‘THE WOMEN OF MALOLOS, 1860-1920
Sandico in Malolos was listed as one of six students excelling in the category
(one of seven) “Notions of Geography in General and Spain and the Philip-
pines.”*" Among Sandico’s students were Antonio Bautista, later aide-de-camp
of Aguinaldo; Nicolas Buendia, later governor of Bulacan and senator of the
National Assembly; and Damaso Caluag, leader during the Revolution and
carly American period.
Aside from running these schools, Sandico was also giving lessons in Spanish
secretly to adults, specifically, the Women of Malolos, as mentioned above,
without permission from the authorities. In order to formalize and legitimize
this arrangement, Sandico and his close friend Graciano T. Reyes, licensed
teacher of primary instruction and native of Malolos, proposed to the provin-
cial governor of Bulacan sometime in 1888, the opening of night schools for
adults of both sexes, at no expense to the government. Probably upon advice of
the friar curate Felipe Garcia who saw in it another move of the antifriar re-
formists, the proposal was turned down by the government “because it w:
thought that the school would be a threat to no less than the integrity of
But Sandico and the Women of Malolos refused to be discouraged. Soon
enough, they found another chance to push for the schoo! for adults when the
new governor-general visited Malolos on December 12, 1888. This time they
would make sure that the friar curate would nor place an obstacle between
them and the highest secular official of the land.
Weyler, the Letter, the School
After the fateful demonstration of March 1, 1888, Emilio Terrero ended his
term as governor-general and promptly returned to the Peninsula, with Jose
Centeno close at his heels. In the interim, Gen. Antonio Molto took over
Terrero’s office until the arrival of the new appointee. Finally, on June 5, 1888,
the new governor-general, Valeriano Weyler, newly arrived from Spain, was
formally sworn in at the Salon de Actos of the Ayuntamiento in Intramuros.””
Initially, the reformists welcomed Weyler’s appointment because he was known
to be a liberal in Spain. Prompely, the liberals in government went to work on
policies for the new administration.
Acting on a proposal made by Director of Civil Administration Benigno
Quiroga, Weyler promulgated the Decree of July 31, 1888, to all provincial
governors, asking them for individual reports on the exact state of schools in
169‘THE WOMEN OF MALOLOS
their respective jurisdictions. He wanted to know the kinds of school buildings
being used (rented or owned by the town, suitable or not), the furniture (sources
and listing), textbooks, number of children enrolled according co what they
are taught, lise of children who attend writing class (how many can actually
write with a pen), and the types of teachers (Spanish or native; if Spanish, knowl-
edge of local dialect; if native, knowledge of Spanish). Most important of all,
Weyler wanted to find out “if in all schools they endeavor to teach Spanish and
in what way, identifying in this regard and with crue clarity the methods which
the teacher employs to attain such an end.”
Although the decree was similar to other decrees issued by his predeces-
sors, Weyler’s order was well received by the liberals in the country, such as the
writers of La Opinion who “invoked the patriotism of the nation to contribute
to the teaching of Spanish and pointed out practical suggestions for the realiza-
tion of such a noble purpose.”®* In fact, Weyler would be lauded by Retana
five years after his term as the only governor-gencral who took steps to improve
the conditions of teachers, and succeeded in opening 106 schools during his
term (1888-1891). According to Retana, “in no other period did primary
instruction prosper more, intellectually and materially, than during the term of
Mr. Weyler.”® Subsequent decrees that he issued would seem to prove this
allegation. The Dectee of January 16, 1889, issued after he did an ocular in-
spection of schools, provided for a more efficient way of supplying school
textbooks and materials to schools.” The Decree of February 4, 1889, detailed
how schools should be divided according to what they teach, and what text-
books should be used for what subjects. It also stipulated the hours for
attendance, and prohibited the use of books in the native languages for teach-
ing because children should use only textbooks written in Spanish. In ending,
the Edict stated that Weyler would “punish abandonment just as he will re-
ward diligence,” and that he exhorts all teachers to apply themselves to their
work because “on them depends, in great measure, the future of this archi-
pelago, the instruction of the youth being the basis of morality, culture, and
prosperity of the towns.”**
Eager to see for himself the actual state of the country, Weyler visited
government buildings and schools in almost all parts of the archipelago.” In
the cabecera of Bulacan on December 11, 1888, he visited the church and
convento, before going out to visit the school. From Bulacan he decided to go
to Malolos the next day. Because of this, the leaders of the reformists—Teodoro
170lings
srces
they
ually
owl-
all,
and
hich
ces
bute
liza-
ana
ove
his
ary
n of
this
iled
ext-
for
ch-
ree
beir
hi-
and
‘THE WOMEN OF MALOLOS, 1860-1920
Sandico, Vicente Gatmaytan, Graciano Reyes, and Manuel Crisostcomo—de-
cided to make preparations for his welcome that very night, especially since the
town leaders would not follow orders from the Acting Gobernadorcillo Pedro
Castro. In the early morning of December 12, the reformists decorated the
streets of Malolos with Spanish flags, with the biggest adorning the houses of
Gatmaytan, Crisostomo, and Reyes in order to underscore “their Hispanism.”
‘Ac 9:10 am., Weyler was already on the border of Bulacan and Malolos, ac-
companied by the civil governor, the curate of Bulacan, a doctor, and others. Ie
was there that Gatmaytan welcomed him and joined his party as it travelled co
Malolos. Gatmaytan observed that as Weyler passed the houses with the largest
flags he would execute a salute, prompting people to joke that he was saluting
the houses of Masons. At 10 a.m. he arrived in Malolos and went straight to
the church where a Te Deum was sung to welcome him, In the convento, after
the pompous welcome speech of the Gobernadorcillo Castro, Weyler gave his
own remarks, where he announced that his duty as governor-general was t0
work for the progress of the country; especially in che areas of education, com-
merce, and agriculture. He asked everyone to work together so that the goals
of Spain and the king may be achieved. Then he gave orders to the local offi
cials to tell the townspeople that in two hours, he would be receiving in the
convento anyone who might want to see him or would want to present their
complaints to him. He then picked up his cane and har, left the convento with
his retinue and visited the school for boys. He asked the children a question in
multiplication but not one could answer. He scolded the teacher and gave the
local inspector of schools (the friar curate Felipe Garcia) a sharp look. Then he
inspected the school for girls. Here the students fared better because the school
borrowed some of Sandico’ students. Then he headed for the Tribunal on
Pariancillo, looked at its hall and came down. As he was boarding his carriage,
he saw a pile of garbage in front of the Chinaman’s [store?] and fined the
gobernadorcillo Mexican $25 for negligence. He then proceeded to the Tri-
bunal of Barasoain, inspecting the jal first. Because it smelled, he also fined the
gobernadorcillo of Barasoain, this time Mexican $50. He looked in on the new
church (built in 1885) and the school, and then proceeded to Santa Isabel.
