Marcela Agoncillo
Encyclopedia
Marcela Mariño de Agoncillo (June 24, 1860 – May 30, 1946), also simply known as Marcela Agoncillo, was a Filipina
renowned in Philippine history
as the principal seamstress of the first and official flag of the Philippines
, gaining her the title of Mother of the Philippine Flag.
Agoncillo was a daughter of a rich family in her hometown of Taal, Batangas
. Finishing her studies at Sta. Catalina College, she acquired her learning in music
and feminine crafts. At the age of 30, Agoncillo married Filipino lawyer and jurist Don Felipe Agoncillo
and bore him six children. Her marriage led to her important role in Philippine history. When her husband was exiled to Hong Kong
during the outbreak of the Philippine Revolution
, Agoncillo and the rest of the family joined him and temporarily resided there to avoid the anti-Filipino hostility of some foreign countries. While in Hong Kong, General Emilio Aguinaldo requested her to sew a flag that would represent their country
. Agoncillo, her eldest daughter and a friend manually sewed the flag in accordance with General Aguinaldo's design which later became the official flag of the Philippines.
While the flag itself is the perpetual legacy of Agoncillo, she is also commemorated through museums and monuments like the marker in Hong Kong (where her family temporarily sojourned), at her ancestral home in Taal, Batangas which has been turned into a museum, in paintings by notable painters as well as through other visual arts.
, Philippines to Francisco Mariño and Eugenia Coronel. She grew up in their ancestral house in Batangas built in the 1770s by her grandfather, Andres Marino.
As a daughter of a rich and religious family, Agoncillo was referred to in their town as Roselang Hubog which means "a virgin enthroned in the town church". Stories told in the area related that people kept waiting patiently by the church patio for her appearance in the morning to attend mass accompanied either by a maid or an elder relative.
She was sent to a convent after her education in Manila
. The convent she was studying in was the Sta. Catalina College of the Dominican
nuns, an exclusive school for girls, established in the Walled City of Intramuros
where she finished her elementary and secondary education. In college, she learned Spanish, music
, the feminine crafts and social graces. She spent her girlhood partly in their hometown and partly in the convent. Accordingly, Agoncillo was skilled in needlework.
, a rich Filipino revolutionist and the first Filipino diplomat. They were both thirty and Don Felipe was already a judge when they finally wed. Agoncillo moved from Taal to Manila where they lived together in a two-story house on M.H. del Pillar St., Malate
, near the Malate church.
Six daughters were born to them: Lorenza ("Enchang"), Gregoria ("Goring"), Eugenia ("Nene"), Marcela ("Celing", named after her mother because they thought she would be their last child), Adela (who died at the age of three) and the youngest, Maria ("Maring", who was their last surviving child and died on July 6, 1995). Most of her daughters became teachers. Gregoria was the first Filipina to graduate from Oxford University. After the graduation of the three elder daughters, they were offered teaching positions. Lorenza was given an appointment to teach in Malate Catholic School. They so immersed themselves in their respective teaching careers that not one of them chose to be married. Marcella Agoncillo cared for all of her daughters until they reached maturity. One of her favorite pieces of advice to them was to "live honestly and well, and to work hard and not depend on family property".
Besides the legal services rendered by Don Felipe to the impoverished, Agoncillo and her daughters observed every Thursday as a day of charity, when a queue of needy people seeking alms would form in the Agoncillo driveway. No one ever left their house empty-handed. Agoncillo would hand them a bag of rice in addition to the money she gave them. This practice lasted until the couple retired.
. While in Hong Kong, Agoncillo gave birth to their last child on March 22, 1906.
Felipe, being an exile himself, received any Filipino who came into their house. Thereafter, the place became a sanctuary for other Filipino revolutionary exiles. They initiated meetings in the Agoncillos' residence, especially during the critical months of March and April 1898. Among these folks were Gen. Antonio Luna
and Gen. Aguinaldo. Also, Josephine Bracken
, Jose Rizal
's fiancée, sought refuge in their house when the Spanish authorities threatened to torture her.
