CHAPTER 9

JOSE RIZAL’S ESSAY

THE PHILIPPINES A CENTURY HENCE
And
LETTER TO THE WOMAN OF MALOLOS
By: Jefferson R. Mendez

The Philippines a Century Hence

https://www.thoughtco.com/jose-rizal-
hero-of-the-philippines-195677

http://www.gutenberg.org/files/14
839/14839-h/14839-h.htm

“In order to read the destiny of a people, it is necessary to open the book of
its past.”
-Jose Rizal, (Filipinas Dentro De cien Anos)

One of the greatest things that Dr. Jose Rizal ever wrote was his essay, ‘The
Philippines a Century Hence’. He made a lasting impression on the
Philippines, on how our country was at the time he wrote it, and how he
sees it will become in the future. Well, the future is now, and some of his
predictions actually came true.

The Philippines a Century Hence formed a series of articles which Rizal

started on September 30, 1889 up to January 1890, and in which he
revealed an historical erudition and a profound realization of what would
happen if the status quo were not changed. To scholars the conclusion of

1
 this article are highly prophetic. Rizal demonstrated in full the vicious
process used by the colonizers in subjugating the people by corrupting them
and manipulating their virtues. It supplements Rizal's great novel "Noli Me
Tangere" and its sequel "El Filibusterismo". Furthermore, he indicated the
direction that events will take in favor of the Filipinos if they would achieve
national consciousness and national unity. Rizal felt that it was time to
remind Spain that the circumstances that ushered in the French Revolution
could have a telling effect for her in the Philippines. The same with his two
novels, Rizal shares us discernments into our culture and why we must
focus on strengthening the most important backbone of the country – our
values, mindsets, and all the beliefs that had shaped our sense of national
identity.

The general mood of this essay by Dr. Jose Rizal is the picture of how it was
during those years of colonization. There was rampant poverty which he
attributed to the implementation of military policies which resulted in yearly
decrease in the population as farmlands were left to wither and the people
continued to suffer from hunger and disease. Another feature was the
deterioration and disappearance of our indigenous culture. The people
started forgetting who they are under the sun, what their cherished beliefs,
songs, poetry, religion, and other forms of their cultural heritage were.
Impoverished and retarded, they lost their sense of self-worth. Their spirits
were broken and they began to lose hope and became disgusted with
themselves. In this work as well as his novels, Rizal attributes the passivity
and submissiveness of our people to the manner of governance by the
colonizers. These, he noted, developed a “culture of silence” and lethargy.
Eventually, the people realized that such oppression by foreign colonizers
must no longer be tolerated.

http://themanilareview.com/issues/view/the-nationalist-sell-out

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 http://www.bne.es/es/Micrositios/Exposiciones/Rizal/Exposi
cion/Seccion5/Obra10.html?origen=galeria

This essay, published in La Solidaridad starts by analyzing the various

causes of the agonies suffered by the Filipino people:

1. Spain’s implementation of her military policies – because of such laws,

the Philippine population decreased dramatically. Poverty became
more rampant than ever, and farmlands were left to wither. The
family as a unit of society was neglected, and overall, every aspect of
the life of the Filipino was retarded.
2. Worsening and desertion of Filipino indigenous culture – when Spain
came with the sword and the cross, it began the gradual annihilation
of the indigenous Philippine culture. Because of this, the Filipinos
started losing confidence in their past and their heritage, became
doubtful of their present lifestyle, and eventually lost hope in the
future and the preservation of their identity.
3. Inactiveness and obedience to the colonizers – one of the most
powerful forces that influenced a culture of silence among the natives
were the Spanish friars. Because of the use of force, the Filipinos
learned to submit themselves to the will of the foreigners.

Another important content of this essay of Rizal is his definition of the

concept “historical necessity” in relation to Spain’s colonization to the
Philippines. Necessity, according to Rizal, is the most powerful divinity the
world knows, and necessity is the result of physical laws set in motion by
moral forces. As discussed by Ramon “Bomen” Guillermo in his article
entitled Moral Forces, Philosophy of History, and War in Jose Rizal,
“Necessity” (necesidad) in history is therefore the result of “physical laws”
(leyes fisicas) set in motion by “moral forces” (fuerzas morales). “Material
forces” are explicitly opposed to “moral forces” as the two major factors
within the historical process. However, since what he called the “moral
forces” are said to be transcendental and much more powerful, these
actually determine the outcome, over and above any “material forces,” of
the historical process. He then goes to assert, “It is not good to rely on
contingency, there is an imperceptible and incomprehensible logic
sometimes in the workings of History”. Historical necessity therefore
follows a certain logic, although this may be “imperceptible” and
“incomprehensible.” This is because non-empirical, invisible, and
transcendental moral forces are posited to determine the mechanism of
historical necessity.

