Mariño y Agoncillo: Sagisag ng Pagkakaisa

Doña Marcela Mariño y Coronel Agoncillo became a quintessential figure in the Philippine
revolution by designing and sewing the official flag of the Philippines, uniting different cultures under
one banner, earning her the title “Mother of the Philippine Flag.” Born on June 24, 1859, in the care of
Don Francisco Diokno Mariño and Doña Eugenia Coronel Mariño, living in the boisterous town of Taal,
Batangas, Marcela became a sensation in her community with her religiosity, magnificent voice, and
beauty. Many tales tell of people waiting patiently in the church patio only to see her appearance. By
this time she would be known as “Roselang Bubog,” “a virgin enthroned in the town church.” Being a
convent girl, she finished her studies at Santa Catalina College, where Marcela acquired her learning in
music and feminine crafts.

Felipe Encamacion Agoncillo, known as the “Outstanding First Filipino Diplomat,” was a sharp
and intelligent man even when he was a child. Born to Ramon Agoncillo and Gregoria Encarnacion, on
May 26, 1859, in Taal, Batangas, Felipe already knew Doña Marcela since they were kids. He, too, would
fall in love to Marcela’s graciousness and magnificence. He would study in Ateneo Municipal de Manila
but would later transfer to Universidad de Santo Tomas only to graduate in Baciller en Artes and
Licentiate en Jurisprudence, magna cum laude et summa cum laude, respectively. After his parents'
deaths, he returned to Taal to take care of his parents’ properties.

The two legends finally married at age 30. By this point, Felipe was already a local judge, while
Marcela already established herself as a talented singer and skilled in sewing and needlework. They
moved from Taal to Manila, where they lived together in a two-story house on M.H. del Pillar St.,
Malate, near the Malate church. They bore six children: Lorenza ("Enchang"), Gregoria ("Goring"),
Eugenia ("Nene"), Marcela ("Celing", named after her mother because they thought she would be their
last child), Adela (who died at the age of three) and the youngest, Maria ("Maring", who was their last
surviving child and died on July 6, 1995). Most of them became teachers.

Sometime during their peaceful life, Felipe learned the plans of the current gobernador-heneral,
Basilio Augustin y Davila, to deport him to Jolo, Sulu. And so he thought ahead. He went to Japan to go
to exile in Hong Kong. War broke out in 1896, and the rest of his family joined him. They rented a house
at 535 Morrison Hill in the Wan Chai district. They received revolutionary Filipino compatriots who came
into their sanctuary.

After the signing of Pact of Biak-na-Bato, Gen. Aguinaldo joined them. They initiated meetings in
the Agoncillo residence on the months of April and March 1898. After having met them, General Emilio
Aguinaldo requested that Doña Marcela Mariño de Agoncillo immediately hand-sew a flag according to
his design which would embody the national aspirations of all Filipinos. After receiving the request,
Doña Marcela Mariño Agoncillo delegated her eldest daughter, five-year-old Lorenza Mariño Agoncillo,
and Mrs. Delfina Herbosa Natividad, Dr.José Rizal's niece by his sister Lucia, to help her make the first
Philippine flag.

The process took only a short time, but it was difficult. The three worked manually and with the
aid of a sewing machine. They had to redo the flag after the rays of the sun were not in the proper
direction. Their eyes and hands suffered due to the prolonged work session. Made from 100% fine silk
which she bought in Hong Kong,the flag was embroidered in gold and contained stripes of blue and red
and a white triangle with the sun and three stars on it. The flag was mad within five days and became
known as "The Three Stars and a Sun” flag.

There are many claims about the whereabouts of the original flag that was flown in Kawit,
Cavite on 12 June 1898. Some believe it is now lost because Emilio Aguinaldo said so in a statement
dated 11 June 1925. Other news reports allege that in 1919, Aguinaldo said that he lost the flag in the
Caraballo Mountains of Nueva Vizcaya. Some descendants of Emilio Aguinaldo claim that Aguinaldo said
the original flag was lost only because he wanted to protect it. Furthermore, they displayed what they
believe is the original flag in the Emilio Aguinaldo Museum in Baguio City.

Miss Marcela “Celing” M. Agoncillo, the fourth child of Marcela and Felipe, had this to say:

“After 1919 when the ban to unfurl our national flag was lifted, the Agoncillo family and
many others were invited by the General during Independence Day celebration on July 1 and
later June 12 every year. On these occasions, I, Marcela M. Agoncillo saw the flag and can testify
and swear that the blue of our national flag is dark blue. Later the General deposited the flag in
the bank of Monte de Piedad, a more secure and safer place.

