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Isabelo de los Reyes Sr. y Florentino, also known as Don Belong (July 7, 1864 – October 10, 1938), was a prominent Filipino politician, writer, journalist, and labor activist in the 19th and 20th centuries. He was the original founder of the '' Iglesia Filipina Independiente'', a Filipino independent Church in the form of a
national church A national church is a Christian church associated with a specific ethnic group or nation state. The idea was notably discussed during the 19th century, during the emergence of modern nationalism. Samuel Taylor Coleridge, in a draft discussing ...
. He is now known as the "Father of Philippine Folklore", the "Father of the Philippine Labor Movement", and the "Father of Filipino Socialism". As a young man, de los Reyes followed his mother's footsteps by initially turning to writing as a career; his works were part of the 1887 ''Exposicion General de las Islas Filipinas'' in
Madrid Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the second-largest city in the European Union (EU), and ...
. He later became a journalist, editor, and publisher in
Manila Manila ( , ; fil, Maynila, ), officially the City of Manila ( fil, Lungsod ng Maynila, ), is the capital of the Philippines, and its second-most populous city. It is highly urbanized and, as of 2019, was the world's most densely populated ...
, and was imprisoned in 1897 for revolutionary activities. He was deported to the
Kingdom of Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = '' Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , ...
, where he was jailed for his activities until 1898. While living and working in Madrid, he was influenced by the writings of European socialists and
Marxists Marxism is a left-wing to far-left method of socioeconomic analysis that uses a materialist interpretation of historical development, better known as historical materialism, to understand class relations and social conflict and a dialectical ...
. Returning to the Philippines in 1901, de los Reyes founded the first
labor union A trade union (labor union in American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers intent on "maintaining or improving the conditions of their employment", ch. I such as attaining better wages and benefits (s ...
in the country. He also was active in seeking independence from the
United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...
. After serving in the
Philippine Senate The Senate of the Philippines ( Filipino: ''Senado ng Pilipinas'', also ''Mataas na Kapulungan ng Pilipinas'' or "upper chamber") is the upper house of Congress of the bicameral legislature of the Philippines with the House of Representatives a ...
in the 1920s, he settled into private life and religious writing. De los Reyes wrote on diverse topics in history, folklore, language, politics, and religion. He had a total of 27 children with three successive wives from getting widowed; he survived all his wives and 15 of his children.


Early life and education

Isabelo de los Reyes was born to Elías de los Reyes and Leona Florentino in
Vigan Vigan, officially the City of Vigan ( ilo, Siudad ti Vigan; fil, Lungsod ng Vigan), is a 4th class component city and capital of the province of Ilocos Sur, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 53,935 people. L ...
,
Ilocos Sur Ilocos Sur, officially the Province of Ilocos Sur ( ilo, Probinsia ti Ilocos Sur; tl, Lalawigan ng Ilocos Sur), is a province in the Philippines located in the Ilocos Region in Luzon. Located on the mouth of the Mestizo River is the capital ...
."Isabelo de los Reyes", Senators' Profiles
/ref> His mother, of mixed Spanish and Filipino descent, is recognized as the first significant female poet of the Philippines for her works in both Spanish and Ilocano. De los Reyes may have been distantly related to Ventura de los Reyes, a creole merchant who was the first Philippine delegate to the Spanish Cortes through his father's side. He may also have been a "distant cousin" of
José Rizal José Protasio Rizal Mercado y Alonso Realonda (, ; June 19, 1861 – December 30, 1896) was a Filipino nationalist, writer and polymath active at the end of the Spanish colonial period of the Philippines. He is considered the national h ...
through a Chinese tax collector married to both Rizal's grandmother and de los Reyes' grand-aunt. Due to their troubled marriage, Elías entrusted his six-year-old son Isabelo to the care of Don
Marcelino Crisólogo Marcelino Pecson Crisólogo (11 November 1844 – 5 July 1927), also known as Mena Crisólogo, was a Filipino politician, poet, writer and playwright. He was known for being one of the representatives for Ilocos Sur in the Malolos Congress and ...
, a wealthy relative who was also a writer in the vernacular. Crisólogo was married to Felipa Florentino, sister to Leona. Beluco, as he was called in his youth, was enrolled in a grammar school attached to the local seminary run by
Augustinians Augustinians are members of Christian religious orders that follow the Rule of Saint Augustine, written in about 400 AD by Augustine of Hippo. There are two distinct types of Augustinians in Catholic religious orders dating back to the 12th–1 ...
; their harsh discipline made him a lifelong critic of friars. De los Reyes was a free spirit and chafed against seminary life. Once, he led a student strike against the friars to protest the maltreatment of students. His stay in the Vigan Seminary helped him develop a fascination for legends, music, songs, and Ilocano traditions. In 1880 at age 16, de los Reyes went to
Manila Manila ( , ; fil, Maynila, ), officially the City of Manila ( fil, Lungsod ng Maynila, ), is the capital of the Philippines, and its second-most populous city. It is highly urbanized and, as of 2019, was the world's most densely populated ...
without his uncle's consent, where he finished the ''Bachiller en Artes'' at the
Colegio de San Juan de Letran The Colegio de San Juan de Letran, (transl: College of San Juan de Letran) also referred to by its acronym CSJL, is a private Catholic coeducational basic and higher education institution owned and run by the friars of the Order of Preachers i ...
. After that, he studied the Civil Code, Penal Code, the Mercantile Code, judicial proceedings and drafting documents,
palaeography Palaeography ( UK) or paleography ( US; ultimately from grc-gre, , ''palaiós'', "old", and , ''gráphein'', "to write") is the study of historic writing systems and the deciphering and dating of historical manuscripts, including the analysi ...
and
anthropology Anthropology is the scientific study of humanity, concerned with human behavior, human biology, cultures, societies, and linguistics, in both the present and past, including past human species. Social anthropology studies patterns of be ...
at the Pontifical and Royal
University of Santo Tomas The University of Santo Tomas (also known as UST and officially as the Pontifical and Royal University of Santo Tomas, Manila) is a private, Catholic research university in Manila, Philippines. Founded on April 28, 1611, by Spanish friar Migue ...
.


