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University of San Carlos Publications
DOCTOR DON MARIANO BERNAVÉ PILAPIL (1759-1818): PASSION AND TRANSFORMATION

Author(s): Luciano P.R. Santiago
Source: Philippine Quarterly of Culture and Society, Vol. 16, No. 1 (March 1988), pp. 19-43
Published by: University of San Carlos Publications
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Philippine Quarterly of Culture & Society
16(1988): 19-43
DOCTOR DON MARIANO BERNAVE PILAPIL

(1759-1818): PASSION AND TRANSFORMATION
Luciano P.R. Santiago
INTRODUCTION
From the vast catalogue of native clergy in the 18th and early 19th
centuries, virtually the only name that has come down in the collective
awareness of modern Filipinos is that of Dr. Mariano Pilapil. Yet,
strangely enough, his fame is limited to his name and is based on a
misunderstanding. As the archdiocesan book censor in 1814, he edited an
anonymous work in verse, Qasaysayan nang Pasiong Mahal ni Jesuchristo
Panginoon Natin na Sucat Ipag-alab nang Puso nang Sinomang Babasa
(Narrative of the Holy Passion of Jesus Christ Our Lord Which Will
Greatly Inflame the Heart of the Reader). As the title promised, it caught
like wildfire among the faithful, who created the yearly tradition of
singing its lugubrious lyrics during Holy Week. Since it was published with
Pilapil's ardent endorsement in Spanish, the majority of Tagalogs, who
did not read their conqueror's language, have always called it "Pasyong
Pilapil," thus mistakenly ascribing to him the authorship of the most
popular book ever written in Tagalog.
But who was this Dr. Pilapil? And does he still deserve the veneration
of his countrymen despite his mistaken identity?
To date, there have been only two cursory biographies of him, written
in Spanish; they were published in the early part of this century.
Representing almost opposite ends in the spectrum of biographical
appraisal, both are hardly accessible to modern readers. The first was
written by an ex-Augustinian, Padre Salvador Pons y Torres, as part of his
book El Clero Secular Filipino (Manila, 1900). Apparently based on
hearsay, and shorn of documentation, it sings the praises of Pilapil and
unwittingly picks up the popular myth of his authorship of Pasiong
Mahal. Nevertheless, Pons is to be credited with the first attempt to record
the achievements of Pilapil and his native colleagues,2
1Rene B. Javellana, S.J. Pasy?n Genealogy and Annotated Bibliography. Phil Studies.
31 (1983):451-67.
2
Salvador Pons y Torres. El Clero Secular Filipino. (Manila: La Democracia, 1900).
p. 23.
20 PHILIPPINE QUARTERLY OF CULTURE & SOCIETY
The second work was written anonymously for the monumental

Enciclopedia Universal Ilustrada (Madrid, 1907-30). Although based
partly on Pons' earlier obra, it also makes wise use of contemporary
bibliographical data and thus affirms the fact that Pilapil was not the
versifier but the censor of the Pasi?n. On the other hand, it reveals a
possible bias when it makes the sweeping statement that Pilapil's literary
ability in Spanish "did not rise above the mediocre," apparently on the
basis of one of his works, Dos Mascarados Descubiertos (1813). Since the
latter is political in tone and was hurriedly published by his supporters, it
may not be typical of his whole body of works, which still awaits
evaluation by a competent critic. The unknown biographer seems to be
only repeating the verdict on this "rare booklet" by the Augustinian
bibliographers Perez and G?emes (1905), whom he cites among his
references. Peres and G?emes have apparently taken the opposite stance
to Pons, their expelled brother, regarding Filipino priests.3
I. MATINS: A PROCESSION OF THE LAKANS (1665-1759)

The patrician house of Pilapil was one of the oldest and most
illustrious priestly clans in the archdiocese of Manila in the eighteenth and
nineteenth centuries (see accompanying family tree). A shortening of the
word Pila-pila ("orderly arrangement"), their surname is a Malay term
which refers to the upraised borders of ricefields, which follow a gridiron
pattern. Indeed the family owned vast tracts of land in the towns of Bigaa
and Quingua, Bulac?n (now the towns of Balagt?s and Plaridel,
respectively), which their ancestors must have ruled as lakans (noblemen)
before the advent of the Spaniards. Quingua appears to have been a
pre-hispanic center of the native priesthood since one of its main
barangays was called Catalonan or Katulungan, the Tagalog term for
priestess or priest.
The founder of the clan was Don Augustin Roque Pilapil of Bigaa,
the son of Don Phelipe Somalansaua de Sta. Maria and Dona Nicolasa
Guya. Don Phelipe's surname, which means "of sad memory"
"Pilapil (Mariano Bernabe)." Enciclopedia Universal Ilustrada Europeo-Americana.

(Madrid: ?spasa-Calpe, 1907-30). 44:868-9; Angel Perez, O.S.A. y Cecilio G?emes, O.S.A.
Adiciones y Continuacion de "La Imprenta en Manila" de Don J.T. Medina. (Manila:
Santos y Bernal, 1904). p. 249 no. 716.
4 Archives of the Archdiocese of Manila (AAM). "Capellania de los Pilapil." Capellanlas
de Misas (CM). 1751-1833; Emma H. Blair & James A. Robertson (BR). The Philippine
Islands. 1493-1898. (Cleveland: Clark, 1903-09): 42:193.
DOCTOR DON MARIANO BERNAVE PILAPIL 21
Dr.
D. prijtoW de M6xi* V
11665 V
D. Phdipe Somalai?aua B.D.Seba^pabiAn . p.Lu?deM?xfca

de Sta. Maria dfeM6xica* . jfc* !
Da. Nicolas* Guya
(ca. 16*5-1730) ' ;" ^J^^ti?
D.Augu$foRoquePfopU -^?D^Nic^^
(d.1760)
1,
? B:DJ
Da: Martin* Paula ^< (1753-1822) ; -
4Î^Rufir?M^Pilap? ;. r : ; ..... ^ v-,. ,vf'-p
? D.D:Mariam>BenmviPuapil^ -
D/AndrtsB*hav6
1
.B^.JoaquInPilap?^
5. D. Theodora Guille^ B.D.lsWoroPflapil* .

(ca/l762-1809)
?a.JulianaPilap?
l-B.D.Ytfrfatfo
D.OabridCalalang CaWang*
6..D. Aiigusdn WddroToiT?PilaR? ^r_^_?B.D.j
?Denotes a priest
(sumaldng-sa-awa) bespeaks a tragic strain in the family. Don Augustin

