THE MASONIC LIFE OF MANUEL A.

ROXAS
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By: MW Reynold S. Fajardo, PGM, GMH

The Masonic life of Manuel A. Roxas began on August 14,

1920. Barely 28 years of age, he was already Governor of his
province.

Manuel was born on January 1, 1892 to Gerardo Roxas and

Rosario Acuna in Capiz, Capiz, a town which has since been
renamed Roxas City in his honor.

He lost his father before his birth but his maternal

grandmother took charge of his education. Sent to
Hongkong to study, he returned to Manila after a year
and enrolled in the Manila High School. Thereafter, he
studied law at the newly-opened University of the
Philippines, then under the presidency of a noted
Scottish Rite Mason, Murray Bartlett. As a law
student, Roxas studied at the feet of another Scottish
Rite Mason, George A. Malcolm. He graduated
valedictorian in 1913 and topped the bar examinations
given in the same year.

Roxas immediately went into law practice in

partnership with his only brother, Mamerto. Shortly
thereafter, however, he accepted an appointment as
private secretary to Chief Justice Cayetano S.
Arellano. He also taught law in the Philippine Law
School and the National University. After a few years
stint with Chief Justice Arellano, the political bug bit
Roxas. He resigned and returned to his home
province to accept an appointment as municipal
councilor. In 1919, he ran for governor and won.

Shortly after the election of Roxas, the Masons of

Capiz led by Senator Altavas conceived the idea of
founding a Masonic lodge in their province. They
received a dispensation from Grand Master Milton
Earl Springer on September 11 and then, at the
Annual Communication of the Grand Lodge held in
January 1920, they were given a charter for their
lodge. It was named Makawiwili Lodge No. 55, after a
beautiful mountain within the view of Capiz, Capiz.
Grand Master Rafael Palma constituted the lodge on
April 9, 1920 in the spacious hall of the "palatial
residence" of Altavas in the presence of the leading
citizens of the province, including Governor Roxas.

Four months after the constitution of Makawiwili

Lodge No. 55, Roxas was honored as one of its
initiates. In a terse report to the Senior Grand
Lecturer, Grand Lodge Inspector Manuel Camus
stated: "Makawiwili Lodge No. 55 at Capiz was visited
by me on August 14 (1920). Governor Manuel Roxas
of the province was initiated. WB Jose Altavas,
Master of the Lodge, used the old Spanish ritual. The
ceremony was impressive xxx."

The entry of Roxas into the Fraternity came as no

surprise. Even that early, he already had extensive
associations with Masons who must have impressed
him favorably. In his home province alone, a number
of those who promoted his career and encouraged
him were Masons, among whom were Senator Jose
Altavas, Secretary of the Provincial Board Ramon
Acuna Arnaldo, Fortunato Acuna, Felipe Fernando,
Gervacio Ramirez and Rito Isla.

In 1921, Roxas attracted national attention. He was

elected head of the Convention of Provincial
Governors and his name appeared in the headlines of
the country's newspapers. His political stock was now
on the rise and he caught the attention of Senate
President Manuel L. Quezon, PGM, one of the two
leading political figures in the country. Another feather
was added to his cap when he married Trinidad de
Leon, the lovely daughter of a powerful political figure
from Bulacan, a Senator and Mason, Ceferino de
Leon.

In 1922 Roxas launched his candidacy for a seat in

the House of Representatives to represent his district
in Capiz and won with an impressive majority. In the
same elections, the Speaker of the House of
Representatives, Sergio Osmena, run for the Senate,
so the Speakership was up for grabs. Roxas aspired
for the position. With the backing of Senate President
Quezon and Senator Osmena, he handily defeated
Claro M. Recto, the candidate of the Democrata
Party. In those days, the Speaker of the House of
Representatives was not just a presiding officer but an
official who wielded great powers and influence.

Roxas therefore, became one of the country's leading

political figures. In 1923, the much written-about
dispute between the unpopular Governor Leonard
Wood and Senate President Quezon erupted into the
open. In July, the Filipino members of Wood's cabinet
resigned in mass, precipitating a cabinet crisis.
Everyone in the government machinery took sides.
Speaker Roxas and most of the members of the
Philippine Legislature sided with Quezon. Eventually,
the Philippine Legislature adopted a resolution urging
United States President Calvin Coolidge to recall
Wood. Roxas was chosen to head a special mission
to Washington to undertake this delicate mission.

Predestinately, just before his departure for the United

States, Roxas joined the Philippine Bodies and
received the 320 . In the United States, both the Blue
Lodge and the Scottish Rite Masons showered him
with touching acts of generosity and friendship. He
was treated most kindly by Senator and Brother Frank
B. Willis, Chairman of the Senate Committee on the
Philippines and by Congressman and Brother Louis
W. Fairfield, Chairman of the House Committee on
Insular Affairs. Roxas not only succeeded in
presenting a Memorial on Wood to President
Coolidge, but was also able to lobby for the passage
of an independence bill for the Philippines.

Roxas returned home with fond memories and

glowing words of praise for his brother American
Masons. Thus, when he addressed the Scottish Rite
Luncheon forum on July 29, 1924, he profusely
lauded the Masonic spirit in the United States. An
account of that speech published in the August 1924
issue of the Far Eastern Freemason reads:

Bro. Roxas gave a very interesting account of the

impressions that he received on his visit to America.
He was very appreciative of the kindness shown him
by the American Masons and related many incidents
of more than ordinary interest, illustrative of the
fraternal spirit evidenced everywhere. Brother Roxas
is a strong believer in a militant Masonry and holds
that Masons should be practical idealists, ever mindful
that one of the chief purposes of our Order is to serve
our fellowmen in a practical way.

