Jose Protacio Rizal (Laong-Laan)

The national hero, was born in Calamba, Laguna on June 19, 1861 to
Francisco Mercado Rizal and Teodora Alonso. Rizal went on to Ateneo
Municipal de Manila and finished Bachelor of Arts with highes honours
on March 23, 1876 at the University of Santo Tomas.

Rizal studied medicine. He then went to Europe and finished

medicine and philosophy at the Central University of Madrid in 1885.
He took up graduate studies in France. Rizal became a linguist and
learnt Greek and Latin. During his time in Europe, He wrote Noli Me
Tangere (Touch Me Not) and El Filibusterismo (The Rebel), which told
of the oppression by Spanish colonial rule.

Rizal returned to the Philippines in June 1892. He founded La Liga

Filipina, a forum for Filipinos to express their hopes for feedom from
Spanish rule. His writings and La Liga Filipina were banned. Rizal was
arrested as a revolutionary and imprisoned in Fort Santiago on July
6,1892. On July 14 he was exiled to Dapitan. He stayed there for four
years, treating the sick, opened up a school and tried to make the place
beautiful and safe.In order to escape his exile, Rizal volunteered to
serve as a doctor for the Spanish forces with the breakout of the Cuban
revolution for independence.

Rizal was arrested while in transit to Cuba and sent back to the
Philippines. Again, he was jailed in Fort Santiago and on December
26,1896, the Spanish authorities tried him and found Rizal guilty of
inciting rebellion and sedition. Rizal was executed by a firing squad on
December 30,1896 at Bagumbayan (now Luneta) at the age of 35. On
the eve of his execution,Rizal wrote his most famous poem Mi Ultimo
Adios (My Last Farewell).
Andres Bonifacio (Agap-ito Bagumbayan)
was born to Santiago Bonifacio and Catalina de Castro, a Spanish
mestiza, in Tondo, Manila on November 30, 1863. He supplemented
his low education through reading and self-study. Among the books he
read were Rizal's novels, the lives of presidents, Victor Hugo's Le
Miserables, the ruins of Palmyra, and the French Revolution. Those
books prodded his spirit of rebellion and gave him impulse to organize
the Katipunan. This organization spread rapidly in 1894 in many parts of
the Philippines. He felt that he was about ready to lead a successful
revolt in May 1896. However, before he could act, the Katipunan was
discovered by the authorities. More than 1,000 Katipuneros assembled
with him at Pugad Lawin, Caloocan, on August 23, 1896 and tore their
cedulas. More than 1,000 Katipuneros assembled with him at Pugad
Lawin, Caloocan, on August 23, 1896 and tore their cedulas. Bonifacio
with his family and men left Naic for Indang. On his return from
Montalban, Aguinaldo sent men to arrest him, but Bonifacio resisted
arrest and was wounded. He faced a trial for acts inimical to the
existence of the new government and was given the death sentence by
a military tribunal. Aguinaldo's men executed him in the mountains of
Maragondon, Cavite on May 10,1987.

·
 Antonio Luna (taga-ilog)

Born in Binondo, Manila on October 29, 1856 to Don Joaquin Luna and
Doña Laureana Novicio, of Badoc, Ilocos Norte. He entered the Ateneo
de Manila where he began to take interest in literature and chemistry.
He obtained his Bachelor of Arts in 1881. At the University of Santo
Tomas, he won first prize for his composition “Dos Cuerpos
Fundamentales de Quimica,” on the occasion of the elevation of Fr.
Ceferino Gonzales to the Cardinalate. At the invitation of his brother,
Juan, he left for Europe. He got a Licentiate in Pharmacy at the
University of Barcelona. The Central University of Madrid conferred him
his Doctor of Pharmacy in 1890. In Spain he wrote El Hematozoario
Paludismo, acclaimed by leading bacteriologist in Europe as thorough
and exhaustive scientific work. Using the pen name Taga -Ilog, he
published in the La Solidaridad “Impresiones” a satirical observation of
Spanish customs and idiosyncracies. he returned to the Philippines
where he wrote less but was more vocal in advocating that the
Philippines be made a province of Spain with the Filipinos enjoying the
rights and privileges of Spanish citizens. He was not sympathetic to the
Katipunan but advocated liberalism which caused his imprisonment in
Madrid. After his release, he left for Belgium where he studied the art
of military strategy under General Leman. In 1898, he surveyed the
Manila-Dagupan terrain for possible defense perimeter against the
American troops. In 1899, he was appointed Chief of War Operations
with the rank of Brigadier General. After the fall of La Loma on February
5,1899, he saw the urgency of reorganizing the army. A military
academy was created at Malolos to train officers for field command.
Officers of the 1896 revolution were recruited. A Red Cross chapter was
also organized. After the fall of Marilao, Bulacan on March 29, 1899, he
was crushed not only by the defeat but by the lack of discipline among
the Filipino troops. He tendered his resignation but Aguinaldo did not
accept. He continues to fight in the fields of Pampanga, Tarlac and
Pangasinan against the Americans. On June 4, 1899, he received a
telegram from Aguinaldo ordering him to go to Cabanatuan for a
conference. He arrived at the Cabanatuan Catholic Church Convent only
to learn that Aguinaldo had left for Pampanga. Greatly provoked, he
uttered insults at the President and berated the guards who were the
same men he disarmed after the battle of Caloocan. When going down
the stairs of the headquarters, the assassins riddles him with bullets
and he was stabbed. After he was buried in the churchyard, Aguinaldo
took command of the troops and relieved Luna’s officers and men of
their duties in the field.