Early career and journalism

While studying in the Colegio de San Juan de Letran, he supplemented his allowance by taking to journalism, setting type for ''La Oceana Española'' as well as writing for periodicals such as ''Diario de Manila'', ''El Comercio'', ''La Revista Popular'', and ''La Opinion''. In November 1882, his work, ''La expedicion de Li-Ma-Hong contra Filipinas'' was published in ''Diario de Manila'' and garnered him a prize. In 1886, de los Reyes worked as Manila correspondent for ''El Eco de Panay'', a newspaper in
Iloilo Iloilo (), officially the Province of Iloilo ( hil, Kapuoran sang Iloilo; krj, Kapuoran kang Iloilo; tl, Lalawigan ng Iloilo), is a province in the Philippines located in the Western Visayas region. Its capital is the City of Iloilo, the ...
, but was replaced by Wenceslao Retana when his reports began to appear too liberal. His reputation as an independent-minded writer was such that in 1887, ''La Opinion'' hired him as a foil for their ultra-conservative staff writer, Camilo Millan. As a teenager, de los Reyes had been intrigued by the growing interest in the "new science" of ''El saber popular'' (
folklore Folklore is shared by a particular group of people; it encompasses the traditions common to that culture, subculture or group. This includes oral traditions such as tales, legends, proverbs and jokes. They include material culture, rangin ...
). On March 25, 1884, Jose Felipe Del Pan wrote an article in ''La Oceania Filipina'' calling readers to contribute folklore articles, inspired by interest in the subject in the peninsula. De los Reyes was urged by del Pan to contribute and gave him books on the subject pique his interest. Two months later, de los Reyes submitted his articles concerning the folklore of Ilocos, Malabon, and Zambales. In 1887, at the age of 23, del Pan compiled de los Reyes' articles and submitted them to the ''Exposición General de las Islas Filipinas'' in
Madrid Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the second-largest city in the European Union (EU), and ...
, where he won a silver medal. These articles would eventually become one of his most important contributions to Philippine studies, ''El Folk-lore Filipino''. ''Folk-Lore'' was published in 1889 in two volumes. De los Reyes' interest in folklore continued. He collected materials, wrote for periodicals, and issued an open letter calling on readers to collect, publish, and organize a folklore society, which did not materialize. De los Reyes wrote ''Folk-Lore'' not just as a book for legends and fables, but eventually as "a general archive at the service of all sciences", expanding his definition of "folklore" to include "popular knowledge relevant to all sciences", including sections on religion, customs, literature, and articles on
Diego Silang Diego Silang y Andaya (; December 16, 1730 – May 28, 1763) was a Filipino revolutionary leader who allied with British forces to overthrow Spanish rule in the northern Philippines and establish an independent Ilocano state. His revolt was ...
,
millenarian Millenarianism or millenarism (from Latin , "containing a thousand") is the belief by a religious, social, or political group or movement in a coming fundamental transformation of society, after which "all things will be changed". Millenarian ...
revolts, and local miracles of the Virgin Mary. In 1884, de los Reyes was married to Josefa Hizon Sevilla, his first wife. Sevilla was the daughter of Gregorio Sevilla, the ''capitan'' of Malabon. Shortly after, the couple started a pawnshop, which failed. They also opened a bookstore, which similarly failed because de los Reyes "refused to sell the good ones". Eventually, they were able to build a modest fortune as a commercial agent of rice, tobacco, indigo, and other products. During this time, de los Reyes published in rapid succession multiple works: ''Ilocandias'' (1887), ''Articulos Varios'' (1887), ''Las Islas Visayas en la epoca de la conquista'' (1889), ''Historia de Filipinas'' (1889), and the two-volume ''Historia de Ilocos'' (1890). These and other works won him a measure of recognition as a scholar. By 1889, he was listed as a corresponding or honorary member of societies such as the ''Imperial y Real Sociedad Geografica de Vienna'', ''Academia Indo-China de Francia'', and the ''Sociedad Española de Geografia Comercial''. In 1889 he founded ''El Ilocano'', said to be the first newspaper written solely in a Philippine
vernacular A vernacular or vernacular language is in contrast with a "standard language". It refers to the language or dialect that is spoken by people that are inhabiting a particular country or region. The vernacular is typically the native language, n ...
. De los Reyes declared that he founded ''El Ilocano'' to "serve urbeloved ''pueblo'' Ilocos by contributing to the enlightenment of her children, defending her interests." ''El Iloco'' lasted for seven years. By 1893, de los Reyes was able to acquire his own printing press, which he set up in the basement of his house in Binondo and called ''Imprenta de Isabelo de los Reyes''. Proud of his provincial origins, he boasted that the press parts were fabricated by Vigan artisans and he hired Ilocanos as printshop personnel. Aside from ''El Ilocano'', de los Reyes also published the periodicals ''La Lectura Popular'' (1890-1892), a Tagalog biweekly joint venture with Jose de Jesus, and ''El Minicipio Filipino'' (1894), a short-lived Spanish-Tagalog magazine devoted to colonial jurisprudence.