For many years, Roxas maintained a high degree of

interest in the Craft and accounts of his activities aptly
landed in the pages of the Cabletow. Thus when
Saturnino Alegre of Makawiwili Lodge No. 55 died on
August 18, 1923, Roxas delivered a funeral oration. It
was published in full in the October 1923 issue of the
Cabletow. The January 1925 issue of the same
magazine reported that on December 4, 1924 he
accompanied Grand Master Wenceslao Trinidad in
the latters official visitation of Makawiwili Lodge. The
same issue reported that on December 10, he and
Provincial Fiscal Francisco Zulueta were honored with
a fraternal banquet held in the lodge. Judge Quirico
Abeto, who later became Secretary of Justice, acted
as the toastmaster.

In the November 1925 issue, we read that when

Grand Maser Christian W. Rosentock visited
Makawiwili Lodge No. 55, a reception was held in the
beautiful home of Roxas, "where the ladies served
refreshment, and thither the Brethren repaired for a
few hours enjoyment of the Terpsichroean art to the
music furnished by an excellent orchestra."

In 1927 Roxas was elected from the floor as Master of

Makawiwili Lodge, succeeding Ramon A. Arnaldo, the
Assistant Provincial Treasurer of Iloilo. His able
assistants were Guillermo J. Jimenez, Senior Warden
and Braulio C. Manikas, Junior Warden. Although
Roxas was still the Speaker of the House of
Representatives which required his presence in
Manila most of the time, he unfailingly managed to
take a boat to his hometown whenever his presence
in the lodge was needed.

A project completed during his term as Master was

the Masonic cemetery of his lodge. An imposing
monumental gate was erected at the entrance with
the Square and the Compasses and the legend
"Masonic Cemetery" inscribed thereon, all of which
manifestly gave an impression of strength, power and
dignity. The well-kept graves and tombstones also
showed that brotherly love does not stop with the
breath of the body. The completed project, needless
to say, was a pride of the entire Fraternity.

When Roxas stepped down from the Oriental Chair on

January 24, 1928, his grateful lodge awarded him a
solid gold past masters jewel. It was pinned on his
breast by Judge Leonardo Gardunio, a past master of
Sinukuan Lodge. In response, Roxas delivered a
stirring address on the aims and purposes of
Masonry.

Roxas remained as Speaker of the House of

Representatives up to 1933. As Speaker he headed
other independence missions to the United States.
With the help of several of his brother Masons such
as Camilo Osias and Pedro Guevarra, he successfully
obtained passage of an Independence Act known as
the Hare-Hawes Cutting Act.
Roxas returned to the country as a hero but Quezon
found fault with the Act. Fearing that its approval
would undermine his leadership, Quezon engineered
its rejection by the Philippine Legislature and then
himself went to the United States and secured a new
Independence Law, the Tydings-McDuffy Act. In the
meantime, Quezon maneuvered to have Roxas
replaced as Speaker by Past Grand Master Quintin
Paredes.

When an election for delegates to the Constitutional

Convention was held in 1934 Roxas was elected
along with Senior Grand Warden Conrado Benitez
and 39 other Masons.

The Constitutional Convention presented the Masons

with a golden opportunity to inject universal Masonic
principles in the Constitution. To this end, they
organized themselves. Thus, Delegate Conrado
Benitez reported to the Grand Lodge:

At the time of the drafting of the Constitution of the

Philippine Commonwealth, it was felt essential by
Masons in the Constitutional Convention that those
Masonic principles incorporated in the American Bill of
Rights should be included therein, and that no
movement to deviate from those principles should be
allowed to succeed. To that end the Masons in the
Convention organized themselves and saw to it that
the new Constitution of the Philippines was a truly
Masonic document. In this effort they succeeded x x x
. Besides the principles truly Masonic in the Bills of
Rights, of special interest to intellectual freedom is the
guaranty of academic freedom to universities
supported by the state.

Roxas played a pivotal role in bringing to fruition the

objectives of the Masons. It was widely acknowledged
that the overall success of the Convention owed much
to his leadership and brilliance. Wrote Delegate Jose
Aruego - In his work of securing the harmonious
cooperation of all the members of the Convention and
the orderly functioning of the body, President Recto
was greatly helped by that great leader and patriot,
Manuel Roxas, the leader of the minority party in the
Convention.

From the beginning, Delegate Roxas cooperated with

the majority party in the most effective way he could,
his cooperation inspired by a conscientious conviction
that the national welfare demanded the throwing
overboard the narrow partisanship in the drafting of
the fundamental law.

In critical moments, when the entente cordiale with

which the Convention had been inaugurated was
threatened, the Convention President freely consulted
Delegate Roxas and they always managed to pilot
together the Convention through troublous waters. In
critical times, when the Convention was proving to be
unruly, both Manuel Roxas and Claro M. Recto would
be seen at their best, one of them at the presidential
chair, the other at the session floor. And with them
together at work, usually it was found easy to direct
the Convention to the desired goal.

As one of the delegates to the Convention, the author

had the privilege of working together with Delegate
Roxas in some of the Convention committees, in the
preparation of the first draft of the Constitution, on the
floor of the Convention, and in the special committee
on style that took charge of putting the Constitution to
its final form. He was specially struck, as others were,
by his great passion for service to the country through
the framing of the Constitution. One of the most
consistently hardworking members of the Convention,
studying conscientiously and closely each and every
one of the proposed provisions of the Constitution
until its final completion, he was a great pillar to the
Assembly, whose wealth of information, acquired from
experience as a public servant and increased by
diligent study and investigation during the Convention
days, proved of incalculable value in the framing of
the fundamental law.

After the Constitution drafted by the Convention was

adopted and ratified by the people, the Grand Master
of Masons circularized to all the Lodges urging them
to hold appropriate ceremonies to celebrate
Constitution Day. The main celebration was held at
the Plaza Hotel in Manila with Roxas as one of the
principal speakers. He gave a scholarly and
authoritative discourse on the "Masonic Principles of
the Constitution."

