MARCELO H. del Pilar, Mariano Ponce, and Dr. Jose P. Rizal were called the "Grand Trinity of the Reform Movement in the Philippines." They left the country to bring to the Madrid authorities the sad conditions obtaining in the Philippines – Rizal in 1882, Ponce in 1887, and Plaridel in 1889. They led the struggle for reforms in the country. Rizal and Plaridel focused on the social cancer while Ponce wrote on the history and culture of the Filipinos with the aim of uplifting their pride and dignity. Ponce outlived the two – Plaridel died in July, 1896 while Rizal was executed in December, 1896.
March 22 and March 23 are the birth and death anniversaries of Ponce. Born in Baliwag, Bulacan in 1861, he finished his bachelor’s degree at San Juan de Letran in 1885 and medicine at Universidad Central de Madrid in 1889. He wrote many books and articles about Philippine history and culture, love of country, Filipino heroes, etc. Folklore Filipino, Pandapira, Efemerides Filipinas, Cuestion Filipina, Sun Yat-sen Bibliografia Parliamentaria, and Bibliografia Revolucionaria were some of his written works.
In Spain, Ponce co-founded the La Solidaridad and became its managing editor when Graciano Lopez Jaena and Marcelo H. del Pilar died. When the Filipino-American War broke out (February 1899-July 1902), President Aguinaldo sent him and Galicano Apacible to Japan to purchase arms and solicit Japan’s help for the Filipino cause. Sun Yat-sen, Father of the Republic of China, became his close friend. Through the help of Jose Ramos Ishikawa, a Filipino expatriate in Japan, they were able to buy a boatload of armaments – 6 million bullets, 10,000 figles, and 30 mountain guns. Accompanied by several Japanese officers and soldiers, the cargo was loaded in the ship Nunobikimaru. Unfortunately, this ship was sunk by a typhoon off the coast of Taiwan on July 20, 1899.
With his wife Okiyo Udanwara, daughter of a samurai, Ponce returned to the Philippines and carried on the libertarian struggle. He co-foudned the Nacionalista Party, served as director of the nationalistic newspaper El Renacimiento, and served as assemblyman for the 2nd district of Bulacan. He was on his way to China to visit his friend Sun Yat-sen when he died on March 23, 1918.
May our observance of Don Mariano Ponce’s birth and death anniversaries remind us of our great Filipino hero who made the Filipino people proud of their history and culture.
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