August 30, as the province mark the 164th 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