From here he returned to the Malolos convento to have lunch.
Meanwhile, as soon as Sandico heard that the liberal and proeducation
Weyler would be holding an audience with the townspeole, he rushed home,
prepared a letter in Spanish, and requested the barkada of women, whom he
171‘THE WOMEN OF MALOLOS
had been teaching, to sign and present the letter to Weyler. Twenty of these
women affixed their signatures to the letter. After lunch, twenty-one women
trooped to the convento, and right on cue (itis said that someone in the convento
had given them the signal to go up), went up the staits just as Weyler, after
taking a short rest, was preparing to go down. The women, “some not very
young anymore,” greeted Weyler; then quickly, Iding (Alberta Uitangcoy) pre-
sented the letter co the governor-general with, according to La Solidaridad
later, “a boldness seldom found in Filipino women, but with much dignity and
respect." After receiving the letter, Weyler could not decide what to do, so
the women followed him around, pressing him for an answer. Weyler was forced
to open the letter right there and then. And he read:
His Excellency, the Governor-General of the Philippines.
Your Excellency: We, the undersigned women and others, do hereby
present and petition with due respect to Your Excellency the fol-
lowing: Desirous of knowing the rich Spanish language, stimulated
and grateful for your generous spirit in spreading in the country
the knowledge of the Castillan language and unable ro learn it in
the schools of Manila—some because of the pressing circumstances
in which they find themselves and others because their domestic ;
duties prevent them from studying during the day, we humbly re-
quest Your Excellency that we be granted a night school in the home
of an old relative of ours where we shall attend classes accompanied
by our mothers to receive lessons in Spanish grammar under a Latin
professor who will be paid by us. This professor has given proof of
his ability to teach Spanish in a shore ti
¢. Progress has been ob-
served among his private pupils while on the other hand, without
any desire to offend them in their work, we must say that the other
teachers of the town have not obtained until now positive results.
Tc is a favor that we are sure we shall obtain from your well-known,
generosity. May God keep your precious life many years."
The letter was signed by twenty women, namely, Alberta S, Uitangcoy (then
23 years of age), the sisters Teresa (21) and Maria (19) Tantoco, Basilia V.
Tantoco (23); Rufina T. Reyes (19); the sisters Leoncia $, Reyes (24) and
172
s
th
th
rr
&
ci
M
m
F
bi
th
“
th
tcVV
and
THE WOMEN OF MALOLOS, 1860-1920
Olympia S. A. Reyes (12); the sisters Elisea (15) and Juana (14) Reyes; the
sisters Eugenia (17) and Aurea (16) Tanchangco; Anastacia M. Tiongson
(14); the sisters Basilia (28), Paz (24), Aleja (23), Mercedes (19) and Agapita
(18) Tiongson; and the sisters Filomena (23) , Cecilia (21), and Feliciana
(19) Tiongson.'
‘When the friars Felipe Garcia, Patricio Martin, and others saw the del-
egation handing the letter to Weyles, they bombarded the individual women
with questions, asking them repeatedly: “What is in the letter?” and “What are
you asking for?” To all the questions, the women kepr answering: “Nothing!
Nothing! Nothing!” Because of their relentless bullying, the friars received words
and gestures from the women that made it clear ro Weyler thac the forty-three-
year old Fray Felipe Garcia and che other friars were no longer respected in
Malolos. After reading the letter, Weyler assured the women that he would
give a reply soon, He then left for Paombong, Barasoain, Quingua, Baliwag,
and San Rafael.'*
But the approval of the governor-general did not come easy. In fact, the
request of the women was initially “denied,” most probably because of the rea-
sons given by the friar curate Felipe Garcia in his secret report to Weyler, But
the women did not give up. With the help of the reformist Doroteo Cortes and
the Macstra Guadalupe Reyes, the women continued to agitate for the school,
traveling between Malolos and Manila in order to lobby for it and pressure the
governor-general to grant their request and for the government to give finan-
cial support to the school. In this endeavor, the reformists and progressives of
Malolos lent their valuable support to the women. A believer in education and
a donor to Sandico's school, Rufina Tanjosoy-Santos was one of those who gave
money co pay for the trip, the food, and the accommodation of the women
when they presented their request co the government in Manila."
Permission was eventually granted to the women some time after Agustin
Fernandez took over from Felipe Garcia as parish priest on February 20, 1889,
but certain conditions had to be met. First, the women would have to spend for
theic own schooling because the government did not agree to support the school,
obviously to discourage it. Second, the teacher would have to be Guadalupe
“Upeng” Reyes, not Teodoro Sandico, who by then had been blacklisted. by
the friar curate as one of the “troublemakers” in Malolos. Third, the classes had
to be held in the daytime, not at night, pethaps because the authorities were
only too conscious of the fact that nocturnal political meetings, masquerading
173‘THE WOMEN OF MALOLOS
as parties or monte sessions, had become more frequent in the town since De-
cember 1888."
Although they did not get everything they asked for, the women pro-
ceeded to open their school in the house of one of their group, Rufina T. Reyes,
first cousin of Elisea and Juana, Classes were held probably on the second floor
of the house in Pariancillo, next to the capilla of the barrio and to the houses of
all the Tiongson women and within walking distance of all the others. (This
house on A. Tiongson, now M. Crisostomo Street, was demolished in 1932 by
Rufina’ sister Segunda T. Reyes and her husband Francisco Gatchalian, who
then built a new house for themselves toward the back of the lot. In 1979,
Scgunda’s house was replaced by another one built by its new owner Cesar B.
‘Tantoco.)"" Ever ready to help her fellow women, Rufina T. Santos spent for
the lodging and furniture of the head teacher, Upeng Reyes, and her assistants,
as well as for the textbooks, writing materials, oil for lamps, and other teaching
necessities." To be sure, Sandico and the other reformists must have done
everything in order to get the school going, especially since it had become an
international issue by chis time.
