August 3, 1902 was a significant event in the annals of Philippine religious history, and of the greater history of the country as a whole. On that day, a group of nationalists led by labor leader Isabelo de los Reyes sought to proclaim a new church as an answer to the issues of corruption, discrimination, and other abuses being committed by the Roman Catholic Church in the country, especially against Filipinos. It would be a church by Filipinos and for Filipinos, especially at a time when the ideals of the Philippine Revolution have taken a hold of the country that was struggling to find its own identity, especially in terms of faith which was dominated by Spanish frailocracy.
This new church would be known as the Iglesia Filipina Independiente (IFI) or the Philippine Independent Church, (PIC)* effectively breaking away from the Roman Catholic Church and the friars the Filipinos have long detested. To lead this new church, the founders turned to one of the leading Filipino priest activists who have long struggled to give Filipino priests more opportunities in Catholic Church. He was Fr. Gregorio Aglipay who eventually accepted the role and becoming the first Obispo Maximo of the Iglesia Filipina Independiente or Supreme Bishop of the Philippine Independent Church.