BATANGAS STATE UNIVERSITY

The National Engineering University

ARASOF-Nasugbu Campus
R. Martinez St., Brgy. Bucana, Nasugbu, Batangas, Philippines 4231
Tel. Nos.: 0917 867 7276 | Email Address: gened.nasugbu@g.batstate-u.edu.ph

LA SOLIDARIDAD

Members:
Mocorro, Joshua Mae
Papa, Maria Janella M.
Reyes, Sheena Mae

Section;
BSED SOCIAL STUDIES 1101

Date of Submission:
February 22, 2024
 BATANGAS STATE UNIVERSITY
The National Engineering University
ARASOF-Nasugbu Campus
R. Martinez St., Brgy. Bucana, Nasugbu, Batangas, Philippines 4231
Tel. Nos.: 0917 867 7276 | Email Address: gened.nasugbu@g.batstate-u.edu.ph

Picture of the Primary Sources

A. Background of the Author / Creator

Graciano Lopez Jaena (1856-1896)

Graciano Lopez Jaena was born on December 18, 1856 in Jaro, Iloilo. He came from a lowly
family which has strong values in education and religion. His father Placido Lopez, is a general
repairman while his mother, Maria Jacoba Jaena is a seamstress. He studied at the Seminario
Tejaro and at an early age: he was placed under the care of Reverend Francisco Jayme who
enhanced and developed his skills in speech. Since his ambition was to become a doctor, he tried
to enroll at the University of Santo Tomas but was deprived of access due to lack of
requirements.

While in the city, he worked as a trainee at San Juan de Dios Hospital but due to poverty he
was forced to return home to Iloilo and continued his practice there. His encounter with other
less fortunate Filipinos opened his eyes to the maltreatment and abuses of the Spaniards. He
campaigned to voice out the injustices and wrongdoings of the Spanish colonizers. “Fray Botod”,
the story’ of a fat and corrupt priest angered the friars more, thus his life was put in danger. He
flew to Spain to avoid conflict but continued his battle. He was the leader in the literary faction
and became its speaker, He pursued his study of medicine at the University of Valencia but did
not complete the course and instead shifted to journalism.