There is no record on what courses were actually taught and how they
were taught by Guadalupe Reyes to the women. But she probably followed the
way Sandico had already been teaching Spanish to them secretly, even before
the letter was written, In all likelihood, she also adopted the curriculum al-
ready put together by Sandico and Graciano Reyes in preparation for the schools
for adults that they had asked for but were denied. The curriculum included:
The teaching of Spanish with the conversational method
Elementary Spanish grammar
Principles and exercises in Arithmetic
Writing
Elementary Geography
Some facts about Spanish history in general
. Athletics"
Attendance in classes was probably not limited to the twenty women but
must have included their close relatives and the other ladies they referred to in
their letter as “and many others.” Among the ewenty were a few who already
knew how to read, write, and speak Spanish because they had attended a colegio
174owe
THE WOMEN OF MALOLOS, 1860-1920
in Manila. These were Alberta Uitangcoy, Eugenia and Aurea Tanchangco
who had already attended the Colegio de la Concordia, and Basilia Tantoco.
‘Aurea enjoyed the reputation of being the “brightest” among the women.'""
However, all the ladies must have been assiduous students, especially since the
discussions in class were not limited to academic subjects but included political
issues of the day. It was in this school that the women tead the first issue of La
Solidaridad (February 15, 1889), where Lopez Jaena wrote a long article about
their school, reproducing their letter and eight of the signatures, and praising
their courage and determination; and a subsequent issuc (March 15, 1889) of
the same paper, where Fernando Canon published a sonnet dedicated to them.
Most of all, it was in the school where the women read and discussed Jose
Rizal’s handwritten letter to them that arrived sometime in March 1889, and
made copies of it for themselves and for dissemination.
But the school was not to last. Arbitrarily, Sandico was accused in late
April 1889 by the Church authorities of spreading teachings against morality
and of eating meat on days of abstinence during the Holy Week of 1889."""
Soon after and no doubt because of the complaints filed against Sandico by the
friar curates of Malolos, the Dominican friar Gregorio Echevarria, Rector of
the University of Santo Tomas, sent a letter dated May 10, 1889, to the Direc-
tor General of Civil Administration Benigno Quiroga saying:
‘Through declarations done in complete and absolute confidence to
me, I have come ro know that the professor of Latinity of the town
of Malolos, province of Bulacan, D. Teodoro Sandico, is not fulfill
ing his duties, propagating bad teachings among the citizens of said
town, and attending meetings where people speak ill of Spain and
our Christian religion and other faults that injure teaching; because
of which the office of the Rector informs Your Superior Office that,
im accordance with Article 12, title 2 of the Regulations for Schools
of Latinity, the closure of said school may be ordered and the title of
said teacher be withdrawn; so that the fathers of families, as the
cited arti
the government recognizes and authorizes
le says, may have complete confidence in the schools that
The letter was officially received by the Civil Administration office ac
11am. of May 10, 1889. After he got a copy of it, probably from Quiroga’s
175THE WOMEN OF MALOLOS
office itself, Pedro Serrano requested Sandico’s father in Pandacan co im-
mediately travel to Malolos to inform Sandico about the letter so he could
warn the individuals “whose houses he frequents,” perhaps in anticipation
of another house search by the Guardia Civil. Sandico’s father gor to Malolos
thar evening."
not wait for the authorities to arrest him. He did not even care to defend
and exonerate himself. Instead, in the early morning of May 11, he left
Malolos and went into hiding, Two days later, in the morning of May 13,
the Gobernadorcillo Castro and the Alferez Carlos Pefiuelos closed down
Sandico’s school of primary and secondary instruction. By this time, Sandico
was making arrangements for his departure, On May 17, one week afer the
lercer of closure was issued, Sandico, under an assumed name, boarded the
boat for Hong Kong, en route to Spain, With Sandico gone and the authori-
ties tightening their control on his associates in Malolos, the school of the
women had to close. With Sandico’s sudden departure ended the “desire to
teach the Filipino women.”"*
Once in receipt of the document of closure, Sandico did
Reactions: Aspersions and Accolades
Although the school operated for only three months (February-May 1889)
and the whole issue of a school for women lasted for only six months (Decem-
ber 12, 1888, when the letter was written, to May 17, 1889, the date the
leccer-writer had to escape), the effects of the letter and the school were tre-
mendous and far-reaching. As Epifanio de los Santos pur it, the school “gave
rise to a flutter of excitement in the Philippines and Spain, precipitated the
publication of La Solidaridad, and resulted in a debate which gave no peace to
the press of both Spanish and Filipino writers.""
‘As may be expected, the profriar elements received the news in the same
way that the friar curate Felipe Garcia and other friar curates of Bulacan did—
with utter disapproval and anger. According to Daniel Tantoco, Fray Felipe
Garcia mee with the women sometime after the departure of Weyler and scolded
them for giving a letter ro Weyler without his knowledge. He also told them
that he was against their petition.""® Echoing Fray Garcia, the profriar newspa-
per Eco Franciscano and La Defensa wrote endless variations on the themes
“the Philippines are going to perdition” and “the dislike for the friar will be the
ruination of the Philippine Islands.”""”
176THE WOMEN OF MALOLOS, 1860-1920
But the progressives, both Spanish and Filipino, received the news of the
school with euphoric jubilation, seeing in this not only an example but a justi-
fication of their fight for the teaching of Spanish in the archipelago. In order to
reinforce the plan for the school, Minister of Colonies Manuel Becerra (Del
Pilar’ friend) issued a letter of instruction, dated January 29, 1889, in Madrid
(published in the Gacera de Madrid on February 3, 1889), to Governor-Gen-
eral Weyler in Manila. Among others, the letter said that in order to achieve
Spain's goal of assimilating the Philippines, the natives must learn the Spanish
language that will be the key to their development and, to acl
must strictly enforce the order of September 13, 1883, making instruction in
Spanish obligatory in all schools."* (It is possible that this letter may have pro-
vided the necessary push for Weyler to approve the school.)
The school was lauded by several newspapers. In its January 1, 1889
issue, La Opinion editorialized chat “the conduct of the Malolos women is wor-
thy of praise and assuredly this act will be imitated soon by other towns.” In
addition to this, Del Pilar mentions che compliments from other newspapers
and letters received by the editorial staff of La Solidaridad from Madrid, France,
England, Austria, and other places. These expressed their admiration of and
praise for the women for what they had done, recognizing their action as a sign
that now “the consciousness of dignity has begun to awaken in the beautiful
and sacred half of the town of Malolos.”
