The Brethren

By: Reynold S. Fajardo

O REYNOLD S. FAJARDO
Born, in Masantol, Pangpaga on August

31, 1932.
Fajardo is a recognized Masonic. He has
written over a hundred Articles on
Philippine Masonic history.
He was voted the Most outstanding

Kapangpangan for 1990 in the field of Law

by the Provincial Government of Pangpanga
and is a Lingkod Bayan.
He also a Past Grand Master of the Grand
Lodge of the Philippines, a Past Grand Royal
Patron of the Grand Court.

Introduction
O Freemasonry believes it is the oldest

fraternal organization of men, a

brotherhood subscribing to a profoundly
moral philosophy.
O It is not a religion, but it is like a religion
in its charity, its benevolence, its
demand for absolute truth and
unwavering justice.
O Spaniards who brought Freemasonry in
Philippines

O Admiral Jose Malcampo y Monge

founded the first Masonic Lodge in

cavite. It was called La Primer Luz
Filipina.
O Vice Adm. Castro Mendez Nunezz
joined the admiral in promoting
Masonry. The British and german lodge
followed. When the Spanish heard of
this, they set up a lodge and initiated
the first Filipino Mason, Enrique Paraiso
of Tayabas

O Marcelo del Pilar

is regarded as the father of Philippine

Masonry. He inspired by the Triangulo de 33.
He said Let us strive to extend to the
remotest corners of the Philippines, the
principles of our august order, teaching
legislation, love of liberty, equality and
fraternity.
Masonry suffered its worst by blow when 13

prominent Cavitenos were executed in Dec.

1886. Most of them were the leading
member of the Espania en Filipinas Lodge.

O The revolution raged on, and in 1898 Aguinaldo

declared Philippine independence and unfurled the

Masonic flag of the Republic, consisting of an
equilateral triangle with a sun and a golden eye.
O The First Philippine Republic, of which I was its humble
president, was an achievement we owe, largely, to
Masonry and the Masons. With God to illuminate them
and Masonry to inspired them, the fought the battle of
emancipation and won.
O 1994, a Mason waded unto Leyte beach. He was Gen.
Douglas mcArthur who would become the American
Shogun of Japan.
O July 4, 1946, the dream of Filipino Masonry came true:
the Philippines was free at last. In solemn rites patterned
after Masonry. Past Grand Master US President Harry S.
Truman signed the proclamation of independence.

O CHAPTER ONE

BORN IN BLOOD
O CHAPTER TWO
THE PIONEER LODGES
O CHAPTER THREE
A MASONIC REGIME IN THE PHILIPPINES
O CHAPTER FOUR
FILIPINO MASONRY IN SPAIN

O CHAPTER FIVE

NILAD, THE MOTHER LODGE

O CHAPETR SIX
THE GRAN CONSEJO REGIONAL
O CHAPTER SEVEN
REIGN OF TERROR BEGINS
O CHAPTER EIGHT
REVOLUTION
O CHAPTER NINE
INTO THE LIGHT

BORN in BLOOD
O Masonry is an ancient craft, its exact

beginnings lost in the mists of antiquity.

The mythology of the ancient lodges traces
its origin back to the time of Solomon or
Noah, even Adam.
O Masonry may have begun with Adam, an
ancient cilivization, or a medieval order. But
the historical fact is that at the start of the
18th century there already existed in great
britain and Ireland numerous Masonic
lodge.

O Masonry gained great popularity because of the

harmony between its deals and the new current

of religious and political thought.it had
universal appeal and was embraced by
aristocrat and democrat, conservative and
liberal, religious devotee and free thinker,
rationalist and lover of magic and esoteric rites.
O In countries not under the domination of an
absolutist church, masonry coexisted in perfect
harmony with the civil authorities. Often it was
sponsored by the ruling houses, with kings and
nobleman occupying high positions in the
Fraternity.

O The masonry introduced into the country was the

militant Masonry of Spain that had a hostile

relationship with the church.
O The local secular and clerical officials toward
Masonry mirrored the antagonistic policies which
were fashioned in the mother country
O The first lodge in Spain was barely ten years when
Pope Clement XII issued a Bull in 17338
excommunicating Masons. The bull was not
implemented and had no effect in England, France
and several other European countries.
O 1740, King Philip V published a severe edict against
Masonry which was rigorously implemented.

