Two Documents of Estado Federal de Bisayas at the National Historical Commission of the Philippines Resource Center
Date Published: June 30, 2026
By Reymann L. Guevarra
Two Spanish documents of the Estado Federal de Bisayas are available in the NHCP Resource Center and the National Memory Project. One is about the authorization naming Sr. Raymundo Melliza y Angulo as president of the Consejo de Estado Federal de Bisayas. The other pertains to a payment to the state in the amount of veinticuatro cuartos. This document features a file number and the official stamp of the Estado Federal de Bisayas “Provincia de Iloilo.”
Research about Raymundo Melliza y Angulo unexpectedly led to several letters that led to the brief diplomatic and military standoff in Iloilo from December 1898 to February 1899. Months after Gen. Emilio Aguinaldo declared the Philippine Independence in Kawit, Cavite on 12 June 1898, Filipinos were faced with another challenge, the growing presence of American forces. General Aguinaldo rallied upon the support of local leaders for the newly established government. On 4 November 1898, Aguinaldo wrote to Sr. Melliza, a lawyer by profession and one of the revolutionary generals in Panay instructing him to “communicate at all times with this government” and for critical matters, to send telegram in Visayan under the name Munda.[1] About the American forces, Aguinaldo writes:
In case the Americans, or any foreign fleet, should anchor there, or at any place on the coasts of our jurisdiction, you will not permit them to land their troops, happen what may, but you will use friendly means and show them that their insisting upon landing will entail fatal consequences. Nor will you fail, for any reason, to distribute these instructions to all the towns on the coast. Neither will you permit the foreigners to go into the interior of the province, especially those who pretend to be selling jewelry or books, which possibly would be but a pretext in order to make a map or sketch of the town. On the other hand you will respect and protect all foreigners and their interests: such as the stations of the submarine cable.[2]
Meanwhile, the revolutionary leaders in the Visayas continued with their business organizing their groups and mopping the towns of remaining Spanish forces. On 17 November 1898, they assembled in Santa Barbara, Iloilo and established the Provisional Revolutionary Government of the Visayas with Roque Lopez as president.[3] This was soon replaced on 12 December 1898 with the Consejo de Estado Federal de Bisayas in Jaro[4] and placing it as subordinate to the central national government. Lopez was also the president while Sr. Raymundo Melliza was elected as councilor for Leyte.[5]
On 23 December 1898, Spanish Governor General Diego de los Rios handed Iloilo City to Mayor Vicente Gay y Acosta before he left for Zamboanga the following day.[6] Two days after, on December 25, Mayor Vicente Gay peacefully surrendered Iloilo City to the Filipino revolutionists.[7] As part of the surrender, the Filipino troops paraded from Jaro Bridge (now Forbes) at 7:00 in the morning to Iloilo to the sound of the march “Libertador” (composed by Colonel Posidio Delgado) by the famed 72nd Regiment Band.[8] Foreign businessmen, fearing that their interests might be affected by Visayan troops gaining full control of Iloilo, requested General Elwell Otis to send a troop from the American Expeditionary Forces. On December 27, 1898, an American military force—about 3,000 strong—arrived at the roadstead in transports under the command of General Miller.[9]
Acting on the November 4 letter of Gen. Aguinaldo to Melliza, Sr. López of the Consejo de Estado Federal and Martin Delgado, did not allow the American troops to disembark in the city. General Marcus P. Miller did not land his troops to avoid confrontation and waited for orders to capture Iloilo. Gen. Miller would explain his action in his letter dated 8 January 1899 to the Adjutant General, Department of the Pacific and Eighth Army Corps, saying:
I have not landed the 51st Iowa on the Island opposite to Iloilo, as two boat crews of troops of the 51st Iowa landed on the 5th instant and were met by over seventy-five to one hundred natives armed with various weapons—rifles, shotguns and knives—who asked them their business and warned them off with threats of bringing out more troops if they did not go away.[10]
Dr. Henry Du R. Phelan, an assistant surgeon of the American forces from the 6th Artillery, appeared before the general committee of the Estado Federal de Bisayas in Iloilo on January 11, 1899. Present at this meeting were Roque López, Generals Martin Delgado, Ananias Diokno, Pablo Araneta, the chief of expeditionary forces from Manila, and other military chiefs, Lawyer Raymundo Melliza, Francisco Soriano, and others. During this meeting, Sr. Raymundo Melliza did most of the talking on behalf of the Filipino troops. At the end of this meeting, the Americans requested once more that commissioners be sent to Malolos to obtain the orders of Aguinaldo and desired them to be sent at once. Phelan asked Lawyer Raymundo Melliza, “If Aguinaldo said we could occupy the city, would they agree to it?” He replied emphatically that they would.[11] On January 17, 1899, Sr. Lopez resigned as president of the Consejo and he was replaced by Sr. Raymundo Melliza.[12]