Apolinario Mabini (Dimlas-ilaw)

was born of Tanauan,Batangas on July 23, 1864. The second son of

Inocencio Mabini and Dionisia Maranan. During his third year in high
school, Mabini won first prize. a silver medal and a diploma of honor for
the course in Universal History, in a competition for scholarship
conducted by the college of San Juan de Letran in Manila. He was able
to obtain a new teaching position in the school of Sebatian Virrey. In
March 1887, desirous of continuing his studies, Mabini took and passed
the required examination at the University os Santo Tomas,obtaining
the degree of Bachelor Of Arts completed the course in 1894. In the
examination for Licentiate in Jurisprudence om March 2,1894, he
obtained the grade of 'excellent '. He became a copyist in the court of
first Instance of Manila. It was in January 1896 that he contracted a
severe fever which resulted in his permanent paralysis. His physical
condition prevented him fir taking a more active part in revolutionary
movement. Despite of his physical condition , Mabini played a
prominent part in the second period of revolution. He planned the
revolutionary government and acted as the Prime Minister of Pres.
Emilio Aguinaldo. He occupied the constitutional de la Republica
Filipina was one of the models of the Malolos constitution. His works
earned revolutionary congress elected him chief justice of the supreme
court. Mabini was captured by the American's in December 1899. He
was released from prison on October 3,1900. He lived in a small nipa
house in Manila where he barely supported himself writing a political
articles. (El Simil de Alejandro) prompted the Americans to exile him to
the island of Guam. After August 1901, because of his refusal to sign
the required oath of allegiance to the U.S. after 17 months, he was
convinced of the sincerity of American's good intension's in his country,
he agreed to take the required oath.

Mabini died of cholera in Manila on May 13, 1903 at the age of

39. Aporlinario Mabini was called the "Sublime Paralytic ," having been
paralyzed by a fatal illness which struck his lower limps in 1894. A
lawyer by profession, his earlier political exposure was through the
revived La Liga Filipina, the organization established by Jose Rizal in
1892. Not withstanding his physical handicap, Pres. Emilio Aguinaldo
recognized his brilliance and named him his chief adviser. His thinking
shaped the constitutional and political basis of the Philippine Republic,
thus earning him the title the "Brains of the Revolution."

· Emilio Jacinto (Dimas-Ilaw)

was born on December 15,1875 in Trozo, Manila.His parents were

Mariano Jacinto and Josefa Dizon. Because of hard life he was forced to
live with her uncle, Don Jose Dizon. He was enrolled at the San Juan de
Letran College; then he transferred to the University of Santo Tomas
where he took up law.At the start of the Phillippine Revolution in the
year 1896, Emilio gave up his studies and joined the Katipunan. The bad
experiences he had with his Spanish classmates, his readings about the
Spanish injustices, and the sufferings of the Filipino people made a
mark in his heart, leading him to go against the will of his loved ones
and become a katipunero. At the age of 19, he became one of the
ablest leaders of Katipunan. He served as an adviser, secretary, and
fiscal to Bonifacio. He also supervised the manufacture of
gunpowder.His intelligence was of great use to the Katipunan. He was
reffered to as the "Brain of the Katipunan". He wrote the "Kartilla" the
primer of the Katipunan where rules and regulations are contained. He
edited the Katipunan's newspaper "Ang Kalayaan". A poet, Emilio's
greatest poem was A La Patria, inspired by Rizals' My Ultimo Adios.It
was signed "Dimas-Ilaw"his pen name. He was known in the Katipunan
as Pingkian.

