The American people, however, received a different version of how the war started. Newspaper reports made it appear that the Filipinos had started the fighting. This was the time when the Treaty of Paris was pending ratification in the U.S. Senate. Previously, because of strong public opinion against the U.S. annexation of the Philippines, ratification of the treaty was uncertain. But the distorted news that reached the United States, specifically that the Filipinos were the ones who started hostilities, changed the minds of several U.S. senators to vote for ratification. On February 6, 1899, the U.S. Senate ratified the

Treaty of Paris.

Philippine Insurrection? Ouuuccccch. The Americans viewed the fighting as an insurrection, not a war. Hence, Americans refer to this episode as the Philippine Insurrection, not the Philippine-American War. The Spanish-American conflict that lasted only three months, is referred to as the Spanish-American War. But the Philippine-American conflict officially lasted three years and is known only as the Philippine Insurrection by America. Actually the fighting between American and the remaining armed groups of Filipinos, whom Americans branded as “bandits,” lasted 16 years (1899-1914).

James Loewen, a Washington, D.C.,-based scholar and author of a forthcoming book titled Lies Across the Landscape: What Our Historical Markers and Monuments Get Wrong, said, “What we call the Philippine Insurrection should be called the Philippine War. We had never conquered the Philippines, so you can’t call it a revolt.” Loewen’s comment was mentioned in an article published in the Star Tribune in Minnesota, in its issue of November 15, 1997.

Source
The Filipino Americans (From 1763 to the Present): Their History, Culture, & Traditions.
Veltisezar B. Bautista