Jose Maria E. Panganiban was one of the Filipino patriots who, with Dr. Jose P. Rizal, launched the movement for Philippine freedom in Spain. An intellectual among intellectuals, Panganiban used every opportunity to debunk the “indio” identity cast by the colonial masters on the native inhabitants of the country. He demonstrated that the “indio” is equal, if not superior, intellectually to the colonial masters in the Philippines.

Born in Mambulao, Camarines Norte on February 1, 1863 Panganiban demonstrated his superior intellect early. After a month of tutoring, he mastered the basic textbooks, the Cartilla and the Canton, and Catecismo a month later. Sent by his father to study in the Nueva Caceres Seminary.

He became the brightest student in the seminary. He mastered the Latin and Spanish languages at age 12 and at 15, he also mastered the classics and the natural sciences. He became the protégé of Fr. P. Santonja, Rector of the Nueva Caceres Seminary. Sent to study in Manila, he finished the Bachelor of Arts degree in 1883 at San Juan de Letran. He next studied medicine at the University of Santo Tomas but went to Spain  in 1888 for advanced studies.

In Barcelona, Spain, Panganiban became associated with several Filipino patriots, especially Dr. Jose P. Rizal. When the Filipino expatriates established the La Solidaridad to serve as the mouthpiece of Filipino aspirations, Panganiban readily joined.

He contributed many articles to the newspaper. Under the penname JOMAPA and J.M.P., he contributed the following articles: “El Pensamiento,” “La Universidad de Manila,” “Su Plan de Estudio,” “Los Nuevos Ayuntamnientos de Filipinas,” “Noche de Mambulao,” “La Mujer de Oro,” “Bahia de Mambulao,” “Ang Lupang Tinubuan,”  “Clarita Perez,” and “Kandeng o Recuerdos de Mi Pueblo.”

“He took advantage of all occasions, at banquets, at meetings, and he let his voice ring with eloquent speeches… depicting the ills of things Philippines, the profound agonies it suffers, the immense pain it feels.” Dr. Rizal wrote of Panganiban.

Tuberculosis caused Panganiban’s early death. But even in his deathbed, his beloved Motherland preoccupied Panganiban. “To the bitter end even at the sacrifice of our lives, prestige, and fortunes,” he wrote Dr. Rizal a few days before he died, “for the redemption of our Motherland.” Panganiban died on August 19, 1890. “Panganiban died,” Dr. Rizal eulogized his youth colleague, “without being able to give his blood and his ideas to the noble cause that he had begun to embrace.”

Historian and fellow-Bicolano Dr. Domingo A. Abella brought back the hero’s mortal remains in 1956 to his homeland. The National Assembly passed Act No. 4155 renaming the town of Mambulao to “Jose Maria Panganiban y Enverga.”