Jose Rizal

Dr Jose Protacio Rizal was born in the town of Calamba, Laguna on 19th June 1861. The second
son and the seventh among the eleven children of Francisco Mercado and Teodora Alonso.
With his mother as his first teacher, he began his early education at home and continued in Binan,
Laguna. He entered a Jesuit-run Ateneo Municipal de Manila in 1872 and obtained a bachelor's
degree with highest honors in 1876. He studied medicine at the University of Santo Tomas but had
to stop because he felt that the Filipino students were being discriminated by their Dominican tutors.
He went to Madrid at Universidad Central de Madrid and in 1885 at the age of 24, he finished his
course in Philosophy and Letters with a grade of "Excellent".
He took graduate studies in Paris, France & Heidelberg, Germany. He also studied painting,
sculpture, he learned to read and write in at least 10 languages.
Rizal was a prolific writer and was anti-violence. He rather fight using his pen than his might. Rizal's
two books "Noli Me Tangere" (Touch Me Not) which he wrote while he was in Berlin, Germany in
1887 and "El Filibusterismo" (The Rebel) in Ghent, Belgiun in 1891 exposed the cruelties of the
Spanish friars in the Philippines, the defects of the Spanish administration and the vices of the
clergy, these books told about the oppression of the Spanish colonial rule. These two books made
Rizal as a marked man to the Spanish friars.
 In 1892 when Rizal returned to the Philippines, he formed La Liga Filipina , a non violent
reform society of patriotic citizen and a forum for Filipinos to express their hopes for reform, to
promote progress through commerce, industry and agriculture and freedom from the
oppressive Spanish colonial administration.
 On July 6, 1892, he was imprisoned in Fort Santiago, on the charge of instigating unrest
against Spain, he was exiled to Dapitan, in northwestern Mindanao. He remained in exile for
four years, while he was in political exile in Dapitan, he practice medicine, he established a
school for boys, promoted community development projects, he applied his knowledge in
engineering by constructing a system of waterworks in order to furnish clean water to the
townspeople. In Dapitan he also met, fell in love and lived with Josephine Bracken.
 In 1896, the Katipunan, a nationalist secret society launched a revolt against the Spaniards,
although Jose Rizal had no connection with the organization, his enemies were able to linked
him with the revolt. To avoid being involved in the move to start a revolution, he asked
Governor Ramon Blanco to send him to Cuba but instead he was brought back to Manila
and jailed for the second time in Fort Santiago.

Rizal Monument at Luneta Park

On December 26, 1896, after a trial, Rizal was sentenced to die, he was convicted of rebellion,
sedition, and of forming illegal association. On the eve of his execution while confined in Fort
Santiago, Rizal wrote a poem Mi Ultimo Adios (My Last Farewell) and hid it inside the gas burner
and gave the gas burner to his sister Trinidad and his wife Josephine.

He was executed on December 30, 1896 at the age of 35 by a firing squad at Bagumbayan, now
known as Luneta Park in Manila.

Jose Rizal was a man of many accomplishments - a linguist, a novelist, a poet, a scientist, a doctor,
a painter, an educator, a reformer and a visionary, he left his people his greatest patriotic poem, Mi
Ultimo Adios to serve as an inspiration for the next generations.
Interesting Trivia About Dr Jose Rizal
 Rizal's Contribution to Science
Rizal found Mindanao a rich virgin field for collecting specimens. With his baroto(sailboat) and
accompanied by his pupils, he explored the jungles and coasts seeking specimens of insects, birds,
snakes lizards frogs shells and plants.
He sent these specimens to the museum of Europe especially the Dresden Museum. In payment for
these valuable specimens, the European scientists sent him scientific books and surgical
instruments.

 Manila Lottery Winner

On September 21, 1892 the mail boat “Butuan” arrived in Dapitan carrying lottery Ticket No. 9736
jointly owned by Captain Carnicero, Dr Jose Rizal and Francisco Equilior won the second prize of
P20,000 in the government-owned Manila Lottery.

Rizal’s share of the winning loterry was P6,200. He gave P2,000 to his father and P200 to his friend
Basa in Hongkong and the rest he invested well by purchasing agricultural lands along the coast of
Talisay about one kilometer away from Dapitan.

Rizal Discovered Rare Specimens

For four years during his exile in Dapitan, Rizal discovered some rare specimens which were named
in his honor by the scientists. Among these were :

 Draco Rizali—a flying dragon

 Apogonia Rizali -a small beetle
 Rhacophorus Rizali—a rare frog

Andres Bonifacio
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. A Filipino revolutionary hero, founded the Katipunan, a secret society
which spearheaded the uprising against the Spanish and laid the groundwork for the
first Philippine Republic.
Andres Bonifacio was born in Tondo, Manila, on Nov. 30, 1863. He grew up in the slums
and knew from practical experience the actual conditions of the class struggle in his society.
Orphaned early, he interrupted his primary schooling in order to earn a living as a craftsman
and then as clerk-messenger and agent of foreign commercial firms in Manila. Absorbing
the teachings of classic rationalism from the works of José Rizal, Victor Hugo's Les
Miserables, Eugène Sue's The Wandering Jew, books on the French Revolution, and the
lives of the presidents of the United States, Bonifacio acquired an understanding of the
dynamics of the sociohistorical process. This led him to join the Liga Filipina, which Rizal
organized in 1892 for the purpose of uniting and intensifying the nationalist movement for
reforms.
When the Liga was dissolved upon the arrest and banishment of Rizal, Bonifacio formed the
Katipunan in 1892 and thus provided the rallying point for the people's agitation for freedom,
independence, and equality. The Katipunan patterned its initiation rites after the Masonry,
but its ideological principles derived from the French Revolution and can be judged radical
in its materialistic-historical orientation. The Katipunan exalted work as the source of all
value. It directed attention to the unjust class structure of the colonial system, the increased
exploitation of the indigenous population, and consequently the need to affirm the collective
strength of the working masses in order to destroy the iniquitous system.
When the society was discovered on Aug. 19, 1896, it had about 10,000 members. On
August 23 Bonifacio and his followers assembled at Balintawak and agreed to begin the
armed struggle. Two days later the first skirmish took place and a reign of terror by the
Spaniards soon followed.
Conflict split the rebels into the two groups of Magdiwang and Magdalo in Cavite, on Luzon.
Bonifacio was invited to mediate, only to be rebuffed by the clannish middle class of Cavite.
Judging Bonifacio's plans as divisive and harmful to unity, Gen. Emilio Aguinaldo, the
elected president of the provisional revolutionary government, ordered the arrest, trial, and
execution for "treason and sedition" of Bonifacio and his brothers. On May 10, 1897,
Bonifacio was executed.
Contrary to the popular view, the cause of Bonifacio's tragic death at the hands of other
Filipino rebels cannot be solely attributed to his own personal pride. Rather, the correlation
of class forces and the adventurist tendency of Bonifacio's group led to his isolation and
subsequently to Aguinaldo's compromises with the American military invaders.