Recently by order of Mrs Cristina Aguinaldo Suntay the flag was transferred to the
Aguinaldo Museum, Aguinaldo Park, Baguio City. Those who insist that the flag in Mrs. Suntay's
keeping is a replica. Take it for granted, that it is a replica, although I can assure that it is not,
would General Aguinaldo allow a replica be different from the original?”

Meanwhile, Felipe Agoncillo joined with Jose "Sixto" Lopez to Washington D.C. to lobby foreign
entities that Filipinos are well civilized people and capable of maintaining stable government and to
secure recognition of Philippine independence, but were ultimately ignored by the then U.S. President
McKinley. And so he went to Paris. There was to be a meeting discussing what to do with Cuba and
Spain. He wanted to present the Philippine cause and cries for the country. No one wanted any dealings
with him. The 1898 Treaty of Paris was signed, ending the Spanish-American war without factoring in
the outcries of the Filipino people. And his travels cost a lot of money, even prompting him to sell his
wife’s jewellery.

Two days after the signing of the Treaty of Paris, Agoncillo returned to the United States and
endeavoured to block ratification of the treaty by the US. Although this was signed by the
commissioners, it was not yet approved by the Senate of the United States. He filed a State
memorandum to express that Filipinos must be recognized by the United States. He presented a formal
protest which was called Memorial to the Senate to the president and delegates of the Spanish-
American Commission saying:

“If the Spaniards have not been able to transfer to the Americans the rights which they did not
possess; if the latter have not militarily conquered positions in the Philippines; if the occupation
of Manila was a resultant fact, prepared by the Filipinos; if the international officials and
representatives of the Republic of the United States of America offered to recognize the
independence and sovereignty of the Philippines, solicited and accepted their alliance, how can
they now constitute themselves as arbiters of the control, administration and future government
of the Philippine Islands?
 If the Treaty of Paris there had simply been declared the withdrawal and abandonment by the
Spaniards of their domination --if they had such --over Filipino territory, if America, on accepting
peace, had signed the Treaty, without prejudice to the rights of the Philippines, and with a view
to coming to a subsequent settlement with the existing Filipino National Government, thus
recognizing the sovereignty of the latter, their alliance and the carrying out of their promises of
honor to the said Filipinos, no protest against their action would have been made. But in view of
the terms of the Article III of the Protocol, the attitude of the American Commissioners, and the
imperative necessity of safeguarding the national rights of my country, I take this protest, for the
before-mentioned reasons but with the proper legal reservations, against the action taken and
the resolutions passed by the Peace Commissioners at Paris and in the Treaty signed by them.”

Suffice to say, he was not happy with the results of the treaty. Agoncillo concluded that it was
not binding on the Philippine government.

After the fall of the first Philippine Republic and the establishment of the American regime,
Doña Marcela Mariño de Agoncillo and her family ended their exile and went back to Manila as soon as
they were fetched by Don Felipe after his diplomatic activities abroad had ended. The Agoncillos settled
in their family house in Malate. After the death of Don Felipe, Agoncillo's remaining family suffered from
starvation due to their meager supply of food, water and other needs. The Japanese conquerors also
contributed to their anguish during the period of the Japanese invasion. Taking this all in stride, Marcela
remained pragmatic and a source of inspiration. After their house was incinerated during the Japanese
occupation, all she said to her remaining daughters was "We will then have to go to Taal.

On August 29, 1900, Felipe Agoncillo met with Gustave Moynier, an original member of the
Committee of Five and ICRC President. Agoncillo sought recognition of the Filipino Red Cross Society as
well as the application of the First Geneva Convention during the Philippine–American War. While in
Manila, he resumed his law practice and other business. He took the bar exam in 1905 and passed with
a perfect score of 100 percent, an achievement which has remained unmatched until today. His
examination papers have been preserved in the Filipiniana section of the Philippine Library and
Museum.

In 1907, he was elected as the Batangas representative and represented that town, among
others, in the Philippine Assembly. He was once a defense of El Renacimiento whose editors were
charged with libel by Dean C. Worcester. De Agoncillo was appointed as Secretary of Interior in 1923
during the administration of Governor General Leonard Wood and fought for the Filipinazation of the
government service.

Though she endured the 1945 Battle of Manila, the health of Doña Marcela Mariño de Agoncillo,
now called "Lola Celay" during her old age, was steadily deteriorating. She continued to mourn her
deceased husband to such an extent that her daughters found it necessary to hide all his remaining
photographs. On May 30, 1946, she quietly died in Taal at the age of 86. Her mortal remains were
brought from Taal to Manila and interred alongside her husband in the Catholic cemetery of La Loma
according to the wishes of her last will. Agoncillo died on September 29, 1941 in Manila Doctor's
Hospital, Manila.