After the signing of the Pact of Biak-na-Bato
on December 14, 1897, General Aguinaldo, after their voluntary exile, visited the Agoncillo residence in Hong Kong. After having met them, Aguinaldo requested that Agoncillo immediately hand-sew a flag according to his design which would embody the national aspirations of all Filipinos. After receiving the request, Agoncillo delegated her eldest daughter, five-year-old Lorenza, and Mrs. Delfina Herbosa de Natividad, Jose Rizal
's niece by his sister Lucia, to help her.
The process took only a short time, but it was difficult. The three worked manually and with the aid of a sewing machine
. They had to redo the flag after the rays of the sun were not in the proper direction. Their eyes and hands suffered due to the prolonged work session. Made from fine silk
which she bought in Hong Kong, the flag was embroidered in gold and contained stripes of blue and red and a white triangle with the sun and three stars on it. The flag was finished in five days and became known as "the sun and the stars flag".
On May 17, 1898, the flag was delivered personally by Agoncillo and was packed among the things Aguinaldo brought back to Manila. This was the flag that was hoisted from the window of Aguinaldo's house in Kawit, Cavite, during the proclamation of Philippine independence on June 12, 1898 accompanied by the Philippine National Anthem Marcha Filipina. However, she did not witness either this first public display of the flag or the time when the flag was unfurled during the Malolos Congress
because her husband remained in Hong Kong and she remained with him.
In response to the message written by Gen. Aguinaldo, Agoncillo wrote the following statement when she was interviewed:
After the fall of the first Philippine Republic
and the establishment of the American regime, Agoncillo and her family ended their exile and went back to Manila as soon as they were fetched by Don Felipe after his diplomatic activities abroad had ended. The Agoncillos settled in their family house in Malate. After the death of Don Felipe, Agoncillo's remaining family suffered from starvation due to their meager supply of food, water and other needs. The Japanese
conquerors also contributed to their anguish during the period of the Japanese invasion. Taking this all in stride, Marcela remained pragmatic and a source of inspiration. After their house was incinerated during the Japanese occupation, all she said to her remaining daughters was "We will then have to go to Taal."
Though she endured the 1945 Battle of Manila, the health of
Agoncillo, who was alternatively called "Doña Marcela" and "Lola Celay" during her old age, was steadily deteriorating. She continued to mourn her deceased husband to such an extent that her daughters found it necessary to hide all his remaining photographs. On May 30, 1946, she quietly died in Manila
at the age of 86. Her mortal remains were brought from Taal to Manila and interred alongside her husband in the Catholic cemetery of La Loma
according to the wishes of her last will.
Several commemorative figures
were created in remembrance of Agoncillo's historic family. On November 27, 1955, a marker was erected by the National Historical Institute of the Philippines and a museum
was established in Taal, Batangas in accordance with her last wish and was named Marcela Marino Agoncillo Museum and Monument. The museum is Agoncillo's ancestral house. The house-turned-museum permanently exhibits flags and a diorama depicting the sewing of the first flag. A bronze statue of her holding the flag was erected outside the house in its garden. In Hong Kong, a historical marker was created by the Hong Kong Antiquities Council at Morrison Hill Park to commemorate the site where the first Philippine flag was sewn. However, the place where the Agoncillos resided, the location of the Hong Kong Junta, and other locations of historical importance to Filipinos remain unmarked.
Agoncillo's legacy is remembered through the visual arts as well. In 1996, Filipino National Artist Napoleon Abueva
created the concrete and marble sculpture Three Women Weaving the Filipino Flag at the UP Diliman to commemorate Agoncillo and the other two women who assisted her in their important task. Renowned Filipino painter Fernando Amorsolo
painted the historical sewing and is nationally known as The Making of the Philippine flag.
