Marcelo H. del Pilar: Difference between revisions

Marcelo H. del Pilar
Born	Marcelo Hilario del Pilar y Gatmaitán August 30, 1850 Bulacán, Bulacan, Philippines
Died	July 4, 1896(1896-07-04) (aged 45) Barcelona, Spain
Nationality	Filipino
Alma mater	Colegio de San José Universidad de Santo Tomás
Occupation(s)	Writer, journalist, lawyer
Organization	La Solidaridad

Marcelo Hilario del Pilar y Gatmaitán (August 30, 1850 – July 4, 1896) was a celebrated figure in the Philippine Revolution and a leading propagandist for reforms in the Philippines.^[1] Popularly known as Plaridel, he was the editor and co-publisher of La Solidaridad.^[2][3]

Del Pilar was born in Bulacán, Bulacán on August 30, 1850, the youngest of ten children of Julián H. del Pilar and Blasa Gatmaitán.^[4] Don Julian was three times gobernadorcillo of the pueblo of Bulacan and afterwards oficial de mesa of the alcalde mayor of the province. The name of the family was Hilario; but pursuant to a decree of Claveria's, in 1849, the surname of the grandmother, Del Pilar, had to be added.^[5] His eldest brother Toribio, a priest, was implicated in the Cavite Mutiny and exiled.^[6] Del Pilar married his cousin Marciana (Chanay). The couple had seven children (of which five died in infancy).

Del Pilar learned his first letters from his paternal uncle Alejo del Pilar. Because his family was highly cultured, it was not long before he played the piano, violin, and flute. He began his studies in the school of José Flores; he then passed to the Colegio de San José, and then to the Universidad de Santo Tomás. He was imprisoned after a fight with a parish priest of San Miguel, Manila who was charging an exorbitant baptismal fee.^[7] He worked as oficial de mesa in Pampanga and finally obtained his licentiate in jurisprudence in 1880.^[8]

After finishing law, he worked for the Manila Royal Audiencia and at the same time he spread nationalist and anti-friar ideas in Manila and in towns and barrios of Bulacan.^[7] His fluency in both Tagalog and Spanish effectively disseminated his convictions through the dupluhan, dalit and oration in whatever venue - fiestas, cockpits, town plazas, and even baptismal parties.

On August 1, 1882, del Pilar co-founded the Diariong Tagalog, the first Philippine bilingual newspaper published both in Spanish and Tagalog.^[7] He published nationalist and reformist articles, and edited the Tagalog section. Lack of funds forced him to stop publication on October 31, 1882.^[9]

In 1885, del Pilar urged the cabezas de barangay of Malolos to resist the government order giving the friars blanket authority to decide whose names were to be deleted from the list of taxpayers.^[10] He instigated the gobernadorcillo of Malolos, Manuel Crisóstomo, to denounce in 1887 the parish priest who violated government prohibition against the exposure of corpses in the churches.^[11] In the same year, he denounced the curate of Binondo church for consigning indios to poor seats while assigning the good ones to Spanish mestizos.

Del Pilar's most spectacular plan occurred on March 1, 1888. Assisted by Doroteo Cortés and José A. Ramos, the demonstrators presented to the civil governor of Manila a manifesto entitled "Viva España! Viva el Rey! Viva el Ejercito! Fuera los Frailes!" (Long live Spain! Long live the King! Long live the Army! Down with the Friars!). This document, which had been signed by most of the native officials of Manila and neighboring towns, was written by del Pilar. It accused the archbishop of Manila and the friars of disobedience and treason and demanded the friars' expulsion from the Philippines.^[12]

To escape legal persecution, del Pilar opted to leave Manila for Spain on October 28, 1888, leaving his wife and two daughters behind.^[13] Before his departure, he organized the Bulacan group of supporters into a group called Caja de Jesús, María y José. The group was replaced by a committee in Manila which functioned to collect funds to carry the propaganda work, to disseminate propaganda materials and constitute liaison between the propagandists in Spain and Philippines.