Graciano Lopez Jaena, the orator and journalist was best remembered for being the founder
and the.first editor of “La Solidaridad”, in Barcelona, on February 15, 1889. Along with Marcelo
H. del Pilar and Jose Rizal, he was one of the pillars of the Philippine reform movement which
eventually galvanized the country’s struggle for freedom during the late 19th century. He died a
poor man but had he lived longer. his accomplishments would have doubtless been greater. Jaena
died of tuberculosis on January 2O, 1896 in Barcelona, Spain.
Background of the Document/ Primary Sources
The proposal to publish a newspaper to spread their ideals came with the ideals with the
idea of forming a Filipino organization in Madrid in 1876. But the concept of uniting the Filipino
community in Spain died an early death, yet the thought of coming out with a newspaper
remained. On March 7, 1877, the first issue of the newspaper, España en Filipinas made it’s
appearance in the streets of Madrid. It was edited by Eduardo de Lete and came out at least four
times a month. The paper was officially issued to combat the anti-Filipino attitudes of some
Spanish writers who began writing diatribes against the ideas of assimilation. It was moderate in
its outlook and, at first, “not openly opposing “existing institution” (Schumacher, 2002) but “to
sustain in the arena of the press all those solutions which tend to renew once more the open-
minded policy of assimilation, traditional in overseas Spain”. España en Filipinas lived a short
life, lasting only 16 issues with the last one put out in September of 1877. In spite of the end of
España en Filipinas, Ponce continued to solicit funds to up “an organ of Filipino opinion in
Spain”. (Schumacher, 2002) There were immediate positive results. Funds were contributed by
interested parties along with proposal that Ponce and Rizal (who was beginning to show his
leadership among the Filipinos in Spain) should be the editors of the planned newspaper. Both
declined. Lete, on the other hand, assumed that he will be asked to be an editor again
considering his experience with the Espana en Filipinas. But it was because of the debacle of the
newspaper that many of this countrymen opposed his taking up the responsibility again. In fact,
Lete was also blamed for the growing schism between the Filipinos caused by his handling of the
newspaper. The decision to appoint a director for the planned newspaper became deadlocked.
Unable to solve the problem of removing the condition of choosing an editor that came with the
contributions, Ponce along with the other Filipinos, decided to put up a newspaper with their
own money.
The La Solidaridad was founded on February 15, 1889 in Barcelona by Galicano Apacible,
Jose Ma. Panganiban, Mariano Ponce, Pablo Rianzares Bautista, and Santiago Icasiano. The
main proponent of the news-paper project, however, was Ponce, who became administrator and
the business manager of the newspaper. The newspaper began with funds these men contributed.
Paez mentioned that Ponce and Bautista gave 10 reales Fuertes each while Panganiban gave
three duros.” (Paez, 1980 as cited by Artigas y Cuerva, 1913). The most distinguished
contributors included Graciano López Jaena, Marcelo H. del Pilar and Jose Rizal. The action
program defined by La Solidaridad was completed. The publication fought against conservative
reaction by fiercely criticizing an “apparent power wielded by the clergy”. This issue became a
cliché in the twentieth century, when American literature promoted that concept. However, few
researchers have shown the point in time in which the work produced by contributors to La
Solidaridad supported liberal ideas and reforms implemented in the archipelago. The Soli was
Del Pilar's "periodiquito," a tabloid-sized newspaper that was roughly 20.5 × 28 cm (the size of a
sheet of bondpaper), rather than a broadsheet. The text was printed in two columns, with the first
page having the most of the illustrations, which were scarce overall. The newspaper's size and
thickness were important for its target audience, which included readers in the Philippines. In
connection to with the purpose of La Solidaridad, its main audience focuses on the Philippines.
The country, its people, its government, and its relationship with other countries, with the
oppressive governance delivered by the Spaniards, our Filipino propagandists contested the right
of our country and our people in defending our democratic rights that have always been taken
from us. The administrators of Soli knew that the newspaper would enrage the friars and the
colonial authorities, so they prepared it to be smuggled or secretly mailed to get past the
government censors in the islands. A regular edition of the newspaper had about 12 pages, but
there were issues with 16 pages or more. The primary source on the story of La Solidaridad was
surprisingly rare in the Philippines until recently. But its history could be followed through the
letters of its staff and contributors. A meticulous researcher, Manuel Artigas y Cuerva viewed
and made notes on the pre-war newspaper collection in the government archives and the National
Library. One of the bibliographical entries he wrote was that of the La Solidaridad, which he
include in his work “El Centenario de la Imprenta”, a series of articles in the American period
magazine Renacimiento Filipino which ran from 1911-1913. Here he cited a published
autobiography by reformist turn revolutionary supporter, Timoteo Paez as his source. However,
no known copy of this autobiography in any library here in the Philippines today.
It is also unfortunate that there is no complete set of the La Solidaridad here in the Philippines
today. Speciments that were in the National Library of the Philippines during the American
period were destroyed during Wprld War II. A few issues were discovered in 2011 in the
University of Santo Tomas Archives by it’s archivist, Prof. Regalado Trota Jose, after it was
placed in storage following an exhibit in the late 1970’s. The paper sought to put political
pressure on the Spanish government, and, though not initially revolutionary, it helped spawn a
united front for Filipino independence.