married Dona Nicolasa Dalisay ("Lady Pure") of another distinguished
clan from Bulac?n, the capital town of the province of the same name. She
was the daughter of Don Luis de Moxica and Dofla Josefa de Jesus and
the niece of Bachiller Don Sebastian Fabian de Moxica (ca. 1685-1730),
one of the first Filipino priests. Padre Sebastian was the first Filipino
pastor of the curacy of natives and morenos of the city of Manila
(Intramuros). The priest's father or grandfather was most probably Don
Cristobal de Moxica, who was appointed by the archbishop of Manila
assistant ecclesiastical fiscal (theniente de alguacil mayor fiscal) of
Bulac?n, Bulac?n on 14 January 1665.5
Although the priestly tradition had taken root on the maternal side of
the Pilapils, their patriarch, Don Augustin ensured that this tradition
would also thrive in his line. Thus, two of his five sons, Juli?n and Luis,
became priests in 1747 and 1761, respectively. His three other sons and
only daughter begot a son each, who also became worthy priests, the most
brilliant of whom was Dr. Mariano Bernave Pilapil. Further, at least two
of Don Augustin's great-grandsons took Holy Orders.6
Dr. Pilapil's father, Don Andres BernaVe, was also a principal of
Bulac?n but his family was obviously less prominent than that of his wife,
Dona Rufina Maria. Mariano used the dual surname of Bernave Pilapil
until middle age, when he dropped his patronymic altogether; after all, it
sounded more like a second name. This was not an unusual practice in that
era, when most Filipinos did not carry regular family names.7
On 12 October 1750, thirty-three principals of the adjacent town of
Quingua ? some of whom were related to the Pilapils ? put their
resources together and offered 10 quifiones of ricelands, worth two
thousand pesos, in the barrios of Pintog and Culianin in order to set up a
capellania de misas for the financial support of a native priest. They chose
three among themselves to serve as its patrons in the following order: Don
Augustin Bernardino, Don Miguel Roque de la Cruz and Don Carlos
Xavier de la Cruz. Upon their demise, the cathedral chapter, also known
as the ecclesiastical council of Manila, would succeed them jointly as the
Ibid.; Luciano P.R. Santiago. "The Second Group of Filipino Priests: Biographical
Profiles." Phil. Quarterly of Culture and Society 12 (1984): 146-8; AAM. Libro de
GobiernoEclesi?stico(LGE). 1656-73. doc. 550.
6AAM. CM 1751-1833; LGE1789-97. ff. 152,193v. &242.
7Ibid.; AAM. "Aflo de 1794. Documentos de D. Jose Morera." Expedientes sobre

Diferentes Matenas (EDM). 1779-99 B. This is the earliest document we could find wherein
Dr. Pilapil signed his name without his patronymic "BernaveV'
patron. They further specified that its chaplain should be the "nearest
relative of one of the founders, preferably the poorest, most virtuous and
closest to ordination to the priesthood. If none of their relatives were
available, the chaplaincy should go to the poorest native aspirant." They
asked the chaplain to celebrate forty masses a year for their intentions or
for their souls when they died.
Although Don Augustin Pilapil was not one of the original founders, it
was he who bought or redeemed seven of the ten quifiones, which had been
sold earlier to third parties by the ancestors of some of the founders. This
he clarified later in the twenty-fifth clause of his last will dated 11 August
1760 in Bulac?n, Bulac?n, where he had transferred his residence. Thus,
he was considered the main founder of the trust fund, which was later
called capellania de Pilapil. In gratitude for this generosity and because he
was related to the initial founders, the latter elected his eldest son,
Bachiller Don Julian Moxica Pilapil as its first chaplain. By then a priest
of the diocese of Ceb?, where he had been ordained by Bishop Protacio
Cabezas, Padre Julian petitioned the cathedral chapter of Manila on 6
November 1751 for the formal erection of the chaplaincy and his
investiture as its first chaplain. This was readily approved, and he was
installed to it on 16 November 1751.8
Barely a month later, when Padre Julian learned that a cleric in the
minor orders from Quingua, B.D. Francisco Ramos de Leon, was more in
need of it, he gave up his capellania in his favor with a magnanimity
characteristic of the Pilapils. Unfortunately, his successor turned out to be
a violent youth in clerical cloth: as a subdeacon in 1753, he shot and
seriously wounded a townmate for unknown reasons. When the
imprisoned Ramos died of consumption in 1756, the capellania reverted to
Padre Julian, who had returned to the archdiocese in the meantime.
However, for the second time, he renounced it in favor of his younger
brother, Luis, who had just been raised to the subdiaconate that year.
"A confessor of virtuous conduct," B.D. Luis Moxica Pilapil later
became the substitute parish priest of Taytay due to the senility of its
Spanish pastor, Dr. Alexandro Domingues. Unexpectedly, he predeceased
the latter as well as his elder brother in 1776. At this point, none of their
nephews had entered the seminary yet so that in his old age, Padre Julian
8AAM. "Capellania de los Principals de Quingua." CM 1897-99 & 1751-1833; LGE

1751-52. doc. 158.
9
Ibid. docs. 185 & 186; "Aflo de 1753. Causa Criminal procesada contra el B.D.
Francisco Ramos de Leon." ObrasPias (misplaced document).
succeeded again to the family's capellania. He had served for a long time
as coadjutor of Binondo and later, he retired also as coadjutor of Baliuag,
Bulac?n, where he died at the age of 72 in 1785.10
The old presbyter's successor to the chaplaincy was his nephew, B.D.
Isidoro Pilapil, who was to be ordained the following year. This obscure
priest worked as assistant curate in various parishes until he died in 1809 at
the age of 47 in Bigaa, Bulac?n, his last assignment. The only two
remaining priest-cousins at this point were Dr. Mariano and the elder B.D.
Domingo Sevilla Pilapil, pastor of Bacoor, Cavite. (A fourth one, B.D.
Manuel, had died in 1798). Padre Domingo relinquished his rights to it in
favor of the doctor. However, when the latter confidently applied for it,
he unknowingly stirred up the longest crisis in his life and career. This
was but one of the many perils of an Indio doctor in his time.
II. PRIME: STRIFE AND PEACE (1759-1784)

In the year 1759, when Dr. Pilapil was born in the town of Bulac?n,
Halley's comet flashed awesomely in the sky as predicted by the British
scientist for whom it was named. Despite their evangelization, the
Filipinos ? like other peoples in the world ? must have been deeply
disturbed by this sign. The subsequent turn of events did not alleviate their
fears.12
The patriarch of the clan, Don Augustin Pilapil, died the following
year after writing his will and just before he could witness his younger son,
Luis, ascend the altar with the priestly dignity. Two years later, the British
invaded the Philippines and occupied the hapless colony for two years,
wreaking havoc on the countryside, including the province of Bulac?n.
This catastrophe occurred during the first five impressionable years of the
future doctor's life.13
Mariano started his formal schooling during the reconstruction period
after the English Occupation. As was the prevailing custom then, he must
Archivo General de Indias (AGI). "Afio de 1776. Cat?logo del Clero Manilano.,,
Filipinos 1052. in Angel Martinez Cuesta, "El Clero Filipino: Estudios Hist?ricos y
Perspectivas Futuras." Missionalia Hisp?nica. 40 (1983): 346-55; AAM. CM 1751-1833;
"Aflo de 1778. Diligencias Seguidas por D. Alonso Pantale?n del Pueblo de Taytay..."
EDM. 1730-79 B. This document refers to the sudden death of B.D. Luis Moxica Pilapil in
1776.
11AAM. CM1751-1833.
12
Nigel Calder. The Comet is Coming. The Feverish Legacy of Mr. Halley. (Middlesex:
Penguin, 1982).
13AAM. CM 1751-1833; LGE1759-64. f. HOv.
have received his elementary education at the parish school. It appears

