"Philippines: A free nation and a nation of Freemason"
What is freemasonry and Where it came from?
Free masonry is the oldest brotherhood or fraternity in the world. The "cooke manuscript", one of the oldest masonic manuscript traces its roots to Jabal son of Lamech (Genesis 4:20-22) and tells how it was passed to Euclid in Egypt and then to England during the reign of king Athelstan (927-939).
The first masonic lodge is said to be on the porchway of King Solomon`s temple which is composed mainly of stone masons.
Being ancient and Gothic in form, free masonry was sometimes branded as a cult. So in 17th century, a man named James Anderson was commissioned to digest it to a palatable modern form that resulted to the creation of "Anderson`s constitution of 1723", the basis of modern freemasonry and its foundation of operation.
From then on freemasonry began to flourish in Europe and then throughout the world. It spreads the ideals of enlightenment, dignity of man, liberty of individuals, the right of all persons to worship as they choose, the formation of democratic government, and the importance of public education.
According to historians, free masonry was first introduced in the Philippines when Governor General Jose Malcampo Monje established "Primera Luz Filipina", the first masonic lodge in the Philippine archipelago but it is exclusive for Spaniards.
Jacobo Zobel y Zangroniz ( a business man known for his Compana de los Tranvias de Filippinas: one of the first transportation system in the Philippines) became the first Filipino mason when he joined the Scottish lodge in Nagtahan.
During the reform period, a segment of Filipino inteligentsia or filipino students in Spain became associated with freemasonry. In 1886 Rafel del Pan and Ricardo Ayllon together with some 5 other foreign students founded "Logia Solidaridad" in Barcelona but was dissolved the following year.
On April 1, 1889, the all Filipino lodge "Revolucion" which became the focus of propaganda in Spain was founded by Graciano Lopez Jaena, the great orator of the reform period. The following year lodge Solidaridad was revived by Marcelo H del Pilar.
In 1891, del Pilar sought the permision of the Grand Master of Grande Oriente Espanol (the mother lodge) Miguel Morayta who was also the president of Hispano-Filipino Association (composed of Filipino and peninsular Spaniards who supported the reform movement) to establish lodge in the Philippines. The request was granted and Serrano Laktaw was selected to carry the task.
On January 6, 1891, the lodge "Nilad" was established in Manila followed by by some other 33 lodge the preceding year, the most notable is the lodge "Wala Na" which enlisted the first female Freemason Rosario Villaruel who was initiated on July 18, 1893.
Rizal and his Noli Me Tangere has a great impact among Filipino Freemason that when he arrived on June 26, 1892, masonic lodges tendered parties in his name and he was made the Grand Master of the lodge Nilad. The friars became more alarmed when he organized the La Liga Filipina in Tondo which is composed mainly of Freemasons so he was charged that causes his arrest and deportation to Dapitan and in 1896 Rizal (the symbol of freedom) was shot to death and freemasonry was totally banned in the country but it never disappears.
During the american period, volunteer soldiers also established some masonic lodges.
Freemasons contributes on shaping the society in which we live today. Some of the well known (famous) Freemasons are:
Marcelo H. Del Pilar the founder of Philippine masonry
Jose Rizal- novelist, martyr, national hero.
Andres Bonifacio- the great supremo, the founder of katipunan and Philippine Revolution.
Emilio Aguinaldo- the first President of Philippine Republic
Antonio Luna- a great military leader and founder of La Indepenedencia.
Manuel L. Quezon- Ama ng wikang pambansa
Apolinario Mabini-to whom we owe the philippine constitutrion
Bishop Gregorio Aglipay- the Founder of the first Filipino church independent of Rome.
Graciano Lopez Jaena- the great orator of the reform movement.
Alexander Fleming- discovered the Penicilin
Henry Ford- Car manufacturer, famous for his moving assembly line (the first in the world)
Sanfrord Fleming- who proposed the use of time zones
Buzz Aldrin - Astronaut
Benjamin Franklin- Inventor
Mark Twain
George Washington
Theodore Roosevelt
Franklin Roosevelt
Henry Truman
William McKinley
