1888 - Filipino reformist and propagandist Marcelo H. Del Pilar leaves the Philippines, a Spanish colony, for Spain in order to escape persecution by the friars;
later known as the "Great Propagandist," M.H. Del Pilar has been utilizing the
power of the spoken and written word to to rally the Filipino masses
to Spanish abuses, particularly the friars', for which reason he was
ordered arrested; in Barcelona, Spain, M.H. del Pilar would become
editor of the newspaper "La Solidaridad" as part of the activities of
the Reform Movement geared towards stirring a propaganda war to persuade the colonial government in Madrid to carry out socio-political reforms in the Philippines.
1897 - Filipino revolutionary Gen. Emilio Aguinaldo calls field
commanders to Biak-na-Bato in Bulacan to come up with a decision as to
what course of action to take
following Spanish authorities' refusal to institute reforms, with the
"War Party" led by Gen. Mamerto Natividad electing to continue the valiant
struggle for freedom; the Philippine Revolution against Spain broke out in August
1896 under the leadership of Supremo Andres Bonifacio y de Castro who would later be
deposed and ordered executed ('assassinated, ' according to future memoirs of Prime Minister Apolinario Mabini y Maranan) by Aguinaldo, but not before Bonifacio
expresses suspicion that the camp of Aguinaldo secretly tries to forge
an agreement with the Spaniards to abandon the revolution.
Photo credit: National Historical Institute