O Ferdinand VI, who reigned from 17461759, was

equally determined to extirpate Masonry.

O Joseph Torrubia, he concocted a deceitful scheme to
ferret out the masons. On January 17, 1750,
Torrubia obtained a papal brief which authorized
him, as a procensor of the Holy Inquisition in Spain.
O January 10, 1756, Edward Wigat, a native of Dublin,
Ireland, and a Resident Manila (where he was
engaged in the practice of medicine), was hailed
before the Inquisition for Examination.
O February 12, 1756, another Irishman, Edward
kennedyor Diego OKennedy, as he was known to
the natives merchant by trade and a long time
resident of manila, was likewise called before the
agents of the Inquisition.

O in 1808, Napoleon Bonaparte plotted to add Spain to his

growing empire. Under the pretext that he was going to

occupy Portugal, he sent a French army into Spain in March.
1805, Joseph was the Grand Master of the Grand Orient of
France. One of the acts of joseph was to abolish the Holy
Inquisition and put its properties to Masonic use.
November 1809, Lodge Sta. Julia spearheaded the
organization of a Grand Orient in Madrid under the
patronage of Joseph.
July 4, 1811, a Supreme Council of the 33 was created in
Madrid by Count Grasse Tilly under a patent issued by the
Mother supreme council of the World at Charleston.
In the light of the new persecutions, the Grand Oriente
Nacional in 1829, adopted strict measures to preserved the
secrecy of its meetings and membership. It started the
practice of choosing a secret password every six months
(palabra semestral) which all members had to give to gain
admission into a logde.

O In the Philippines the friars developed a

paranoiac fear of Masonry. They saw Masonry

lurking in every corner and attributed all
misfortunes in the country to one Masonic
plot or an other.
O The influence of the friars was such that even
after Masonry attained legal status in Spain,
it continued to be regarded as an illegal
association in the Philippines.

The Pioneer Lodges

O In 1856, a Masonic lodge was finally established in
O

O
O

the Philippines by Jose Malcampo y Monge.

In 1756, the Philippines was in doldrums, isolated
from rest of the world; in 1856, it was a colony
enjoying an economic take-off.
Antonio Ma. Regidor, a pioneer Mason, is our main
source of information on the genesis of the lodge.
The largest Grand Obedience then working in Spain
was the Gran Oriente Lusitano of Portugal, so
Malcampo placed his Lodge under this Grand Body.
He named his Lodge Primera Luz Filipina.
June 26, 1856, another naval officer, Castro mendez
Nunez, arrived in the Philippines and helped
Malcampo in Propagating Masonry.

O 1863, when the Masons in Spain successfully engineered

the insurance of a decree establishing a public education

system in the Philippines.
O 1868, on september 19 a revolution against the despotic
and immoral Isabela II broke out in Cadiz which ended in
her abdication and the installation of a government in
Madrid led by Masons. One of the Masons catapulted to
power was Manuel Ruiz Zorrilla.
O November 17, 1869, opening of the Suez Canal which
cut sailing time from Barcelona to Manila from four
months to only one.
O The first Lodge in Manila was founded by the German
Consul-General. According to Regidor, it was organized
when the differences between the people of the Island
(creoles, mestizos and natives) and the religious orers
came to crisis.

O Lt. Col. Eugenio Garcia Ruiz, the son of the Spanish

O
O

Minister of Justice, arrived in the Philippines with authority

to establish lodges under the Gran Oriente de Espana.
After the triumph of liberalism In Spain In 1868, Carlos
Maria de la torre was sent to the Philippines as the new
Governor General. He was the protg of Prime Minister
Juan Prim, a Mason. De la Torre became very popular
among the native clerics and illustrados.
In 1871, the friars succeeded in cutting short De La Torres
benevolent regime. His benefactor, Gene. Prim. Was
assassinated in 1870 and the following year he was
recalled to Spain.
In 1872, the friars got their chance to hit back at the
Filipino reformist.
Rufino Pascual Torrejon landed in Manila as Grand Delegate
of the Oriente de Espania with the power to organize
lodges in the Philippines.

