Campaign for Philippine Representation in the Cortes

- Cortes is the Spain's legislative body.

- Always prominent among the most sought reforms by the Filipinos since the first
efforts in 1800s is the question for the Philippine Representation.
- Petition for Philippine Representation had became the leading issue of Del Pilar
and the main forces that he controlled.
- February 1890, Del Pilar got in touch with his former associate in the Diaryong
Tagalog, Francisco Calvo Muñoz.
- Calvo Muñoz was a deputy to the Cortes for the Liberal Party of Sagasta at that
time.
- As a promise of Calvo Muñoz, he helped del Pilar by drawing up an amendment to
the new electoral law.
- In this proposed amendment, three deputies will be elected from the Philippines
by a limited electorate, restricted to office-holders and to those paying taxes of
more than 50 pesos a year.
- Unfortunately, this proposed amendment was not accepted by the commission of
electoral law.
- Manuel Becerra and Antonio Ramos Calderon (Chairman of Commission on Electoral
Law) suppported and praised Calvo Muñoz for his desire to raise the Filipino people
to their proper place in Spanish realm. Though Becerra said that the ignorance of
the Filipino must be wipe out first before the granting of the representation.
- But both of them judged that time is not yet ripe to introduce such action and a
more favorable time will come in taking such action. So, Calvo Muñoz withdraw the
amendment.
- However, del Pilar took advantage of the acceptance of the principle of
philippine representation, giving it the widest publicity possible. Thus, there
were so many positive articles about the philippine representation.
- But a more realistic and more skeptical article was published by Jose Rizal. He
refutted Becerra's assertion about the wiping out of the ignorance of the Filipino
first.
- Rizal said that the best means to overcome ignorance is to grant Philippines a
parliamentary representation together with the freedom of press.
- Despite of different approache, del Pilar continued to work with Calvo Muñoz.
- By May, a new proposed bill was drawn up but chances were hard to say because
Sagasta government fell on July 3, 1890 and the Conservatives came to power.
- A banquet was held then to discuss the plans about the representation but the
reality was considerable less than the plans.
- A lot were invited to the banquet but only few came, including Becerra and
Caldedon. Even Calvo Muñoz was absent. Imagine, he was the who drawn up the
proposed bill.
- December 1982, Liberals finally returned to power with a new Sagasta movement.
Having Antonio Maura as the new overseas minister.
- But Maura has different leading issue and goals so there wasn't any major
progress to the representation.
- March 1894, Maura resigned and in the new cabinet, Becerra is included, but it
was a cautious Becerra.
- Becerra had lost interest in his previous commitments to Philippine
representation and had developed a coolness toward many educational and religious
reforms he had proposed but failed to make effective.
- So del Pilar made an agreement with Junoy instead to present to the Cortes the
7,000 signatures that the masonic lodges had gathered for the petition and to
introduced the bill providing for the granting of representation in the Cortes.
- The petition was presented on February 21, 1895 while the bill was introduced on
March 8, 1895.
- In this new proposed bill, 31 deputies and 11 election senators will be elected
to represent the five (5) districts of the Philippines.
- Apparently, the proposed bill never came up for discussion. Then the Liberal
party cabinet fell two weeks after the bill was introduced, and along with it is
the hope of having the law enacted.