Imprisonment and exile

As the Philippine Revolution of 1896 began, multiple personalities suspected of being a part of it were arrested by the Spanish government. One of these people was de los Reyes, who at the time, openly advocated reforms, and if necessary, "take up arms against the tyrants". De los Reyes was arrested on February 12, 1897, and taken to Bilibid Prison. He was charged with membership in '' La Liga Filipina'', the political organization organized by Rizal, as well as being knowledgeable of the
Katipunan The Katipunan, officially known as the Kataastaasan, Kagalanggalangang Katipunan ng mga Anak ng Bayan or Kataastaasan Kagalang-galang na Katipunan ng mga Anak ng Bayan (KKK; en, Supreme and Honorable Association of the Children of the Nation ...
, however, he denied all of this. De los Reyes, however, sold types to
Emilio Jacinto Emilio Jacinto y Dizon (; December 15, 1875 – April 16, 1899) was a Filipino general during the Philippine Revolution. He was one of the highest-ranking officers in the Philippine Revolution and was one of the highest-ranking officers of th ...
for the Katipunan's printing press, and he later claimed that he made a financial contribution to the ''Liga''. De los Reyes also claimed that while he declined when Julio Nakpil asked him to join the ''Liga'', he offered to give Nakpil a thousand pesos to purchase revolvers from someone on board the steamer ''Salvadora'', and that he offered his services as a soldier. In Bilibid, de los Reyes wrote his ''Memorial sobre la revolution'', which initially was the ''Memoria de agravios de los Filipinos''. The document was addressed to the Governor-General,
Fernando Primo de Rivera Fernando Primo de Rivera y Sobremonte, 1st Marquess of Estella (24 July 1831 – 23 May 1921) was a Spanish politician and soldier. Fernando Primo de Rivera was the son of Antonio Hermenegildo Primo de Rivera y Sobremonte and his wife Ana Ma ...
and was meant to gain sympathy for the rebels. His ''Memoria'' pointed out that the friars sowed the seeds of colonial revolt in the Philippines. De los Reyes' wife, Josefa, died while he was in prison. When his son, Jose, broke the news to him, de los Reyes wept unabashedly. De los Reyes was pardoned on May 17, the King's birthday, but was arrested again shortly after complaining about the injustice of his arrest and reminding the governor-general of the ''Memoria'' that he sent. De los Reyes was deported aboard the ''SS Alicante'' in June 1897, and was interred at the Montjuïc Castle in
Barcelona Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within c ...
for six months, before being released as part of the terms of the
Pact of Biak-na-Bato The Pact of Biak-na-Bato, signed on December 15, 1897, created a truce between Spanish colonial Governor-General Fernando Primo de Rivera and the revolutionary leader Emilio Aguinaldo to end the Philippine Revolution. Aguinaldo and his fellow rev ...
.


