Republic of the Philippines - Stamps & Postal History

RP Issues of 2013

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2013, September 5.  Mariano Ponce - 150th Birth Anniversary

Litho Offset.  Amstar Company, Inc.  Perf 14

Singles, Miniature Sheets of 10

                  

 

 

 

10p  Mariano Ponce with La Solidaridad Newspaper  - Singles (100,000)

 

Miniature Sheets of Ten  (10,000)

 

 

First Day Covers:  Manila

 

     

Phlpost Official FDC envelope

 

 

  Masonic Cover


MARIANO PONCE - WRITER, REVOLUTIONARY HERO

Mariano Ponce (March 23, 1863 – May 23, 1918.  Initiated in Madrid and became Secretary of Logia Revoluccion and Logia Solidaridad 53. He also became a 33° A&AR mason under the auspices of the Gran Oriente Español.

Mariano Ponce was a physician, writer, and active member of the Propaganda Movement. In Spain, he was among the founders of La Solidaridad and Asociacion Hispano-Filipino. Among his significant works was Efemerides Filipinas, a column on historical events in the Philippines which appeared in La Oceania Española (1892–1893) and El Ideal (1911–1912). He wrote Ang Wika at Lahi (1917), a discussion on the importance of a national language. He served as Bulacan's representative to the National Assembly.

In La Solidaridad, his works included daily editorials on history, politics, sociology and travel. He also created himself many alias as well. His most common names are Naning, his nickname;  Kalipulako, named after Lapu-Lapu; and Tigbalang, a supernatural being in Filipino folklore.

Ponce was imprisoned when the revolution broke out on August 1896 and was imprisoned for forty eight hours before being released. Fearing another arrest, he fled to France and later went to Hong Kong where he joined a group of Filipinos and Filipino-Chinese, who served as the international front of the Philippine revolution.

In 1898, Emilio Aguinaldo chose him to represent the First Philippine Republic. Ponce was tasked to draft a framework of the revolutionary government. In 1898, Emilio Aguinaldo selected him as a representative of the First Republic to Japan. He traveled to Japan to seek aid and purchase weapons. During his stay he met with the founder and First President of the Chinese Republic; Sun Yat-Sen. Through discussions and negotiations, Dr. Sun and Ponce became close friends. Dr. Sun introduces Ponce to a Filipino-Japanese man named José Ramos Ishikawa, who assists Ponce in purchasing weapons and munitions for the revolution. But the shipment did not reach the Philippines due to a typhoon off the coast of Formosa.

Mariano returned to Manila with his wife, a Japanese girl named Okiyo Udanwara.In 1909, he was made director of "El Renacimiento" (The Renaissance). He also joined the "Nacionalista Partido" (National Party) and established "El Ideal" (The Perfect), the party's official organization. Ponce later ran for a seat in the Philippine Assembly and was elected assemblyman for the second district of Bulacan. Ponce wrote his memoirs, "Cartas Sobre La Revolución" (Letters on the Revolution), he died in the Government Civil Hospital in Hong Kong, on May 23, 1918. His remains are now interred in the Cementerio del Norte, Manila. 
http://www.grandlodgephils.org.ph/

 

 

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Issues of 2013