General Gregorio Del Pilar

Born November 14, 1875 in Bulacan, Philippines. Gregorio del

Pilar Sempio was one of the youngest generals in the Philippine
revolutionary Forces. He was a general in the Philippine Revolution and
Philippine-American war and was nick named boy General due to his
youthful age. Gregorio was the youngest general to die during the wars.

Gregorio was the son to H. del Pilar and Felipa Sempio of Bulacan
and nephew to Marcelo H. del Pilar a propagandist and Torbio H. del
Pilar who exiled from Guam due to 1872 Cavite Mutiny involvement.
Gregorio was also known as Goyo and he joined the insurgency when
war broke out between the Philippine Revolution against the Spanish
rule under Andres Bonifacio.
 He enrolled at the Ateneo de Manila and lived with his uncle,
Deodato Arellano. At the age of 20 years, he graduated from Ateneo de
Manila University in 1896 where he received his Bachelors degree but
the Revolution broke out thus he stopped studying. He and other young
Bulakenos presented themselves for military service.

For his daring attacks in various encounters, he was steadily

promoted in the military. Aguinaldo took notice of the young man.
Gregorio was one of the signers of the Pact of Biak-na-Bato and he later
joined Aguinaldo in exile in Hongkong. He became Aguinaldo's protege
and confidential man.

On May 1898, upon resumption of hostilities against Spain,

Aguinaldo designated him Dictator of the province of Bulacan and
Nueva Ecija. On June 1, 1898, he landed at Kay Luntaw with rifles,
established his headquarters at Matungao and started the seige of
Bulacan. The Spanish troops signed the terms of surrender for the
Spaniards while Gen. Gregorio del Pilar signed for the Filipino troops.

He continued his battles in Manila, Caloocan and Bulacan. He

was sent to represent the military and the President in the two peace
missions offering a ceasefire to the Americans after the fall of Malolos.
He was made the Military Governor of Pangasinan and the right hand
man of Gen. Aguinaldo. On November 22 he was ordered to defend
and protect the Tirad Pass to cover the retreat of President Aguinaldo.

On the morning of December 2, 1899, Americans of the 33rd

Infantry Volunteers under Major Payton C. March stormed Tirad Pass.
With the aide of a spy, Jose Galut, He revealed a secret approach to
the Americans. This caused the defeat of the troops of Gregorio del
Pilar.

He died in the Battle of Tirad Pass where he was fighting against

Texas Regiment and Infantry Regiment. An American officer, Lt. Dennis
P. Quinlan ordered his men to give honor to the fallen but valorous foe.
Likewise, the National Historical Institute and his town mates in Bulacan
also gave him the highest recognitions.
Emilio Aguinaldo
Emilio Aguinaldo, (born March 22/23, 1869, near Cavite, Luzon,
Philippines—died February 6, 1964, Quezon City), Filipino leader and
politician who fought first against Spain and later against the United States for
the independence of the Philippines.
Aguinaldo was of Chinese and Tagalog parentage. He attended San Juan de
Letrán College in Manilabut left school early to help his mother run the family
farm. In August 1896 he was mayor of Cavite Viejo (present-day
Kawit; adjacent to Cavite city) and was the local leader of the Katipunan, a
revolutionary society that fought bitterly and successfully against the Spanish.
In December 1897 he signed an agreement called the Pact of Biac-na-Bató
with the Spanish governor general. Aguinaldo agreed to leave the Philippines
and to remain permanently in exile on condition of a substantial financial
reward from Spain coupled with the promise of liberal reforms. While first
in Hong Kong and then in Singapore, he made arrangements with
representatives of the American consulates and of Commodore George
Dewey to return to the Philippines to assist the United States in the war
against Spain.
Aguinaldo returned to the Philippines May 19, 1898, and announced renewal
of the struggle with Spain. The Filipinos, who declared their independence of
Spain on June 12, 1898, proclaimed a provisional republic, of which Aguinaldo
was to become president; and in September a revolutionary assembly met
and ratified Filipino independence. However, the Philippines, along
with Puerto Ricoand Guam, were ceded by Spain to the United States by
the Treaty of Paris, which was signed on December 10, 1898.
Relations between the Americans and the Filipinos were unfriendly and grew
steadily worse. On January 23, 1899, the Malolos Constitution—by virtue of
which the Philippines was declared a republic and which had been approved
by the assembly and by Aguinaldo—was proclaimed. Aguinaldo, who had
been president of the provisional government, was elected president.

On the night of February 4 the inevitable conflict between the Americans and
Filipinos surrounding Manila was precipitated. By the morning of February 5
the Filipinos, who had fought bravely, had been defeated at all points. While
the fighting was in progress, Aguinaldo issued a proclamation of war against
the United States, which immediately sent reinforcements to the Philippines.
The Filipino government fled northward. In November 1899 the Filipinos
resorted to guerrilla warfare.
After three years of costly fighting the insurrection was finally brought to an
end when, in a daring operation on March 23, 1901, led by Gen. Frederick
Funston, Aguinaldo was captured in his secret headquarters at Palanan in
northern Luzon. Aguinaldo took an oath of allegiance to the United States,
was granted a pension from the U.S. government, and retired to private life.
In 1935 the commonwealth government of the Philippines was established in
preparation for independence. Aguinaldo ran for president, but he was
decisively beaten. He returned to private life until the Japanese invaded the
Philippines in December 1941. The Japanese used Aguinaldo as an anti-
American tool. He made speeches and signed articles. In early 1942 he
addressed a radio appeal to U.S. Gen. Douglas MacArthur—who at that time
was with the U.S. garrison holding out against the Japanese on Corregidor
Island—to surrender (the troops there did surrender in May 1942, but
MacArthur had already been evacuated).
The Americans returned to the Philippines in late 1944, and, after they had
retaken Manila in 1945, Aguinaldo was arrested. He and others accused of
collaboration with the Japanese were imprisoned for some months before they
were released by presidential amnesty. In 1950 Aguinaldo was appointed by
Pres. Elpidio Quirino as a member of the Council of State. In his later years he
devoted much attention to veterans’ affairs, the promotion
of nationalism and democracy in the Philippines, and the improvement of
relations between the Philippines and the United States.

