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.
President of the Philippines
In April 1898, the Spanish–American War broke out, and the Asiatic Squadron of the United States Navy sailed for the Philippines. At the Battle of Manila Bay on May 1, 1898 the American Navy decisively defeated the Spanish Navy effectively ending Spanish rule in the Philippines. Aquinaldo subsequently returned to the Philippines aboard a U.S. Navy vessel and renewed the revolution. He formed a dictatorial government on May 24, 1898 and issued the Philippine Declaration of Independence on June 12, 1898. On June 23, 1898, Aguinaldo transformed his dictatorial government into a revolutionary government. On January 23, 1899, he was then elected President of the First Philippine Republic, a government constituted by the Malolos Congress under the Malolos Constitution. Consequently, this government is also called the Malolos Republic.