Course — Histo 11: Rizal and the Emergence of the Philippine Nation

Section — FF
Instructor — Mr. Micah Perez

THE RECURRING PROBLEMS THAT FILIPINOS DO NOT TALK ABOUT

The novel shows how the oppression of the Filipinos were caused by the corruption of
the Spanish friars and the government as well as the tension between the Church and
the State.

During the Martial Law era, Benigno Aquino Jr. was considered as the one who
inspired Filipinos to fight for their democracy. He can be likened to Jose Rizal who
awakened the Filipinos through his famous book, Noli Me Tangere during the Spanish
Colonial era.
First, the wickedness of the friars can be seen in the start of the story where
Padre Damaso, the antagonist, is described to be a man who thinks his words do not
need to be corrected for it is “sacrosanct”.1 In addition, when he converses with a
foreigner, he refers to the Filipinos as “indios” and he would brag about the face that
even if he does not speak their language, they still love him.2 From this, I can conclude
the priests during Rizal’s time see themselves as someone who cannot be touched and
everyone below him has to obey what he says. I think the cause of their overflowing
power is the fact that Filipinos were greatly influenced by Christianity since most of them
were converted. It leads me to wonder if the priests had the same power or control in
Spain.
Moreover, the friars had control in almost every aspect in society. One example
shown in the book would be the education sector. The schoolmaster tried to change his
way of teaching by not using violence in order to encourage the students to learn. He
succeeds in doing so but Padre Damaso threatens him if he does not go back to the old
way and the parents of the students were even supporting what the priest wants. Thus,

1 Jose Rizal, Noli Me Tangere (Berlin, 1887), 7.

2 Ibid., 7-9.
the schoolmaster had to revert to the old method in which the students hated school
again. It should also be noted that the school did not have a place of its own as it was
under the parish house. Thus, it can be seen that the friars were the one who were
stopping people from being educated properly. This can be connected to the preface of
the book, the First Filipino, where a Spanish friar was making them ignorant by
introducing Christianity. In addition, due to the influence of the friars, they would
manipulate the Filipinos in supporting them even if their decision would hinder their
growth. Thus, it can be one of the reasons why a lot of Filipinos were illiterate or poor.
On the other hand, the corruption of the government is clearly seen when Elias
talks to Crisostomo Ibarra, the protagonist, about revolting against the system.3 He
explains to him that the government ruins the lives of good citizens so they are forced to
do evil doings such as stealing. However, Ibarra believes that this will be solved with the
current system. Furthermore, Elias wants to also revolt against the church which angers
Ibarra as he states that the priests can help them. Because of this, the former is
disappointed but concludes that Ibarra has never experience the abuses of the
government and the church. When Elias explains that the good are forced to do bad, I
think this can be related to Elias’ story when the older brother turns into a bandit and
terrorizes towns until he was caught and killed.4 Furthermore, I think that the side of
Ibarra shown in this part can represent the rich people of that time where they are
unaware of what is happening in society since their lives are comfortable.
Lastly, the tension between the church and the state contributes to the
oppression of the Filipinos. In one part, both sides use their powers to attack each
other.5 The Alferez, who represents the state, did not allow to go outside after nine
o’clock in the evening since his wife told him that she sees Padre Salvi, who represents
the church, strolling around in the night. To avenge himself, the priest orders the
sacristan to close the doors of the church. Afterwards, he preaches for so long that
when it was done, the alferez was so angry that he threw a sacristan in jail. However,
the narrator states that the two sides show kindness to each other when they meet.

3 Ibid., 430-440.
4 Ibid., 443.
5 Ibid., 80-85.
From this, I think these are one of the other ways of how both sides abuse their power.
Furthermore, I think that both sides are selfish since they are not aware that their
actions also put the lives of the citizens in danger. However, I think the reason why the
people do not know about the hatred of the church and state for each other is because
they would always be seen showing courtesy to each other.6 Furthermore, this
relationship is confusing since there are times in the book when the government abides
to the orders of the church. In the end, I think that the church has the strongest
influence among the people.
After reading the book, I can see that there are still some issues stated in the
book that is present in our society. One example would be the rivalry between the
church and state. This started when the president announced the war on drugs and a lot
of people were getting killed even if some of them are innocent. Since this solution to
drugs is seen as immoral, the church wanted to stop this war so they voiced their
opinions. However, this only made the president angry as he insults God by saying he is
stupid.7 Because of this, the people shifted sides as they supported the church and it
also shows that the priests still have more influence over them. However, aside from
powerful institutions, no one talks about these topics because the government would kill
anyone who would post things against them like the journalists. Hence, the Filipinos are
deprived of their freedom of speech even though this is also their country.
In the end, Noli Me Tangere exposes the selfishness and abuses of the
government and the church. It also showed the rivalry both sides had with each other
that contributed to the oppression of the Filipinos. Sadly, the present Philippine society
never learned from its mistakes as they still face the same issues as before.
TAN,

184789

6 Ibid., 85.
7 Kristine Phillips, ‘Duterte’s drug war killed thousands, and Filipinos still loved him. Then he
called God ‘stupid.’, The Washington Post, last modified 19, July 2018,
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/worldviews/wp/2018/07/19/dutertes-drug-war-
killed-thousands-and-filipinos-still-loved-him-then-he-called-god-
stupid/?noredirect=on&utm_term=.e16d68adba00
Bibliography:

Phillips, Kristine. “Duterte’s drug war killed thousands, and Filipinos still loved him. Then
he called God ‘stupid.” The Washington Post. July 19, 2018.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/worldviews/wp/2018/07/19/dutertes-drug-war-
killed-thousands-and-filipinos-still-loved-him-then-he-called-god-
stupid/?noredirect=on&utm_term=.e16d68adba00