Let me start by saying that, Emilio Aguinaldo is not a hero to me. I don't want you all getting the wrong idea. While I acknowledge his contributions to our country's independence, my respect to Andres Bonifacio, General Antonio Luna, and all the other Philippine Revolutionary Heroes goes way way deeper than how I see Ka Miyong. But of course, I am not a bitter old lady! Haha! I acknowledge the contribution of General Emilio Aguinaldo's old mansion to the history of our beloved country; the Philippines. After all, it has become a home to the Philippine Independence proclaimed on June 12, 1898.
Photo Credits: US-Philippines Society
General Emilio Aguinaldo's ancestral house, located in Kawit, Cavite is now known as the Aguinaldo Shrine. Before Aguinaldo passed away at the age of 94 years old, he donated his family's mansion to the government of the Philippines and asked to be buried at the back of it. That, I appreciate of him. After all, many of our Filipino heroes themselves have set foot on this mansion's very floors. These very walls have witnessed the struggles of a divided country crawling their way toward independence. It is a very historic place. That is the very reason why I decided to go thereー to see for myself a place that our Filipino heroes have been to, walked into, dined into, and sought refuged into during one of the darkest times of our country's history. I was there to celebrate Philippine history and through this blog, please let me take you with me.
During the 1800s, this mansion is the home of the politicians of Kawit, Cavite. Ka Miyong's father was after all the appointed gobernadorcillo of the community. It was just an ordinary oligarch mansion beside the streets of Cavite el Viejo (present-day Kawit) however today, it is a celebrated national shrine for General Emilio Aguinaldo. This is how it looks now that the whole shrine occupies the whole of plaza.
With the general's statue proudly standing at the center, the Philippine flags are raised whole year round in the shrine. The whole mansion is well preserved. The wooden structure, the gardens, the canyons aroundー everything is meticulously well-taken cared of. They say, the place looks exactly how it was more than a hundred years ago.
Going Inside General Aguinaldo's House
Everyone is free to visit the shrine. The entrance is at the right side of the fences when you are facing the mansion. Yes, no entrance fees whatsoever. Since it's pandemic, the guard just made us sign the tracker log book and of course, he asked us for our vaccination card.
Upon going in, you will be met by a well-maintained garden and backyard. The mansion has a huge mango tree, some delicate flowers, and preserved canyons.
Going in, you will be met by a gallery of the antique belongings of the general and of his family. Those belongings include personal clothes, shoes, bags, weapons, pins, accolades, and many more. The gallery also includes paintings, photos, printed information, and creative depictions of some accounts of the Philippine Revolution during the 1880s to the 1890s.
The 1st floor was splendid. I was busying myself with reading a lot of historical facts and the likes. I was not informed that the 2nd floor was the absolute delight! Just like all other Spanish designed bahay na bato in the Philippines, the 2nd floor of the house will most likely serve as the main section of the house. It is usually met by a huge wooden staircase. This mansion definitely gave us a beautiful one. From the staircase alone, you can already conclude how rich this family has been during that time!
The 2nd Floorー Is this a Home of a Filipino Mestizo?
I would like to give you a disclaimer first that I am in no way knowledgeable if the Aguinaldo family are Filipino Mestizos or Mestizas because I was not able to research far enough. However, judging from how huge and expensive this mansion is, I believe that they definitely are!
As you ascend the 2nd floor, you should look first to the left and you will see their master bedroom. They have chandeliers, mind you! They have the usual covered bed and shiny wooden floors. They also have glorious antique cabinets and those beautiful huge windows plated with sea shells.
When you look to the right, you will see a huge living room, bounty of history lurking on its very corner. Aside from the obvious and countless tables and chairs that the general used to host his many many visitors, you can also easily notice the hidden tracks that the Philippine Revolution has left the mansion. At the back of the long chairs are hidden containers where the soldiers placed their guns in case of emergency.
Once you scan the photo frames in the house, you can see many photos of the general talking and accepting very varied visitors. That includes Americans and Japanese elite friends. You can really conclude how well-furnished of a politician he was!
Aside from the personal and family photos of the Aguinaldos and their friends . . . .
You will also see actual pieces of history immortalized in this house through original photos framed carefully. You can see below a photo of the Philippine Revolutionary Army themselves, parading the streets outside of this very mansion! There were no footnotes as to what occassion was this parade for but I would love to assume that this was during the Philippine Independence proclamation on June 12, 1898!
Looking Up
Try to look up at the ceiling of the 2nd floor and you will see the map of the Philippines and the meaning of the sun rays featured in the Philippine flag. These new installations to the house were set by General Aguinaldo himself prior to the donation of the mansion to the government.
If you can see, the eight rays of our flag represent the first eight provinces declared during the dictatorial revolutionary Philippines. Those provinces as you can see in the picture above, are Pampanga, Nueva Ecija, Manila, Cavite, Batangas, Laguna, Bulacan, and Tarlac.
Now, can you imagine dining under the map of the Philippines? I am not actually sure if the Aguinaldos have done that, but the general decided to put a map of the country at the ceiling of his dining room. It looks glorious, tho!
They have quite a neat comfort room as well! Not what you imagined, right? Just to refresh all of you, General Aguinaldo was still very much alive up until the 1960s. So this mansion was very much able to adopt some new american designs, including their CRs! Haha!
As you look through the hallways, you will see photos of the general's fellow revolutionaries. It is just ironic how you can see a photo of General Antonio Luna plastered on one of the mansion's quiet hallways.
I continued walking in the empty hallways of the house. I just love how comfortable the whole place feels. Old houses are like this. People decades before are really into open spaces. The huge hallways and the huge windows are definitely heaven. I also love how well-preserved the wooden floors and walls are. Amazing!
Looking out, I could see the gardens outside. There was a huge mango tree saying hi to me. They had well-maintained plants and flowers, too. They also have other buildings in the area. I assume those are guard houses a long time ago, watching out for potential threats.
I feel happy that this place is such a comfort to those who live in it. What our heroes were going through during that time were not easy. I could imagine General Aguinaldo looking out in one of those huge windows. He might have had countless moments of stress and fears from the war and definitely, this house might have had given him lots of comfort and refuge. I might not like him that much but he is but a human being.
Here Lies the First Official President of the Philippines
Before he passed away, General Aguinaldo asked to be buried at the back of his house together with all the memories, the glory, and the heartaches from his legacy. There he lies defiantly.
Mabuhay ang Pilipinas! The Balcony of Freedom!
Here in this exact spot, the Independence of the Philippines from Spain was proclaimed. I stood there in front of it for a good couple of seconds, goosebumps all over me. I looked at the Philippine flag flapping from above, it flapped so proudly. In this lone balcony, history was written. In this balcony, our heroes cried, laughed, and celebrated all of their hardwork and victory together. It is that I-can't-believe-this-is-where-it-all-happened moment definitely. I get sentimental a lot in moments like this. Yes, I'm a sucker for historical events and locations. I admit that!
That's it! End of tour!
You are awesome if you're still here reading this e-tour! I hope you enjoyed this tour with me and I hope you also felt like you traveled across time and lived in history even just for a few minutes of your read.
As a Filipino patriot myself, I feel conflicted when I hear the name General Emilio Aguinaldo. There is sometimes anger from all the collateral damages his politics have caused us, but there is also gratitude from all of his contributions and hardwork that he pushed through for the Philippines to achieve freedom. And with that, I would like to end this blog in a positive note by thanking him for being there when our nation needed strength and courage. Thank you.
'Til the next historical stroll!
Yours truly,
