ESTADO FEDERAL DE BISAYAS MEETING, DECEMBER 12, 1898
SECOND OF TWO MEETINGS FOR THE DAY
Exhibit 1200.
[Original in Spanish. D.S. P.I.R., Books C.6.]
JARO, December 12th, 1898.
MINUTES.
At 7 o'clock p. m. on the 12th of December, 1898, in the Government
House of this town, were assembled the members of the Revolutionary
Regional Provisional Government of the Visayan Islands and the Generals
and Chiefs of the Liberating Army apearing on the margin, which
were presided over by Sr. Roque Lopez in the presence of a large
gathering of invited to witness the same at the request of citizen
Francisco Villanueva, representative of the former Revolutionary
Committee of this Region to Luzon.
This meeting was held as a continuation
of the session of this morning, and for the purpose of passing on
the matters set forth in the body of this act.
With the President's consent
Sr. Villanueva took the floor and stated in elevated and patriotic language
the object of this extraordinary session held at his request, saying
that the Honorable Emilio Aguinaldo, the President of the Philippine Republic,
having granted the request of the Commissioners sent to Luzon
by the former Revolutionary Committee to request aid in continuing the war
until we had gained our object, and other special instructions relating
to the situation and the political organization of this region, had ordered,
among other things, the recognition of the political system of the Federal
Republic which represents the aspirations of the Philippine peoples
and which was conducive to their political unity as it is similar to the
Federal States of the Republic of North America; hence the constitution
of the Council of State was to be substituted for that of the Regional
Government now in force, for the purpose of raising the judicial entity
and personnel of the same; and we went on to state that all the Visayan
Provinces conquered by the Revolutionary forces, or nearly all of them,
would be represented in said Council of State, and that this would require
a modification of the personnel of tha government.
Citizen-Chief Felipe Gonzalez was then given the floor, and in patriotic
language and in the name of the people and of the Army, he proceeded
to state that at the present stage of the revolution it was not advisable to
change the form of government or to make any modification in the present
personnel.
Sr. Vicente Franco, Vice President and Councilor of Government, was
given the floor and stated that Sr. Villanueva, in the first place, was carrying
out the instructions of the Honorable Emilio Aguinaldo, and that he
was only trying to elevate the entity of this Regional, Government to its
proper level in accordance with the principles of public law which form
the constitutional basis of the Republican Federal system; and respecting
the personnel of the Government, all were elected by the suffrage, of the
Army and the people, and especially the President who holds his high office
as the result of an election by secret ballot; yet, notwithstanding all
this he and all the other members associated with him in the Government
had firmly resolved to resign from office the moment the city of
Iloilo was taken either by force of arms or otherwise, this being the last
piece of ground held by the Spaniards on the Island of Panay for the
town of Molo was almost entirely under the control of our forces. Hence
he saw no difficulty in making the change from the present form of government
since such a change could in no way impede the regular course
of the affairs of our Government, either directly or indirectly, which today
might justly be considered as united with the Federal State of Luzon.
He closed by saluting affectionately the people present on this occasion
and by highly complementing the Liberating Army for its self-denial
and valor as shown by the victories gained' over the enemy.
In view of this speech, Sr. Felipe Gonzalez withdrew his motion and
expressed his approval of the policy advocated by Sr. Franco, but with
one condition, namely, that there be no change in the personnel of the
Government that had carried on administrative affairs up to the present.
After all these gentlemen had been heard, the President, Sr. Roque
Lopez, took the floor and thanked Sr. Villanueva in the name of the Visayan
people for the successful performance of his mission before the
authorities in Luzon, and also thanked all others who, though absent at
present, had represented us before the Government of Malolos at the
request of the former Revolutionary Committee. He then accepted the political
reorganization suggested by Sr. Villanueva to what was to be known
as the Council of State, the same to conform to the instructions which Sr.
Villanueva had received from the Honorable Emilio Aguinaldo; and regarding
the personnel of the Government which had already been elected
by vote of the Army and the people, he said that it was not possible to
hold new elections at the present time, and hence it would be well to select
the personnel of the new body politic from those already elected to office,
thus vesting anew, as it were, the authority already conferred, and that to
this end the will of those present, who represented the people and the
Army, should be consulted.
The President's proposition was unanimously
accepted, whereupon the Councilor of Government, having been recognized,
took the floor and stated that the sovereignty of the people constituted
the essence of all Republican States in any of their phases of government,
be it United, Federal, or Cantonal; hence he approved heartily
the idea of having the opinion of the people, Generals and Chiefs of the
Llberatmg Army present concerning the personnel of the Government and
the Representative Councilors of the Visayan Province, which Provinces
were almost entirely under the control of the Revolutionary forces.
By the consent of those present the following personnel was appointed:
President of the Council of State, Seņor Roque Lopez.
Vice President, Seņor Vicente Franco;
COUNCILORS FOR ILOILO. Sr. Jovito Yusay, Sr. Ramon Avanceņa, Sr.
Julio Hernandez, Sr. Magdeleno Javellana.
MEMBERS EX OFFICIO FROM THE ARMY. Sr. Martin Delgado, Sr. Pablo
Araneta.
COUNCILOR FOR CEBU. Sr. Fernando Salas.
COUNCILLORS FOR OCCIDENTAL NEGROS. Sr. Agustin Montilla, for the
South: Sr. Juan de Leon, for the north.
COUNCILOR FOR ORIENTAL NEGROS. Sr. Juan Carballa.
COUNCILOR FOR ANTIQUE. Sr. Vicente Gella.
COUNCILOR FOR CAPIZ. Sr. Venancio Concepcion.
COUNCILOR FOR THE DISTRICT OF LA CONCEPCION. Sr. Numeriano Villalobos.
GENERAL SECRETARY OF THE COUNCIL OF STATE. Sr. Francisco Villanueva.
VICE SECRETARY, Sr. Florencio Tarrosa.
The other Provinces of the Visayan Island could not be represented
in the Council of the Federal State at present as they were cut off.
The President then reminded the Council of State that the right was
reserved to appoint commissions for each of the Departments of Public
Administration, said commissioners to be appointed from among the members
of the Council of State. This suggestion was approved by all present.
There being no further business before the meeting, the session was
closed and these minutes signed by the Representatives of the Government,
of the Army, and of the people to which I, the General Secretary, certify.
(Signed) ROQUE LOPEZ,
President.
VICENTE FRANCO,
Councilor of Govt.
(And 69 others.)