In due time the political differences between Roxas

and Quezon were mended and Quezon again leaned
heavily on the former for support. Roxas was
appointed to every planning enterprise to prepare the
nation for the coming independence in July 1946. He
was made member of the Joint Preparatory
Committee on Philippine Affairs. He was asked by
Quezon to study the economic phase of Philippine
American relations and was appointed chairman of
many government agencies, such as the National
Economic Council, the Tax Commission on the Rural
Progress Administration, and as Board Director of the
National Development Company. Aside from these
functions he was made a member of various
governmental boards such as the National Rice and
Corn Corporation, the National Relief Board, the
Board of Regents of the University of the Philippines
and the Mindanao Land Settlement Project. In 1938
Quezon appointed him, Secretary of Finance, a
position that he held until August 1941, when he
resigned in order to run for a seat in the Senate.
Roxas won emerging as one of its topnotchers.

In the meantime, Roxas maintained his active

involvement in Masonic affairs. His appointments to
various government positions were dutifully reported
in the pages of the Cabletow. In September 1938
issue, he was featured on the front cover and the
caption under his name read: "Assemblyman from
Capiz who has been appointed Chairman of the
National Economic Council. Brother Roxas is a past
master of Makawiwili Lodge No. 55 and continues to
be active in the affairs of the Fraternity." When he was
appointed Secretary of Finance, the Cabletow again
published his picture in the December 1938 issue
along with Bros. Rafael Alunan and Jose Abad Santos
who were appointed Secretary of Interior and
Secretary of Justice, respectively.

In 1941, war clouds hung ominously over Philippine

skies. Roxas volunteered for military service and was
made an aide to General Douglas MacArthur, with
assignment to serve as liaison between the Generals
headquarters and the Commonwealth Government of
President Manuel L. Quezon.

On December 8, 1941, Manila time, the war

everybody feared finally broke out. Japan unleashed a
furious attack upon the Philippines, which they
pursued and sustained with an interminable series of
blows that stunned both the Filipinos and the
Americans. Unable to resist the Japanese invaders in
the plains, the American and Filipino defenders
retreated to Bataan and Corregidor, but food supply
for the soldiers became a serious problem. Getting
supply from Luzon was out of the question for the
advancing Japanese forces sealed all routes. There
was, however, still one possible source of supply and
that was Capiz from where food could still be sent
through a sea route. Roxas was assigned to this
delicate and dangerous undertaking. Roxas did not let
the troops down. Using the steamship Legaspi he had
30,000 sacks of rice, more than 300,000 eggs and
other food items shipped to Corregidor and Bataan.
He volunteered to go on the first trip of Legaspi but
MacArthur and Quezon vetoed the idea. Nonethe less
he was promoted to full colonel for his heroism.

On March 22, 1942, Col. Roxas was directed to

inspect military establishments in the Visayas and
Mindanao with instructions to return to Corregidor
upon the completion of his mission. The situation of
the defenders, however, deteriorated from bad to
worse and completely foreclosed all his chances of
returning. An attempt was made to rescue him and fly
him out on a plane to Australia and to the United
States. Pappy Gunn was entrusted with the mission
but he failed to make the stopover at the designated
airfield on the agreed date and time. Consequently,
the Japanese captured Roxas. Brought to Camp
Casisang, a concentration camp in Malaybalay,
Bukidnon, he was designated commanding officer of
the prisoners of war in the camp. He initiated
programs to bolster the sagging moral of the
prisoners, improve sanitation in the camp and
increase food supply. His accomplishments
impressed even the Japanese.

The Japanese had something else in mind for Roxas.

Their lightning military triumphs created a vast
problem of administration. Hundreds of millions of
people in Asia were suddenly under Japanese flag but
the Japanese had neither the technical know how nor
the needed personnel to run the civil governments.
Moreover, they realized that to sustain their new
empire the had to transform the hostility of the
vanquished people into friendship. Within seventy two
hours of occupying Manila, therefore, Chief of Staff
Maeda Masami and General Hayashi Yostide,
director General of the Military Administration, began
searching for support among the pre-war elite. Roxas
logically, became one of their prime targets for
support. The Imperial Japanese Forces tried all
strategems to have Roxas serve actively in the
Japanese- controlled government, but he adroitly
parried all attempts to enlist his collaboration
especially in matters directly connected with the
Japanese war effort. He was, however, prevailed
upon to serve as a member of the Independence
Commission that was charged with the task of framing
a Constitution for the Japanese-sponsored Philippine
Republic, but he saw to it that the charter would
include the principles of democracy. He also agreed
to head the Bigasang Bayan (or BIBA) which was
tasked to procure and distribute rice among the
civilian population, especially in the Greater Manila
area. He felt that with the BIBA he could help stave off
starvation among his countrymen during those critical
days.

Masami and General Hayashi Yostide, director General of the

Military Administration, began searching for support among

the pre-war elite. Roxas logically, became one of their prime

targets for support. The Imperial Japanese Forces tried all

strategems to have Roxas serve actively in the Japanese-

controlled government, but he adroitly parried all attempts to

enlist his collaboration especially in matters directly connected

with the Japanese war effort. He was, however, prevailed

upon. Although Roxas was outwardly serving the government,

he surreptitiously maintained close contact and collaboration

with the resistance movement. The letters he received after

the Liberation from such guerilla leaders as Major Edwin F.

Ramsey, Major Robert E. Lapham, Lt. Col. Bernard L.

Anderson, Capt Ray C. Hunt, Jr., and Col. Wendell W. Fertig,

fully attest to this. Because of his known assistance to the

underground movement, selected guerillas were assigned to

rescue him from the Japanese Forces when he and other

important Filipino leaders were being taken to Baguio City by

the retreating Japanese Forces under General Yamashita.

Under cover of darkness the guerillas were able to spirit him

away to the American-liberated town of Tubao in La Union.