The Americans waited for instructions until the Philippine-American War erupted on 4 February 1899 in Manila that Gen. Miller gave notice to the Filipino troops guarding Iloilo: “After a long delay orders have arrived, and I am now directed by him (Major-General Otis) to occupy Iloilo with my troops as soon as practicable. I therefore call on you to deliver up the city of Iloilo and adjacent territory, and to surrender the armed forces occupying the same before sunset Saturday, the 11th instant, or I shall proceed with my troops to occupy the city by force.”[13]
The Estado Federal de Bisayas continued until General Emilio Aguinaldo ordered it to be dissolved. It was replaced with the Provincial Council of Iloilo with General Martin F. Delgado as Politico-Military Governor of Iloilo, as well as Military and Civil Commander of the said province.[14] On September 23, 1899, Martin Delgado informed the local presidents of the towns about the dissolution of the Consejo Federal, saying: “Yesterday, by virtue of a demonstration of the military element, I assumed the command of this province as General and Politico-Military Governor, as well as General-in-Chief of the army, the government of the Federal State of Visayas being hence dissolved.”[15] This transition was formally finalized on October 5, 1899, when Delgado issued an official decree legally restructuring the defunct council into the new Politico-Military Government, explicitly citing the earlier mandate from President Emilio Aguinaldo.[16]
Postlude:
On 29 May 1899, Raymundo Melliza served as president of the criminal branch of the Audiencia Territorial de Manila that was constituted by General Elwell S. Otis. He took his oath on July 15, 1899.[17] His election as Governor of Iloilo was confirmed on 7 March 1904.[18] He ran for vice president alongside Emilio Aguinaldo in the elections held on September 17, 1935[19] but lost to Sergio Osmena while Aguinaldo lost to Manuel L. Quezon.[20]
[1] Emilio Aguinaldo, “Letter to Sr. Don Raymundo Melliza, November 4, 1898, Exhibit 1187” in John R.M. Taylor, The Philippine Insurrection Against the United States: A Compilation of Documents with Notes and Introduction, vol. 5 (Pasay City: Eugenio López Foundation, 1971), 395–98.
[2] Aguinaldo, “Letter to Sr. Don Raymundo Melliza,” Exhibit 1187, 395-98.
[3] Aguinaldo, “Letter to Sr. Don Raymundo Melliza, Exhibit 1190, 400–01.
[4] Aguinaldo, “Letter to Sr. Don Raymundo Melliza, Exhibit 1199, 420–22.
[5] Conrado Benitez, History of the Philippines: Economic, Social, Political (Boston: Ginn and Company, 1926), 375–376.
[6] John Foreman, The Philippine Islands: A Political, Geographical, Ethnographical, Social and Commercial History of the Philippine Archipelago—Embracing the Whole Period of Spanish Rule—With an Account of the Succeeding American Insular Government (New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1906), 511.
[7] Major General E. S. Otis, U.S. Volunteers, Commanding, Department of the Pacific and 8th Army Corps, Military Governor in the Philippine Islands, Appendix L, “Report of Lieutenant Colonel Chas L. Potter, U.S. Volunteers on the Situation in Iloilo on December 27, 1898,” in Appendices to Annual Report of Major General E. S. Otis, U.S. Volunteers, Commanding, Department of the Pacific and 8th Army Corps, Military Governor in the Philippine Islands (Manila: s.n., 1899), #273, 5.
[8] Epifanio Concepcion, Memorias de un Revolucionario (Iloilo City : National Press, 1949), 19-20.
[9] Foreman, The Philippine Islands, 511.
[10] Gen. Miller, “Letter to the Adjutant General, Department of the Pacific and Eighth Army Corps,” January 8, 1899, in Appendices to the Annual Report of Major General E. S. Otis, U.S. Volunteers, Commanding, Department of the Pacific and 8th Army Corps, Military Governor in the Philippine Islands, Appendix L, 15–16 (Manila: s.n., 1899).
[11] Lieutenant Henry Du R. Phelan, “Report of an Interview Between Lieutenant Henry Du R. Phelan and the Government of the Federal State of Bisayas,” January 11, 1899, in Appendices to the Annual Report of Major General E. S. Otis, U.S. Volunteers, Commanding, Department of the Pacific and 8th Army Corps, Military Governor in the Philippine Islands, Appendix L, pp. 18–20 (Manila: s.n., 1899).
[12] John R.M. Taylor, ed., The Philippine Insurrection Against the United States: A Compilation of Documents with Notes and Introduction, vol. 5 (Pasay City: Eugenio Lopez Foundation, 1971), Exhibit 1218, January 17, 1899, 457–459.
[13]Annual Report of Major General E. S. Otis, U.S. Volunteers, Commanding, Department of the Pacific and 8th Army Corps, Military Governor in the Philippine Islands, Appendix L (Letter of Gen. Miller to the Commanding General Native Forces in Iloilo, dated February 10, 1899) (Manila: s.n., 1899), 22.
[14] Exhibit 1249 in Taylor, 512–514.
[15] Exhibit 1265 in Taylor, 145.