Upon arrival in Barcelona, del Pilar discharged his instructions from the Manila committee. He headed the political section of the Asociación Hispano-Filipina de Madrid founded by Filipinos and Spanish sympathizers, the purpose of which was to agitate for reforms from Spain. In Madrid, he edited La Solidaridad, the newspaper founded by Graciano López Jaena.^[2] Under his editorship, the aims of the newspaper were expanded to include removal of the friars and the secularization of the parishes; active Filipino participation in the affairs of the government; freedom of speech, of the press, and of assembly; wider social and political freedoms; equality before the law; assimilation; and representation in the Spanish Parliament.^[14][15]

After years of publication from 1889 to 1895, La Solidaridad had begun to run out of funds. Its last issue appeared on November 15, 1895.^[16] Weakened by tuberculosis and feeling that his days were numbered, he decided to return to the Philippines to rally his countrymen for the libertarian struggle. But as he was about to leave Barcelona, death overtook him on July 4, 1896.^[17] His remains were brought back to the Philippines in 1920.

Considered the Father of Philippine Masonry, del Pilar spearheaded the secret organization of masonic lodges in the Philippines as a means of strengthening the Propaganda Movement.^[18] He became a freemason in 1889 and became a close friend of Miguel Morayta Sagrario, a professor at the Universidad Central de Madrid and Grand Master of Masons of the Grande Oriente Español.^[19]

Organized in his memory, the Samahang Plaridel is a fellowship of journalists and other communicators that aims to propagate Marcelo H. del Pilar’s ideals. This fellowship fosters within its capacity, mutual help, cooperation, and assistance among its members; dedicated to the journalistic standards of accuracy and truth, and in promoting these standards in the practice of journalism.

Plaridel is the chosen patron saint of today’s journalists, as his life and works prized freedom of thought and opinion most highly, loving independence above any material gain. Plaridel’s ideology of truth, fairness and impartiality is anchored on democratic principles, as these are the bastions of a society acceptable to all Filipinos.

The building that houses the Polytechnic University of the Philippines Graduate School is named after him.

• Pag-ibig sa Tinubuang Lupa (August 20, 1882) - translation of José Rizal's El Amor Patrio.^[7][20]
• Caiigat Cayó (Barcelona, 1888) - a pamphlet which defended Rizal's Noli Me Tangere against the attacks of Fr. José Rodriguez.^[21][22]
• Dasalan at Tocsohan (Barcelona, 1888) - a satire on the friars' hypocrisy, licentiousness and cupidity, which consists of parodies of the Sign of the Cross, the Act of Contrition, the Lord's Prayer, the Hail Mary, and the catechism.^[23]
• Ang Cadaquilaan nang Dios (Barcelona, 1888) - a catechism sarcastically aimed against the friars but also contains a philosophy of the power and intelligence of God and an appreciation for nature.^{[citation needed]}
• La Soberanía Monacal en Filipinas (Barcelona, 1888) - a pamphlet which presented in details the abuses of Spanish friars in the Philippines. Published under his pseudonym, Plaridel, the work consists of four parts, namely The Friars in the Philippines, Its Political Aspect, Its Economic Aspect, and Its Religious Aspect.^[24]
• Pasióng Dapat Ipag-alab nang Puso nang Tauong Babasa (Barcelona, 1888) - del Pilar's parody of Pasióng Genesis.^[25]
• La Frailocracia Filipina (Barcelona, 1889) - an answer to a pamphlet entitled Los Frailes en Filipinas which was written by a Spaniard. The arguments were in five parts, namely, the much-mooted problem of filibusterism, the much-vaunted love of the friars for Spain, the disagreement of Filipino civilization by the friars, the influence of the friars on the Filipinos, and the aspirations of the Filipinos.^[26][27]
• Sagót ng España sa Hibíc ng Filipinas (Barcelona, 1889) - a poem pleading for change from Spain but that Spain is already weak to grant any aid to the Philippines.^[28]
• Del Pilar’s translation of Arancel de Los Derechos Parroquiales (1890)^{[citation needed]}
• Dudas^{[citation needed]}

• La Solidaridad
• Philippine Revolution
• Propaganda Movement

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Marcelo H. del Pilar.

• Bulacan, Philippines: Tourism: Marcelo H. del Pilar Shrine
• Philippine History - Plaridel
• The Philippine Revolution: La Solidaridad

Template:Persondata