Apolinario Mabini
Apolinario Mabini (1864-1903) was a Filipino political philosopher and architect of the
Philippine revolution. He formulated the principles of a democratic popular
government, endowing the historical struggles of the Filipino people with a coherent
ideological orientation.
Apolinario Mabini was born in Talaga, Tanauan, Batangas, on July 22, 1864. His parents
belonged to the impoverished peasantry. He studied at the Colegio de San Juan de Letran
in 1881 and at the University of Santo Thomas, where he received the law degree in 1894.
During this time he earned his living by teaching Latin and then serving as copyist in the
Court of First Instance in Manila.
In 1896 Mabini contracted an illness, probably infantile paralysis, that deprived him of the
use of his legs. When the Katipunan revolt broke out late that year, the Spanish authorities
arrested him. Unknown to many, Mabini was already a member of José Rizal's reformist
association, the Liga Filipina. And though as a pacifist reformist, he was at first skeptical of
Andres Bonifacio's armed uprising, Mabini later became convinced of the people's almost
fanatical desire for emancipation. Subsequently, he turned out subversive manifestos
appealing to all Filipinos to unite against Spain.
In May 1898 Emilio Aguinaldo summoned Mabini to act as his adviser. Mabini formulated
the famous decree of June 18, which reorganized the local government under Filipino
control. His policy throughout the struggle can be epitomized by a statement in that decree:
"The first duty of the government is to interpret the popular will faithfully. "Mabini was also
instrumental in supervising the proper administration of justice, the election of delegates to
the revolutionary congress, and the establishment of the mechanism of the revolutionary
government itself.
When the revolutionary congress was convoked in Barasoain, Malolos, Bulacan, on Sept.
15, 1898, Mabini found himself opposed to the plans of the wealthy bourgeoisie to draft a
constitution. He believed that, given the emergency conditions of war, the function of the
congress was simply to advise the president and not to draft a constitution. Defeated by the
majority, Mabini then submitted his own constitutional plan, based on the Statutes of
Universal Masonry. It was rejected in favor of a composite draft submitted by Felipe G.
Calderon, which became the basis of the Malolos Constitution of the first Philippine
Republic.
Mabini's conflict with the conspiracy of property owners and the landlord class in the
congress led to his eclipse in 1899 as Aguinaldo's trusted adviser—the only competent
thinker and theoretician in the Aguinaldo Cabinet. Mabini succeeded in exposing the vicious
opportunism of the Paterno-Buencamino clique, who were trying to gain control over, and to
profit from, the financial transactions of the revolutionary government. When the Aguinaldo
camp fled from the advancing American forces, Mabini was captured on Dec. 10, 1899. Still
refusing to swear an oath of allegiance to the U.S. government and continuing to support
the insurgents in their ideological struggle, he was deported to Guam in 1901. He died on
May 13, 1903.
Mabini's chief work, La Revolution Filipina, a reasoned analysis and cogent argument
concerning the ideological implications of the revolution against Spain and the resistance to
the American invaders, reveals the progressive and democratic impulse behind his thinking.
He always tried to mediate between the people's will and the decisions of their leaders. He
was a selfless and dedicated patriot.

GOMBURZA
In 1891, Jose Rizal dedicated El Filibusterismo to three Filipino priests executed by the Spanish
government in 1872. They were Mariano Gomez, Jose Burgos, and Jacinto Zamora. And as Filipinos
are wont to contract or abbreviate words, like Noli Me Tangere into Noli, these three martyrs are more
popularly known as Gomburza.

Contrary to popular belief, four people, not just three, were executed by garrote in Bagumbayan on
February 17, 1872. Before the three priests was a man named Zaldua, also implicated in the Cavite
Mutiny, and judged guilty.

Of the three priests, the first to be executed was Mariano Gomez, who was born in Santa Cruz, Manila
on August 2, 1799. He studied at the University of Santo Tomas, and served as parish priest in Bacoor,
Cavite, where he was well-loved by his parishioners. The oldest of the three martyrs, he was calm and
resigned to his fate. It is said that as he walked to the scaffold his eyeglasses fell, and his famous last
words are often quoted: "Let us go where the leaves never move without the will of God."

Jacinto Zamora, who was next in line to be executed, was born in Pandacan on August 14, 1835. At
the time of his death he was working for a doctorate in canon law at the University of Santo Tomas. In
1860 he headed a small student protest which resulted in his being confined to his quarters for two
months. However, that bit of juvenile subversion did not affect his serving in parishes in Marikina, Pasig,
and Lipa. He was later connected with the Manila Cathedral, where he served as an examiner for new
priests.

Zamora's fatal vice was panguigui, a popular card game. He was implicated in the Cavite Mutiny of 1872
due to an invitation that read in part, "Grand reunion...our friends are well provided with powder and
ammunition." This may have sounded ominous to the military, but this was simply an innocent invitation
to play cards, "powder and ammunition" beingpanguigui players' code that meant that they were armed
with enough money for an overnight card game. There were no famous last words from Father
Zamora. Those who were amazed at his serenity as he walked to his death did not know he had lost his
mind.

Jose Burgos was the last victim that morning. He had just turned 35 when he died, having been born
on February 9, 1837 in Vigan, Ilocos Sur. He was the most distinguished among the three, having
earned two doctorates one in theology and another in canon law. He was a prolific writer (although some
of the writings attributed to him like La Loba Negra on the 1719 murder of Governor-General Bustamante,
are probably not his), and was connected with the Manila Cathedral. He refused a seat in the
Commission on Censorship, and was a good swordsman and boxer. His death was the most
dramatic. One arresting detail in the account of the Frenchman Plauchut has him suddenly standing up
from the garrote seat and shouting, "What crime have I committed to deserve such a death? Is there no
justice in the world?" Twelve friars of different orders restrained him and pushed him back into seat,
advising him to accept a Christian death. Burgos calmed down, but go up again shouting, "But I haven't
committed any crime!" At which point, one of the friars holding him down hissed, "Even Christ was
innocent!" Burgos finally gave in to the executioner who broke his neck with one swift and sudden twist
of the garrote handle.

Gomburza was not only an inspiration for Rizal but for Bonifacio and many Katipuneros as well. Many
carried, as relics, black cloth ribbons said to have been fashioned out of the soutanes worn by the three
priests at death.

It has been said that had the Cavite Mutiny and Gomburza not happened, Jose Rizal's life would have
taken a different direction. His dedication of the impact the El Filibusterismo to the three priests indicates
event had on his consciousness: "The Church, in refusing to degrade you, has placed in doubt the crime
imputed to you; the Government, in shrouding your cause with mystery and obscurities, creates belief in
some error committed in crucial moments, and the whole Philippines, in venerating your memory and
calling you martyrs, in no way acknowledges your guilt.

