HANDOUTS IN GE 2: BIOGRAPHY OF A PROMINENT FILIPINO

What is Biography?
Biography is the life history of an individual, written by someone else. In Biography, the author is not the subject and it
could be someone still living today, or it could be the subject of a person who lived years ago.

What Makes a Filipino Prominent?

A Prominent Filipino is said to be heroes who changed Philippine history or the Filipino who has exemplary works or
has the biggest contribution in the society.

PROMINENT FILIPINOS
1.) DR. JOSE P. RIZAL
▪ José Protasio Rizal Mercado y Alonso Realonda, simply known as Dr. Jose P. Rizal is a Filipino nationalist,
writer and polymath active at the end of the Spanish colonial period of the Philippines.
▪ He was born on June 19, 1861 in Calamba, Laguna.
▪ His contribution was in His novels that awakened Philippine nationalism. He is a patriot, physician, and man
of letters who was an inspiration to the Philippine nationalist movement.
▪ His advocacy for reforms in the Philippines under the hands of Spanish colonial authorities led to his early
death at the age of 36. He was executed in Bagumbayan, now called Luneta, in Manila on December 30,
1896.

2.) ANDRES BONIFACIO

▪ Andres Bonifacio was a Filipino Freemason and revolutionary leader. He is often called "The Father of the
Philippine Revolution", and considered one of the national heroes of the Philippines.
▪ He was one of the founders and later the Kataastaasang Pangulo (Supreme President, Presidente Supremo
in Spanish, often shortened by contemporaries and historians to just Supremo) of the Kataastaasan,
Kagalanggalangang Katipunan ng mga Anak ng Bayan or more commonly known as the "Katipunan", a
movement which sought the independence of the Philippines from Spanish colonial rule and started the
Tagalog Revolution.

3.) APOLINARIO MABINI

▪ Apolinario Mabini was a Filipino revolutionary leader, educator, lawyer, and statesman who served first as a
legal and constitutional adviser to the Revolutionary Government, and then as the first Prime Minister of the
Philippines upon the establishment of the First Philippine Republic. He is regarded as the "utak ng
himagsikan" or "brain of the revolution" and is also considered as a national hero in the Philippines.
Mabini's work and thoughts on the government shaped the Philippines' fight for independence over the next
century.
▪ Mabini was a member of the reformist La Liga Filipina before joining the revolution and Was Part of The
Thirteen Martyrs of Cavite
▪ He Was Exiled During the Philippine-American War.
▪ Fact: His Mother Wanted Him to Become a Priest
4.) SULTAN KUDARAT
▪ Muhammad Dipatuan Kudarat simply Sultan Kudarat was sultan of Mindanao during the first half of the 17th
century (1619-1671) where the Muslim Filipinos of Mindanao were not yet under Spanish rule.
▪ He was well-known in Mindanao for his bravery and leadership. Brave, wise and benevolent, he was the
greatest and strongest Mindanao sultan that ever lived. He united the muslims of Lanao, Cotabato, Davao,
Sulu, Zamboanga and North Borneo and resisted bitterly the Spanish invasion of his domain. Sultan Kudarat
was responsible for maintaining unity in Mindanao as Filipino Muslims struggled against the invaders. Sultan
Kudarat’s leadership inspired his people to fight the Spaniards, eventually beating them back.
▪ Unable to conquer Kudarat, the Spanish governor signed a pact with him that led to several years of peace.
Kudarat died of old age in 1671, never surrendering to the Spanish authorities. The Filipino government
named parts of Mindanao after him in recognition of his contributions, including the province of Sultan Kudarat.

5.) MARCELO H. DEL PILAR

▪ Marcelo Hilario del Pilar y Gatmaitán (pen name Pláridel) was a Filipino writer, lawyer, journalist, and
freemason.
▪ He Was born in Kupang, San Nicolas, Bulacan, on August 30, 1850 and is one of the leading figures of the
Philippine anti-friar movement in the late 19th century, along with José Rizal and Graciano López Jaena, they
became known as the leaders of the Reform Movement in Spain.
▪ Unlike Rizal who wrote his novels in Spanish, del Pilar wrote his propaganda pamphlets in simple Tagalog --
lucid, direct and forceful.
▪ His mastery of Tagalog, his native language, enabled him to arouse the consciousness of the masses to the
need for unity and sustained resistance against the Spanish tyrants. In 1882 Del Pilar founded the newspaper
Diariong Tagalog to propagate democratic liberal ideas among the farmers and peasants. He wrote 150
essays and 66 editorials mostly published in La Solidaridad and various anti-friar pamphlets, to which he was
revered as the "Father of Philippine Journalism"

6.) GABRIELA SILANG

▪ María Josefa Gabriela Cariño de Silang was born on March 19, 1731 in Caniogan, Santa, Ilocos Sur. She
was a Filipino military leader best known for her role as the female leader of the Ilocano independence
movement from Spain. Gabriela Silang is best known as the first female leader of the revolutionary movement
against the Spanish colonizers. She is one of the most prominent figures of the revolution and one of the most
distinguished women in Philippine history.
▪ Her undaunted determination, along with her skill and strength is what the people of the Philippines will never
forget, and why she is regarded as the pioneering female Bayani.
▪ She rallied fighting forces (including the native Itneg people) to carry on the war against Spain in their home
province of Ilocos, launching guerrilla attacks against Spanish garrisons

7.) MELCHORA AQUINO

▪ Melchora Aquino de Ramos was a Filipino revolutionary.
▪ Although she never attended school, she was highly intelligent, even at an early age. Following the death of
her husband, she used her prudence and tenacity to open a store, as a means of supporting her six children.
In 1896, when Aquino was 84 years old, the Philippine revolution began. Her store served as a make-shift
hospital where she provided medical care for sick or wounded revolutionists. She also provided food, shelter,
encouragement, and prayers for the soldiers, even hosting 1,000 men in her home’s yard during the Cry of
Balintawak. Although she was not a member of the Katipunan, her home became one of the headquarters of
the secret order. These heroics earned her the name, “Mother of Katipunan”, which is the Philippine word
for revolution. She also became known to many of the Philippine revolutionary soldiers as Tandang Sora, an
acknowledgement of her wisdom and seniority and is considered a counterpart to British nurse Florence
Nightingale.

