Capítulo 16: Treaty and Independence
For the duration of a year right after the cessation of hostilities between The Philippines, and The United States, three different types of discussions are happening simultaneously on both sides of the Atlantic, and in the Pacific.
In the Pacific, Aguinaldo is engaged in negotiations for the withdrawal of Americans troops in multiple areas in the country. He proposes that the Americans withdraw from all places in the country except Manila and its surrounding areas while negotiations in Paris is ongoing.
General Otis rejected the proposal and instead proposed that his forces will leave Visayas and Mindanao, but will still occupy the area under their control in Luzon which includes the entirety of Central Luzon, Manila, and Southern Luzon except the Bicol region. They will also allow free passage of high-ranking members of Aguinaldo's government through those areas.
Aguinaldo agreed to the American's proposals, but told him that all Filipinos should be able to walk through their lands without restrictions. Much of Luzon may be occupied by the Americans, but the land itself belongs to all Filipinos.
Otis agrees to this proposal, but added certain conditions where Filipinos cannot go near camps and barracks held by American soldiers. Major towns will be declared open to all civilians, soldiers from both sides cannot enter the towns without surrendering their weapons.
Aguinaldo added that Filipino's cannot be arbitrarily searched , or arrested by American soldiers without notifying nearby Filipino authorities to which Otis agreed.
After more negotiations, both sides agreed to the temporary territorial changes. The actions of both sides will be monitored by independent parties assigned by Britain, France, The Netherlands, Germany, and Japan.
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In the U.S congress, there was not much of a debate on whether they will withdraw their country's claim on the Philippine Islands. The war is already unpopular with the general public so supporting the continuation of the war will be tantamount to political suicide.
Although some called for brief transition period to iron out some agreements with the locals, this was shot down in favor of independent talks between equal sovereign states.
The law easily passed congress and is now awaiting the signature of the president.
There was not much debates, but there was a lot of condemnation as the war wasted the lives of many young men, and wasted huge amounts of tax dollars. Based on some of congressmen's leaked reports on the treaty, the United States will not gain much aside from the right to build port facilities for trade.
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In Paris, intense negotiations are ongoing with regards to the treaty between the United States and the Republic of The Philippines. Many topics were laid out including the payment of $20M to the United States, war reparations, and territory. To put it simply, The Philippines is at the losing end of the negotiations because the Philippine-American war, should it continue would inevitably result with the full occupation of the islands.
The Philippine side couldn't really help but agree to paying the $20M the United States paid to Spain as it was part of the previous Treaty of Paris that allowed the transfer of the supposed ownership of the islands to the United States.
On territory, the topic intensely debated the most, The United States demands the Port of Manila, and Aparri, and a portion of lands in the island of Cebu and the town of Davao. This move will give the Americans all the rights to construct both a port and a military base which enables a seamless and secure trade network in the Asia-Pacific.
The Philippine side rejected this as they see this as another form of occupation. Although they didn't want any foreign nation taking their lands, they have no choice but to compromise or else negotiations will break down and the Philippines will be seen as unwilling to make peace.
Instead of lands, the Philippine side proposes to pay an amount equal to the current price of the lands the United States demanded.
The U.S side then suggested that they will keep Subic, Aparri, and Davao, but they will compromise on its ownership. They will own the lands for seventy years after which the lands will be turned over to The Philippines. Obviously the Filipino's refused and instead suggested that Americans civilian ships are free to use all Philippine ports duty-free for trade purposes only. Military vessels are not allowed to enter Philippine Territorial waters.
The American side pondered on this suggestion for a few days before agreeing to the proposal, but with the condition that they will be allowed to construct civilian port facilities that can accommodate their vessels.
As this will be beneficial to the Philippine economy in the long-term, the Filipinos agreed and thus the topic of territory has been finalized.
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As for the war reparations, the Philippine side sought for an independent investigation as to whose side started the war. The investigating party should only include independent parties that will not be coerced into siding on one nation.
The investigation is the longest part of the treaty as a lengthy investigation tries to answer the questions of what happened back in 1899. "Why, and How did the war start". "Did both sides exhaust all options in pursuit of peace?" "Was there any attempt at negotiations while the war is progressing?" These are some of the questions that needed answers before they try to determine who should pay the war reparations.
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The United States side is found to have fired the first shot. The soldier who fired upon the patrolling Filipino soldiers was found to not be given disciplinary action for firing upon the Filipino soldiers during peace time. Although, after the incident, the Filipinos didn't make any attempts at peace and made a proclamation that essentially called for war to happen.
On the topic of peace, both sides didn't even attempt to call for a truce in the entire duration of the war. There was no attempt at dialogue, or localized peace talks on all fronts in the entire archipelago.
In the investigation, the United States is found to have committed atrocities on the civilian population through the destruction of many towns and villages during their advance throughout the islands condemning many to starvation. Many European civilians also attested to what they called the indiscriminate firing of American ships on port towns resulting in the destruction of private property.
By the end, the United States withdrew the war reparations demand due to the fact that the investigations increasingly favored the Philippine side and further progress may end up with them paying the war reparations.
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After further negotiations, the final version of the treaty is ready to be signed. The most important section of the document for the Filipinos is the clause requiring the United States to recognize the independence of The Republic of The Philippines, and to pass a law that withdraws it's ownership of the islands.
The dreams of the Filipinos has finally come true. After the treaty has been ratified by the National Assembly, Aguinaldo made an announcement declaring the victory of the revolution.
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