section_path: History/Early republics/Bonifacio's Tagalog Republic
section_name: Bonifacio's Tagalog Republic
paragraph_text: Bonifacio's Tagalog Republic
  
  Depending on the definition chosen for these terms, a number of persons could alternatively be considered the inaugural holder of the office. Andrés Bonifacio could be considered the president of the tagalog provinces, while he was the third Supreme President (Spanish: Presidente Supremo; Filipino: Kataas-taasang Pangulo) of the Katipunan, a secret revolutionary society that started an open revolt against the Spanish colonial government in August 1896, he transformed the society into a revolutionary government with himself as "President of the Sovereign Nation/People" (Filipino: Pangulo ng Haring Bayan). While the term Katipunan (and the title "Supreme President") remained, Bonifacio's government was also known as the Tagalog Republic (Spanish: República Tagala; Filipino: Republika ng Katagalugan), and the term haring bayan or haringbayan as an adaptation and synonym of "republic", from its Latin roots as res publica. Since Presidente Supremo was shortened to Supremo in contemporary historical accounts of other people, he thus became known by that title alone in traditional Philippine historiography, which by itself was thus understood to mean "Supreme Leader" in contrast to the later "Presidents". However, as noted by Filipino historian Xiao Chua, Bonifacio did not refer himself as Supremo but rather as Kataas-taasang Pangulo (Supreme President), Pangulo ng Kataas-taasang Kapulungan (President of the Supreme Assembly), or Pangulo ng Haring Bayan (President of the Sovereign Nation/People), as evidenced by his own writings.
  
  Although the word Tagalog refers to the Tagalog people, a specific ethno-linguistic group mostly in southern Luzon, Bonifacio used the term "Tagalog" in "Tagalog Republic" to denote all non-Spanish peoples of the Philippines in place of Filipinos, which had colonial origins, referring to his concept of the Philippine nation and people as the "Sovereign Tagalog Nation/People" or more precisely "Sovereign Nation of the Tagalog People" (Filipino: Haring Bayang Katagalugan), in effect a synonym of "Tagalog Republic" or more precisely "Republic of the Tagalog Nation/People".
  
  According to Filipino historian Ambeth Ocampo, including Bonifacio as a past president would imply that Macario Sakay and Miguel Malvar should also be included, as Sakay continued Bonifacio's concept of a national Tagalog Republic, and Malvar continued the Philippine Republic which was the culmination of several governments headed by Emilio Aguinaldo that superseded Bonifacio's, Malvar taking over after Aguinaldo's capture. Nevertheless, there are still calls, including from a descendant of Bonifacio, to let Bonifacio be recognized by the current government as the first Philippine president. In 1993, historians Milagros Guerrero, Emmanuel Encarnacion and Ramon Villegas petitioned before the National Historical Institute (now the National Historical Commission of the Philippines) to recognize Bonifacio as the first Philippine president but the institute turned down the petition and reasoned that Bonifacio was not even the Katipunan's first Supremo, but rather Deodato Arellano.
  
  In 2013, the Manila City Council passed a resolution persuading the national government to declare Bonifacio as the first president of the Tagalog Republic, attributing to all natives of the archipelago of the Philippines. A separate resolution was also signed in 2013 by the Philippine Historian Association urging then Philippine President Benigno Aquino III to recognize Bonifacio as the first Philippine president. In the same year, representatives of the Philippine House of Representatives passed a house resolution that sought to acknowledge Bonifacio as the first president. A similar house resolution was also filed in 2016.
  
  According to Marlon Cadiz of the NHCP, the agency is waiting for a thorough and clear study containing new evidence as well as explanations of experts regarding Bonifacio's status as the first president.