Emilio Aguinaldo

Emilio Aguinaldo y Famy QSC CCLH PMM KGCR (Spanish: [eˈmiljo aɣiˈnaldo j ˈfami]: March 22, 1869 – February 6, 1964) was a Filipino revolutionary, statesman, and military leader who became the first president of the Philippines (1899–1901), and the first president of an Asian constitutional republic. He led the Philippine forces first against Spain in the Philippine Revolution (1896–1898), then in the Spanish–American War (1898), and finally against the United States during the Philippine–American War (1899–1901). He is regarded in the Philippines as having been the country's first president during the period of the First Philippine Republic, though he was not recognized as such outside of the revolutionary Philippines. Aguinaldo is known as a national hero in the Philippines. However, he was also known to be somewhat controversial due to his alleged involvement in the deaths of the revolutionary leader Andrés Bonifacio and general Antonio Luna, and for his collaboration with the Empire of Japan during their occupation of the Philippines in World War II.