Getting more acquainted with the Father of Philippine Masonry as we celebrate the 164th anniversary of his birth KA SELO KUPANG DEL PILAR (2nd in a Series)) by Jaime Y. Gonzales, PGM Ka Selo and Other Filipinos in Barcelona Ka Selo took up residence with two Filipino Masons, Graciano Jaena Lopez and Mariano Ponce, at Rambla Canaletas 2, 3° in Barcelona, Spain. Some writers opine that because he was close to Jose Ma. Basa and to the Triangulo de los 33°, Ka Selo must have been made a Mason in the Philippines. But there are no extant records that validate that opinion. In any case, he apparently did not immediately collaborate with Jaena Lopez and Ponce in any Masonic activity because his first concern then was to discharge his duties as the chosen delegate of the Comite de Propaganda. So, he had his pamphlets and poems in Tagalog reprinted and arranged for their distribution in the Philippines by the Comite de Propaganda. In February, he published his most serious work in Spanish, “La Soberania Monacal” (Monastic Sovereignty), a detailed indictment of the abuses of the friars in the Philippines. (Fajardo, pp. 70-71). In his conversations with Jaena Lopez and Ponce, as well as with other Filipinos in Barcelona, Ka Selo learned, among other things, that: o Not a few Filipinos craving for the “modern liberties” contributed patriotic articles to Spanish newspapers, in which they sought reforms, preached enlightenment, and spread nationalist ideas. o In 1882, the Filipino reformists in Spain, together with a handful of Spaniards who were friendly to Filipinos, established the Circulo Hispanico-Filipino. Originally, the Circulo was intended merely for social intercourse, but shortly after the arrival of Jose Rizal in September of that year, it was strengthened into a solidarity group. In October, it began a biweekly magazine called Revista del Circulo Hispanico-Filipino. In the following year, however, both the Circulo and its biweekly magazine were dissolved for lack of funds. o Not a few government officials and politicians who were affiliated with the Masonic fraternity took interest in the welfare of the Filipino people, defending their rights in the parliamentary tribunals and issuing decrees in their favor. Among them were ministers Segismundo Moret and Manuel Becerra, former presidents Francisco Pi y Margall and Emilio Castelar, and above all, Miguel Morayta, a Past Grand Master of the Gran Oriente de España (Grand Orient of Spain), who would found the Grande Oriente Español (Spanish Grand Orient). o A significant number of patriotic Filipinos entered Masonic Lodges in Spain as early as 1876. For instance, Graciano Jaena Lopez was initiated in 1882 in Lodge Porvenir No. 2 in Madrid under the Gran Oriente de España; he adopted Bolivar as his Masonic or symbolic name. Likewise, when he was still a student in the Universidad Central de Madrid, Jose Rizal joined Acacia Lodge No. 9 in Madrid and adopted Dimasalang as his Masonic or symbolic name. Pedro de Govantes y Azcarraga, who became a delegate to the Spanish Parliament and, was the counsel in the deportation case of Manuel Timoteo de Hidalgo, a brother-in-law of Jose Rizal, also became a Mason. Enrique Ayllon, too, joined Masonry; in fact, in 1886, the 18° was conferred upon him. Tomas del Rosario, a fiery and eloquent orator, also joined Acacia Lodge No. 9. o Not a few Filipinos played an active role in founding Lodge Solidaridad, which was given a Charter by the Gran Oriente de España on March 30, 1886. The Charter was signed by Grand Master Manuel Becerra. The Lodge was constituted on April 4. Subsequently, it conferred on Miguel Morayta the title “Honorary Venerable Master,” and it held joint activities with Morayta’s Mother Lodge, Hijo del Progreso. But after languidly existing for a year and a half, Lodge Solidaridad was dissolved, owing, according to Rafael del Pan, who was the Lodge’s Second Vigilant, “to nothing but the schisms and conflicts which then prevailed in Spanish Masonry.” o In 1887, the Filipinos published a patriotic newspaper named España en Filipinas. o In 1888, at the initiative of Miguel Morayta, the Filipinos joined hands with some sympathetic Spaniards in Madrid in establishing the Asociacion Hispano-Filipina, whose expressed objective was to campaign for the rights of Filipinos. (Ibid., pp. 66-70). Ka Selo Renews His Acquaintances with Centeno, Quiroga, et Alii Ka Selo renewed his acquaintances with Centeno, Quiroga, and other Spaniards who had extended protection to him and his group in the Philippines in their fight for the emancipation of their oppressed country and her people. These men, even in