Editing Emilio Aguinaldo (section)

===Dictatorial government and Battle of Alapan===
{{main|Dictatorial Government of the Philippines|Battle of Alapan}}
Aguinaldo had brought with him the draft constitution of [[Mariano Ponce]] for the establishment of federal revolutionary republic upon his return to Manila, but on May 24, 1898, in Cavite, Aguinaldo issued a proclamation upon the advice of his war counselor [[Ambrosio Rianzares Bautista]], and Aguinaldo assumed the command of all Philippine forces and established a dictatorial government with himself as titular dictator and power vested upon him to administer decrees promulgated under his sole responsibility. The dictatorial government was provisional in character until peace was established and unrestrained liberty attained.<ref name="BfSWM" /> [[Dean Worcester]] wrote, "although the title of 'president' was assumed by Aguinaldo, as more likely to be favourably considered in the United States than 'dictator', the tendency of his followers who had not been educated in Europe was to speak of and to regard him not as a president, but as an overlord holding all power in his hands."<ref>{{cite book|last=Worcester|first=Dean|url=https://www.gutenberg.org/files/12077/12077-h/12077-h.htm#ch08|title=The Philippines: Past and Present|publisher=The MacMillan Company|date=1914|page=249}}</ref>

On May 28, 1898, Aguinaldo gathered a force of about 18,000 troops and fought against a small garrison of Spanish troops [[Battle of Alapan|in Alapan]], Imus, Cavite. The battle lasted from 10:00&nbsp;a.m. to 3:00&nbsp;p.m. After the victory at Alapan, Aguinaldo unfurled the [[Philippine flag]] for the first time and hoisted it at the Teatro Caviteño in Cavite Nuevo (present-day Cavite City) in front of Filipino revolutionaries and more than 300 captured Spanish troops. A group of American sailors of the US Asiatic Squadron also witnessed the unfurling. [[Flag Day]] is celebrated every May 28 to honor the battle.{{Citation needed|date=December 2019}}