that he studied gram?tica, the five-year equivalent of high school, in
Manila at the University of Sto. Tomas (1770-1775). Here, after two more
years, he earned his first academic degree, Bachelor of Philosophy, in
1777.14
During this period, the archbishop of Manila was the controversial
Don Basilio Sancho de Santas Justa y Rufina, CCS.P., who was to serve
for the longest term (1767-1787) among the prelates of Manila during the
entire Spanish regime. A series of ecclesiastical crises had arisen beginning
with the expulsion of the Jesuits from the colony in 1768. This was
followed in the same year by the deprivation of the Dominicans of their
curacies in Manila and Bata?n for rejecting the royal patronage. Three
years later, the Augustinians suffered the same fate, being removed from
their parishes in Pampanga for refusal to accept both patronage and
episcopal visitation. Under the circumstances, which had no precedence in
the annals of the Church in the Philippines, Archbishop Sancho initiated
the indigenization of the parishes and encouraged higher education among
the native clergy and their promotion in the hierarchy. Thus, the first
Filipino doctors of Sacred Theology, Dr. Manuel Francisco Tubil, a
Pampango, and Dr. Joseph Patricio de Molina, a Spanish mestizo,
graduated from the University of Sto. Tomas in 1772. They were followed
by the first Chinese mestizo doctors in 1778: Drs. Francisco Borja de los
Santos and Vizente Dionisio de los Reyes. Bachillers Don Maximo Ignacio
and Don Nicolas Dorotheo Masangcay became the first two Indio
archdiocesan secretaries (1768-1773 and 1773-1789, respectively) and
rectors of the Manila cathedral (1761-1773 and 1773-1795, respectively).15
PilapiPs uncle, Padre Luis, was appointed acting pastor of the former
Jesuit parish of Taytay in 1772 but died suddenly four years later. His
other uncle, Padre Julian, was then working as assistant pastor of the
former Dominican parish of Binondo. The latter was a protege of B.D.
Bartholome Saguinsin, the first Indio priest-writer, poet and historian, 16
who died in 1772. Saguinsin was, in many ways, a precursor of Pilapil.
14UST Alumni Association (USTAA). UST Graduate Listing 1611-197L (Manila: UST,
1972); and Supplement. 1775-94. (typewritten copy courtesy of Fr. Fidel Villarroel, O.P.).
15
Luciano P.R. Santiago. "The First Filipino Doctors of Ecclesiastical Sciences
1772-96." Phil. Quarterly of Culture and Society 12 (1984): 257-270; "The Struggles of the
Native Clergy in Pampanga 1771-77." Phil Studies. 33 (1985): 176-202.
16AAM. "Aflo de 1778. Diligencias.,, EDM 1730-79 B; Licencias de Confesi?n y Misa.
1769. In one of these documents, it is stated that B.D. Bartholome Saguinsin, acting treasurer
of the Manila Cathedral, examined B.D. Juli?n de M?xica Pilapil, coadjutor of Binondo, for
the confessional licensure and gave him a two year license instead of the usual one year.
These favorable signs for native clergymen, combined with the priestly
tradition of his family, must have encouraged the young Mariano to enroll
at the faculty of theology of his Alma Mater in 1777 and aim for the
doctorate in it. Hitherto, there had never been an "Indio Tagalo" doctor.
Pilapil apparently resolved to make his way in the Philippine Church and
academe. His elder cousin Domingo had also decided to enter the
Seminary of San Carlos in the same year. In March 1780, Mariano
graduated as a Bachelor of Sacred Theology and four months later he
received both the minor orders and the subdiaconate consecutively from
Archbishop Sancho on 24 and 25 July.17
In the same year, the Philippine colony trembled again at the news that
Mother Spain and Protestant England were at war in Europe. To prevent
another calamitous conquest by the British, the whole colony was put on
war alert for two years. Fortunately, the feared invasion did not
materialize, and neither did the military preparations directly affect
PilapiPs academic and presbyteral training. Thus, in 1781, he was raised
to the diaconate. Imbued with youthful confidence, he tried that year to
obtain the professorial chair of Philosophy at the College of San Jose, the
former Jesuit institution, which had been turned over to the secular clergy.
Although he made the terna the competition was quite formidable. It was
won by the older Maestro Don Juan Sebastian Aramburo, the
distinguished Chinese mestizo priest, who was soon to earn a double
doctorate, one in Philosophy (1782) and another in Theology (1783).18
On the September Ember days of 1782, he was finally ordained to the
priesthood. He was granted the license to celebrate his first masses on 1
October for a period of six months. To the edification of his parents and
relatives, he most probably sung his first high mass with his uncle Julian
and cousin Domingo (who had been ordained in 1779) in their ancestral
USTAA. Graduate Listing and Supplement; AAM. "Afio de 1778. Respuesta a la Real
Orden de 3 Agosto de 1776 sobre el Real Seminario Conciliar de San Carlos." Cedularios no.
8. 1744-77. n.p.; LGE1772-83. ff. 68v. and 69.
18
Ibid. ff. 67-68 and 97v.; Salvador P. Escoto and John N. Schumacher. "Filipino
Priests of the Archdiocese of Manila, 1782." PS. 24 (1976): 326-343; Oraci?n Panegirica Que
El Doctor Don Mariano Pilapil, Cathedr?tico de Reth?rica del Real Colegio de Sr. San
Joseph de Manila, Opositor de los vezes a la Canongia Magistral de la Santa Iglesia
Cathedral de la misma ciudad y una vez a la cathedra de Philosophia del enunciado Colegio
del Sr. San Joseph, Dixo Patente El Divinissimo El Dia 29 de Junio de I796 Dia de San Pedro
y San Pablo en la Bendici?n de la Iglesia de San Pedro Macati. (Sampaloc: Concepci?n,
1796). There is a copy of this rare book at the Ayala Museum and Library which was made
available to me by Mr. Regalado Jose, Jr. It is also listed in Perez y Guernes. Adiciones. p.
186 no. 597; USTAA. Graduate Listing & Supplement; Santiago. "The Frist Filipino
Doctors."
churches in Bigaa and Bulac?n, Bulac?n. His license was prolonged for
one year on 1 March 1783.19
III. SUNBURST AT NOONDAY (1785-1798)

Determined to do well in all his undertakings, Pilapil continued his
intensive studies in sacred theology until he acquired the coveted licentiate
and doctorate degrees in that faculty in 1785, when he was only 26. As
noted earlier, he was the first Tagalog doctor in any field. His jubilation,
however, was cut short by the death in the same year of his venerable
priest-uncle, Bachiller Don 20Julian Pilapil, who had retired as the
coadjutor of Baliuag, Bulac?n.
We are unable to follow his initial career from 1784 to 1789 because the
administrative books of the archdiocese for this period are missing.
Archbishop Sancho died on 15 December 1787 and the interregnum lasted
for two years.
Fray Juan Antonio de Orbigo y Gallego, O.F.M., bishop of Nueva
Caceres, succeeded Archbishop Sancho and took possession of the
archdiocese of Manila on 15 October 1789. The reign of this prelate saw
the auspicious rise of the younger Pilapils in the service of the church. In
1790, Bachiller Don Domingo Sevilla Pilapil won the proprietary
pastorship of Bacoor, Cavite in competitive synodal examinations. The
following year, the magistral canonry of the Manila cathedral, which was
reserved for priests with masteral degrees and above ? but preferably of
Spanish blood ? fell vacant with the promotion of Dr. Don Joseph
Patricio de Molina, the first Spanish mestizo doctor, to maestrescolia. Dr.
Pilapil vied for this prestigious position and made the terna but was not
the one favored with it by the king. A few years later, the same position
became available again and he went through the same procedure, with the
same frustrating result. However, being admitted to the examinations for
this dignity was sufficient source of distinction for any priest in that
22
era so
that this fact was emphasized in the credentials of Dr. Pilapil.
In 1793, Archbishop Orbigo granted him the uncommon license to
celebrate masses for six years and started enrolling him into the roster of
19AAM. LGE1772-83. ff. 128 and 134v.

