Isabelo de los Reyes y Florentino

Isabelo de los Reyes y Florentino

Isabelo de los Reyes y Florentino, also known as Don Belong, was a prominent Filipino patriot, politician, writer, journalist, and labor activist in the 19th and 20th centuries. He was the original founder and proclaimer of the Iglesia Filipina Independiente, the first-ever Filipino independent Christian Church in history in the form of a nationalist church, which was proclaimed in 1902. He was also the founder and first president of the first-ever labor union federation in the Philippines, the Unión Obrera Democrática. He is popularly known today as the "Father of Philippine Folklore", the "Father of the Philippine Labor Movement", and the "Father of Filipino Socialism".