From Liga Filipina to Katipunan
On the night of July 3, 1892, Doroteo Ongjungco welcomed a number of men into his home on Calle Ilaya in Tondo, Manila. I have yet to find out what food and drink were served to the guests that evening, but those are mere details to the history that was made there—the founding of La Liga Filipina. Textbook history tells us this was a short-lived association and that it was reformist, unlike the more revolutionary Katipunan that was born from it. “Liga” in modern Spanish refers to a sports league or championship like soccer; it can also mean a garter or suspender. In Mexican Spanish, it can be a rubber band (in the Philippines “elastiko”) or an internet link. La Liga Filipina then translates as “The Philippine League,” which reminds Generation Z of mortal Filipino heroes rather than the superhero franchise “The Justice League.” My students always light up when they connect La Liga Filipina to the Katipunan ng mga Anak ng Bayan because when translated, League = Liga = Katipunan.
Ongjungco’s house is no more, so in 1903, residents of Tondo erected a monument to La Liga Filipina as a historic landmark. From archival photos, the monument was topped with what looks like two books (whose spines I cannot read) on a base that reads El Eco Filipino and La Solidaridad. The sides of the base had a lot of text, including a list of the members of La Liga Filipina, their positions in the association, and even what came of them afterward. That monument was destroyed during the 1945 Battle for Manila and is now replaced by a small parcel of land dedicated by the City of Manila as Plaza Liga Filipina.
In 2015, the National Historical Commission installed a marker with text translated from the original Filipino, that reads: “On this spot, Jose Rizal established La Liga Filipina on July 3, 1892, to make the country whole, enthusiastic and united; to care for the needs of the people; to defend the country from all sorts of violence and injustice; to stimulate education, agriculture, and business; to study and adapt social change. The association weakened after the arrest and deportation of Rizal to Dapitan. It was reorganized by Domingo Franco, Andres Bonifacio, Apolinario Mabini, and others in April 1893, but was eventually dissolved in October 1893.”
For lack of space, the full text of the 1903 marker had to be shortened, but a replacement in the original Spanish is available in the Plaza. Fortunately, Teodoro M. Kalaw saves us a trip to Tondo by supplying the facts in a very long footnote to his book “The Philippine Revolution” that first appeared in Spanish in 1921, followed by an English translation in 1922. Jose Rizal is listed as the founder of La Liga Filipina; he was later executed. The officers were Ambrosio Salvador, president; Agustin de la Rosa, fiscal; Bonifacio Arevalo, treasurer; and Deodato Arellano, secretary. All four were later imprisoned by the Spanish. Arellano got promoted from Liga secretary to president of the later revolutionary Katipunan.
Liga Members were Andres Bonifacio, Mamerto Natividad, Domingo Franco, Moises Salvador, Numeriano Adriano, and Jose A. Dizon. All six were later executed. Apolinario Mabini, Ambrosio Rianzares Bautista, Timoteo Lanuza, Marcelino de los Santos, Arcadio de Rosario, and Timoteo Paez were imprisoned. Paulino Zamora was deported. Most of the members were identified as Masons, their individual lodges and associations indicated. Mabini was identified as a lawyer; Rianzares Bautista, who later wrote and read the declaration of Philippine independence in Kawit on June 12, 1898, was described as “Patriot of ’68,” whatever that means. Paez led the 1888 public demonstration calling for the expulsion of the friars. De los Santos was “Protector of La Solidaridad.” Last but not least, Ongjungco was simply described as “owner of the house,” where La Liga Filipina was born.
The 1903 marker, unveiled by Teodora Alonso, Rizal’s mother, might not be complete, and there are others who were present at the founding of La Liga Filipina who are now lost to history. Some would think the Liga was irrelevant, because it was not allowed to develop to maturity. For all the enthusiasm that accompanied its founding on July 3, 1892, it was practically stillborn after Rizal was deported to Dapitan. Nevertheless, four years later, when Rizal was tried for sedition, the Liga came back to haunt him.
It is not well-known that long before Antonio Luna was immortalized in textbook history as one of the greatest generals of the Philippine-American War, even if he did not win a single battle, there was another side to him that historians have swept under the rug. In November 1896, after Luna had suffered imprisonment and solitary confinement, he ratted on everyone. In oral testimony and a written confession, Luna declared: “I am not a rebel, nor a Mason, nor a ‘filibustero.’ On the contrary, I am an informer [delator] and have so complied as a loyal son of Spain.” He hammered a nail into Rizal’s coffin by saying: “the Katipunan is La Liga Filipina … the brainchild of Jose Rizal.”
We should revisit La Liga Filipina in relation to the Katipunan.
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Comments are welcome at ambeth.ocampo@inquirer.net
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