MAIN POINTS AND HIGHLIGHTS

 Propaganda Movement
 The Propagandists
 Retraction of DR. Jose Rizal

REQUIRED READINGS

 Anderson, W. (2010). Philippine Studies, 58(3), 434-436.

www.jstor.org/stable/42634645

PROPAGANDA MOVEMENT

The years 1872 – 1892 were the period when the spirit of nationalism among the great
Filipinos in Europe was greatly evident. Little by little, they started propaganda to reveal
the wrongdoings of both the Catholic Church and the Colonial Government. Most of the
Ilustrados in Europe were there for some important reasons: to study and to organize a
movement that would help achieve the fair treatment of Spaniards to the Filipino people.
The Propaganda Movement was an organization that promoted reforms in peaceful
manner.

However, not all Filipinos who went to Spain joined the propaganda movement. Most of
them went to Spain in the hope of studying and becoming successful. Those who
established and joined the movement were young and serious men who offered their
talent and service for the motherland.

Filipino Propagandists

The propaganda was a two-sided movement, one rewarded in Spain for the extension to
the Philippines of open governmental institutions, for an honest administration and the
replacement of the friars by the Filipino priests; and compensated in the islands
themselves for the improvement of the educational facilities, the removal of the spying
upon the press and public opinion, and most of all, awakening of the exhausted fellow
Filipinos.
Prominent Filipino Propagandists

Marcelo H. del Pilar. He became the Editor-in-Chief of the Propaganda Newspaper La

Solidaridad when it was already transferred from Barcelona to Madrid. He was also
known as the father of Freemasonry and Journalism in the Philippines.

Jose Rizal. He contributed numerous articles to the newspaper, La Solidaridad,

published in Spain. One of Rizal’s political plans was to integrate the Philippines as a
province of Spain. Rizal returned to the Philippines on June 26, 1892. He founded the
La Liga Filipina, in Manila. Rizal, in dedicating his second novel entitled El
Filibusterismo which condemned the Spanish rule and the elite Filipinos. In his novel,
Rizal wrote "To the memory of the priests, Don Mariano Gomez (89 years old), Don Jose
Burgos (40 years old), and Don Jacinto Zamora (55 years old)

Graciano Lopez- Jaena. was known to publish several literary works that challenged the
status quo. One of his well-known works included La Solidaridad, which was a
newspaper that played a very significant part in the propaganda movement that helped
lead to the Philippine Revolution. Graciano lopez jaena,He was from Iloilo. He is An
orator and an author who wrote Fray Botod “Friar Potbelly” (1874). It is about a fictitious
cleric named Fray Botod who arrived looking like a hungry mosquito and soon became
stout because of the stocks taken from the people.

Juan Luna. He was recognized as the first Filipino artist. He won gold and silver medal
in the 1884 Madrid Fine Arts Exposition. He used his canvas to propagate the
sentiments of the Filipino people.

Felix Resurrection Hidalgo. He was also known as one of the great Filipino painters of
the 19th century and is significant in Philippine history for having been an associate
and inspiration for the members of the Philippine propaganda movement which included
Jose Rizal, Marcelo del Pilar, Mariano Ponce, and Graciano Lopez- Jaena.

Mariano Ponce. He was a doctor by profession and one of the leaders of the movement
that spread the idea of Philippine independence from Spanish colonial rule. He wrote in
the newspaper and was one of the founders of La Solidaridad and Asociacion Hispano-
Filipino. Mariano Ponce, his pen names are Tikbalang, Kalipulako, Naning.

Dr. Pio Valenzuela. He was the Editor-in-Chief of the newspaper of the Katipunan
entitled Kalayaan. He used nom de guerre or nom de plume in writing articles in the
newspaper to hide his identity to the Spanish authorities like Dimas Arayan
(Untouchable) and Madlang-Away (Public conflict).

PROPAGANDA GROUPS

When the propagandists saw the advantage of combining all their knowledge and
talents, they decided to establish an organization that would bring to the Spanish
authorities the movement’s concerns.

1. Circulo Hispano- Filipino

2. La Solidaridad (Organization)

3. Free Masonry

4. La Liga Filipina (The Philippine League) -Though it was Jose Ma. Basa who conceived
the establishment of ‘La Liga Filipina, his friend and namesake Jose Rizal was the one
who wrote its constitution in Hong Kong and actually founded it upon his return in the
Philippines in 1892.

5. Revista del Circulo Hispano- Filipino

PROPAGANDA NEWSPAPERS

1. Kalayaan

2. La Solidaridad (Newspaper)-In 1888 Filipino expatriate journalist Graciano López

Jaena founded the newspaper La Solidaridad in Barcelona. Throughout its course, it
urged reforms in both religion and government in the Philippines, and it served as the
voice of what became known as the Propaganda Movement.

3. Diariong Tagalog

4. La Independencia- On September 3, 1898, La Independencia, the periodical organ of

the Philippine Revolution against Spain, came out with its first issue. It was edited and
founded by General Antonio Luna, Supreme Chief of the Army under Emilio
Aguinald]]]]o.

5. La Libertad - On June 20, 1898 -La Libertad was published and edited by Clemente
Jose Zulueta. He was an enterprising writer, disappointed bibliophile, and later official
researcher in the archives of Paris, Madrid, and Mexico,
Struggles of the Propaganda Movement

Propagandists were somehow succeeded in their goal of awakening the heart, mind, and
soul of the Filipinos through their writings. However, due to a lack of funds and other
resources, it was really hard for them to continue the movement. The arrest of Rizal and
the abolition of La Liga Filipina marked as the end of the Propaganda Movement. On
July 6, 1892, Dr. Jose Rizal was ordered arrested by Governor General Eulogio Despujol
on charges that antifriar pamphlets were found in the luggage of his sister Lucia who
arrived with him from Hong Kong. He was detained for nine days in Fort Santiago

REFERENCES

Palado, D., De Silva, A., Reyes, C., et. al., (2018) Readings in Philippine History,
Muntinlupa City. Panday-Lahi Publishing House, Inc. (54-62)