 With the connivance of a crewman of a ship which made weekly trips between Manila and Hong Kong, he smuggled into the country copies of La Solidaridad and the novels of José Rizal which were banned by the Spanish colonial government.In 1893, he was elected president of the secret society and introduced some changes in its operations, particularly the formation of a women's auxiliary section.But he refused reelection the following year because of a difference with Katipunan founder Andrés Bonifacio.