Exile in Spain

During his time in Montjuïc, de los Reyes was read works by anarchists and syndicalists who influenced his thought. A sympathetic guard supplied him with anarchist books and newspapers. De los Reyes also met Ramon Sempau, a Spanish poet-journalist who left an impression on de los Reyes. After his release in 1898, de los Reyes was barred from leaving Spain and became a drifter in Barcelona. It was during this time that he came to know radicals such as Francisco Ferrer, Alejandro Lerroux, and others. He began reading the works of
Pierre-Joseph Proudhon Pierre-Joseph Proudhon (, , ; 15 January 1809, Besançon – 19 January 1865, Paris) was a French socialist,Landauer, Carl; Landauer, Hilde Stein; Valkenier, Elizabeth Kridl (1979) 959 "The Three Anticapitalistic Movements". ''European Socia ...
,
Mikhail Bakunin Mikhail Alexandrovich Bakunin (; 1814–1876) was a Russian revolutionary anarchist, socialist and founder of collectivist anarchism. He is considered among the most influential figures of anarchism and a major founder of the revolutionary s ...
, and other socialist thinkers. He also joined protest actions and was imprisoned for a short time by police authorities. He was released and was forced to relocate from Barcelona to Madrid. During his time in Madrid, he was taken in by Doña Justa Jugo Vidal and met with other Filipinos to discuss the Philippine situation. He also met Señorita María Ángeles López Montero and married her on Christmas Eve in 1898. He published ''La Religion del Katipunan'', which he wrote during his stay in Montjuïc, and he was commissioned by the
British and Foreign Bible Society The British and Foreign Bible Society, often known in England and Wales as simply the Bible Society, is a non-denominational Christian Bible society with charity status whose purpose is to make the Bible available throughout the world. The So ...
to
translate Translation is the communication of the meaning of a source-language text by means of an equivalent target-language text. The English language draws a terminological distinction (which does not exist in every language) between ''transl ...
the
Bible The Bible (from Koine Greek , , 'the books') is a collection of religious texts or scriptures that are held to be sacred in Christianity Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus ...
to
Iloko Ilocano (also Ilokano; ; Ilocano: ) is an Austronesian language spoken in the Philippines, primarily by Ilocano people and as a lingua franca by the Igorot people and also by the native settlers of Cagayan Valley. It is the Languages of the Phi ...
. De los Reyes later said that this work was "one way by which ecould contribute to the liberalization of dogmatic religion." At the onset of the
Spanish–American War , partof = the Philippine Revolution, the decolonization of the Americas, and the Cuban War of Independence , image = Collage infobox for Spanish-American War.jpg , image_size = 300px , caption = (clock ...
, de los Reyes was employed as Counselor of the Ministry of the Colonies (''Consejero del Ministerio de Ultramar''), which he held until 1901. In this capacity, de los Reyes helped rally Filipino support against the Americans, thinking that this would create conditions favorable to the Philippines. He believed that once the Americans were repelled, they would be granted autonomy, and should Spain renege, then the already armed Filipinos could take matters to their own hands. He had received assurances from the governor-general
Basilio Augustín Basilio Augustín y Dávila (February 12, 1840 – August 7, 1910) was briefly a Spanish Governor-General of the Philippines, from April 11 to July 24, 1898. During his tenure, the Spanish–American War began, which he assured the Spanish would ...
regarding autonomy, and together with other Filipinos in Spain, offered to return to the Philippines to organize militias to fight the Americans. De los Reyes wrote anti-American articles for ''La Correspondencia de Epaña'' and other papers. On November 10, 1898, as Spain's loss of the Philippines became imminent, he and Dominador Gómez published ''Filipinas ante Europa'', which had the editorial logo: ''Contra Norte-America, no; contra el imperialismo, sí, hasta la muerte!'' (Against the Americans, no; against Imperialism, yes, until death!) It ran for 86 issues between October 25, 1899, and June 10, 1901. After closing, it briefly reappeared as ''El Defensor de Filipinas'', which ran monthly from July 1 to October 1, 1901. After Aguinaldo's surrender, de los Reyes was repatriated to Manila on July 1, 1901. Given guarantees by the American consul in Barcelona that he will in not be harassed upon his arrival in the Philippines, he left Spain on September 14 aboard the steamer ''Montevideo''. De los Reyes arrived in Manila on October 15, 1901.


