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.
Maura Law
Nu’ain Bin Abdulhaqq, an official of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), contends that a proclamation by President Diosdado Macapagal changing the celebration date for Philippine independence June 12, 1898 (a date earlier than the December 10, 1898 signing date of the Treaty of Paris) as the date of Philippine independence provides the pretext for Moro independence by redefining the geographical extent of the country to its pre-treaty boundaries under Maura law.