Spain, remained staunchly pro-Filipino and the Filipinos, in return, showered them with affection. Centeno and Quiroga in turn extended assistance to Ka Selo del Pilar. They saw to it that copies of “Soberania Monacal” were distributed to Cabinet ministers and other prominent personalities. (Ibid., p. 71). He Helps Filipino Students Launch La Solidaridad After the dissolution of Lodge Solidaridad, a group of Filipino students organized an association which they also called La Solidaridad. Galicano Apacible, a cousin of Jose Rizal from Batangas, who went to Spain in early 1888 to complete his medical studies, was elected president; Graciano Jaena Lopez, vice-president; Mariano Ponce, treasurer; and Manuel Sta. Maria, secretary. The members of La Solidaridad aimed at publishing a suitable organ that would become the mouthpiece of all patriotic Filipinos, but they encountered difficulties in launching their project to reality. So, Ka Selo del Pilar extended his active assistance and sympathy to them. Thus, on February 15, 1889, the first issue of the fortnightly newspaper La Solidaridad appeared, with Graciano Jaena Lopez as editor. It consisted of only eight two-column pages, and no more than 500 copies were printed. In time, however, the newspaper would exert a great influence on the course of events in the Philippines. Its avowed program was “to combat all reaction and all backward steps; to applaud and accept every liberal idea and to defend progress; in a word, to be a propagandist first and foremost of all the democratic ideals, hoping that these may reign in all nations here and beyond the seas.” (Ibid., pp. 71-72). He Writes to His Dearest Niece Nostalgic of family and country, Ka Selo wrote letters to members of his family and to his associates in the Comite de Propaganda. On March 13, 1889, for instance, he wrote a letter to his dearest niece, Josefa Gatmaitan. Here are some excerpts of his letter: The vagaries of life, which Providence in its most inscrutable design has allotted to me, had taken me away from that beautiful land where I have left behind the treasures of my life without even giving me the chance to say good-by to the people I cherish and appreciate. In this letter to you, I shall try o make amends for my precipitate flight, by sending through you this my humble message to the young women of Bulacan. I feel convinced that you have been chosen, and on you depends the regeneration, the rebirth of our town. For there is no doubt of the strength and scope of woman’s influence on the family. Daughter, sister, wife, or mother – a woman offers the balm of solace that makes endurable the rigors of everyday life. More than that, she is the element that guides men to paths of virtue and courage or to the pitfalls of wrongdoing and cowardice. In all of these countries that I have now visited, I have found eloquent proof that where women are virtuous, vice is timid and dignity predominates in the life of man. But where feminine frivolity reigns, the men are taken up in immorality and the abandonment or disregard of the sacred duties of man is the popular way of life. The influence of women in the sphere of morals finds an equal reflection in the sphere of the mind. The education of women stimulates and elevates the education of men. This is why perhaps in some of foreign towns it is customary to hold periodically public contest among the students of the schools for boys and schools for girls, putting mind to mind to win valuable prizes and demonstrate their intellectual gifts…. Education is not a luxury reserved for a few and denied to the indigent and the female. To study is not a useless activity to be passed up in indifference and carelessly exchange for a few idle hours of gossip everyday. You see around you the tragedy of the untutored and the unlearned. Ask our old men and women in Bulacan and they will tell you how their lack of learning had shackled their innate dignity and made mockery of their self-respect. With tears in their eyes and despair in their hearts, they will rue their fate that had robbed them of the opportunity now opened to you. But if their mothers had been able to teach them their letters, they would not have grown in the darkness of ignorance. You, my dear niece, and your friends who will be the mothers of tomorrow, do not throw away this treasure. Cherish knowledge not only for yourself but that posterity may have received it from you and bless you for this legacy. Surely, for this you may well sacrifice a few hours a day, the few hours you waste so carelessly in “panguingue’ and idle gossip. (For the text of Ka Selo’s entire letter to his