University of the Philippines - Diliman

Frailocracy in the Philippines

as depicted in
Rizal’s Noli Me Tangere

Daysheelyn Brillo
Lindsay Carandang
Joseph Chu
Alvin Chua
Jayvee Pascual
Nicole San Juan
Steffanie Tamayo

Summer Semester of 2011

 INTRODUCTION

Frailocacy in the Philippines as depicted in Rizal’s Noli me Tangere

Jose Rizal's Noli Me Tangere (alternative English title: The Social Cancer) is a work of

fiction based on real life events. Inspired by Harriet Beecher Stowe's Uncle Tom's Cabin, Rizal wrote

the Noli to portray the state of affairs in the Philippines during his time. He likened the Philippine

condition to a kind of “cancer so malignant that the least touch inflames it and causes it agonizing

pains (Rizal dedication).”

The Noli revolves around Juan Crisostomo Ibarra, a Spanish mestizo who recently completed

his studies in Europe. Upon his homecoming, he learns of the unjust circumstances surrounding the

death of his father, Don Rafael. Having been advised against avenging his father’s memory, he

carries out his father’s dream of putting up a school instead, believing that education is vital to the

country’s progress. In doing so, he incurs the ire of the friars, including Father Damaso Vardolagas

and Father Bernardo Salvi, the past and present parish priests of Ibarra’s hometown, San Diego. The

former is later revealed to be the biological father of Ibarra’s fiancé, Maria Clara.

Ibarra is eventually implicated in an uprising contrived by Father Salvi, bringing the former’s

downfall. He is arrested by the constabulary but narrowly escapes through the help of a friend, Elias.

The guardia civil, soon learning of his absence in prison, pursues him and Elias. The latter is

eventually killed while the former survives to come back as Simoun in the Noli’s sequel, El

Filibusterismo.

Being active in the campaign for reforms, Rizal was of the belief that to effectively ask for

change, he had to expose the true Philippine conditions to the Spanish authorities (Zaide 88). As he

wrote in the novel's dedication, he wanted to do “what was done in the ages past with the sick, who

were exposed on the steps of the temple so that the worshippers, having invoked the god, should

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 INTRODUCTION

propose a remedy.” In doing so, he had to tackle “things about which none of us have spoken; until

now they are so sensitive that they cannot be touched by any person (qtd. in Arcilla, 59).”

To make his portrayal as accurate as possible, Rizal drew from his own experiences and

observations. The characters were based on persons who actually existed during his time; for

example, the hero of the novel, Juan Crisostomo Ibarra, represents Rizal himself. He also

immortalizes his brother Paciano as Pilosopo Tasio.

The Noli is a hallmark work because it awakened the nationalism of the Filipinos by showing

that everyone was suffering from the same evils brought about by an unjust colonial power. These

evils include, among other things, the frailocracy or the “government by friars” (Zaide xxviiii).

Under this system, the friars used the name of the Church and the tenets of the Catholic religion for

personal gain, giving them more power than the government.

Being the main oppressors of his time, Rizal wanted to expose the corrupt practices of the

friars. In doing so, he was forced to attack the Church to get to the evil friars hiding behind it. As he

wrote in his letter to Dr. Ferdinand Blumentritt from Paris on January 20, 1890:

“I want to hit the friars, but only friars who utilized religion not only as a

shield, but also as a weapon, castle, fortress, armor, etc.; I was forced to

attack their false and superstitious religion in order to fight the enemy who

hid himself behind it (qtd. in Zaide, 221).”

Mainly because of its attacks on the religious orders, the Noli was declared a subversive work by

those who comprised the Permanent Censorship Commission (who were, incidentally, friars). Rizal

was then eventually put to death on December 30, 1896 for, among other things, writing “books

dedicated to fomenting and propagating ideas of rebellion (Zaide, 256).” He died a martyr at a young

age of 35 years.

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 DISCUSSION

Frailocracy in the Philippines as reflected in the Noli Me Tangere

As mentioned in the introduction, Rizal wanted to expose the system of frailocracy in the

Philippines in order to ask for reforms. With this goal in mind, he used religion as one of the central

themes in the Noli. Religion played a central role in the lives of the characters and the friars were the

driving force responsible for the conflicts depicted in the novel.

1. The System of Frailocracy

The first few chapters of the Noli serve to acquaint the reader with the extensive power of the

religious orders in the Philippines. In a conversation among two priests, two laymen, and an officer

during Capitan Tiago’s party, Father Damaso, a Franciscan, exclaims:

“…I say that when a priest throws the corpse of a heretic out of the parish

cemetery, no one, not the King himself has the right to meddle, and even less

to impose penalties (Rizal, 8).”