O On February 28, 1877, Malcampo his post and was

succeede in office by Governor- General Dominggo

Moriones y Murillo (1877-1880).
O The Gran Oriente de Espana was able to reorganized its
lodge and establish new Masonic centers. First to be
reorganized were the Lodge of Cebu, Iloilo and
Zamboanga
O 1885, Lodge Regularidad No. 179 was organized. This
was the aristocrat of spanish lodges and admitted to
membership only prominent persons. The member this
lodge, Gabriel Galza, who was initiated in 1883 when he
was he captain of infantry.
O The Gran oriente de Espana had the following Lodges in
the Philippines: la Primordial No. 10 in Zamboanga,
Regularidad No. 179 in Manila, Luz de oriente No.204 in
Manila, Espana No. 08 in Manila, Magallanes No. 218 in
Cavite, Luz de Balbac No.282 in Balabac Island.

A Masonic Regime in the Philippines

O In 1880s, masonry was again giving the Catholic Church

serious problems. Untold wealth and power were lost to

the Church because of the revolutions led by the masons.
O April 20, 1884, Leo XIII promulgate his encyclical
Humanum Genus, renewing once again the papal
condemnation of Masons. He accused Masons of
espousing religious freedom, promoting civil marriage,
advocating the separation of church and state, proposing
the education of children.
O Emilio Terrero y Perinat, 33, the governor-general, was in
his early sixties. A former officer commanding in New
Castille and Chief of the Kings military household, he
had brilliat military carrer.

O Jose Centeno y Garcia, 33, acting Civil Governor of the

province of Manila, was a long time resident of the country a

mining engineer and author of several geological works on the
Philippines.from 18761886 he served as the chief of the
mining bureau.
O Benigno Quiroga y Lopez Ballesteros, 33, the Director General
for Civil Administration, was the youngest of the three. He was
trained as a forester and had served in the Spanish Cortez as
a liberal.
O The triangulo de loss 33 combined forces to bring the power
and prestige of the friars to their lowest ebb.
O One of their loyal supporters was the daily newspaper La Opinion.

This paper was founded april 1, 1887 as a news and literary daily.

in 1808 after a delay of eleven years, del pilar finally received

his licentiate in jurisprudence. In 1882, he founded the
newspaper Diariong Tagalog, which he used as the
mouthpiece of his nationalist movement.
O In 1887, the triangulo de los 33 struck the first blow against
the friars.

O In Malolos the decree was published with the music and

flags in the presence of Manuel Gomez Florio, the Civil

Governor of Bulacan the group of del pilar paraded in the
streets starting from the house of ex-gobernadorcillo Jose
A. Bautista, accompanied by Captain Julio Galindo of the
Civil Guards.
O The third decree of Quiroga further exacerbated the
dispute of the Triangulo de Loss 33 with the friars.
O August 5, 1887, Jose Rizal returned to the country after an
absence of five years and landed smack in the middle of
the raging struggle between the Triangulo de loss 33 and
the friars
O Two years after his arrival in Spain, Rizal Received a
licentiate in Medicine and, in 1885, a licentiate in
philosophy and letters. Rizal still a student when he got
deeply involved in Masonry and Propaganda Movement.
He joined Acacia No.9 Masonic Lodge in Madrid under
Grand Oriente de Espania.

O December 30, 1887, the Civil Governor of Laguna,

Emilio Bravo, on orders of the central administration,

inquired of the Calamba town council whether the size
and income of the hacienda had increased in the past
three years.
O when del pilar received word of his impending arrest
and deportation, he forthwith got in touch with the
leaders of the Manifestation in Manila and his followers
in Malolos.
O Shortly after the departure of del pilar, Teodoro Sandico
and Pedro Serrano Laktaw also left for Spain. The ranks
of the Filipino patriots in the Philippines were now
depleted. Moreover, the Spanish Masons who
supported them were also gone.

Filipino Masonry in Spain

O January 1889, Marcelo H. del Pilar immediately resumed

the patriotic endeavors which he had begun in the

Philippines. He found the political atmosphere in Spain
conducive to a campaign for reforms in his native land.
O By the time del Pilar arrived, the Filipino colony had
already embarked on several pro patria activities. In the
following October they began a biweekly magazine called
the Revista. del Circulo HispanicoFilipino, but it also did
not endure. Four years later, in 887, the Filipinos
published a patriotic newspaper, Espana en Filipina
O Graciano Lopez- jaena, who was initiated in 1882 at the
age of 26 years, in Porvenir Lodge No.2 in Madrid. He
adopted Bolivar as his Masonic name and was, according
to one of his brother Masons, the most applauded orator
in the lodges.

