La Liga Filipina

La Liga Filipina In 1892, Jose Rizal (full name: Jose Protacio Mercado Rizal y Alonzo) returned to the Philippines and proposed the establishment of a civic organization called ―La Liga Filipina.‖ On July 3, 1892, the following were elected as its officers: Ambrosio Salvador, president: Agustin dela Rosa, fiscal; Bonifacio Arevalo, treasurer; and Deodato Arellano, secretary. Rizal functioned as its adviser. La Liga Filipina aimed to: ▪ Unite the whole country ▪ Protect and assist all members ▪ Fight violence and injustice ▪ Support education ▪ Study and implement reforms

La Liga Filipina had no intention of rising up in arms against the government; but the Spanish officials still felt threatened. On July 6, 1892 only three days after La Liga Filipina’s establishment, Jose Rizal was secretly arrested. The next day, Governor General Eulogio Despujol ordered Rizal’s deportation to Dapitan, a small, secluded town in Zamboanga. La Liga Filipina's membership was active in the beginning; but later, they began to drift apart. The rich members wanted to continue supporting the Propaganda Movement; but the others seemed to have lost all hope that reforms could still be granted. Andres Bonifacio was one of those who believed that the only way t o achieve meaningful change was through a bloody revolution.

La Solidaridad In order to help achieve its goals, the Propaganda Movement put up its own newspaper, called La Solidaridad. The Soli, as the reformists fondly called their official organ, came out once every two weeks. The first issue saw print was published on November 15, 1895. The Solidaridad’s first editor was Graciano Lopez Jaena. Marcelo H. del Pilar  took over in October 1889. Del Pilar managed the Soli until it stopped publication due to lack of funds.

Why the Propaganda Movement Failed

The propaganda movement did not succeed in its pursuit of reforms. The colonial government did not agree to any of its demands. Spain itself was undergoing a lot of internal problems all that time, which could explain why the mother country failed to heed the Filipino’s petitions. The friars, on the other hand, were at the height of their power and displayed even more arrogance in flaunting their influence. They had neither the time nor the desire to listen to the voice of the people. Many of the reformists showed a deep love for their country, although they still failed to maintain a united front. Because most of them belonged to the upper middle class, they had to exercise caution in order to safeguard their wealth and other private interests. Personal differences and petty quarrels, apart from the lack of funds, were also a hindrance to the movements success. Lastly, no other strong and charismatic leader emerged from the group aside from Jose Rizal.

Graciano López Jaena by Dr. Robert L. Yoder, FAPC On December 18, 1856, saw the birth of Graciano López Jaena in Jaro, Iloilo to Placido López and Maria Jacoba Jaena. His parents were poor, as his mother was a seamstress and his father, a general repairman. His father, however, had been to school and his mother was quite religious. At the age of six, young Graciano was placed under the watch of Father Francisco Jayme who noted his intellectual promise, especially his gift of speech. His mother, feeling that the priesthood was the most noble of occupations and sent him to the Seminario de San Vicente Ferrer in Jaro which had been opened under the brief liberal administration of Governor General Carlos de la Torre. Here again, his talents were noted. While studying at this seminary, López Jaena served as a secretary to an uncle, Claudio López who was honorary vice consul of Portugal in Iloilo. He even took charge of some minor matters that were brought to that office. Despite his mother's desires, it was Graciano’s ambition to be a physician and he finally convinced his mother that this was the better course of action. He sought enrollment at the University to Santo Thomas but was denied admission because the required Bachelor of Arts degree was not offered at the seminary in Jaro. However he was directed to the San Juan de Dios Hospital as an apprentice. Unfortunately, financial backing ran out and his poor parents could not afford to keep him in Manila. He returned to Iloilo and practiced medicine in outlying communities with such knowledge as he had.

During this time his visits with the poor and the common people began to stir deep feelings about the injustices that were common. At the age of 18 he had the audacity to write the story "Fray Botod" which depicted a fat and

lecherous priest. Botod’s false piety "always [had] the Vir gin and God on his lips no matter how unjust and underhanded his acts are." This naturally incurred the fury of the friars who knew that the story depicted them. Although it was not published a copy circulated in the region but the Friars could not prove that López Jaena was the author. However 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. López Jaena continued to agitate for justice and finally left for Spain when threats were made on his life.

López Jaena sailed for Spain. There he was to become a leading literary and oratorical spokesman for the cause of Filipino freedom. Historians regard López Jaena, along with Marcelo del Pilar and José Rizal, as the triumvirate of Filipino propagandists. Of these three López Jaena was the first to arrive and may be said the Genesis of the Propaganda movement. He pursued his medical studies at the school of medicine at the University of Valencia but did not finish the course. Once Rizal reproached Lopéz Jaena for not finishing his 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. It must be said that López Jaena had his faults. Often careless and, indeed, lazy, he perhaps enjoyed the café life of Barcelona and Madrid a bit too much. However, his friends would forgive him these indiscretions due to his appeal with words and oratory. Mariano Ponce who was another of the Filipino propagandists in Spain observed, "... a deafening ovation followed the c lose 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." In addition he is remembered for his literary contributions to the propaganda movement. He founded the fortnightly newspaper, La Solidaridad (Solidarity). When the publication office moved from Barcelona to Madrid the editorship went to Marcelo H. del Pilar. A student will discover his talent in the publication Discursos y Artículos Varios (Speeches and Various Articles). Unfortunately, López Jaena died of tuberculosis on January 20, 1896. His death was followed on July 4th by Marcelo H. del Pilar and on December 30th of José Rizal by firing squad, thus ending the great triumvirate of propagandists. He died in poverty just shy of his fortieth birthday and two and a half years before the declaration of independence from Spain by Emilio

Aguinaldo. Had he lived longer, his accomplishments would have doubtless been greater.