Such a statement only goes to show the friar’s hubris in announcing to an audience that even the

King has no power to overrule his judgment. During the dinner that followed the said conversation,

Father Damaso and a Dominican, Father Sibyla, took the liberty of deciding between themselves as

to who would sit at the head of the table (a place of honour) without considering the host, and with

only a fake deference to the highest civil official in the party which was Lt. Guevara. As described by

Rizal in chapter 3,

“The highest civil official in the Philippines was, in the opinion of the priests,

much inferior to a convent cook. The sword must yield to the toga, Cicero had

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 DISCUSSION

told the Roman senate, and the friars in the Philippines thought a cassock

was as good as a toga. (Rizal, 18)”

To ensure that the reader completely understands the power of the friar, Rizal dedicates a whole

chapter (chapter 11) in describing the bosses of the town of San Diego where majority of the novel’s

events takes place. According to him, the two great powers in the town were the parish priest, Father

Salvi, and the Commander of the local detachment of Constabulary, the lieutenant. The mayor of the

town was a mere lapdog of the church and the guardia civil. There were frequent clashes between the

two great powers (albeit behind one another’s backs), with the priest and the lieutenant playing tricks

in order to secretly sabotage the other.

The friars did not only control the religious aspect of the community; they had a say in

everything. The system of education was under the parish priest’s control by decreeing what should

and shouldn’t be studied. As the schoolmaster of San Diego laments, his efforts to improve the

educational system has been in vain because the parish priest is against it. Teaching geography and

history was deemed unnecessary by Father Salvi because:

“…first of all I should take care of religion, and that, before teaching such

things as geography and history, I should make sure by examinations whether

or not my pupils knew by heart the 15 Mysteries of the Rosary… (Rizal, 93-

94).”

Father Salvi also has the final say in matters such as the town fiesta, overriding the power of the town

council headed by the Mayor. As depicted in chapter 20, the plans and preparations of the council to

throw a reasonable and less ostentatious fiesta was put to waste by a single sentence uttered by the

Mayor:

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 DISCUSSION

“’The parish priest wants it.’ the Mayor repeated. ‘I have promised him that

his wishes will be followed (Rizal, 103).”

Father Salvi also has the members of the guardia civil under his disposal. As an example, the capture

of Sisa was carried out without the lieutenant’s knowledge; the latter was only informed of the arrest

hours after it occurred.

Despite their vow of servitude, the friars paraded themselves as if they are – and deserve to

be – put on a pedestal. As eloquently stated by Father Damaso in a sermon:

“Listen to what the Holy Councils say. When a native meets a priest on the

street, he shall bend his head and offer his neck so that the Father may lean

on it; if the priest and the native are both on horseback, then he native shall

stop and shall take of his hat reverently; and finally if the native is on

horseback and the priest on foot, the native shall get off his horse and will not

remount until the priest tells him to be off, or has gone out of sight. That is

what the Holy Councils say, and whoever does not obey shall be

excommunicated (Rizal, 182).”

2. The Friars as Stewards of Injustice and Corruption

The friars were the main oppressors during Rizal’s time. They used their religious duties as a

pretext for carrying out their criminal practices. It is implied that under the excuse of confession,

Father Damaso was able to rape Doña Pia Alba, conceiving Maria Clara in the process (Rizal 364).

In carrying out his “priestly duties,” Father Salvi is implied to regularly rape Maria Clara in the

convent of Saint Clare after the latter opted to become a nun when she found out about Ibarra’s

“death” (Rizal, epilogue).

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 DISCUSSION

They also used their holy office to subjugate the people and the government. For one, they

could intimidate the weak-hearted into submission by using the threat of excommunication; this, the

friar can do by simply calling that person a heretic. Actions of heresy range from not paying enough

respects to the priest to physically hurting one of their fellow brethren. In the case of Crisostomo

Ibarra, he was excommunicated because he laid his hands on Father Damaso after the latter insulted

the memory of his father.

In addition to excommunication, the friars often took to the pulpit to personally attack their

enemies, inserting degrading comments into their homilies. During a sermon on the day of the feast

of San Diego, Father Damaso insults Crisostomo Ibarra and Don Rafael by speaking of

“…sinners who did not go to Confession, who died in prison without the

Sacrament, of accursed families, of proud and vain half-breeds, of young

know-it-alls… (Rizal, 181-182).”

Attacking their enemies was not restricted to insults uttered at the pulpit of the church however.

Friars did whatever they want because they had most of the people under their influence. Ibarra’s

engagement to Maria Clara was fiercely opposed by Father Damaso and other priests, so they used

their influence over the young lady’s father, Capitan Tiago, to prevent the marriage. Father Salvi

hated Ibarra because of Maria Clara who he also coveted. Although this is never explicitly stated, it is

implied that he was one of those who contrived to bring Ibarra to his downfall by staging an uprising,

attributed to the latter, against the Church and the constabulary. In the case of Crisostomo’s father,

Don Rafael, the friars hated him so much that they had him imprisoned based on flimsy charges.