3
The essay asserts that if Spain does not grant the reforms demanded by
those who work through legal and peaceful means, it will have to face the
prospect of armed rebellion. Rizal was certain, despite the superior material
forces arrayed on the side of the Spaniards, that the “natives” would
eventually triumph. He wrote, “the terrible lessons and hard teachings
which these struggles will give to the Filipinos will serve to improve their
moral condition and strengthen them” Through struggle, the Filipinos who
have reached the depths of “moral abasement” will raise or “improve” their
“moral condition.” And Rizal surmised that these “new men” (hombres
nuevos) will “perhaps dedicate themselves to go upon the wide road of
progress”.

Rizal's reference to America as a possible factor in the Philippines' future is

based upon the prediction of the German traveler Feodor Jagor, who about
1860 spent a number of months in the Islands and later published his
observations, supplemented by ten years of further study in European
libraries and museums, as "Travels in the Philippines". Rizal read a better
Spanish version while a student in the Ateneo Municipal de Manila, from a
copy supplied by Paciano Rizal Mercado who directed his younger brother's
political education and transferred to José the hopes which had been
devastated for himself by the execution of his beloved teacher, Father
Burgos, in the Cavite mutiny.

Conclusion

The essay “The Philippines a Century Hence” was published in the

periodical La Solidaridad in four installments from 30 September 1889 to
31 January 1890. In it Rizal proposes the most basic question, “Will the
Philippines continue to be a colony of Spain?” Pondering on this difficult
problem, he concludes that predicting events in history is much more
difficult than in nature, “If there is no eternal state in nature, how much less
can there be in the life of people, given its mobility and motion.”
Considering it necessary to “open the book of the past” in order to see into
the future, Rizal recounted the great difficulties encountered by the
Spaniards during the first centuries of their colonization of the Philippine
islands. Compared to these, he writes, the contemporary situation promises
a rosy future for the Spaniards.

4
There is, however, some questioning on whether we are truly independent.
The continuing control of our economy by an elite oligarchy is an example of
such dependency. They have expressed cynicism about the wide social and
income disparities between a small favored economic and political elite and
the rest of the population. And the failure of the family, our educational
system and political leaders to instill national discipline and love of country.
A number of analysts have pointed out some flaws in our national character
that can get into the way of achieving desired visions such as
competitiveness. These include mindsets like lack of appreciation of
importance of adhering to the rule of law and maintaining high standards of
excellence. Prevailing attitudes like “puwede na” or “bahala na” only foster
mediocrity in a global setting where attributes of precision and critical
thinking are needed.

The creeping autocracy and our inability to exercise full control over our
national sovereignty require public awareness, courage, and a strong sense
of national identity. But being a people divided and fragmented, a great
challenge to governance is being able to help citizens connect with their
communities. There are opportunities lost such as using available
communication technologies – Internet and mobile technology to connect
groups, to inform and educate, to enable all of us citizens to discover the
common ties we share. The delays we have faced in our peace talks are
indicators of our lack of resoluteness in taking risks and meeting challenges
of establishing a more peaceful and stable social order. The growing social
and income gaps are symptoms of our inability to forge a common bond
with our brothers and sisters in marginalized communities. How some of us
can possibly endure living in a most unequal community befuddles
neighbors who live in more egalitarian societies. We have failed to utilize
available communication technologies in creating innovations that would
improve dialogue and close gaps between our fellow citizens and the world
outside. Instead, they have been used to create chaos and spread fake news.
If these statements appear to be indictments of the status quo, it is because
we wish help establish a fairer, kinder society by reminding fellow citizens
that our hope for survival depends on each of us taking responsibility.

