by PNA
On December 19, 1839, Jose Ma. Basa, a successful merchant who donated money for the smuggling of Dr. Jose Rizal’s novels to the Philippines, was born in Binondo, Manila.
Basa, a reformist group member who was accused of participating in the 1872 revolt which led to the execution of three Filipino priests Mariano Gomez, Jose Burgos and Jacinto Zamora (Gomburza), was forced to settle in Hong Kong with his family.
Basa and the others who were accused in the 1872 revolt were given pardon under the condition that they would not return to the Philippines.
Hence, Basa's home in Hong Kong was turned into a temporary house of some of the exiled Filipinos like Jose Rizal, Marcelo H. Del Pilar and Graciano Lopez Jaena, the so-called triumvirate of Filipino propagandists.
When General Emilio Aguinaldo established a junta in Hong Kong in 1898, Basa also served in the general’s committee and was appointed as the Director of Justice.
When the Spanish-American war broke up, he and other wealthy Filipinos in exile offered money for the American government to either grant protection or to annex the Philippines.
Basa died in Hong Kong on July 10, 1907 at the age of 67 and his remains were brought back to Manila.
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