From La Union, Roxas sickly and emaciated, was brought to

the headquarters of his brother Mason, General Walter

Krueger, of the American Sixth Army, at San Fernando,

Pampanga, and subsequently to another brother Mason,

General Douglas MacArthur at his headquarters in Manila, for

a happy reunion. Reporting for military duty the following day,

Roxas was promoted to General by General MacArthur.

A recital of Roxas’ life during the war years would not

be complete without mentioning the name of Lt. Col.
Nobuhiko Jimbo of the Imperial Japanese Forces. It
was Jimbo who was tasked to convince Roxas to
collaborate with the Japanese. During the
negotiations, the Kempetai of Col Nagahama
constantly threatened Roxas' life, but Jimbo, at the
risk of his own life, saw to it that Roxas got proper
treatment as a prisoner of war, and that he was taken
away from the custody of the Japanese military police.
He was also able to convince General Homma to
rescind an order for the execution of Roxas issued by
General Hayashi, chief of the Japanese Military
Administration in Manila. At the end of the war, when
Roxas was already the President of the Philippines,
he learned from Mrs. Jimbo that her husband was
being held as a prisoner of war by Nationalist China in
Taiwan, North China. He lost no time in sending
President Chiang Kai Shek a letter of appeal in behalf
of the Japanese war prisoner. In that l etter, Roxas
said:

I hope you will understand, from the text of this letter,

why my first communication to you since my
assumption of the Presidency of the Philippines,
should be of personal in nature.

I have long known of your deep interest in the

Philippines, an interest which I deeply appreciate as
stemming from your concern for the advancement of
freedom and human dignity in this part of the world. x
x x x.

The purpose of this personal letter is to place before

you certain circumstances involving a Japanese army
officer now in the custody of your Government, an
officer of minor importance in the general scheme of
things, but who played an important role in my own
experience of the recent war.

This officer, a certain Lt. Col. Nobuhiko Jimbo, is

being held, I am told, in a prison in Tainan, Shantung
Province, China, as a suspected war criminal. I
hasten to say that I know nothing of his activities in
China, or of the evidence against him. x x x

I should like to submit, however, that Col. Jimbo is

responsible for my being alive today. He was known
in the Philippines as one of the few Japanese officers
with a genuine sympathy for our plight, and as one of
those who did what he could, within the limits of his
official station, to alleviate the brutal savagery of his
superiors and subordinates. On one occasion, he
risked his life by disobeying an order issued for my
execution, and made a successful appeal at a later
time for the rescinding of the execution order. This
action was not based especially on a personal esteem
for me, although he had that too, but on repugnance
for the senseless cruelty and murder madness which
possessed his commanders and associates. He was,
of my acquaintance, the most humane of the
Japanese invaders.

If there is any proper way in which you can give

countenance to these representations in his behalf, I
would feel a great load taken off my mind. I know that
it is, in an official sense, impolite for me to make these
statements on behalf of Colonel Jimbo, but my
conscience would not permit me to refrain from doing
what I can do to bring these circumstance to the
attention of the appropriate officials of your
government.

Permit me, Your Excellency, to express sentiments of

friendship and admiration for you and your country.
Very sincerely yours,

(Sgd) MANUEL ROXAS

Upon receipt of the letter, the Chinese Generalissimo

ordered the immediate release of Col. Jimbo. After the
re-establishment of the Philippine Commonwealth at
the end of the war, Roxas assumed his duties as
Senator and was promptly elected President of the
Senate.

General elections were scheduled for April 1946.

Aiming for the presidency, Roxas organized the
Liberal Party to oppose the Nacionalista Party of
President Osmena. The campaign was brief but bitter
with Roxas winning by a comfortable majority. Roxas
became the last President of the Philippine
Commonwealth. Inaugurated into office anew when
Philippine Independence was proclaimed on July 4,
1946, he also became the first President of the
Philippine Republic.

As President, Roxas had no time to attend Masonic

functions but he did not forget the Fraternity. In one of
his first official acts, he dispatched the following
signed message to his brother Masons, through the
Cabletow:

The grant of independence to the Filipino people is a

real challenge to us all. It is not enough that we
express once again our undying gratitude to America,
nor is it sufficient that we, who are the recipients of
her magnanimity, rejoice over the realization of our
sacred aspirations.

We must be ready to shoulder our corresponding

responsibilities and be willing to perform our
respective duties. To merit the trust and confidence of
our friends and sympathizers, every Filipino,
regardless of his station, should contribute his share
in the gigantic task of rebuilding the nation.

This applies with special significance to the members

of the Masonic Fraternity, an institution derived from
the principle of work itself. Here then is a rare
opportunity for the brethren in this jurisdiction to work,
and work, as they never did before, in the interest of
their fellowmen and for the welfare of the Philippines.

Roxas did not serve long as President. Scarcely had

he been in office for two years when he succumbed to
a heart attack on April 15, 1948 after delivering a
speech at Clark Air Base in Pampanga. The Cabletow
editor joined his legion of bereaved sympathizers and
penned the following parting words:

Our distinguished brother has finally laid down his

working tools. His earthly labors have ceased, but not
until his dream was realized and his goal
accomplished. He contributed toward the liberation of
his people from the clutches of the enemy, he helped
build the national edifice and was one of the architects
of Philippine liberty. As a fitting climax of his colorful
career, he lived to be the first Captain of the Ship of
State, which he had at long last become sovereign
and free. What more could a man born of a woman
desire?

PRES. MANUEL LUIS QUEZON

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He was born on August 19, 1878 at Baler, Tayabas (now

Quezon province) and died on August 1, 1944 in the United
States.

He was made a mason on March 17, 1908 at Sinukuan

Lodge No. 272 (renamed Sinukuan Lodge No. 16). A fiery
orator, he led the unification of the American and Filipino
lodges and was the first Filipino Grand Master of the Grand
Lodge of the Philippine Islands that was established in
1917.