But by far the most effusive encomium was written by Graciano Lopez
Jaena in the column Ecos de Uleramar.”* The founding editor of La Solidaridad
praised the women because their good intentions triumphed against the “Ma-
of those who tried co impede progress in the Spanish
And then, rather patronizingly, he said, “a petition—
ve this, Weyler
chiavellian intrigu.
land of the Orient.
and a petition by women—was enough to annihilate the obstructionist plan
intended to frustrate the establishment of such a school.” Lopez Jaena contin-
ued, “The proponents of the status quo in the Philippines try by whatever
means they have within their reach to hold the Filipino women down in the
deep abyss of ignorance, now exciting their imagination with fantastic stories
and superstitions which only encourage hypnoti:
cultivating and educating her heart in incomprehensible fears without foun-
dation, and training it to make conscience a slave to those ideals.” Knowing
how powerful the friars were, Lopez Jacna could not “stop praising, admiring
and applauding the noble courage, the beautiful tenacity and fairness with
id and lethargic fantasies,
177‘THE WOMEN OF MALOLOS
which the charming young women of Malolos presented themselves to the
high official of the archipelago.” And, remembering perhaps Becerra’s letter
to Weyler and anticipating the reaction of the friars to Weyler’s approval of the
school, Lopez Jaena volunteered his opinion that “the high official upon
deciding the establishment of a night school in Malolos . . . has done noch-
ing more than fulfill his patriotic duty by executing the law and the sacted
mandates of the old monarchy of Aragon and Castille, cast purposely into
oblivion by those who should have fulfilled them, namely, the plan to teach the
natives Spanish and to attract them to civilized life: in short, to hispanize the
natives in the lands conquered by Spain.” As for the women, they only
wanted to learn the beautiful language of the mother country so that, Lopez
Jaena warned, “to see another purpose in this act . . . other than the noble
aspirations of becoming hispanized . . . is to imagine giants for windmills as
the knight of Mancha did.” This desire, Lopez Jaena suggested, “deserves
not only applause but something more—our devoted support.” The column
concluded:
By ignoring calumnies and by being ever firm in their ardent desire
for progress and education shall the women of the Philippines ob-
tain the results of their beautiful and patriotic plans. For the rest, we
would like to send a thought to the charming young ladies: that
when tomorrow comes and they become mothers, they might not
forget thac they owed their advancement to this country [Spain]
May they never forget that their sacred duty as Spanish mothers
and as Spanish women is to infuse in the tender heatts of their chil-
dren undying love for Spain."
Right after the article of Lopez Jaena was published in La Solidaridsd,
‘Marcelo H. del Pilar wrote from Barcelona to Jose Rizal in Madrid, on Febru-
ary 17, 1889, asking him to read Lopez. Jaena’s column in La Solidaridad. Del
Pilar observed that the “attitude of the women of Malolos reveals that there the
campaign of our allies continues. These young ladies,” he explained, “are from
the elite class of the town, respected for their honorable reputation and daugh-
ters of maginoos.” If Rizal could, therefore, write them a letter in Tagalog,
this would be a great boost to their associates in Malolos and in Manila. As it
was, the women’s action had already reverberated in the neighboring prov-
178
BEBE
TOR ZR ae PRE
the
the
an
an
set
fri
allo the
letter
of the
upon
noth
acred
into
fh the
re the
only
Lopez
noble
ills as
erves
Juma
‘THE WOMEN OF MALOLOS, 1860-1920
inces, “Because of the propaganda of these ladies who preach by word and by
action, the idea is now spreading in the provinces thar it is dishonorable for a
man and for a woman to associate with the friar, and this is producing great
results.”
Responding to Del Pilar’s request with alacrity and enthusiasm, Rizal
penned his “Letter to the Young Women of Malolos’ on February 22, 1889,
only five days after Del Pilar informed him of the women's letter. Apologizing
for his Tagalog (which he said was rusty because he had not been able to use it
in conversation with anyone for some time), Rizal requested Del Pilar to cor-
rect his letter and then to send it to the women, asking him to take care that the
original—the only copy he had—would not fall into the hands of the friars.'*
Not as formally organized as his other essays but much more spontaneous and.
heartfelt, Rizal’s letter used the petition of the Women of Malolos for a school
imagining, and prescribing, a new paradigm of
as his point of departure f
the Filipino woman,
Rizal admitted that when he wrote the Noli, he thought that most Filipinas
tended to be servile to the wishes of the friars. But the letter of the Women of
Malolos now convinced him that he was wrong; that, in fact, there now existed
women who understood that religiousness was not to be equated with “endless
prayers, big rosaries, and grimy scapularies” but with “spotless conduct, firm
intention and upright judgment; and that prudence is not blind acquiescence
to the friar but obeying only that which is reasonable and just."
Emphasizing the use of reason, Rizal stated that “God, the primal source
of all wisdom, does not demand that man, created in his image and likeness,
should allow himself to be deceived and hoodwinked, but wants us to use and
lec shine the light of reason with which he has mercifully endowed us.” Ie was,
therefore, not presumptuous for humans to use their faculty of reason. Rather,
presumptuous was the person who imposed his thoughts and will on others as
though he were God.'”
‘According to Rizal, if a woman failed to develop her mind and merely
contented herself with mumbled prayers, awit, novenas, and miracles and
amused herself with playing pangguingue and confessing the same sins over
and over again, she would be capable of raising nothing but acolytes, priests
servants, and cockfighters. If all she learned to do was to kneel and kiss the
friars hands, her sons would be no better than abject slaves who would follow
all che whims of the priests and give them all the money they wanted."
179‘THE WOMEN OF MALOLOS
Rizal observed that it was insane to give “alms to God” because God did
not need them and they only served to enrich the friars. It was terrible chat
people refused to give succor to the poor and hungry but wasted hard-earned
money on masses, scapularies, belts, rosaries, “which are nothing but schemes
for making money and a detriment to the soul.” For a price, friars would re-
voke prohibitions, such as marrying close relatives or eating meat.
