Graciano López

Jaena

Graciano López y Jaena (Tagalog

pronunciation: [ˈlopes ˈhaɪna]; December
18, 1856 – January 20, 1896), commonly
known as Graciano López Jaena, was a
Filipino journalist, orator, reformist, and
national hero who is well known for his
newspaper, La Solidaridad.[2][3]
 Graciano López Jaena

Born Graciano López y

Jaena
December 18, 1856
Jaro, Iloilo, Captaincy
General of the
Philippines, Spanish
Empire[1]

Died January 20, 1896

(aged 39)
Barcelona, Spain
Resting place Fossar de la Pedrera,
Montjuïc Cemetery,
Barcelona, Spain

Education St. Vincent Ferrer

Seminary
University of Valencia

Occupation(s) Writer, journalist,

orator, propagandist

Known for La Solidaridad

La Solidaridad
 Monument, Intramuros, Manila

Philippine historians regard López Jaena,

along with Marcelo H. del Pilar and José
Rizal, as the triumvirate of Filipino
propagandists. Of these three ilustrados,
López Jaena was the first to arrive in Spain
and may have begun the Propaganda
Movement, which advocated the reform of
the then-Spanish colony of the Philippines
and which eventually led to the armed
Philippine Revolution that begun in Manila
in 1896. The Propaganda Movement was a
key step towards a Philippine national
identity.

Biography
Graciano López Jaena was born in Jaro,
Iloilo, in the Captaincy General of the
Philippines in the Spanish Empire on
December 18, 1856. His parents were
Plácido López and María Jacoba Jaena.
He was baptized as "Graciano López y
Jaena" on December 20, 1856, at Jaro
Church by Plácido de Isana, and his
godfather was Rufino Justiniano.[1][4][5]
Feeling that the priesthood was the most
noble profession, his mother sent him to
study at the St. Vincent Ferrer Seminary in
Jaro. While there, he served as a secretary
to his uncle, Claudio López, who was the
honorary vice consul of Portugal in Iloilo.[5]

Despite his mother wanting him to become

a priest, López's true ambition was to
become a physician. After convincing his
parents, he sought enrollment at the
University of Santo Tomas but was denied
admission because the required Bachelor
of Arts degree was not offered at the
seminary in Jaro. Instead, he was
appointed to the San Juan de Dios
Hospital as an apprentice. Due to financial
problems, he dropped out and returned to
Iloilo to practice medicine.[5]

During this period, his visits with the poor

began to stir feelings about the injustices
that were common. At the age of 18 he
wrote the satirical story Fray Botod, which
depicted a fat and lecherous friar. Botod’s
false piety "always had the Virgin and God
on his lips no matter how unjust and
underhanded his acts are." This incurred
the fury of the friars. Although the story
was not published, a copy circulated in
Iloilo but the friars could not prove that
López was the author.
He got into trouble for refusing to testify
that certain prisoners died of natural
causes when it was obvious that they had
died at the hands of the mayor of Pototan.
López continued to agitate for justice and
finally went to Spain when threats were
made on his life. López sailed for Spain in
1880.[4] There he became a leading writer
and speaker for Philippine reform. By this
time, he attached his maternal surname
permanently to his paternal one, becoming
"López Jaena", in order to stick out from
the many Lopezes. (If he had not done this,
by modern Philippine naming conventions
his name would now be interpreted as
"Graciano Jaena Lopez" or "Graciano J.
Lopez".)

López Jaena pursued his medical studies

at the University of Valencia but did not
finish. Once Rizal reproached Lopéz Jaena
for not finishing his medical studies.
Graciano replied, "On the shoulders of
slaves should not rest a doctor's cape."
Rizal countermanded, "The shoulders do
not honor the doctor's cape, but the
doctor's cape honors the shoulders."

He then moved to the field of journalism.

Losing interest in politics and academic
life, he soon enjoyed his life in Barcelona
and Madrid. However, his friends forgave
him these indiscretions due to his talent
with words. Mariano Ponce who was
another of the Filipino propagandists in
Spain observed, "... a deafening ovation
followed the close of the peroration, the
ladies waved their kerchiefs wildly, and the
men applauded frantically as they stood
up from their seats in order to embrace the
speaker." Rizal noted, "His great love is
politics and literature. I do not know for
sure whether he loves politics in order to
deliver speeches or he loves literature to
be a politician."
In addition he is remembered by the
Filipino people for his literary contributions
to the propaganda movement. López
Jaena founded the fortnightly newspaper,
La Solidaridad. When the publication office
moved from Barcelona to Madrid, the
editorship was succeeded to Marcelo H.
del Pilar. His talent can be seen in the
publication Discursos y Artículos Varios
(Speeches and Various Articles).