Filipino people
The Filipino people or Filipinos are an Austronesian ethnic group native to the islands of the Philippines. There are about 92 million Filipinos in the Philippines, and about 11 million living outside the Philippines ....
renowned in Philippine history
History of the Philippines
The history of the Philippines is believed to have begun with the arrival of the first humans via land bridges at least 30,000 years ago. The first recorded visit from the West is the arrival of Ferdinand Magellan, who sighted Samar on March 16, 1521 and landed on Homonhon Island southeast of Samar...
as the principal seamstress of the first and official flag of the Philippines
Flag of the Philippines
The national flag of the Philippines is a horizontal flag bicolor with equal bands of royal blue and scarlet red, and with a white equilateral triangle at the hoist; in the center of the triangle is a golden yellow sun with eight primary rays, each containing three individual rays, which represent...
, gaining her the title of Mother of the Philippine Flag.
Agoncillo was a daughter of a rich family in her hometown of Taal, Batangas
Taal, Batangas
Taal is a 4th class municipality in the province of Batangas, Philippines. According to the latest census, it has a population of 51,459 people in 8,451 households.It is the Balisong and Barong Tagalog Capital of the Philippines...
. Finishing her studies at Sta. Catalina College, she acquired her learning in music
Music
Music is an art form whose medium is sound and silence. Its common elements are pitch , rhythm , dynamics, and the sonic qualities of timbre and texture...
and feminine crafts. At the age of 30, Agoncillo married Filipino lawyer and jurist Don Felipe Agoncillo
Felipe Agoncillo
Felipe Agoncillo was the Filipino lawyer representative to the negotiations in Paris that led to the Treaty of Paris , ending the Spanish–American War and achieving him the title of "outstanding first Filipino diplomat."As a family friend and adviser of General Emilio Aguinaldo and General Antonio...
and bore him six children. Her marriage led to her important role in Philippine history. When her husband was exiled to Hong Kong
Hong Kong
Hong Kong is one of two Special Administrative Regions of the People's Republic of China , the other being Macau. A city-state situated on China's south coast and enclosed by the Pearl River Delta and South China Sea, it is renowned for its expansive skyline and deep natural harbour...
during the outbreak of the Philippine Revolution
Philippine Revolution
The Philippine Revolution , called the "Tagalog War" by the Spanish, was an armed military conflict between the people of the Philippines and the Spanish colonial authorities which resulted in the secession of the Philippine Islands from the Spanish Empire.The Philippine Revolution began in August...
, Agoncillo and the rest of the family joined him and temporarily resided there to avoid the anti-Filipino hostility of some foreign countries. While in Hong Kong, General Emilio Aguinaldo requested her to sew a flag that would represent their country
Philippines
The Philippines , officially known as the Republic of the Philippines , is a country in Southeast Asia in the western Pacific Ocean. To its north across the Luzon Strait lies Taiwan. West across the South China Sea sits Vietnam...
. Agoncillo, her eldest daughter and a friend manually sewed the flag in accordance with General Aguinaldo's design which later became the official flag of the Philippines.
While the flag itself is the perpetual legacy of Agoncillo, she is also commemorated through museums and monuments like the marker in Hong Kong (where her family temporarily sojourned), at her ancestral home in Taal, Batangas which has been turned into a museum, in paintings by notable painters as well as through other visual arts.
Early life
Agoncillo was born on June 24, 1860 in Taal, BatangasTaal, Batangas
Taal is a 4th class municipality in the province of Batangas, Philippines. According to the latest census, it has a population of 51,459 people in 8,451 households.It is the Balisong and Barong Tagalog Capital of the Philippines...
, Philippines to Francisco Mariño and Eugenia Coronel. She grew up in their ancestral house in Batangas built in the 1770s by her grandfather, Andres Marino.
As a daughter of a rich and religious family, Agoncillo was referred to in their town as Roselang Hubog which means "a virgin enthroned in the town church". Stories told in the area related that people kept waiting patiently by the church patio for her appearance in the morning to attend mass accompanied either by a maid or an elder relative.