He served in the staff of General Emilio Aguinaldo and saw

combat in Pampanga under General Mascardo. After the
Filipino-American war ended, Generals Harry H. Bandholtz
and Gary G. Harbord made him their protégé and gave him
his political start in Tayabas by helping him get elected
Assemblyman. He later served as Resident Commissioner
in the United States, President of the Philippine Senate and
finally President of the Commonwealth until his death in
1944.

On his deathbed three months before General MacArthur

landed in Leyte, he wrote: “my beloved countrymen, every
day the hour of our liberation is drawing closer. Keep the
banners of your faith flying. We are on the onward march to
victory and freedom.”

His remains was brought to the Philippines on a U. S. carrier

on August 1, 1946 and was temporarily led to rest at
Cementerio del Norte. On August 1, 1979 it was finally
transferred to the Quezon Monument in Quezon City.

A magnificent patriot and a paladin for Filipino freedom, he

fought for his country’s welfare both with the incisive
sharpness of the sword and the charismatic powers of
politics.

APOLINARIO MABINI
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Considered by many as the “Brains of the
Philippine Revolution”, Mabini was born in Talaga,
Tanauan, Batangas on July 23, 1864 and died on
May 13, 1903 at Pandacan, Manila, who considered
himself a spiritually-beaten man for not being able to
see the freedom of his fatherland.

He joined the Fraternity in September 1892 at Logia

Balagtas 149 under the Grand Oriente Espanol. An
effective organizer and an orator of the Regional
Grand Lodge that was established by Grand Master
Ambrocio Flores in 1893, he helped unify Philippine
Masonry. He was blessed with a very intelligent
mind and tutored by his mother at an early age, he
later became a lawyer and an idealistic philosopher.

He helped organize La Liga Filipina and was

arrested in 1896 for alleged complicity in the
Katipunan.

Later paralyzed on both legs, he was handpicked by

Aguinaldo to help the latter form a revolutionary
government and was transported from Bay, Laguna
to Kawit, Cavite on a hammock, in time for
Aguinaldo’s proclamation on June 12, 1898.

He was designated Prime Minister and Secretary of

Foreign Affairs of Aguinaldo’s newly-formed
government, and later Chief Justice of the Supreme
Court of the Malolos Congress. He laid the
foundation of the government of the First Philippine
Republic.

Author of the “Decalogue” and the “Philippine

Revolution”, he is regarded as the “Brains of the
Revolution”, “Learned Statesman” and the “Sublime
Paralytic.”

JUAN LUNA
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The elder of the Luna brothers, Juan was born in

Batc, Ilocos Norte on October 23, 1857 and died
on December 7, 1899 in Hongkong.

He was made a Master Mason in Paris, France,

under the auspices of Lodge Solidaridad 53. He
obtained his Bachelor of Arts degree at the Ateneo
de Manila in 1874 and in 1877 studied painting at
the Academy of Fine Arts in Madrid. He was
pensioned by the City of Manila for painting work
in Europe.

He participated in the various art exhibits in Rome,

Paris, Barcelona and Madrid in which his art
works “Spolarium”, and “Battle of Lepanto,”
four gold medals, three silver and one bronze and
two decorations to the honor and glory of his
country.

Together with his younger brother Antonio, he was

imprisoned in the Philippines for complicity in the
1896 Revolution and was banished to Spain. After
the war with Spain, he was appointed by General
Aguinaldo to head a Philippine delegation to
Washington to convince US President Bro.
Mckinley to withdraw the American decision to
colonize the Philippines.

A genius of the arts, he is the greatest Filipino

painter who projected the Philippines into the
limelight through the medium of the brush.

GENERAL ANTONIO LUNA

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Bro. Antonio Luna was born on October 28, 1866

in Manila and was assassinated on June 5, 1899
at Cabanatuan, Nueva Ecija.

He was made a Master Mason in Spain and was

among those who revived Lodge Solidaridad 53
in Madrid. He assisted Dr. Trinidad Pardo H.
deTavera and Dr. Ariston Bautista in founding a
“triangulo” in Paris under the auspices of Logia
Solidaridad. He later commissioned Pedro
Serrano Laktaw to secretly organize Masonic
Lodges in the Philippines to strengthen the
Propaganda Movement.

He obtained his Bachelor of Arts degree with

highest honors in 1883 at the Ateneo de Manila,
and earned his doctorate in Pharmacy in 1890 at
the University of Madrid.

A gifted writer, he worked with Rizal, del Pilar,

Lopez Jaena and Mariano Ponce in the
Propaganda Movement to achieve reforms for
their country.

Arrested in the Philippines in 1896 as a rebel,

and together with his brother Juan Luna, he was
banished to Spain during the tumultuous 1896
Revolution. He returned to his country after
studying military science and tactics in Belgium
and was appointed overall Commander of the
Filipino Forces by General Emilio Aguinaldo at
the outbreak of the Filipino-American war.

A fierce and dedicated patriot, he was acclaimed

the foremost military strategist during the war of
the Filipinos against the Americans.

President Jose P. Laurel

[ View Image ]

Bro. Jose P. Laurel was born in Batangas on

March 9, 1891 and died on November 1959.

He was made a Master Mason at Batangas

Lodge No. 383 under the Gran Oriente
Espanol, (renamed Batangas Lodge No. 35
under the Grand Lodge of the Philippines).

He was founder of Lyceum of the

Philippines, Senator from 1925-31, was
elected to the 1935 Constitutional
Convention, Acting Chief Justice from 1936-
42.

Was installed President of the 2nd Philippine

Republic on October 14, 1943. Laurel
dissolved the dummy government on
August 17, 1945 when news of the Japanese
surrender to the Allied forces on August 15,
1945 was received.
 The public perception of Jose P. Laurel was
that he was a collaborator to the Japanese
government. The following paragraph as
written by historian Teodoro Agoncillo, will
debunk this myth.

