Biography[edit]

His parents sent Lpez Jaena to Jaro to study at St. Vincent Ferrer Seminary which had been opened under the administration of Governor General Carlos Mara de la Torre y Nava Cerrada. While there, he served as a secretary to an uncle, Claudio Lpez, who was the honorary vice

consul of Portugal in Iloilo. His ambition to become a physician convinced his parents that this was the better course of action. Lpez Jaena sought enrollment at the University of Santo Tomas but was denied admission because the required Bachelor of Arts degree was not offered at the seminary in Jaro. Instead he was appointed to the San Juan de Dios Hospital as an apprentice.

Unfortunately, due to financial problems, he dropped out and returned to Iloilo to practice medicine. During this period, his visits with the poor began to stir feelings about the [citation injustices that were common. needed] At the age of 18 he wrote the satirical story "Fray Botod" which depicted a fat and lecherous priest. Botods false piety "always had the Virgin and God on his lips no matter

how unjust and underhanded his acts [citation needed] are." This incurred the fury of the friars. Although the story was not published, a copy circulated in Iloilo but the friars could not prove that Lpez Jaena was the author. He got into trouble for refusing to testify that certain prisoners died of natural causes when it was obvious that they had died at the hands of the mayor of Pototan. Lpez Jaena continued to

agitate for justice and finally went to Spain when threats were made on his life. Lpez Jaena sailed for Spain in 1879. There he became a leading writer and speaker for Philippine reform. Lpez Jaena pursued his medical studies at the University of Valencia but did not finish. Once Rizal reproached Lopz Jaena for not finishing his [citation needed] medical studies. Graciano replied, "On the shoulders of slaves

should not rest a doctor's cape." Rizal countermanded, "The shoulders do not honor the doctor's cape, but the doctor's cape honors the shoulders." He then moved to the field of journalism. Losing interest in politics and academic life, he soon enjoyed his life in Barcelona and Madrid. However, his friends forgave him these indiscretions due to his talent with words. Mariano Ponce who was another of the Filipino

propagandists in Spain observed, "... a deafening ovation followed the close of the peroration, the ladies waved their kerchiefs wildly, and the men applauded frantically as they stood up from their seats in order to embrace the speaker." Rizal noted, "His great love is politics and literature. I do not know for sure whether he loves politics in order to deliver speeches or he loves literature to be a politician."

La Solidaridad

In addition he is remembered for his literary contributions to the propaganda movement. Lpez Jaena founded the fortnightly newspaper, La Solidaridad. When the publication office moved from Barcelona to Madrid, the

[by whom?]

editorship was succeeded to Marcelo H. del Pilar. His talent can be seen in the publication Discursos y Artculos Varios(Speeches and Various Articles). Lpez Jaena died of tuberculosis on January 20, 1896, eleven months short of his 40th birthday. The following day he was buried in an unmarked grave at the Cementerio del Sub-Oeste of Barcelona. He died in poverty.

His death was followed by Marcelo H. del Pilar's on on July 4 and on December 30 by Jos Rizal's by firing squad, thus ending the great triumvirate of propagandists. His remains have not been brought back to the Philippines.

Biography

Marcelo Hilario del Pilar y Gatmaitn was born on August 30, 1850 in Cupang (now Barangay San [3] Nicols), Bulacn, Bulacan. He was baptized "Marcelo Hilario" on September [4] 4, 1850. The surname "del Pilar" was added to comply with the decree issued by Governor-General Narciso [5] Clavera in 1849. Del Pilars parents owned several farms, some fish ponds, and an animal-power

mill. His father, Julin Hilario del Pilar, was a Tagalog grammarian, poet, and [7] speaker. He was a "three time" gobernadorcillo (municipal mayor) of his pueblo (town). Julin later held the position of oficial de mesa (government clerk) of the alcalde mayor (provincial [8] governor). Blasa Gatmaitn, del Pilars mother, was a descendant of the noble Gatmaitns. She was known as "Doa [4] Blasica".