[16] John R. M. Taylor, ed., The Philippine Insurrection Against the United States: A Compilation of Documents with Notes and Introduction, vol. V, Exhibit 1270, dated October 5, 1899, pp. 551–552 (Pasay City: Eugenio Lopez Foundation, 1971).
[17] Major General E. S. Otis, Report on Military Operations and Civil Affairs in the Philippine Islands (Washington: Government Printing Office, 1899), 146.
[18] Annual Reports of the War Department for the Fiscal Year Ended June 30, 1904, Volume XI, Report of the Philippine Commission, Part I (Washington: Government Printing Office, 1905), 695–696.
[19] Bluebook of the Inauguration of the Commonwealth of the Philippines and the Induction Into Office of Manuel L. Quezon, First President of the Philippines and Sergio Osmeña, First Vice President of the Philippines, Manila, November 15, 1935 (Manila: Bureau of Printing, 1935), 98.
[20] Report of the Governor General of the Philippine Islands, January 1 to November 14, 1935, Dated May 8, 1936, in the Annual Report of the Governor General of the Philippine Islands 1935. Washington, DC: United States Government Printing Office, 1937, 20.
tter to Sr. Don Raymundo Melliza, November 4, 1898, Exhibit 1187” in John R.M. Taylor, The Philippine Insurrection Against the United States: A Compilation of Documents with Notes and Introduction, vol. 5 (Pasay City: Eugenio López Foundation, 1971), 395–98.
[2] Aguinaldo, “Letter to Sr. Don Raymundo Melliza,” Exhibit 1187, 395-98.
[3] Aguinaldo, “Letter to Sr. Don Raymundo Melliza, Exhibit 1190, 400–01.
[4] Aguinaldo, “Letter to Sr. Don Raymundo Melliza, Exhibit 1199, 420–22.
[5] Conrado Benitez, History of the Philippines: Economic, Social, Political (Boston: Ginn and Company, 1926), 375–376.
[6] John Foreman, The Philippine Islands: A Political, Geographical, Ethnographical, Social and Commercial History of the Philippine Archipelago—Embracing the Whole Period of Spanish Rule—With an Account of the Succeeding American Insular Government (New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1906), 511.
[7] Major General E. S. Otis, U.S. Volunteers, Commanding, Department of the Pacific and 8th Army Corps, Military Governor in the Philippine Islands, Appendix L, “Report of Lieutenant Colonel Chas L. Potter, U.S. Volunteers on the Situation in Iloilo on December 27, 1898,” in Appendices to Annual Report of Major General E. S. Otis, U.S. Volunteers, Commanding, Department of the Pacific and 8th Army Corps, Military Governor in the Philippine Islands (Manila: s.n., 1899), #273, 5.
[8] Epifanio Concepcion, Memorias de un Revolucionario (Iloilo City : National Press, 1949), 19-20.
[9] Foreman, The Philippine Islands, 511.
[10] Gen. Miller, “Letter to the Adjutant General, Department of the Pacific and Eighth Army Corps,” January 8, 1899, in Appendices to the Annual Report of Major General E. S. Otis, U.S. Volunteers, Commanding, Department of the Pacific and 8th Army Corps, Military Governor in the Philippine Islands, Appendix L, 15–16 (Manila: s.n., 1899).
[11] Lieutenant Henry Du R. Phelan, “Report of an Interview Between Lieutenant Henry Du R. Phelan and the Government of the Federal State of Bisayas,” January 11, 1899, in Appendices to the Annual Report of Major General E. S. Otis, U.S. Volunteers, Commanding, Department of the Pacific and 8th Army Corps, Military Governor in the Philippine Islands, Appendix L, pp. 18–20 (Manila: s.n., 1899).
[12] Phelan, 2.
[13]Annual Report of Major General E. S. Otis, U.S. Volunteers, Commanding, Department of the Pacific and 8th Army Corps, Military Governor in the Philippine Islands, Appendix L (Letter of Gen. Miller to the Commanding General Native Forces in Iloilo, dated February 10, 1899) (Manila: s.n., 1899), 22.
[14] Exhibit 1249 in Taylor, 512–514.
[15] Exhibit 1265 in Taylor, 145.
[16] Major General E. S. Otis, Report on Military Operations and Civil Affairs in the Philippine Islands (Washington: Government Printing Office, 1899), 146.
[17] Annual Reports of the War Department for the Fiscal Year Ended June 30, 1904, Volume XI, Report of the Philippine Commission, Part I (Washington: Government Printing Office, 1905), 695–696.
[18] Bluebook of the Inauguration of the Commonwealth of the Philippines and the Induction Into Office of Manuel L. Quezon, First President of the Philippines and Sergio Osmeña, First Vice President of the Philippines, Manila, November 15, 1935 (Manila: Bureau of Printing, 1935), 98.
[19] Report of the Governor General of the Philippine Islands, January 1 to November 14, 1935, Dated May 8, 1936, in the Annual Report of the Governor General of the Philippine Islands 1935. Washington, DC: United States Government Printing Office, 1937, 20.
