Being Mrs. Emilio Aguinaldo

I am legally Mrs. Emilio Aguinaldo. But I am not married to the general. My husband is EA IV.

He goes by the nickname “Miong” as his great grandfather, Gen. Emilio F. Aguinaldo. My mother-in-law calls him Emilio whenever she needs to talk to him regarding more serious matters. But he prefers to be called just “Orange, like the fruit or the color,” he would often say.

I met Orange during the Independence Day coverage of Magandang Umaga Pilipinas in 2007, and again in 2008. I was a reporter interviewing a descendant of Aguinaldo. It was fascinating, actually, to find someone related to a hero that we only read about in our history books, or see printed on the five-peso bill.

“Mayroon palang kamag-anak si Aguinaldo!” (But, of course!) We study history only through readings and somehow, I lumped up together the real and the mythical characters of Mariang Makiling and Si Malakas at Si Maganda. The common denominator: Textbook material.

Meeting my husband made history more interesting. I could grasp it, even taste it. I now see “Lolo Emilio” as a human being, and the revolution almost like current affairs.

Early into our relationship, I grew more curious about Lolo Miong. And so I grabbed a copy of Reseña Veridica de la Revolución Filipina (True Version of the Philippine Revolution) and the Saloobin, which included Lolo’s answer to Mabini’s writings that Lolo ordered the killing of Andres Bonifacio. To contextualize what he wrote, I read more about the revolution in the book Saga and Triumph by O.D. Corpuz, highlighting and underlining most parts! I was actually impressed with what I read. Lolo Miong started as a flag bearer during the revolution. (Interestingly, even women joined the war cooking for the katipunero.) And even with no formal military training he rose to the rank of general.

He was a great strategist having won almost all of his battles against the Spaniards. Internationally, he was compared to Napoleon Bonaparte.

Whenever I go to Lolo’s house, the Aguinaldo Shrine, I encounter curious details about him like how his mind worked. He designed the house: Every secret passage, the maze-like layout, the foldable plant holders, the solihiya chairs with extendable footrests and even the bowling lane at the basement. It was grand, seven floors high including the tower. The shrine hardly gets featured for its artistry as other ancestral houses during its time. Lolo’s taste was functional and practical. Somewhat like a scientist or inventor. My husband and I guess that perhaps Lolo knew in the very beginning that he was building a monument for the Filipinos; that’s why he made it so huge.

Unfortunately, Independence Day, June 12 is just another holiday to most Filipinos. Our thanks to Pres. Noynoy Aquino for gracing it last June 12 (the last was former Pres. Fidel V. Ramos). But for the family, it’s a “day of obligation,” as Rep. Joseph Emilio Aguinaldo Abaya puts it. We are in complete attendance (yours truly being a perennial latecomer due to work), all coming in Filipiniana. After the ceremonies, the waving of the flag and the speeches, we have breakfast at the dining hall with the map of the Philippines above us.

Most Aguinaldo men have Emilio in their names. There’s Papa, Emilio Aguinaldo Jr. Papa, however, didn’t name his eldest son (my father-in-law’s dad), Emilio “the third” because they thought it would bring bad luck. And then, there’s my asawa, Emilio IV… and quite a number of “Miongs,” Emilies, Emilias. And even though we don’t have a son yet, there’s already an Emilio the fifth and a sixth in the Aguinaldo family tree.  

What’s in a name? It has a national ring to it, but my husband and I also find it humorous. Especially when we order delivery and we give his name to the person on the line. They think we’re pranksters! Sometimes, waiters would also ask for his autograph when they see his name in the credit card.

It’s nice to get to know Lolo Miong through the stories that circulate among family.

That Lolo was a quiet man, that our Daddy used to drive Lolo Miong, that he loved kesong puti and that he was vegetarian, as well as about his kapre friend and that he had an anting-anting!

All said, when asked, how does it feel to be married to Emilio M. Aguinaldo IV? It is an honor to carry the name Aguinaldo. But beyond that, what makes marriage to a descendant of Gen. Emilio Famy Aguinaldo special is being married to an amazing person whom I truly respect. After all, my husband is the first to say that he simply wants to be known as Orange.