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FELIPE AGONCILLO
26 May 1859 to 29 September 1941
Family Links:
Marcello Agoncillo - Wife
Felipe Agoncillo was the lawyer representative to the negotiations in Paris that led to the Treaty of Paris (1898) ending the Spanish-American War and achieving him the title of "outstanding first Filipino diplomat".
Agoncillo was was described by the parish priest subversive and was recommended to the governor-general for deportation. Forewarned, he sailed for Japan but briefly stayed in Hong Kong where he joined other Filipino exiles who had found asylum there when the revolution broke out in 1896. Following the signing of the Pact of Biak-na-Bato, Agoncillo spearheaded the Central Revolutionary Committee and organized the propaganda office for General Aguinaldo's revolutionary government.
The Philippine Revolutionary Government commissioned Agoncillo to negotiate treaties with foreign governments. Agoncillo proceeded to the US and then Paris to present the Philippine cause at the peace conference convened between Spain and the US. Agoncillo tried to submit a memorandum but failed. On 10 December 1898, the treaty was successfully signed. Two days after the signing of the Treaty of Paris, Agoncillo returned to the US and endeavoured to block ratification of the treaty. He filed a State memorandum to express that Filipinos must be recognized by the US. However, on 4 February 1899, the Philippine-American War began.
When hostilities ended between Filipinos and Americans, he returned to Hong Kong and rejoined the exiled junta. Later, in 1901, after American rule was firmly established in Manila, he went back to the Philippines. He took the bar exam in 1905 and passed with a perfect score of 100 percent, an achievement which has remains unmatched until today.
Agoncillo was appointed as Secretary of Interior in 1923 during the US administration.
Definitive #1272, 21 Feb 1976
Overprint and Surcharge for Philatelic Week #1440, 23 Nov 1979
Overprnt and Surcharge for Philippine Independence Anniversary #1469, 1 Aug 1980
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