It can be argued that the whole structure of discussion in this essay would
be inarticulate if removed from these considerations, which place “moral
forces” at the center of his historical understanding. Indeed, one cannot
avoid noticing the language of philosophical “vitalism” and of
“regeneration” in Rizal’s The Philippines a century hence. However, one
should be cautious about a number of things. Firstly, that perceiving the
structure of such a “philosophy of history” in this particular essay, no matter
how important it may be, does not mean that Rizal had no other
“philosophies” or “understandings” of the historical process, whether taken
in a synchronic sense of simultaneously being subscribed to at a single point
in time, or diachronically in the sense of conceptions evolving and changing

5
through time even to the point of indicating breaks or turning points in his
intellectual development. Secondly, it is evident that the argument in “The
Philippines a Century Hence” should not be taken in isolation from its
companion essay, “The Indolence of the Filipinos” (Sobre la indolencia de
los Filipinos, 1890), and from the annotated Morga edition (Rizal, 1890). It
so happens that the concept of “moral forces” also occurs in a crucial
passage in the study on indolence (Rizal, 1890). Finally, the current
interpretation necessarily cannot exhaust the rich intellectual and literary
texture of the essay in itself. Rizal’s discussions of “historical laws,” “racial
traits,” and his frequent use of biologistic metaphors, among others,
demand a closer and much finer level of analysis than can be undertaken
here.

References

Anderson, Benedict. 2005. Under three flags: Anarchism and the anti-
colonial imagination. London: Verso.

Blanco, John D. 2011. Race as praxis in the Philippines at the turn of the
twentieth century. Southeast Asian Studies 48(3): 356–94.

Bloch, Marc. 1969. A contribution towards a comparative history of

European societies. In Land and work in medieval Europe: Selected papers
by Marc Bloch, 44–81. Berkeley: University of California Press.

De Ocampo, Esteban. 1960. Rizal as a bibliophile. Manila: UNESCO

National Commission of the Philippines.

Guillermo, Ramon. 2002. Enabling truths on the verge of pedagogy.

Philippine Studies 50:279–89.

Pascual, Ricardo. 1961/1991. Rizal’s philosophy of history. In Himalay:

Kalipunan ng mga pag-aaral kay José Rizal, ed. Patricia Melendrez-Cruz and
Apolonio Bayani Chua, 300–319. Reprint, Manila: Sentrong Pangkultura ng
Pilipinas.

Quibuyen, Floro C. 1999. Rizal, American hegemony, and Philippine

nationalism: A nation aborted. Quezon City: Ateneo de Manila University
Press.

Rizal, José. 1889–1890/1961a. Filipinas dentro de Cien Años. In Escritos

politicos e historicos por José Rizal, 136–65. Tomo VII. Manila: Comision
Nacional del Centenario de José Rizal.

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Salazar, Zeus A. 1983. A legacy of the propaganda: The tripartite view of
Philippine history. In The ethnic dimension: Papers on Philippine culture,
history and psychology, ed. Zeus A. Salazar, 107– 26. Cologne: Counselling
Center for Filipinos, Caritas Association for the City of Cologne.

San Juan, Epifanio Jr. 1971. The radical tradition in Philippine literature.
Quezon City: Manlapaz Publishing Co.

———. 1997. History and revolution: Power, knowledge, agency in Rizal’s

discourse. In Rizal in our time: Essays in interpretation, Epifanio San Juan,
59–87. Pasig: Anvil.

———. 2011. Understanding Rizal without veneration: Quarantined prophet

and carnival impresario. Online, http://bulatlat.com/news/5-19/5-19-
SANJUANrizal.htm, accessed 15 July. 2018.

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Letter to the Woman of Malolos

https://www.fma.ph/2017/11/29/today-herstory-women-
malolos/

Jose Rizal’s legacy to Filipino women is embodied in his famous essay

entitled, “Letter to the Young Women of Malolos 1,” where he addresses
1 The 20 women of Malolos are the following: Elisea Tantoco Reyes (1873-
1969), Juana Tantoco Reyes (1874-1900), Leoncia Santos Reyes (1864-
1948), Olympia San Agustin Reyes (1876-1910), Rufina T. Reyes (1869-
1909), Eugenia Mendoza Tanchangco (1871-1969), Aurea Mendoza
Tanchangco (1872-1958), Basilia Villariño Tantoco (1865-1925), Teresa
Tiongson Tantoco (1867-1942), Maria Tiongson Tantoco (1869-1912),
Anastacia Maclang Tiongson (1874-1940), Basilia Reyes Tiongson (ca 1860-
ca 1900), Paz Reyes Tiongson (ca 1862-ca 1889), Aleja Reyes Tiongson (ca

8
all kinds of women – mothers, wives, the unmarried, etc. and expresses
everything that he wishes them to keep in mind. He also mentioned so many
wonderful things about the real beauty and identity of a real Filipina. In this
section, a critical discussion of the content as well as the words of Jose Rizal
will be presented for us to critically analyzed the general content of this
important document.