She was sent to a convent after her education in Manila
Manila
Manila is the capital of the Philippines. It is one of the sixteen cities forming Metro Manila.Manila is located on the eastern shores of Manila Bay and is bordered by Navotas and Caloocan to the north, Quezon City to the northeast, San Juan and Mandaluyong to the east, Makati on the southeast,...
. The convent she was studying in was the Sta. Catalina College of the Dominican
Dominican Order
The Order of Preachers , after the 15th century more commonly known as the Dominican Order or Dominicans, is a Catholic religious order founded by Saint Dominic and approved by Pope Honorius III on 22 December 1216 in France...
nuns, an exclusive school for girls, established in the Walled City of Intramuros
Intramuros
Intramuros is the oldest district in the present day city of Manila, the capital of the Republic of the Philippines. Nicknamed the "Walled City", Intramuros is the historic fortified city of Manila, the seat ot the government during the Spanish Colonial Period. Its name in Latin, intramuros,...
where she finished her elementary and secondary education. In college, she learned Spanish, music
Music
Music is an art form whose medium is sound and silence. Its common elements are pitch , rhythm , dynamics, and the sonic qualities of timbre and texture...
, the feminine crafts and social graces. She spent her girlhood partly in their hometown and partly in the convent. Accordingly, Agoncillo was skilled in needlework.
Marriage and family
Agoncillo was married to Don FelipeFelipe Agoncillo
Felipe Agoncillo was the Filipino lawyer representative to the negotiations in Paris that led to the Treaty of Paris , ending the Spanish–American War and achieving him the title of "outstanding first Filipino diplomat."As a family friend and adviser of General Emilio Aguinaldo and General Antonio...
, a rich Filipino revolutionist and the first Filipino diplomat. They were both thirty and Don Felipe was already a judge when they finally wed. Agoncillo moved from Taal to Manila where they lived together in a two-story house on M.H. del Pillar St., Malate
Malate
Malate is the ionized form of malic acid. It is an important chemical compound in biochemistry. In the C4 carbon fixation process, malate is a source of CO2 in the Calvin cycle....
, near the Malate church.
Six daughters were born to them: Lorenza ("Enchang"), Gregoria ("Goring"), Eugenia ("Nene"), Marcela ("Celing", named after her mother because they thought she would be their last child), Adela (who died at the age of three) and the youngest, Maria ("Maring", who was their last surviving child and died on July 6, 1995). Most of her daughters became teachers. Gregoria was the first Filipina to graduate from Oxford University. After the graduation of the three elder daughters, they were offered teaching positions. Lorenza was given an appointment to teach in Malate Catholic School. They so immersed themselves in their respective teaching careers that not one of them chose to be married. Marcella Agoncillo cared for all of her daughters until they reached maturity. One of her favorite pieces of advice to them was to "live honestly and well, and to work hard and not depend on family property".
Besides the legal services rendered by Don Felipe to the impoverished, Agoncillo and her daughters observed every Thursday as a day of charity, when a queue of needy people seeking alms would form in the Agoncillo driveway. No one ever left their house empty-handed. Agoncillo would hand them a bag of rice in addition to the money she gave them. This practice lasted until the couple retired.
Living in Hong Kong
After learning of the plans of the Governor-General of the Philippines to deport Don Felipe, he sailed to Yokohama, Japan, staying there only briefly until proceeding to Hong Kong where he joined other Filipino exiles who found asylum when the revolution broke out in 1896. Twenty-two months after the departure of Don Felipe for Hong Kong, Agoncillo and the rest of the family (her last two daughters were not yet born) followed him into exile. They rented a house at 535 Morrison Hill in the Wan Chai districtWan Chai District
The Wan Chai District is one of the 18 districts of Hong Kong, located in the north of Hong Kong island. It had a population of 167,146 in 2001. The district has the second most educated residents with the highest income, the second lowest population and the third oldest residents, and is also the...
