War of Philippine Independence from the United States

August 1898
- Americans win against Spain in the incredulous Battle of Manila
- Filipino troops are curiously evacuated from all areas captured by the Americans

December 21, 1898
- US President William McKinley issues his Benevolent Assimilation Proclamation,
indicating that the US shall exercise sovereignty over the entire Philippine archipelago

January 5, 1899
- Aguinaldo issues a counter-proclamation, specifying that his forces are prepared to fight
any American attempt to take over the country

January 20, 1899
- US President McKinley appointed the First Philippine Commission to make
recommendations in the administration of the country, headed by Dr. Jacob Schurman
(Schurman Commission)

February 4, 1899
- Hostilities begin, involving Private Robert Willie Grayson of the First Nebraska
volunteers, in Silencio corner Sociego St. in Sta. Mesa, Manila
- First shot of the Philippine-American War, called Philippine Insurrection by the
Americans (1899-1906)

February 5, 1899
- General Arthur MacArthur issues his order to advance against Filipino troops without
investigating the shooting incident
- Aguinaldo tries to avoid war, sending an emissary to inform Governor General Elwell
Otis that the firing on their side had been against his order, to no avail
- American boats bombard the Filipino fort of San Juan del Monte
- A fierce battle ensues in La Loma, with the Americans victorious
- General MacArthur heads for Caloocan and emerges victorious again

February 22, 1899
- George Washingtons Birthday (an American national holiday)
- General Antonio Luna (younger brother of Juan Luna) tries to recapture Manila by
burning American occupied houses in Tondo and Binondo
- Americans rush to the area and respulsed Lunas men
- Luna retreated to Polo, where he established his headquarters

Late February 1899
- Reinforcements arrive from the United States
- MacArthur begins his offensive towards Malolos, the capital of the Philippine Republic
- Filipinos burn the cities of Polo and Meycauayan in order to delay the enemy advance

March 6, 1899
- Apolinario Mabini, as head of Aguinaldos Cabinet and minister of foreign affairs, meets
with the Schurman Commission and requests for a temporary cease-fire but was refused

March 30, 1899
- Americans arrive in Malolos
- Aguinaldo evacuates and establishes his headquarters in San Isidro, Nueva Ecija

March 31, 1899
- General MacArthur captures Malolos

April 15, 1899
- Mabini issues a manifesto in San Isidro, Nueva Ecija urging his countrymen to continue
the struggle for independence

April 28, 1899
- Mabini attempts again to seek armistice but is again turned down

May 7, 1899
- Mabini resigns from the Cabinet
- Aguinaldo names Pedro Paterno as new head of the Cabinet

May 1899
- Paterno creates a Committee headed by Felipe Buencamino to negotiate peace with the
Americans
- General Luna blocks the trip of the peace committee to Manila and arrests the members

June 5, 1899
- General Luna is killed in Cabanatuan by Pedrong Kastila and other Filipino soldiers
- Lunas death demoralizes the Philippine army

August 20, 1899
- John Bates and Sultan Jamalul Kiram II of Sulu with three datus sign the Bates Treaty,
providing that the rights and dignities of the sultan and his datus shall be respected

June November 1899
- Aguinaldo moves his government from Cabanatuan to Tarlac, then to Bayombong,
Neuva Viscaya, and then to Bayambang, Pangasinan

November 12, 1899
- Aguinaldo dissolves the regular army, forming guerilla units instead to carry on the war

December 2, 1899
- General Gregorio del Pilar repulses American troopers at Tirad Pass, in the Ilocos range
on the way to the Cordillera mountains
- Battle of Tirad Pass ends in defeat for the Filipinos, after Januario Galut, an Igorot guide
of the Americans, showed a secret trail to the top of Tirad Pass
- Del Pilar is killed with a bullet through his neck, and only 8 out of 60 Filipino soldiers
escape alive

March 16, 1900
- President McKinley appointed the Second Philippine Commission headed by Judge
William Howard Taft (Taft Commission)

April 19, 1901
- Aguinaldo is captured and taken aboard the Vicksburg and brought to Manila
- Aguinaldo takes the oath of allegiance to the United States and appealed to all Filipinos
to accept the sovereignty of the United States

July 4, 1901
- American civil government is established in the Philippines with Taft as first civil
governor
- The Taft Commission has both executive and legislative functions
- Sells huge tracts of friar lands to Filipinos on easy installment terms

July 31, 1901
- General Miguel Malvar issues a manifesto urging the people to continue the resistance to
American occupation

September 28, 1901
- American soldiers are attacked by townsfolk in Balangiga, Samar
- Sparks the Balangiga Massacre

November 4, 1901
- Taft Commission passes the Sedition Law, which imposed the death penalty or a long
prison term on anyone who advocated separation from the United States even by peaceful
means

December 25, 1901
- Reconcentration is introduced by American General Franklin Bell

April 16, 1902
- Gneral Malvar surrenders in Lipa, Batangas, two months after the capture of General
Lukban in Catubig, Samar

July 1, 1902
- United States Congress passes the Cooper Act, or the Philippine Organic Act of 1902,
providing for the extension of the United States Bill of Rights to Filipinos, and the
establishment of an elective Philippine Assembly

July 4, 1902
- US President Theodore Roosevelt declares that the Philippine Insurrection is over
- Local resistance continues
- More than 200,000 Filipino casualties already by this time

September 1902
- Resistance groups that had been operating in Rizal and Bulacan merged into a
consolidated movement with General Luciano San Miguel as supreme military
commander

November 12, 1902
- Taft passes the Brigandage Act, which punished with death or with a prison term of not
less than 20 years for members of an armed band

March 2, 1903
- Governor Taft proclaims Census Day
- Reports a total Philippine population of 7,635,426

March 28, 1903
- General San Miguel is killed after some Philippine Scouts discovered his headquarters
between Caloocan and Marikina
- General San Miguel is replaced by Faustino Guillermo, who is soon captured himself

September 25, 1903
- The last revolutionary general, General Simeon Ola, surrenders to the Americans in
Guinobatan, Albay

April 1904
- Mariano Sakay establishes the Tagalog Republic and issues a manifesto addressed to all
foreign consulates declaring that he and his men were real revolutionaries and not mere
brigands

July 1906
- Sakay surrenders on condition of an amnesty, negotiated with Governor General Henry
C. Ide and Dr. Dominador Gomez

September 1907
- Sakay is executed by the Americans by hanging under the Brigandage Act, and the
Philippine-American War is won by the Americans