In brief, the story begins with the arrival of Teodoro Sandiko (aka Teodoro
Sandico, 1860-1939, who served in the Aguinaldo government and was
elected governor of Bulacan and served as senator from 1919 to 1939) in
Malolos in 1888. He was a law school dropout and attempted to open a
grammar school in the town but was disenchanted by the friar curate of
Malolos, Felipe Garcia. On Dec. 12, 1888, Governor-General Valeriano
Weyler made a day trip to Malolos and was surprised to be presented with a
sealed letter, drafted by Sandico and signed by 20 young and prominent
women of the town (not 21, as stated in other sources). The women were
seeking permission to open and operate a night school where they could
learn Spanish, in defiance of the friar curate who insisted that a woman did
not need much of an education because her rightful place was in the home.
Two days after Graciano Lopez Jaena commented on the incident in La
Solidaridad on Feb. 15, 1889, Marcelo H. del Pilar requested Rizal to write
an encouraging letter to the young women of Malolos, resulting in the
famous “Sa mga kababayang dalaga sa Malolos.” This letter is significant
because it is one of the few that Rizal wrote in Tagalog instead of his usual
Spanish, leading the late historian Teodoro A. Agoncillo to doubt its
authorship. Agoncillo was of the opinion that the letter was written by Del
Pilar, not Rizal. Fortunately, the evidence points to Rizal as author, with Del
Pilar merely editing the letter for publication in La Solidaridad.

The school was allowed to operate in February 1889 on the following

conditions: It was to be financed by the women, classes would be held in the
mornings, and the teacher would be Guadalupe Reyes, not Sandico.
Unfortunately, the school closed after three months, but a point about
Filipino women’s rights and education had been made.

BRIEF SUMMARY

1864-ca 1900), Mercedes Reyes Tiongson (1870-1928), Agapita Reyes

Tiongson (1872-1937), Filomena Oliveros Tiongson (ca 1867-1934), Cecilia
Oliveros Tiongson (ca 1867-1934), Feliciana Oliveros Tiongson (1869-1938)
and Alberta Santos Uitangcoy (1865-1953).

9
“To the Women of Malolos” was originally written in Tagalog. Rizal penned
this writing when he was in London, in response to the request of Marcelo
H. del Pilar. Some of the noticeable points contained in this letter are as
follows:

1. The rejection of the spiritual authority of the friars – not all of the
priests in the country that time embodied the true spirit of Christ and
His Church. Most of them were corrupted by worldly desires and
used worldly methods to effect change and force discipline among the
people.
2. The defense of private judgment
3. Qualities Filipino mothers need to possess – as evidenced by this
portion of his letter, Rizal is greatly concerned of the welfare of the
Filipino children and the homes they grow up in.
4. Duties and responsibilities of Filipino mothers to their children
5. Duties and responsibilities of a wife to her husband – Filipino women
are known to be submissive, tender, and loving. Rizal states in this
portion of his letter how Filipino women ought to be as wives, in order
to preserve the identity of the race.
6. Counsel to young women on their choice of a lifetime partner

Rizal’s views on the role of women as wives and mothers are intertwined
with his views on women’s duty to country and people. His thesis is
reflected in this sentence: Huag mag antay ang bayan ng puri at ginhawa,
samantalang lugami at mangmang ang babaying magpapalaki ng anak [The
people cannot expect honor or prosperity so long as the woman who guides
the child in his first steps is slavish and ignorant]. For Rizal, the character
of motherhood defines the character of the motherland. This is the moral
Rizal sees when recounting the story of the mothers of Sparta. Rizal’s
valuation of women, as expressed in this letter, is contingent on their
relations with others and this relationship’s consequent contribution to the
welfare of country and people. While this view supports the first part of the
capability for connection, it might fail in the second part particularly as
regards treatment with dignity whose worth is equal to others. The failure is
due to the contingent nature of a woman’s value.