"As long therefore as your participation in the Cavite uprising is not clearly shown, whether or not you
were patriots, whether or not you nourished sentiments of justice and liberty, I have the right to dedicate
my work to you, as to victims of the evil that I am trying to fight. And while we wait for Spain to reinstate
you and make herself culpable for your death, let these pages serve as belated wreath of dried leaves
laid on you unknown graves: and may your blood be upon the hands of those who, without sufficient
proof, assail your memory!"

To the present, the Spanish government has not released the court records of the swift military trial that
sent Fathers Gomez, Burgos, and Zamora to the garrote.
Trece Martirez

The
Thirteen Birthdate Birthplace Notes
Martyrs

He was the son of a captain in the Spanish Navy. He

would later become supply chief of the Spanish
arsenal in Fort San Felipe in the town of Cavite
(now Cavite City). He was married to Felisa Osorio,
Luis
1863 Bacoor, Cavite sister of Francisco Osorio and oldest daughter of
Aguado
Antonio Osorio, a Chinese-Filipino businessman
reputed to be the richest man in Cavite at that time.
Aguado's widow would later marry Daniel Tria
Tirona.

He was a goldsmith who was a Freemason and

Katipunero. He was married to Luisa Antonio of
Eugenio Santa Cruz, Cavite by whom he had seven children. He owned a
1855
Cabezas Manila jewellery and watch repair shop on Calle Real (now
called Trece Martires Avenue) in Cavite which was
used by the Katipunan as a meeting place.

He was born to a wealthy family in Cavite el Viejo

Feliciano June 9, Caridad, Cavite (now Kawit). He worked in a hospital. He was
Cabuco 1865 Puerto married to Marcela Bernal of Caridad by whom he
had two sons.

A native of Binondo, Manila who migrated to Cavite

Agapito
1862 Binondo, Manila and became a schoolteacher, musician,
Conchu
photographer, painter and lithographer.

He was a Spanish mestizo, who had been sergeant

in the Spanish army before his appointment as
Alfonso de
1860 Cavite assistant provincial jail warden. He was both a
Ocampo
Freemason and Katipunero. He was married to Ana
Espíritu by whom he had two children.

He was drafted into the Spanish colonial army while

Máximo November he was studying at the Colegio de San Juan de
Pasay, Morong
Gregorio 18, 1856 Letrán. After training in San Antonio, Cavite, he was
inducted into the 72nd Regiment of the Spanish
Army and dispatched to Jolo, Sulu to fight Moro
 insurgents. Upon his return from Mindanao, was
appointed chief clerk of the Comisaría de Guerra in
Cavite where he worked for 20 years. He became a
Freemason and joined the Katipunan in 1892. He
was the founder of two Katipunan branches,
namely, Balangay No. 1named Marikít ("bright") in
Barrio San Antonio, Cavite, and Balangay No.
2 called Lintík("lightning") in Barrio San Rafael,
Cavite. Among the people he initiated into the
Katipunan were the jail warden Severino Lapidario,
Feliciano Cabuco, tailor José Lallana, watchmaker
Eugenio Cabezas and tailor Eulogio Raymundo. He
was married to Celedonia Santiago, with whom he
had four children.

He was the oldest of the martyrs. Being a

Freemason, he was implicated in the Cavite
Mutiny of 1872 and was subsequently exiled
Máximo November to Ceuta in Spanish Morocco or Cartagena, Spainfor
Cavite
Inocencio 18, 1833 ten years. Upon his return, he rebuilt his fortune
from building and bridge contracting, shipbuilding,
sawmilling, logging and trading. He was married to
Narcisa Francisco with whom he had nine children.

He was a tailor whose shop was used by the

Katipunan as a meeting place. Lallana was married
to Benita Tapawan of Imus, by whom he had two
José
1836 Cavite children, Clara and Ramón. Ramón would later join
Lallana
the Revolution to avenge his father's death, but he
never returned and is believed to have been killed in
action.

He was a corporal in the Spanish Navy Marineswho

was implicated in the Cavite Mutiny of 1872. He later
Severino January 8,
Imus, Cavite regained the confidence of the Spanish colonial
Lapidario 1847
authorities who named him warden of the Cavite
provincial jail in 1890.

He was a pharmacist and freemason who was

recognised for his formulae of rare perfumes and
Victoriano March 23, lotions, and was a member Colégio de
Luciano III 1863 Farmaceuticos de Manila. He studied at the Colegio
de San Juan de Letrán and University of Santo
Tomas. He owned a pharmacy, Botica
Luciano along Calle Real (now Trece Martires
 Avenue) in Cavite which was also a meeting place of
the Katipunan.

He was the scion of a wealthy and well-connected

Francisco family in Cavite. Little is known of him except that he
1860
Osorio was a simple pharmacist and neither a Freemason
nor a Katipunero.

He was a physician. There is little biographical

Hugo
1856 Binondo, Manila information about Pérez except that he was
Pérez
a Freemason.

He was a scion of a wealthy family. He studied

at Colegio de San Juan de Letran and University of
Antonio
March 8, San Roque, Santo Tomas. He was married to Juliana Reyes. He
San
1860 Cavite owned La Aurora, the only bookstore in town, which
Agustín
was used as a meeting place by the Katipunan's
local members.

Emilio Jacinto
Emilio Jacinto aka the “Brains of the Katipunan” is referred to as the hero of the Philippine
Revolution. Emilio joined the Katipunan secret society at twenty years of age. The Katipunan was a

Philippine revolutionary society founded by anti-Spanish Filipinos in Manila in 1892, which aimed
primarily to gain independence from Spain through revolution. Emilio went against his family when
he joined the secret society in the hopes of contributing to end the injustice suffered by Filipinos at
the hands of the Spanish.

Early Life
Emilio was born December 15, 1875 in Trozo,Tondo, Manila, to father Mariano Jacinto and mother
Josefa Dizon. Emilio grew up without his father since he died when Emilio was just an infant. Emilio
was raised by his mother and his uncle Don José Dizon.
Emilio’s linguistics included Spanish and Tagalog and though he preferred to speak Spanish he was
a prolific writer in Tagalog. Emilio attended San Juan de Letran College, and continued his law
studies at the University of Santo Tomas before dropping out at the age of eighteen to join the
Katipunan.

The Katipunan
In 1893 Emilio and his cousin were initiated into the Katipunan in the home of Don Restituto Javier.
When Emilio became a member of the Katipunan he served as fiscal adviser and secretary to its
founder and leader Andrés Bonifacio (Supremo of the Katipunan). He was known in the Katipunan
as Pingkian and was referred to as the “Brains of the Katipunan” because of the many documents
that he had prepared which included the constitution.