[6]

The ninth of ten children, del Pilar's siblings were: Toribio (priest, deported to the Mariana Islands in [9] 1872), Fernando (father of [10] General Gregorio del Pilar), Andrea, Dorotea, Estanislao, Juan, Hilaria (married to Deodato [11] Arellano), Valentn, and Mara. The share of each was very small and del Pilar renounced his in favor of his [1] siblings.

Del Pilar worked with his paternal uncle Alejo del Pilar, the clerk of the court [12] of Quiapo, in 1860. At an early age, he played the flute, piano, [13] and violin. He took a Latin course in the college owned by Hermenigildo [14] Flores. He later transferred at [3] the Colegio de San Jos. After obtaining his Bachiller en Artes, he pursued law at the Universidad de Santo Toms. Del Pilar was a fourth

year law student when he acted as a padrino (godfather) at a baptism in [9] 1869. He was imprisoned by the religious orders for having questioned the exorbitant baptismal fee charged by the parish priest of San Miguel. He was sentenced to Old Bilibid Prison (then known as Carcel y Presidio Correccional) by judge Flix Garca Gavieres. He was released after thirty [15] days.

When the Cavite Mutiny took place in 1872, del Pilar was living with Fr. [9] Mariano Sevilla. Sevilla was among the thirteen secular priests who had been arrested by the Spanish authorities due to allegation of being the organizers of the uprising. He was deported to the Mariana Islands together with del Pilar's eldest brother, Fr. Toribio Hilario del [16] Pilar.

Del Pilar worked as oficial de mesa in Pampanga (1874-1875) and Quiapo (1878-1879). In February 1878, del Pilar married Marciana (the "Chanay/Tsanay" [17] in his letters). The couple had seven children, six girls and one boy: Sofa, Jos, Mara, Rosario, Mara Consolacin, Mara Concepcin, and Ana (Anita). Only Sofa and Anita grew to adulthood (five children died before [18] becoming adults). Del Pilar resumed

his legal studies at the UST in that year [17] (1878). He earned his licenciado en jurisprudencia (equivalent to a Bachelor [19] of Laws) in 1880. After finishing law, he worked for the Real Audiencia de [20] Manila (Royal Audience of Manila).

Pedro Payo y Pieiro, O.P.(1814 1889) was the 24th Archbishop of Manila who took charge in 1876 until his death in 1889.

In 1882, del Pilar co-founded the shortlived Diariong Tagalog (Tagalog Newspaper), the first Philippine bilingual [9] newspaper. The newspaper was financed by Francisco Calvo y Muoz, a wealthy Spanish liberal. Del Pilar published patriotic articles and edited [21] the Tagalog section. He featured in

the newspaper the essay of Jos Rizal, El Amor Patrio, which del Pilar translated into Tagalog, Ang Pagibig sa [22] Tinubang Lup (Love of Country). In 1885, del Pilar and his associates collided head-on with the friar-curate of Malolos on the list of [23] taxpayers. The friar-curate wanted to bloat the list, a move meant for the church's financial gain. On October 18, 1887, Benigno Quiroga y Lpez

Ballesteros (the Director General of Civil Administration in Manila) issued an executive order prohibiting the exposition of corpses in the churches (also known as the "1887 Quiroga [24] Decree"). Manuel Crisstomo, the gobernadorcillo of Malolos at that time, published the order by means of a bellman. Fr. Felipe Garca, the towns friar-curate, aggravated the authorities by parading the body of the servant of

Don Eugenio Delgado. In order to prevent protest, Crisstomo, advised by del Pilar, addressed the problem to the Spanish governor of Bulacan, Manuel Gmez Florio. Gmez Florio [25] reprimanded the fighting friar-curate. Another incident occurred in that year (1887). There was a dispute between the indios (Filipino natives) and the mestizos de sanglay (Chinese mestizos) concerning the selection of

seats in the Binondo Church. Del Pilar acted as the assessor of Juan A. Zulueta (Juan A. Tenluz), the main agitator of the group of indios against the mestizos de sanglay, which latter were supported by the friar-curate of Binondo, Fr. Jos Hevia [26] Campomanes. On January 21, 1888, del Pilar drafted a memorial to the gobernador civil (civil [27] governor) of Bulacan. This was

signed by gobernadorcillos, exgobernadorcillos, leading citizens, proprietors, industrialists, professors, and lawyers of the province. The memorial suggested a popular contribution for the aim of assisting the treasury with the costs of the establishment of a school accredited by Spain's Minister of Ultramar.