Rizal recognizes women’s influence on others, particularly as she performs

the role of mother, declaring kayo ang nagbubukas ng loob ng tao [you are
the first to influence the consciousness of man]. The strength of a mother’s
influence is such that Rizal recognizes her method of upbringing as the
reason behind the fawning nature of the Filipino character: Gawa ng mga
ina ang kalugamian ngayon ng ating mga kababayan [It is the mothers who
are responsible for the present servitude of our compatriots].

Rizal’s references to motherhood in his letter indicate that he viewed it as

10
involving a process of cultural transmission. Here, we can see that as
mothers, woman were  seen to be bearers not only of culture in the
anthropological sense (meaning a set of values and beliefs) but also as
cultural transmitters to children and adults as well.”

http://brooksidebaby.blogspot.com/2015/06/propagan https://morrighansmuse.com/2014/04/24/u-is-for-
da-for-ynangbayan.html urbana-and-felisa-or-how-filipinos-were-exhorted-
to-behave-in-the-19th-century/

She refers to a widely read book in the 19th century entitled Ang
Pagsusulatan Nang Dalauang Binibini na si Urbana at Feliza (The
Correspondence of Two Young Women Named Urbana and Feliza;
henceforth, Urbana at Feliza) written by the secular priest Modesto de
Castro as representative of how Filipino society during that period also
regarded women as “moral guardians” with the corresponding role of moral
educators. In his letter, however, Rizal believed the values transmitted by
mothers were those that weakened character and he sought to change this.
Rizal’s letter debated the qualitative content of moral guardianship
provided by the women of that time, who were, heavily influenced by the
teaching of the friars; instead he encouraged women to use reason for
themselves and to raise their children to make use of reason.

Women were not only responsible for the children as moral guardians.
Women also needed to exercise this role with their lovers and husbands by
requiring them to be honorable men, a point Rizal made as if he wanted to
remind the women that they had power and must learn to wield it. He also
offers the view that women as cultural transmitters can be agents of
change. Women are agents of change, because it is through them as
mothers that modern values can be introduced. The question of modern
values came into focus even during the time owing to the discussion in
Urbana at Feliza regarding appropriate behavior considering the changes
brought on by urbanization. The book stressed the value of “pakikipag

11
kapwa tao”—generally, relating with others as equals—as a matter of duty
for the ilustrados who typically occupied a privileged position in their
hometowns. The examples of fellowship, however, tended to revolve around
charitable acts instead of viewing others as equals in the sense of the
capability for affiliation. Nick Tiongson, the author of the Woman of
Malolos, however, has a different reading, especially accounting for how the
Maloleñas might have interpreted the lessons from Urbana at Feliza. The
practice of “Pakikipag kapwa tao” by the Maloleñas was based on a type of
humanism that meant putting an emphasis on tao (human or person).The
demand for education was motivated by the Maloleñas’ desire to learn the
Spanish language used to express progressive ideas that influenced their
male relatives and compatriots.

while Urbana emphasized smooth relations between people of different

stations in the social hierarchy to maintain the colonial status quo, the
Women of Malolos underscored the importance of the individual and his/her
rights, which should be protected even if it means upsetting the dominant
order of things.

RIZAL’S MESSAGE TO FILIPINO WOMEN

1. Women of Reason, Women with Responsibility

Rizal, in his letter to the women of Malolos, valued education for women so
that they and their children could engage in reasoning. He might not have
been the ultimate feminist, for he tended to emphasize not their inherent
rights and value but their instrumental contribution to national
development. He nonetheless accorded women respect and urged them to
see themselves as thinking beings, for this would reflect upon Filipino pride
and honor. In his insistence on reason, Rizal saw the pursuit of the meaning
of life as being far from blind acceptance of dogmatic interpretations that
define religiosity. Without negating faith, he preferred reflection and
discernment to uphold that which is reasonable and just. Rizal employed a
form of the social version of the moral constraint on religion when he asked
rhetorically what kind of god would insist on payment for religious rituals
and on subservience and obedience.