Emilio wrote for the newspaper called Kalayaan under the pen-name Dimasilaw; he wrote poetry,
manifestos, statutes and most of the articles and editorials of the newspaper. He authored the first
edition of the Kartilya ng Katipunan, a guidebook to the Katipunan’s rules and principles which was
publicized in 1896. Included in its teachings were: “A life that is not dedicated to a noble cause is like
a tree without a shade or a poisonous weed”, “Defend the oppressed and fight the oppressor”, and
“True piety consists of being charitable, loving one’s fellow men, and being judicious in behavior,
speech and deed”.
Emilio was also noted as a close friend to Bonifacio, he supported him and his Katipunan comrades
to the best of his ability. He also headed the Katipunan delegation to a Japanese admiral to whom
they handed a memorial to the Emperor of Japan seeking, in lyrical language, his support. He was
the sole adviser of the Katipunan’s Supreme Council, later the general in charge of the army of the
North, a knowledgeable supplier of firearms, ammunition, even bows and arrows, and musical
compositions.
With the outbreak of the Philippine Revolution in 1896, Emilio became the commander-in-chief of the
revolutionary forces in Laguna and after Bonifacio’s death; Jacinto continued fighting the Spaniards
but refused to join the forces of General Emilio Aguinaldo.

In April 1899 during a battle in Mahayhay, Laguna, Emilio was wounded in the thigh, captured by
Spanish troops. He died in prison, of his wounds. Bonifacio always called him “the soul of the
Katipunan”. Generations of Filipino university students have made Emilio Jacinto their inspiration
and patron saint.

Antonio Luna
Hero of the Philippine-American War
Antonio Luna (Oct. 29, 1866–June 5, 1899) was a soldier, chemist, musician, war
strategist, journalist, pharmacist, and hot-headed general, a complex man who
was, unfortunately, perceived as a threat by the Philippines' ruthless first
president Emilio Aguinaldo. As a result, Luna died not on the battlefields of the
Philippine-American War but assassinated on the streets of Cabanatuan.

Antonio Luna de San Pedro y Novicio-Ancheta was born on October 29, 1866, in
the Binondo district of Manila, the youngest child of seven of Laureana Novicio-
Ancheta, a Spanish mestiza, and Joaquin Luna de San Pedro, a traveling
salesman.

Antonio was a gifted student who studied with a teacher called Maestro Intong
from the age of six and received a Bachelor of Arts from the Ateneo Municipal de
Manila in 1881 before continuing his studies in chemistry, music, and literature
at the University of Santo Tomas.

In 1890, Antonio traveled to Spain to join his brother Juan, who was studying
painting in Madrid. There, Antonio earned a licentiate in pharmacy at the
Universidad de Barcelona, followed by a doctorate from the Universidad Central
de Madrid. In Madrid, he fell obsessively in love with local beauty Nelly
Boustead, also admired by his friend Jose Rizal. But it came to nothing, and Luna
never married.

He went on to study bacteriology and histology at the Pasteur Institute in Paris

and continuing on to Belgium to further those pursuits. While in Spain, Luna had
published a well-received paper on malaria, so in 1894 the Spanish government
appointed him to a post as a specialist in communicable and tropical diseases.

As the Spanish/American War came to a close, and the defeated Spanish

prepared to withdraw from the Philippines, Filipino revolutionary troops
surrounded the capital city of Manila. The newly-arrived officer Antonio Luna
urged the other commanders to send troops into the city to ensure a joint
occupation when the Americans arrived, but Emilio Aguinaldo refused, believing
U.S. naval officers stationed in Manila Bay would hand over power to the
Filipinos in due course.

Luna complained bitterly about this strategic blunder, as well as the disorderly
conduct of American troops once they landed in Manila in mid-August of 1898.
To placate Luna, Aguinaldo promoted him to the rank of Brigadier General on
September 26, 1898, and named him Chief of War Operations.

General Luna continued to campaign for better military discipline, organization,

and approach to Americans, who were now setting themselves up as the new
colonial rulers. Along with Apolinario Mabini, Antonio Luna warned Aguinaldo
that the Americans did not seem inclined to free the Philippines.

General Luna felt the need for a military academy to properly train the Filipino
troops, who were eager and in many cases experienced in guerrilla warfare but
had little formal military training. In October of 1898, Luna founded what is now
the Philippine Military Academy, which operated for less than half a year before
the Philippine-American War broke out in February of 1899 and classes were
suspended so that staff and students could join the war effort.

The Philippine-American War

General Luna led three companies of soldiers to attack the Americans at La Loma
where he was met with a ground force and naval artillery fire from the fleet
in Manila Bay — the Filipinos suffered heavy casualties.

A Filipino counterattack on February 23 gained some ground but collapsed when

troops from Cavite refused to take orders from General Luna, stating that they
would obey only Aguinaldo himself. Furious, Luna disarmed the recalcitrant
soldiers but was forced to fall back.

After several additional bad experiences with the undisciplined and clannish
Filipino forces, and after Aguinaldo had rearmed the disobedient Cavite troops as
his personal Presidential Guard, a thoroughly frustrated General Luna submitted
his resignation to Aguinaldo, which Aguinaldo reluctantly accepted. With the war
going very badly for the Philippines over the next three weeks,
however, Aguinaldo persuaded Luna to return and made him Commander-in-
Chief.

Luna developed and implemented a plan to contain the Americans long enough
to construct a guerrilla base in the mountains. The plan consisted of a network of
bamboo trenches, complete with spiked man-traps and pits full of poisonous
snakes, that spanned the jungle from village to village. Filipino troops could fire
on the Americans from this Luna Defense Line, and then melt away into the
jungle without exposing themselves to American fire.

On June 5, 1899, Luna went alone to the government headquarters to speak with
President Aguinaldo but was met with one of his old enemies there instead — a
man he had once disarmed for cowardice, who informed him that the meeting
was canceled and Aguinaldo was out of town. Furious, Luna had started to walk
back down the stairs when a rifle shot went off outside.

Luna ran down the stairs, where he met one of the Cavite officers he had
dismissed for insubordination. The officer struck Luna on the head with his bolo
and soon Cavite troops swarmed the injured general, stabbing him. Luna drew
his revolver and fired, but he missed his attackers.

Still, he fought his way out to the plaza, where Roman and Rusca ran to help him,
but Roman was shot to death and Rusca was severely injured. Abandoned and
alone, Luna sank bleeding to the cobblestones of the plaza where he uttered his
last words: "Cowards! Assassins!" He died at 32 years old.

Legacy
As Aguinaldo's guards assassinated his most able general, the president himself
was laying siege to the headquarters of General Venacio Concepcion, an ally of
the murdered general. Aguinaldo then dismissed Luna's officers and men from
the Filipino Army.

For the Americans, this internecine fighting was a gift. General James F. Bell
noted that Luna "was the only general the Filipino army had" and Aguinaldo's
forces suffered disastrous defeat after disastrous defeat in the wake of Antonio
Luna's murder. Aguinaldo spent most of the next 18 months in retreat, before
being captured by the Americans on March 23, 1901.