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 DISCUSSION

3. The Sources of Power of the Church

Knowing all these you may ask, “Why was the Church so powerful then?” Indeed, who gave

them this power? Is it the government? After all, the government owes its foundation and strength to

the Church. A study of our country’s history indicates that when Spain conquered the Philippines,

they utilized the power of religion to manipulate Filipinos. Spain used the cross to put our country

under her rule and the Philippines wouldn’t be a colony if it weren’t for, among other things, the

work of the missionaries. The government relied so much on the Church, as supported by a statement

of Pilosopo Tasio in a conversation with Ibarra:

“…the Government itself sees nothing, hears nothing and decides nothing

except what the parish priest or the head of a religious Order makes it see,

hear, and decide. It is convinced that it rests on them alone; that it stands

because they support it; that it lives because they allow it to live; and that the

day they are gone, it will fall like a discarded puppet (Rizal, 144).”

The very nature of the government also contributed to the growth of power of the religious orders.

The instability of the administration in Spain led to frequent changes in the colonial government;

thus, the power of the friars was consolidated because they were the only thing constant.

But then, it is not the government alone who bestowed power on the Church. The friars came

to be what they were because the people gave them power by following their every order. The grave-

digger who transferred Don Rafael’s decaying corpse from the town cemetery did so because “the

big friar told me to do it (Rizal, 56).” The people also gave the Church their money; for the promise

of eternal life and salvation, they spent their savings on indulgences, masses, candles, and other

religious tokens. In reality, these didn’t cleanse the soul; its sole purpose was that of enriching the

friars. Aside from these, the religious orders had another source of income. They owned vast

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 DISCUSSION

stretches of agricultural lands that they made the natives pay for in exchange for a viable livelihood,

which was farming. Amassing so much wealth only served to strengthen the economic prestige of the

friars upon which so much of their power rested. To attest to this, a priest exclaims to Father Sibyla:

“…And when we have ceased to be rich, we shall likewise cease to move

conscience (Rizal, 46).”

4. Religion as a Weapon and Shield

Why were the friars so successful in manipulating the people? One answer is that the Church

gave the Filipinos something that they needed and wanted. In the book Why We Believe What We

Believe written by Dr. Andrew Newberg, M.D., humans subscribe to beliefs because it serves a

variety of purposes that ultimately help them to flourish and survive.

Beliefs are important because:

“They help us to organize the world in meaningful ways. They give us our

sense of ourselves. They allow us to accomplish our goals. They help us to

socialize with others (Newberg, 15).”

In addition:

“…spiritual practice may…provide better means of apprehending reality and

truth more accurately” (Newberg, 42).

The Catholic faith is not just something the Filipinos “needed,” it was also something that they

wanted. Studies have shown that humans tend to believe what they want to believe, whether it came

to health, self-image issues, and even religion (Newberg, 73).

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 DISCUSSION

The Filipinos depended on their Catholic faith for everything. They depended on the saints

for guidance, good luck, and protection. The friars exploited this dependence by telling the natives

that the proper veneration of saints involves dressing up their statues lavishly and paying for masses

in their honour; hence, one of the main sources of income for the Church. This practice is depicted in

chapter 30, wherein the San Diego town fiesta is marked by an ostentatious parade of religious

statues. People also named their schools and other establishments after saints since they submitted

the success of their endeavours to the hands of these heavenly people. Another example of this

submission is the pilgrimage of Doña Pia Alba, Maria Clara’s mother, to Obando, where she danced

under the heat of the noonday sun in order to ask for a child.

The religious orders were also successful in manipulating the Filipino because of the latter’s

innate characteristics. Filipinos are naïve and naturally superstitious, and this trait was put to good

use by the friars. Back then, our ancestors were made to believe that lighting a candle serves to

protect a traveller from harm. Indulgences were also said to save oneself from the agony of

purgatory; if one person garnered enough indulgences, (s)he could go straight to heaven despite

committing a number of sins.

The friars also capitalized on conscience. The people were submissive because the threat of

eternal damnation was too risky to question. The friars, using the tenets of the Catholic faith as their

shield, threatened the masses by claiming that those who did not follow the whim of the priests will

eventually suffer in hell:

“…Ah, the Day of Judgment is coming soon, the world is coming to an end,

many saints have foretold it, fire and stone and ashes will rain down to

punish your pride (Rizal, 182).”