A copy of La Solidaridad

A massive anti-friar demonstration occurred on March 1 of the same [13] year. The demonstrators (led by Doroteo Corts and Jos A. Ramos) marched to the office of Jos Centeno Garca, the civil governor of Manila at

that time. They presented a manifesto addressed to the Queen Regent. This manifesto, entitled "Viva Espaa! Viva el Rey! Viva el Ejrcito! Fuera los Frailes!" (Long live Spain! Long live the King! Long live the Army! Throw the friars out!), was written by del [23] Pilar. It demanded the friars' expulsion from thePhilippines (including Manila Archbishop Pedro P. Payo).

Fr. Jos Rodrguez, an Augustinian priest, authored a pamphlet entitled Caigat Cayo!: Sa maga masasamang libro,t, casulatan (Beware!: of bad books and writings, 1888). The friar warned the Filipinos that in reading Rizal's Noli Me Tngere (Touch Me Not) they commit "mortal sin". On August 3 of the same year, del Pilar wrote Caiigat Cay (Be

as Slippery as an Eel). It was a reply to [28] Fr. Rodrguez's Caigat Cay!. The Spanish liberal officials (Terrero, Quiroga, Centeno, etc.) were succeeded [29] by the conservatives. In Bulacan, Gmez Florio was removed as civil governor. The new governor was persuaded by Fr. Felipe Garca to issue an order of banishment against del Pilar for his anti-clerical and subversive activities. The order was processed for

two days, but before it was released, del Pilar had fled to Spain (October 28, [30] 1888).

The National Shrine of Marcelo H. del Pilar in San Nicols, Bulacn, Bulacan

Before he left the country, del Pilar stayed at the house of his fellow

Bulaqueo, Pedro Serrano y Lactao. Together with Rafael Enriquez, they wrote the Dasalan at Tocsohan(Prayers and Mockeries), a mock-prayer book [31] satirizing the Spanish friars. They also wrote the Pasing Dapat Ipag-alab nang Puso nang Tauong Babasa (Passion That Should Inflame the Heart of the [32] Reader). Del Pilar arrived in Barcelona on [33] January 1, 1889. He headed the

political section of the Asociacin Hispano-Filipina de Madrid (Hispanic [34] Filipino Association of Madrid). On December 15, 1889, he succeeded Graciano Lpez Jaena as [2] editor of the La Solidaridad. Under his editorship, the aims of the newspaper expanded. Using propaganda, it pursued the desires for: assimilation of the Philippines as a province of Spain; removal of the friars and

the secularization of the parishes; freedom of assembly and speech;equality before the law; and Philippine representation in the Cortes, [35][36] the legislature of Spain.

Marcelo H. del Pilar's monument (Bulacan's provincial heroes' park,Bulacan State University).

Del Pilar's struggle increased when the funds to support the La Solidaridad were ignored and there were no sign of immediate response from the Spanish colonial government. Before his death, he opposed the assimilationist stand and began planning an armed revolution. Del Pilar vigorously affirmed this belief: Jos Protasio Rizal Mercado y [6][7] Alonso Realonda (June 19, 1861

