Lodge Perla del Orient No 1034 SC and Freemasonry in the Philippines

Soon after the arrival of the explorer Ferdinand Magellan leading a Spanish fleet in 1521, the archipelago of the Philippines was claimed by Spain as part of their empire. Much of the administration of the colony was strictly controlled by the Church friars who strongly enforced the Papal Bulls against Freemasonry. The first report of masonic activity in the Philippines was in 1756 when two Irish Masons, who were involved in Acapulco to Manila trade, were arrested and tried by the Inquisition. As however they were under British protection, they were let off with a reprimand and were released.

The first recorded Masonic Lodge in the Philippines was an Irish Military Lodge, Lodge Gibraltar No. 128, attached to the 39th Regiment of Foot, which was stationed in the Philippines from 1762 to 1764 as part of the British occupation. They held some of their Lodge meetings in the Cathedral of Intramuros. When the British forces left the Philippines, their Lodge left with them. Considering that the Masonic meetings in the Cathedral had been a profanation, the Archbishop of Manila sought permission from Spain to raze the Cathedral to the ground. This was however denied and the Cathedral lasted until it was destroyed by American bombardment during the retaking of the city from Japanese forces in 1945. It has since been rebuilt.

There were no further reported Lodges in the Philippines until one hundred years later, when in 1856 Bro Admiral Malcampo, one of the officers who had been sent by the Spanish colonial power to combat an increase in piracy in the Philippine archipelago, founded La Primera Luz Filipina in Cavite, a Province just south of Manila. The second Lodge was founded by Bro Vice Admiral Mendez Nuñez in 1859 in Zamboanga on the southern island of Mindanao. As masonry at that time was still prohibited in Spain, the two Lodges were daughter Lodges of the Grande Oriente Lusitano in Portugal.

Over the next few years, a number of other Lodges were founded, with primarily a Spanish membership, although other foreigners and Filipinos were admitted. Following an uprising of workers in Cavite in 1872 against the imposition of a new tribute payable to Spain, the Authorities laid the blame on the Filipino masons, and a number of them were either imprisoned or exiled, and Filipinos were banned from Masonic activity.

There are reports from non-masonic sources that in the mid 1800’s Lodges were formed by German and British residents of Manila, with the reports indicating that the British one was of the Scottish Constitution under a Lodge in Hong Kong. There is however no record in the Grand Lodge of Scotland of a Lodge being chartered in the Philippines at that time. At the time there was only one Scottish Lodge in Hong Kong, Lodge St. John No 618, and, as their records were destroyed during the Japanese occupation, there is no way to check on any connections between them and Masonic activity in Manila. Some researchers have however speculated that, in view of the general anti-Masonic views of the Spanish authorities, these were possibly masonic clubs catering to Brethren of many different nationalities rather than actual working Lodges. There is also later evidence which suggests that what was referred to as a Scottish Constitution Lodge was actually a Scottish Rite Lodge, Union Germanica, under the Grand Orient of Berlin.

In the early 1890’s when restrictions on Filipinos joining Lodges in the Philippines had been relaxed, Nilad Lodge No. 144, under the Grande Oriente Español, became in 1891 the first Lodge formed primarily for Filipinos. Soon afterwards, more Filipino Lodges were formed throughout the Archipelago, also by the Grande Oriente Español. It was in these gatherings of like-minded men that the resistance movement against Spanish rule grew.

The resistance movement, known as Katipunan (“Association” in Tagalog), was led by , among others, Bros Andres Bonifacio and General Emilio Aguinaldo, and sought revolution against Spain. Because many members of the Katipunan were masons, it was wrongly assumed by the Authorities that it was a Masonic organization. After a short period of mainly guerrilla warfare, Bro General Aguinaldo signed a peace treaty with Spain and was banished to Hong Kong.

Soon after Bro General Aguinaldo’s exile, the Spanish-American war broke out, during which Bro Admiral George Dewey led an American fleet into Manila Bay, defeated the Spanish fleet, and captured Manila. En route to Manila, Bro Dewey recruited from Hong Kong a number of Filipinos to help guide his fleet and to assist in his forthcoming battles. These included Bro General Aguinaldo and Bro Francisco Aguado, a ship’s pilot who had joined Lodge St. John No. 618 SC in Hong Kong. Following his return to Manila Bro General Aguinaldo took the opportunity of the confusion caused by the War, and declared the Philippines independent and himself as President. His Presidency however would be short lived as the Philippines would later be ceded to America at the cessation of the Spanish American War, and independence would not again be regained until 1946 under the Presidency of MW Manuel Quezon.