Women should be good mothers and a good mother was not one created
by the friar. Rather she was one who brought up her children in the image of
the rue God, one who “awakens and prepares the will of her children towards
all that is honorable. ... All that is sincere and firm of purpose, clear judgment,
clear procedure, honesty in act and deed, love for the fellowman and respect
for God.” No honor or prosperity could come if children were raised by moth-
ers who were slavish and ignorant. In fact, Asia was backward because its women
“are ignorant, are slaves; while Europe and America are powerful because there
the women are free and well-educated.”™
“The goal of Rizal and others in Europe was to bring to the Filipino women
“the light that illuminates your equals here in Europe.” Their dream was to
“restore the honor of women’” so that she would be loved “not only because of
her beauty and her amiable character, but also on account of her fortitude of
mind and loftiness of purpose. . ..” The Filipino maiden should be “the pride
of her country and command respect,” the latter because Spaniards and friars
returning to Spain from the Philippines usually disparaged the Filipina as com-
plaisane and ignorant, and many spread evil gossip that her morals are loose, “as
though all Spanish women were as pure as the Virgin Mary.
Moreover, according to Rizal, the Filipino woman should not be the cause
for men to become cowards and accept dishonor. Instead they should “open
their children’s eyes so that they may jealously guard their honor, love their
fellowmen and their native land, and do cheir duty.” A young maiden should
“require of her lover a noble and honored name, a manly heart offering protec~
tion to her weakness, and a high spirit incapable of being satisfied with
engendering slaves.” Similarly, a married woman “must aid her husband, in-
spire him with courage, share his perils, refrain from causing him worry and
sweeten his moments of affliction.
‘As a model for the Filipino women, Rizal proposed the mothers of Sparta
who raised their sons to believe “man was not born to live for himself alone, but
for his native land.” For the mothers of Sparta, what was important was that
180id
at
ed
ae
-
=r
‘THE WOMEN OF MALOLOS, 1860-1920
Sparta should win the war even if it should mean the death of their sons. Be-
cause of this, all Greece admired the women of Sparta. Once a lady told a
Spartan woman, “Of all women, only you Spartans have power over the men.”
The Spartan woman replied, “Quite natural, of all women only we give birth
to men.”"9
In ending, Rizal summarized the points that he would want the Women
of Malolos, and presumably all Filipino women, to think about:
First of all, that the tyranny of some is possible only through
cowardice and negligence on the part of others.
Second. What makes one contemptible is lack of dignity and
abject fear of him who holds one in contempt.
Third. Ignorance is servitude, because as a man thinks, so he is
the blind man who allows himself to be guided by the thought
of another is like the beast being led by a halter.
Fourth. He who loves his independence must first aid his fel-
lowmen. . . . The isolated rib of the buri palm is easily broken, but
not so the broom made of the ribs of the palm bound together.
Fifth. If the Filipina will not change her mode of being, let her
rear no more children, let her merely give birth to them. She must
cease to be mistress of the house, otherwise she will unconsciously
betray husband, child, native land, and all
Sixth. All men are born equal, naked, without bonds. God
did not create man to be a slave, nor did he endow him with intelli
gence to have him hoodwinked
Seventh. Consider well what kind of religion they are teach-
ing you... and then compare that religion with the pure religion of
Christ and see whether that pretended observance of the life of
Christ does not remind you of the fat milk cow or the fattened pig,
which is encouraged to grow fat not through love of the animal, but
for grossly mercenary motives."
| must have fele strongly about the letter of the women for him to
answer so promptly Del Pilar’s request, and, later, for him to integrate their
story into the plot of his novel El Filibusterismo. Rizal’s biographer Leon Ma.
Guerrero observes that “many of the incidents and characters [of the novel] are
181‘THE WOMEN OF MALOLOS
taken from the society of the times. The young intellectuals’ project for an
academy of the Spanish language, which causes such a stir in official circles and
eventually leads to the arrest of its principal proponen
the identical proposal of the young women of Malolos,
Cabesang Tales is inspired by the Calamba incidents, and the autocratic gover:
nor-general and the progressive high official are patterned after We
Quiroga, respectively."
is obviously based on
just as the story o°
ler and
Rizal’ letter must have created a sensation in Malolos, especially since it
would have arrived after or about the same time as the first issue of La
Solidaridad that featured the letter of the women, Moreover, this letter was
written especially for them by one who by then was already a recognized figure
of protest, a brilliant student, a famous doctor, the brave author of the Noli,
and respected leader of the Filipino reformists in Spain. In spite of Rizal's criti.
cism of the typical Filipino woman, the letter was received warmly in Malolos.
Such is the opinion of Epifanio de los Santos:
The severe criticism in this leter was directed not alone against the
masters of the situation, but against certain customs of his own coun-
"ry women, for the purpose, of course, of correcting them, and not
in order to make a show of them and give them scandalous public-
ity. So it was understood by the girls of Malolos who, far from feeling
offended . . . read it in their meetings, caused it to circulate, made
copies of it, and kept it as carefully as precious gold."
Little did the women suspect that their letter would engender a great
compliment from someone as revered as Rizal of, for that matter, from another
respected reformist in Spain. The latter was Fernando Canon, then about to finish
a degree in electrical engineering in Spain, and already famous as an excellent player
of che guitar and the kudyapi, a champion chess player, and master of fencing
and shooting. An intrepid reformist, he had smuggled copies of the Noli into
the Philippines through his Spanish gilfiend, later wife, Teresita Battle. A very
close friend of Marcelo H. del Pilar with whom he worked in La Solidaridad,
Canon was also a poet and a champion of women’ rights. Both these persua
sions are perceived in the sonnet he dedicated to the Women of Malolos in the
March 15, 1889 issue of La Solidaridad. This sonnet in dithyrambic verses was
composed on February 28, 1889, in Paris under the pseudonym “Kuitib.”
182
also it
niece
of Ms
mode
apolo
etly s
throu
whor
wife, |
to vir
matte
educa
their
conse
Noliand
Lon
y of
and
THE WOMEN OF MALOLOS, 1860-1920
TO THE YOUNG WOMEN OF MALOLOS
Bless ye illustrious maids of the Orient
Gleaming rays of dreamed glory
Who tured fearful doubts intensifying
Our patient suffering into hopes of victory.
Fear not the foolish curser
The wicked detractor of your past;
Gold though covered with dross
‘When exposed to flame comes out brighter than ever.
Inspire the defenders of the nation
Lend your charm to their valor
In seeking the splendors of progress
And invoking memories of greatness
Fomene the common ardor—
The outburst of love, courage and grandeur.'””