Return to the Philippines

On his return, de los Reyes quickly set about to launching several initiatives that he already had in mind while still in Spain. On October 25, 1901, ten days after he returned to Manila, he sought authority from the Philippine Commission to publish his ''Defensor de Filipinas'', which was refused. On October 31, he appeared before the commission, with Pedro Paterno and Pascual H. Poblete to seek permission to form a political party, the ''Partido Nacionalista'', which was also denied. He wanted to push for a party that would push for independence within the framework of US occupation. Eventually, Poblete managed to form the Partido Nacionalista (predecessor of the
Nacionalista Party The Nacionalista Party ( Filipino and Spanish: ''Partido Nacionalista''; ) is the oldest political party in both the Philippines and in Southeast Asia in general. It is responsible for leading the country throughout the majority of the 20th ...
), which de los Reyes joined. He was eventually named its leader. In tandem with party building, de los Reyes also set about organizing a workers' movement in the Philippines. In 1902, Hermenegildo Cruz and other members of the Carmelo and Bauermann publishing house approached de los Reyes to seek advice in forming a cooperative store for rice and other staples. The ''Union Democratica de Litografos, Impresores, Encuadernadores y Otros Obreros'' was thus formed on February 2, 1902, which came to be known as the '' Union Obrera Democratica'' (UOD). De los Reyes was its first president. De los Reyes took home with him works by socialists such as
Karl Marx Karl Heinrich Marx (; 5 May 1818 – 14 March 1883) was a German philosopher, economist, historian, sociologist, political theorist, journalist, critic of political economy, and socialist revolutionary. His best-known titles are the 1848 ...
, Proudhon, Bakunin, and
Errico Malatesta Errico Malatesta (4 December 1853 – 22 July 1932) was an Italian anarchist propagandist and revolutionary socialist. He edited several radical newspapers and spent much of his life exiled and imprisoned, having been jailed and expelled from ...
. Malatesta's ''Propaganda socialista fra contadini'' was particularly familiar to union organizers. The UOD was the first labor federation in the Philippines, soon being joined by neighborhood associations from
Cavite Cavite, officially the Province of Cavite ( tl, Lalawigan ng Kabite; Chavacano: ''Provincia de Cavite''), is a province in the Philippines located in the Calabarzon region in Luzon. Located on the southern shores of Manila Bay and southw ...
, Quiapo, Santa Cruz and Sampaloc; company guilds from the San Miguel Brewery and L.R. Yangco Shipping Company; and trade associations of printers, ''tabaqueros'', tailors, sculptors, seamen, and cooks. At its peak in 1903, the UOD's membership was estimated at twenty thousand. As conceived by de los Reyes, the UOD's aim was to "achieve the longed-for alliance between capital and labor" by bringing together workers and employers in a spirit of friendship, mutual respect, and recognized interdependence. De los Reyes also wished to enlighten the masses as a prerequisite to modern nationhood. In this end, he organized ''veladas instructivo-recreativas'' as a way to "improve themselves and learn the life of cultured peoples". He had observed that workers in Europe had clubs and cafes where they could read newspapers and discuss current events, and wished to emulate that in the Philippines. De los Reyes also published the UOD's official organ, ''La Redencion del Obrero''. De los Reyes spent this time mediating in labor disputes and other union-organizing activities. The press at this time called him a "Malay Lerroux" and compared him to Spanish labor leader Pablo Iglesias. On August 17, 1902, he was arrested on the trumped-up charge that he gave orders to assassinate scabs in a strike at the Commercial Tobacco Factory. De los Reyes was eventually released on January 30, 1903, by Governor
William Howard Taft William Howard Taft (September 15, 1857March 8, 1930) was the 27th president of the United States (1909–1913) and the tenth chief justice of the United States (1921–1930), the only person to have held both offices. Taft was elected pr ...
, stating that the statute "was not in line with current American thinking on the subject" and was given the condition that he would henceforth shy away from labor organizations. While in prison, de los Reyes tendered his resignation from the UOD on September 14, 1902 and was later replaced by Dominador Gómez. After leaving the UOD, de los Reyes tried to patch up internal rivalries within the organization but ultimately failed. The UOD was dissolved and in its place was the '' Unión del Trabajo de Filipinas'', headed by writer
Lope K. Santos Lope K. Santos (born Lope Santos y Canseco, September 25, 1879 – May 1, 1963) was a Filipino Tagalog-language writer and former senator of the Philippines. He is best known for his 1906 socialist novel, '' Banaag at Sikat'' and to his contr ...
. After this, de los Reyes focused on his ''Redencion del Obrero'' while contributing to papers like ''El Comercio'', ''Grito del Pueblo'', and others. He took up causes such as labor rights, universal suffrage, the exclusion of Chinese immigrant labor, and parity of Filipinos and Americans in the civil service.


