Biography
Simeon A. Villa was born in Beata, Pandacan. He studied medicine at the University of Santo Tomas in the Philippines and ophthalmology in Japan before becoming involved in revolutionary activities. He served under General Daniel Tirona in 1898, and was accused of committing atrocities against the Spaniards, accusations he did little to deny. During the next year, he was on the personal staff of Lieutenant-General Antonio Luna. During Aguinaldo's flight from U.S. forces, Villa was part of the revolutionary leader's inner circle. After the capture of Aguinaldo, Villa fled to Japan to avoid imprisonment; he returned to the Philippines in 1902. Villa died in 1945. [Source: Aguinaldo's Odyssey; as told in the diaries of Col. Simeon Villa and Dr. Santiago Barcelona Manila: Publications of the Bureau of Public Libraries, 1963.]
Emilio Aguinaldo was born in Kawit, Cavite in 1869. He first came to national prominence by playing a central role in the 1896 Philippine uprising against Spain. After a short exile to Hong Kong in 1897, Aguinaldo returned to the Philippines, leading a Philippine insurrection that worked in concert with American forces during the Spanish-American War. During this time, he established the first Philippine Republic with its capital at Malolos and was elected president. At the conclusion of the Spanish-American War, Aguinaldo led a rebellion against the American occupying forces. The American pursuit in response to these actions is the cause of the flight described in Villa's diary. After his capture in 1901, Aguinaldo signed an oath of allegiance to the United States and served a short prison term. Aguinaldo died in 1964. (Source: Artemio R. Guillermo and May Kyi Win. Historical Dictionary of the Philippines . Lanham, MD: Scarecrow Press, 1997).
Nothing is known about the translator of the diary, identified only as J.C.H.
From the guide to the Villa (Simeon A.), Flight and wanderings of Emilio Aguinaldo: from his abandonment of Bayambong until his capture in Palahan, 1899-1901, (University of California, Los Angeles. Library. Department of Special Collections.)
