User:Glnf

1914 – Several Kawit members of Pilar Lodge No. 203 of Imus, Cavite formed a separate Lodge under dispensation and named it “Magdalo” symbolic name of General Emilio Aguinaldo in the Katipunan.

Charter members of Magdalo Lodge, were the following: Emilio Aguinaldo, Felix Cajulis, Canuto Encarnacion, Servillano P. Herrera, Pelagio Ignacio, Benedicti Ilano, Silvestre Legaspi, Vicente Marquez, Severino Palugod, Daniel Sambong, and Lope Sayo (11 in all).

December 21, 1914 – Gran Maestre of La Federacion del Gran Oriente Espanol in Madrid granted charter to Logia Magdalo and designated it No. 371. Logia Magdalo was located in the residence of General Emilio Aguinaldo (now Aguinaldo Shrine).

1914 – Elected officers for 1915 were:

           Her...Emilio Aguinaldo, Venerable Maestre;

           Her...Felix Cajulis, Primer Vigilante;

           Her...Lope Sayo, Segundo Vigilante;

           Her...Silvestre Legaspi, Tresorero; and

           Her...Daniel Sambong, Secretario.

February 1915 – The first installation of Logia Magdalo No. 371. Manuel L. Quezon was one of the guest among the brethren. La Federacion del Gran Oriente Espanol in Madrid was not in fraternal communication with Grand Lodge of Free and Accepted Masons of California, U.S.A., mother of the Grand Lodge of the Philippine Islands. For this reason, Magdalo Lodge No. 371 was not recognized by Grand Lodge of the Philippine Islands.

1916 – Venerable Maestre Emilio F. Aguinaldo was re-elected.

1917 – Hermano Felix Cajulis was elected Venerable Maestre.

The history of masonry in the Philippines was marked, however, by a period of growth pains, when in 1912 American masons in the country formed the Grand Lodge of the Philippine Islands. This brought two Grand Lodges – the other one being the Grand Regional Lodge under Gran Oriente Espanol – face to face in the question of territory and jurisdiction.

1917 – The two Grand Lodges laid the ground work for a fusion and for the next few years relationship between the two was sweet. Grand Regional Lodge and Grand Lodge of the Philippine Islands formed committees to lay the ground work for a fusion of the two jurisdictions. Grand Regional Lodge approved fusion but this was disapproved by the Grand Lodges of the Philippine Islands, and demanded that each Lodge under the Grand Regional Lodge be admitted through affiliation.

Manuel L. Quezon – Was the head of the committee on the fusion of the Gran Oriente Espanol lodges of the lodges of the Grand Lodge of the Philippine Islands. He was a Master of Kadosh, Rizal Consistory, in 1927 and 1928.

February 13, 1917 – Logia Magdalo No. 371 was recognized and affiliated by the Grand Lodge of the Philippine Islands and designated Magdalo Lodge No. 31, with 73 members in good standing.

1918 – Wor. Bro. Felix Cajulis was re-elected Worshipful Master of Magdalo Lodge No. 31.

But political reasons resulted in some misunderstanding, which led to the return to the former two jurisdictions. Another reason was Filipino Masons were offended by what they perceived to be American snobbery in the lodges.

            “The backbone of the Filipino-Spanish revolution and Filipino-American war were all masons under Gran Oriente Espanol, “devide et impera” was the American strategy to conquer.”

Washington administration under President William McKinley underestimated the Filipino capacity to wage war. Moreover they failed to see that Aguinaldo had become the incarnation of the Filipino’s aspirations for nationhood. Washington military strategists had thought that two months would be enough to crash Aguinaldo’s army of little brown men armed with primitive weapons and near obsolete guns they had seized from the Spaniards. They were wrong. The Americans did not reckon with the fact that the Filipinos were fighting not only in self-defense against them but also with a new-found sense of national pride borne of their successful revolution against Spain. Thus when the dust and smoke of battle had vanished the victorious Americans had it ruefully admit their tremendous losses in men and material – 4,234 soldiers of the 124,000-man U.S. Eight Army Corps killed in a total of 2,811 recorded battles and at a cost of Php 600,000,000 – a huge amount in those days – spent by the McKinley administration in their first imperialist venture in Asia.

The Philippine-American war (1899-1901), 16,000 Filipino soldiers killed and 900,000 Filipino civilians died from famine and disease.

Control of the Filipino minds was the first priority of the American colonizers, “divide and rule”

1919 – The Gran Oriente Espanol – whose legal powers were never sought to effect the fusion – finally realized its dream of re-establishing itself in the Philippines with a mandate granted to Mariano Tenorio and Walter Bruggman to re-organize its symbolic lodges in the Philippines and revive its Scottish Rite Bodies in the Philippines.

