Excerpt from Monastic

Supremacy in the
Philippines
Type of Primary Source: Book

Gonzales, Rhealene R. Ocde, Julie Ann A.

BSP 1-2
 Who is the author of the Primary Source?
What do you know about the author that may
shape his perspective?

Marcelo H. Del Pilar ( PLARIDEL )

- A lawyer and a Propagandist.
- Born on August 30, 1850 in Kupang, Bulakan,
Bulacan.
Acquired his law degree from University of Sto. Tomas
University in 1880.
He was instrumental in founding Diariong Tagalog in
1882, the first bilingual newspaper in Spanish and
Tagalog.
 Who is the author of the Primary Source?
What do you know about the author that may
shape his perspective?

Marcelo H. Del Pilar ( PLARIDEL )

- He escaped to Spain in 1888 to prevent his arrest due to
his subversive activities.
- He published La soberania monacal en Filipinas Monastic
Supremacy in 1889 and “La frailocracia Filipina.”
- In Spain, he organized the Filipinos and led the
Propaganda Movement together with Jose Rizal and
Graciano Lopez Jaena.
- He died of tuberculosis on July 4, 1896.
 Who is the intended audience of
the Primary Source?

The Propaganda Movement targeted

the Spanish Government, friars and
public, but as elite movement failed
to engage with the wider Filipino
population.
Where and when was the Primary Source
published or created?

Spain, 1889
 Describe the Historical Context.

- One of the primary platforms of the Propaganda

Movement was to get Spain to recognize
Philippines as a province and recognize the rights
of Filipino.
-The interference of the friars in the government of
the Philippines is so ingrained that without
difficulty they control the status quo of the
country in defiance of the nation and institution.
 The Background of the Text

- - This was written to denounced the friars for their

wrong teaching and abusive acts which had resulted in
a life of poverty and misery of the Filipinos.
- This also explains that Monastic wealth is based on
the lack of union between the people and government,
and how does the friars have indirect control over the
government.
 The Document’s Contribution
to Philippine History

It discussed the situations that showed how the friars

indirectly control the government during Spanish
colonization in the country.
* Curate’s approval is essential.
* Curates were opposed on teaching Spanish
language to the students.
* Friars involvement in the matter of exiling a citizen.
Five Things author said that is Important

- “Diversity of languages among the rulers and the ruled; and to

preserve that diversity to impede popular education, and to
avoid at any cost that the people and the government come to
understand each other, are the best way of keeping them in
perpetual antagonism.”

- “Public education is one of the common aspirations of both

the government and the Filipinos . The government as well as
the people dream of a common language in the islands.”
Five Things author said that is Important

“The personal security of the citizens is equally endangered by

monastic power.”
“Is the government sure of the sincerity of such assistants? Is it
sure that they will not debase their commission?”
“The danger to national integrity is the friars’ hobby of imposing
their preponderance in the Philippines. Does such a peril really
exist? Is the Government sufficient to avert it? Is it thus that the
Spanish Government would perish without friar support?”
Question to the Author that is left
unanswered by the Document.

“How can the Filipinos stand for their rights

against the control of the friars ?”