Emilio Jacinto

Born Dec. 15, 1875, in Tondo, Manila; died Apr. 16, 1899, in Majayjay, Laguna Province. Philippine revolutionary; radical-democratic ideologist in the Philippine National Liberation Revolution of 1896–98.

Jacinto, born into poverty, joined a secret revolutionary league, the Katipunan; in 1895 he served as the league’s secretary, and in 1896 he was editor of its newspaper Kalayaan (Freedom). During the revolution Jacinto was in command of the rebel troops in Laguna Province. He wrote the Katipunan’s Primer and Manifesto —the league’s chief programmatic documents—as well as various articles and calls to action. In his works, which were in the form of aphorisms and were written in simple and accessible language, Jacinto preached universal equality. He rejected wealth acquired by force or deceit, and he called for self-sacrifice in the name of the people’s liberation from poverty, oppression, and spiritual slavery.