The Ayala Museum in Makati is hosting 'Lolo Marcelo: The Man Behind the Hero (Reflections on the Legacy of Marcelo H. Del Pilar)', an exhibition that looks past the textbook image of the Philippine reformist to the family man behind it. The show, on view at the 2nd Floor Lobby of the museum's Diorama Experience Gallery until 18 October 2026, is curated by Pax Pineda, who at seventeen is both the youngest curator to take on such a project at the museum and the great-great-great-grandson of its subject. Marcelo H. del Pilar is remembered as the 'Father of Philippine Journalism' and the driving force behind La Solidaridad, the reformist newspaper of the Propaganda Movement. The exhibition sets the political biography alongside personal letters, historical artifacts and artworks that foreground his roles as husband and father, including the years he spent separated from his family after fleeing to Spain in 1888 to escape persecution. Pineda has said he wanted visitors to understand the human cost of del Pilar's patriotism: a man who edited, wrote for and ultimately financed the newspaper himself until he was left penniless. The project was developed with the National Historical Commission of the Philippines, and Pineda approached it as a research exercise as much as a family story, balancing personal connection with historical rigor. Museum curator Tenten Mina has noted the exhibition's timeliness during the 2026 history month's focus on diplomatic history and the diaspora. Admission to the exhibition is free, and it is open Tuesday to Sunday from 11am to 7pm. It closes on 18 October, giving Manila audiences a final fortnight to encounter a national hero presented, unusually, through the eyes of his own descendant.