What Are the Seven Aims of the Propaganda Movement ?

The aims of the 19th century Filipino Propaganda Movement were to secure representation of the Philippines in the Spanish Parliament, secularize the clergy, secure equality between Spanish and Filipino people, as well as create a public school system. The movement also looked to abolish labor service, guarantee basic freedom and offer equal opportunity for government service.

Graciano Lopez Jaena spelled out the aims of the Filipino Propaganda Movement during a speech held at a restaurant in Madrid in the year 1883. His friend Juan Atayde organized and directed the Circulo Hispano-Filipino, which advocated peaceful reform in the Philippines. All of the members of the Propaganda Movement were either Filipino expatriates living in Europe or foreign sympathizers.

The Propaganda Movement published the Revista del Circulo Hispanico-Filipino in order to call for reform of Spanish rule in the Philippines. This publication influenced the population of Europe and the Philippines, leading to Philippine Revolution of 1896. In 1889, Lopez Jaena wrote an article voicing his consent to revolution if peaceful reform did not occur, comparing the struggle of the Propaganda Movement to that of the French Revolution. Other prominent members of the movement included Jose Rizal and Marcelo H. del Pilar; historians call these two, along with Graciano Lopez Jaena, the “great triumvirate” of the Propaganda Movement.