8.) EMILIO AGUINALDO

▪ Emilio Aguinaldo was born on March 22, 1869, in Kawit, Cavite, Philippines. In 1898, he achieved
independence of the Philippines from Spain and was elected the first president of the new Philippine
republic under the Malolos Congress when the Philippines declared itself an independent republic in 1898.
He also led the Philippine-American War against U.S. resistance to Philippine independence.
▪ Filipino leader and politician who fought first against Spain and later against the United States for the country’s
independence.
▪ On June 12 when Aguinaldo promulgated the Philippine Declaration of Independence from Spain, it was in
his own mansion house in Cavite El Viejo

9.) MACARIO SAKAY

▪ Macario Sakay y de León (March 1, 1878 – September 13, 1907) was a Filipino general who took part in the
1896 Philippine Revolution against the Spanish Empire and in the Philippine–American War. After the war
was declared over by the United States in 1902, Sakay continued resistance by leading guerrilla raids. The
following year he established the Tagalog Republic with himself as president (unofficially).
▪ He (As a President) was in Office on May 6, 1902 – July 14, 1906 together with Francisco Carreón as Vice-
President.

10.) GRACIANO LOPEZ JAENA

▪ Graciano López y Jaena, commonly known as Graciano López Jaena, was born in Jaro, Iloilo, in the Captaincy
General of the Philippines in the Spanish Empire on December 18, 1856.
▪ He was a Filipino journalist, orator, reformist, and national hero who is well known for his newspaper, La
Solidaridad.
▪ Philippine historians regard López Jaena, along with Marcelo H. del Pilar and José Rizal, as the triumvirate
of Filipino propagandists. Of these three ilustrados, López Jaena was the first to arrive in Spain and may have
begun the Propaganda Movement, which advocated the reform of the then-Spanish colony of the Philippines
and which eventually led to the armed Philippine Revolution that begun in Manila in 1896.
▪ Despite his mother wanting him to become a priest, López's true ambition was to become a physician. At the
age of 18 he wrote the satirical story Fray Botod, which depicted a fat and lecherous friar. Botod’s false piety
"always had the Virgin and God on his lips no matter how unjust and underhanded his acts are.“ This incurred
the fury of the friars. Although the story was not published, a copy circulated in Iloilo but the friars could not
prove that López was the author.

11.) JUAN LUNA

▪ Born on October 23, 1857 in Badoc, Ilocos Norte, Philippines, Juan Luna y Novicio was the third child of seven
children. He is a famous Filipino painter who is a successor of the Cala Family of the Philippines. Luna
attained his Bachelor of Arts degree from the Ateneo Municipal de Manila in 1874. He was also late-
nineteenth-century political activist who participated in the Philippine Revolution to which he is a highly
significant figure for his achievements as a classical painter and prominent role in elevating the school of
Philippine art to international regard.
▪ His achievements as a classical painter in the 1880's quickly elevated him to the top circles of European art,
and for the first time brought respect to Filipino artists.
▪ The Spoliarium, was his most renowned art where he won top prize at the 1884 Madrid Exposition. Upon his
revisit to the Philippines, he was under arrest two years later under distrust of subversion. He was shortly
pardoned. His brother, General Antonio Luna, was an active contributor in the rebellious Katipunan
movement.

12.) HENERAL ANTONIO LUNA

▪ General Antonio Luna (29 October 1866 – 5 June 1899) was a Filipino army general, who fought in the
Philippine–American War.
▪ Regarded as one of the fiercest generals of his time, he succeeded Artemio Ricarte as Chief of Staff of the
Armed Forces of the Philippines. He sought to apply his background in military science to the fledgling army.
A sharpshooter himself, he organized professional guerrilla soldiers later to be known as the "Luna
Sharpshooters" and the "Black Guard". His three-tier defense, now known as the Luna Defense Line, gave
the American troops a hard campaign in the provinces north of Manila. This defense line culminated in the
creation of a military base in the Cordillera.
▪ Despite his commitment to discipline the army and serve the Republic which attracted the admiration of
people, his temper caused some to abhor him. His efforts were not without recognition during his time, for he
was awarded the Philippine Republic Medal in 1899. He was also a member of the Malolos Congress. Besides
his military studies, Luna also studied pharmacy, literature and chemistry. Because Luna was also an active
as a researcher in the scientific community… After receiving his doctorate in 1893, he published a scientific
treatise on malaria entitled On Malarial Pathology (El Hematozoario del Paludismo), which was favorably
received in the scientific community.
▪ In October 1898, Luna founded what is now the Philippine Military Academy, which operated for less
than half a year before the Philippine-American War broke out in February of 1899 and classes were
suspended so that staff and students could join the war effort.