Basilio Augustín President

Basilio Augustín y Dávila (1840–1910) was briefly a Spanish Governor-General of the Philippines, from April 11 to July 24, 1898, in the middle of the Philippine Revolution. He attempted to create a consultative assembly of Filipino Ilustrados loyal to Spain and a militia force of Filipinos, as a pretext for autonomy in the Philippines. He assured the Spanish that the war against the United States would be short and decisive. He offered one million pesos to Aguinaldo but the latter refused. However, it did gain following from reputable figures of from the revolutionaries such as Artemio Ricarte and Emiliano Riego de Dios due to the efforts of Pedro Paterno.The Filipinos, however, were tired of Spain's plans for autonomy and reforms usually advocated by the Propaganda Movement, and they sided with the Filipino revolutionaries under Emilio Aguinaldo. Thus Augustín's plans for reform end in failure as most of the Spanish-trained Filipino militia deserted to the revolutionary ranks, and his consultative assembly finally dissolved. Most of its members became signers of the Malolos Constitution and members of the Malolos Congress.During his term, the German intention on the Philippines began to warm up.