Yuchengco Museum highlights Philippine-American War in special exhibit

The Yuchengco Museum is featuring the Philippine-American War in a new exhibit to commemorate the anniversary of the Battle of Manila Bay and Philippine-American Friendship Day as well as to pay tribute to the Filipino revolutionaries of the period.

"The First Philippine Republic & the United States: 1898 – 1907" covers maps from 1898, when Americans arrived in the Battle of Manila Bay and when the First Philippine Republic was established, to 1907, when the First Philippine National Assembly was convened.

"A must-see for map collectors and history students, the exhibit is an interesting and educational representation of early American colonial presence in the country. On display are not only century-old maps, but also books, photographs, lithographs, war medals, flags and other memorabilia pertaining to the Philippine-American War," Yuchengco Museum said.

The exhibit also tackles nine significant years of Philippine history, when a period when the first democratic republic in all of Asia revolted against a superpower.

It explores historical events such as:

• the Battle of Manila Bay;
• the Malolos Congress and proclamation of General Emilio Aguinaldo as President of the Philippines;
• the First Battle of Manila;
• the Philippine-American War in northern Luzon and Mindanao;
• Aguinaldo’s capture in Isabela;
• the Philippine Exposition at the 1904 St. Louis World Fair;
• William Howard Taft’s visit to the Philippines; and
• the inauguration of the Philippine Assembly of 1907.

"The First Philippine Republic & the United States: 1898 – 1907" is a project in collaboration with Philippine Map Collectors Society. The group will present a series of lectures related to the exhibit, focusing on the impact of the Treaty of Paris on the making of the Filipino nation, the Philippine-American War, the role of General Emilio Aguinaldo, and the life and politics as Filipino society was transitioning during this era.

Its first lecture will be "Shopping for Islands: Behind the Door Bargaining for the Philippines in the Treaty of Paris September - December 1898" by Ortigas Foundation Library Executive Director John Silva. The lecture will be on May 9 at 10 a.m. — Trisha Macas/BM, GMA News

The exhibit will be on view at the Yuchengco Museum (889-1234), RCBC Plaza, Ayala Avenue, Makati City from May 2 to July 4, 2015. The museum is open from Monday to Saturday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.