Rizal was not the only medico among the rising generation of nationalists
in the Philippines. The Propaganda Movement, the group of striving young
anticlerical Filipinos agitating against Spanish control, was saturated with
scientists, physicians, and pharmacists. Among these self-confident ilustrados
(or “enlightened ones”) was Graciano López Jaena, the “prince of Filipino
orators” and founder of La Solidaridad in Barcelona. Failing to get admitted
to the medical school at Santo Tomás, he had worked as an apprentice at
San Juan de Dios Hospital in Manila and practiced informally in Iloilo
before leaving for Spain.