O Rafael del Pan a creole. His father, Jose Felipe del Pan, was a

longtime Spanish resident of the Philippines, a member of Libertad

Lodge in Manila, and publisher of La Oceania Espanola, one of the
most influential newspaper during spanish regime.
Solidaridad Lodge, maintained close ties with Miguel
Morayta(Pizarro), a Past Grand Master of the Gran Oriente de
Espana.
Ater a year-and-a half of languid existence Solidaridad Lodge was
dissolved, owing, according to Del Pan, to nothing but the schisms
and conflicts which then prevailed in Spanish Masonry
When Del Pilar arrived in Barcelona. Del Pilar took up residence
with two Filipino Masons, Lopez jaena and Mariano Ponce, at
Rambla Canaletas 2,3 it seems he did not immediately collaborate
with them in an Masonic activity.
Next, Del Pilar renewed his acquaintances with Centeno, Quiroga
and the other Spaniards who had extended protection to him and
his group in the Philippines.
Centeno and Quiroga extended assistance to Del Pilar; they saw to
it that Soberana Monacal was distributed to Cabinet minister and
other prominent personalities.

O April 16, 1889 Morayta visited Barcelona in the course of

is campaign to win adherents to his new Orient. In the

other hand, most of the Filipinos in barcelona joined Logia
Revolucion.
O August 30, del pilar and Mariano Ponce reached the 18
and Bautita the 14.
O Lallave joined Numantina Lodge under the Gran oriente
Lusitano Unido. In 1881 he helped establish the Gran
Logia Simbolico Independiente Espanol, becoming its
Grand Orator.
O In 180, del Pilar and Rizal initiated a project to establish
lodges in Manila and the provinces exclusively for Filipinos.
There were two sounds reasons behind the plan
First, it was perceived that Masonry could help unify the
Filipinos and imbue them with a sense of nationhood. In
spite of the strides made in arousing among the Filipinos a
feeling of oneness and a national consciouness.

 Second, the members of Solidaridad Lodge perceived

Masonry as the universal protest against the ambition

fo tyrants. as the supreme manifestation of
democracy, as the organization which could redeem
and transform the Philippines from a downtrodden
Spanish colony, poor and sickly, without rights and
liberties, into a dignified, free and prosperous nation.
after the authority was granted, antonio luna and
pedro serrano laktaw were comissioned to return to
the Philippines to found lodges for Filipinos. Luna
prepared the regulations and a complete plan
organization.
Because of Lunas trip to Paris, on the shoulders of
Serrano alone rested the task of founding lodges for
Filipino and of opening a new Masonic era in the
Philippines.

Nilad, the Mother Lodge

O Around october 1891, Pedro Serrano Laktaw received

his certificate of Maestro Superior from he Normal

School of Madrid. He arrived in manila sometimes in
December and immediately got in touch with his old
group, the Comite de Propaganda, atleast three of
whom were Masos Jose Anacleto Ramos, Timoteo Paez,
and Moises Salvador.
Ramos, thirty-six-years old, was initiate into Masonry in
Corinthian Lodge No. 1382, under the English Constitution
in London on August 1, 1882.
Paez, thirty-one, was the chief of the Tondo district of
the Comite de propaganda. He and Deodato Arellano were
initiated into Masonry under te celestial canopy by
Graciano Lopez-Jaena during the latters brief visit to the
Philippines in May 1890.

O Salvador, twenty-three, was Serranos companion in

Solidaridad Lodge No. 53 in Madrid and held he 3. He was

sent to spain by his parents to study medicine, but got
deeply involved In the propaganda movement and Masonry.
O January 6, 1892, Nilad Lodge, the first all- Filipino Lodge in
the Philippines, was organized. According to Paez, its first set
officers were: Jose A. Ramos(Socorro), Venerable Master;
Moises Salvador(Araw), First Vigilant; Lorenzo
Tuazon(Kamuning), Second Vigilant; Tomas
Tuazon(Gunting),Orator; Pedro Serrano Laktaw (Panday Pira),
Secretary, Keeper of the Seal and Treasurer; Timoteo
Paez(raxa Matanda), Master of Ceremonies and Expert; and
Romualdo Cacnio(Tumawa), Inner Temple Guard.
O Nilad Lodge No. 144 began iniatiating new members even
before receiving is Charter. Filipino flocked to Masonry with
fervent enthusiasm. They welcomed it like water on parched
land, beyond what had been expected, as Rizal put it.

