Bulacan marks Plaridel's 164th birthday, holds "Mastermind" conference

MALOLOS CITY—It’s a special non-working holiday in Bulacan today,
August 30, as the province mark the 164^th birth of the great propagandist Gat Marcelo H. Del Pilar.

The celebrations will be held at the Marcelo H. Del Pilar National Shrine at Barangay San Nicolas in Bulakan town starting 7AM, and will be graced by Senator Alan Peter Cayetano.

It will be followed by the first provincial conference on the life and contribution of the Del Pilar to the revolution and nation building called “Mastermind.”

The conference will be held at the Malolos Sports and Convention Center in this city starting 1PM, and is expected to draw more than 300 participants including educators lawyers, and students.

Governor Wilhelmino Alvarado said the declaration of special non-working holiday in the province is based on  Republic Act No. 7449 or “An Act Declaring August Thirty a Special Non Working Holiday in the Province of Bulacan,” to give way for honoring  the heroic deeds and sacrifices of the great Bulakenyo hero.

“Del Pilar’s heroic legacy should be rekindled in the hearts and minds of our younger generation and we should honor his patriotism for fighting for our freedom. We would like to encourage everyone, not only the Bulakenyos to join in honoring our great Bulakenyo hero,” Alvarado said.

As this developed, Alex Balagtas of the National Historical Commission of the Philippines said that Senator Alan Peter Cayetano has confirmed attendance on the celebrations.

He said that as guest speaker, the senator will speak on the theme, “Marcelo Del Pilar: Ama ng Bansa Gabay para sa Mabuting Pamamahala.”

The celebrations in Bulakan town will shift to this city after lunch where the first provincial conference on the life of Del Pilar who is popularly known as “Plaridel” will be held.

Researcher King Cortez of the Universidad de Manila (UDM) is expected to present documents gathered in his research which showed that Plaridel not only as the great propagandist, but as the brains of the revolution, thus the conference title, “Mastermind.”

Isagani Giron of the Bulacan Salinlahi Inc., and one of the convenors of the conference said that Cortez’s research will bring into the light new information about Plaridel which might change the way we see and look that the great propagandist.

As a local historical, Giron said that Cortez research will challenge earlier suppositions that Plaridel is only a propagandist who edited and managed La Solidaridad, the publication of the then propaganda movement.

“Mr. Cortez’s research is very exciting because it reveals the role of Plaridel not only ion the Propaganda movement but in the Katipunan,” he said.

Giron added that what makes Cortez’s research as game changer in the study of history is the fact that it is documents and based on books, some of which were published by the National Historical Commission of the Philippines (NHCP).

“We just need to keep an open mind in the study of history because new documents are being unearthed everyday, including those that has been given less significance in the past about Plaridel,” Giron said.

Plaridel was born on August 30, 1850 in Barangay San Nicolas (formerly Cupang) in Bulakan town.

He is the youngest of the 10 children of the wealthy family Don Julian del Pilar, a gobernadorcillo and Doña Blasa Gatmaitan.

Plaridel was the editor of the newspaper Diariong Tagalog which strongly criticized the way the Spaniards ran the government and treated the people.

He was also the editor of La Solidaridad newspaper, the mouthpiece of the propagandists working on reforms for the Filipinos. Del Pilar died of tuberculosis on July 4, 1896 in Barcelona, Spain. Dino Balabo