THE very next day after the capitulation of the Spanish forces on November 6 in Negros, the Negrenses started consolidating their hold by creating a political organization based on their interests and patterned after the Swiss government at the former school of the Recollects in downtown Bacolod.
Present were the delegates from the towns and other officials of the new government. The first agenda taken up was the election of a small commission to sign the Acts of the new Assembly. This was followed by the proposal of MelecioSeverino for the various positions and officials of the new government namely: President AnicetoLacson; Delegate of War -- Juan Araneta; Delegate of Hacienda -- Eusebio Luzuriaga; Delegate of Government -- Simon Lizares; Delegate of Development -- Nicolas Golez; Delegate of Justice -- Antonio Jayme; Delegate of Agriculture and Commerce -- Agustin Amenabar; Secretary -- Melecio Severino; Sub-Secretary -- Fortunato Hugo; and Military Commander -- Rafael Ramos.
The first act of President Lacson was to send a telegram to President Emilio Aguinaldo at Malolos informing him of the newly organized Provincial Revolutionary Government of Negros.
Another copy was sent to President Roque Lopez of the Central Iloilo Revolutionary Committee of the Visayas. A Message greeting the consular officials and assuring them of the continued friendship of the newly constituted government was also sent to the Vice Consuls of America, Germany, England, Switzerland and Portugal. This last message was an early indication of the importance of the sugar business to the new government since the Vice Consul were business representatives of their respective countries. From the start, Delegate of War Araneta was running the show and when he ordered the reorganization of the local government on November 11, he was supported by the whole assembly as Araneta's loyalty was to the whole Cantonal Government firstly.
The local Juntas organized the popular assemblies in their towns following the Visayas and Malolos guidelines. The Negrenses accepted Juan Araneta's appointment as Politico-Military Governor based on their expectation on his demonstration of loyalty firstly to the Cantonal Government.
On December 5, 1898, when he answered President Aguinaldo's appointment to the National Government, he politely explained that while he was accepting the position, he could not follow Aguinaldo's wishes because the Provincial Government and the Republic of Negros had already chosen him in the Cantonal Government.
An important message from the people of Negros was also sent to the Commandant of the American squadron in Iloilo and the Negrenses hoped that US Captain Glass of the cruiser "Charlton" hoping he would forward the same to the authorities in Manila.
From this document, the pragmatic Negrenses acted not out of love for the Americans but out of a desire to preserve their newly won independence and being concerned that the Treaty of Paris which was rumored to be in the process of being signed soon between America and Spain would result in Spanish control of the Visayas and Mindanao.
The Negrenses therefore, sought American protection believing that this noble and generous nation would protect their lives and properties without, however, claiming Negros and they thought that stressing their independence from Malolos they would have better chances of preserving their hard earned freedom. We will continue our information in our next issue.