The initial concept of the republic began during the latter part of the
Philippine Revolution, when the now-undisputed leader of the revolution,
Emilio Aguinaldo, became surrounded by Spanish forces at his headquarters in
Talisay,
Batangas. Aguinaldo slipped through the Spanish cordon and, with 500 picked men, proceeded to Biak-na-Bató ("Cleft Rock"; in modern ), a wilderness area at the town of
San Miguel (now parts of
San Miguel,
San Ildefonso, and
Doña Remedios Trinidad in
Bulacan). When news of Aguinaldo's arrival there reached the towns of
central Luzon, men from the
Ilocos provinces,
Nueva Ecija,
Pangasinan,
Tarlac, and
Zambales renewed their armed resistance against the Spanish. On November 1, 1897, the
provisional constitution for the Biak-na-Bato Republic was signed. The preamble of the constitution included the statement that: By the end of 1897, Governor-General Primo de Rivera had accepted the impossibility of quelling the revolution by force of arms. In a statement to the
Cortes Generales, he said, "I can take Biak-na-Bato, any military man can take it, but I can not answer that I could crush the rebellion." Desiring to make peace with Aguinaldo, he sent emissaries to Aguinaldo seeking a peaceful settlement. Nothing was accomplished until
Pedro Paterno, a lawyer from
Manila, volunteered to act as a negotiator. On August 9, 1897, Paterno proposed a peace based on reforms and amnesty to Aguinaldo. In succeeding months, practicing
shuttle diplomacy, Paterno traveled back and forth between Manila and Biak-na-Bato, carrying proposals and counterproposals. Paterno's efforts led to a peace agreement called the
Pact of Biak-na-Bato. This consisted of three documents, the first two being signed on December 14, 1897, and the third being signed on December 15, effectively ending the Republic of Biak-na-Bato. In 1899, Aguinaldo wrote in retrospect that the principal conditions of the pact were: ==Legacy==