Bulacan – The 158th Birth Anniversary of Marcelo H. Del Pilar will be commemorated on August 30, 2008, 8:00 a.m. at the Marcelo H. Del Pilar Historical Landmark, Bulakan, Bulacan. This year’s theme will be “Plaridel: Pasimuno ng Himagsikang Filipino.”
The commemorative program will begin with a parade and an ecumenical prayer with the representatives from the various religious sectors. A wreath-laying ceremony immediately follows to be led by the representatives and officials from the National Historical Institute, Provincial government of Bulacan and Municipal government of Bulakan. They will be joined in by public and private schools and socio-civic non-government organizations.
Guest of honor and speaker will be Bulacan First District Representative Ma. Victoria R. Sy –Alvarado.
Marcelo H. Del Pilar was born to Don Julian Hilario, a poet-grammarian and a three time gobernadorcillo of Bulacan town, and Blasa Gatmaytan. An an early age, he played the piano, flute and violin. He took a Latin course in the school of Jose Flores and later enrolled and earned his Bachelor of Arts degree at the Colegio de San Jose. He pursued law at the University of Santo Tomas but was suspended at the time he was about to graduate due to a dispute with a priest. He obtained his licentiate in jurisprudence in 1880.
Popularly known for his harsh satirical and persuasive statements, he believed in overthrowing the Spanish government not through an armed revolution but in a peaceful manner. He expressed his anger and hatred to the Spanish colonial rule through his literary works. He was frequently invited to social gatherings where he disseminated his opinions and beliefs in the form of duplohan, dalit and oracion.
He co-founded the Diariong Tagalog, the first bilingual newspaper. Noted for his reformist and nationalist articles he published the tagalong translation of Rizal’s El Amor Patrio. His most convincing and well argued piece of writing was the La Soberania Monacal en Filipinas which presented a detailed denunciation of the predominance of the friars in the life of the Filipinos. He assumed editorship of the newspaper La Solidaridad succeeding Graciano Lopez Jaena. The paper advocated a policy of assimilation of the Philippines as a province of Spain.
The NHI is a national government agency mandated to promote and preserve Philippine historical heritage through research, information dissemination, conservation, including the marking of historic sites and structures, and the maintenance and administration of national shrines and landmarks.