The REFORM

Movement
 The Role of the Middle
Class
 FILIPINO MIDDLE CLASS
 They rose to a position of power in the
Filipino Community
 Spanish authorities looked down upon
them
 The “natives”, on the other hand, looked at
them with suspicion
 They were looking for a “place in the sun”
 The NATURE of the Reform
Movement
 ASSIMILATION
accomplished in a
peaceful manner.

España y Filipinas by Juan Luna:

Portrays the propagandists hope of
assimilation.
The NATURE of the Reform
Movement
 The Reformists (Propagandists)
believed in the power of WORDS, and
not of the sword, to achieve their
purpose.
 There was NO clamor for
independence, the reformists believed
that the Filipinos would be better off if
they were to become Spanish Citizens.
As Spanish Citizens:
 Representation in the Spanish Cortes:
Filipinos could propose and
participate in the approval of laws
beneficial to the country.
 Immunity from abuses
 Freedom from paying unreasonable
taxes.
 The Great Reformists
 Only a few of the sons of the wealthy
Filipinos that went to Spain joined the
Propaganda Movement
 They were those who were concerned
of their country
Graciano Lopez-Jaena
 The GREAT ORATOR
 He wrote FRAY BOTOD
which deals with the
ignorance, abuses and
immorality of a friar named
Botod
 He founded the LA
SOLIDARIDAD (Sol)
 Marcelo Hilario del Pilar
 The POLITICAL
ANALYST of the Filipino
Colony in Spain
 He founded DIARIONG
TAGALOG
 Dec. 1889, he took over
the editorship of the Sol
and became the moving
spirit behind the Reform
Movement
Dr. Jose Rizal
 NATIONAL HERO
 Wrote his first poem
at the age of eight
 Wrote two great
novels: the NOLI and
the FILI
 Died as a martyr on
Dec. 30, 1896 in
Bagumbayan
Rizal with MH del Pilar and Mariano Ponce, a close collaborator of del Pilar at the Sol
The Filipino student community in Madrid, taken in 1890.
The execution of Jose Rizal in Luneta on December 30, 1896.
La Solidaridad

The Official Organ

of the Propaganda
Movement
La Solidaridad
 The paper was dedicated to:
 Expose the conditions in the Philippines;
 Defend the Filipinos against malicious and
slanderous attacks of the hired writers of
the friars; and
 Publish studies about the Philippines and
the Filipinos
La Solidaridad
 In writing for the Sol, the Reformists
used pen names for obvious reasons:
 J. RIZAL: Dimas Alang; Laong Laan
 M. PONCE: Tikbalang; Naning; Kalipulako
 ANTONIO LUNA: Taga-ilog
 MH del PILAR: Plaridel
 JOSE MA. PANGANIBAN: Jomapa
 G. LOPEZ-JAENA: Diego Laura
La Solidaridad
 Accomplishments of the Sol:
 It represented the ideals of the Filipino
Reformist Group;
 It exposed the evils in the Philippine
Society;
 It belied the claim that Filipinos had no
civilization before the coming of Spaniards.
 Hispano-Filipino
Association
 Composed of Filipinos and Spaniards who
favored the granting of reforms in the colony.
 To make the propaganda work effective, the
society was divided into 3 sections:
 The POLITICAL Section under M.H. del Pilar
 The LITERARY Section under Mariano Ponce
 The SPORTS Section under Tomas Arejola
Rizal with Luna and Valentin Ventura at their favorite sport of fencing.
Hispano-Filipino Association
 They believed that the reforms needed in the
Philippines were:
 The compulsory teaching of Spanish in all schools;
 The suppression of inhuman punishment in all jails
and tribunals of justice;
 The establishment of a civil registrar and the
register of deeds;
 The abolition of unfair taxes;
 The establishment of secondary schools in the
archipelago;
Hispano-Filipino Association
 Reforms needed:
 Reforms in UST in order to raise it to the
rank of the universities in Spain;
 The establishment of agricultural banks;
 The initiation of reforms in the public
administration; and
 The construction of good roads and
railways.
 La Liga Filipina
 A civic society founded by Rizal
 Aims:
 To unite the whole archipelago into one compact,
vigorous and homogenous body;
 Mutual protection in every want and necessity;
 Defense against all violence and injustice;
 Encouragement of instruction, agriculture and
commerce;
 Study and application of reforms.
La Liga Filipina
 At first the Liga was quite active.
Bonifacio in particular exerted great
efforts to organize chapters in
various districts of Manila.
 A few months later, however, the
Supreme Council of the Liga
dissolved the society.
La Liga Filipina
 The reformist leaders found out that
most of the councils were no longer
willing to send funds to the Madrid
propagandists
 This was because they had become
convinced that peaceful agitation for
reforms was futile.
La Liga Filipina
 The Liga membership split into two
groups:
1. Cuerpo de Compromisarios:
 the conservatives which pledged to
continue supporting the La Solidaridad
 It lasted only for a few months for its
members, though patriotic, were passive
and too conservative to make the society
an effective medium of the Propaganda.
La Liga Filipina
2. Katipunan
 A secret society of radicals led by
Bonifacio
 Organized on the very day Rizal was
deported to Dapitan.
The Failure of the Reform
Movement
Causes of the Failure
of the Reform
Movement:
1. Spain was too pre-
occupied with its own
internal problems to
give a thought to the
Colonial Problem.
The Failure of the Reform
Movement
2. The Friars were too powerful even in
Spain. The Sol was counteracted by
the influential and powerful
newspaper of the friars, the LA
POLITICA DE ESPAÑA EN
FILIPINAS
The Failure of the Reform
Movement
3. The movement has no sufficient
means to carry out their aims;
4. The propagandists were divided
against themselves by petty
jealousies.
 Although the Reform Movement was a
failure in the achievement of its goals, it
was still a success for its failure led to
the founding of the Revolutionary
Katipunan with separatist aims.