WikiPortallus: Ilustrado.html

The Ilustrados (Spanish for "erudite,"¹ "learned,"² or "enlightened ones"³) constituted the Filipino educated class during the Spanish colonial period in the late 19th century. They were the middle class who were educated in Spanish and exposed to Spanish liberal and European nationalist ideals. Among the Ilustrado group of intellectuals there were both mestizos and pure-blooded Filipinos. The Ilustrados sought reform through “a more equitable arrangement of both political and economic power” under Spanish tutelage. Stanley Karnow, in his In Our Image: America’s Empire in the Philippines, referred to the Ilustrados as the “rich Intelligentsia” because many were the children of wealthy landowners. They were key figures in the development of Filipino nationalism.³⁴⁵⁶⁷⁸

History

In the beginning, Rizal and his fellow Ilustrados preferred not to win independence from Spain, instead they yearned legal equality for both Peninsulares and natives—Indios, Insulares, and mestizos, among others—in the colony. Among the political, religious and economic reforms demanded by the Ilustrados were that “the Philippines be represented in the Cortes and be considered as a province of Spain” and “the secularization of the parishes”.⁸⁹

However, in 1872, nationalist sentiment grew strongest, when three Filipino priests, “charged with leading a military mutiny at an arsenal in Cavite, near Manila”, were executed by the Spanish authorities. The event and “other repressive acts outraged the Ilustrados.⁸ Because of his writings and activities, Rizal was executed by the Spaniards on December 30, 1896. Rizal’s execution propelled the Ilustrados to revolt against Spain. This also prompted unity among the Ilustrados and Andres Bonifacio’s Katipunan members.⁸

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.⁸

Notable personalities

In literature

Ilustrado, an unpublished novel by Miguel Syjuco¹⁰ is a fictional account of a young Filipino investigating the life of his mentor, Crispin Salvador, after the man’s death. The novel, written in the style of magical realism, presents Salvador as if he were a real-life writer and thinker, and spans 150 years of events in the lives of the actual Ilustrados of the Philippines. In 2008 Ilustrado won the second annual Man Asian Literary Prize¹¹. Manila-born Syjuco is a copy editor at The Gazette (Montreal).¹²

Ilustrado.html

Contents

History

Notable personalities

In literature

See also

References

Specific

General