THE AGUINALDO SHRINE is the national shrine located in Kawit, CAVITE, where the Independence of the Philippines from Spain was declared on June 12, 1898. The shrine is the ancestral home of General Emilio Aguinaldo, the First President of the First Republic of the Philippines. The house was first built in 1845, made from wood and thatch, and reconstructed in 1849. It was in this home where the General was born on March 22, 1869. To commemorate the "Araw ng Kalayaan" or Independence Day, a national holiday, the Philippine flag is raised here by the top government officials every 12th of June each year. The house is now a museum.
