Thursday, January 6, 2011

6 JANUARY

"El Renacimiento," founded by Martin Ocampo
1927 - Filipino journalist and patriot Martin Ocampo, founder of  the nationalistic daily "El Renacimiento," dies during the American colonial times; Ocampo, who was a Manila Customs officer during the Spanish colonial period who published Manual de Aduanista, a compilation of tariff rules with explanations, was implicated in the Philippine Revolution of 1896 when members of the Kagalanggalangang Katipunan nang  manga Anak nang  Bayan (KKK) used his home as bastion during one of the ensuing revolutionary battles; Ocampo himself got involved but only during the second phase of the Revolution when he helped lead as colonel the Sandatahan forces that attacked the enemy bastion, Manila; some two or so years into the Philippine-American War (1899-1914) but with the imperialist United States having already begun establishing its colonial government, Ocampo turned into journalism where he founded the El Renacimiento, began publishing the offshoot "Muling Pagsilang" the following year and later in 1907,  also "Lipang Kalabaw" and the short-lived English version of "El Renacimiento," and eventually, "La Vangardia" and "Taliba"; Ocampo would figure but would be cleared in the libel suit filed by colonial Secretary of Interior Dean C. Worcester who was alluded to in a scathing El Renacimineto editorial "Aves de  Rapina" attacking Worcester for corruption and describing him as having "the characteristics of the vulture, the owl, and the vampire," owing to supposed use of public money to finance gold prospecting  Benguet  mountains for personal gains.

Photo credit: http://en.wikipilipinas.org/index.php?title=Renacimiento_Filipino

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