The two had a strong sales pitch. They carried the name of the Gran Oriente Espanol, a Masonic body which at that time was a valuable element in the dissemination of Masonic ideals in the country, and to which many old Filipino masons still felt a strong attachment and affection. They also offered the opportunity to continue practicing the Scottish ritual, which they preferred over the York Rite ritual because it was more in time with their temperament.

1923 – The rift between Gen. Emilio Aguinaldo and Manuel L. Quezon started. Quezon, major in the Filipino revolutionary army whose commander in chief was Gen. Emilio Aguinaldo. The followers of Manuel L. Quezon revived the rumors that Aguinaldo had ordered both the execution of Andres Bonifacio and the assassination of Gen. Antonio Luna.

1923 – Bro. Teoderico A. Jimenez was elected Treasurer of Magdalo Lodge No. 31 – He wanted that all properties of the Lodge be inventoried.

1924 – Meanwhile, during a reception for the visiting Prince of Wales “Many Filipinos of rank in the hierarchy were not allowed to attend the ceremonies going inside the Masonic temple.” Because of this racial discrimination, which is described as a perennial sore of humanity,” broke away from and re-established the old orders called the “Filipino Body” and the “American Body.”

1924 – Asserting their right to formally constitute a Masonic power in the land of their birth, Filipino masons moved to institutionalized for themselves the Supremo Consejo del Grado 33 Para Filipinas under the jurisdiction of the Grand Regional Lodge founded in 1907. this regional lodge was under the Gran Oriente Espanol, which had established Masonic lodges in the country in the late 1800’s. The Supremo Consejo del Grado 33 Para Filipinas was duly organized and incorporated on July 4, 1924 with the purpose of inculcating the principles of ancient, free and accepted Masonry.

July 4, 1924 – The Filipino body, in a General assembly attended by more than 300 Master Masons from all over the country, unanimously adopted a proclamation saying that the Philippines is an exclusively Filipino Masonic territory under the jurisdiction of the Supremo Consejo del Grado 33 Para Filipinas headed by Soverano Gran Commendador Timoteo Paez and his council. Among the members of the council were Dr. Barcelona, Judge Rodas, Geronimo Santiago, Atty. Ruperto Castillo Tirol, Atty. Francisco Varona, Don Vicente Liwanag, Elias Asuncion, and others. This Supreme Council was founded by acclamation by Filipino Masons at a time when no other such council existed in the Philippines.

After its constitution, the existence of the Supremo Consejo del Grado 33 Para Filipinas was formally proclaimed to the four corners of the world on December 30 – Rizal Day – of the same year.

1927 – Bro. Teodorico A. Jimenez was elected Worshipful Master of the Magdalo Lodge No. 31 and re-elected the following year. It was during his second term that the lodge was split over the question of registry of all lodge properties in its name. Some brethren sympathetic to the charter members (Old Guards) suggested such action should be deferred to a later date but after ten months of confusion, the majority members of Magdalo Lodge No. 31 unanimously approved a resolution on October 6, 1928 asking the Most Worshipful Grand Lodge of the Philippine Islands for the change of name Magdalo Lodge No. 31 to Ibarra Lodge No. 31. Four days later on October 10, 1928, the Grand Lodge Master M.W. Bro. Teodoro M. Kalaw, granted the change of name from Magdalo Lodge No. 31 to Ibarra Lodge No. 31.

From October 10, 1928, when Magdalo Lodge No. 31 was changed to Ibarra Lodge No. 31 Wor. Bro. Emilio Aguinaldo ceased to attend lodge meetings and was declared a dormant member.

The Secretary of the Supremo Consejo in the City of Manila contacted Hermano Canuto F. Encarnacion and organized the Magdalo Lodge designated No. 79. Among the members of the Lodge were Silvestre Vales, Victoriano Tulao, Pastor A. Encarnacion, Aurelio Santonil, Daniel Sambong, Gabino Toledo, Agapito Quiamson, Simon Ronquillo and Florentino Santonil.

Logia Magdalo No. 79 was transferred to Sta. Isabel barrio of Kawit Cavite and they held their works (Tenida) at 96 Elementary School (now Potol – Sta. Isabel Elementary School). Hermano Canuto Encarnacion was the first Venerable Maestre of Logia Magdalo No. 79. Hermano Emilio Aguinaldo attended the Tenidas of the Logia Magdalo No. 79 from time to time while tending his farm at Naik in quiet solitude.