Japan, Hong Kong and Spain

De los Reyes left the Philippines in February 1903 for a vacation, going to
Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the n ...
and
Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a List of cities in China, city and Special administrative regions of China, special ...
. He also sought to continue his translation of the bible and to oversee its printing in
Yokohama is the second-largest city in Japan by population and the most populous municipality of Japan. It is the capital city and the most populous city in Kanagawa Prefecture, with a 2020 population of 3.8 million. It lies on Tokyo Bay, south of T ...
, although others suggest that his true purpose was to meet with
Artemio Ricarte Artemio Ricarte y García (October 20, 1866 – July 31, 1945) was a Filipino general during the Philippine Revolution and the Philippine–American War. He is regarded as the ''Father of the Philippine Army'', and the first Chief of Staff ...
, who was in exile at the time. Details are unclear whether de los Reyes met with Ricarte in Yokohama or in Hong Kong, although it was certain that a meeting took place between the two in Manila. De los Reyes relayed to him the Philippine situation and tried to dissuade him from resuming hostilities with the US. In 1905, de los Reyes once again left for Spain where he stayed until 1909. During this time he worked as a juror in Barcelona until 1908. He also went back to mend relations with his wife, María Ángeles López Montero, who repeatedly urged him to stay away from politics. During his stay in Spain, he wrote texts such as ''Gregorio Aglipay y otros prelados de la Iglesia Filipina Independiente'' (1906) and ''Biblia Filipina''. He also published ''La Religion Antigua de Filipinas'' (1909). De los Reyes returned to Manila on April 3, 1909, with Lopez, however she could not adjust to the climate. After a few months, he brought her to
Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.46 ...
to recuperate. Lopez died on February 10, 1910, while giving birth to twin daughters.


Later years and death

In 1912 at the age of 48, de los Reyes was elected a councilor of the
City of Manila Manila ( , ; fil, Maynila, ), officially the City of Manila ( fil, Lungsod ng Maynila, ), is the capital city, capital of the Philippines, and its second-most populous city. It is Cities of the Philippines#Independent cities, highly urbanize ...
, and began his political career. Winning re-election, he served as councilor until 1919. He ran as a candidate for the labor-based group called the ''Union Reformista''. As councilor, he worked on social welfare ordinances, pushed for "Filipinization" of the civil service, and filed resolutions urging immediate and absolute independence of the Philippines. De los Reyes also met and married María Lim, a mestiza de sangley from Tondo. They married in the independent Aglipayan Church, which de los Reyes had helped found. She would eventually die in childbirth in 1923. As she was dying, she asked de los Reyes that they be married in the Catholic rite, to which he agreed. Beginning his campaign for the senate in 1922, in 1923, de los Reyes won a Senate seat in an election against
Elpidio Quirino Elpidio Rivera Quirino (born Elpidio Quirino y Rivera; ; November 16, 1890 – February 29, 1956) was a Filipino lawyer and politician who served as the sixth president of the Philippines from 1948 to 1953. A lawyer by profession, Quirino ente ...
to represent the First Senatorial District. As senator, he brokered projects, appointments, and other forms of patronage for his constituents. He was known for crying out "Enough of this nonsense!" whenever he was exasperated with debates on the Senate floor. De los Reyes retired from politics after a stroke left him paralyzed and bedridden on June 5, 1929. He devoted his time to compiling Aglipayan texts and largely slipped out of public notice. His last foray into politics was when he ran in the 1935 elections, losing badly. De los Reyes died on October 10, 1938, in a Manila hospital. A legal battle between his children regarding his custody ensued during the last years of his life. De los Reyes executed a document of retraction from his Aglipayan faith in 1936, although the authenticity was contested by other family members asserting that de los Reyes no longer had full control of his faculties that time. He had both funeral blessings from Gregorio Aglipay at the Funeraria Nacional, Manila and then according to Roman Catholic rites at the San Sebastian Church, Manila. His body was initially interred at the Manila North Cemetery before being transferred to the former location of the Iglesia Filipina Independiente National Cathedral in
Tondo, Manila Tondo is a district located in Manila, Philippines. It is the largest in terms of area and population of Manila's sixteen districts, with a Census-estimated 631,313 people in 2015 and consists of two congressional districts. It is also the seco ...
in 1944. However, after the
World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...
, his remains were permanently transferred to the Maria Clara Parish Church in Sta. Cruz, Manila.


