The Rise and Fall of La Solidaridad
by Mona Lisa H. Quizon

 The unjust execution of the GOMBURZA served as a springboard for the Filipinos especially among the middle class to make their presence felt in the society. Some of the privileged Filipinos were able to go abroad in order to study and to demand for reforms. Their stay overseas made them realize that the treatment that they have experienced in foreign land was different compared to the way they are being treated by the Spanish colonizers way back in the Philippines. They were surprised to see how the citizens of Spain enjoy liberty, a privilege that they never lived through in their own native land.

 During that time, Filipinos were clamoring for change.  It was an era of growing political and social discontent. In Spain, the ilustrados created an organization aiming for reforms that became known as the Propaganda Movement. Some of the foremost propagandists were Jose Rizal, Graciano Lopez-Jaena, Marcelo H. del Pilar, Mariano Ponce and others.

 In order to make the impact of the movement more effective, Jaena founded a newspaper called La Solidaridad. This became the mouthpiece of the reformers to express their sentiments and to bring the attention of the Spaniards their concerns for the nation. According to them the aims of the said newspaper were to gather, to collect liberal ideas which are daily exposed the camp politics, in the fields of science, arts, letters, commerce, agriculture and industry. They shall also discuss all problems which deal with the general interest of the nation, seeking solutions that are purely national and democratic.  Rizal himself was very pleased with the birth of Sol, and in one of his letters to Blumentritt he said, “Recently I received good news from the Philippines. Almost all the youth and many of the old ones agree with us. They salute the defenders of Filipino rights. La Sol is read with genuine eagerness, still more, it copied and translated. The first issue of La Solidaridad came out in Barcelona on February 15, 1889 with Lopez-Jaena as its first editor but he turned over the supervision to Del Pilar on December that same year.      

 The news of the birth of La Solidaridad reached the Philippines after two months and soon, the patriotic Filipinos started sending their contributions in support to the propagandist. The periodical came out twice a month. On November 15, 1899 the La Solidaridad was transferred to Madrid and the reformists continued what they have started of.

   The people behind the newspaper were keeping their hopes of uniting the people into a homogenous body and recognition from mother Spain. The rigorous drive of La Solidaridad for reforms was cut short due to several reasons such as lack of funds, health problems among the reformists and conflicts among members. While it is true that they were able to caught the attention of the Spanish government in Madrid with regards to their sentiments, Spain did not paid much attention to their demands, for during the time, Spanish leaders were also dealing with the country’s own internal problem. 

 The monarchy during the time was being challenged and an effort to properly oversee the conditions of Spanish colonies was not quite fruitful.  In addition, the friars were very much powerful even in Spain and as expected, Spanish authorities cannot repress them, so even though the La Solidaridad had made good impressions with the Spanish authorities in Madrid, it was trounced by the more influential and powerful organ of the church leaders known as La Politica de España en Filipinas. The gradual decline of La Solidaridad was foreseen by the reformist after experiencing difficulty in collecting funds for its continued publication.  Some members of movement also came to realize the ineffectiveness of the peaceful movement, taking into consideration La Sol’s six years of existence with not so satisfactory output.

 The La Solidaridad lasted for seven years, but it suffered a natural death. The last issue was  published on November 15, 1895.