Marcelo H.

del Pilar
36 languages

 Article
 Talk
 Read
 View source
 View history
Tools

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

For the school, see Marcelo H. del Pilar National High School. Not to be confused
with Gregorio del Pilar.
In this Spanish name, the first or paternal surname is Hilario del Pilar and the second or
maternal family name is Gatmaitán.

Marcelo H. del Pilar

 Del Pilar in Madrid, c. 1890[1]

Born Marcelo Hilario del Pilar y Gatmaitán

August 30, 1850

Bulakan, Bulacan, Captaincy General of the

Philippines, Spanish Empire

Died July 4, 1896 (aged 45)

Barcelona, Spain

Resting place Marcelo H. del Pilar Shrine, Bulakan, Bulacan

Nationality Filipino

Other names Pláridel (pen name)

 Colegio de San Juan de Letran

Alma mater
 Colegio de San José

 University of Santo Tomas

 Occupations  Writer

 lawyer

 journalist

 freemason

Organization La Solidaridad

Marciana del Pilar

Spouse

(m. 1878)

Children 7 (see below)

Relatives  Gregorio del Pilar (nephew)

 Deodato Arellano (brother-in-law)

Signature

Marcelo Hilario del Pilar y Gatmaitán[2] (Spanish: [maɾˈθelojˈlaɾjo ðel piˈlaɾ]; Tagalog: [maɾ
ˈselo ɪˈlaɾjo del pɪˈlaɾ]; August 30, 1850 – July 4, 1896), commonly known as Marcelo
H. del Pilar and also known by his nom de plume Pláridel,[3][4] was a Filipino writer,
lawyer, journalist, and freemason. Del Pilar, along with José Rizal and Graciano López
Jaena, became known as the leaders of the Reform Movement in Spain.[5]
Del Pilar was born and brought up in Bulakan, Bulacan. He was suspended at
the Universidad de Santo Tomás and imprisoned in 1869 after he and the parish priest
quarreled over exorbitant baptismal fees. In the mid-1880s, he expanded his anti-friar
movement from Malolos to Manila.[6] 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).[7] Publication of the
newspaper stopped in 1895 due to lack of funds. Losing hope in reforms, he 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.[8]
On November 15, 1995, the Technical Committee of the National Heroes Committee,
created through Executive Order No. 5 by former President Fidel V. Ramos,
recommended del Pilar along with the eight Filipino historical figures to be National
Heroes.[9] 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.[9] In 2009, this issue was revisited in one of the
proceedings of the 14th Congress.[10]

Biography
Early life (1850–1880)

Marcelo H. del Pilar's baptismal register (Book No. 15, Folio

355) A replica of Marcelo H. del Pilar's ancestral house and

birthplace in Bulacán, Bulacan. [a][12]

Marcelo H. del Pilar was born at his family's ancestral home in sitio Cupang, barrio San
Nicolás, Bulacán, Bulacan, on August 30, 1850.[13][14] He was baptized as "Marcelo
Hilario" on September 4, 1850, at the Iglesia Parroquial de Nuestra Señora de la
Asuncion in Bulacán. Fr. D. Tomas Yson, a Filipino secular priest, performed the
baptism, and Lorenzo Alvir, a distant relative, acted as the godfather.[2][15] "Hilario" was
the original paternal surname of the family. The surname of Marcelo's paternal
grandmother, "del Pilar", was added to comply with the naming reforms of Governor-
General Narciso Clavería in 1849.[16]
Marcelo's parents belonged to the principalía. Both owned vast tracks of rice and
sugarcane farms, fish ponds, and an animal-powered mill.[13][17] Marcelo's father, Julián
Hilario del Pilar (1812-1906), was the son of José Hilario del Pilar and María Roqueza.
Don Julián was a famous Tagalog grammarian, writer, and speaker.[18] In the municipality
of Bulacán, he served as a "three-time" gobernadorcillo of the town's pueblo (1831,
1854, 1864-1865) and later held the position of oficial de mesa of the alcalde mayor.
[19]
In the early 1830s, Julián met and married Blasa Gatmaitán (1814-1872?), a
descendant of an ancient Tagalog nobility. Known as "Doña Blasica", she was the
daughter of Nicolas Gatmaitan and Cerapia De Torres.[15] Don Julián and Doña Blasica
had ten children: Toribio (priest, deported to the Mariana Islands in 1872),[20] Fernando
(father of Gregorio del Pilar),[21] Andrea, Dorotea, Estanislao, Juan, Hilaria (married
to Deodato Arellano),[22] Valentín, Marcelo, and María.[b]
From an early age, del Pilar learned the violin, the piano, and the flute.[23][24][c] He also
mastered the palasan or rattan cane. In the mid-1850s, del Pilar received early
education from his paternal uncle Alejo del Pilar.[25] He pursued his segunda
enseñanza at the Colegio de San Juan de Letran under the tutelage of Sr. Mamerto
Natividad.[26][d] The subjects he took there were: Poetry, Doctrina Christiana, Spanish
grammar, Latin grammar, Elements of Rhetoric, and Principles of Urbanidad. From July
8, 1865 to January 12, 1866, del Pilar studied under Sr. José Flores in Binondo.
[27]
Afterward, he enrolled at the Universidad de Santo Tomás to study Philosophy.
[28]
There, del Pilar earned: (1867-1868) Psychology, Fair; Logic, Fair; Moral
Philosophy, Fair; Natural History, Good; Arithmetic, Notablemente; Algebra, Very Good;
(1868-1869) Metaphysics 1, Very Good; (1869-1870) Metaphysics 2, Very Good; (1870-
1871) Physics, Good.[29]
In 1869, del Pilar quarreled with the parish priest of San Miguel over exorbitant
baptismal fees.[13][20][30] Shortly after the incident, the judge, Sr. Félix García Gavieres, sent
del Pilar to Carcel y Presidio Correccional.[31] He was released after thirty days.
Afterward, he resumed his studies at the Universidad de Santo Tomás. He obtained
his Bachiller en Filosofía on February 16, 1871.[32][33] Four and a half months later, on July
2, 1871, del Pilar pursued law.[34]
In late 1871, del Pilar joined a group of intellectuals[e] in Manila. They gathered at Sr.
Enrique Genato's almacén, where they frequently talked about the friars, affairs of the
Philippines, liberty of nations, fall of the Carlists, insurrections, and wars.

