The laws of the first Philippine Republic (the laws of Malolos) 1898-1899. / Compiled & edited by Sulpicio Guevara.

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APPENDIX A-1

private property is not recognized, the legitimacy of such revolution can
not be put in doubt which was calmed but not completely stifled by the
pacification proposed by Don Pedro A. Paterno with Don Emilio Aguinaldo as President of the Republic established in Biak-na-Bato and accepted by Governor-General Don Fernando Primo de Rivera under terms,
both written and oral, among them being a general amnesty for all
deported and convicted persons; that by reason of the non-fulfillment of
some of the terms, after the destruction of the Spanish Squadron by the
North American Navy, and bombardment of the plaza of Cavite, Don
Emilio Aguinaldo returned in order to initiate a new revolution and no
sooner had he given the order to rise on the 31st of last month when
several towns anticipating the revolution, rose in revolt on the 28th, such
that a Spanish contingent of 178 men, between Imus and Cavite-Viejo,
under the command of a major of the Marine Infantry capitulated, the
revolutionary movement spreading like wild fire to other towns of Cavite
and the other provinces of Bataan, Pampanga, Batangas, Bulacan, Laguna, and Morong, some of them with seaports and such was the success
of the victory of our arms, truly marvelous and without equal in the history of colonial revolutions that in the first mentioned province only the
Detachments in Naic and Indang remained to surrender; in the second,
all Detachments had been wiped out; in the third, the resistance of the
Spanish forces was localized in the town of San Fernando where the
greater part of them are concentrated, the remainder in Macabebe, Sexmoan, and Guagua; in the fourth, in the town of Lipa; in the fifth, in the
capital and in Calumpit; and in the last two remaining provinces, only
in their respective capitals, and the city of Manila will soon be besieged
by our forces as well as the provinces of Nueva Ecija, Tarlac, Pangasinan, La Union, Zambales, and some others in the Visayas where the revolution at the time of the pacification and others even before, so that
the independence of our country and the revindication of our sovereignty
is assured.
And having as witness to the rectitude of our intentions the Supreme Judge of the Universe, and under the protection of the Powerful
and Humanitarian Nation, the United States of America, we do hereby
proclaim and declare solemnly in the name and by authority of the people of these Philippine Islands,
That they are and have the right to be free and independent; that
they have ceased to have any allegiance to the Crown of Spain; that all
political ties between them are and should be completely severed and annulled; and that, like other free and independent States, they enjoy the
full power to make War and Peace, conclude commercial treaties, enter
into alliances, regulate commerce, and do all other acts and things which
an Independent State has a right to do,
And imbued with firm confidence in Divine Providence, we hereby
mutually bind ourselves to support this Declaration with our lives, our
fortunes, and with our most sacred possession, our Honor.