José Rizal 1861-1896 José Rizal, son of a Filipino father and a Chinese mother, came from a wealthy family. Despite his family's wealth, they suffered discrimination because neither parent was born in the peninsula. Rizal studied at the Ateneo, a private high school, and then to the University of St. Thomas in Manila. He did his post graduate work at the University of Madrid in 1882. For the next five years, he wandered through Europe discussing politics wherever he went. In 1886, he studied medicine at the University of Heidelberg and wrote his classic novel Noli me Tangere, which condemned the Catholic Church in the Philippines for its promotion of Spanish colonialism. Immediately upon its publication, he became a target for the police who even shadowed him when he returned to the Philippines in 1887. He left his country shortly thereafter to return to Spain where he wrote a second novel, El Filibusterismo (1891), and many articles in his support of Filipino nationalism and his crusade to include representatives from his homeland in the Spanish Cortes. He returned to Manila in 1892 and created the Liga Filipina, a political group that called for peace change for the islands. Nevertheless, Spanish officials were displeased and exiled Rizal to the island of Mindanao. During his four years there, he practiced medicine, taught students, and collected local examples of flora and fauna while recording his discoveries. Even though he lost touched with others who were working for Filipino independence, he quickly denounced the movement when it became violent and revolutionary. After Andrés Bonifacio issued the Grito de Balintawak in 1896, Rizal was arrested, convicted of sedition, and executed by firing squad on December 30, 1896. Following the revolution, Rizal was made a saint by many religious cults while the United States authorities seized on his non-violent stance and emphasized his views on Filipino nationalism rather than those of the more action-oriented Emilio Aguinaldo and Andrés Bonifacio.

Marcelo H. del Pilar Marcelo H. del Pilar was born in Kupang, San Nicolas, Bulacan, on August 30 1850. His parents were Julian H. del Pilar and Blasa Gatmaitan. As a boy, he studied first in the college owned by Mrs. Herminigilda Flores, then at the San Jose College, form where he transferred to the University of Santo Tomas. He finished law in 1880.

He grew up to be one of the greatest propagandists who sought Philippine freedom through his pen. In 1882, he became editor of the newspaper Diariong Tagalog which strongly criticized the way t he Spaniards ran the government and treated the people. Using his pen name, Plaridel, he wrote satires against the Spanish friars, notably "Dasalan at Tuksuhan" and "Kaiingat Kayo." In Spain, he took the place of Graciano Lopez Jaena as E ditor of the La Solidaridad, the mouthpiece of the propagandists working for reforms for the Filipinos. But illness kept his from holding the position for a long time. Soon tuberculosis weakened him. He died on July 4, 1896 in Barcelona, Spain, away from his family.

Andres Bonifacio, (born Nov. 30, 1863, Manila —died May 10, 1897, Mt. Buntis, Phil.), Philippine patriot, founder and leader of the nationalist Katipunan society, who instigated the revolt of August 1896 against the Spanish. Bonifacio was born of poor parents in Manila and had little formal education, working as a messenger and warehouse keeper before becoming involved in revolutionary activity. He was, however, well-read. Unlike the nationalist poet and novelist José Rizal, who wanted to reform Spanish rule in the Philippines, Bonifacio advocated complete independence from Spain. In 1892 he founded the Katipunan in Manila, modelling its organization and ceremony on that of the Masonic order. The Katipunan at first grew slowly, but by 1896 it had an estimated 100,000 members and branches not only in Manila but also in central Luzon and on the islands of Panay, Mindoro, and Mindanao. Its members were mostly workers and peasants; the urban middle class supported reform rather than revolution. In August 1896 Bonifacio led the long-planned insurrection on Luzon; but his forces were defeated by Spanish troops, and he was forced to retreat to Montalban in the north, while Emilio Aguinaldo, one of his lieutenants, carried on resistance. As the Spanish systematically routed the insurrectos, it became increasingly clear that Bonifacio was an ineffective military leader. In March 1897 a convention at T ejeros named Aguinaldo, rather than Bonifacio, president of a new Philippine republic. Refusing to recognize the convention, Bonifacio tried to establish his own rebel government. In April 1897 Aguinaldo had Bonifacio arrested and tried for treason; he was executed by a firing squad.

Emilio Jacinto – Utak ng Katipunan Si Emilio Jacinto ay anak nila Mariano Jacinto at Josefa Dizon. Namatay agad ang kanyang ama ilang sandali lamang matapos na siya ay isilang na nagtulak sa kanyang ina na ipaampon si Emilio sa kanyang tiyuhin na si Don Jose Dizon upang magkaroon ng magandang buhay.

Si Emilio ay bihasa sa pagsasalita ng Tagalog at Kastila pero mas gusto niya ang Kastila. Siya ay nag-aral sa Kolehiyo ng San Juan de Letran at nang maglaon ay lumipat sa Pamantasan ng Sto. Tomas para mag-aral ng batas. Hindi niya natapos ang kurso at sa edad na 20 ay sumapi siya sa isang sikretong samahan na ang pangalan ay Katipunan. Nang mamatay si Bonifacio, ipinagpatuloy ni Jacinto ang paglaban sa mga Kastila bagamat hindi siya sumali sa puwersa ni Aguinaldo. Namatay si Emilio Jacinto sa sakit na malaria noong Abril 16, 1899 sa Majayjay, Laguna sa edad na 23.