. While in Hong Kong, Agoncillo gave birth to their last child on March 22, 1906.
Felipe, being an exile himself, received any Filipino who came into their house. Thereafter, the place became a sanctuary for other Filipino revolutionary exiles. They initiated meetings in the Agoncillos' residence, especially during the critical months of March and April 1898. Among these folks were Gen. Antonio Luna
Antonio Luna
Antonio Luna y Novicio was a Filipino pharmacist and general who fought in the Philippine-American War. He was also the founder of the Philippines's first military academy.- Family background :...
and Gen. Aguinaldo. Also, Josephine Bracken
Josephine Bracken
Marie Josephine Leopoldine Bracken was the common-law wife of Philippine national hero Jose Rizal during his exile in Dapitan in the province of Zamboanga del Norte in southern Philippines, till his execution on December 30, 1896 in Manila. In the early hours on the day of his execution, the...
, Jose Rizal
José Rizal
José Protacio Rizal Mercado y Alonso Realonda , was a Filipino polymath, patriot and the most prominent advocate for reform in the Philippines during the Spanish colonial era. He is regarded as the foremost Filipino patriot and is listed as one of the national heroes of the Philippines by...
's fiancée, sought refuge in their house when the Spanish authorities threatened to torture her.
Making of the Philippine flag
Pact of Biak-na-Bato
The Pact of Biak-na-Bato, signed on December 14, 1897, created a truce between Spanish Colonial Governor-General Fernando Primo de Rivera and Emilio Aguinaldo to end the Philippine Revolution...
on December 14, 1897, General Aguinaldo, after their voluntary exile, visited the Agoncillo residence in Hong Kong. After having met them, Aguinaldo requested that Agoncillo immediately hand-sew a flag according to his design which would embody the national aspirations of all Filipinos. After receiving the request, Agoncillo delegated her eldest daughter, five-year-old Lorenza, and Mrs. Delfina Herbosa de Natividad, Jose Rizal
José Rizal
José Protacio Rizal Mercado y Alonso Realonda , was a Filipino polymath, patriot and the most prominent advocate for reform in the Philippines during the Spanish colonial era. He is regarded as the foremost Filipino patriot and is listed as one of the national heroes of the Philippines by...
's niece by his sister Lucia, to help her.
The process took only a short time, but it was difficult. The three worked manually and with the aid of a sewing machine
Sewing machine
A sewing machine is a textile machine used to stitch fabric, cards and other material together with thread. Sewing machines were invented during the first Industrial Revolution to decrease the amount of manual sewing work performed in clothing companies...
. They had to redo the flag after the rays of the sun were not in the proper direction. Their eyes and hands suffered due to the prolonged work session. Made from fine silk
Silk
Silk is a natural protein fiber, some forms of which can be woven into textiles. The best-known type of silk is obtained from the cocoons of the larvae of the mulberry silkworm Bombyx mori reared in captivity...
which she bought in Hong Kong, the flag was embroidered in gold and contained stripes of blue and red and a white triangle with the sun and three stars on it. The flag was finished in five days and became known as "the sun and the stars flag".
Malolos Congress
-Further reading:*Philippine House of Representatives Congressional Library...
because her husband remained in Hong Kong and she remained with him.
In response to the message written by Gen. Aguinaldo, Agoncillo wrote the following statement when she was interviewed:
Post-exile and death
Agoncillo and her daughters stayed in Hong Kong from 1895 to 1906. She took care of their house, which became an asylum. Their funds had run out because of the heavy expenses incurred by Don Felipe for his diplomatic activities in France and in the United States. She once had to sell the children's pinafores and their jewels to support her family and to pay for their voyage back to Manila. The other money was also used to help boost the revolutionary funds. Their support for the revolution made them an impoverished family; however, they gained it back when Don Felipe returned to his profession.After the fall of the first Philippine Republic
First Philippine Republic
The Philippine Republic , more commonly known as the First Philippine Republic or the Malolos Republic was a short-lived insurgent revolutionary government in the Philippines...