niece, Josefa, refer to Del Castillo and Medina, pp. 162-166.) He Helps Establish Logia Revolucion On April 2, 1889, as shown by extant records, a meeting was held in the quarters of del Pilar, Ponce, and Jaena Lopez and was attended not only by the three but by four other Masons as well. They were Jose Ma. Panganiban, a young Filipino medical student from the Bicol region; Celso Mir Deas, a former Spanish officer who had served in the Philippines; and two Cubans named Juan Jose Cañarte (Caridad) and Justo Argudin. The seven immediately proceeded to establish a Lodge under the title Revolucion. Since Jaena Lopez was the highest-ranking Mason in the group (he alone held the 18°), he was elected as the first Worshipful Master of the Lodge. Argudin, 3°, was chosen Senior Warden; Mir Deas, 3°, Junior Warden; del Pilar, 3°, Orator; and Cañarte, 3°, Secretary. The seven founders decided to place Lodge Revolucion under the Grande Oriente Español, a new obedience which was established by Miguel Morayta on January 9, 1889. He Becomes Morayta’s Close Friend On April 16, in the course of his campaign to win adherents to his new Orient, Morayta visited Barcelona, where he met for the first time Ka Selo del Pilar, who had adopted Kupang as his Masonic or symbolic name. The two conferred with each other several times and eventually became close friends. Their friendship would have a profound influence on the direction of Philippine Masonry. Morayta’s visit of Barcelona further cemented his ties with Filipino Masons there, and it brought together the Asociacion Hispano-Filipina, of which he was the president, the association La Solidaridad, and the newspaper La Solidaridad in a common fight for the extension to the Philippines of the fundamental rights enjoyed by all other peninsular and overseas provinces. After that visit, Morayta displayed increasing activities in behalf of the Filipinos. Many Filipinos in Barcelona, such as the following, took their Masonic obligation in Lodge Revolucion: Teodoro Sandico (Libertad); Santiago Icasiano of Bulacan; Ariston Bautista (Balagtas) of Manila; Domingo Marcelo Cortez; Galicano Apacible (Lanatan) of Batangas; Damaso Ponce (Florante), a cousin of Mariano; Ramon Imperial; Captain Agustin Blanco from Macabebe, Pampanga; and Jose Alejandrino of Arayat, Pampanga. Morayta must have been gladdened so greatly by the affection which members of the Lodge displayed towards him that many of them ascended to the higher degrees of Masonry “much faster than those of other Lodges.” By August 30, 1889, Ka Selo del Pilar and Mariano Ponce had reached the 18°, and Ariston Bautista the 14°. On September 17, Galicano Apacible and Jose Panganiban were proposed for the 30°, and Icasiano, Damaso Ponce, and Imperial for the 18°. Eventually, Ka Selo del Pilar and Mariano Ponce became 33° Masons and held high positions in the inner councils of the Grande Oriente Español. Filipino Masons in Barcelona Spring to Action With the help of del Pilar and Ponce, Worshipful Master Graciano Jaena Lopez drew up a petition addressed to Prime Minister Praxedes Mateo Sagasta (Paz) and Overseas Minister Manuel Becerra, both Past Grand Masters, asking them not to permit administrative deportations in the Philippines. The members of Logia Revolucion waged a campaign in which they solicited the support of all other Lodges owing allegiance to the Grande Oriente Español and those under other Obediences for their petition. A great many Lodges signed the petition, two copies of which were sent by Graciano Jaena Lopez to Miguel Morayta. In an official letter, the former requested the latter to see to it that the petition would reach the hands of the Cabinet ministers concerned. (Fajardo, pp. 66-75). Ka Selo Extends Assistance to Lallave, Castells Desirous of bringing religious freedom to the Philippines, Ka Selo used his Masonic connections in order to extend support to Manrique Alonso Lallave, a former Dominican priest who served as the parish priest of the town of Urdaneta, Pangasinan, and who, after reading an English Bible, became “Protestant” in his preachings. In 1870, he took advantage of a short-lived decree of Segismundo Moret authorizing friars in the Philippines to leave their orders. This infuriated the Dominicans, who promptly expelled him from their order and forced him to leave the Philippines. In Spain, Lallave became a Mason in Numantina Lodge under the Gran Oriente Lusitano Unido, renounced Roman Catholicism, and joined a Protestant Church called the Spanish Christian Church. Then he published a diatribe against the friars, entitled Los Frailes en Filipinas. In 1873, he translated