Bro Jose a.k.a. Dimasalang
The novelist died in a dramatic passion, through public execution via firing squad. He immortalized his death in the untitled verses he left with his sisters hidden in a portable study lamp. In those verses, he said in his last line morir es descansar (to die is to rest). It was a fitting ending for a man who knew no rest since childhood. After seeing the light on June 19, 1861, in the lakeside town of Calamba, Laguna there was no stopping him in acquiring knowledge from his mother, his uncles, in Binan, in Ateneo de Municipal, in the University of Sto Tomas, Universidad Central de Madrid, the different schools, libraries, museums and archives in Europe.
Though he finished medicine purposely to cure his ailing mother, he dabbled in too many things such as engineering, language, ethnography, painting, sculpture, literature and sports. He traveled all over the world and learned culture, laws, customs, traditions and way of life of the different countries he visited. He founded and joined many organizations locally and internationally. He wrote for Diariong Tagalog and La Solidaridad, but his masterpiece novels Noli Me Tangere and El Filibusterismowon more raves especially among Filipino patriots.
Our National Hero ? Bro Jose Protacio Alonzo Realonda Mercado Rizal, also known as Dimasalang in our order, died at age 35 on December 30, 1896, in Bagumbayan, now Luneta.
Bro Marcelo a.k.a. Kupang
The journalist, who studied political science and law, died of tuberculosis and a poor man in Spain. But he has enriched the country?s literary archives with his works full of satire and wit. He was born on August 30, 1850, in the picturesque town of Bulacan, Bulacan. He was known for writing essays, short stories and verses which he surreptitiously enclosed in prayer books likeDasalan at Tuksohan and Kaiingat Kayo so he could reach his countrymen even while inside the church premises.
He obtained his early education in his hometown, then in Manila at Colegio de San Jose and the University of Sto Tomas where he obtained his licentiate in jurisprudence. His self avowed mission was to be the country?s political evangelist. He made the town plaza, the cockpit, wakes for the dead and other public gatherings the venues of his reform campaign. He founded theDiariong Tagalog. And to evade Spanish persecution, he had to adopt various pseudonyms like Plaridel, Dolores Manapat, Piping Dilat, Siling Labuyo, Haitalaga, Patos and Kupang which eventually he adopted as his Masonic alias.
He escaped to Spain and assumed the editorship of La Solidaridad, the acknowledged mouthpiece of the Philippine Reform Movement. He fought for reforms and assimilation. He eventually secured the dispensation and permission from Miguel Morayta, a Grand Master of Masons in Spain to bring masonry to the Philippines.
Satirist, lawyer, political analyst, writer, editor and journalist, the pride of the Katagalugan and the Father of Philippine Masonry ? Bro Marcelo Hilario Gatmaitan del Pilar, Kupang in our fraternity, died at the age of 46 in Barcelona, Spain.
Bro. Graciano a.k.a. Bolivar
The orator who was among the first Filipino Illustrado and patriot to arrive in Spain, died of tuberculosis, in a foreign land. Bro. Graciano Lopez Jaena, a.k.a. Bolivar, was considered the Prince of Philippine Orators. He was born in the historic town of Jaro, Iloilo on December 18, 1856. He was known for his fiery speeches and striking articles inLa Solidaridad which he founded and first edited prior to its transfer from Barcelona to Madrid, when del Pilar resumed its editorship.
He studied at Colegio de San Juan de Letran, University of Sto Tomas and University of Valencia in Spain. He had the audacity at age 18, to write about an abusive, fat and lecherous friar named Fray Botod, that led him to an early self-exile in Spain. Many historians regarded Bolivar, together with del Pilar and Rizal, as the major pillars of the reform movement.
He was as active in masonry as he was in the various organizations of Filipino patriots in Spain like the Circulo Hispano Filipinowhere he met and sought help among the Spanish libertarian at that time. Due to poverty and deprivation his health deteriorated.
Writer, editor, orator and journalist, Iloilos? most favorite son Bro Graciano Lopez Jaena, also known as Bolivar in our craft, died in Madrid, Spain on January 20, 1896, at the age of 40. He was the first to vanish among the triumvirate of the Philippine Propagandist, months before Bro Marcelo H. del Pilar in July 1896 and Bro Jose P. Rizal in December 1896.
By VW Artemio A. Del Rosario, PDGL
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