The Women of Malolos

CURATOR NOTE: As of May 2024, no known royalty-free photo of this project exists. The painting "The Women of Malolos" by Rafael del Casal is under copyright. Do not upload a project photo unless it is freely licensed. Any user who uploads a copyrighted project photo will be reported and deleted.

On 12 December 1888, twenty women from prominent, wealthy Chinese-Filipino families of Malolos, Bulacan signed and presented a letter to the Governor-General of the Philippines, requesting permission to open a night school where they could be taught Spanish. This was met with as much resistance by the establishment (the Agustinian curate and the Spanish Governor-General himself) as the support of the illustrado reformists like Jose Rizal, Graciano Lopez Jaena and Marcelo H. Del Pilar.

After much public debate, the school opened with conditional approval from the government on 20 February 1889. But only two months later, in April 1889, the school was accused by Church officials of "immoral teaching and of eating meat on days of abstinence" and was forced to close. Read more: http://bitly.com/oLYOKZ.

Find more historical projects at the master project page, Families of the Philippines.

Suggested Readings

• Tiongson, Nicanor G."The Women of Malolos". Quezon City: Ateneo de Manila University Press, 2004.

The Women of Malolos

They were 20 women from the closely-knit mestizo-sangley clans of the town, related by blood and friendship. Plotting the blood relationship between these historical women is a messy web, with multiple marriages between not-so-distant cousins prevalent within at least, three generations. Much of the research is attributed to the efforts of Nick Tiongson.

1. Elisea Tantoco Reyes
2. Juana Tantoco Reyes
3. Leoncia Santos Reyes
4. Olympia San Agustin Reyes
5. Rufina Tengco Reyes
6. Eugenia Mendoza Tanchangco
7. Aurea Mendoza Tanchangco
8. Basilia Villariño Tantoco
9. Teresa Tiongson Tantoco
10. Maria Tiongson Tantoco
11. Anastacia Maclang Tiongson
12. Basilia Reyes Tiongson
13. Paz Reyes Tiongson
14. Aleja Reyes Tiongson
15. Mercedes Reyes Tiongson
16. Agapita Reyes Tiongson
17. Filomena Oliveros Tiongson
18. Cecilia Oliveros Tiongson
19. Feliciana Oliveros Tiongson
20. Alberta Santos Uitangcoy