and the establishment of the American regime, Agoncillo and her family ended their exile and went back to Manila as soon as they were fetched by Don Felipe after his diplomatic activities abroad had ended. The Agoncillos settled in their family house in Malate. After the death of Don Felipe, Agoncillo's remaining family suffered from starvation due to their meager supply of food, water and other needs. The Japanese
Empire of Japan
The Empire of Japan is the name of the state of Japan that existed from the Meiji Restoration on 3 January 1868 to the enactment of the post-World War II Constitution of...
conquerors also contributed to their anguish during the period of the Japanese invasion. Taking this all in stride, Marcela remained pragmatic and a source of inspiration. After their house was incinerated during the Japanese occupation, all she said to her remaining daughters was "We will then have to go to Taal."
Though she endured the 1945 Battle of Manila, the health of
Agoncillo, who was alternatively called "Doña Marcela" and "Lola Celay" during her old age, was steadily deteriorating. She continued to mourn her deceased husband to such an extent that her daughters found it necessary to hide all his remaining photographs. On May 30, 1946, she quietly died in Manila
Manila
Manila is the capital of the Philippines. It is one of the sixteen cities forming Metro Manila.Manila is located on the eastern shores of Manila Bay and is bordered by Navotas and Caloocan to the north, Quezon City to the northeast, San Juan and Mandaluyong to the east, Makati on the southeast,...
at the age of 86. Her mortal remains were brought from Taal to Manila and interred alongside her husband in the Catholic cemetery of La Loma
La Loma Cemetery
The La Loma Catholic Cemetery was opened in 1884 and is located mostly in the city of Manila and the northwestern part to Caloocan.The La Loma Cemetery is the oldest cemetery in Manila with an area of slightly less than 54 hectares...
according to the wishes of her last will.
Commemoration
Monument
A monument is a type of structure either explicitly created to commemorate a person or important event or which has become important to a social group as a part of their remembrance of historic times or cultural heritage, or simply as an example of historic architecture...
were created in remembrance of Agoncillo's historic family. On November 27, 1955, a marker was erected by the National Historical Institute of the Philippines and a museum
Museum
A museum is an institution that cares for a collection of artifacts and other objects of scientific, artistic, cultural, or historical importance and makes them available for public viewing through exhibits that may be permanent or temporary. Most large museums are located in major cities...
was established in Taal, Batangas in accordance with her last wish and was named Marcela Marino Agoncillo Museum and Monument. The museum is Agoncillo's ancestral house. The house-turned-museum permanently exhibits flags and a diorama depicting the sewing of the first flag. A bronze statue of her holding the flag was erected outside the house in its garden. In Hong Kong, a historical marker was created by the Hong Kong Antiquities Council at Morrison Hill Park to commemorate the site where the first Philippine flag was sewn. However, the place where the Agoncillos resided, the location of the Hong Kong Junta, and other locations of historical importance to Filipinos remain unmarked.
Agoncillo's legacy is remembered through the visual arts as well. In 1996, Filipino National Artist Napoleon Abueva
Napoleón Abueva
Napoleón Isabelo Veloso-Abueva , more popularly known as Napoleón Abueva, is a Filipino artist. He is a sculptor given the distinction as the Philippines' National Artist for Sculpture. He is also entitled as the "Father of Modern Philippine Sculpture"...
created the concrete and marble sculpture Three Women Weaving the Filipino Flag at the UP Diliman to commemorate Agoncillo and the other two women who assisted her in their important task. Renowned Filipino painter Fernando Amorsolo
Fernando Amorsolo
Fernando Amorsolo y Cueto is one of the most important artists in the history of painting in the Philippines. Amorsolo was a portraitist and painter of rural Philippine landscapes. He is popularly known for his craftsmanship and mastery in the use of light...
painted the historical sewing and is nationally known as The Making of the Philippine flag.