Both Canon and Rizal were moved to write their sonnet and letter,
respectively, because of Marcelo H. del Pilar. The latter, for his part, was
also inspired by the Women of Malolos to write a personal epistle to his
niece Josefa Gatmaytan, Less famous than Rizal’s missive, Del Pilar’s letter
of March 13, 1889, set up the proposal of the Women of Malolos as a
model for the women of his own native Bulacan.
‘Written four and a half months after he left the Philippines, the letter
apologized for Del Pilar’s hasty departure that did not allow him to prop-
crly say farewell to his town mates. Now he proposed to make amends
through this letter that he has addressed to the young women of Bulacan,
whom he believed could regenerate the family because, as daughter, sister,
wife, or mother, the woman was the one who could guide man on the road
to virtue of to the altar of perversity and cowardice.'*
Because of their influence, the women should be educated and in this
matter the Women of Malolos had shown the way for the attainment of
education. These women would succeed even if evil used force to defeat
their aspirations, because they had shown the world that there was now a
consciousness of dignity among the people. Even the wise author of the
Noli wrore them a letter from London, of which it would be best for Josefa
183‘THE WOMEN OF MALOLOS
to get a copy because it was the mos
portant legacy to leave to the future
generation.
Reflecting on this in solitude and remembering all the women that he
knew in Bulacan—Pascuala and Socorro Caingal, Agustina and Magdalena
Pagya, Eugenia Fernando, the Enriquezes, and others, Del Pilar could not un-
derstand why a town like Bulacan should be inferior to Malolos. Malolos could
surpass Bulacan in material wealth, in clothes and bagatelles; but in the desire
for knowledge, in the endeavors of the mind, he saw no reason why, before the
town of the Basilia Tiongsons, Bulacan should be reduced to being the town of
the hermanas Ysca and Veronica and their ilk.
Del Pilar explained that vircue was not to be equated with reciting ejacu-
lations, striking one’s breast, and other external gestures; rather, virtue lay
in perfecting the intelligence that God gave co each person. And in this,
education played an important role because “an intelligence wi
cation is like a beacon without light, which far from guiding the navigator,
facilitates his shipwreck." He hoped that Socorro, a native of Bulacan who
had been assigned to teach in her native town, would have the time to educate
the adults.
Del Pilar chen underscored the importance of learning Spanish, which
he said was not a luxury but a necessity: Older people would testify that they
would have been spared many sighs of despair if they only knew Spanish. Del
Pilar counseled his niece: Learn Spanish and teach this to your children so that
they will not curse their past. Furthermore, show your love for Bulacan by
contributing to it through your education.
Finally, Del Pilar urged everyone to unite and forget their grudges, and
to sacrifice selFlove for the good of all so thae the future might be great. He
asked the women to influence their fathers and brothers so that they could
help to develop education. For *
creator.”'*?
jout edu-
e cultivated mind is the sanctuary of the
‘Confrontations with the Friars
Although the letter of the Women of Malolos was written by Sandico and it
‘was upon Sandico’ invitation that they gathered to sign and deliver the letter,
it cannot be said that the women were merely manipulated by Sandico or the
other reformists. The events in Malolos since 1885, involving many of their
184el
at
‘THE WOMEN OF MALOLOS, 1860-1920
relatives, must have politicized them enough, but that politicalization matured
into personal conviction and resolute action. Their bravery is exemplified in
the confrontation berween the Augustinian friar curate, the forty-three-year-
old Agustin Fernandez, and the Tiongson sisters led by Cecilia (Ylia) and
Filomena (Mena), then about twenty-two and cwenty-four years old, respec-
tively, as reported, albeit nor in full, by Pedro Serrano to Del Pilar in Serrano’
letter of May 24, 1889. The following incident happened after the women
had already received Rizal’s letter and the first issues of La Solidaridad and
in Spanish under Guadalupe Reyes for over one and a
after attending classes
half months.
After the departure of Fray Felipe Garcia, the new friar curate of Malolos,
Fray Agustin Femandez, former parish priest of neighboring Paombong, cook
over the parish of Malolos on February 20, 1889, and launched a “policy of
attraction” to neutralize che antifriar elements and bring back good relations
between them and the Church, In pursuit of chis policy, the curate had finally
allowed the opening of the school requested by the women. In line with the
same policy the cura after Leng, sent a messenger o invite Ylia (Cecilia Tiongson)
and her sisters to visit him in the Malolos convento. They refused to come
Because of this, the Gobernadorcillo Pedro Castro himself went to Ylia’s house
in Pariancillo to convince her to accommodate the friars invitation, but he left
“with his tail between his legs” because Ylia told him that she could not imagine
that a gobernadorcillo would take on the job of “soliciting women for the
parish priest.” After a few days, the cura himself came to the Tiongson house
(a ten-minute walk away from the convento). There he found all the sis-
ters—Cecilia, Feliciana, and probably also Agustina and Vicenta—except for
Filomena, the eldest, who was in the house of her Tio Anton (Antonio Tiongson)
right across the street from her own. When Mena found out that the cura was
in her house, she took a knife (batavia), crossed the street to her house, and
joined her sisters. All through the conversation, Mena held on to the knife,
pretending ro clean her nails with it. For four hours, from 8 in the morning
to 12 noon, the sisters (ie., the two eldest) engaged the friar in animated con-
versation, ‘with the friar defending Catholic ideas, and the sisters the Chris-
tian.” In such a lengthy exchange of polemics, the friar allegedly could only
answer “Siva nga,” or “That is so,” to the sisters’ cogent and aggressive argu-
ments. Serrano recorded excerpts of the exchanges between the friar and the
two ladies.’THE WOMEN OF MALOLOS
Curate: Why is it that I do not see you coming to church often?
Ylia/Mena: That, Among, is not necessary; what we and our friends
are trying to do is to pray and do good works with discretion, so
that the left hand will not know what the right hand is doing, as
Christ himself preaches,
Curate: Yes, that is so. But you do not come to confession.
Ylia/Mena: [twas our custom, Among, to go to confession frequently.
‘There are many who can tell you that we hardly left the church.
Because of this, our finances went awry, we got into debr, and
‘our properties had to be pawned. But from the time that we cut
down on our confessions and our visits to the church, we recov-
cred, we paid back our debts, and now there remain only a few of
our properties that still need to be redeemed, and we ate at peace.