In February 1898, he fought the Spanish cazadores (riflemen)

in Maimpis, Magdalena, Laguna. During this combat, he was wounded
in the thigh and was taken to the Catholic church of Magdalena, where
he was mercilessly dumped on the brickpaved platform of the stairway
with his bleeding wound unattended. He was taken to the church of
Santa Cruz where a Spanish surgeon kindly ministered to his wound,
produced a pass from his pocket which identified him as Florentine
Reyes. This saved his life. The truth was that the pass really belonged to
a Filipino spy named Florentine Reyes whom Jacinto captured in Pasig
some weeks before the battle in Maimpis. He took the pass and kept it
in his pocket so that in case he should fall to the hands of the enemy,
he could identify himself as a spy in the service of Spain.

From his hideout, he wrote Apolinario Mabini in Malolos to

express his plan to continue his law studies in the newly established
Literary University of the Philippines. Mabini was happy to receive his
letter and speedily consulted Aguinaldo about this plan. Aguinaldo
welcomed Jacinto's coming to Malolos because of his remarkable
intelligence. Mabini wrote him, saying that Aguinaldo approved of his
request and that the last day of enrolment in the University was
December 1, 1898.Unfortunately, Jacinto was unable to proceed to
Malolos, for he returned to Laguna upon the urgent appeal of the
fighting patriots of the province who wanted him as their leader.
Jacinto established his secret headquarters in the hills of Majayjay.
There he contacted the malignant malaria which caused his death on
April 6, 1899. He was only 24 years old.

· Marcelo H. del Pilar (Plaridel)

started school in the College of Mr. Jose Flores. He transferred to

the College of San Jose in Manila. He finished law in 1880. Marcelo H.
del Pilar was more popularly known as Plaridel.

He later married his cousin Marciana del Pilar in 1878. They had seven
children.Plaridel established the Diariong Tagalog in 1882 to publish
observations and criticisms on how the Spanish government in the
Philippines was run.Pedro Serrano Laktaw helped him in publishing
"Dasalan at Tuksuhan" and the "Pasyong Dapat Ipa-alab ng Puso ng
Taong Bayan".In Spain, he and Graciano Lopez-Jaena published the
"La Solidaridad" which was the organ which contained their desires in
improving the Philippine Government. He succeeded Lopez-Jaena as
editor of the La Solidaridad.He died a poor man on July 4, 1896 in
Barcelona, Spain.

Marcelo H. del Pilar's reputation as a propagandist was already

established before an order for his arrest forced him to flee the country
in 1880. Gifted with the common touch, he found ready audiences in
the cockpits, the plazas, and the corner tiendas of his native Bulacan.
Unlike Rizal who wrote his novels in Spanish, a fact which cut him off
from most Filipinos who did not know the language, del Pilar wrote his
propaganda pamphlets in simple Tagalog -- lucid, direct and forceful.

· Graciano Lopez Jaena (Diego Laura)

is a Philippine writer more known for his literary Fray Butod .'Butod'
the word Hiligaynon for "bat" and it also slang equivalent to "tabatsoy".
Graciano Lopez Jaena was born in Jaro,Iloilo, on December
18,1856 Founder and first editor of the newspaper La Solidaridad,
which became the vehicle of expression for Filipino propaganda in
Spain. Together wtih Jose Rizal and Marcelo H. Del Pilar, he undertook
propaganda campaigns in Spain.

· Jose Ma. Panganiban (Jomapa)

Avenger of Filipino honor. Born in Mambulao, Camarines Norte, on

February 1, 1863. A good friend and co-worker of Rizal. He was
Bicolandia's greatest contribution to the historic campaign for reforms,
more popularly called the Propaganda Movement. He wrote articles for
La Solidaridad, under the pen names Jomapa and J.M.P. Died in
Barcelona, Spain, on August 19, 1890.

·
 Pedro Paterno (Justo Desiderio Magalang) Statesman, poet, writer,
and peacemaker. Born in Manila on February 27, 1858. He was the
negotiator/mediator of the Pact of Biak-na-Bato. He helped prepare the
Malolos constitution. Died on April 26, 1911. He used " Justo Desiderio
Magalang" as his pen name when he wrote Ninay the very first filipino
novel written in tagalong.