Content Analysis of the Important Historical Information Found in the Document

La Solidaridad went through two clearly differentiated stages.The first was the period
between 1889 and 1890, and is the period of Rizal’s contributions. The second runs from 1891
until its final disappearance in 1895, and witnessed the discrepancies arising between Del Pilar,
López Jaena and Rizal. López Jaena left the daily in 1893 and was named Director of a new
republican daily established in Barcelona called El Látigo Nacional; he became extremely
critical of La Solidaridad. Rizal also left the daily due to his discrepancies with Del Pilar. All
three journalists were possessed of great egos and wanted to be opinion-makers, so that their
wish for
playing a leading role, together with differences of criteria, led each to take a different path.
Also, a determinant event took place in 1891 which defined the future development of La
Solidaridad: the far-right daily La Política de España en Filipinas began publication, with the
prime purpose of undermining La Solidaridad by implementing a campaign based on discrediting
Filipinos and making use of a racially slanted discourse. There is no extraordinary content in the
discourse pursued by La Solidaridad: in fact, it is comparable to any other newspaper or
magazine dedicated to political issues of importance in the nineteenth century. It was not
uncommon to find satire, parody or irony regarding the weakness of Spanish society in the
Spanish Press of the time, particularly among intellectual and radical circles. It was quite
frequent to read satire addressed at the clergy. It seems, therefore, that the argument often
repeated concerning the anti-clerical stance displayed by La Solidaridad was quite common in
nineteenth century Spain. In fact, its contents and style were very typical of the contemporary
Spanish Press. Not for nothing did some of its contributors also cooperate with republican and
liberal publications, such as El Día, El Imparcial, El Liberal, El Globo, La Justicia, El País, La
Publicidad, La Vanguardia, El Noticiero Universal or El Suplemento, among others. All the
former were firm supporters of instituting reforms in the Philippines. A line of thought based on
historical development posits that the development of liberalism in Spain and the Philippines’
opening to foreign trade and capital investment promoted the appearance and growth of a
prosperous mixed-race population, as well as that of elites composed of successful natives or
principales. For the first time families could afford the luxury of sending their sons to the
European universities in Hong Kong and Japan. Educated Filipinos, known as ilustrados, came
under the influence of Western liberal thought and understood the implications of the concept
of freedom. They learned foreign languages, the way of understanding history, how to debate
political issues, and they started joining Masonic lodges. The ilustrados came to learn that, as
Filipinos, they were inferior neither to Western citizens, nor, even less, to Spaniards. This
awareness led to the dissolution of the aura of authority and the halo of grace that had previously
linked Filipinos to the colonial order of nature. The ilustrados realized that the Spanish colonial
government had instituted injustice, as evidenced by forced labor, excessive taxes, unequal
treatment before the Law, Press censorship, etc. These and similar conditions led them to initiate
a propaganda campaign leading to equal treatment for Spanish and Filipino citizens within the
colonial structure. As La Solidaridad wrote, they wanted reform. This idea, based on historical
development as promoted by American historical researchers, is not an absolute truth in that it is
based on non-specific concepts. Few researchers make mention of the fact that most wealthy
Filipinos studied in Spanish universities, especially in Madrid and Barcelona. Their names
appear in La Solidaridad, but they were evidently not as well known as José Rizal. In fact, a
number of Filipino colonies settled in Madrid and Barcelona during the second half of the
nineteenth century. Madrid was the political hub where decisions affecting the Philippines were
taken, and therefore brought together the leading group of Filipino residents in Spain. Barcelona
was also an important center due to its economic and cultural activity and to the important role
played by the city in seaborne traffic to and from the Philippines through the Suez Canal. A large
number of Filipinos lived in Barcelona during the 1880’s: Marcelo H. del Pilar, Graciano López
Jaena, Eduardo Lete, Mariano Ponce, José M. Panganiban, Fernando Canon, Ambrosio
Rianzares, Pablo Rianzares, Aritón Bautista, Galicano Apacible, Teodoro Sandiko, Isabelo de los
Reyes, Santiago Icasiano, Ramón Imperial y Evangelista, and José Rizal, among many others.
Filipinos such as Graciano López Jaena, Marcelo H. del Pilar or José Rizal lived in Spain and
participated in events that influenced their political ambitions and awakened their national
conscience. Their leading political concern was to obtain formal representation in the Spanish
Parliament (the Cortes), ensure implementation of significant reform measures, and limit the
authority and power of religious orders in the Filipino archipelago. In order to satisfy their
demands they developed close relations with republican journalists and politicians. From them
they learned that, in order to disseminate their ideas, it was fundamental to establish associations,
hold public meetings and rallies, and publish magazines or newspapers. To this end the Círculo
HispanoFilipino (the Spanish-Filipino Circle) was established in 1882, including members such
as Marcelo H. del Pilar, Graciano López Jaena or José Rizal, among others. During the early
months after its establishment the Circle was apparently little more than a social club. But in
September 1882 Rizal arrived in Spain to study Medicine, and he soon tried to increase the
Círculo’s activities as a means of bringing Filipinos closer together. The Círculo began
publishing a bi-weekly magazine called Revista del Círculo Hispano-Filipino on October 29,
1882. Neither the Círculo itself nor its publication lasted very long, and both disappeared in
1883. The Círculo’s activities did provide clear evidence of the discrepancies that existed among
Filipinos then resident in Spain. Filipinos arriving in Spain thus came to realize that there they
were treated as full-ranking citizens, that is, as Spanish citizens and not as inferior beings. They
enjoyed freedom of the Press, opinion and association, while in the Philippines they had access
to none of these rights. The chapters below, which address the Filipino Press at the time of Rizal
and La Solidaridad, illustrate the head-on opposition between the freedom in which they lived in
Spain and the censorship they suffered in the Philippines.

Contribution and Relevance of the document in Understanding the Grand Narrative of

