Note 1 — CONSTITUTION OF THE LIGA FILIPINA

This constitution was partly printed at London, at the London Printing Press, No. 25 Khulug St., in both Spanish and Tagálog. Those parts printed (the ends, duties of the members, and the general rules) contain some changes from Rizal’s MS. Preceding the constitution proper is the membership pledge to the Liga. It is as follows: “Number … To … of … I … of … years of age, of … state, profession …, as a chosen son of Filipinas, declare under formal oath that I know and entirely understand the ends aimed at by the Liga Filipina, whose text appears on the back of the present. Therefore, I submit myself, and of my own accord petition the chief … of this province, to admit me as a member and coworker in the same, and for that purpose I am ready to unconditionally lend the necessary proofs that may be demanded of me, in testimony of my sincere adhesion!” The ends of this printed text are the same as those of the MS. The motto is the same, and there is also a place for a countersign. The duties of the members are somewhat changed, the changes being as follows: “1. He shall pay two pesos for one single time, as an entrance fee, and fifty centimos as monthly fee, from the month of his entrance. 2. With the consciousness of what he owes to his fatherland, for whose prosperity and through the welfare that he ought to covet for his parents, children, brothers and sisters, and the beloved beings who surround him, he must sacrifice every personal interest, and blindly and promptly obey every command, every order, verbal or written, which emanates from his Council or from the Provincial Chief. 3. He shall immediately inform, and without the loss of a moment, the authorities of his Council of whatever he sees, notes, or hears that constitutes danger for the tranquillity of the Liga Filipina or anything touching it. He shall earnestly endeavor to be sincere, truthful, and minute in all that he shall have to communicate. 4. He shall observe the utmost secrecy in regard to the deeds, acts, and decisions of his Council and of the Liga Filipina in general from the profane, even though they be his parents, brothers and sisters, children, etc., at the cost of his own life, for this is the means by which the member will obtain what he most desires in life.” Articles 5, 6, 7, 8, and 9 are the same. The general rules of the printed version are as follows: “In order that the candidate may be admitted as a member to the Liga Filipina, he must possess morality, good habits, not have been proceeded against justifiably as a robber, shall not be a gambler, drunkard, or libertine. The candidate must solicit and petition his entrance from a member; and the latter shall communicate it to his Fiscal, for the investigations that must be made in regard to his conduct.” On Dec. 30, 1903, a monument was erected to Rizal, to his companions, and to other founders of the Liga Filipina by the village of Tondo, on a site given by Timoteo Paez, one of the members of the Liga. On the monument is the following inscription: “Remember [this word in English, the rest in Spanish]. Facing this site and at house No. 176 Ilaya St., Dr. Rizal founded and inaugurated on the night of July 3, 1892, the Liga Filipina, a national secret society, with the assistance and approval of the following gentlemen: Founder, Dr. Rizal; shot. Board of directors—president, Ambrosio Salvador; arrested. Fiscal, Agustin de la Rosa; arrested. Treasurer, Bonifacio Arevalo; arrested. Secretary, Deodato Arellano; first president of the national war Katipunan society; arrested. Members—Andres Bonifacio; supreme head of the Katipunan, who uttered the first warcry against tyranny, August 24, 1896. Mamerto Natividad; seconded, in Nueva Écija, the movement of Andres Bonifacio, August 28, 1896; shot. Domingo Franco; supreme head of the Liga Filipina; shot. Moises Salvador; venerable master of the respected lodge, Balagtas; shot. Numeriano Adriano; first guard of the respected lodge, Balagtas; shot. José A. Dizon; venerable master of the respected lodge, Taliba; shot. Apolinario Mabini; legislator; arrested. Ambrosio Rianzares Bautista; first patriot of ’68; arrested. Timoteo Lanuza; initiator of the manifestation for the expulsion of the friars in 1888; arrested. Marcelino de Santos; arbitrator and protector of La Solidaridad, the Filipino organ in Madrid; arrested. Paulino Zamora; venerable master of the respected lodge, Lusong; deported. Juan Zulueta; member of the respected lodge, Lusong; died. Doroteo Ongjunco; member of the respected lodge, Lusong; owner of the house. Arcadio del Rosario; orator of the respected lodge, Balagtas; arrested. Timoteo Paez; arrested.”—Epifanio de Los Santos.

See Retana’s account of the Liga in Nuestro Tiempo for Aug. 10, 1905, pp. 202–211. He says mistakenly that the constitution was printed in Hong-Kong. ↑