On December 24, 1941 Bro. Manuel L.

Quezon conducted a meeting of his cabinet
and selected those who would accompany
him in exile. Jose P. Laurel who was already
designated Acting Chief Justice also wanted
to go but Quezon ordered him to remain
saying:

"Do the best you can. Make whatever

bargains you have to do with the Japanese.
Try to keep the people together in one
piece. Try to protect the people from
Japanese brutality and avarice. You have
some tough decisions to make. Do it for the
sake of the Philippines."

MARCELO H. DEL PILAR

[ View Image ]

Considered the "Father of Philippine Masonry,"

Marcelo H. del Pilar was born on August 30, 1850 at
barrio Kupang, San Nicolas, Bulacan. He died on July
4, 1896 at Barcelona, Spain. He founded “Diariong
Tagalog,” first vernacular daily newspaper and used it
in publicly first vernacular daily newspaper and used it
in publicly denouncing the abuses and oppression of
the authorities.

A well-trained lawyer and writer, he left the Philippines

because of government persecution. He carried his
fight against the rulers in Madrid by editing “La
Solidaridad.”

He was made a Mason in Spain in 1889, one of the

first Filipinos initiated into the mysteries of Masonry in
Europe. He co-founded Logia Revoluccion in
Barcelona and revived Logia Solidaridad 53 when it
floundered into stormy seas where he became its
Worshipful Master and with Jose Rizal as Orator. He
was crowned 33° by the Gran Oriente Espanol.
He spearheaded the secret organization of Masonic
lodges in the Philippines as a means of strengthening
the propaganda movement. Considered the greatest
Filipino journalist of his time, and the “most intellectual
leader and soul of the Philippine Revolution,” he died
a pauper, away from his family, a true patriot and
martyr to his country.

The Plaridel Masonic Temple and his hometown are

named in his honor, adopting his pen name “Plaridel.”

GAT ANDRES BONIFACIO

[ View Image ]

Called the “Great Plebian”, Bro. Andres

Bonifacio was born inTondo, Manila, on
November 30, 1863 and was assassinated at
Maragondon, Cavite on May 10, 1897. Bonifacio
joined Freemasonry in 1892 at Taliba Lodge No.
165.

Born of poor parents and orphaned at an

early age, he worked to support his younger
brothers and sisters and at the same time
endeavored to complete his elementarystudies.
Despite his limited education, he studiously read
books, among them “Noli Me Tangere”, “El
Filibusterismo,” History of the French
Revolution and the Holy Bible, books that were
banned for reading during those turbulent
times.

He founded the Katipunan, the secret

society established purposely to gain
independence through force of arms and became
its Supremo, or Supreme Head.

He wrote poems, essays and the

Decalogue of the Katipunan on “Duties of the
Sons of the People.” This decalogue espoused
armed struggle for the purpose of gaining
independence and culminated in what is now
being celebrated as the “Cry of Balintawak” or
Pugad Lawin, depending on one’s preferred
historical marker.

A man of daring action and courageous

spirit with a passionate love for country, he is
considered one of the country’s foremost heroes,
some even comparing him to Dr. Jose Rizal.

BISHOP GREGORIO AGLIPAY

[View Image]

A true blooded “anac ti Batac”, Gregorio

Aglipay was born on May 5, 1860 in
Batac, Ilocos Norte and died on
September 1, 1940. He was made a
Mason on May 3, 1918 at Magdalo Lodge
31 in Cavite, now called Emilio Aguinaldo
Memorial Lodge No. 31. Jailed in his early
childhood together with his uncle for their
failure to produce the required tobacco
harvest as required by government
monopoly, his seething hatred against
tyranny was nurtured starting from his
youthful years.

He studied at San Juan de Letran, and

upon the advice of Rizal discarded his law
studies and entered the seminary in Vigan
where he was ordained Catholic priest in
1890.

He joined the Philippine Revolution at

its late stage. Joining Aguinaldo’s
libertarian movement as a priest, he was
excommunicated by Archbishop Nozaleda
on May 4, 1899. He was later appointed
Military Vicar by General Aguinaldo with
special duties to win adherents in the
heartland of Ilocandia.

He became a member of the Malolos

Congress and was a signatory to the
 Malolos Constitution. At the close of the
Filipino-American war, Isabelo de los
Reyes founded the “Iglesia Filipina
Independiente” and convinced Aglipay
to be its “Obispo Maximo.”

A revolutionary priest and soldier,

Aglipay is ranked among the unsung
frontliners of the Filipino patriots.

DR. JOSE P. RIZAL

A National Hero
View Image

Rizal was made a Master Mason on November 15,

1890 at Logia Solidaridad 53 in Madrid, Spain. He
affiliated with a lodge under the jurisdiction of Grand
Orient of France on October 14, 1891, and was
made honorary Worshipful Master of Nilad Lodge
No. 144 in 1892. There he delivered a lecture
entitled “La Masoneria”.

A many-faceted and multi-talented genius, his God

given talents for freedom and for the welfare of his
people through peaceful reforms was an obsession
that has guided him all his life.

A dedicated nationalist, physician, poet, novelist,

historian, painter, sculptor, linguist, educator,
anthropologist, ethnologist, sportsman, traveler and
a prophet, his talents appear inexhaustible. His
famous novels, “Noli Me Tangere” and “El
Filibusterismo” exposed the abuses of the Spanish
authorities and inspired the 1896 Revolution. His
martyrdom fanned the patriotic spirit of Filipinos and
solidified their craving for nationhood.

Considered the pride of the Malay race and the

greatest of the Filipino heroes ever born, he ranks
equal to most of the great men of all races and of all
times.
 more on rizal

Rizal's Apostasy Was World Ecumenism

By Dean Jorge Bocobo

POPE John XXIII, "the good Pope" as he was called,

might have been proud of our Jose Rizal. They were
kindred spirits, who stood for religious tolerance and
understanding among all faiths and peoples. So
whatever happened to Vatican II and the world
ecumenical movement that held so much promise for
an end to religious strife in the world? Was all that
''Kumbaya'' singing for nothing? The priests turned to
face the people, but they still preach the same
stubborn and intolerant doctrine that Catholicism is
the one true faith and all others are infidels.