During the early stages of American control, the Philippines became for a period a free Masonic jurisdiction, and some American military Lodges and three Lodges under the Grand Lodge of California were established to join the original Spanish Lodges still operating there. Bro Manuel Camus, a Filipino who had become a Freemason in an English Constitution Lodge in Singapore when completing his legal studies there, returned to Manila in 1899 as an interpreter and translator for the Provost Marshall General of the US Army. At the time American masons in the Philippines were in the process of petitioning the Grand Lodge of California to found a Lodge in Manila however they did not have sufficient qualified members. As a English mason Bro Camus was invited to become a Charter member of Manila Lodge No 342. However he soon became aggrieved over the actions of his Brother masons, who seemed reluctant to admit any other Filipinos. As a result, he and Bro Francisco Aguado and some members of Dalisay Lodge No 177 of the Grand Oriente Español, determined to organise a new Lodge “that would practice universality in all its purity” and petitioned to the Grand Lodge of Scotland for a Charter. In the initial petition sent to the Scottish District Grand Master in Hong Kong for transmission to Edinburgh it was proposed that Bro Aguado would be the first Master however Bro Aguado soon after wrote proposing that Bro Camus should be the first Master and he should be the Depute Master. This was probably as a result of the higher profile held by Bro Camus in Manila society at the time. Bro Camus later became a Senator in the Philippines Senate, was one of the founders of the Boy Scouts of the Philippines and a Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of the Philippines, one of two Past Masters of Lodge Perla to have achieved that post.

The Charter was granted on 7 November 1907 and was sent to Hong Kong to the Scottish District Grand Master there to consecrate the Lodge and Install its Office Bearers. Bros Camus and Aguado travelled to Hong Kong and on 23 April 1908 the new Lodge was consecrated with Bro Camus installed as the first Master. On their return to Manila, the first meeting of the Lodge in Manila was held on 4 May 1908 and at that Bro Camus installed the remainder of the Lodge Office Bearers.

The original intention of the founders was to confine the workings of the Lodge to Spanish, however it was soon realized that English was quickly supplanting Spanish in the Philippines and although for a time the ceremonies were conducted in the language of the candidate, the Lodge soon changed to a fully English speaking Lodge. Recently copies of the Lodge Ritual dated 1912 in English and in Spanish have been found. Membership of the Lodge expanded rapidly and by 1916, there were over 200 members of nineteen different nationalities.

With these growing numbers a Scottish Constitution Royal Arch Chapter was formed in Manila in 1911, and in 1912, a second Scottish Lodge was chartered in the Island of Cebu. The chartering of the Royal Arch Chapter created a problem as, although the Philippines was considered open territory for Lodges, the General Grand Chapter of Royal Arch Masons of the United States and its Territories considered that they had jurisdiction over the Philippines. This was later to cause trouble.

Also in 1912 the three Lodges chartered under the Grand Lodge of California resolved to form a Grand Lodge of the Philippines which was formed on 19 December of that year. At that time Lodge Perla and Lodge Cebu declined to take part in the new Grand Lodge.

The creation of a Grand Lodge upset the much larger Grand Regional Lodge of the Philippines under the Grande Oriente Español which at the time had around thirty Lodges. They were also upset that the American Lodges were trying to persuade Filipinos that they were the only regular masonic body in the Philippines, and that they had come to regularise and improve Philippine masonry.

Once consecrated the newly formed Grand Lodge of the Philippines applied to other Grand Lodges throughout the world for recognition and in February 1915 the Grand Lodge of Scotland recognised the Grand Lodge of the Philippine Islands as a Sovereign Body. It however “reserved the rights of the Grand Lodge of Scotland as regards the Scottish Lodges presently in existence in the Philippines and the rights of those Lodges.” In effect, this meant that the two Scottish Lodges should be allowed to continue in existence until they decided otherwise.