Melchora Aquino
Melchora Aquino de Ramos (6 January 1812 – 19 February 1919) was a Filipina revolutionary who
became known as "Tandang Sora" ("Elder Sora") because of her age during the Philippine
Revolution.
She was known as the "Grand Woman of the Revolution" and the "Mother of Balintawak" for her
contributions.
Aquino was born on 6 January 1812 in Balintawak, Quezon City.[1]
Aquino, daughter of a peasant couple, Juan and Valentina Aquino, never attended school. However,
she was apparently literate at an early age and talented as a singer and performed at local events as
well as at Mass for her Church. She was also often chosen for the role of Reyna Elena during the
"Santacruzan", a processional pageant commemorating Empress Helen's finding of the Cross of
Christ, celebrated in the Philippines in May.

Later in life, she married Fulgencio Ramos,a cabeza de barrio (village chief), and bore six children.
Ramos died when their youngest child was seven and she was left as a single parent for their
children. Aquino continued her life as an hermana mayor active in celebrating fiestas, baptisms, and
weddings. She worked hard in order to give her children an education.

In her native town, Tandang Sora operated a store, which became a refuge for the sick and
wounded revolutionaries. She fed, gave medical attention to and encouraged the revolutionaries with
motherly advice and prayers.
Secret meetings of the Katipuneros (revolutionaries) were also held at her house. Thus she earned
the names "Woman of Revolution", "Mother of Balintawak", "Mother of the Philippine Revolution",
and Tandang Sora (Tandang is derived from the Tagalog word matandâ, which means old). She and
her son, Juan Ramon, were present in the Cry of Balintawak and were witnesses to the tearing up of
the cedulas.
When the Spaniards learned about her activities and her knowledge to the whereabouts of the
Katipuneros, she was interrogated but she refused to divulge any information. She was then
arrested by the guardia civil and was deported to Guam, Marianas Islands,where she and a woman
named Segunda Puentes were placed under house arrest in the residence of a Don Justo Dungca.
After the United States took control of the Philippines in 1898, Tandang Sora, like other exiles,
returned to the Philippines until her death on 19 February 1919, at the age of 107. Her remains were
then transferred to her own backyard (now known as Himlayang Pilipino Memorial Park, Quezon
City).
As a token of gratitude, a Quezon City district and a road were named after Aquino. Her profile was
also placed in the Philippines' five-centavo coin from 1967-92.
She was the first Filipina who appears on a Philippine peso banknote, in this case, a 100-peso bill
from the English Series (1951–66). Tandang Sora Street in the city of San Francisco, California,
United States, is named in her honor.
In 2012, on the celebration of her 200th birthday, the City Government of Quezon City decided to
transfer Aquino's remains from Himlayang Pilipino Memorial Park to the Tandang Sora National
Shrine in Banlat, Quezon City. The city government also declared 2012 to be Tandang Sora Year.
Her descendants carry different surnames, with almost all living in Novaliches and Tandang Sora
districts in Quezon City as well as in Guam (USA) such as Figueroa, Ramos (her husband’s
surname), Geronimo, Eugenio, Cleofas and Apo.

Graciano Lopez-Jaena
Graciano López Jaena (December 18, 1856 – January 20, 1896) was a Filipino journalist, orator,
revolutionary, and national hero who is well known for his newspaper, La Solidaridad.
Philippine historians regard López Jaena, along with Marcelo H. del Pilar and José Rizal, as
the triumvirate of Filipino propagandists. Of these three ilustrados, López Jaena was the first to
arrive in Spain and may have begun the Propaganda Movement which advocated the reform of the
then-Spanish colony of the Philippines and which eventually led to the armed Philippine
Revolution that begun in Manila in 1896. The Propaganda Movement was a key step towards a
Philippine national identity.
Graciano López Jaena was born in Jaro, Iloilo in the Captaincy General of the Philippines in
the Spanish Empire on December 18, 1856. His parents were Plácido López and María Jacoba
Jaena. He was baptized on December 20, 1856 at Jaro Church by Plácido de Isana, and his
godfathers were Rufino Justiniano and John Raphael Mendoza.[1][4][5] Feeling that the priesthood was
the most noble profession, his mother sent him to study at the St. Vincent Ferrer Seminary in Jaro.
While there, he served as a secretary to his uncle, Claudio López, who was the honorary vice
consul of Portugal in Iloilo.
Despite his mother wanting him to become a priest, López Jaena's true ambition was to become a
physician. After convincing his parents, he sought enrollment at the University of Santo Tomas but
was denied admission because the required Bachelor of Artsdegree 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 injustices that were
common.At the age of 18 he wrote the satirical story Fray Botod which depicted a fat and lecherous
friar. Botod’s false piety "always had the Virgin and God on his lips no matter how unjust and
underhanded his acts 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 López 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. López Jaena continued to agitate
for justice and finally went to Spain when threats were made on his life. López Jaena sailed
for Spain in 1880.There he became a leading writer and speaker for Philippine reform.
López Jaena pursued his medical studies at the University of Valencia but did not finish. 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. 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."
In addition he is remembered by the Filipino people for his literary contributions to the propaganda
movement. López Jaena founded the fortnightly newspaper, La Solidaridad. When the publication
office moved from Barcelona to Madrid, the editorship was succeeded to Marcelo H. del Pilar. His
talent can be seen in the publication Discursos y Artículos Varios (Speeches and Various Articles).
López Jaena died of tuberculosis on January 20, 1896 in Barcelona, eleven months short of his 40th
birthday.The following day, he was buried in a mass grave at the Montjuïc Cemetery of Barcelona.
He died in poverty and his remains have not been brought back to the Philippines.

Panday Pira
Panday Pira (Kapampángan: Pandeng Pira; 1488–1576) was
a Kapampángan Muslim blacksmith[1] who is acknowledged as "The First Filipino Cannon-maker".
His name literally translates as "Blacksmith Pira", panday being the Tagalog word for "blacksmith".
Panday Pira was a native of the southern islands of the Philippines. He migrated to Manila in 1508
and established a foundry on the northern bank of the Pasig River. Rajah Sulayman commissioned
Panday Pira to cast the cannon that were mounted on the palisades surrounding his kingdom. In
1570, Castilian forces under the command of Martin de Goiti captured Manila and took these artillery
pieces as war booty, presenting them to Miguel López de Legazpi, the first Spanish Governor-
General of the Philippines.
Legazpi eventually established a permanent Castilian settlement in Manila on May 19, 1571 and on
June 3 of the same year, Tarik Sulayman waged the Battle of Bangkusay Channelto recapture his
kingdom from the Spaniards. Sulayman failed in this and perished in the battle. Panday Pira then
fled to Pampanga where he attempted to begin a new life in sitioCapalangan in the town of Apalit,
working as a blacksmith forging farm implements. He was, however, summoned by Legazpi back to
Manila and put to work forging cannons for the Spaniards. He established his foundry in what is
now Santa Ana. Santiago de Vera, the sixth Governor-General, commissioned him to cast cannon
for the defenses of a fortress he built, the fortress of Nuestra Señora de Guía (Spanish, "Our Lady of
Guidance"), now called Intramuros. To the Spaniards, Panday Pira was known as Pandapira, and
they exempted him from paying tribute and forced labor.
In 1576, Panday Pira died at the age of 88. His death was a great loss to the Spaniards who had to
petition the King of Spain for a blacksmith to take his place. It was not until 1584, that a Spanish
blacksmith from Mexico arrived.