O Nilad Lodge was barely two months old when its

members ventured to establish new Masonic centers in

Manila. In March 182, Moises Salvador(Araw), Arcadio del
Rosario(Job), and Numeriano Adriano(Ipil) conceived the
idea of founding the first daughter of Nilad in Sampaloc.
O Eighteen days later, on May 20, 1892, the first daughter,
Balagtas, received its Charter. It was a bit delayed, but its
precedence was maintained; it was given a number lower
than the others No. 149
O The Propagation of Masonry in the Philippines was no
doubt hastened by a well-planned program of action
which Nilad Lodge observed. Every candidate was reuired
to read and subscribe to a Masonic Program and Code.
Masonic Program and Code
Exmination of the Candidate
Character and Aims of Masonry
Masonry and Religion
Fraternal Spirit, Temperance, Discipline

O Masonry among Filipino was progressing by leaps and

bounds when Jose rizal arrived in Manila at noon on

Sunday, the 26th of June 182, in the company of his
widowed sister, Lucia.
O Rizal had intended to return to his mother country much
earlier because, in his own words, "the field of battle is
the Philippines; there is where we should bethen also,
Rizal demited or resigned from solidaridad Lodge No.553
and was given his Plancha de quite on May 25, 1891.
O Rizal arrived in Hong kong on November 20, 1891 and
was heartily welcomed by the Filipino community in the
colony. His brother Mason Jose Ma. Basa set him up in
one of his apartments.
O Rizal conceived the Liga Filipina to be the society which
would finally unify the entire Philippine archipelago into
a compact, vigorous and homogeneous, body with the
members.

O One day in September 1892, the members of Balagtas

Lodge met in Sampaloc to initiate a new member. He

was a most unlikely candidate. Pale and sickly, he
barely passed the physical requirements for admission.
O Mabini chose katabay, a Tagalog word meaning
cautions and calculating as his symbolic or secret
name in Masonry. After his initiation, to the delight of
his brother Masons, he became a very ardent disciple.
Mabinis mastery of Masonic law and lore would soon
come in handly, fro trouble was brewing in Masonrys
backyard which would eventually lead to the downfall
of Nilad Lodge.

The Gran Consejo Regional

O 1893 the masons had a taste of tranquility. The

authorities, having banished Rizal to Dapitan and after

punishing those who took part in the events that
transpired after his arrival at Manila.
O It began with the assumption by Nilad Lodge No. 144 of
the title of Mother Lodge and its exercise in various
ways of the authority of the Gran Oriente Espanol itself.
O The conflict between the lodge and the Mother lodge
deepend when Nilad issued an order on May 28, 1892,
directing to Balagtas Lodge No. 149 to refrain from
initiating candidates and instruction all member.
O On March 22, Dalisay Lodge asked for the intervention of
Del Pilar to prohibit Nilad Lodge from interfering in its
affairs. On april 3, labong lodge accused Serrano of
witholding its constitutive.

O On October 7, 1893, Roji took steps to implement the ruling

O

from Madrid declaring the Regional Grand Council illegal.

The last Lodge to be founded in Manila under the regional
Grand Council before the Revolution was Logia Binhi No.
216, founded by the brothers Venancio(Kidlat) and Alejandro
Reyes, miguel L. Heras(Binhi), Justo Guido(Sumarap) and
Felipe Baretto, all members of the Dalisay Lodge.
June 24, 1893, a Catholic priest, Fr. Severo
Buenaventura(kwitib), founded the Masonic Triangle in Imus,
Cavite and named it Pilar in Honor of the Patron saint in
town. Nuestra senora del pilar.
In Aparri, Cagayan, Gracio Gonzaga (Camol) and Pastor
Makanaya founded Logia Minerva with the help of enrique
Escurda (Ilocano) and Faustino Villaruel(Ilaw)
The initiation of the first Filipina Masona was on for July 18,
189. Practically everyone who was anybody in Masonry
came.