20USTAA. Graduate Listing andSupplement; AAM. CM1751-1833.
^Hierarchia Catholica Medii et RecentiorisAevi(HCMRA). (Patavii: OFM conv., 1952)
6:274.
22AAM. LGE 1789-97. ff. 29 & 77v., Pilapil. Oraci?n Paneglrica.
eloquent preachers in Spanish at the Manila cathedral. At the beginning of

each year, these secular priests were selected personally by the prelate to
deliver the sermons on special occasions, which he graced with his
presence. It appears that it was also this prelate who installed him as
professor of humanities and rhetoric at the College of San Jose. The
earliest record that could be found in which he was noted to be in this
position is dated January 1794.23
For the first and only time in his ecclesiastical career that we know of,
he tried pastoral work for a year, from 1794 to 1795, as an assistant of his
cousin, Padre Domingo in Bacoor, Cavite. He may have been on sick
leave at that time from his teaching responsibilities. When he returned to
Manila, he realized the profound respect he had gained among the native
clergy, in whose dark firmament he had become one of the bright stars. In
1796, for instance, the Chinese mestizo pastor of San Pedro de Macati,
Bachiller Don Facundo Marino Paraz (1739-1818), invited him to preach
the sermon on the solemn blessing of the newly constructed parish church
on 29 June, the feast of Saints Peter and Paul. The new edifice ? whose
walls and main altar still stand today ? was erected over the ruins of the
church built in 1610 by the Jesuits, who had owned the Hacienda de
Macati. The present donation was made by Don Pedro de Galarraga,
colonel of the regiment of Camarines and Tayabas and general director of
the Royal Tobacco Monopoly, who was later elevated to Marques de
Villamediana. He had bought the hacienda at a public auction after the
expulsion of the Jesuits in 1768. Padre Facundo was so impressed by
PilapiPs homily that on 6 September he petitioned the archbishop to grant
him the license to publish it in honor of Our Lady of the Rose, the parish
patron. According to Jesuit historians, her altar image was far-famed for
the rare reliquary imbedded in it believed to contain a strand of hair of the
Blessed Virgin Mary. In his dedicatory preface to this book, Paraz states
that he could not find "a more lasting monument" to express his gratitude
to the Virgin. The archbishop assigned it to the censor librorum, Fray
Pedro Galan, O.P., professor of theology at the University of Sto. Tomas,
who promptly affirmed on 9 September that "it does not contain anything
contrary to the faith and moral precepts of the Sacred Scriptures.
However, it should be presented more in conformity to the rules and
propriety of our Castilian language as well as of Christian rhetoric."
Instead of directing Pilapil to revise his Oration Panegirica, however, the
23Ibid.; AAM. LGE1789-97. ff. 138, 144, 156v. & 198v.: LGE 1797-1804. ff. 42, 97 &
54.
prelate gave it his imprimatur on the same day but counseled him to
"direct his sermons in the future to the welfare and service of souls." Did
the doctor perhaps digress subtly from purely spiritual matters in this, his
first published work? Pilapil likened the blessing of the new church to
God's preference for the New Testament over the Old, for Christ over the
prophets, and for the Catholic Church over Solomon's temple. If the
analogy is carried further, since the ruined church of Macati had been
built by the expelled Spanish Jesuits and was now replaced by a new one
inaugurated by Filipino priests, the "new" native clergy appeared to be
the favored one over the "old" Spanish clergy in the Philippines. Pilapil
seemed to be battling for the indigenization of the parishes initiated by
Archbishop Sancho, who had ordained him. In fact, this is the goal of the
mission church anywhere in the world: to let the indigenous priesthood
eventually take over the local church, something which the Spanish
authorities would still fail to observe in the next century. Be that as it may,
in publishing this book of Pilapil ? the first sermon by an Indio priest to
see print ? the obscure Padre Facundo Marino Paraz has come down in
Philippine religious history. Consisting of thirty-four pages in quarto, it
was printed in the same year in Sampaloc, Manila by Brother Pedro
Arg?elles de la Conception. The next year, Archbishop Orbigo died on 10
May 1797.24
While Dr. Pilapil's cousin, Padre Domingo, was proving his mettle as
shepherd of souls (the cathedral chapter during the interregnum
promoted him to vicar forane of the ecclesiastical province of Cavite in
1797), Padre Mariano settled down to a career in the academe. On 17
February 1798, the vicar capitular honored him with the license to
celebrate masses for an indefinite period of time at the will of his
Excellency. On the other hand, their sickly cousin, Padre Manuel Pilapil,
who was working as the coadjutor of Bigaa, died in his early thirties also
in 1798. Before the end of that year, on 7 December, "wishing to
contribute to the education of the youth," the teacher-writer begged the
chapter for the privilege to print his second work, which consisted of three
pedagogical booklets. The book censor who was asked to review them was
24 Archives of the Parish of Bacoor, Cavite. Libro de Bautismos. 18th Century.

(Information given by Mr. Regalado T. Jose, Jr., Historian of Cavite); Pilapil. Oraci?n
Panegirica; Pablo Fern?ndez, O.P. History of the Church in the Philippines. (Manila:
National Bookstore, 1979) pp. 271-2; Congregantes Marianos de los Colegios de la
Compafiia de Jesus de Manila. La Virgen Maria Venerada en sus Imdgenes Filipinos.
(Manila: Santos y Bernal, 1904) pp. 74-75; AAM. LGE 1789-97. ff. 272-272v.; Libro de
Temas 1806-26. (3 Dec. 1818); Escoto & Schumacher. "Filipino Priests."
another native Doctor of Sacred Theology (UST 1782) and pastor of

Quiapo, Padre Luis Mariano Hocson. The latter completed his assignment
on 11 December and recommended their publication "for they conform to
high standards of arts and letters and can promote the public good and
instruction of young students." (How different an assessment from Fray
Galan's). Thus, on the same day, the cathedral chapter in sede vacante
issued a license for their publication. There is no known extant copy of
these booklets.25
IV. VESPERS: CRISES AND CONSOLATION (1799-1815)

At the heels of every triumph of Pilapil, a crisis seemed to follow to
clip his wings. At forty, instead of becoming an Indio churchman of rank,
which he had hoped to be, there began a phase in his life characterized by
increasing frustrations and strife. Although he was keenly aware of the
part human frailties played in them, he learned to accept them as part of
God's design.
No sooner had the year 1799 begun than Don Juan Versoza of the
Confraternity of Jesus the Nazarene of Ermita Outside the Walls brought
suit against him at the ecclesiastical court for alleged non-payment for
more than two hundred pesos he had apparently borrowed from its coffers
four years earlier. Prior to this lawsuit, some might have scoffed at his
ambition, but none had ever doubted his integrity. Dr. Pilapil claimed that
he had promptly paid back the sum in the same year to the secretary of the
confraternity, Pedro de San Buenaventura, now a clerk of the Royal
Hacienda. As witness, he presented Don Benito de la Pefta, captain of a
company of the military regiment of the province of Laguna de Bay.
Nevertheless, the case dragged on for two and a half years even as the
eighteenth century turned into the nineteenth. Finally, in July 1801, the
clerk broke down and confessed his crime of stealing the money in
question, promising to repay it in installments from his current salary. A
true man of God, Pilapil forgave him.26
The new archbishop, Fray Juan Antonio de Zulaibar, O.P., took
possession of the archdiocese of Manila on 2 September 1804. He was to
serve until 1824 ? the second longest term of a Spanish archbishop, next
to that of Sancho. Although the administrative book of a crucial part of
25AAM. LGE1789-97. ff. 152,241v. &242; LGE1797-1804. ff. 27v., 46v. & 91v.-92v.
ÂAM. Provisorato. 1784-1826. (16 Feb. 1799 & 27 Jul. 1801) n.p. but arranged
chronologically.
his reign from 1806 to 1815 is missing, we can still trace PilapiPs career
during this period from other sources. To be sure, it continued to be a
tumultuous if fruitful time in his life. He had emerged as the most
influential Filipino writer of his age. With his pen he struck fire, shaping
books that rekindled the mind, scorched the conscience and ignited the
hearts and souls of his people.
He composed at least two novenas in both Tagalog and Spanish and
translated another religious obra from Spanish to Tagalog. In 1813, his
students published some of his poems in Spanish, which will be discussed
later. All these four works together with the Pasiong Mahal must have
been initially printed between 1806 and 1815. At least there is no entry for
any of them in the surviving administrative books after 1815.
His most popular novena is undoubtedly that to Our Lady of Peace
and Good Voyage in Antipolo, which includes a brief history of her
ancient image and miracles. Entitled in Tagalog, Pagsisiyam at Maiding
Casaysayan, ocol sa larauang mapaghimala nang Mahal na Virgen nang
Capayapaa't Mabuting Paglayag...., it ran through many editions in the
nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, but no copy of the first27edition
nor of its Spanish version is available for specific dating.
His other novena is entitled in Spanish Novena del Senor del Santo
Sepulcro de Dilao (Novena to the Lord of the Holy Sepulcher of Dilao).
Written at the request of Capit?n Don Tomas Sanchez in behalf of the
principales of San Fernando de Dilao (now Paco, Manila), it was endowed
with indulgences by Archbishop Zulaibar. As indicated by the subject
matter, it must have served as his spiritual preparation for the editing of
Pasiong Mahal. It too was reprinted several times in the nineteenth and
early twentieth centuries but none of the first editions is known to exist.28
Pilapil's third obra in the early nineteenth century was a Tagalog
translation of the brief history and rules of the Venerable Third Order
(V.O.T.) of Penitence of the Franciscan Order. Maiding Casaysayan nang
manga Cabanalan na Catongcolang gaoa-in nang manga Profesores sa
Venerable Order Tercera nang Penitenda was offered expressly for the
native members of the V.O.T., whose center was in Intramuros. It was
printed for the third time in Sampaloc in 1830; none of the first two
editions has survived.29
In spite, or probably because, of the reverence accorded him by his
27
Per6z y G?emes. Adicionesp. 320, no. 868.
Îbid.p.^no. 1206.
29Ibid.p.308,no.844.
countrymen, the Spanish hierarchy seem to have regarded him with a