In reaction to the creation of the new Grand Lodge, the Grand Regional Lodge of the Grand Orient Español started discussions towards forming a Grand Oriente of the Philippines with control over the whole of the Scottish Rite degrees. There was, however, some dissent among the member Lodges who eventually voted that the new proposed body should only control the craft degrees, separating them from the remainder of Scottish Rite degrees, on the grounds of the greater length of time expected to be required for agreement to be reached with Spain for the more complex body. Discussions with Madrid, however, were protracted partly because of a reluctance to lose their Lodges in the Philippines, and partly because of the death of the Grand Master in Madrid, who had been the principal negotiator at that end. Because of this long delay in getting a definitive response from Spain, the Grand Regional Lodge commenced negotiations with the Grand Lodge of the Philippines regarding a “merger”. It is reported that because the Grand Lodge of Scotland recognised both the Grand Lodge of the Philippines and the Grand Orient Español, Lodge Perla’s meetings were attended by both members of the GLP and the Grand Regional Lodge and that some of the discussion on the “merger” took place around Lodge Perla meetings.

After much discussion, the terms of the “merger” were agreed and on 14 February 1917, twenty-seven of the Spanish Lodges decided to affiliate to the then eleven of the Grand Lodge of the Philippines rather than wait for the prospect of a Grand Orient being given approval. As part of the “merger,” it was agreed that the Grand Master’s position would alternate between Americans and Filipinos. The first Grand Master of the united Grand Lodge was an American, and the second was MW Manuel Quezon, who later became President when the Americans granted the Philippines Commonwealth status.

At the time of the merger both Scottish Lodges were invited to join the expanded Grand Lodge of the Philippines. Lodge Cebu No 1106 SC decided to relinquish its Charter to Scotland, and all of its members joined a Grand Lodge of the Philippines’ Lodge in Cebu.

Initially Lodge Perla del Oriente No 1034 SC declined to join. World War I was then raging in Europe and Scotland was one of the warring nations. Lodge Perla told the Grand Lodge of the Philippines "We believe it our Masonic duty to remain true and loyal to the Grand Lodge of Scotland during the present world crisis and to give her our moral and material support in the great Masonic work she is carrying on today for humanity in general."

Once the War had ended the Members of Lodge Perla decided that they should further delay a decision on whether to join the GLP pending the resolution of the ongoing dispute between the General Grand Chapter of the USA and the Supreme Grand Royal Arch Chapter of Scotland over the consecration of Keystone Royal Arch Chapter No 354 in 1912 which had led to a severing of relations between the two. By the time this dispute had been resolved in 1924 by a visit to the US by the First Grand Principal, MEC The Earl of Cassilis, on his return from visiting Scottish Chapters in Australia and New Zealand, Lodge Perla members had reached the decision that they were happy to remain as a member of the Grand Lodge of Scotland.

As part of the agreement between SGRAC of Scotland and the General Grand Chapter of the US, it was agreed that Keystone RAC No 354 would continue its existence but would not attempt to set up other Chapters, nor Councils of Royal & Select Masters, in the Philippines. As, at the time, Lodges of Royal Ark Mariners and Councils of Red Cross Knights were not part of the American York Rite system, and therefore not covered by the restrictions, a Scottish Lodge of Royal Ark Mariners and Council of Red Cross Knights was consecrated in Manila in 1926.

Initially Lodge Perla met in the San Nicolas District of Manila but later moved its meetings to the Plaridel Masonic Temple of the Grand Lodge of the Philippines. When the Japanese entered Manila in January 1942, all Lodge activities were suspended as the Japanese did not allow mass assemblies. The Japanese occupied the Plaridel Masonic Temple and all records, regalia and paraphernalia of the Lodges meeting at the Temple were burned and destroyed.

American civilians, and members of Lodges, and other foreigners considered enemies of Japan were herded into different internment camps. The Filipinos, especially the Masons, were kept under strict surveillance and several were imprisoned and tortured in Fort Santiago as they were known to be helping Americans and citizens of other countries at war with Japan.

After the liberation of the Philippines several Filipino, American and European members of the Lodge promptly exerted efforts to have the Lodge resume its activities. This was done under a telegram dispensation from the Grand Lodge of Scotland until a duplicate copy of the Charter could come by sea from Scotland. Muog Lodge No 89 GLP gave Lodge Perla permission to hold the first meeting of the Lodge in the post-war period at their Masonic Temple in Paranaque. This was held on 15th December 1945 and the Office-bearers for the 1945/46 were duly installed at the meeting.

