FREEMASONRY IN THE PHILIPPINES

Primera Luz Filipina, the first Masonic lodge in the Philippines, was established in 1856 by Jose Malcampo y Monge through a Charter issued by the Gran Oriente Luisitano. Only Spaniards were admitted as members of the lodge and consequently, 3 other lodges were established: one by the Germans, another by the British, and a fourth by the Spaniards.

According to Wikipilipinas, the first Filipino mason is Jacobo Zobel y Zangroniz who joined the Scottish Lodge in Nagtahan in 1869. On the other hand, the web site of the Grand Lodge of the Philippines says that the first Filipinos to join a Masonic lodge were the patriots Marcelo H. del Pilar, Graciano Lopez Jaena, Gen. Antonio Luna and his brother Juan, Galicano Apacible, Domingo Panganiban, Jose Alejandrino, Tomas Arejola, Ariston Bautista, Julio Llorente, and Jose Rizal. They joined either the Logia Solidaridad 53 or the Lodgia Revoluccion sometime in the 1880s while studying in Spain. These brethren upon their return to the Philippines established the Nilad Lodge on 06 January 1891. By 1893, a Grand Regional Council was established under the leadership of Ambrocio Flores.

After the Philippine-American War, Masonic lodges mushroomed in the Philippines with the establishment of American lodges led by the American Military Lodge, the Knights Templar, and the African-American Prince Hall Grand Lodge of Missouri. Not to be outdone, several Filipino lodges were also established: Ambrocio Flores’ Filipino Grand Orient, the Gran Oriente Espanol, the Grand Orient of France through Trinidad Pardo de Tavera, Jose Utor y Fernandez’s Philippine Grand Orient, the Grand Lodge of Scotland which established a lodge in Manila and Cebu, the Gran Oriente de Espana, and the Gran Oriente Luisitano Unido.

Ultimately, the lodges were in constant friction against its other until 19 December 1912 when the Grand Lodge of California succeeded in establishing a single and unified Grand Lodge of Free and Accepted Masons of the Philippine Islands. Under this new Grand Lodge of the Philippines, the Manila Lodge became Lodge No. 1. But since race was still an issue then, the brethren were polarized into two main factions: the Americans’ Grand Lodge of the Philippine Islands and the Filipino Regional Grand Lodge.

In 1917, the two Masonic factions finally united together with an agreement of electing an alternating American and Filipino Grand Masters. The first Grand Master of the united lodge was MW William H. Taylor who is an American, and was succeeded by MW Manuel L. Quezon who was the first Filipino Grand Master. This lodge is now known today as the Most Worshipful Grand Lodge of Free and Accepted Masons of the Philippines.

FOOTNOTE: Wikipedia listed Jose Malcampo y Monge, Marquis of San Rafael and Count of Jolo, as having served as Prime Minister of Spain for almost 3 months from October to December 1871. Unless cited, almost all iformation in this article is sourced from the website of the Grand Lodge of the Philippines. All errors in the interpretation of its work are the blog administrator's alone. The photo showing Dr. Jose P. Rizal (Logia Solidaridad 53, Nilad Lodge 144), Marcelo F. Del Pilar (Logia Solidaridad 53, Logia Revoluccion), and Mariano Ponce (Logia Solidaridad 53, Logia Revoluccion) was downloaded from Wikipedia while that of Manuel L. Quezon was downloaded from Our Famous Brother Masons.