Chapter 19: El Filibusterismo
suspended, as Rizal ' feared, because he
Published in Ghent (1891)
He had begun writing it in October, 1887, while
practising medicine in Calamba.
He wrote more chapters in Paris and Madrid,
and finished the manuscript in Biarritz on March
29,1891.
It took him, therefore, three years to write his
second novel.
Privations in Ghent.
 On July 5,1891, Rizal left Brussels for
Ghent, a famous university city in
Belgium.
 His reasons for moving to Ghent were
(1) the cost of painting in Ghent was
cheaper, than in Brussels and (2) to
escape from the enticingattraction of
Petite Suzanne.
 In Ghent, he met two compatriots, Jose
Alejandro (from Pampanga) and
'Edilberto Evangelista (from Manila),
both studying engineering in the world-
famed University of Ghent.
 Owing to his limited funds, Rizal lived in
a cheap boarding, house, with Jose
Alejandro as room-mate. To economize
further, they prepared their own daily
breakfast in their room.
The Printing of El Filihusterismo.
 At last, he did find a publisher -F.
MEYER-VAN LOO PRESS, No.
66.Viaanderen Street- who was willing to
print his book on instalment basis.
 Meanwhile, as the printing was going
on, he had received some money from
Basa and P200 from Rodriguez Arias for
the copies of Morga'sSucesos sold in
Manila.
 On August 6, the printing had to be
could no longer give the necessary funds
to the printer. He's on page 112 of the
book.
Ventura, Savior of the Fili.
 Rizal’s Calvary in connection with the
printing of the Noli was repeated in the
Fili’s printing.
 Valentin Ventura in Paris learned of
Rizal’s predicament and immediately
sent him the necessary funds.
The Fili Comes Off the Press.
 At last, on September 18, 1891, El
Filibusterismo came off the press. Rizal,
now a very happy man, immediately
sent on this date two printed copies to
Hong Kong one for Basa and the other
for Sixto Lopez.
 To his friend in Paris, Valentin Ventura,
who generously loaned him the funds
needed to finish the printing of the
novel, Rizal gratefully donated the
original manuscript and an autographed
printed copy.
 The members of the Filipino colony of
Barcelona published a tribute in La
Publicidad, a Barcelona newspaper,
eulogizing the novel’s original style
which “is comparable only to the
sublime Alexander Dumas” and may well
be offered as “a model and a precious
jewel in the now decadent literature of
Spain.”
 The liberal Madrid newspaper, El Nuevo
Regimen, serialized the novel in its
issues of October, 1891.
 The book immediately became rare, and
the few available Ghent copies were
 sold at very high prices, reaching as high
as 400 pesetas per copy.
Dedicated to Gom-Bur-Za.
Synopsis of El Filibusterismo.
 He dedicated El Filibusterismo to
Fathers Gomez, Burgos, and Zamora. His
dedication reads as follows:
“To the memory of the priests, Don
Mariano Gomez (85 years old), Don Jose
Burgos (30 years old), and Don Jacinto
Zamora (35 years old). Executed in
Bagumbayan Field on the 28th of February,
1872.”
 To straighten historical records,
however, we must rectify Rizal‘s
historical inaccuracies in his dedicatory
note. First of all, the martyrdom of
Gomez, Burgos, and Zamora occurred
on February 17, 1872 -- not on the 28th.
Secondly, Father Gomez was 73 years
old not 85, Father Burgos was 35 years
old -- not 30, and Father Zamora was 37
years old -- not 35.
The Manuscript and the Book.
 The original manuscript of El
Filibusterismo in Rizal’s own handwriting
is now preserved in the Filipiana Division
of the Bureau of Public Libraries, Manila.
It had been acquired by the Philippine
Government from Valentin Ventura for
P10,000. It consists of 279 pages of long
sheets of paper.
 Two features in the manuscript do not
appear in the printed book, namely: the
FOREWORD and the WARNING.
Inscription on Title Page.
 The title page of El Filibusterismo
contains an inscription written by
FerdnandBlumentritt.
 This novel is a sequel to the Noli. It, has
little humor, less idealism, and less
romance than the Noli Me Tangere. It is
more revolutionary, more tragic than
the first novel.