O Ironically, Rizal during his exile did not

communicate with brother masons. It was a

deliberate decision. He knew his movements
were closely watched and his mail censored.
O The year 1893 ended in peace for the
Masons, but in the following year the easy
times would come to an abrupt and body
end. A new painful era in the life of the Craft.

Reign of Terror Begins

O In march 1894, the government resumed its persecution of

Masons, this time with greater severity. It was also more

disturbing, for the masons were being betrayed by
informers from their own ranks.
O March 31, Ambrocio Flores, the Grand President of the Gran
Consejo Regional, sounded the alarm. He announced that
the friars had list of Masons more or less correct, more or
less extensive and that even Masonic correspondence.
O Villaruels house, Molina who the Orator of the Lodge,
mentioned the fact that he had discovered In a masonic
manal that they lacked three importance things in lodge,
that is to say, the square, the triangle and the circle, which,
representing the Master and the room.

O The masons were not always successful in outwitting

the authorities. It is related that one evening the body of

man who evidently been murdered was found in Manila
to Dagupan.
O Despite the persecution, some progress was still
recorded in the Masonic movement. It was during this
season of depressment that the Gran oriente Nacional
de Espana.
O The last lodge established in the Philippines before the
outbreak of the revolution also belonged to this Gran
Oriente called Crisalida Lodge founded in Manila by Jose
Martin y Martin with the assistance of Fautisno
vaillaruel, Ramon Padilla, Estanislao Legaspi.
O The year 1895 saw the beginning of a real reign of terror
for the philippines Masonry. On january 22, mabini
informed del pilar Rumors of an approaching rebellion
are starting again to circulate here and the government.

O As the months passed more abuses were committed by the

government. By that time the spirit of rebellion had

permeated the masses, especially in the Tagalog pronvinces.
The katipunan intensified its underground work, but the
government, unware of its existence and knowing Masonry
only, indiscriminately confused Masonry with insurrection.
O 1895, the disputes between the patriots of Malolos in the
province of Bulacan and the friars flared up anew. The third
curate assigned to Malolos since the fight broke out
O On March 14, Aguinaldo and his sponsor journeyed from
Kawit to Manila and under cover of night were conducted to
the house of Andres Bonifacio in Calle Clavel, Binondo, where
the Supremo personally initiated Aguinaldo into the
Katipunan.
O Back in Kawit, Cavite, Aguinaldo devoted himself wholeheartedly to the two organization. By his own admission he
was a Captain Municipal By day and a Masonic-Katipunero by
night.

Revolution
O In 1896, the air was thick the rumors of an impending

revolution. But the Spanish authorities still stubbornly

refuse to heed the call of the Filipino patriots for reforms
as they had ignored Rizals warning to them in 1889 in La
Solidaridad; If you continue to deport, imprison, and
abuse (Filipino) arbitrarily, if you hurt them for your own
mistakes, you frustrate them, you erase their dislike for
revolution and upheavals, you make them bitter and you
stir them to fight.
O The spectacular growth of the Katipunan had an adverse
effect o the Masonic movement. The growth of the
Katipunan made the society vunerable discovery. The
enthusiastic members held frequent meetings in large
numbers, arousing suspicion. From April 17, 1896 up to
the discovery of the Katipunan in August, numerous
reports were maid against the Mason.

O April 17, orders were issued to search the home of Luis

H. Del Pilar in Bulacan, and those of Luis Villareal, Jose

A. Ramos, Pascual H. Poblete, the window of Marti, the
sister of Father Burgos and several others in Manila, all
whom were suspected of being Masons and antiSpanish.
O April 18., Jose Albert, Salvador V. del Rosario, and Pedro
Serrano Laktaw .
O The police watch set up by Blanco enabled him to arrest

and quietly deport suspected individuals. He was

deliberately low keyed about his countermeasures in
order not to panic the Spaniards in Manila.
O On the 13th of the same month, Fr. Agustine Fernandez,
the parish priest of San Pedro Makati, wrote Manuel
Luango, Civil Governor of Manila, providing him with the
names of the main promoters of Masonic meetings.

