Bagong Buhay Lodge No. 4 (F&AM)

FILIPINO MASONIC HEROES:


WB LADISLAO NOCON DIWA PM (1918)
(The Unknown Angle in the KKK Triangle)
- Masonic Name “Baguio” -

WB Ladislao Nocon Diwa, a Filipino patriot, prominent propagandist and revolutionary leader. He was born on June 27, 1863 in the district of San Roque, Cavite. He was one of the founding members of Bagong Buhay Lodge No. 291 and became the Master of the Lodge in 1918. He was among the founder of the Katipunan that initiated the Philippine Revolution against Spain in 1896. He was the third of ten children of Mariano Diwa and Cecilia Nocon. He was tutored at home and later under the supervision of Fr. Perfecto Manalac, recommended him for admission “capista” to the Colegio de San Juan de Letran, Manila where he devoted his time to the study of priesthood and to studies leading to the degree of Bachelor of Arts. But after 14 years, when he was ready to be ordained, he had abandoned his ecclesiastical studies because of his father’s strenuous objection.

The Cavite Mutiny of 1872 and the execution of Frs. Gomez, Burgos and Zamora also changed his plans, and studied law instead at the University of Sto. Tomas and it was while he was studying law that he met Andres Bonifacio inside the university campus who often distributed propaganda materials authored by Jose Rizal and Marcelo H. del Pilar during the propaganda movement in Spain. The two became close friends and WB Diwa later boarded with Teodoro Plata at Bonifacio’s house in Tondo, Manila. After finishing law, he was named a clerk in District Court of Quiapo, Manila.

On July 3, 1892, together with over 30 trustworthy men, Masons as well as Non-Masons, aside from Dr. Jose Rizal, Pedro Serrano Laktaw and Timoteo Paez at the house of Doroteo Ongjungko of Lusong Lodge in Ilaya St., Tondo, Manila, WB Diwa (Masonic name Baguio) joined the La Liga Filipina and became the Council Secretary in Trozo, Tondo. On July 5, 1892, after Diwa visited Rizal, he was apparently convinced that an armed uprising was the only way to attain independence from Spain.

On July 7, 1892, in Tondo, Manila, Diwa, Bonifacio and Plata, founded a secret society, the Katipunan patterned after the “Black Mask” of Italy wherein members were grouped in threes or triangles so that not one of the members would know more than three other members of the whole organization. The meeting was also attended by Deodato Arellano, Valentin Diaz and Jose Dizon. WB Diwa adopted the symbolic name “BALETE” in the Katipunan wherein he also became the treasurer, then fiscal, and lastly, councilor of the Supreme Council of the Katipunan. Later, he formed his own triangle with Roman Basa and Teodoro Gonzales.

As more and more members were eager to join the society, Diwa’s plan proved too slow in implementation. Thus, in October 1892, the organization discarded the triangle system and adopted “MASONIC PROCEDURES” in getting new members.

In 1893, WB Diwa contributed much to the Katipunan’s expansion to the countryside because of his transfer to the Court of Justice of the Peace in Pampanga. Katipunero’s in Bulacan, Tarlac and Nueva Ecija have been inducted to Katipunan by WB Diwa himself and one of the most notable was Francisco Macabulos, who became one of the successful Filipino generals of the revolution.

After the Katipunan was uncovered in August 1896, he was arrested in Betis, Bacolor, Pampanga and was imprisoned at Fort Santiago, Manila in the same cell as Bro. Teodoro Plata.

On February 6, 1897, Bro. Plata was executed at the field of Bagumbayan and four (4) days later, the Pack of Biak Na Bato resulted to his freedom. He was released in a prisoner exchanged between the Spanish authorities and the Filipino revolutionists. He joined the troops of Gen. Mariano Trias in Cavite and became active in combat and became instrumental in the surrender of the Spanish forces under Leopoldo Garcia Oeoa on May 28, 1898.

Because of this, he was promoted to Colonel in the revolutionary army. When the First Philippine Republic was organized, he was elected First Civil Governor at Cavite, establishing his seat of government in San Roque, Cavite, where he served for eight months. When the Philippine-American War broke out in 1898, he rejoined the group of Gen. Trias. He reestablished the local government in Naic, and thence to Alfonso, Cavite. But when Gen. Emilio Aguinaldo was captured at Palanan, Isabela on March 23, 1899, WB Diwa and Gen. Trias surrendered to the Americans in March 1901 at Indang, Cavite. He became the Clerk of Court of First Instance of Cavite under the Americans new civil government.

Bro. Diwa was a member of the Grand Regional Lodge of the Philippines during an assembly in 1906 and originally member of Sinukuan Lodge of Tondo and on September 4, 1906, together with Bro. Jose A. Reyes, Bro. Juan N. Santos and the Cavite Masons, met and signed a resolution to form the Bagong Buhay Lodge. In the election of the Bagong Buhay Lodge (UD), he was elected Senior Warden. In 1918, he became the Worshipful Master of Bagong Buhay Lodge No. 291.

He was married to Dona Honorata Crescina and blessed with children, Guadalupe, Heraclito, Edna and Cecilia. He died of nephritis on March 12, 1930.

The Caridad Elementary School in Cavite City was renamed Ladislao Diwa Elementary School in his honor in November 1964.

On November 30, 1996, his remains were transferred from the Cavite City Cemetery to a mausoleum Shrine and Museum as the government through the National Historical Institute honored a forgotten great Filipino Patriot, a Mason and a Hero.

Bro. Ric Alvarez
Bagong Buhay Lodge No. 4
August 21, 2007


References:

1. In Memory of Ladislao Diwa – The Unknown Angle in the KKK Triangle by A. B. German p6-11;
2. In Memory of Ladislao Diwa – Retracing the KKK’s origin, a hundred years hence by Fr. Virgilio Saenz Mendoza p12-15;
3. The Masonic Life of Dr. Jose Rizal by MWB Reynold S. Fajardo p39-40;
4. Bagong Buhay Lodge 73rd Annual Masonic District Convention Souvenir Program, November 28, 2005;