Marcelo del Pilar was a Filipino writer, lawyer, journalist, and freemason. Along with José Rizal and Graciano López Jaena, became known as the leaders of the Reform Movement in Spain
Del Pilar was born and brought up in Bulakan, Bulacan. Attending at the University of Santo Tomas but was suspended and imprisoned in 1869 after he and the parish priest quarreled over unreasonably high baptismal fees. In the 1880s, he expanded his anti-friar movement from Malolos to Manila.
He went to Spain in 1888 after an order of banishment was issued against him. Twelve months after his arrival in Barcelona, he succeeded López Jaena as editor of the La Solidaridad (Solidarity), in his editorship, the aims of the newspaper expanded. Using propaganda, it pursued the desires for assimilation of the Philippines as a province of Spain; removal of the friars and the secularization of the parishes; freedom of assembly and speech; equality before the law; and Philippine representation in the Cortes, the legislature of Spain
In 1890, a rivalry developed between del Pilar and Rizal. This was mainly due to the difference between del Pilar’s editorial policy and Rizal’s political beliefs. On January 1, 1891, about 90 Filipinos gathered in Madrid. They agreed that a Responsable (leader) be elected. Camps were drawn into two, the Pilaristas and the Rizalistas. The first voting for the Responsable started on the first week of February 1891. Rizal won the first two elections but the votes counted for him did not reach the needed two-thirds vote fraction. After Mariano Ponce pleaded to the Pilaristas, Rizal was elected Responsable.
Del Pilar standing beside Rizal (at the center) for a group portrait in Madrid, Spain. Photographed in 1890. Photo: Wikipedia
Rizal, knowing the Pilaristas did not like his political beliefs, respectfully declined the position and transferred it to del Pilar. Rizal then packed up his bags and boarded a train leaving for Biarritz, France. Inactive in the Reform Movement, Rizal ceased his contribution of articles on La Solidaridad but instead focused on his novel El Filibusterismo (The Reign of Greed).
In 1895, the publication of the newspaper stopped due to a lack of funds. Losing hope in reforms, del Pilar grew favorable of a revolution against Spain.
He was on his way home in 1896 when he contracted tuberculosis in Barcelona. He later died in a public hospital and was buried in a pauper’s grave.
News of his death reached the Philippines and his scholarly works as publicist and reformist inspired many Filipinos and some Filipino-Spanish alike.
Ramón Blanco Erenas, the Governor-General of the Philippines attest that Del Pillar was "the most intelligent leader, the real soul of the separatists, very superior to Rizal".
A copy of La Solidaridad (Solidarity), the principal organ of the Reform Movement in Spain. Photo: Wikipedia
Many scholars and historians like Renato Constantino, believed that del Pilar was the “true mastermind” of the Katipunan, because any ordinance of the Katipunan have to undergo to del Pilar for validation before being implemented, and aside from that, Andres Bonifacio used the letters he received from del Pilar to recruit more Katipuneros.
Kalayaan (Liberty), the official newspaper of the Katipunan, carried the pseudonym of del Pilar, Plaridel, as editor-in-chief. According to León María Guerrero, del Pilar’s letters were regarded by Bonifacio as important documents of the Philippine Revolution and guides for Katipunan’s activities.
Del Pilar’s 150 essays and 66 editorials mostly published in La Solidaridad and various anti-friar pamphlets, is widely regarded as the "Father of Philippine Journalism”.
On November 30, 1997, the Technical Committee of the National Heroes Committee, created through Executive Order No. 5 by former President Fidel Ramos, recommended del Pilar along with the eight Filipino historical figures to be National Heroes. The recommendations were submitted to Department of Education Secretary Ricardo T. Gloria on November 22, 1995.
No action has been taken for these recommended historical figures. In 2009, this issue was revisited in one of the proceedings of the 14th Congress.