Philippine Independent Church

De los Reyes was involved with the secular Filipino clergy as early as 1899, when he became a part of negotiations with the
Holy See The Holy See ( lat, Sancta Sedes, ; it, Santa Sede ), also called the See of Rome, Petrine See or Apostolic See, is the jurisdiction of the Pope in his role as the bishop of Rome. It includes the apostolic episcopal see of the Diocese of R ...
. On January 22, 1899, de los Reyes, representing the "Committee of Paris", visited the Papal Nuncio Giuseppe Francica-Nava de Bontifè in Madrid to convey the Aguinaldo government's desire for the
Holy See The Holy See ( lat, Sancta Sedes, ; it, Santa Sede ), also called the See of Rome, Petrine See or Apostolic See, is the jurisdiction of the Pope in his role as the bishop of Rome. It includes the apostolic episcopal see of the Diocese of R ...
to send a delegate to look into conditions in the Philippines. However, de los Reyes wrote in ''Filipinas Ante Europa'':
Enough of Rome! Let us now form without vacillation our own congregation, a Filipino Church, conserving all that is good in the Roman Church and eliminating all the deceptions which the diabolical astuteness of the cunning Romanists had introduced to corrupt the moral purity and sacredness of the doctrines of Christ...
On his return to the Philippines in 1901, de los Reyes campaigned for the establishment of a Filipino Church. On August 3, 1902, with the help of Pascual H. Poblete and members of the UOD, the '' Iglesia Filipina Independiente'' (Philippine Independent Church) was formed, with Gregorio Aglipay, an
excommunicated Excommunication is an institutional act of religious censure used to end or at least regulate the communion of a member of a congregation with other members of the religious institution who are in normal communion with each other. The purpose ...
priest from the
Catholic Church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwide . It is am ...
, as its head. At the time, Aglipay was in talks with the Protestants and the Jesuits to prevent a
schism A schism ( , , or, less commonly, ) is a division between people, usually belonging to an organization, movement, or religious denomination. The word is most frequently applied to a split in what had previously been a single religious body, suc ...
, though neither of these events bore fruit. Aglipay initially dissociated himself from the schism, before realizing the futility of staying outside it. In September 1902, he accepted the position of ''Obispo Maximo'' and consecrated some bishops for the new church. De los Reyes, who was also later excommunicated formally by the Catholic Church as a schismatic
apostate Apostasy (; grc-gre, ἀποστασία , 'a defection or revolt') is the formal disaffiliation from, abandonment of, or renunciation of a religion by a person. It can also be defined within the broader context of embracing an opinion that ...
, traveled all over the country to rally people to the new church. He also directed the Church publications ''Boletin de la Iglesia Filipina Independiente'' and ''La Iglesia Filipina Independente: Revista Catolica''. He also turned his residence into a temporary seminary. In 1929, de los Reyes was appointed an honorary bishop, a position he held until his death. In this capacity, he wrote multiple devotional and doctrinal texts such as the ''Biblia Filipina'', ''Oficio Divino'', ''Catequesis'', ''Plegarias'', ''Genesis Cientifico y Moderno'' and the ''Calendario Aglipayano''.