So, irony of ironies. Asia's only Catholic country has

an excommunicated Free Mason and apostate for its
national hero in Rizál. This was the man who fought
the 19th century's version of the Taliban in the
Philippines, not with bombs, but with something more
lethal, which are, noble ideas and sentiments,
delivered by the technology of Gutenberg.

He sent two B52s in the form of two novels, ''Noli Me

Tangere'' and ''El
Filibusterismo,'' whose telling truths exploded in the
hearts of his countrymen, opening their eyes to the
cancer of Spanish oppression. Like bunker-busters,
these powerful stories destroyed the metaphorical
caves and dungeons of the friars, full of simony and
injustice, into whose oblivion his people had been
cast for centuries.

He was shot in the back, like a traitor, on

Bagumbayan Field, on Dec. 30, 1896, at the
instigation of Catholic friars, who saw in his brilliant
mind and satiric pen, the dying light of the Spanish
Empire, and the death knell of their centuries-old
religious dictatorship. Rizal's capital crime and
essential heresy was to deny the supreme Catholic
vanity of being the "one true faith." Pope John was
too far in the future to prevent his unjust execution.

Influenced by Miguel Morayta, a history professor at

the Universidad de Madrid, Rizal joined Masonry,
under the Gran Oriente de Español, adopting the
Masonic name, Dimasalang. He was automatically
excommunicated, expelled from the Catholic Church,
a fate decreed for all Catholics becoming Masons
since 1738 and reaffirmed by the CBCP in 1990.
Rizal had plenty of illustrious company including
Andres Bonifacio, Apolinario Mabini, Ladislao Diwa,
Marcelo H. del Pilar, Juan Luna, Deodato Arellano,
Graciano Lopez-Jaena, H. Pardo de Tavera,
and so many others in the Propaganda Movement
and La Liga Filipina.

It was a Masonic trader, Jose Ramos, who first

smuggled copies of the ''Noli Me Tangere'' into
Manila.

In 1912, Rizal's family rejected a petition from the

Jesuits to rebury their
famous pupil. Instead, that honor was accorded to
the Masons, led by Timoteo Paez, who, in full regalia,
carried Rizal's remains in a long procession to the
Masonic Temple in Tondo for funeral rites, before
final interment at the Luneta in December 1912.

The true meaning of his life has been obscured by

his enemies, who have claimed that in the end, he
abjured Masonry and returned to the Faith. If he did,
why was he martyred? Luckily, most of his written
work (50 volumes!) has been available, since his
birth centenary in 1961, despite strident opposition
from the Catholic Church. In this way, Rizal may still
get the final word. The tragedy is, most Filipinos have
not read Rizal at all, being mainly exposed to
seriously flawed films about him. (These much-
awarded movies portray him at his execution,
clutching rosary beads around his neck, a sop thrown
in to mollify Church hierarchy.)

We treasure his two famous novels, of course. But

there is also his poetry (some sophomoric, some
sublime). Then there is the epistolary, or long letters,
that he exchanged with Pablo Pastells, S.J., a mentor
at the Ateneo. Though portions were published by
Retana, the original, complete texts were suppressed
and hidden by the Jesuits at a monastery in Spain for
over a century. Why? The authoritative bilingual
edition by Fr. Raul Bonoan, S.J. became available
only in 1998, when some embargo must have lapsed,
or their toxicity deemed expired.
Read the letters for yourself and see if you agree with
my interpretation of
them, because I think they were the damning
evidence of heresy and apostasy that were used at
his one day trial on Dec. 26, 1896. That is why they
were hidden for so long. They were used as a murder
weapon.

The 1956 Rizal Law (RA 1425) of Sen. Claro M.

Recto should be amended to make these letters
required reading in Philippine schools. For in these
letters, Rizal speaks for himself, not through fictional
characters, but directly and undeniably from his
heart, to all of us, in the vast audience of history,
about his deepest beliefs. Even if he had,
hypothetically, signed some made-up retraction
document, to save his family from persecution and to
marry Josephine Bracken, the letters prove he could
not have done so sincerely. Freed from Catholic
indoctrination by wide exposure to many cultures and
religions, the
heart and mind that one encounters in the epistolary
just could not have made a genuine retraction, for he
was, irreversibly, a global citizen, an ecumenical
man.

Rizal believed that you can be a good and moral

person without believing in a specific supernatural
deity or purported representatives on earth. Of
course, faith can also lead to a strong moral
conscience, but religion is not the only route to virtue.
Participation in an organized religion may be a
sufficient impetus to a virtuous life, as is fear of
eternal damnation, but it is not a necessary condition.

Rizal upheld democratic tolerance and ecumenism.

He rejected dogmatism and the towering vanity of a
"one true faith." In so doing he found true freedom
and understood the deepest meaning of democracy
before it was born in his country.

That is why he chose to die an apostate,

excommunicated from the Catholic Church, rather
than be a traitor to himself and the future of
humanity.

more

Rizal Today
[Philippine Inquirer Editorial dated December 31,
2001]

IF Jose Rizal were to find himself in the Philippines at

the end of the first year of the 21st century, would he
know where he was?

It doesn't seem likely. What, after all, would the

famous man in the overcoat make of the horseless
traffic that has overwhelmed the country's cities, or the
mountainous malls that have replaced the open
spaces of the town plaza, or, indeed, of the
ambidextrous members of the text generation—
children of an authentic but benign revolution?
Today's Maria Claras don't retreat behind the walls of
a convent; they simply turn off their cell phones.

