On May 4, 1898, the Hongkong junta voted that Aguinaldo ought to go to the Philippines, and go he did. It would seem that he at first gave up the idea of joining Dewey, for on May 11 he wrote a cipher letter, giving minute directions for the preparation of signals to assist his ship in making land, by day or by night, at Dingalan Bay on the east coast of Luzon; directing the capture of the town of San Antonio, just back of Capones Islands, in Zambales, and ending with the words: "We will surely arrive at one of the two places above mentioned, so you must be prepared."
Something led him again to change his mind, and he finally sailed on the _McCulloch_.
In his "Reseña Verídica" written later for political purposes, Aguinaldo has definitely claimed that Dewey promised him that the United States would recognize the independence of the Filipino people. I will let him tell his own story, confronting his statements with those of the admiral.
"The _McCulloch_ started at eleven o'clock on the morning of the 17th of May for the Philippines; we anchored, between twelve and one o'clock on the afternoon of the 19th, in the waters of Cavite, and immediately the launch of the Admiral--with his aid and private secretary--came to convey me to the _Olympia_, where I was received, with my aid, Sr. Leyva, with the honors of a general, by a section of marine guards." [43]
Relative to this matter, Admiral Dewey has testified: [44]
"_The Chairman_. You, of course, never saluted the flag?
_Admiral Dewey_. Certainly not; and I do not think I ever called Aguinaldo anything but Don Emilio; I don't think I ever called him 'General.'
_The Chairman_. And when he came on board ship was he received with any special honors at the side?
"The Admiral received me in a salon, and after greetings of courtesy I asked him 'if all the telegrams relative to myself which he had addressed to the Consul at Singapore, Mr. Pratt, were true.' He replied in the affirmative, and added, 'that the United States had come to the Philippines to protect its natives and free them from the yoke of Spain.'
He said, moreover, that 'America was rich in territory and money, and needed no colonies,' concluding by assuring me, 'to have no doubt whatever about the recognition of Philippine independence by the United States.' Thereupon he asked me if I could get the people to arise against the Spaniards and carry on a rapid campaign." [45]