“When a Filipino wants something, the first thing he demands is that it should be strong. The Filipino style, therefore, ought to be strong above all else, and this is your style.”- Letter of Jose Rizal to Plaridel, March 3, 1889, London
In 1882 Marcelo H. Del Pilar was a member of the group which founded the first bilingual newspaper- Tagalog, and Spanish- in the Philippines, Diariong Tagalog. Though the publisher was ostensibly Francisco Calvo Munoz, a peninsular treasury official in the Philippines, the real moving spirit behind the paper was Del Pilar, who acted as editor of the Tagalog section, and Basilio Teodoro Moran, the business manager.
The newspaper was founded by several traders from Malolos, capital of the province of Bulacan, from where Del Pilar had formed around him a group of relatives and associates who shared his nationalistic interest.
Del Pilar was meanwhile occupied with other literary activities on two different fronts. From the end of 1887, he began to write political articles which he sent to his friend and disciple, Mariano Ponce, then a university student in Barcelona. In articles, published in republican newspapers there, he attacked the political power of the friars in the Philippines, argued against the system of deportation by administrative decree, and presented an eloquent defense of Rizal’s Noli Me Tangere against the critique of Father Font using the pseudonyms Piping Dilat and Plaridel.
While waging a fight in Spain against the friars and in favor of political rights, he was working on another level in the Philippines for the same ends. To counteract the influence of Father Rodriquez' pamphlets, he wrote, under the pseudonym Dolores Manapat, a Tagalog pamphlet entitled “Caiigat Cayo,” parodying the title of Father Rodriguez. In it he defended Rizal and attacked the friars as traffickers in religion, adulterating the religion of Jesus, etc. Other pamphlets and broadsides were circulated in Malolos and in Manila in this time, and Del Pilar and his associates were responsible for their publication and circulation.
The regime of Governor-General Fernando Primo de Rivera had seen a considerable realization of the censorship of the press, and the Diariong Tagalog to full advantage of this relative liberty to speak out in favor of various reforms, as well as to promote a moderate gospel of nationalism. One of the notable articles in this sense was the “El Amor Patrio” of Rizal, translated into eloquent Tagalog by Del Pilar entitled “Pag-ibig sa Tinubuang Lupa”.
A letter of Jose Rizal dated October 12, 1882, revealed to his older brother Paciano Rizal that he cannot translate the word “Freiheit” and “Liberty” in the Filipino language. Rizal admitted that he only new the word “ Kalayaan” and Malaya thru the writings of Marcelo H. del Pilar in Diariong Tagalog “ Pagibig sa Tinubuang Lupa”.
Del Pilar gave birth to the socio-political and nationalistic sense of the word Kalayaan. The dictionary made by Buenaventura in 1613, and Noceda in 1860 did not mention any word and meaning of the word “Kalayaan or Malaya.”
It was said that Padre Mariano Sevilla used the word “Kalayaan” in his prayer booklet which means “Kalangitan” or heavens- a condition of the soul that can pass through any prison without any hindrances. Prosperity was also embedded in the word Kalayaan for those persons who had attained glory. (Veneracion:2012).
But Del Pilar gave the emphatic meaning of the word Kalayaan in a socio-political and nationalistic sense. Proof of this the very revolutionary newspaper of Katipunan adopted the name “Kalayaan” from the article of Marcelo H. del Pilar “Kalayaan” he profoundly explained the meaning and the essence of the word. Of all the forerunners of the Revolution, Del Pilar was the one who inspired most Andres Bonifacio. So intimately was Del Pilar connected with the Katipunan, and so highly was he regarded by its leaders, that Bonifacio reverently copied the letters of Del Pilar to his brother-in-law, Deodato Arellano, considering them as sacred relics and, together with the letters that he himself received, as guides for action. As an expression of Bonifacio’s regard for Del Pilar, he used the latter’s name as editor of the Kalayaan, the Katipunan organ, and made Del Pilar’s brother-in-law, Arellano, the first president of the Katipunan. (Zaide, 1956)
He even moved the 2nd President of Katipunan, Roman Basa from Cavite to support the secret propagation of La Solidaridad and Apolinario Mabini reported that Andres Bonifacio the 3rd President of Katipunan, collected some funds to support the political program of Plaridel in Spain and the works of La Solidaridad.
No less than Epifanio Delos Santos described the enormous amount contribution as far as Philippine Mass Communication and Journalism are a concern: “If Del Pilar’s articles, essays, and monographs, scattered throughout newspapers and reviews, but especially in La Solidaridad, and the writing published independently were gathered, properly classified, and published in several volumes, as was done by General Luna and Graciano Lopez Jaena, each of whom selected his own respective articles in a volume, Del Pilar would make at least five or six volumes in quarto, of 400 pages each, and would have no equal in Philippine Bibliography so far as the wealth of local and international information and serenity and fearlessness in journalistic controversy are concerned.”
It is also noteworthy to mention the recent study of The Journal of Communication SEECI (Spanish Society for the Study of Communication Iberoamericana) founded in March 1997 by a group of teachers of Journalism and Communication Studies at the University of Madrid (Spain) in 2000 by Enrique Rios had an article that read in part:
Although Marcelo H. del Pilar has a mausoleum in Manila as one of its leaders, we believe that justice was not done with him, because he had one of the most enlightened minds, and undoubtedly was the main brain that pointed the way to the revolution after its death, and in their contacts with Deodato Arellano, was the inspiration for the Katipunan. We ask for the rehabilitation of (rectification in the proper place of Del Pilar in the country’s pantheon of heroes)"Plaridel ".
Although they are not Filipinos, by understanding the significant role played by Del Pilar, his tireless effort in propaganda, organizing secret societies, and defending press freedom. SEECI was asking since 2000 a rehabilitation and justice for “Plaridel” in the Philippine national pantheon. How much more we, Filipinos, and this country are the very reason for Marcelo H. del Pilar’s lamentations and sacrifices.
The rules set down by Marcelo H. del Pilar, a writer- patriot have been thought of by modern historians as the blueprint of the Revolution for freedom, justice, and democracy. A careful study of his dramatic life and massive literary output reveals to us today that he was the most impressive figure of his age. He was the first political scientist who probed into the secrets of colonial statecraft and brilliantly described the game of power of politics ruing hi time. His driving force was his intense love for the Motherland. His genius created a nation (Cruz, 2009)
Justice for the man whose intelligence become the bulwark of the formation of this Nation.
Until his death on July 4, 1896, he said, “Tell my family I could no longer engage anything with them, I will die in the hand of my loyal friends. Go on and continue the campaign for the redemption and freedom of our country. On August 30, 1896, Andres Bonifacio and Katipunan attacked the Spanish garrison “El Polvorin” - the same date Marcelo H. del Pilar was born in 1850.
He died fighting not only for the freedom of the press but also for the freedom of his country. Worthy to be called the Father of Philippine Press Freedom!
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