 The hero' of El Filibusterismo is a rich
jeweler named Simoun. He was
Crisostomo from Noli. He is a powerful
figure not only because he is a rich
jeweler, but also because he is a good
friend and adviser of the governor
general. His two magnificent obsessions
are (1) to rescue Maria Clara from the
nunnery of Santa Clara and (2) to
foment a revolution against the hated
Spanish masters.
 The story of El Filibusterismo begins on
board the clumsy, roundish shaped
steamer Tabo. Among the passengers
are:
 Simoun - the rich jeweler
 DoflaVietorina - the ridiculously pro-
Spanish native woman who is going
to Laguna in search of her
henpecked husband, Tiburcio de
Espadar‘na, who has deserted her
 Paulita Gomez - beautiful niece of
DoflaVietorina
 Ben-Zayb (anagram of Ibaflez) - a
Spanish journalist who writes silly
articles about the Filipinos
 Padre Sibyla - Vice-Rector of the
University of Santo Tomas
 Padre Camorra - the parish priest of
the town of Tiani
  Don Custodio - a pro-Spanish Filipino
holding a high position in the
government
 Padre Salvi - thin Franciscan friar
and former cura of San Diego
 Padre Irene - a kind friar who was a
,friend of the Filipino students
 Padre Florentino - a retired scholarly
and patriotic Filipino priest
 Isagani - a poet-nephew of Padre
Florentino and a lover of Paulita;
 Basilio - son of Sisa and promising
medical student, whose medical
education is financed by his patron,
Capitan Tiago.
 Simoun, because of his great influence
in Malacañiang, he was called the
“Brown Cardinal” or the “Black
Eminence”.
 He smuggles arms into the country with
the help of a rich Chinese merchant,
Quiroga, who wants very much to be
Chinese consul of Manila.
On the occasion of the wedding of Paulita
Gomez and Juanito Pelaez, he gives as wedding
gift to them a beautiful lamp. Only he and his
confidential associate, Basilio (Sisa’s son who
joined his revolutionary cause), know that when
the wick of his lamp bums lower the
nitroglycerine, hidden in its secret compartment,
will explode, destroying the house where the
wedding feast is going to be held and killing all
the guests, including the governor general, the
friars, and the government officials.
Simultaneously, all the government buildings in
Manila will be blown by Simoun’s followers.
As the wedding feast begins, the poet
lsagani, who has been rejected by Paulita
because of his liberal ideas, is standing outside
the house, watching sorrowfully the merriment
inside. Basilio, his friend, warns him to go away
because the lighted lamp will soon explode.
Upon hearing the horrible secret of the lamp,
Isagani realizes that his beloved Paulita was in
grave danger. To save her life, he rushes into the
house, seizes the lighted lamp, and hurls it into
the river, where it explodes.
The revolutionary plot was thus discovered.
Simoun was cornered by the soldiers, but he
escaped. Mortally wounded, and carrying his
treasure chest, he sought refuge in the home of
Padre Florentino by the sea.
The Spanish authorities, however, learns of
his presence in the house of Padre Florentino.
Lieutenant Perez of the Guardia Civil informs the
priest by letter that he would come at eight
o’clock that night to arrest Sim'oun.
Simoun eluded arrest by taking poison. As he
is dying, he confesses to Padre Florentino,
revealing his true identity, his dastardly plan to
use his wealth to avenge himself, and his sinister
aim to destroy his friends and enemies.
Other characters in El Filibusterismo.
 Cabesang Tales - who is
dispossessed of his land in Tiani by
the friars like that of Rizal’s father.
In desperation, he becomes a bandit
Chieftain named Matanglawin.
 Juli - sweetheart of Basilio (Sisa’s
son), kills herself rather than be
dishonored by Padre Camorra.
 Macaraig - a rich student and leader
of the Filipino students in their
movement to have an academy
where they could learn Spanish.
 Padre Millon - who teaches physics
in the University of Santo Tomas
without scientific experiments.
 Placido Penitente - from Batangas,
becomes discontented with the
poor method of instruction in the
university.
  Senior Pasta - the old Filipino lawyer,
who refuses to help the Filipino
students in their petition to the
government for educational
reforms.
