Unakceptable_views (@Unakceptabke_views)

**Freemasonry in the Philippines- of course involved in the uprisings and wars** >**“Many of the leading figures of the Filipino fight for independence, first against the Spanish and later against the United States and Japan, were Freemasons—and today many California lodges are named in their honor.** In fact, Masonry in many ways provided the security, networking, and infrastructure that helped power the anti-colonial movement. >**As a result, Masonry has for more than a century been strongly identified with Filipino nationalism both on the islands and, increasingly, among immigrant enclaves in the United States.** “Masonry played a big role among the Filipino revolutionaries, especially in fighting against the Spanish friars,” says Rev. Bayani Depra Rico, a member of Mission Lodge No. 169 in San Francisco and Benicia No. 858. • • • • • Rev. Rico is the grand chaplain of California and the rector of Ascension Episcopal Church in Vallejo, a city with a large Filipino population. A great admirer of Filipino history, he was inspired to join the fraternity in large part because of its association with those revolutionary figures. Chief among them is Dr. Jose Rizal, the martyred hero of Philippine independence. Rizal, a highly influential writer who advocated for the expanded rights of Filipino people, first joined the Masons in the 1880s while studying in London. Later, he moved to Spain, where a nascent movement of anti-colonialist Filipino expats was taking hold, and joined the influential Lodge La Solidaridad, a Filipino nationalist lodge in Madrid. Rizal wrote for La Solidaridad, a nationalist newspaper published by lodge members. >**Rizal would eventually publish two major novels that are widely credited with inspiring the Philippine revolution against Spanish rule.** >**“Ask virtually any Filipino American Mason about the fraternity’s cultural appeal and the conversation inevitably turns to Jose Rizal.”** • • • • • By that time, Masonry already had deep roots on the islands. The first Masonic lodge in the Philippines was formed in 1762, when the British temporarily occupied Manila and formed a short-lived military lodge. >**Many other military and expat lodges briefly sprouted up and disbanded, virtually all of them founded by and open exclusively to Europeans.** These were connected to grand lodges in Britain, France, Spain, U.S. states, and Scotland. In 1890, Rizal and Marcelo H. del Pilar, leaders of the reform movement in Spain, were granted authority by the Gran Oriente Español to establish a new lodge in the Philippines exclusively for Filipinos. >**Rizal viewed Masonry as the “universal protest against the ambition of tyrants” and as the “supreme manifestation of democracy.”** • • • • • In 1892, Rizal’s Nilad Lodge No. 144 was chartered in Manila, from which a wide network of Filipino lodges, all connected to the Gran Oriente Español were born. >**It was in those lodges, which were driven underground by the Spanish colonial government, that many of the most celebrated revolutionary figures were raised as Masons.** Chief among them was Andres Bonifacio, a member of Taliba Lodge No. 165, **and founder of the Katipunan, the famous secret organization that advocated for full independence**, would become part of the Philippine Revolutionary Army that battled the Spanish in 1896. Clearly inspired by Freemasonry, Bonifacio’s Katipunan borrowed heavily from the craft, adopting many Masonic symbols, rituals, and organizational structures to carry out its armed revolt.” https://www.positivelyfilipino.com/magazine/behind-the-growing-popularity-of-fil-am-freemasonry DR. JOSE RIZAL -- RECALLED IN THE 115TH YEAR OF MARTYRDOM http://totocausing.blogspot.com/2011/12/dr-jose-rizal-recalled-in-115th-year-of.html?m=1