He was greatly impressed by the fighting spirit that the young women of
Malolos had paraded. In his letter, he expresses great joy and satisfaction
over the battle they had fought. In this portion of Rizal’s letter, it is obvious
that his ultimate desire was for women to be offered the same opportunities
as those received by men in terms of education. During those days’ young
girls were not sent to school because of the universal notion that they would
soon only be taken as wives and stay at home with the children. Rizal,

12
however, emphasizes on freedom of thought and the right to education,
which must be granted to both boys and girls alike.

2. The Responsibilities of Filipino Mothers to their Children

Rizal specifies important points in this portion of his letter to the young
women of Malolos. The central idea here, however, is that whatever a
mother shows to her children is what the children will become also. If the
mother is always kissing the hand of the friars in submission, then her
children will grow up to be sycophants and mindless fools who do nothing
but do as they are told, even if the very nature of the task would violate
their rights as individuals.

A. Qualities Mothers have to possess

Rizal enumerates the qualities Filipino mothers have to possess in order to

be a good mother and wife as well:
1. Be a noble wife.
2. Rear her children in the service of the state – here Rizal gives
reference to the women of Sparta who embody this quality
3. Set standards of behavior for men around her.

RIZAL’S ADVICE TO UNMARRIED MEN AND WOMEN

Jose Rizal points out to unmarried women that they should not be easily
taken by appearances and looks, because these can be very deceiving.
Instead, they should take heed of men’s firmness of character and lofty
ideas. Rizal further adds that there are three things that a young woman
must look for a man she intends to be her husband:
1. A noble and honored name
2. A manly heart full of love
3. A high temperament vulnerable of being contented with engendering
slaves.

Reading the Past from the Viewpoint of the Present

When Jose Rizal lauded the success of the letter of appeal for educational
opportunities sent by the young women of Malolos to the Spanish governor-
general Valeriano Weyler in 1888, he was celebrating the Maloleñas’ agency
and their process of empowerment. In his original letter, “Sa mga
kababayang dalaga sa Malolos” (“To my country women, the young women
of Malolos”) written in 1889, Rizal began by saying that he had not

13
conceived of bravery as a characteristic possessed by women of the
Philippines until he heard of this news. Rizal saw these women as katulong
[allies] in the demand for the betterment of the Filipino nation, thus
inspiring hope and fostering confidence in victory over suffering.

Immediately notable in Rizal’s letter is its connection with a political project

—namely, a deliverance from suffering (originally, mahango sa
pagkalugami), especially for women, and the betterment of the people
(originally, ikagagaling ng bayan). A second point to be noted is Rizal’s
argument that deliverance requires reflection and reasoning, which he asks
of his readers in his first paragraph to his final words in the letter. Rizal’s
letter had political value. At the time Rizal wrote the letter he was already a
recognized figure of the Propaganda Movement. His Noli me tangere was
already widely read and he was in the middle of writing El libusterismo
when Rizal sent the letter off to Malolos. It was Marcelo H. del Pilar, editor
of La Solidaridad to which Rizal contributed regularly, who requested Rizal
to write the letter. Tiongson (2004) tells of how the letter’s recipients were
eventually able to read and discuss his handwritten letter and moreover
reproduce it for others to read in the school for which the women had
petitioned. Rizal’s letter arrived about a month after the women’s appeal to
open a school was granted, subject to several conditions and only after
much lobbying involving travel between Malolos and Manila.

Rizal’s letter identified complicity as being equally responsible for the

maintenance of unjust orders (originally, di masasabi ng puno o pari na sila
lamang ang mananagot ng maling utos), implying weakness in the agency
for social change. In Rizal’s letter, there is an appeal to overcome this
weakness through the exercise of one’s own mind and will. In a recent
study, Dr. Ma. Luisa Camagay of UP, included in her discussion the shift in
focus of the women’s movement from women’s well-being to women’s
agency, in a bid for social transformation that has the potential to improve
the well- being of both women and men which is a bit similar to the
knowledge being forwarded by Rizal in His Letter.

