Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Chapter 1
Rizal acknowledges the prior work of Gregorio Sancianco and
admits that indolence does exist among the Filipinos, but it
cannot be attributed to the troubles and backwardness of the
country; rather it is the effect of the backwardness and troubles
experienced by the country. Past writings on indolence revolve
only on either denying or affirming, and never studying its causes
in depth. One must study the causes of indolence, Rizal says,
before curing it. He therefore enumerates the causes of indolence
and elaborates on the circumstances that have led to it. The hot
climate, he points out, is a reasonable predisposition for
indolence. Filipinos cannot be compared to Europeans, who live in
cold countries and who must exert much more effort at work. An
hour's work under the Philippine sun, he says, is equivalent to a
day's work in temperate regions.
Chapter 2
Rizal says that an illness will worsen if the wrong treatment is
given. The same applies to indolence. People, however, should
not lose hope in fighting indolence. Even before the Spaniards
arrived, Rizal argues, the early Filipinos were already carrying out
trade within provinces and with other neighboring countries; they
were also engaged in agriculture and mining; some natives even
spoke Spanish. All this disproves the notion that Filipinos are by
nature indolent. Rizal ends by asking what then would have
caused Filipinos to forget their past.
Chapter 3
Rizal enumerates several reasons that may have caused the
Filipinos' cultural and economic decadence. The frequent wars,
insurrections, and invasions have brought disorder to the
communities. Chaos has been widespread, and destruction
rampant. Many Filipinos have also been sent abroad to fight wars
for Spain or for expeditions. Thus, the population has decreased in
number. Due to forced labor, many men have been sent to
shipyards to construct vessels. Meanwhile, natives who have had
enough of abuse have gone to the mountains. As a result, the
farms have been neglected. The so-called indolence of Filipinos
definitely has deeply rooted causes.
Chapter 4
Filipinos, according to Rizal, are not responsible for their
misfortunes, as they are not their own masters. The Spanish
government has not encouraged labor and trade, which ceased
after the government treated the country's neighboring trade
partners with great suspicion. Trade has declined, furthermore,
because of pirate attacks and the many restrictions imposed by
the government, which gives no aid for crops and farmers. This
and the abuse suffered under encomenderos have caused many
to abandon the fields. Businesses are monopolized by many
government officials, red tape and bribery operate on a wide
scale, rampant gambling is tolerated by the government. This
situation is compounded by the Church's wrong doctrine which
holds that the rich will not go to heaven, thus engendering a
wrong attitude toward work. There has also been discrimination in
education against natives. These are some of the main reasons
that Rizal cites as causing the deterioration of values among the
Filipinos.
Chapter 5
According to Rizal, all the causes of indolence can be reduced to
two factors. The first factor is the limited training and education
Filipino natives receive. Segregated from Spaniards, Filipinos do
not receive the same opportunities that are available to the
foreigners. They are taught to be inferior. The second factor is the
lack of a national sentiment of unity among them. Because
Filipinos think they are inferior, they submit to the foreign culture
and do everything to imitate it. The solution, according to Rizal,
would be education and liberty.