"Ang Pag-aaklas sa Kabite ng 1872" historical marker for the Cavite

Mutiny at Fort San Felipe in Cavite City, 1872.

On the night of January 20, 1872, the Cavite Mutiny broke out at the arsenal of Fort San
Felipe. Del Pilar was living with Fr. Mariano V. Sevilla, a Filipino priest who supported
the secularization movement in the 1860s and early 1870s.[23][20] Del Pilar knew that Fr.
Sevilla was associated with the Gomburza. To protect Fr. Sevilla from possible arrest
and deportation, del Pilar burned all the letters of the former in his quarters. However,
some of Fr. Sevilla and Fr. Toribio's letters were found in the quarters of Fr. José
Burgos. This resulted in the arrest of both priests on February 21, 1872.[36][37] As a
punishment, Fr. Toribio was tortured and dragged from Malolos to Bulacán. Del Pilar
begged the authorities to allow his brother to see their sick mother. As expected, they
ignored del Pilar and continued with their barbaric actions. On March 14, 1872, Fr.
Toribio and Fr. Sevilla were deported to the Mariana Islands along with other Filipino
patriots.[38]
Out of school, del Pilar worked as oficial de mesa in Pampanga (1874–1875)
and Quiapo (1878–1879).[23][39] In 1876, he resumed his law studies at the Universidad de
Santo Tomás.[40][41] He obtained his licenciado en jurisprudencia, equivalent to a Bachelor
of Laws, on March 4, 1881.[42][43] In law school, del Pilar earned: (1871-1872) Canon Law
1, Fair; Roman Law 1, Very Good; (1873-1874) Canon Law 2, Fair; Roman Law
2, Excellent; (1876-1877) Civil and Mercantile Law, Very Good; (1877-1878) Extension
of Civil Law and Spanish Civil Codes, Very Good; Penal Law, Very Good; (1878-1879)
Public Law, Fair; Administrative Law, Fair; Colonial Legislation, Fair; Economics, Fair;
Political and Statistics, Fair; (1879-1880) Judicial Procedures, Excellent; Practice and
Oratory Forensics 1, Excellent; Elements of General Literature and Spanish
Literature, Excellent. No grades were recorded for the years 1880-1881 as del Pilar took
six months leave.[42][33]
From 1882 to 1887, del Pilar worked as a defense counselor for the Real Audiencia de
Manila.[44] During this time he became active in exposing the existing conditions of the
Philippines. Del Pilar attended many events such as funeral wakes, baptismal
parties, weddings, town fiestas, and cockfights in the cockpits.[45][46][47] Using the Tagalog
language, he would talk to different kinds of people like laborers, farmers, fishermen,
professionals, and businessmen. In his house in Trozo, Tondo, del Pilar preached
nationalistic and patriotic ideas to the young students of Manila. Mariano Ponce, a high
school student at the time, was one of his active listeners. Other listeners who would
later become his disciples were Briccio Pantas, Numeriano Adriano, and Apolinario
Mabini.[48][49][50]
Anti-friar activities in the Philippines (1880–1888)
Del Pilar was one of the leading figures of the P