Besides the Holy Church itself, in consideration ofall this, does not
demand from her children more than an annual confession.
Curate: I heard that you eat meat on Holy Thursday?
Ylia/Mena: Perhaps, some gossips may have told you that, but gos-
sip has it, too, that at the dinner of the apostles [the reenactment
of the Last Supper at the convento on Holy Thursday], while
the latter were eating fish, you were eating meat.
Curate: Well, not really... People tell me that you do not like the
curate, that is why you do not visit the convento.
Ylia/Mena: Among, we really were not raised to go in and out of
the convento. Here [in our town], the woman who spends time
in the convento, whether she is unmarried, married or wid-
owed, is out to lose her honor, if she has not already lost it. Such
women are immediately ostracized by those who value their
honor, because a woman who associates with chem could be
contaminated by their sickness.
Curate: Well, why is it thar in Paombong, they even sew for me, etc?
Ylia/Mena: Well, Paombong is really one town, and Malolos is an-
other, Among.
Curate: Yes, that is so.
At 12 noon, Fray Fernandez left the house of the Tiongson sisters, most
probably in the same manner as his gobernadorcillo—with his tal beween his leg.
186ost
=
THE WOMEN OF MALOLOS, 1860-1920
But courage and valor were not the monopoly of the group that com-
posed the Women of Malolos. Other women of the rown displayed the same
traits on different occasions and for different purposes. In the same letter where
he recorded the conversation between the cura and the Tiongson sisters, Pedro
Serrano narrated the confrontation between another Malolefia, Maria Rojas,
and the sacristan mayor of the church. Maria was the daughter of a prominent
citizen of the town, Bernabe de Rojas, who became affluent ftom his involve-
ment in the tobacco monopoly and other businesses.'* In Jose Bautista’ report
to the governor of Bulacan, dated October 20, 1881, Bernabe was placed in
category one because of his rural and other properties."
One day, in early 1889, Maria Rojas entered the church after taking @
bath—with her newly washed hair down and loose. Upon secing such
Sjnreligiousness,” the sacristan mayor accosted her and ordered her to gather
her hair up in a bun (magpuséd). Maria flacly refused. The sacristan repeated
the order, as an order coming from the friar curate himself. Maria then turned
to the troublesome sacristan and told him to tell his curate that she would not
gather her hair up for as long as all the wooden virgins of the church were
wweating their hair loose like her. And if he wanted her to do as the cura or-
dered, she would like to see the virgins in church obey the cura orders first
However, even if the virgins did that, she nonetheless would not gather her
hair in a bun if it were still wet, as hers still was.
Probably intrigued by the woman's spunk, the curate himself came to talk
co her. There and then the cura declared the position of teacher of Malolos
vacant, and offered it to her if she would care to take it. She said no, she would
not, because she had no academic title for thar, and even if she did, she would
not even give ita try, because it was not her custom to go up and down the
stairs of the convento [ie., give in to the desires of the friar], which one had to
do if one wanted to be a teacher."
‘A similar attitude toward the friar curate, but accompanied by a very
physical reaction, i sen in the case of Nieves Martinez, a teacher from Pampanga
who was assigned co the escuela de niftas in Malolos. The cura took a liking to
her and once, when she was about to go home after mass, the cura called her
and, when she was in front of him, pinched her nose. Quickly she slapped his
hand away and, without losing her dignity and composure, reprimanded the
friar for what he did and put him to shame. To avenge himself, the cura took
her out of her position as macstra de nifas. Later, when Nieves wanted to marry
187‘THE WOMEN OF MALOLOS
Juan Tantoco (brother of Basilia), the curate would not allow it. So the ewo go:
married eventually in the mountains, in the rites of the Katipunan.”
Sometimes the confrontations were of a violent nature. In his letter to Del
Pilar, dated November 28, 1894, Apolinario Mabini reported a story, which
he said he was not in a pos
n to verify then. The story goes:
In Santa Isabel, Bulacan, an event took place lately, news of which
was circulated here among our friends. The parish priest of that
own visited the municipal school for gitls and, because of his bra-
zen and discourteous behavior, of which only our friars are capable,
a fight berween him and the two girls ensued. The girls came out
with bruised heads; whereas, the parish priest
shreds, ran down the streets, giving a show of nakedness never ex-
pected even by Christ himself, I am not presently in a position to
guarantee this news."
his garments rorn to
In at least one instance, the ladies of Malolos boycotted the church and
the curate. On August 27, 1895, Retana, writing about the spirit of dissent in
Malolos that culminated in the exile of the eight gentlemen of Malolos, re-
ferred to a form of protest, which the all probability the
women, engaged in. To show their displeasure with the cura, the native moth-
ers refused to bring their babies to be baptized in the church of Malolos for the
duration of two whole months." Such a decision constituted an act of protest
tizens of Malolos, i
against the friar curate and an act of defiance aimed at reducing his earnings
from one of the most lucrative sacraments, Baptism. Brilliantly conceived, it hit
the friar where it hurt most—his deep pockets.
But by far the most ri
of the friar curate is that of Loreto Lucero, daughter of Antonio Lucero of
Santa Isabel and Simeona Estrella of Malolos, whose family was known for
their wealth. In Santa Isabel, the family was respected because they had, for
three generations at least, fought against various forms of injustice. In 1842,
ing and tragic of all the stories of female defiance
Loreto’ ancestor Santiago ran for gobernadorcillo of Malolos and came out as
the leading candidate in the elections held in Malolos under the auspices of the
alcalde mayor of Bulacan, But the friar curate Francisco Miro and the alcalde
preferred Estanisiao Cristobal, so a reelection was called. But when Lucero
came out on top again, the alcalde nullified the results on che grounds that the
188f
:
.
‘THE WOMEN OF MALOLOS, 1860-1920
electors chose six instead of three nominees. Lucero and his associates protested
the nullification in separate complaints and brought the matter to court when
the alealde appointed Cristobal anyway. The case dragged on for two years,
with Lucero being thrown into jail in 1844, To celebrate his release from jail,
Lucero held a parade and a party right in front of the Malolos Church. Finally,
Lucero ran again for gobernadorcillo and was allowed to hold office for only a
few months.”
