PROPAGANDA MOVEMENT

Goals of the Propaganda Movement

The main goals of the Propaganda Movement was to create reforms in the Philippines.
Students, who created the movement, wanted the Philippines to be acknowledged as a province
of Spain and to be represented in the Spanish Cortes. Status of the Filipinos and Spaniards was
supposed to be equal – as well as the human rights, for example freedom of speech and press.
One of the main goals was also to secularize parishes of the Philippines.

The Propagandists

The Propagandists, who consisted of upper-class Filipinos, created the movement not
only for the political purposes, but the most importantly for the cultural reasons. They aimed to
open Spaniard’s eyes to the needs of their country and to bind together both countries more
closely. The Propagandists were students with a good education, an “ideal examples of Filipino
manhood” – with patriotic minds and brave souls. One of the most influential members of the
Propaganda Movement consisted of José Rizal, Graciano Lopez Jaena, Marcelo H. del Pilar of
Bulacan and many more.

However, the most remarkable of the members is claimed to be José Rizal – writer,
ophthalmologist, scholar, and scientist. He was born in 1861 into a Chinese family and from the
beginning he shown a substantial intelligence. After graduating from the University of Madrid, his
career stretched onto two dimensions – one was becoming a leader and a spokesperson of the
society created among Filipino students in many cities of Europe. The second one was creating
close relationships with scientists, mostly the ones from Germany. Rizal was very interested in
anthropology – he wanted to prove wrong the stereotypes of Filipinos, which were created
among many people, by presenting his scientific arguments. However, his two novels “Noli Me
Tangere” from 1886 and “El Filibusterismo” from 1891, were the factors that influenced the
Filipino evolution of national consciousness. Even though both novels were banned, some of the
copies spread among Filipino people and gained a broad range of readers in no time.
 The second influential Propagandists also worth mentioning is Graciano Lopez Jaena.
The journalist, after publishing his novel "Fray Botod", left for Spain in 1880. However, while
being there, he had not stopped his actions – Lopez Jaena started to publish "La Solidaridad".
This newspaper became one of the main organs of the Propaganda Movement and had a large
number of audiences in both Spain and the Philippines.

Rise of the Propaganda Movement

The conditions in the Philippines after 1872 worsened – the Filipino leaders were deported
to Spanish disciplinary districts and the intellectuals were put on the trails. As the assaults done
by Spanish became unstoppable, many Filipino students gathered in different places all around
the world, such as London, Singapore and Madrid. Their established goal was to bring happiness
to their homeland and encourage social security. The campaign, called “Propaganda Movement”,
which they had created, fought aggressively, but peacefully at the same time, with the Spanish
system, by the use of words in form of speeches as well as pieces of writing. It has begun in
1872, at the time when 3 men – Burgos, Zamora and Gomez were killed and lasted for 24 years.

Weakening of the Propaganda Movement

The arrest of Rizal as well as the fall down of the Liga Filipina began the weakening process
of the Propaganda Movement. Shortly after that, in 1895, La Solidaridad stopped to be published
and Lopez Jaena died. Moreover, even though some people tried to reestablish Liga Filipina, their
actions ended in failure.

Filipinos used the Propaganda Movement as a medium in their pursuit for independence
from Spain. The whole movement began as gentle actions and advices created by students from
the Philippines, who attended universities in Europe. Because of the fact that the level of
education provided at that time in the Philippines was low and offered mostly in Spanish (which
Filipino did not know that well), many young people followed their education path abroad. After
seeing what is happening in other countries, how free people seem to be in Europe, they wanted
to do something about the bad conditions in their homeland. This is how the Propaganda
Movement was created. The Propagandist used literature to create change and in this way
provide people with knowledge.

KATIPUNAN

On July 7, 1892, upon learning that Dr. Jose P. Rizal was to be deported and that his works were
to be banned in the country, a secret council was convened in No. 72 Azcarraga Street. In
attendance were Andres Bonifacio, Deodato Arellano, Valentin Diaz, Teodoro Plata, Ladislao
Diwa, Jose Dizon, and a few others, all members of La Liga Filipina, a progressive organization
founded by Rizal. The men assembled came to the agreement that a revolutionary secret society
must be founded, and thus the Kataastaasang Kagalang-Kagalang na Katipunan ng mga Anak ng
Bayan was born.