O Then on the 19th, the Katipunan was publicly exposed by

Fr. Mariano Gil the real backbone of the separatist

movement.
O Nueva Ecija, on September 2, a large rebel forced staged
a two-pronged attack on the Spanish garrison in San
Isidro, the capital of the province. One group under
Mariano Llanera (the founder of Triangulo Centeno in
Cabiao) marched a long column from Cabiao accompanied
by the town band, while another flank led by Pantaleon
Belmonte (the founder of Triangulo Morayta in Gapan)
started from Gapan.
O The officers of the lodge were the next targets,
particularly those belonging to lodge which were reported
to be in close collaboration with the Katipunan, that is,
lodges Modestia Dalisay, Taliba and Walana
O Jose Rizal (Dimasalang) was also arrested although he had
spent the past four years in exile in Dapitan and did not
engage in any revolutionary activity.

O Before Rizal arrest had volunteered to go Cuba in

response to a Spanish government appeal for doctors

to help check the spread of yellow fever in that country.
O The Masons who were Spaniards were not spared.
O Jose Martin y Martin (Cordoba), the Grand Deputy in the

Philippines of the Grand Oriente Nacional de Espana, was

apprehended and imprisoned in Fort Santiago where he
Languished until March 18, 1897.
O Pedro Duarte, an officer of the Guardia Civil and a founder
of Lodge Luz de Oriente, was likewise arrested and
deported to Guam on orders of the GovernorGeneral.

O After hasty trials, the death sentence was imposed upon Jose

Rizal, Numeriano Adriano, Domingo Franco, Moises Salvador,

Jose Dizon, Antonio Salazar, Luis Villareal, Faustimo Villaruel,
Ramon Padilla, Jeronimo Medina, Eustacio Manalac, Teodoro
Plata and others. The following were ordered deported:
antonio Luna, Jose Reyes Tolentino, Aniceto avelino, Pascual
Poblete.
O On December 30, Rizal was executed by musketry. After
sunrise he was marched from Fort Santiago to the site of his
execution at the Luneta, bound elbow to elbow and flanked by
two priest.
O On January 11, 1897, it was the turn of Adriano, Franco,
Salvador, Dizon, Medina, Manalac, Salazar, Villareal, Villaruel
and Padilla of face the firing squad.
O On September 11, 1896, the ten, with three non-Masons were
charged with treason. On the same day, Brigadier General
Francisco Rizzo, Commanding general of operations for the
province of Cavite, ordered the formation of a council of war.

O In La union, fathers Garces and Gaerlan and some of the

other prisoners broke down and admitted the charges.

Father Garces, in Particular, declared that he and Fathers
Gaerlan and Dacanay were initiated into the mysteries of
Masonry in the lodge of Rousseau (Masonic name of Aruto
Dancel, the founder of the lodge) in San Fernando, La
Union.
The Friars had an opportunity t o work on Rizals
retraction when he was brought to Fort Santiango on
November 3.
first, the friars knew the task was next to impossible. In
Dapitan, four years earlier, the finest minds of the Jesuits
tried their best for several months to induce Rizal to
acknowledge his error they all failed.
second, the friars dared not torture Rizal into making a
retraction. They had no compunctions about manhandling
the other masons, especially the officers of the Gran
Consejo Regional, but with Rizal it was different.

O Third, the friars at that time could not make a fraudulent

claim that Rizal had retracted. In those days, the friars, here
and abroad, were notorious for making spurious assertions
that they to be executed or who were on their death bed.
O In 1897, the rebel successes came to a halt. In january of
that year more than 12,000 fresh troops arrived from Spain
enabling Polavieja to mount a massive counterattack on
rebel strongholds in Cavite.
O The reverses suffered by the rebels brought to the fore a
serious defect in their organizational setup. From the
beginning the Katipunan in Cavite was divided into two
factions known as the Magdiwang Council which was headed
by the town executive of Noveleta, Mariano Alvarez, who
happened to be the uncle in law of Andres Bonifacio, and the
Magdalo Council, was named After Emilio Aguinaldo.

O November 1-2, 1897, fifty-two of the revolutionary

leaders in Biak-na-Bato convened as a contituent

Assembly of Representatives and adopted the
Contitution Provisional de la Republica de Filipinas.
O The Contitution of Biak-na-Bato was never fully

enforced in the country. In the following month, the

rebels entered into a peace pact with the Spaniards
under the terms of which the revolutionary leaders
agreed to suspend under hostilities and go into
voluntary exile.

Into the Light

O Emilio Aguinaldo and his party arrived in Hong kong in the

evening of December 29, 1897.

