Del Pilar was born and brought up in Bulakan, Bulacan. He was suspended at the Universidad de Santo Tomás and imprisoned in 1869 after he and the parish priest quarreled over exorbitant baptismal fees. In the 1880s, he expanded his anti-friar movement from Malolos to Manila. He went to Spain in 1888 after an order of banishment was issued against him. Twelve months after his arrival in Barcelona, he succeeded López Jaena as editor of the "La Solidaridad" (Solidarity). Publication of the newspaper stopped in 1895 due to lack of funds. Losing hope in reforms, he grew favorable of a revolution against Spain. He was on his way home in 1896 when he contracted tuberculosis in Barcelona. He later died in a public hospital and was buried in a pauper's grave.