 TandangSelo - grandfather of Juli
and Cabesang Tales’ father
 Mr. American impressario - who
owned the sideshow at the feria
(fair) of Quiapo exhibiting an
Egyptian mummy
 Sandoval - a Spanish student who
supports the cause of the Filipino
students to propagate the teaching
of Spanish
 Pecson - one of the Filipino students
who agitates for the teaching of
Spanish
 Cabesana Andang - the mother of
PlacidoPenitente
 Pepay - the pretty dancer and
mistress of Don Custodio
 Padre Fernandez - a good Dominican
friar and friend of Isagani
 Don Timoteo - the father of Juanito
Pelaez
 Tano - the son of Cabesang Tales
and brother of Juli
 Chichay - the Silversmith who made
the bridal earrings for Paulita
Gomez.
 Padre Florentino was Father Leoncio
Lopez, Rizal’s friend and priest of
Calamba. Isagani, the poet was Vicente
Ilustre, Batangueno friend of Rizal in
Madrid and Paulita Gomez, the girl who
loved lsagani but married Juanito Pelaez,
was Leonor Rivera.
“Noli” and “Fili” Compared.
 The Noli is a romantic novel; it is a “work
of the heart” --- a “book of feeling”; it
has freshness, color, humor, lightness,
and wit.
 The Fili is a political novel; it is a “work
of the head” --- a “book of the thought”;
it contains bitterness, hatred, pain,
violence, and sorrow.
 The original intention of Rizal was to
make the Fili longer than the Noli. As
printed, however, it is shorter than the
Noli. It contains 38 chapters as against
the Noli’ s 64.
 Rizal himself considered the Noli as
superior to the Fili as a novel, thereby
agreeing with M.H. del Pilar who had
the same opinion.
 Retana, Rizal’s first Spanish biographer,
also believes that the Noli is superior to
the Fili.
 However, others --- including
Blumentritt, Graciano Lopez Jaena, and
Dr. Rafael Palma are of the opinion that
the Fili is superior to the Noli.
Rizal’s Unfinished Third Novel.
 On September 22, 1891, four days after
the Fili came off the press, he wrote to
Blumentritt: “I am thinking of writing a
third novel, a novel in the modem sense
of the word, but this time politics will
not find much space ,in it, but ethics will
play the principal role…”
 On October 18, 1891, Rizal boarded the
steamer Melbourne in Marseilles bound
for Hong Kong. During the voyage he
began writing the third novel in Tagalog
which he intended for Tagalog readers.
In Hong Kong he continued it, but for
some reason or another he did not
finish it.
 The unfinished third novel has no title. It
consists of 44 pages (33 cm. x 21 cm.) in
Rizal‘s handwriting. Still in manuscript
form, it is preserved in the National
Library Manila.
  The hero of the novel was Kamandagan,  Capitan Ramon - the father of
a descendant of Lakan-Dula, last king of Cristobal
Tondo. He plotted to regain the lost  A Dominican friar
freedom of his fathers. One day he  A Franciscan friar
saved his two beautiful granddaughters,  A Spanish lieutenant of the
Maligaya and Sinagtala, from the lustful Guardia Civil.
Spaniards the cura and the  The beginnings of another novel are
encomendero of Bay, Laguna. contained in two notebooks --- the first
notebook contains 31 written pages, and
Rizal’s Other Unfinished Novels.
the second 12 written pages. This
 One of them is entitled Makamisa, a unfinished novel is written in Spanish,
novel in Tagalog. It is written in a light and the style is ironic.
sarcastic style and is incomplete for only
two chapters are finished. The
manuscript consists of 20 pages.
 Another novel which Rizal started to
write was entitled Dapitan. It is
unfinished, written in ironic Spanish. He
wrote it during his exile in Dapitan to
depict the town life and customs. The
manuscript consists of 8 pages.
 A novel in Spanish about the life in Pili, a
town in Laguna, is also unfinished. The Lyka Rivera
manuscript consists of 147 pages,
Louisse Lane Herrera
without title. Among the characters are
the following: 2BSA - 2
 Padre Agaton - a Spanish friar
 Capitan Panchong and Capitana
Barang
 Cecilia - their pretty daughter
 Isagani - lover of Cecilia
 Capitan Crispin - political rival of
Panchong
 Dr. Lopez - a free thinker
 Another unfinished novel of Rizal, also
without title, is about Cristobal, a
youthful Filipino student who has
returned from Europe. The manuscript
consists of 34 pages. Among the
characters are:
 Cristobal - who has studied for
12 years in Europe
 Amelia - his sweetheart