Mariano Ponce

Mariano Ponce - Propagandist, Historian, Diplomat And Managing Editor of La

Solidaridad.

On March 23, 1863, Mariano Ponce, a Filipino physician noted for his works and contribution
in the Philippine Revolution, was born in Baliuag, Bulacan.

Ponce took his medical degree at the University of Santo Tomas, then traveled to Spain to finish
his advanced studies at the Universidad Central de Madrid in 1889.

From there, he joined Marcelo del Pilar, Graciano López Jaena and José Rizal in the Propaganda
Movement which espoused Filipino representation in the Spanish Cortes and reforms in the
Spanish colonial authorities of the Philippines.
He wrote in the propaganda publication La Solidaridad (The Solidarity) pertaining
to history, politics, sociology and travel under various pseudonyms some of
which were Naning, Kalipulako, and Tigbalang.

When the revolution broke out in 1896, he was imprisoned in Barcelona for 48
hours on suspicion of having connections with the uprising.

Fearing another arrest, he fled to France and later went to Hong Kong where he
joined a group of Filipinos who served as the international front of the Philippine
revolution.

In 1898, Aguinaldo appointed him as diplomatic representative of the First

Republic to Japan where he met his Japanese wife, Okiyo Udanwara.

He traveled to Japan to seek aid and purchase weapons. With the help of a
Filipino-Japanese named José Ramos Ishikawa, he procured weapons and
ammunition for the revolution. But the shipment of arms he acquired failed to
reach the revolutionaries. A typhoon off the coast of Formosa wrecked the ship
transporting the weapons.

Ponce later ran for a seat in the Philippine Assembly and was elected
assemblyman for the second district of Bulacan.

Ponce wrote his memoirs in "Cartas Sobre La Revolución" (Letters on the

Revolution).

He died in the Civil Hospital in Hong Kong on May 23, 1918 at the age of 55. His
remains are now in the Cementerio del Norte, Manila.

Gregoria de Jesus

On May 9, 1875, Gregoria de Jesus, wife of Andres Bonifacio, a brave and patriotic
woman who played a heroic role in the Philippine Revolution, was born in Caloocan.
She was one of the four children of Nicolas de Jesus and Baltazara Alvarez Francisco.
Her father was a native of Caloocan, a master mason and carpenter by profession who
had been teniente del barrio and later gobernadorcillo (municipal mayor) of the town,
and her mother, a native of Noveleta, Cavite, was a niece of General Mariano Alvarez, a
plain housewife.

She attended the local public elementary school and finished the first grades of
instruction. Although she was the recipient of a silver medal in recognition of her being
the winner of an examination given by the Governor General and the town curate, she
stopped schooling to help support her family and her two brothers Arcadio and Ariston
who were studying in Manila. She relates in her Autobiography:

"I decided to stop studying and to join my sister in looking after my family interests.
Often I had to go out in the country to supervise the planting and harvesting of our rice,
to see our tenants and laborers, or to pay them their wages on Sundays. Also now and
then, I did some sewing and weaving and assisted my mother in her housework."

Oriang, as she was fondly called, grew up to be a beautiful maiden. Many young men
called at their house, and one among them was Andres Bonifacio, who came in the
company of Ladislao Diwa and her cousin Teodoro Plata. Bonifacio wooed her with his
characteristic boldness and persistency. Out of respect to her parents, who are against
Bonifacio for the reason of him being a freemason, they even tried to keep her away
from Bonifacio by transferring her to an accessoria (apartment) in Binondo. Oriang who
was eighteen years of age, was canonically married to Bonifacio (29 years of age) in the
Catholic Church of Binondo in March, 1893, with Mr. & Mrs. Restituto Javier as wedding
sponsors. A week later they were married again under Katipunan rites in the house of
their sponsors, after which Oriang was initiated as member of the Katipunan. She took
the symbolic nameLakambini which means "princess". She was the first Filipino woman
to join the Katipunan.

They stayed about one week in Mr. Restituto Javier's house and decided to look for a
residence of their own. They found one on Calle Anyahan in front of the San Ignacio
Chapel and after that she began to do all she could for the propagation of the Katipunan
(recruiting of new members). The dangerous work of keeping the secret papers of the
society was entrusted to her. It was here that Emilio Jacinto assembled the printing
press of the Katipunan.

Oriang and her ninang, Benita Rodriguez y Javier, sewed the first flag of the Katipunan.

In her Autobiography, she recounts:

"Many times on receiving some warning that the house would be searched by the
Veterana police, regardless of the hour, I would immediately gather all the papers, the
arms, and the seal and ordered a vehicle whose windows could be kept closed and
abandoning my meals, for quite often this happened at noon or eight o'clock at night, I
would go driving until midnight along the bay of Tondo and the streets of Binondo in
order to save our countrymen from anger."

After more than a year, Oriang gave birth to a baby boy in her parent's house in
Caloocan and christened him with his father's name. Dr. Pio Valenzuela acted as the
boy's godfather at baptism. After two months the couple returned to Manila and before
the year's end, they were among the victims of the fire that razed Dulong bayan.
Another sad event that overtook them was the death of their child, a victim of small-pox,
at home of Dr. Valenzuela on Calle Lavezares, Binondo, Manila.

When the Katipunan was finally discovered, Gregoria had to go into hiding with
Bonifacio. They fled from the city and went to Balintawak. Later on, they went to the
mountains. They traveled at night with assumed names. Gregoria used the name
Manuela Gonzaga.

Later, she joined her husband, who was fighting into the mountains and shared with him
the hardship and the sacrifices of a patriot's life. In her autobiography, she relates:

"I have no fear of facing danger, impelled as I was then by no other desire than to see
unfurled the flag of an independent Philippines. I was considered a soldier, a true one. I
learned how to ride on horseback, to shoot with a riffle, and to manipulate other
weapons. I have known what it is to sleep on the ground, without tasting food for the
whole day, to drink water from mud-holes or the sap of vines which though bitter, tasted
delicious because of my intense thirst."

