FILIPINO REVOLUTIONARY GOVERNMENT - TELEGRAPH STAMP (SCOTT YT1) WITH YLAGAN CANCEL

FILIPINO REVOLUTIONARY GOVERNMENT

OF GENERAL EMILIO AGUINALDO (1898-1901) 

2-CENTS TELEGRAPH STAMP (SCOTT YT1)

BLOCK OF 6, USED

WITH SCARCE "COMUNICACIONES FILIPINAS YLAGAN" CANCEL

(DETAIL OF YLAGAN CANCEL)

YLAGAN (ILAGAN) is the capital of the province of ISABELA, LUZON, PHILIPPINE ISLANDS, at the confluence of the Pinacanauan river with the Grande de Cagayan, about 200 M. N.N.E. of Manila . Population reported in 1903 was 16,008 people.  The neighboring countryside is the largest tobacco-producing section in the Philippines.

On August 25, 1898, Daniel Tirona, a native of Kawit, Cavite Province, seized Aparri from the Spaniards. General Emilio Aguinaldo then appointed him as the military governor of the Cagayan Valley (comprised of the provinces of Cagayan, Isabela and Nueva Vizcaya).

After war broke out with the Americans, Gen. Tirona surrendered in Aparri to Capt. Bowman H. McCalla of the US Navy cruiser Newark on Dec. 11, 1899. 

Tirona's surrender was received with military honors.  Captain McCalla reviewed the Filipino troops, and Tirona reviewed the US naval forces. The Americans presented arms while the Filipinos were stacking theirs; a total of 300 rifles were turned over.

Captain McCalla appointed Tirona as the temporary civil governor of the Cagayan Valley pending further orders from Maj. Gen. Elwell S. Otis, 8th Army Corps Commander and military governor of the Philippines.  On Dec. 21, 1899, Otis directed the 16th US Infantry Regiment (Regulars), commanded by Col. Charles C. Hood, to proceed to Aparri. On the same day, Colonel Hood was appointed as the military governor of the Cagayan Valley.

Daniel Tirona later became a founding member of the pro-American Partido Federal when it was organized on Dec. 23, 1900.

(Reference: "Philippine-American War, 1899-1902" by Arnaldo Dumindin, available at http://philippineamericanwar.webs.com/)