A key message that runs through Rizal’s letter is the use of reason,
especially in relating with of cultural and religious authorities. His thesis is
that the friars and their version of religiosity have fooled people, turned
them into ignoramuses, and kept them in blind subservience. Rizal’s letter
laments how women are taught servitude and deference to the friars and
ritual practice as the full expression of kabanalan (religiousness). He
further debates the meaning and practice of religiosity without denouncing
the value of religion itself or denying the existence of God. Rather, Rizal
uses the morals found in the scriptures to encourage the use of reason and
finds an ally in the “God of truth,” particularly for enlightening the feeble
mind. When religion can place barriers to the enjoyment of other liberties.
Indeed, this dilemma was present in the 19th century when religious

14
authorities obstructed the development of the capabilities for practical
reason. Tiongson (2004) discusses how proposed improvements in
education, especially the teaching of Spanish, under the Decree of 1863
were not supported by the frailocracy—referring to the Spanish friar-
government— for fear that this would destabilize their position as
interlocutors between the Spanish government and the indio and mestizo.
The frailocracy also feared that the improvements to education bringing in
the physical and natural sciences could undermine the Catholic religion.
The demand of the women of Malolos for a night school was met with
hostility by Fray Felipe Garcia and the other parish priests of Malolos.

Applying these arguments to Rizal’s letter, it would appear that Rizal indeed
respects the belief in God and recognizes the good within it. In preserving
the capability for practical reason, Rizal calls upon scripture to remind
readers of a person’s capability for reason: Di hiling ng Dios, puno ng
karunungan, na ang taong larawan niya’y paulol at pabulag; ang hias ng
isip, na ipinalamuti sa atin, paningningin at gamitin [God, the primal source
of all wisdom, does not demand that man, created in his image and likeness,
allow himself to be deceived and hoodwinked, but wants us to use and let
shine the light of reason].In this way, Rizal subjects religious authority to a
moral constraint, at least the constraint to ensure the use of reason even in
the practice of religion. Further, Rizal in his letter threatened to turn away
from God if ritual practice, particularly of the economic kind, continued
without change, unable to accept what he saw to be an inconsistency in the
pursuit of the good: Kung ito ang Dios na sinasamba ng frayle, ay
tumatalikod ako sa ganiyang Dios [If that is the God whom the friar adores
(worships), then I turn my back upon that God]. Rizal’s letter sees a causal
relationship between women’s ignorance and the suffering of Asia, and
further said that European and American power can be attributed to their
women’s intellectual development and strong will. (Originally: Ito ang
dahilan ng pagkalugami ng Asya; ang babayi sa Asia’y mangmang at alipin.
Makapangyarihan ang Europa at America, dahil at doo’y ang babayi
maaya’t marunong, dilat ang isip at malakas ang loob.).

CONCLUSION

There is a world of difference between the Filipinas of the 19th century and
the Filipinas of the 21st century. The most striking contrast is that they now
have access to education and that more women are highly educated. A
major change on this aspect was already reflected during the American
colonial period, which, in turn, was translated into greater political
participation. There remain gaps despite this progress, however, and a fresh
reading of Rizal’s letter reminds us that many issues involving women’s
freedom persist. Current public debates involving the Catholic Church as a
political force affecting women’s lives (particularly the dispute over a

15
reproductive health law and marriage) are useful tests of the extent to
which Rizal’s arguments for the use of reason still resonate as a guide to
women as they relate to modern-day church authorities.

ANALYSIS

“To the Women of Malolos” centers around five significant points (Zaide &
Zaide, 1999):

1. Filipino mothers should teach their children love of God, country and
fellowmen.
2. Filipino mothers should be glad and honored, like Spartan mothers, to
offer their sons in defense of their country.
3. Filipino women should know how to protect their dignity and honor.
4. Filipino women should educate themselves aside from retaining their
good racial values.
5. Faith is not merely reciting prayers and wearing religious pictures. It
is living the real Christian way with good morals and manners.

The abovementioned points given by G. Zaide and daughter Z. Zaide

explains the key roles of motherhood to nationhood as mentioned by Rizal.
These five significant points are evidences of woman purposes and gender
roles during the colonial time.
In recent times, it seems that these qualities are gradually lost in the way
Filipino women conduct themselves. There are oftentimes moments where
mothers forget their roles in rearing their children because of the
superseding idea of having to earn for the family to supplement their
husband’s income. Although there is nothing negative about working hard
for the welfare of the family, there must always be balance in the way
people go through life. Failure in the home cannot be compensated for by
any amount of wealth or fame.

