I learned about Freemasonry and Knights Templar from reading Dan Brown’s books. So, when I saw a show running in the History Channel about the Holy Grail, I sat and watched it. The show’s conclusion led me to re-dig more information about the Freemasons and find out who were the famous people known to be Freemasons.

The Wikipedia’s list of Freemasons surprised me as I recognize the Filipino names listed there. It amazed me how these Filipinos shaped the Philippines history. I might had overlooked the fact of their membership of this mysterious organization before but it’s harder for me to ignore it this time.

So, let’s take a look at those notable Filipinos who were members of Freemasonry, a fraternal organization, and let’s wonder what had they taken from their membership and brought to the Filipinos.

1. José Abad Santos, Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of the Philippines.
2. Gregorio Aglipay, Supreme Bishop of the Philippine Independent Church.
3. José P. Laurel, President of the Japanese-Sponsored Republic of the Philippines during World War II, from 1943 to 1945.
4. Camilo Osías, President of the Senate of the Philippines.
5. Rafael Palma, Filipino politician, writer, and educator. Fourth President of the University of the Philippines.
6. Reynato Puno, Chief Justice of the Philippines.
7. Manuel L. Quezon, First president of the Commonwealth of the Philippines under U.S. occupation rule in the early period of the 20th century.
8. Jose Rizal, Polymath and National Hero of the Philippines.
9. Manuel Roxas, was the first president of the independent Republic of the Philippines.
10. Lope K. Santos, Tagalog language writer from the Philippines.