ON 1 APRIL 1889, Graciano Lopez Jaena of Jaro, Iloilo founded the freemason Lodge Revolucion in Barcelona, Spain which counts among its members Jose Rizal, Mariano Ponce, Marcelo H. Del Pilar, Jose Alejandrino, Antonio and Juan Luna and Pedro Serrano Laktaw. Later renamed Lodge Solidaridad, it is composed of intellectuals who petitioned the Spanish Parliament for the restoration of Philippine Parliamentary representation.

They called attention to the sad fate of the Philippines that languished under the shadow of intolerance and tyranny. They published the La Solidaridad newspaper to further their cause. They implored the support of masons all over Europe. Del Pilar and Laktaw were then tasked to organize Philippine Masonry. It was through this secret society that the Noli Me Tangere and El Filibusterismo were distributed discretely among Filipinos and it took sometime before it was discovered. It had already opened the eyes of Filipino intellectuals.

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