Santiago's descendant Antonio Lucero followed his ancestor's footsteps
and became gobernadorcillo of Santa Isabel (after ic was separated from Malolos
in 1859) in 1875-1877, 1881-1883, 1885-1887, and 1895." Judging from
the number of times he was elected, Antonio seems to have been acknow!-
5-1887, he
had a canal dug out connecting Santa Isabel co the main river of Malolos to
edged as a good leader because of his progressive projects. In 188
allow boats carrying commercial products to go in and out of Santa Isabel."*
However, he did not finish his last term as gobernadorcillo because of an inci-
dent involving his daughter Loreto,
Loreto was, by profession, a teacher, of the category
On May 26, 1893, she applied for the position of
niftas of Pamarauan, a coastal barrio of Malolos, and on June 6, 1893, was
“maestra proprietaria.”
naestra de la escuela de
appointed to the position with the monthly salary of P8.'*' Sometime in 1894,
after the departure of the friar curate Heriberto Garcia, the new friar curate
niago Perez came to the house of the Luceros on one of his usual visits. Ie
pened that Loreto’ parents were away then and only the houschold help
was in the house. Taking advantage of the situation and in the course of the
conversation with Loreto, Perez used words that the lady found salacious
malaswa). There and then, Loreto pummelled the friar with blows and drove
him out of her house. Not content with this, Loreto filed a complaint against
the friar in court, something unheard of then for a woman to do, especially
against the Spanish friar who epitomized colonial power. Setting aside con-
ly, she accused
Perex of what would now be called verbal sexual harassment—to our knowl-
cerns about what people would say against her and her far
edge, the very first case of this nature ever filed against the omnipotent friar.
And to the surpri
help of liberal elements in the secular bureaucracy.’ As “punishment,” the
of everyone, Loreto won the case, pethaps because of the
friar was transferred to another town and replaced by Fray Angel Fernandez,
sometime in 1895. But the victory of the Luceros turned phyrric soon enough.
189‘THE WOMEN OF MALOLOS
Antonio Lucero began his fourth two-year term as gobernadorcillo in
January 1895. But the term ended abruptly nine months later when he was
arrested by the Guardia Civil in October 1895 and was made to walk all the
way to the cabecera, Bulacan, where he was imprisoned—on the grounds that
he was an associate of the eight gentlemen of Malolos who had already been
arrested in May 1895 and exiled the following month to Mindanao and Sulu.
People suspected, however, that the arrest was an act of vengeance to punish
him and his family for bringing the friar ro court, and for winning the case
against a Spaniard—and a friar yet.
Harassment of the family must have started a little earlier than the actual
arrest of Capitan Anton, however, because on September 30, 1895, Loreto
wrote a letter to her superiors asking that she be allowed to give up her position
as maestra of the escuela de nifias in Pamarauan because of ill health. It is pos-
sible that the court proceedings had taken a toll on her health or she was using
her health as a reason to stop teaching because she and her family were already
being harassed. On October 9, 1891, the civil governor of Bulacan wrote the
director general of Civil Administration stating that “in view of her abandon-
ment (of the school], her lack of interest and her unfavorable records,” Loreto
Lucero would be suspended from her job and her salary stopped effective
October 2, 1895. Believing that there was still insufficient ground for the sus-
pension, however, the director general of Civil Administration in a letter of
October 24, 1895, advised the civil governor that he should first identify the
faults committed by Lucero before the director general could actually order
her suspension." Whatever the outcome of the case, it had become irrelevant
to Loreto by then because of the arrest and imprisonment of her father in the
cabecera. Bur worse was still to come.
On November 25, 1895, Antonio Lucero was transferred from Bulacan
to the Bilibid Prison in Manila as a prelude to his exile. Bur the capitan, much
weakened by his long incarceration, fell ill. He was brought to the San Juan de
Dios Hospital, but it was too late. He died on December 11, 1895.
No doubt it was partly because of these family tragedies that Loreto
and her siblings were politicized, leading them to play an active role in the
struggle for liberation both against Spain and against America. Loreto’ brother
Simplicio was killed in the batcle of La Loma against the advancing Ameri-
can troops in early 1899, while che lawyer Santiago Lucero, namesake of
his ancestor, was exiled together with Father Gregorio Crisostomo to Nueva
190in
che
hat
en
ish
ase
‘THE WOMEN OF MALOLOS, 1860-1920
Ecija for supporting the activities against the U.S. after the American take-
over of Malolos. Loreto herself continued her social involvement, be-
coming one of thirty-one founding members of the Santa Isabel barrio
committee of the Malolos local committee of the Asociacion Femenista de
Filipinas in 1906."
‘The Revolution against Spain and the Philippine-American Was, 1896-1901
By the time the Revolution against Spain erupted in August 1896, the Women
of Malolos and their relatives, like many other citizens of Malolos, had already
been politicized by the many confrontations of the reformists with the friar
curates of Malolos on the issues of the tax list, and the guidelines for the burial
of cholera victims, and the elections for municipal positions, among others; by
the classes that they attended under Teodoro Sandico and Guadalupe Reyes;
by their struggle to establish a schoo! for adults in Malolos and the subsequent
closure of the school: by the hasty departure for Spain of Marcelo H. del Pilar
in October 1888 and of Sandico in May 1889; by the arrest and exile of the
cight gentlemen of Malolos in 1895; by their personal confrontations with the
authoritarian and morally bankrupt friar; and by
est relatives in the reform movement and in the Katipunan itself.
ing to Daniel Tantoco, cousin of Basilia, Maria, and Teresa Tantoco
and of Elisea and Juana T. Reyes, the Women of Malolos and other ladies of the
town contributed to the Revolution in different ways. After the outbreak of
the Revolution in Manila, the women helped the revolutionaries under Isidoro
Torres who were then gathering in Masukol, Paombong, by preparing food—
rice cooked in heart-shaped banana-leaf wrapping, sugar, dried fish, and dried
meat—and sending these to the revolutionaries in tampipi or bakwang of bam-
boo or in sacks through trusted couriers (oftentimes their houseboys or maids).
The same procedure was followed for all the battles where the revolutionaries
the involvement of their clos-
Accor
of Malolos were involved, in places where food could be sent by road or river
Sometimes, money was sent to buy food and other necessities."
Some of the women also acted as lookouts or messengers during meet-
ings. As couriers, they invented many imaginative ways of carrying or sending
messages. For example, Basilia Tantoco stitched notes in small pieces of paper
Other ladies carried them
inside and in front of the camisa or tucked them inside the bun of their hair
inside the aporo (wide lining of sinamay) of her say
191