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 DISCUSSION

Misfortunes were also often attributed to the negligence of catholic duties. In chapter 23,

when the crocodile attacked during their fishing expedition, the elderly concluded that it was due to

the fact that they did not attend the mass. The same conclusion was reached by the townsfolk in

chapter 33, when they said that the jaundiced man died because he did not hear mass while Ibarra

attended the one held that morning. The Filipino, in order to avoid such unwanted occurrences, did

his religious duties faithfully. These duties included going to mass, paying for indulgences and

tributes, going to confession, and submitting to the friar’s will.

5. The Many Roles of Religion

Religion and the idea of God is shown to elicit different reactions from the characters of the

novel. In some, religion awakens a better sense of living, as exemplified by Don Rafael. Although

branded a heretic by his enemies, his belief in God served as his main drive to act according to his

principles. He helped the homeless and the poor while he had his freedom, and even though it

brought him his downfall, he helped rescue a child from the anger of an ignorant, hot-tempered tax

collector.

In the case of Capitan Pablo, commander of the revolutionaries, God only brings about

despair:

“‘It was I [Capitan Pablo, the commander],’ he cried with an oath, ‘who sent

my sons to their death. If I had allowed them to kill the guilty, if I had

believed less in the justice of God and men, I would now have my sons with

me; we would be fugitives, true , but they would now be at my side, they

would not have died in torture’ (Rizal, 263).”

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 DISCUSSION

Capitan Pablo is afflicted with sorrows brought about by his fear of God; he believes that his trust in

God has been ill rewarded because of the loss of his sons. Religion thus elicits feelings of anger and

resentment from those who have suffered the most.

Conversely, the novel acknowledges the role of a Supreme Being in bringing freedom to the

Philippines by way of national unity. As exclaimed by Elias in Chapter 51:

“Do you not see how everything awakens? Our people slept for centuries, but

one day the lightning struck, and, even as it killed Burgos, Gomez, and

Zamora, it called our nation to life. Since then new aspirations work on our

minds and these aspirations, now scattered, will one day unite under the

guidance of God. God has not failed other peoples; He will not fail ours, their

cause is the cause of freedom. (Rizal, 362)”

Here, it is shown that Elias is enlightened by his faith in God, aiding him in his positive judgment

towards the future of the nation.

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 CONCLUSION

One of the evils brought about by the Spanish colonization of the Philippines was the

frailocracy, or the government by friars. In this system, members of the religious orders meddled in

nearly all aspects of life, from supervising the spiritual state of the people to deciding how the town

fiesta should be celebrated.

In Noli Me Tangere, the friars are held with high reverie in society. They are considered as

guests of honor in gatherings and their advice is always sought by the other characters before making

major decisions. Sometimes, it is is not mere advice but their permission is requested before plans are

carried out. More than once, their opinions have been considered superior to Spanish government

officials and they had control over which town projects and activities will be pushed through with

and which will not. People believed in them as if God speaks through them and their statements came

directly from the Holy Father himself. They are seldom questioned, and those who do face

unpleasant circumstances by being thought of as going against the teachings of the Church and the

Word of God. The friars are esteemed members of society; they know it and demand to be treated so.

The friars were the main oppressors during Rizal’s time. They used their religious duties and

the tenets of the Catholic faith in order to take advantage of the people. Their power was mainly

derived from their economic status, although the government’s dependence on them and the people’s

willingness to submit to them are important factors as well. They took advantage of the privileges

given to them and used the indio's naїvete to get what they want and to enrich themselves. As

exposed in Noli, friars rape women and indulge in sinful lives but get away with it because they are

seen as Men of God, and those who know about these schemes do not speak of it for they fear the

power held by these priests. They use the name of the Church and the unwavering faith of the

Filipinos to hide their not so holy way of life and blind the people from hidden agendas implied in

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 CONCLUSION

every word they utter. The Filipinos do not question anything for they see God in these men and

submit themselves willfully to their control.

Religion is an important theme in the Noli. The religious practices of the day and the actions

of the friars are meticulously portrayed through Rizal’s power of description. It played a central role

in the lives of the characters and the practice of the Catholic faith elicited different responses from

them. While religion did something good for some of the characters, it inspired feelings of anger and

resentment in others.

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 BIBLIOGRAPHY

Arcilla, Jose. Understanding the Noli: Its Historical context and Literary Influences. Quezon
City: Phoenix Press, 1988. Print.

Rizal, Jose. Noli Me Tangere. Trans. Leon Ma. Guerrero. Manila: Guerrero Publishing, Inc.,
2004. Print.

Newberg, Andrew, and Mark Waldman. Why We Believe What We Believe. New York: Free
Press, 2006. Print.

Zaide, Gregorio, and Sonia Zaide. Jose Rizal: Life, Works, and Writings of a Genius, Writer,
Scientist, and National Hero. Quezon City: All-Nations Publishing Co., Inc., 2008.

The Purdue OWL. Purdue U Writing Lab, 2010. Web. May 9, 2011.

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