Is Emilio Aguinaldo a true hero? Historian weighs in

As the country celebrates the 150th anniversary of Emilio Aguinaldo's birth on March 22, a historian weighs in on the long-standing debate on whether he is actually the hero history books portray him to be.

Interviewed on News To Go on Friday, Arius Raposas said Aquinaldo "qualifies" as a hero "if we say that a hero is being admired by many."

"But if you say that being a hero means being a moral person, something to emulate, there's gray area there," added Raposas.

However, Raposas said people "shouldn't see heroes and villains black and white because everyone's human. They have their flaws."

Aquinaldo is the first President of the Republic of the Philippines under the Malolos Congress, and, at 27 years, the youngest ever to lead the country. He lived until 1964 and even ran for re-election.

According to Raposas, despite living a long life, Aguinaldo carried a lot of issues most of his life and yet did not take the opportunity to clean his record.

"For example, the letter saying that he signed Bonifacio's death sentence. It took him 50 years and he only showed up 1948, but he did sign it," he said.

"He carried it for a long time that people began to believe that he's not as heroic."

However, Aguinaldo still had merits since he was a military figure during a time of revolution with numerous stakes on the line, and yet, he was able to ascend to presidency intact, said Raposas.

Regarding the alleged cheating during the Tejeros Convention, Raposas said Aguinaldo was suspected to have an involvement because he was elected during his birthday.

"He was elected on his birthday so they would say it's a birthday gift for hi," Raposas said, but added that it is unlikely that Aguinaldo had a part in any cheating.

"In the first place he was not there, he was in absentia. He can not directly influence the election because he was not there, he was fighting," he said.

"But the ones who nominated him were his allies especially the Batangeros," Raposas added.

Aguinaldo, according to Raposas, had a total of 146 votes in comparison to Bonifacio's 80 votes.

"So hindi niya (Bonifacio) siguro nakita na fighting in Aguinaldo's home turf, Bonifacio he did not see he would lose. Because he's Supremo. He saw his standing as higher than others." —Kaela Malig/KBK, GMA News