For various reasons Lodge Perla could not hold its next meetings at Muog temple. The Senior Warden of the Lodge, Bro Thomas H. Fenstermacher, however kindly offered his home located in Sta Ana, Manila, as a temporary Lodge meeting place. His small sala was converted into a Lodge Hall which was duly consecrated on 10 February 1946 with Bro Benito Maneze, Sr., Immediate Past Master, officiating, assisted by other members of the Lodge.

The Right Worshipful Master, Senior and Junior Wardens, the Secretary and the Treasurer utilized small wooden boxes piled up on top of each other to serve as pedestals and tables. A small wooden table on which rested the VSL with the Square and Compasses served as the Altar. It was necessary to use carpenter's tools for the Masonic Working Tools and hammers served as gavels. The jewels of the officers, which had luckily been saved by a PM, were strung on cords and twelve white aprons were donated by the Right Worshipful Master, to be used by the officer bearers. Regular meetings were held at the residence of Brother Fenstermacher until October 1946, when the Lodge received an invitation to hold its meetings at the Scottish Rite Temple, 1828 Taft Avenue, Manila, which was then being reconstructed. The first meeting of the Lodge was held at the Scottish Rite Temple on 12th October 1946, and since then the Scottish Rite Temple has become the permanent home of the Lodge.

There was a suggestion around the same time that, as the Grand Lodge of the Philippines was rebuilding, the Lodge might now reconsider joining it. The Brethren of the Lodge however decided to abide by their earlier decisions to remain as a member of the Grand Lodge of Scotland. At the Grand Lodge AnCom in 1948 MW Emilio P Virata reported on his visit to the 41st Anniversary meeting of Lodge Perla saying that “he had wished the Lodge many more of such anniversary. As Masonry is universal, I am inclined to disregard technicalities to give life to the spirit, to translate form into substance. Masonry must unite not antagonize”.

When the Lodge was initially consecrated the District Grand Master in Hong Kong felt that the Lodge was too far from Hong Kong for him to exercise supervision over it and recommended to Grand Lodge that it not be added to his District, which at the time only comprised three Lodges in Hong Kong. As a result Lodge Perla reported direct to Grand Lodge rather than form part of a District. In 2009 Grand Lodge decided, that in order to streamline their administration and with modern transport travel from Hong Kong to Manila being much easier, Lodge Perla would be added into the District Grand Lodge of the Far East which now comprises 12 Lodges – three in Korea, two in Japan, six in Hong Kong and Lodge Perla in Manila.

Lodge Perla del Oriente No 1034 SC, Keystone Royal Arch Chapter No 354 SC, and Keystone Lodge & Council No 354 SC continue to operate until the present day and, earlier differences having been resolved, maintain good relations with both the Grand Lodge of the Philippines and the York Rite of the Philippines, with the Grand Master and the Grand High Priest frequently attending Installations as guests.

Although MW Voltaire Gazmin, the then Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of the Philippines, was unable to attend the November 2016 Installation because of his Grand Lodge commitments, his representative read a message from him at the Installation Harmony, which included the following comments:

“The Grand Lodge of the Philippines is fortunate to share your distinct style of masonry, bereft of any jurisdictional issues. Many of you are members of the GLP and vice versa. We have enriched each other well. Together, we prove that Freemasonry is indeed universal despite certain differences in forms and styles.

“In my travels to foreign jurisdictions, I have been asked whether it is possible for their Lodges to enjoy the same status as Lodge Perla in the Philippines. You know the answer well. Our distinct relationship was forged more than a century ago. Our historic ties will support the notion that Lodge Perla is not a sister to us, but more of a great aunt. Fortunately, you are not a grumpy old aunt.”

Brethren and Companions visiting Manila are most welcome to attend the meetings - Lodge Perla del Oriente No 1034 meets on the 3rd Saturday of each month, while Keystone RAC No 354 and Keystone Lodge & Council No. 354 meet on the 3rd Saturday in alternating months. The Chapter meets on the odd numbered months and the Lodge & Council on the even numbered ones. As mentioned earlier the Lodge, Chapter and Lodge & Council meet in the Scottish Rite Temple , 1828 Taft Avenue, Manila.

S C Sloan

May 2025

Sources:

Brief History of the Lodge by Bro Benito Maneze Sr, PM

The Craft in the East by R W Bro Christopher Haffner, PDGM of Hong Kong & the Far East, EC

The Brethren by M W Reynold S Fajardo, PGM of Grand Lodge of the Philippines

Full Masonic Restoration by M W Reynold S Fajardo, PGM of Grand Lodge of the Philippines