philippine cause.

When the Philippine-American War broke out Aguinaldo, knowing the crucial role of the Junta, expanded its composition to strengthen its propaganda effort and funds and arms acquisition campaign. On August 10 he reorganized the Junta into a "Revolutionary Committee" composed of a Central Directorate, consisting of a president (Vicente Ilustre), vice president and treasurer (Cipriano Kalaw); secretary (Teodoro Sandico); councilors (Justo Lukban and Gracio Gonzaga), and members (Arcadio del Rosario, Jose Ma. Basa, Galicano Apacible, etc.). To carry out a propaganda and negotiation campaign aimed at winning international recognition of Philippine independence, the Hong Kong committee had correspondents led by Juan Luna and Pedro Roxas. Its propaganda and fund-raising work was also replicated in Paris and Madrid with the establishment of similar committees composed of Filipinos based in those cities.

By then, Agoncillo, former head of the Committee, had been promoted Philippine representative to the United States, tasked primarily to lobby for the Philippine cause at the U.S. Congress.

As the war progressed it became clear that the Filipino army, outnumbered and out-armed, was losing to their enemy. Despite this, the committee continued its work, issuing circulars to boost the morale of the Filipino army and urging the Filipinos to remain united against the enemy, which was now employing tactics other than warfare to undermine that unity. One such tactic, employed by the Philippine commission headed by William H. Taft, was to dangle the carrot of civil government under the so-called scheme of "Benevolent Assimilation" of the United States. Two such circulars, warning the Filipinos against such maneuverings were issued in November 1899 and May 1900 and reached as far as Cebu, their message disseminated by revolutionary leader Arcadio Maxilom.

In the end, the Filipinos lost the war. After Aguinaldo surrendered in 1901, his commanders soon followed, even as other leaders were captured and thrown in prison either here or abroad. Aguinaldo's military successor Malvar surrendered in 1902 after waging a bitter struggle that left thousands of Filipinos dead. Mabini's death followed this tragedy on May 13, 1903. Thus seeing no valid rationale to continue their work any further, the Hong Kong Junta dissolved itself on 31 July 1903, ending its campaign to defend Philippine sovereignty against American Imperialism. What remained of the revolutionary struggle were the scattered bands of Katipuneros, Muslim leaders and millenarian groups whose indomitable belief in the Filipinos' right to self-determination would take the Americans, to their chagrin, several more years to annihilate.