certain degree of hostility, which blocked the expected promotion of one
of the most brilliant native priests of his time. Twenty-one years after his
graduation as a Doctor of Sacred Theology, the only position which had
been extended to him for more than a decade was that of a professor in the
College of San Jose. Thus, in 1806, when the magistral canonry of the
Manila cathedral fell vacant again with the death of the Chinese mestizo
Dr. Aramburo (who had expired before the news of his appointment to
this office reached Manila), he competed for the third time for this
position. The other two aspirants were Spaniards with only licentiate
degrees: Don Fermin Inel and Don Felis Martines. When the grueling
examinations ended on 9 April ? which was the height of the dry season
? Dr. Pilapil, with characteristic Filipino hospitality, offered some
refreshments in an anteroom of the sacristy of the cathedral for both his
co-examinees and the examiners, who were members of the cathedral
chapter or ecclesiastical council. The latter was headed by the dean, Don
Francisco Dias Durana, a peninsular with a licentiate like the other
examinees. To Pilapil's astonishment, the dean took offense at his
generosity and even went so far as to issue a special decree reprimanding
him severely for this act. "In none of the cathedrals of Spain," he
informed Pilapil, "which possess prebends of greater importance than
those of this Holy Cathedral Church (of Manila), nor in the latter, has it
been a custom to prepare such refreshments!" Clearly, the Spanish
dignitary demonstrated or feigned ignorance of Filipino social values and
customs although records show that he had been living in the colony for
more than three decades. Not surprisingly, Pilapil failed to get the
position. That was the last straw. Henceforth, he resolved never again to
participate in such a futile excercise, but not before submitting a letter to
the king protesting racial discrimination against native priests. Nothing
came of his complaint except for its preservation in the royal archives and,
probably, greater antagonism of the Spanish hierarchy.30
His cousin, Bachiller Don Isidoro Pilapil, chaplain of their family
capellania, died on 23 July 1809. After more than a month of mourning,
Dr. Pilapil decided to apply for succession to the pious foundation Padre
Isidoro had left behind. He could not have imagined at the time that his
decision would bring about the longest crisis in his life and career as noted
earlier. On 31 August, his brother and attorney-in-fact, Don Thomas
ÂAM. LGE 1772-83. f. 62v.; LGE 1804-06. f. 171v.; EDM 1800-32 A; AGI. Aflo de
1776. Cat?logo.
Bernave Pilapil, petitioned the gobernadorcillo and principales of the

town of Bulac?n to attest to the fact that the doctor and his only other
surviving priest-cousin, Bachiller Don Domingo Sevilla Pilapil, were the
grandsons of the founder of the capellania, the former through his mother
and the latter through his father. The municipal council complied the
following day.31
The cathedral chapter ? now headed ad interim by the Spanish
mestizo Dr. Don Raymundo de Mijares (UST 1788) ? recognized the
vacancy on 6 December 1809 and enjoined all those who were interested in
it to present themselves to the august body within fifteen days. It should be
remembered that the founders of the capellania had stipulated that its
future chaplains should be "the nearest relative of one of the founders,
preferably the poorest, most virtuous and closest to ordination to the
priesthood." The magnanimous Padre Domingo wrote to renounce his
birthright, albeit probably stronger because he descended from the direct
male line, in favor of Dr. Pilapil. Their nephew, Bachiller Don Ignacio
Calalang y Pilapil as well as Don Josef Fabian de Roxas, a student of
Letr?n and descendant of one of the original founders, also applied. But
the council ruled that they had an inferior claim because they had not been
ordained to the priesthood. Hence, on 8 January 1810, the council
nominated Dr. Pilapil to the chaplaincy.32
However, Archbishop Zulaibar, who seemed to favor the claim of
Roxas, took the chapter to task on 22 January and ordered it to submit to
him all the documents of the case. The latter obeyed three days later. First,
His Grace questioned the validity of Padre Domingo's renunciation and
cession of his rights and referred this issue to the rector of the University
of Sto. Tomas for opinion. Then the prelate even disputed the prerogative
of the chapter to be the patron of the foundation. What appeared initially
to be a simple matter now began to take a complicated turn. On 30
January, His Grace asked the council to suspend the investiture of Dr.
Pilapil pending review of the foundation papers of the capellania, which
he now asked the body to turn over to him. The chapter informed him that
they had already done so five days ago. After more than five weeks, the
archbishop concluded that he and not the chapter was the patron of the
foundation and admonished the latter to refrain from making
nominations to it in the future. The chapter took back the original
documents but could not find any evidence to support the prelate's
31AAM. "Capellania de los Pilapil." CM 1751-1833.

Ibid.
conclusion. Therefore, they respectfully warned His Grace that if he

insisted on his unwarranted claim, they would submit the case to a
"competent judge" ? referring to the next neighboring bishop, that of
Nueva Segovia, as the papal delegate in the colony (since the see of Nueva
Caceres was then vacant). For once, the archbishop backed down.33
In the meantime, the rector, together with other Dominican professors
of the University of Sto Tomas completed their assignment on 23 April
1810. They opined that Padre Domingo's renunciation of his right to the
capellania was null and void because he had failed to follow the correct
legal procedure, such as asking for the consent of his superiors. They
glossed over the fact that it was part of the family tradition of
magnanimity among the Pilapil priests to yield their rights to one another
as set forth by the example of their venerable uncle Padre Julian. On the
other hand, Don Juan de Di?s, a native Licentiate and doctoral candidate
in Canon Law (UST 1801 and 1812) and professor of Philosophy in the
College of San Jose, whom Pilapil consulted, took the opposite stand. He
stated that whether or not Padre Domingo relinquished his rights was
beside the point since Dr. Pilapil had his own legitimate claims to it, which
should be considered on their own merits. The archdiocesan counsellor
(asesor) sided with the university rector. Thus, the archbishop took up
their advice on 25 May 1810 exhorting the chapter "to administer justice"
in reconsidering the other applications to the chaplaincy.34
The ecclesiastical council deliberated on the case again for more than a
month and came up with exactly the same conclusion as before, viz., that
Dr. Pilapil was the best qualified among the applicants and hence, they
nominated him for the second time on 5 July 1810. Echoing the views of
the licentiate Don Juan de Di?s and criticizing the opinion of the asesor,
they made it clear that they did not base their choice on the fact that
Bachiller Don Domingo Sevilla Pilapil had given up his rights but on the
just merits of Dr. Pilapil's claims. Not unexpectedly, the asesor fiercely
disagreed with them again though he did not stand in the way of Dr.
Pilapil's collation, which Dr. Mijares gave him on* 10 August. Six days
later, the archbishop grudgingly sent him the title to his ancestral
capellania as well as the privilege to collect its stipends although, at the
same time, he rebuked the chapter for having presented "infuriating
propositions in your reports; up to now, I have not done anything to my
venerable dean and chapter to deserve these." Unfortunately, the matter
^llbid.; AAM. Libro de Oficios(LO) 1804-13. ff. 250 & 260v.