December 30, 1896), was a Filipino nationalist and reformist. He is considered one of the national heroes of the Philippines, together with Andrs [8] Bonifacio. Studying in Europe, he was the most prominent advocate for reform in the Philippines during the Spanish colonial era. He was wrongly implicated as the leader of the Katipunan Revolution, and that led to his execution on December 30, 1896, now celebrated

as Rizal Day, a national holiday in the country. Rizal was born to a wealthy family in Calamba, Laguna and was the seventh of eleven children. He attended the Ateneo Municipal de Manila, earning a Bachelor of Arts diploma and studied medicine at the University of Santo Tomas in Manila. He continued his studies at the Universidad Central de Madrid in Madrid, Spain, earning the

degree of Licentiate in Medicine, making him eligible to practice medicine. He also attended lectures at the University of Paris and theUniversity of Heidelberg. Rizal was a polymath; besides medicine, he was also an artist who dabbled in painting, sketching, sculpting and woodcarving. He was a prolific poet, essayist, and novelist whose most famous works were his two novels, Noli Me Tngere and its sequel, El

filibusterismo. These social commentaries during theSpanish colonization of the country formed the nucleus of literature that inspired peaceful reformists and armed revolutionaries alike. Rizal was also a polyglot, conversant in twenty-two [note 2][note 3][10][11] languages. As a political figure, Jos Rizal was the founder of La Liga Filipina, a civic organization that subsequently gave

[note 1][9]

birth to the Katipunan led by Andrs [note 4] Bonifacio, , a secret society which would start the Philippine Revolution against Spain that eventually laid the foundation of the First Philippine Republicunder Emilio Aguinaldo. He was a proponent of achieving Philippine self-government peacefully through institutional reform rather than through violent revolution, and would only support "violent means" as a last

resort. Rizal believed that the only justification for national liberation and self-government is the restoration of the [note 5] dignity of the people, saying "Why independence, if the slaves of today will [14] be the tyrants of tomorrow?" The general consensus among Rizal scholars is that his execution by the Spanish government ignited the Philippine Revolution.

[13]

Born

Jos Protasio Rizal Mercado y Alonso Realonda June 19, 1861[1] Calamba, Laguna[1]

Died

December 30, [2] 1896 (aged 35) Bagumbayan, Manila[2] execution by firing squad Rizal Park, Manila Calamba, Laguna Filipino

Cause of death Monuments Nationality

Other names Pepe[3][4] Alma mater Ateneo Municipal de Manila,University of

Santo Tomas,Universidad Central de Madrid Organization La Solidaridad, La Liga Filipina Influenced by Paciano Rizal Religion Spouse(s) Roman Catholicism Josephine Bracken (1896)
[5]

Children

Francsco Rizal y Bracken (who died

after birth) Parents Francisco Mercado (father) Teodora Alonso (mother)

Signature

La Liga Filipina
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The cover page of the constitution of La Liga Filipina

La Liga Filipina (English: The Philippine League) was a progressive organization created by Dr. Jos Rizal in the Philippines in the house of Doroteo Ongjunco at Ilaya Street, Tondo, Manila in 1892.

The organization derived from La Solidaridad and the Propaganda movement. The purpose of La Liga Filipina is to build a new group sought to involve the people directly in the reform movement. The league was to be a sort of mutual aid and selfhelp society dispensing scholarship funds and legal aid, loaning capital and setting up cooperatives, the league became at threat to Spanish authorities that they arrested Rizal on July 6, 1892 on Dapitan. During the exile of Rizal, The organization became inactive, through the efforts of Domingo Franco and Andres Bonifacio, it was reorganized. The organization decided to declare its support for La Solidaridad and the reforms it advocated, raise

funds for the paper, and defray the expenses of deputies advocating reforms for the country before the Spanish Cortes. Eventually after some disarray in the leadership of the group, the Supreme Council of the League dissolved the society. The Liga membership split into two groups: the conservatives formed the Cuerpo de Compromisarios which pledged to continue supporting the La Solidaridad while the radicals led by Bonifacio devoted themselves to a new and secret society, the Katipunan. Contents

[hide]

1 Aims 2 Members 2.1 Directors 2.1.1 Exile of Rizal 2.2 Other members 3 External links
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Aims[edit]

To unite the whole archipelago into one vigorous and homogenous organization;

Mutual protection in every want and necessity; Defense against all violence and injustice; Encouragement of instruction, agriculture, and commerce; and Study the application of reforms