LA SOLIDARIDAD

The roots of the Propaganda Movement lay far back in in the late 18th and early 19th century. When
Spain opened the borders of the Philippines to international trade, the too opened it to the
contemporary currents of European political thoughts.

It were mainly economic reasons which led to an educational reform in the Philippines. The friarocracy
had long used its control of education to maintain its position. So the teaching of foreign languages and
scientific and technical subjects were not permitted. In 1863 the Spanish government introduced a
system of public education that opened new opportunities to Filipinos for better education.

Spain itself was having trouble adjusting to the liberal democratic yearnings of 19th century Europe. In
1868, a liberal revolution in Spain deposed Queen Isabella II and gave rise to the short lived First
Republic. A liberal governor, General Carlos Maria de la Torre, was appointed at this time to the
Philippines. He abolished censorship and extended to Filipinos the rights of free speech and assembly
contained in the Spanish constitution of 1869. The popular governor did not last long. He was to be
replaced in 1871 by Rafael de Izquierdo who promptly rescinded the liberal measures.

The following year in Cavite, 200 Filipino recruits revolted and murdered their Spanish officers. The
Spanish suppressed the revolt brutally and used the opportunity to implicate the liberal critics of
Spanish authority in an imaginary wider conspiracy. Many liberals were arrested or driven into exile. A
military court condemned the reformist Fathers Jose Burgos, Mariano Gomez and Jacinto Zamora to
death. The three priests were garroted publicly on February 20, 1872 and made martyrs for the
nationalist cause.

Between 1872 and 1892, a national consciousness was growing among the Filipino émigrés who had
settled in Europe. In the freer atmosphere of Europe, these émigrés - liberals exiled in 1872 and
students attending European universities- fullfilled their desire to form a purely Filipino organization
with the establishment of La Solidaridad in Barcelona on December 13, 1888.

Rizal's cousin, Galicano Apacible, became president of La Solidaridad. Among the other officers were
Graciano Lopez-Jaena as vice-president and Mariano Ponce as treasurer. Rizal, in London at the time,
was named Honorary President. Unfortunately, Apacible could not hold the wrangling reformists
together. The prestige of Rizal and the political wisdom of del Pilar was needed to unite the Filipinos in
Spain and to coordinate their efforts.

But finally, on February 15, 1889, the Filipino propagandists were able to get together behind a new
publication which they called La Solidaridad, and which for its more than five years of its existence
became the principal organ of the propaganda movement. It existed up to November 15, 1895. Its first
editor was Graciano Lopez-Jaena, a noted orator and pamphleteer who had left the islands in 1880 after
the publication of his satirical short novel (Fray Botod (Brother Fatso), an unflattering portrait of a
provincial friar). He was soon succeeded by Marcelo H. del Pilar. La Solidaridad was a political
propaganda paper with a liberal, reformist orientation dedicated to the task of fighting reaction in all its
forms.

The paper stood for the moderate aims of representation of the Philippines in the Cortes, or Spanish
parliament; secularization of the clergy; legalization of Spanish and Filipino equality; creation of a public
school system independent of the friars; abolition of the polo (labor service) and vandala (forced sale of
local products to the government); guarantee of basic freedoms of speech and association; and equal
opportunity for Filipinos and Spanish to enter government service.

The editorial of the first issue of La Solidaridad expressed its aim: "Our aspirations are modest, very
modest. Our program, aside from being simple, is clear: to combat reaction, to stop all retrogressive
steps, to extol and adopt liberal ideas, to defend progress; in a word, to be a propagandist, above all, of
democratic ideas in order to make these supreme in all nations here and across the seas.

The aims, therefore, of La Solidaridad are described as to collect, to gather, libertarian ideas which are
manifested daily in the field of politics, science, art, literature, commerce, agriculture and industry. We
shall also discuss all problems relating to the general interest of the nation and seek solutions to those
problems in high-level and democratic manner. With regard to the Philippines, since she needs the most
help, not being represented in the Cortes, we shall pay particular attention to the defense of her
democratic rights, the accomplishment of which is our patriotic duty.

That nation of eight million souls should not, must not be the exclusive preserve of theocracy and
traditionalism.
The writers for La Solidaridad were mostly Filipinos, such as Marcelo H. del Pilar (Plaridel), a reformist
lawyer, who was active in the anti-friar movement and fled to Spain in 1888, Dr. Jose Rizal (Laon Laan),
Mariano Ponce (Naning, Kalipulo, Tigbalang), Antonio Luna (Taga Ilog), Jose Ma. Panganiban (Jomapa),
Dr. Pedro Paterno, Antonio Ma. Regidor, Isabelo delos Reyes, Eduardo de Lete and Jose Alejandrino.

Some friends of the Propaganda Movement also contributed, notably Professor Blumentritt (Austrian
geographer and ethnologist) and Dr. Morayta ( Spanish Historian, university professor and statesman).

The fact, that they wrote in Spanish, was certainly an important factor limiting the influence of the
propagandists, because Spanish was a language virtually unknown to the masses. Additionally
censorship seriously limited the inflow of such reading matter and made it`s possession very risky.

But despite all the foregoing, the influence of the Propaganda on the revolution cannot be discounted.
True, La Solidaridad itself, Rizal's novels, and other propaganda material had limited circulation, but
these reached the local ilustrados who in most instances came to lead the revolutionary forces in their
provinces. The fund-raising efforts of local committees and masonic lodges and the clandestine attempts
to distribute these materials involved more individuals in the campaign for reforms. The very attempts
of the government to stop the entry of La Solidaridad and prevent its distribution highlighted the lack of
freedoms that the propagandists were condemning.

Even if readership was small, seepage of information to other groups certainly occurred. And because
what the propagandists wrote were accurate reflections of reality, a feeling of empathy developed
wherever news of their work was heard. The articulation of their own feelings of oppression heightened
the ferment of the people and herein lay the continuity between reformism and revolution despite their
diametrically opposed means and goals.

The Propaganda Movement languished after Rizal's arrest and the collapse of the Liga Filipina. La
Solidaridad published it`s last issue on November 15th, 1895), M.H. del Pilar wrote his farewell editorial
saying : "We are persuaded that no sacrifices are too little to win the rights and the liberty of a nation
that is oppressed by slavery."

In 1896 both del Pilar and Lopez Jaena died in Barcelona, worn down by poverty and disappointment