The objectives of the Katipunan, as the brotherhood was popularly known, were threefold:
political, moral, and civic. They advocated for freedom from the yoke of Spain, to be achieved
through armed struggle. They also saw it as their personal responsibility to help the poor and the
oppressed, and to teach them good manners, hygiene, and morality.

New recruits to the secret society underwent a rigorous initiation process, similar to Masonic
practices. A neophyte, dressed in black and accompanied by his sponsor, was brought to a small
room decorated with patriotic posters (1), in front of a cabinet draped in black. He was then
seated at a dimly-lit table, on which rested a bolo (2), a revolver (3), and a set of questions which
he must answer to the satisfaction of the members assembled: What was the condition of the
Philippines in the early times? What is the condition today? What will be the condition in the
future?

The candidate was expected to respond that the Filipinos were once independent, and that the
Spaniard colonizers had not improved the conditions of the Philippines, but that soon the
Philippines would be free once more. The master of ceremonies would once more try to
discourage him by telling him to back down if he does not have enough courage; should he
persist, he is led blindfolded into another room for a physical test. The final rites involved the
neophyte signing the oath of membership in his own blood, usually drawn from a cut made by a
scalpel to the left forearm.
The organizational structure of the Katipunan entailed three ranks of membership, with new
members starting out as “katipon,” then moving up to “kawal” and eventually to “bayani.”
Members were to pay an entrance fee of one real fuerte, a unit of currency equal to 1/8 of a
silver real peso, as well as monthly dues and other fees paid exclusively to the Benefit Fund and
collected at every session or meeting.
Though the organizational structure of the Katipunan was constantly in flux, it is generally
believed that they formed small branches, governed by the sangguniang balangay, and these
small branches would form larger provincial councils, governed by the sangguniang bayan. All
these would be overseen by the Supreme Council of the Katipunan (Kataastasang Sanggunian),
which was composed of a president (pangulo), secretary (kalihim), fiscal (tagausig), treasurer
(tagaingat yaman), and six councilors (kasanguni).

The legislative body of the Katipunan was known as the Katipunan Assembly, and it was
composed of the members of the Supreme Council, along with the presidents of the popular and
provincial councils. Judicial power rested in the sangguniang hukuman, which were provincial
courts that decided on internal matters; however, judgement on grave matters (such as
betraying the Katipunan or committing acts penalized by the organization’s laws) were meted by
the “Secret Chamber,” composed of Andres Bonifacio, Emilio Jacinto, and Dr. Pio Valenzuela.
Contrary to popular belief, Andres Bonifacio—though undoubtedly one of the more prominent
founders of the Katipunan—was not its first Supremo or the President of the Supreme Council. On
July 15, 1892, the members of the Supreme Council were Deodato Arellano (Supremo), Bonifacio
(Comptroller), Ladislao Diwa (Fiscal), Teodoro Plata (Secretary), and Valentin Diaz (Treasurer).

Unsatisfied with Arellano’s performance as Supremo, Bonifacio later had him deposed, and
supported the election of Roman Basa as Supremo on February 1, 1893. The Supreme Council
was then composed of Basa, Jose Turiano Santiago (Secretary), Bonifacio (Fiscal), and Vicente
Molina (Treasurer).

Bonifacio would only become Supremo on January 5, 1894, with Santiago (Secretary), Emilio
Jacinto (Fiscal), and Molina (Treasurer). Further reorganization in 1896 led to Jacinto becoming
Secretary, and Pio Valenzuela becoming Fiscal.

The Supreme Council in August 1896, prior to the outbreak of the Philippine Revolution, was led
by Bonifacio as the Supremo, with Jacinto as Secretary of State, Teodoro Plata as Secretary of
War, Briccio Pantas as Secretary of Justice, Aguedo del Rosario as Secretary of Interior, and
Enrique Pacheco as Secretary of Finance.

Much discussion surrounds who was actually in Balintawak at the outbreak of the Philippine
Revolution in August 1896. Perhaps the closest one can come to a definitive list is based on an
interview given by Guillermo Masangkay to the newspaper Bagong Buhay in 1952, almost 60
years after. This was reproduced in Jim Richardson’s site Katipunan: Documents and Studies and
have been translated into English from the original mix of Tagalog and Spanish.