Here in Kawit, the revolutionary army of General Emilio Aguinaldo proclaimed Philippine Independence on 12 June 1898 – a triumph soon quashed by the Americans. The alluring mahogany-and-nara-wood house, built in 1849, is now a shrine, and you can tour the 5ft 3in Aguinaldo’s private rooms and see his much-loved bowling alley. The general died in 1964 after a very long life that included a period of chumminess with the Japanese occupiers.