Marriage and family

In 1884, at the age of 20, de los Reyes married Josefa Sevilla, the daughter of Gregorio Sevilla, the ''capitan'' of
Malabon Malabon, officially the City of Malabon ( fil, Lungsod ng Malabon), is a 1st class highly urbanized city in the National Capital Region of the Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 380,522 people. Located just north ...
. He and his wife had ten children. His wife died of illness in 1897 while he was in Bilibid prison. In late December 1898, he married María Ángeles López Montero (the daughter of a retired Spanish infantry colonel) in
Madrid Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the second-largest city in the European Union (EU), and ...
, also in a Catholic ceremony. She died in 1910 while giving birth to their ninth child. De los Reyes' last marriage in 1912 was to the 18-year-old María Lim, a '' mestiza de sangley'' from Tondo. They married in the independent Aglipayan Church. They also had several children before María also died in childbirth in 1923. Before her death, she had asked that they be married according to the Catholic rite, to which de los Reyes agreed. With his own family spanning Catholic and Aglipayan traditions, de los Reyes was tolerant of religious diversity among his children. Isabelo de los Reyes Jr. (1900–1971), a son from his second marriage with Lopez, was ordained an Aglipayan priest and later became '' Obispo Máximo IV'' of the Church, known as the "Father of Ecumenism in the Philippines". His daughters Ángeles, Elisa, and Elvira from his second marriage, along with Crescencia from his third marriage, became professed nuns in the Catholic Church. De los Reyes was married and widowed three times, siring a total of 27 children. He survived all his wives and fifteen of his children.


Works and writings

Throughout his life, Isabelo de los Reyes wrote and published multiple works in various subjects, such as history, folklore, politics, and religion. He used Spanish, Tagalog, and Ilokano in his writings. De los Reyes also published multiple newspapers. He wrote critically of the Spanish and American colonial governments in the Philippines.


Publications

* ''El Ilocano'' * ''La Lectura Popular'' * ''El Municipio Filipino'' * ''Filipinas ante Europa'' * ''El Defensor de Filipinas'' * ''La Redencion del Obrero'' * ''Boletin de la Iglesia Filipina Independiente'' * ''La Iglesia Filipina Independente: Revista Catolica''


Scholarly works and essays

* ''El Folk-lore Filipino'' * ''La expedicion de Li-Ma-Hong contra Filipinas'' * ''Ilocandias'' * ''Articulos Varios'' * ''Las Islas Visayas en la epoca de la conquista'' * ''Historia de Filipinas'' * ''Historia de Ilocos'' * ''Memoria sobre la revolution'' * ''Memoria de agravios de los Filipinos'' * ''Kalendariong Maanghang'' * ''La Religion Antigua de Filipinas''


Novels and stories

* Mariquit the Tramp * ''Sing sing ni Diego'' * '' Ang Singsing ng Dalagang Marmol'' (circa 1905), a novel


Religious texts

* ''Gregorio Aglipay y otros prelados de la Iglesia Filipina Independiente'' * ''Biblia Filipina'' * ''Oficio Divino'' * ''Catequesis'' * ''Plegarias'' * ''Genesis Cientifico y Moderno'' * ''Calendario Aglipayano'' He also translated into ''
Iloko Ilocano (also Ilokano; ; Ilocano: ) is an Austronesian language spoken in the Philippines, primarily by Ilocano people and as a lingua franca by the Igorot people and also by the native settlers of Cagayan Valley. It is the Languages of the Phi ...
'' the Gospels of the New Testament and the Acts of the Apostles.


References


External links

* * * * De los Reyes' ''Historia de Ilocos''
volume 1volume 2
,
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El Ilocano
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's Digital Collection
Province of Ilocos Sur
Official Website , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Reyes, Isabelo De Los 1864 births 1938 deaths Colegio de San Juan de Letran alumni People from Vigan Ilocano people University of Santo Tomas alumni Spanish-language writers of the Philippines Senators of the 7th Philippine Legislature Senators of the 6th Philippine Legislature Filipino novelists Tagalog-language writers Filipino writers of bilingual works Filipino translators Manila City Council members People excommunicated by the Catholic Church Filipinos imprisoned abroad Philippine Independent Church Members of the Philippine Independent Church Burials at the Manila North Cemetery Filipino journalists Filipino newspaper editors Filipino socialists 19th-century journalists