Philippine History
The opening of the Philippines to world trade in 19th century brought new things and ideas
from Europe. There were several factors that brought this condition, one of which is the shorter
and fast route from the continent via the Cape of Good Hope that made communicators easier
between the colony and their mother country. The foreign commerce and the improvements of
local production and trade also created a new stratum in Philippine society- the middle class or
the ilustrados. It was this class that gained much from the growing colonial economy by getting
involved in the foreign trade. They reaped its profits and lived a good life, being wealthy enough
to send their sons to Europe to study higher education Spaniards. Second, the relatively small
but significant number of families who prospered could send their son in Europe for an
education, further rupturing the isolation that cut-off the Philippines from the rest of the world.
Their sons absorbed the intellectual current of Europe, saw a completely different type of society
and become disillusioned with Spain with Spain itself on seeing the more progressive state of
other countries. One of the places to go to was Spain. The peninsula was going through a period
of change. Liberalism, the philosophy brought about the age of Enlightenment, was permeating
Spanish society. In the 19th century, the Spanish government was a constitutional monarchy with
a Cortes (Parliament) that represented the Spanish provinces. Because of the distance of the
continent, the Philippines was irregularly represented here. Slowly, the middle-class Filipino
intellectuals began to question their roles in society and governance of the Church and state in
their country which, at that time, will still recognized as a “colony” rather than a province of
Spain. Movements began that sought equal recognition between the Filipinos and the Spaniards.
The Philippine reform movement or what is to be known in our history as the Propaganda
Movement was a result of nationalism from a modernizing Spanish colony. The enlightened
Filipinos became aware that the fight for nationalism and equality was not to be fought in their
own country but in the land of colonial masters. Dissatisfied with their roles as colonials, but
unable to fight and foster their ideals in their homeland, the ilustrados opted to do their
campaign abroad in the liberal atmosphere of Spain. It must be made clear to the authorities,
however, that the changes they wanted to achieve had to be done by peaceful means. They
wanted reform not revolution. Though several middle-class sons were sent to Spain, only a few
actually worked in the reformist movement. Among them were young men like Jose Rizal,
Marcelo del Pilar, Jose Alejandrino, Pedro Paterno, Graciano Lopez Jaena, Eduardo de Lete,
Jose Maria Panganiban, Mariano Ponce and the other brothers Juan and Antonio Luna. These
men worked hard in the creation of the movement and its eventual recognition in Spanish
society. For the next 15 years, beginning in 1880 until 1895, the Propaganda Movement form a
cause that battled the colonial government and the Catholic Church in the Philippines with the
might of the pen.
As an organ of reformist, it was successful, but as a means to influence the Spaniards, it
failed. Assimilation became an impossible dream for the reformist. Though there was some
Philippine representation in the Spanish Cortes, these men were Spaniards and not Filipinos.
Moreover, Schumacher pointed out that there was no concrete proof that the reforms that were
later brought to the Philippines was a direct result of Soli. The positive result of the newspaper,
however, was that it still contributed, in a small way to the development of the identity of the
Filipinos. The ideas the newspaper expounded, coupled with the call for reforms and
assimilations that introduce to the Filipinos to their standing as a members of Spanish society-not
as colonials but as equals. It also contributed to their realization of the futility of having a equal
status with Spaniards. Independence would soon become the cry of the people.

Relevance of the documents to the Present Time

To articulate the propaganda movement's assimilationist aspirations toward Spain, La
Solidaridad was founded. The newspaper published articles and papers about the political, social,
and economic conditions of the nation in addition to the addresses of notable Spanish leaders
regarding the Philippines and the majority of local and worldwide earnings. It acted as the voice
of the so-called propaganda movement and demanded changes to the Philippines' laws and
religious practices. This marketing campaign demanded that the Cortes be depicted, that rebukes
be canceled, and that the current practice of evicting tenants upon managerial request—without a
warrant execution from courtrooms—be clearly and publicly disallowed. This development plan
aims to calmly bring about political and social improvements while revealing the shameful
circumstances of the Philippines in order for Spain to be able to heal them. Additionally, resist
the evil forces of reaction and medievalism while standing up for the genuine aspirations of the
Filipino people for a majority rule system, fulfillment, and life. La Solidaridad promoted a sense
of national identity among Filipinos during late 19th century. This emphasis on cultural pride
and unity is still relevant today in fostering a strong national identity. The documents serve as a
reminder of the ongoing need for reform and progress. And the authors works remain influential
in Philippine literature and serve as a source of inspiration for contemporary writers and artists.
And passion and dedication of the individuals involved in La Solidaridad can inspire present-day
activists and advocates to continue seeking positive change in society. Their courage and
commitment serve as a model for those working towards a better future. It is now our
responsibility as modern Filipinos to ensure that the "Kalayaan" for which they bravely fought
and lost their lives will be preserved for next generations. But occasionally, we like to give up
our freedom for the sake of safety; we downplay the importance of our social liberties in an
effort to make accommodations; and we show ourselves to be obedient to the kindness of the
"new dictators," allowing them to mishandle our sensibilities in order to establish themselves
with the authority to use force and make any exceptions they see fit.

ReferenceS:

file:///C:/Users/Mark%20Joshua/Downloads/119%20(2).pdf
file:///C:/Users/Mark%20Joshua/Downloads/118%20(1).pdf
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fbclid=IwAR0B3nXCeTL4ayUrDuSLECrizGj1c94MV1hzlP2BoDR3ms147LM8_1mrNpo
https://www.slideshare.net/allynjoycalcaben/la-solidaridad-and-the-propaganda-movement

https://philippinepresshistory.wordpress.com/2015/05/21/ii-revolutionary-press-la-solidaridad-
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