But on another level, Philippine society has not

changed at all since Rizal wrote his revolutionary
novels in the late 19th century.

Freedom has been won, that is true. Now—within the

context of an inter-dependent world, held together by
economic treaties that bind us with the force of law—
we answer only to ourselves, not to a colonial power.
But aside from the basic democratic promise of "one
man, one vote," equality remains an ideal, an
unfinished project.

When Tocqueville made his famous visit to the United

States in the 1830s, it was the basic equality of
conditions that impressed him most. But today, as in
Rizal's time, the Philippines remains essentially a
hierarchical society. Rizal used the multi-level
steamer, Tabo, to reflect the ranks of inequality that
structured the society of his time. Today, he would find
that the arrangements on any inter-island ship
continue to reflect the same reality, with one
exception: the upper decks, the luxury cabins, would
be largely empty, because those who can afford to
use them can afford to take the plane, or indeed buy
one. The social tiers are determined by the same
factors: money, education, political power, and (at the
upper echelons) more money. Only one factor is new:
celebrity, which allows television and the movies to
create "personalities" and to wield enormous
influence.

His characters, too

PERHAPS, if Rizal were alive now, he would not write

a novel to cure the social cancer that is eating away at
Philippine society, instead he would write a soap
opera, or a series of 30-second commercials. But
because his work would inevitably include an
unforgiving look at the image-making industries as
well, chances are that it would not air at all. His
fearsome education would only get him so far.

Indeed, too much education does not translate well on

television; in his case, it wouldn't even guarantee him
a talk show. (With very few exceptions, all talking
heads on TV are unburdened by the benefits of higher
education.)

But in news shows and in newspaper columns, Rizal

would certainly recognize the characters he first
discovered. In the old Senate, for example, he would
have recognized a feisty senator as the living
reincarnation of a stereotype he is responsible for. No,
we don't mean the tragic character of Sisa, the mother
of Crispin and Basilio who descended into madness.
Sisa's fate is ultimately tragic; she is the mother as
martyr, pushed to the extreme. We mean the
uproariously comic character of Doña Victorina: smug
in her pretensions, and wonderfully oblivious of the
comedy she was creating. While it is true that Doña
Victorina did not claim to have studied at Harvard and
Oxford (truth, we are reminded yet again, is truly
stranger than fiction), the former senator is guilty of
the same social-climbing, turn-your-back-on-your-
own-kin sin. While she did not marry a timorous
Spaniard, she did do the modern equivalent: she got
herself a law degree.

In the executive suites and the exclusive villages, and

most of all in high-powered, well-connected law firms
such as the most famous one during the Marcos era,
he will recognize men—and women too—who are
mere variations on a theme of Kapitan Tiago: sincere
in their convictions about what ought to be done for
the country, but compromised by their very position
and cuckolded by others in authority—then
ecclesiastical, today more likely bureaucratic. In and
out of public office, the national hero will recognize the
features of modern-day Padre Damasos—men and
women who pay lip service to their public duties (the
welfare of the poor, for instance), but whose private
behavior (unbridled gambling and uninhibited
womanizing, not to mention hundred-dollar leather
slippers) undermines the very faith of the public they
serve.

If Rizal were alive today, he would have to start all

over again.

Gen. Emilio Aguinaldo

[View Image]
Emilio Aguinaldo was born on March 22, 1869 at Kawit, Cavite and died on February 6, 1964, one of the
few Filipino patriots, who died at a late age. His remains was laid in his historic residence at Kawit. He was
made a master mason on January 1, 1895 at Pilar Lodge No. 203 (now Pilar Lodge No. 15) at Imus Cavite
and was founder of Magdalo Lodge No. 31 (renamed Emilio Aguinaldo Lodge No. 31 in his honor). He was
conferred the Scottish Rite degrees in 1917 in the Philippine Bodies, A. & A. S. R. and was coroneted 33°
by the Supreme Council of the 33rd Degree Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite of Freemasonry of
theRepublic of the Philippines.

In 1894, he was initiated into the Katipunan by Andres Bonifacio.

A towering figure of the Philippine Revolution, he led his countrymen in their fight for liberation against
Spain, and later, against the United States of America. He proclaimed Philippine Independence on June
12, 1898 on the balcony of his residence in Kawit, now a national shrine and the annual site of
independence day celebrations.

The first president of the Philippine Republic, he opened the Malolos Congress on September 15, 1899
thus making his country the first republic ever established in the eastern shores.

What they say...[to know more about the person, please click on the
name and to return to this page, click on your browser's "back" button."

Emilio Aguinaldo
First President of the
Republic of the
Philippines
 "Whenever there is a human cause, we are certain to
find Freemasonry for it is the fundamental basis of all
true liberal association."

Giuseppe Garibaldi

"I wish somehow we could have fraternity

among nations, as it is taught in America
among men. I do not mean to employ sign,
grip, and password, which affords an appealing
mystery to our relationship, but the insistent
demands for just dealings, the respect for
rights of others, and the ideals of brotherhood
recited in the Golden Rule, and the righteous
fellow-relationship which every man knows his
God approves. Under such a reign of fraternity
cruel human warfare will never come again."

Warren G. Harding
(29th President of the USA)
"My best ambition having ever
aimed at the unbiased approbation
of my fellow citizen, it is peculiarly
pleasing to find my conduct so
affectionately approved by a
fraternity whose association is
founded in justice and
benevolence."

"So far as I am acquainted with the

principles and Doctrines of Free
Masonry, I conceive it to be
founded in the benevolence and to
be exercised only for the good of
mankind."

George Washington
1st President of the USA

Famous Filipino Masons

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1440 San Marcelino Street, P. O. Box 990
Ermita, Manila, Philippines 1000
(0632) 522 2218; 522 2328; 536 1383; 522 2232

All offices are located in the 2nd Floor of the

New Plaridel Masonic Temple
except
the Masonic Supply Store
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