the Gospel of St. Luke into Pangalato (Pangasinan dialect). This was the first translation of a part of the Bible into a local dialect. Four years later, he translated nearly the whole New Testament to Pangalato. In 1881, he helped establish the Gran Logia Simbolica Independiente Española, and he became its Grand Orator. He also edited the Masonic journal Taller. In 1889, Lallave, now 50 years old, returned to the Philippines in the company of a young Spanish Protestant pastor, Felipe de P. Castells. Their unconcealed mission was to spread Protestantism in the country. Thus, they brought with them Spanish Bibles and copies of the Gospel of St. John which Lallave had translated into Pangalato. They were to distribute these in the country, particularly in Pangasinan. Lallave and Castells sailed for the Philippines under the auspices of the British and Foreign Bible Society and the sponsorship of Overseas Minister Manuel Becerra. He was banking on the protection of a circular Becerra had issued to Governor General Valeriano Weyler, which stated that Europeans, Asiatics, and Americans in the Philippines who profess different religions “should be respected in their beliefs and in their worship.” His trip was nonetheless fraught with danger. In those days, any active propaganda in favor of a non-Catholic religion was an offense punishable by law. Mere possession of the Bible was also considered seditious and penalized with imprisonment. In his letters to the members of the Comite de Propaganda in the Philippines, Ka Selo del Pilar exhorted them to extend all possible assistance to Lallave. Similarly, he wrote to Teodoro Sandiko and Pedro Serrano Laktaw, who at that time were still in the Philippines, and to Doroteo Cortez. A part of his letter to Serrano Laktaw reads as follows: … You have coming to you there in person, in body and soul, your Manrique Lallave, now a Protestant pastor. The government will not be able to prosecute him, since he is protected by a circular. If he succeeds in making proselytes, an exposition will be presented to the government with 300,000 signatories in demand of greater tolerance and even of freedom of worship. This latter is still a remote possibility, but even toleration is already a great step against the monastic power. As to their expulsion, you know already that we cannot hope for this from the government; we have to do it ourselves. Lallave and Castells failed to carry out their mission because shortly after arriving in the Philippines, both of them fell ill. Castells recovered, but Lallave died. Castells consistently claimed that Lallave and he had been poisoned. His claim was corroborated by messages sent to Lallave’s daughter. Roman Catholic writers, however, stoutly maintained that Lallave had died of a fever. The Bibles and gospels that Lallave and Castells were bringing to the Philippines were left in a warehouse in Singapore and lay there for nine long years. It was only after the Americans entered Manila in 1898 that B. F. Randall of the British and Foreign Bible Society was able to bring them to the Philippines and distribute them in Pangasinan. The Friars versus Alcala Zamora Incidentally, another Mason-priest, Luis Alcala Zamora, who was in the country many years earlier, suffered a fate similar to that of Lallave. When Romualdo Jimeno, Bishop of Cebu, died in 1872 (the year Fathers Jose Burgos, Mariano Gomez, and Jacinto Zamora were executed on Bagumbayan field), the Masonic government in Madrid appointed Alcala Zamora as the new bishop of Cebu. Upon his arrival in the country, Alcala Zamora tried to take over the administration of the diocese of Cebu. Governor-General Izquierdo and his successor, Governor Juan Alaminos y Vibar, both his brothers in Masonry, tried to install him. But Archbishop Meliton Martinez successfully thwarted all their attempts. The intense fight over the installation of Alcala Zamora ceased when he unexpectedly died. His death, according to some well-meaning writers, was due to broken or ground glass which found its way into the rice he was eating. But sources friendly to the friars, true to fashion, discounted foul play as the cause of Alcala Zamora’s sudden death. (Ibid., p. 75-77). REFERENCES Del Castillo, Teofilo T. and Medina, Buenaventura Jr. S. Philippine Literature from Ancient Times to the Present. Quezon City, Philippines: Teofilo del Castillo and Sons, 1974. Fajardo Reynold S. The Brethren, Vol. I. Manila, Philippines: Grand Lodge of Free and Accepted Masons of the Philippines, 1998 . (to be continued)
Posted on: Fri, 22 Aug 2014 11:11:00 +0000
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