El Presidente
Movie Insight Paper
The movie 'El Presidente' portrayed the life and history of Emilio Aguinaldo, also known as
Miong. Miong is known for being practical, down to earth, smart for having strong ideas and right
and wrong decisions, a good leader, fighting for what is right, controlled and orderly, organized,
and deeply cares for his fellow Filipinos. Because of him having these characteristics even when
he was young, Filipinos wanted him to become the first President.
Emilio Aguinaldo's positive characteristics were mentioned above. Another positive
characteristic of him is being a good general with his wise decisions that made him a reliable
person, which is a must for a president. But the negative characteristics also came from his
positive characteristics. Because he deeply cares for his fellow Filipinos, which is definitely a
good thing, as soon as he sees hope, he grabs it without giving a thought of it becoming another
despair. One example was when Aguinaldo trusted the Americans just by them saying that they
do not have any interests in the Philippines, Aguinaldo just accepted it. This might be the reason
why the Philippine-American War happened. But, just like what Aguinaldo said, a fast decision is
a must in the middle of a crisis. With no forces and weapons like what America and Spain had,
there is definitely no way for the Filipinos to have a better life without people getting sacrificed in
that war and without joining other country's forces. Aguinaldo already did his best to prevent other
countries from colonizing the Philippines. I cannot blame him for the sacrifices he made.
When Spanish colonization was still happening, with over 350 years of them ruling the
Philippines, Filipinos that time were already used to their lifestyle and Spanish people ruling them.
But when the Revolution started, with the strong hope of having the most wanted freedom for a
long time, many Filipinos united and joined the forces of Aguinaldo in fighting over with the
Spanish colony. They were given hope by Aguinaldo's forces winning over Spanish people in other
parts of the country.
If I can change one event or decision that happened during that time, I would change
Bonifacio's decisions towards Aguinaldo and the Magdalo group and make them as a whole
group of Katipunan. Since he was the founder of Katipunan and fought many battles already, deep
respect and honor are already there from his fellow Filipinos. But when voting for the official
President happened, it was not Bonifacio who won, and that made him felt angry and jealous. I
was shocked because he was killed by his own people due to what he did and felt towards
Aguinaldo replacing him and the Magdalo group. I felt frustrated because his decisions made the
two Katipunan groups split, even though they had the same goal from the start. But even I would
feel the same if I was the founder of a group that wants independence from colonization and got
replaced as a leader just because I do not have educational attainment. But due to Bonifacio's
decisions that already got caught by his emotions, instead of the Katipunan becoming more
powerful through joined forces, it got split and led to the deaths of Andres Bonifacio and his
brother Procopio Bonifacio.
Movie Insight Paper
The movie 'El Presidente' portrayed the life and history of Emilio Aguinaldo, also known as
Miong. Miong is known for being practical, down to earth, smart for having strong ideas and right
and wrong decisions, a good leader, fighting for what is right, controlled and orderly, organized,
and deeply cares for his fellow Filipinos. Because of him having these characteristics even when
he was young, Filipinos wanted him to become the first President.
Emilio Aguinaldo's positive characteristics were mentioned above. Another positive
characteristic of him is being a good general with his wise decisions that made him a reliable
person, which is a must for a president. But the negative characteristics also came from his
positive characteristics. Because he deeply cares for his fellow Filipinos, which is definitely a
good thing, as soon as he sees hope, he grabs it without giving a thought of it becoming another
despair. One example was when Aguinaldo trusted the Americans just by them saying that they
do not have any interests in the Philippines, Aguinaldo just accepted it. This might be the reason
why the Philippine-American War happened. But, just like what Aguinaldo said, a fast decision is
a must in the middle of a crisis. With no forces and weapons like what America and Spain had,
there is definitely no way for the Filipinos to have a better life without people getting sacrificed in
that war and without joining other country's forces. Aguinaldo already did his best to prevent other
countries from colonizing the Philippines. I cannot blame him for the sacrifices he made.
When Spanish colonization was still happening, with over 350 years of them ruling the
Philippines, Filipinos that time were already used to their lifestyle and Spanish people ruling them.
But when the Revolution started, with the strong hope of having the most wanted freedom for a
long time, many Filipinos united and joined the forces of Aguinaldo in fighting over with the
Spanish colony. They were given hope by Aguinaldo's forces winning over Spanish people in other
parts of the country.
If I can change one event or decision that happened during that time, I would change
Bonifacio's decisions towards Aguinaldo and the Magdalo group and make them as a whole
group of Katipunan. Since he was the founder of Katipunan and fought many battles already, deep
respect and honor are already there from his fellow Filipinos. But when voting for the official
President happened, it was not Bonifacio who won, and that made him felt angry and jealous. I
was shocked because he was killed by his own people due to what he did and felt towards
Aguinaldo replacing him and the Magdalo group. I felt frustrated because his decisions made the
two Katipunan groups split, even though they had the same goal from the start. But even I would
feel the same if I was the founder of a group that wants independence from colonization and got
replaced as a leader just because I do not have educational attainment. But due to Bonifacio's
decisions that already got caught by his emotions, instead of the Katipunan becoming more
powerful through joined forces, it got split and led to the deaths of Andres Bonifacio and his
brother Procopio Bonifacio.
