Prime Minister of the Philippines
On December 10, 1898, on the other hand, the war between United States and Spain was concluded with Spain giving up all rights to Cuba and surrendering the Philippines, Guam and Puerto Rico to the United States. Two days later, Aguinaldo ordered his lawyer Felipe Agoncillo to contest the Philippine status as an independent nation and no longer a Spanish colony since the declaration of independence on June 12, 1898. However, the United States did not recognize Philippine sovereignty and announced their interest to annex the country by January 1899. This brought into serious foreign conflict when the Republic was formally established in January 23 at Malolos. By January 30, Aguinaldo resent Agoncillo, this time to the United States Senate, so as to reconsider their plans to annex the country and instead formally recognize Filipino independence.
Roy Veneracion
The Philippines was granted full-independence by the United States on July 4, 1946, and in the neo- liberated atmosphere of Manila, Roy Veneracion became aware of his growing passion for Art. He attended elementary school at the Espiritu Santo Parochial School in Sta. Cruz Manila, a Catholic school run by Belgian nuns, where he earned early recognition for his artistic skills. Roy has no memory of drawing in the manner of children of his age. He was readily recognized as an art prodigy and became a sort of Artist-in-Residence in his grade school years, tasked to decorate the blackboard on special occasions and to create the biological and anatomical illustrations for his Science Classes, and to draw the maps for the Geography Subjects. But for Roy, this early recognition of his drawing skills was no "big deal" –for he dreamt of higher artistic accomplishments later on.