The Ilustrados (, "erudite",[The American Heritage Spanish Dictionary (2nd ed.)] "learned"[) constituted the Filipino people intelligentsia (educated class) during the Spanish colonial period in the late 19th century.]
They were late Spanish-colonial-era middle class to upper class Filipinos, many of whom were educated in Spain and exposed to Spanish liberal and European nationalist ideals. The ilustrado class was composed of Philippine-born and/or raised intellectuals and cut across ethnolinguistic and racial lines— mestizos (both Sangley and Spanish Filipino), Spanish Filipino, and indios, among others—and sought reform through "a more equitable arrangement of both political and economic power" under Spanish tutelage.
Stanley Karnow, in his , referred to the ilustrados as the "rich Intelligentsia" because many were the children of wealthy landowners or (tenant farmer) Lease families. They were key figures in the development of Filipino nationalism.[ Glossary: Philippines, Area Handbook Series, Country Studies, Federal Research Division, Library of Congress, LOC.gov (undated), retrieved on: July 30, 2007][ Grimsley, Mark. The Philippine War: 1899-1902, Ohio-State.edu, 1993, 1996 , retrieved on: August 1, 2007][Stanley Karnow. , Ballantine Books, Random House, Inc., March 3, 1990, 536 pages, page 15. - ][ The Rise of the Philippine Middle Class (Ilustrados), Mega Essays LLC, MegaEssays.com, 2007, retrieved on: August 1, 2007][ Philippines: The Spanish Colony, Student Encyclopedia Article, Encyclopædia Britannica Online, Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., Britannica.com, retrieved on: August 1, 2007][, Embassy of the Republic of the Philippines, Department of Foreign Affairs, PhilippineEmbassy-USA.org (undated, archived from on July 13, 2007), retrieved on: August 1, 2007]
History
The most prominent ilustrados were Graciano López Jaena, Marcelo H. del Pilar, Mariano Ponce, Antonio Luna and José Rizal, the Philippine Folk hero. Rizal's novels Noli Me Tangere ("Touch Me Not") and El Filibusterismo ("The Subversive") "exposed to the world the injustices imposed on Filipinos under the Spanish colonial regime".[ Salvador, Fr. Emerson, Liberalism in the Philippines, The Revolution of 1898: The Main Facts, Newsletter of the District of Asia, Society of St. Pius X, District of Asia, January - March 2002, retrieved on: August 1, 2007]
In the beginning, Rizal and his fellow ilustrados preferred not to win independence from Spain, instead they wanted legal equality for both peninsulares and natives— Filipino people, insulares, and Filipino mestizo, among others—in the economic reforms demanded by the ilustrados were that "the Philippines be represented in the Cortes Generales and be considered a province of Spain" and "the Secular clergy."[
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However, in 1872, nationalist sentiment grew strongest, when three Filipino , José Burgos, Mariano Gomez and friar Jacinto Zamora, who had been charged with leading a military Cavite Mutiny at an arsenal in Cavite, near Manila, were executed by the Spanish authorities. The event and "other repressive acts and activities, Rizal was executed on December 30, 1896. His execution propelled the ilustrados. This also prompted unity among the ilustrados and Andrés Bonifacio's radical Katipunan.[ Philippine policies by the United States reinforced the dominant position of the ilustrados within Filipino society. Friar estates were sold to the ilustrados and most government positions were offered to them.]
See also
Notes
Sources
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Republic of the Philippines, Microsoft Corporation, Encarta.MSN.com, 2007 ( ( Archived 2009-10-31), retrieved on: August 1, 2007
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Exiles, Motherland and Social Change, Asian and Pacific Migration Journal (Bibliography), Volume 8, Issue 1-2, SMC.org.ph, (undated), retrieved on: August 1, 2007
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Owen, Norman G., Compadre Colonialism: Studies in the Philippines Under American Rule, A Review by Theodore Friend, The Journal of Asian Studies, Vol. 32, No. 1 (Nov., 1972), pp. 224-226, JSTOR.org, 2007, retrieved on: August 1, 2007
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Majul, Cesar A. The Political and Constitutional Ideas of the Philippine Revolution, A Review by R. S. Milne, Pacific Affairs, Vol. 42, No. 1 (Spring, 1969), pp. 98-99, JSTOR.org, 2007, retrieved on: August 1, 2007
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Proclamation of Philippine Independence and the Birth of the Philippine Republic, The Philippine History Site, OpManong.SSC.Hawaii.edu (undated) , retrieved on: August 1, 2007
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Rossabi, Amy. The Colonial Roots of Civil Procedure in the Philippines, Volume 11, Number 1, Fall 1997, The Journal of Asian Law, Columbia.edu, retrieved on: August 1, 2007
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Filipino Nationalism, AngelFire.com (undated), retrieved on: August 1, 2007
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Veneracion, Jaime B., Ph. D. (Professor of History, University of the Philippines and Visiting Professor, BSU), Rizal's Madrid: The Roots of the Ilustrado Concept of Autonomy, Diyaryo Bulakenya, Bahay Saliksikan ng Bulakan (Center for Bulacan Studies), Geocities.com, April 4, 2003, retrieved on: August 1, 2007
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Philippine History, Philippine Children's Foundation, PhilippineChildrensFoundation.org, 2005, retrieved on: August 1, 2007