34Ibid.; f. 226; AAM. CM 1751-1833.
DON DOCTOR MARIANO BERNAVE PILAPIL 35
did not end peacefully there.

The disgruntled claimant Don Josef Fabian de Roxas protested to the
archbishop on 23 August 1810 begging him to suspend or revoke the
collation of Dr. Pilapil. The prelate promptly granted his petition. Roxas
had maintained that he possessed the lawful birthright to the chaplaincy
because he was a direct descendant, through his mother, of one of the
thirty-three original founders, Don Matheo Garcia, as well as a collateral
descendant of a few of the others. He pointed out that the doctor's
ancestor, Don Augustin, was not one of the initial founders. (It should be
pointed out, however, that Don Augustin was considered the main
founder because he owned seventy per cent of the foundation estate and he
was also related to the original founders.) Further, although Roxas
acknowledged he was not yet a priest, he alleged that Pilapil was not a
"poor" priest to deserve the chaplaincy.36
On 13 December 1810, Pilapil was served the transcript of Roxas'
objections and asked to respond to them. Pilapil declined to accept the
documents on the grounds that the lawsuit pertained to the chapter and
not to him. Almost two months passed before the archbishop decided to
order Pilapil to consider himself the defendant in the case. Whereupon the
latter pleaded for its complete transcript from the very beginning so that
he could defend his position effectively. The prelate after first refusing
acquiesced when he insisted on it. But the doctor observed that the final
records sent to him were "incomplete, considerably altered and not
conforming with the originals that he had seen before." Nevertheless,
despite Pilapil's protests, the suit proceeded. On 2 December 1811, His
Grace declared his nomination, collation and canonical installation null
and void.
Doctor Pilapil refused to surrender his investiture papers to the
archbishop "because it was the chapter who had granted them to him"
and immediately appealed the former's decision to Don Thomas Francisco
Casanas, the subdelegate of the bishop of Nueva Segovia in Manila.
Casanas also happened to be the rector of the College of San Jose where
Pilapil was a professor. Roxas, therefore, charged Casanas with conflict
of interests. The bishop of Nueva Segovia, Fray Cayetano Pallas, O.P. as
papal delegate, took up the suit in Vigan on 9 March 1812. Pallas belonged
to the same religious order as Archbishop Zulaibar, who was, in fact, the
35Ibid.; AAM. LO f. 272v.; EDM 1800-32 A.

36 AAM. CM 1751-1833.
37Ibid.; AAM. LOf. 359.
one who had consecrated him in Manila four years earlier. But no one
dared to call attention to their possible conflict of interests. The case
dragged on in its third year, during which time the doctor also became
acting professor of philosophy at the College of San Jose on the death of
his faithful colleague, Dr. Juan de Dios.38
Bishop Pallas sustained the archbishop's judgment on 19 February
1813 and ordered Pilapil to pay the court costs in Vigan. If he had not
been a "poor" priest at the beginning of this case, he now probably
deserved to be called so. The doctor's attorney immediately appealed to
the royal audiencia. Apparently because of the strain of the long litigation,
Pilapil had fallen ill and retreated to the house of his sister, Dona
Severina, in Binondo. When he had recovered sufficiently, he concluded
that his lawyer's motion had been premature so that on 2 April, he decided
to address his case instead to the subdelegate of the bishop of Cebu in
Manila.39
In the meantime, a hopeful event occurred in the capital on 17 April
1813: the proclamation of the liberal Spanish Constitution of 1812. This
must have inspired Pilapil to continue his personal quest for justice. Thus,
when the archbishop vetoed his latest appeal on 20 May 1813, he finally
invoked the recurso de fuerza. The die had been cast and there could be no
turning back. He appears to have been the first Filipino to resort to this
regalist principle under which any subject could seek redress in the royal
audiencia for the following violations by an ecclesiastical judge: 1) Sitting
in judgment on a case which did not fall under his jurisdiction. Pilapil had
insisted that the chapter and not the archbishop had jurisdiction on this
suit. 2) Refusal to observe the rules of procedure. He had complained that
the archdiocesan court did not provide him with the complete and
unexpurgated records of the case on which to base his defence. 3) Refusal
to permit an appeal. This became his latest disappointment in the case.
The manuscripts of this suit at the archdiocesan archives end here but it is
clear that Pilapil pursued the legal process to its conclusion even as he was
drawn into the maelstrom of another momentous event.
With the new constitution came the erections of Philippine delegates to
the regular session of the Spanish Cortes of 1813. This was the first and, as
38 AAM. CM 1751-1833.
39 Ibid.; AAM.LOf.413v.
40Ibid. f. 419; AAM. CM 1751-1833; Luciano P.R. Santiago. "The Filipino
Priest-Delegates to the Spanish Cortes of 1813-14." PQCS. 13 (1985): 221-234; BR. 5:
292n.,7:246n.&14:35n.
it turned out, the last popular elections ever allowed in the Philippines
during the Spanish regime. Headed by Governor Gardoqui and
Archbishop Zulaibar, the electoral board held the suffrage belatedly and
in a greatly reduced form in the second week of September 1813 only in the
province of Manila (which was extended for that purpose to mean the
larger territory of the archdiocese of Manila) instead of the whole colony.
Again, instead of permitting all men over 25 to vote as specified in the
electoral code, the male principales of each town were instructed to select
one elector to represent them. The latter then met in the capital of their
respective provinces to choose the provincial electors. More than one third
of the twenty-five provincial electors turned out to be Filipino priests.
Finally, the latter converged to the city of Manila on 17 September to elect
four deputies and one alternate. Not surprisingly, almost all the victors
except one were native priests, including the venerable Dr. Pilapil. This
demonstrated without doubt the high esteem in which his countrymen held
him, for all this time they had apparently followed his courageous
struggles against the prevailing currents and had read or heard about his
published works. To them, he had become the archetypal Filipino priest.
The other three regular delegates were Licenciado Don Joseph de Vergara
y Masancay and Bachiller Don Camilo Pividal y de la Rosa, both Spanish
mestizo priests, and Don Inigo Gonzales Azaola, a criollo agriculturist.
The alternate was Bachiller Don Juan Andres Gatmaitan who, like
Pilapil, was an Indio priest from Bulac?n. Needless to say, the results of
the suffrage stunned the Spanish establishment in the colony.41
On 19 September 1813, the poll winners were promptly proclaimed at
the solemn High Mass of the Holy Spirit at the Manila cathedral. On this
occasion, the archbishop declined to preach and thus, this role fell on
short notice to the priest-delegate Vergara, who was then the treasurer of
the cathedral chapter. In his address, Vergara emphasized the novel
principle that the Spanish monarchy derived its authority from the people,
which included the Filipinos, whether Indios, mestizos or criollos, and
since the imprisoned king could not exercise his authority at this time, it
reverted back to the people, who had now reinvested it in their
representatives to the Cortes. Beside that of the author, the unseen hand
of Dr. Pilapil, the most senior delegate, can be inferred behind the
41
Santiago. "The Filipino Priest-DelegatesLicenciado Don Joseph de Vergara.
Discurso. in P?rez y Giienies. Adiciones. p. 249, no. 715; & in Wenceslao Retana. Aparato
Bibliogr?fico de la Historia General de Filipinos (Madrid: Minuesa de los Rios, 1906).
2:485-486.
document, which was published in the same year.42