O On April 1, 1898, American declared war on Spain. On the
26th, Commodore George E. Dewey received orders to
commence operations against the Spanish fleet.
O On May 19, Aguinaldo return to the Philippines, brought
over by the Americans aboard the Coast Guard revenue
cutter McCulloch.
O Aguinaldo proclaimed on June 12, 1898, the independence
of the Philippines before the filipino people and the
civilized nations of the world. An Act of Proclamation of
Independence of the Filipino People written by Ambrocio
Rianzares Baustista.

O The Hong kong designed flag, as it originally

appeared, consisted of two Horizontal stripes, Blue on

top and Red Below. It had a equilateral triangle at the
host and within the triangle was mythological sun. this
sun was surrounded by rays and had eyebrows, eye, a
nose and a mouth. Also within the triangle were sun
and stars were in gold, or yellow in color.
O Carlos Ronquillo, the private secretary of Aguinaldo,
disclosed that Aguinaldo patterned the general design
of his flag after the Cuban Banner and adopted the
mythological sun which appears on the Flag of South
American republics.
O also in July 12 1898, that Aguinaldo and Apolinario
Mabini met for the first time. They were natural team,
Aguinaldonprovided the muscle for the Revolution,
Mabini the brains. Eventually, the two would invest the
Revolution with a distinctive Masonic Flavor.

O To Mabini, the Revolution should not be confined to the

O
O

Tagalog provinces like the Katipunan. It should be a revolution

of an entire people rising as one, recognizing the leadership
of President and the moral guidance of a legislator.
For decades the Filipino Masons, like their brethren in Spain,
had fought for religious freedom.
The moments of the lodge arrived on july 31, 1898. on the
13th of August, they took part in the mock battle and captured
Manila. Eight days later, On August 21, the lodge held its first
meeting at regimental headquarters.
On July 31 , 1899, exactly one year after it arrived the
Regiment of Volunteers of the State of North Dakota returned
to the United States. Back home they surrender the
Provisional Charte of the Military Lodge to the Grand Lodge of
North Dakota.
Apart from the activities of the Military Lodge, two other
function of a Masonic character took place during the period.
Both are traceable to the remarkable diligence of Col. Frank
M. Foote at the First Wyoming Infantry, US Volunteers.

O Five months later, May 18, Foote, in his capacity as a Sovereign

Gran Inspector General of the Scottish Rite, and Major John M.

Sears, 33. Deputy inspector General for Tennessee introduced the
American Brand of the Scottish of the Scottish Rite of
Freemasonry in Philippines.
THREE MASONS WHO WERE WITH DEWEY WHEN HE DEMOLISHED
MONTOJOs FLEET

Joseph B. coghlan, a 54 year old graduate of the Naval

Academy, who was in command of the cruiser Raleigh. He
was a Past master of Solano Lodge No. 229 under the Grand
Lodge of California, a Past High Priest of Naval Chapter No. 35
and a member of Naval Commandery, Knights Templar, of
Vallejo, California
Francisco Aguado a young Filipino pilot, who was with
Dewey aboard the Olympia. He was hired to guide the Fleet in
Philippine waters. Aguado was member of Lodge St. John No.
618 of the Gran Lodge of Scotland, and was a Scottish Rite
Mason Belonging to Phoenix Chapter of rose Croix no. 17

O Jose Alejandrino, who was on board the transport

Zafiro. He was one of those who voluntarily joined

Aguinaldo in Hong Kong after the Pact of Biak-na-Bato
was signed in 1897. Alejandrino was a member of
Logia Solidaridad No. 53 in Madrid that worked under
the auspices of he Gran Oriente Espanola.
O After Dewey defeated the Spanish fleet, the three
Masons went their different ways, Coghlan was
advanved six numbers in ranks for his eminent and
conspicuous conduct in the battle of manila bay and
retired in 1906 as a Rear Admiral. He did not
participate in Masonic activities in the Philipines.
O Through the years , the fortunes of the sundry Masonic
organizations would wax and wane; some would
falter, others would flourish.

O Today we live in a democratic society

and breath the air of freedom. The

Masonic ideals of separation of Church
and State, freedom of religious worship,
public education, and freedom of
expression are now part of the Law of
the Land. We have grown so
accustomed to them we take them for
granted and assume that they always
been there.