It was in San Francisco del Monte that Gregoria and Bonifacio saw each other again.
One night he was forced to leave Manila for Balara. Here Oriang stayed, while Bonifacio
with his men went to Marikina. The couple's next meeting was in Naik, Cavite; not long
afterwards Bonifacio was tried and found guilty of treason and sedition and ordered
executed.

Following the death of Bonifacio on May 10, 1897, Oriang who was then a young
and pretty widow, age 22, lived in the mountains of Pasig with other refugees.
Here she met Julio Nakpil, former secretary of Bonifacio and commander of the
Katipunan forces that fought in Montalban and San Mateo, Rizal, A talented
musician and composer. They fell in love with each other and were married at
Quiapo Church in Manila on December 10, 1898. The newly wed lived in the
house of Dr. Ariston Bautista in Quiapo with the family of Julio. During that time,
Oriang being in nature artistic carved wooden bases for holy images like Virgen
de la Paz and hand-hammered kitchen utensils.

She lived happily in Manila. On March 15, 1943, Oriang, the Lakambini of the
Katipunan, died of heart disease in the house of Dr.Ariston Bautista in Quiapo, at
the age of 68. At that time the Philippines was then agonizing beneath the yoke
of Japanese occupation so that her passing was unheralded and unpublicized.

Fernando Ma. Guerrero

Fernando María Guerrero Ramírez (May 30, 1873 – June 12, 1929) was a Spanish Filipino , poet,
journalist, lawyer, politician, and polyglot who became a significant figure during the Philippines'
golden period of Spanish literature, a period ranging from 1890 to the outbreak of World War II in
1940.
Guerrero was born to a highly educated family. His father was Lorenzo Guerrero, a painter and art
teacher largely known for mentoring gifted artists like Juan Luna, Felix Hidalgo, and Juan Arellano.
His mother was Clamencia Ramirez. He began writing literature at a young age. He excelled in the
facility of language and obtained his Bachelor of Arts degree from the Ateneo Municipal de
Manila and the Bachelor of Laws degree at the University of Santo Tomas and wrote journals during
the years 1898 to 1900. He became a lawyer and he taught criminology and forensic oratory. He
served as chairman of the board of study at the law school La Jurisprudencia (The Jurisprudence).
He also became a councilor, secretary of the senate and secretary of the Philippine
Independence commission. He was also a director of the Academia de Leyes (Academy of
Regulation). Apart from Spanish, Guerrero spoke Tagalog, Latin, Greek, and English.
During the revolution he was recruited by Juan Luna to serve as contributor and editor for the
newspaper, La Indepencia, together with Rafael Palma and Epifanio de los Santos. During the early
years of the American occupation, he would be reunited with Rafael Palma at El Renacimiento (The
Rebirth), a Spanish language daily. In a few years, he would transition from the position of editor to
director. As its director, El Renaciemento would become the most influential and powerful paper in
the Philippines—exposing and speaking against the oppression and brutality of the constabulary.
After a brief stint in politics he became an editor at La Vanguardia (The Outer works) and La Opinion
(The Opinion). He was a member of the First Philippine Assembly, the Academia Filipina (Philippine
Academy) and also became a leader of the Municipal Board of Manila. He was also a correspondent
to the Royal Academy of the Spanish Language in Madrid. His poetry book Crisálidas was published
in 1914. Subsequently he published another verse compilation called Aves y Flores. Guerrero died
on June 12, 1929, coinciding with that year's anniversary of the República Filipina (Philippine
Republic). A school in Paco, Manila was named after him in his honor.

Felipe Agoncillo

On May 26, 1859, Felipe Agoncillo, considered as the first Filipino diplomat assigned
by the Revolutionary Government to campaign for recognition of Philippine
independence by foreign countries, was born in Taal, Batangas.

Agoncillo, a brilliant lawyer who got perfect score in the Bar examination, was assigned
by General Emilio Aguinaldo to lobby with foreign entities that the Filipinos were well
civilized people and capable of maintaining a stable government.

Late in 1898, Agoncillo went to the United States and filed petition after petition urging
recognition of Philippine independence, but US President William McKinley refused to
heed his appeal.

After being ignored by the US president, Agoncillo proceeded to Paris, France to

present the Philippine cause at the peace conference convened between Spain and the
US, where a meeting was to be held to discuss Cuba and the Philippines. Agoncillo
tried to submit a memorandum but again failed. The people behind the meeting did not
want to have any official dealings with him. On December 10, 1898, the Treaty of Paris
was successfully signed.

Two days after the signing of the Treaty of Paris, Agoncillo returned to the United States
and endeavored to block ratification of the treaty by the US. Although this was signed by
the commissioners, it was not yet approved by the Senate of the United States. He filed
a State memorandum to express that Filipinos must be recognized by the United States.

In 1907, he was elected to represent Batangas province, among others, to the

Philippine Assembly.

He was appointed as Secretary of Interior in 1923 during the administration of Governor

General Leonard Wood and fought for the Filipinization of the government service.

He died on September 29, 1941 at the age of 82

Rafael Palma

Rafael Palma (October 24, 1874 – May 24, 1939). Born in Tondo, Manila,
studied at the Ateneo de Manila. Worked in the Bureau of Lands in the Spanish
colonial government until he lost his job with the capture of Manila by the
Americans in August, 1898. He joined La Independencia, the revolutionary
newspaper founded and directed by General Antonio Luna, succeeding as editor
of the paper after General Luna was killed on June 4, 1899. When the paper
closed, upon the invitation of Sergio Osmeña, he moved to Cebu from April to
December, 1900, working in El Nuevo Dia (which he co-founded with Jaime C.
de Veyra). He returned to Manila in January, 1901, and co-founded El
Renacimiento where he worked until March, 1902.
He studied law and passed the bar examinations in 1901, was married in
February, 1902. He entered public service and elected as a member of the
Philippine Assembly when this institution was established in July 10, 1907.
Appointed a member of the Philippine Commission (upper house of the
legislature) in December 21, 1907, he served until 1913. In 1916 he was elected
a senator. He was appointed in 1917 Secretary of Interior and served until July,
1920. From October, 1921 until June, 1925 he concentrated on private law
practice. He joined academe in 1923 and served as President of the University
of the Philippines (UP), became acting president of the university on October
10, 1923, and took his oath as university president in June, 1925, serving in that
capacity until December, 1933. He was defeated in a bid for the senate in 1934.
Was elected and served in the 1934 Constitutional Convention. He then returned
to private practice. Appointed by President Manuel L. Quezon, Chairman of the
National Board of Education, a position he held until his death.