The most controversial because the best known of the five deputies
was, not unexpectedly, Dr. Pilapil, who was now full professor of
Philosophy at the College of San Jose. Another prominent figure who
emerged from the sideline was Don Luis Rodriguez Varela, a fearless
criollo, who called himself El Conde Filipino. Quite spontaneously, he
joined the new delegates in underscoring the rights of the natives under the
new constitution in a series of three independent publications. On the
other side, two anonymous critics, who pretended to be Pilapil's
"friends," circulated poems which were disparaging to him. One of them
was later identified as the Augustinian pastor of Taguig, which was then
part of the province of Laguna. Dr. Pilapil answered their criticisms at
once likewise in verse form and his philosophy students rushed to his
defense by also producing poems in his honor. Entitled Dos Mascarados
Descubiertos (Two Impostors Unmasked), the whole collection was
published by his youthful supporters in the same year "so that the people
will be disabused and in gratitude to the said doctor, our professor." This
was the work criticized as "unliterary" by the Augustinian bibliographers
Perez and G?emes as noted in the beginning of this biography. Be that as
it may, it clearly shows Pilapil's profound influence not only on his
contemporaries but more so on the next generation who would pass on his
ideals.43
The electoral board collected a special tax from the people to the total
amount of P18,815 for the expenses of the four delegates. While the other
three embarked for Spain belatedly in January or February 1814, Pilapil
was not able to join them for unclear reasons. Neither was he replaced by
Gatmaitan, the alternate delegate, as would have been proper.44
Did he feel too old and sickly ? he was then 55 ? for the rigours of a
voyage at sea? Or did he prefer to personally supervise his pending recurso
de fuerza to its resolution? Or was he then already involved in evaluating
and editing the epochal Pasiong Mahal? Perhaps, it was a combination of
these reasons.
The vicar general of the archdiocese could not have found a more
zealous book censor and editor of the Pasiong Mahal than Pilapil for he
could read the souls of his people. The pains as well as the pleasure he took
in revising this popular work bespeak of a deep spiritual experience and
Ibid.
43
Ibid.; P6rez y G?emes. Adiciones. p. 249, no. 716.
Ibid.
indicate that his countrymen may not have been totally mistaken after all
in assuming that he was its author. For it can probably be considered as
much his obra as that of the anonymous poet who had composed it. This
fact can be gleaned quite clearly from his enthusiastic report on it written
on 20 April 1814. Here he mentioned, among other things, the New
Constitution of 1812 under which he had been elected seven months earlier
by his countrymen as "true citizen'' of the realm.45
"In view of the Superior Decree issued by Your Excellency in which
you order the work entitled Pasiong Mahal nang ating P.J., etc. to pass
my censorship, I proceeded immediately to read it. Having now examined
it with diligence and care required by such a useful and important work,
especially for the natives of this country, who utterly lack books of this
nature, and so that they may become good Christians and true citizens
according to the new constitution of the Monarchy, it should by necessity
be filled with the admirable precepts of our Holy Religion. Thus, I have
corrected it almost entirely, changing words, assertions and even verses for
the edification of those who will read it from now on, in such a way that it
will not contain the least vestige of error in point of faith, from which
some other works have already unwittingly digressed. The latter circulate
in these islands because their imprudent readers have tirelessly passed
them from hand to hand, from town to town, from province to province
and from generation to generation. I find, secure in the most proper
judgment of Your Excellency, that it is very necessary to grant the
interested party the license for its publication in the terms found in the
original presented to the court of Your Excellency although these did not
take into consideration other compelling reasons such as the extirpation of
the foregoing manuscripts which are, undoubtedly, full of ink blots but
not of truth. On this basis, without presuming in the least to instruct Your
Excellency on what should be done in this particular case, it appears to me
that in view of all that I have asserted it will be quite appropriate to
immediately order all pastors to collect the above-mentioned manuscripts
in their respective parishes and consign these works to the fire. National
College of the Lord St. Joseph of this Realm of the Philippines, 20 April
1814. Dr. D. Mariano Pilapil."46
As he had confidently anticipated, the provisorial court of Manila
approved and commanded the implementation of his report in its entirety
45
Casaysayan nang Pasiong Mahal ni Jesucristong Panginoon Natin. (Manila: Amigos
del Pais, 1891). p. 2.
Ibid.
on 2 May 1814. However, the archbishop did not endow it with

indulgences. The provisor and vicar general then was the same Licenciado
Don Francisco Dias Durana, concurrently dean of the Manila cathedral,
who had rebuked him for serving refreshments in the canonry
examinations eight years ago. The dean had apparently mellowed and
been reconciled with him. The old man died two years later.47
Pilapil was not so fortunate with regards to his recurso de fuerza at the
royal audiencia. He lost his cause ultimately just after he had completed
his work as censor of the Pasiong Mahal. This profound undertaking,
however, must have helped him weather the storms at the twilight of his
life. On 27 May 1814, Don Josef Fabian de Roxas, the archbishop's
protege, was installed in the erstwhile capellania of the Pilapils.48 But no
matter. He was always prepared to stand up against decisions which he
deemed unfair against anyone, be they his superiors. For five and a half
years, the brave and unwearied doctor had tried to exercise without
violence the rights of the Indio to the fullest extent possible under the
colonial system even at devastating financial and personal sacrifices. To
his chagrin, his hopes turned out to be a quixotic dream. His refusal to
compromise cost him important positions he deserved and made his
middle life a sustained crisis. But he faced it with dignity, and unwavering
devotion to the truth as he saw it. In the process, he imparted dignity to
the suffering Indio while sowing the seeds of national awareness.
Divine Providence had yet one more ordeal, albeit vicarious, with
which to test him. While the other three Philippine delegates were still at
sea for almost a year's voyage to Spain, the despotic King Ferdinand VII,
after being restored to his throne, dissolved the Cortes on 4 May 1814.
Thus, at a stroke of the royal pen, the whole Philippine effort at
representation crumbled into an extravagant waste for which the exploited
colony sank deeper into poverty. It was just as well that Pilapil had not yet
left for Spain. But the frustrating news would not reach the Philippines till
the following year. In the meantime, the secularization decree of the
previous Cortes arrived in December 1814, riveting the attention of the
native clergy, including that of Dr. Pilapil.49
In its penultimate session on 13 September 1813, the Cortes had passed
a resolution authored by the bishop-elect of Guyana, Don Jose Ventura
47 Ibid.; AAM "Certifico del entierro de Don Francisco Dias Durana." EDM 1800-32 A.
48AAM. CM 1751-1833.
49
Santiago. "The Filipino Priest-Delegates;" "The Filipino Clergy and the Seculariza?
tion Decree of 1813." PS 36 (1988):54-67.
Cabelle, to secularize all parishes in his diocese, which was extended to

