The Spanish had yielded Iloilo to the insurgents in 1898 for the purpose of troubling the Americans. On January 1, 1899, news had come to Washington from Manila that American forces which had been sent to Iloilo under the command of General Marcus Miller had been confronted by 6,000 armed Filipinos, who refused them permission to land. A Filipino official styling himself "Presidente Lopez of the Federal Government of the Visayas" informed Miller that "foreign troops" would not land "without express orders from the central government of Luzon". On December 21, 1898, President McKinley issued a Proclamation of Benevolent Assimilation. General Otis delayed its publication until January 4, 1899, then publishing an amended version edited so as not to convey the meanings of the terms "sovereignty", "protection", and "right of cessation" which were present in the unabridged version.