López Jaena died of tuberculosis on

January 20, 1896, in Barcelona, 11 months
short of his 40th birthday.[4][5] The
following day, he was buried in a mass
grave at the Montjuïc Cemetery of
Barcelona. He died in poverty and his
remains have not been brought back to the
Philippines.[6]

Public Holiday
December 18, Lopez Jaena's birthday, is a
public holiday every year in Iloilo province
and Iloilo City.[2]

Legacy

Marcelo H. del Pilar and Graciano

Lopez Jaena appear on the obverse
side of a 5 peso Philippine banknote
circulated between 1951 and 1974.
 Postcard depicting Graciano Lopez
Jaena

Order of DeMolay chapter seal.

In his honor, the Jaro Plaza was renamed

the Graciano López Jaena Park, where
there is also a statue of him.[7]
The Graciano Lopez Jaena Foundation Inc
works to continue his legacy and supports
various public recognition of his life and
works, such as the Dr. Graciano Lopez
Jaena Poetry Contest.[3]

The municipality of Lopez Jaena in

Misamis Occidental is named after him.

An Order of DeMolay Chapter, a youth

fraternal group for young men originating
in freemasonry, was founded around 1965
in Jaro, and named Graciano Lopez-Jaena
Chapter because Lopez Jaena was the
first and foremost Freemason from Jaro.
Numerous streets throughout the
Philippines are named after him in his
honor.

Notable works
Fray Botod (Big-Bellied Friar)
La Hija del Fraile (The Daughter of a
Friar)
Esperanzas (Hope)

In popular culture
Portrayed by Ricardo Cepeda in 1996 TV
Series Bayani, in episode Graciano
López-Jaena: Fray Botod (1874)
References
1. "Film # 004218150 Image Film #
004218150; ark:/61903/3:1:3QS7-89GQ-
L9HC-C — FamilySearch.org" (https://family
search.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QS7-89GQ-L9
HC-C) . FamilySearch. Retrieved
December 8, 2016.
2. "Republic Act No. 6155 - An Act Declaring
December Eighteenth of Each Year an
Official Public Holiday in the City and
Province of Iloilo to Commemorate the
Birth Anniversary of Graciano Lopez Jaena"
(http://www.thecorpusjuris.com/legislativ
e/republic-acts/ra-no-6155.php) .
November 9, 1970. Retrieved July 23, 2016.
3. Yap, Tara (December 18, 2012). "Iloilo
celebrates Lopez Jaena Day" (https://web.a
rchive.org/web/20121231171521/http://th
edailyguardian.net/index.php/local-news/2
1740-iloilo-celebrates-lopez-jaena-day) .
The Daily Guardian. Archived from the
original (http://www.thedailyguardian.net/in
dex.php/local-news/21740-iloilo-celebrates
-lopez-jaena-day#) on December 31, 2012.
Retrieved March 18, 2013.
4. Agoncillo, Teodoro A. (1990). History of
The Filipino People (8th ed.) GAROTECH
publishing: Quezon City, Philippines
5. Yoder, Robert L. (August 7, 1999). Graciano
López Jaena (https://www.univie.ac.at/ksa/
apsis/aufi/history/jaena.htm) . Department
 of Social and Cultural Anthropology, Faculty
of Social Sciences, University of Vienna.
6. Tuano, D. (March 11, 2013). Graciano Lopez
Jaena's remains still in Barcelona (http://ne
ws.abs-cbn.com/global-filipino/03/11/13/g
raciano-lopez-jaenas-remains-still-barcelon
a) . ABS-CBN News.
7. Yap, Tara. "Respect cultural significance of
Jaro Plaza" (https://web.archive.org/web/2
0130728091642/http://www.thedailyguardi
an.net/index.php/local-news/4883-respect-
cultural-significance-of-jaro-plaza) . The
Daily Guardian. Archived from the original
(http://www.thedailyguardian.net/index.ph
p/local-news/4883-respect-cultural-signific
ance-of-jaro-plaza) on July 28, 2013.
Retrieved March 19, 2013.
Bibliography

Zaide, Gregorio F. (1984). Philippine

History and Government. National
Bookstore Printing Press.
Agoncillo, Teodoro A. (1990). History of
The Filipino People (8th ed.). GAROTECH
publishing.

External links
Wikimedia Commons has media related
to Graciano Lopez Jaena.

Chapter History of the Graciano Lopez

Jaena, Order of DeMolay (https://archiv
e.today/20130414152331/http://www.d
emolayiloilo.org/brief-history-of-gracian
 o-lopez-jaena-chapter-order-of-demola
y)

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