Luis Manuel Valentín Rodríguez-Varela y Sancena (13 February 1768–7 December 1824),Baptismal certificate of Luis Rodríguez VarelaRuth de Llobet (2019), “Luis Rodríguez Varela: literatura panfletaria criollista”, Revista de Crítica Literaria Latinoamericana, vol. 45, nr. 90, p. 123–145 also known as El Conde Filipino (literally, "The Philippine Count" in Spanish),Claudio, L. E. (2017, June 12). On using the term ‘Filipino’. Rappler. https://www.rappler.com/voices/basagan-trip-leloy-claudio-disinformation-changed-world/ was a Philippine protonationalist who flourished during the Spanish colonial era.
An insular Spaniard, Rodríguez-Varela published a series of books advocating social change in the Spanish Philippines, inspired by the Enlightenment and the French Revolution. His most important work is El parnaso filipino, published in Sampaloc, Manila in 1814.Pedro Ortiz Armengol. Letras Filipinas . Publicado por Ministerio de AA.EE., 1999
He advocated the opening of local colleges to teach subjects such as mathematics, medicine, and navigation, as well as free primary schools for the poor. Rodríguez-Varela also believed that foreign powers held too much influence over the local economy, and he accordingly worked to limit Chinese intrusion in the region by bolstering the local business associations.Putzel, James (2001). Social capital and the imagined community: democracy and nationalism in the Philippines. In Michael Liefer (Ed.), Asian Nationalism. Routledge (UK), p. 173. .
Along with José Ortega, Rodríguez-Varela was one of several people expelled from the island by Governor Juan Antonio Martínez on February 18, 1823, when they were accused of conspiring against the local Spanish government.Bourne, Edward Gaylord (1903). The Philippine Islands, 1493-1803. A.H. Clark company, p. 47.
See also Spanish Philippines Spanish East Indies Captaincy General of the Philippines Spanish Filipino
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