Emilio Aguinaldo,
Proclamation of May 24, 1898
(1898)
“ Five months have elapsed without the inauguration of any of the reforms which I asked in order to place our country on a level with civilized people—for instance, our neighbor, Japan, which in the short space of twenty years has reached a point where she has no reason to envy anyone, her strength and ascendency being shown in the last war with China. ”
