by Resti Santiago
If we will study the history of the Philippines with an astrological eye, we can see that Virgos played important roles in the development of the country. In fact, the Philippines was ruled by more Virgo Sun signs (and by those with Virgo prominent charts) than any other zodiac sign. Two of our post-war presidents, Ramon Magsaysay and Ferdinand Marcos were Virgos. Magsaysay is considered as the most-loved president while Marcos, through Martial Law, ruled the Philippines more than any other president. Marcos was in power from 1965 to 1986.
The reason why Virgo is important to the Philippines lies on its prominence in the country’s astrological map. If we use July 4, 1946 chart, the country’s ascendant sign is Virgo. The ascendant sign tells us about the nature of people, their characteristics, their likes and dislikes, and their aspirations.
With this in mind, the significance of these other Virgo individuals can be put in proper perspective. Jose Rizal was considered as the father of the Filipino nation and rightly so, he was the spirit and indirect instigator of the revolution against Spanish rule. Philippine independence from Spain was declared on June 12, 1898, that was a few days before Rizal’s birthday. The Sun in a country’s chart is the kind of leaders we look up to. Just one year after his death, the Filipinos has been honoring him on the date of this death and martyrdom. According to the computations of Ret. Col. Romy and Mrs. Solina, the Philippines’ ascendant sign based on this date is Sagittarius. That is the reason why it was Bonifacio, through the Kataas-taasang Kagalang-galangang Katipunan ng mga Anak ng Bayan, who sparked the Philippine Revolution of 1896. Bonifacio’s Sun sign is fiery Sagittarius.
Now, with respect to the July 4 chart, the date of our independence from America, Virgos are more important because it is the sign of the people. Individuals with Sun in Virgo or Virgo dominant charts understand the pulse of the people and when the situation calls for it, they can lead. Such individuals are Sergio Osmena (Sun in Virgo) and Manuel L. Quezon (with Mercury in Virgo).
Even William Howard Taft, the governor-general of the Philipines during the American occupation, was born with this sign. Writer Ramon Farolan says: “He would oversee US rule in the Philippines for 13 years, four as governor-general and nine as secretary of war and, later, as the 27th president of the United States.”
But Virgo’s dominance in the history of the nation goes further than that, way further.
Mercurial Del Pilar
On August 30*, 1850, Marcelo H. Del Pilar was born in Bulakan, Bulakan. He was just 19 when he discovered his life path. While still a student at the University of Santo Tomas, he was jailed after a quarrel with a priest about the high price of baptismal fees. After that fateful event in 1869, his activities were all directed against the abuses of Spanish friars in the archipelago.
He, later on, became a lawyer but his talents like a true-blue Virgo is in writing. He founded Diarong Tagalog, the first bilingual newspaper in the country. He also worked for the establishment of schools in Bulakan. Eventually, he became one of the stalwarts in the Propaganda Movement, a group composed of young writers who banded together with the aim of fighting for reforms and the recognition of the rights of Indios in their own country. He was also one the co-founders of La Solidaridad.
It is also worthwhile mentioning that he played a role in the establishment of Masonry in the Philippines. Masonry is one of the so-called Hermetic movements, which is also associated with Mercury (Hermes).
All his activities are ruled or associated with Mercury, the planet that rules words, information, knowledge, rationalism, and his Sun Sign Virgo. What made him a symbolic leader of this phase in the Philippines’ history is because the astrological signature of colonial Philippines is Pisces, the sign associated with religion. Maria Clara is Piscean, an apt symbol of the pious life and submissive people that the Spanish colonizers nurtured. The Spaniards ruled with the “Cross and the Sword.”
By way of balancing, it is the function of Virgo, to expose the wrongdoings perpetrated by or thru its opposite sign Pisces. That is the role of Marcelo H. del Pilar in the grand scheme of things.
All of his activities are the manifestation of his Sun and Mercury in Virgo. I consider the work done by the mutable sign triumvirate (Virgo Del Pilar, Gemini Rizal, and Sagittarius Bonifacio) as necessary during the period of the country’s conception. According to historian Floro Quibuyen, the republic established by Aguinaldo was an “aborted nation.” We can thus view the July 4 independence date as a continuation of that process of birthing the Filipino nation.
If astrology can be a basis, del Pilar’s signature and importance are undeniable in the birthing of the nation. His Virgo planets say so and if that is not enough, that he died on July 4, 1896, is undeniably a meaningful coincidence.
Five years later on July 4, 1901, Taft established American civil rule in the country. On July 4, 1946, exactly 50 years after his death, his beloved country gained independence from America, the Philippines as we know it today was born.
*It is possible that he was actually born on August 29, 1850, according to Crisanto King Cortez.