This desire for education by the Maloleñas was intertwined with the desire
for national liberation in much the same way that Rizal in his letter valued
women for their role in the pursuit of honor for country and people. It
ultimately became apparent to the Woman of Malolos, however, that
education would not be possible without the liberation of the country from
the friar curate and its colonizers, so that they found themselves actively
supporting the revolutionaries of the Katipunan.

The humanism among the 20 woman of Malolos can be understood as an

attempt by the women to be seen as partners in the struggle for
independence, but it falls short of a desire for dignity based on equal worth.
Rizal’s letter, for example, referred to women as katulong in the national
struggle and in the struggle for enlightenment. Katulong, which connotes
“auxiliary,” is not a signifier of equality; it is clearly a position of lower

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status. When Rizal sees a linkage between motherhood and motherland, he
is extending the woman’s familial role to a national role. Women’s
secondary role in the family and household is reflected in their secondary
role in reform and revolution. This role is reinforced when it is noted that
the Filipino women’s entry into the political arena depended upon their
kinship ties.
Women’s membership in the Katipunan was contingent on their male
relative’s membership. The structure of power was also divided, where men
held of vital power and their female family members held unofficial power.
The women of Malolos to whom Rizal’s letter was addressed were relatives
of several well-known Reformists suspected of working with Marcelo H. del
Pilar, so they were certainly exposed to political discussions among their
relatives, which began to intensify the year before their appeal was made.
Respect for women and a desire to restore women’s dignity and honor are
present in Rizal’s letter. How is this fact reconciled with women’s
contingent value? Exhortations for respect and honor are found in the
paragraph where Rizal writes of the gossip from Spanish travelers and
visitors to the Philippines regarding the Filipina’s behavior. Rizal was
writing this letter in London, where he was engaged in annotating Antonio
de Morga’s Sucesos de las Islas Filipinas. Rizal’s objective in annotating this
work was to demonstrate the existence of a vibrant culture and economy
among the Filipinos before the arrival of the Spaniards. These would help
lay an objective basis for pride in people and nation. The denigration of the
Filipina’s reputation was interpreted by Rizal as another way in which the
nation was undermined. A central issue therefore in supporting women’s
capability for affiliation is reconciling the commensurate duties and
responsibilities involved in the maintenance of relationships—both familial
and patriotic—that she may have reason to value with her self-respect so
that she too may enjoy a fully human life. This is to say that the
performance of duties for care, such as moral guardianship, expected of a
woman within the context of her family, need not become a constraint to the
development of other capabilities. Corollary to these familial and patriotic
duties and responsibilities are the loyalties attached to the various
categories of social identities that a person might have simultaneously: as
nationalist, mestizo-sangley, ilustrado, woman, Catholic, and any other. A
person finds multiple occasions requiring the use of reason for the weighing
of choices over how one might wish to express one’s need for
belongingness.

Rizal’s letter is silent on citizenship and rights for both women and men.
Even though Rizal acknowledged the intellectual activity of European
women, Rizal in his letter does not refer to the debates during the
Enlightenment on the relative capacities of women and men, which we can
describe as part of the explosion of printed works during that period.
Neither did Rizal refer to women’s claims to their own rights at a period
when Europe was witnessing the codification of rules governing household

17
formation (or marriage) into law, separating it from divine and royal
providence, thus signaling the construction of a society based on a rights-
bearing individual protected by state structures. It was during the mid-19th
century that the early French socialist feminists—Jeanne Deroine, Pauline
Roland, and Flora Tristan (who traveled to England and published The
workers’ union in 1843), among others—laid the foundations for an alliance
between the socialists and feminists during this period and going well into
the 20th century. In UK, the women’s suffrage movement began in 1866,
which turned into a mass movement also by the turn of the century. John
Stuart Mill was a prominent supporter of women’s right to vote and
published On the subjection of women in 1869.Thus, by the time Rizal
arrived in London, there was already an accumulation of experience of
women’s political activity specifically directed at equality of rights.

REFERENCES

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Charlton, K. [2004] “Women and education” in: A. Pacheco, ed., A

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Roces, M. [2001] “Re ections on gender and kinship in the Philippine
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Activity

Make a graphic organizer of your ideas about the two essays of Rizal and
compare and contrast the Philippines a century hence and Letter to the
Woman of Malolos base on continuities and/or changes in Rizal’s ideas
expressed in the two essays.

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