Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Freemasonry
defines itself as “a regular system of morality, veiled in allegory and illustrated by symbols.In particular masonic
meetings are characterized by initiations and rituals. As such masonry has been viewed historically by
churches and governments as secret societies.
Its historical origins date as far back to 1717 in England, during the Enlightenment period. During that time, an
intellectual movement arose throughout Europe based on rationalism, which held that only eternal truths could
be attained by reason alone.
Members are organized into lodges, the basic organizational structure, which operates under the jurisdiction of
a grand lodge.
Toward independence
After the invasion of the Philippines by Americans, American soldiers formed their own lodges. Among the first
were volunteers from North Dakota who organized the Knights Templar. A group of black soldiers from
Missouri organized the Prince Hall Grand Lodge.
The Filipinos reorganized under Grand Master Ambrocio Flores to establish the Filipino Grand Orient in 1899.
During this time the Americans did not honor the existence of the First Philippine Republic. Despite continued
protests and appeals by Filipino Masons to both American and European Freemasonry to end hostilities and
recognize the First Philippine Republic, the European and American Freemasons ignored the appeals and
even worked against Philippine nationalism. For the remainder of this period, Philippine Freemasonry was
subservient to the Grand Lodge of the United States of America.
On December 19, 1912 the Grand Lodge of the Philippine Islands was formed by three American lodges:
Manila 342, Cavite 350, and Corregidor 386, with Manila becoming Manila Lodge No 1. At first, Grand Lodge
remained a Regional Grand Lodge, convoking its own Grand Assembly in 1915. Throughout 1915 and 1916 it
was engaged with correspondence with the Grande Oriente Español in Spain, with aims toward its own
independence. The long process of establishing the proper agreements finished in February 1917. The
American Grand Lodge Constitution was used as a basis, keeping in mind issues such as equality of all races
and working languages for ceremonies. In the same month a group of 27 lodges still under the Grande Oriente
Español elected to affiliate under the Philippine Grand Lodge and Grand Officers were elected.