apply to all the colonies including the Philippines. The first to get wind of
the decree, which had evidently been covered up by the authorities, was
the clergy of Cavite under the leadership of Pilapil's cousin, Bachiller Don
Domingo Sevilla Pilapil, pastor of Bacoor and vicar forane of the
province. After obtaining a confirmatory copy of it from Don Pedro de
Vergara, public scrivener of the city of Manila and brother of the other
delegate, Licenciado Don Joseph de Vergara, Padre Domingo assembled
his priests, and jointly they begged the archbishop in writing to ask the
governor general as vice royal patron to publish the decree and implement
it. They also sent copies of it to the other vicars forane of the archdiocese
urging them to address the same appeal to their prelate and in case they
were turned down, to solicit voluntary contributions so that they could
send a special representative or the present deputies to the legislature.
They were, of course, referring to Dr. Pilapil and the alternate delegate,
Gatmait?n. Unfortunately, the latter two were utterly unable to assist their
brethren save perhaps with their advice, sympathy and prayers.
Archbishop Zulaibar was outraged by the boldness of the Filipino priests
and incredibly, he and the governor staunchly denied having received their
official copies of the controversial decree from the Cortes. After the New
Year celebrations in 1815, Padre Domingo and co-signers of the petition
were all summond to Manila for interrogation and later, they were
incarcerated at different convents of the religious orders. Their case was
resolved only in March 1815, when the news of the abolition of the Cortes
finally reached the Philippines thus voiding the decree in question. Padre
Domingo, however, was sentenced to humble himself together with his
subordinates before the governor in the form of a public apology. He was
suspended indefinitely from his sacerdotal privileges and obligations and
removed permanently from his office as vicar forane.50
The more the Pilapil cousins suffered disgrace in the eyes of the
Spanish community, the deeper they were venerated by their oppressed
countrymen. This understandable reaction baffled the authorities, who
began to fear the influence of the native clergy under the nominal
leadership of the Pilapils. The colonialists had unwittingly created the
?ghosts which would haunt them for the rest of the century.
The Spanish apprehensions about the foregoing events were expressed
by the writer Manuel Bern?ldez Pizarro. "He who knows the active and
leading role played by (native priests) in accomplishing the independence
50.
Ibid.
of America will not be surprised that in the establishment of the

Constitution of 1812 in the Philippines, Indio pastors have almost all been
the supervisors of the elections in their villages, the electors, and the
delegates of the province in the Cortes ? in all these functions
distinguishing themselves by their officiousness and their pretentions
against the legitimate government of the Islands."51
V. COMPLINE: ELEGY AND ECSTASY (1815-1818)

In spite of past conflicts, the colonial authorities had no reason to
suspect the old doctor of subversive motives. In fact, he seemed to be
preparing himself serenely for God's final call. It had been heartwarming
for him to witness the Pasiong Mahal strike a deep chord among his
countrymen and endow them with a new devotional life especially in the
season of Lent. His own "pasion" had been more than what the average
person has to face in a lifetime. But in bearing it, he evinced his inner
strength and was strengthened by it as well. In this way and not through
the acquisition of important benefices did he find spiritual consolation.
Now he devoted himself quietly to teaching young Filipinos full time at the
College of San Jose. In his venerable presence, his students must have felt
that the inside of their school was larger than the outside. The last
available document he signed in this institution was dated 2 July 1817
certifying the faithful attendance of a native seminarian, Don Diego de
Guevarra, in his philosophy classes. He may have died shortly hereafter
but the exact date of his death is not known. He probably died around the
age of 59 in the thirty-sixth year of his priesthood. The older Bachiller Don
Domingo Sevilla Pilapil survived him by a few years. Felled by a stroke in
October 1820, he was incapacitated for three years before he finally
expired in the convento of Bacoor, Cavite.
At the turn of the century, Pons claimed that Dr. Pilapil's portrait still
hung in one of the halls of the University of Salamanca in Spain. He also
noted that Pilapil left many copies of his manuscript Gram?tica
Hispano-Latina and that as late as 1899, Dr. Mariano Sevilla, one of the
spiritual heirs of Pilapil, found a rare copy of it in the province of
Pampanga.53
51
Manuel Bern?ldez Pizarro. "Reforms Needed in the Philippines.'* (Madrid, 26 April
1827). in BR. 51:204.
52AAM. "Certificos de D. Diego de Guevarra." EDM. 1800-32 B; Luciano P.R.
Santiago. "Bachiller Don Domingo Sevilla Pilapil (1753-1822). PS 35 (1987):499-504.
53 Pons. El Clero Secular Filipino, p. 23.
EPILOGUE: THE AGE OF PILAPIL

PilapiPs documentary biography shows that as seen by the colonized,
the history they had experienced belonged to historical eras with their own
issues and concerns quite different from those of the "official" periods
promulgated by colonial chroniclers and historians. The former can be
demarcated from, and compared with ? without necessarily discarding ?
the latter, which were usually based explicitly on the terms of
governors-general or archbishops of Manila. The indigenous historical
eras, while still deeply embedded in our group unconscious, are recorded
in surviving manuscripts in Philippine and foreign archives, from which
they should be retrieved through primary research as part of our liberation
from colonial historiography. They might be named for a Filipino,
regardless of racial classification, that is, whether Indio, Chinese or
Spanish mestizo, criollo (who was then the one called Filipino) or even a
sympathetic peninsular, who best epitomized and influenced that era. He
or she should be the focal figure who distilled and expressed the hopes and
struggles as well as the visions and insights of his or her contemporaries.
One such was Dr. Mariano Bernave Pilapil, for whom we propose to name
that period in our history at the turn of the eighteenth to the early
nineteenth century (1785-1818).

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University of San Carlos Publications

DOCTOR DON MARIANO BERNAVÉ PILAPIL (1759-1818): PASSION AND TRANSFORMATION

DOCTOR DON MARIANO BERNAVE PILAPIL

Luciano P.R. Santiago

The second work was written anonymously for the monumental

I. MATINS: A PROCESSION OF THE LAKANS (1665-1759)

"Pilapil (Mariano Bernabe)." Enciclopedia Universal Ilustrada Europeo-Americana.

D. Phdipe Somalai?aua B.D.Seba^pabiAn . p.Lu?deM?xfca

5. D. Theodora Guille^ B.D.lsWoroPflapil* .

6..D. Aiigusdn WddroToiT?PilaR? ^r_^_?B.D.j

(sumaldng-sa-awa) bespeaks a tragic strain in the family. Don Augustin

7Ibid.; AAM. "Aflo de 1794. Documentos de D. Jose Morera." Expedientes sobre

8AAM. "Capellania de los Principals de Quingua." CM 1897-99 & 1751-1833; LGE

II. PRIME: STRIFE AND PEACE (1759-1784)

have received his elementary education at the parish school. It appears

III. SUNBURST AT NOONDAY (1785-1798)

19AAM. LGE1772-83. ff. 128 and 134v.

eloquent preachers in Spanish at the Manila cathedral. At the beginning of

24 Archives of the Parish of Bacoor, Cavite. Libro de Bautismos. 18th Century.

another native Doctor of Sacred Theology (UST 1782) and pastor of

IV. VESPERS: CRISES AND CONSOLATION (1799-1815)

countrymen, the Spanish hierarchy seem to have regarded him with a

Bernave Pilapil, petitioned the gobernadorcillo and principales of the

31AAM. "Capellania de los Pilapil." CM 1751-1833.

conclusion. Therefore, they respectfully warned His Grace that if he

^llbid.; AAM. Libro de Oficios(LO) 1804-13. ff. 250 & 260v.

did not end peacefully there.

35Ibid.; AAM. LO f. 272v.; EDM 1800-32 A.

document, which was published in the same year.42

on 2 May 1814. However, the archbishop did not endow it with

Cabelle, to secularize all parishes in his diocese, which was extended to

of America will not be surprised that in the establishment of the

V. COMPLINE: ELEGY AND ECSTASY (1815-1818)

EPILOGUE: THE AGE OF PILAPIL

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