2 Rizal in the Context of Nineteenth-Century Philippines ‘Though the origins and development of Fipino nation: als cannot be understood simply by studying Rizal and his ‘atioalist hough, nether can it be dnderstood without giving im central attention, Bat Hike any seminal thinker’, Riza evly- ing nationalist thought most be studied within th context of hie ‘mes, The porpose of this easy isto single out some major eoo- ‘nomic, pelieal,cultral, and religious developments of the nine. teenth centary that influenced Rizal's growth as w nationalist and tenditiond the evlutien of his thonght: Without a understanding fthat millew ne can aceresly understand Rizas enduring impore tance to the Filipino people north relevance of his ideas and ideals today. One of the ironies of the cult rendered to Rizal as «national thro ie that often hit words, rather than his thoughts, have been Snvoked without any consideration of the historical context in which ‘hey were apoken oro the issues they addressed. Thus, thas been ‘Rizal in Ninetoent-Contury Context 17 possible alternately to portray the American clonal system asthe fulfilment of Rizal's appirations o picture him as an ineffectsal ‘reformist unable t bring himself te accept the national revelation ‘Cvianged hy Bonifacio, and to invoke him as patron of the ideals the Marcos New Society To sum it up in e phrase used by Renato Constantin in different context, it has oen been "ven- eration without understanding,” hence, no veneration at all Beonomie Development ‘The flowering ofthe nationalist movement in the lato nineteenth century could seareely be pousble without Une eeonomie growth wthich took place in ninetenth-centary Philipines, particularly [Mer about 1890, The growth of an export economy in those years Drought increasing prosperity to the Filipina middle and upper tlnases who were in a positon to profit by ity as wall as to the Western chiefly British and American--mershants who organized it Taleo brought inta the Philippines both the machinery nd he ensumer goods which the industrialized economies of the West cul eupply, and that Spain could not, or would not, supply. The figures for Phiipine foreign trade forthe beginning, mile, and fd ofthis peed are slniiant of what was happening? Yer Barty Imports Total Trade fin'poms) ined) in pen 1695 1,000,000 100900 2800000, Tere agsongoo 1220000310000 ses sigoo «250,000 620,000 Philippine exports inthis burgeoning economy were agricultural products, and a rapidly growing population needed increased Etnounts of ee, Thus, those who controlled large le, sugar, and stbact-growing lands in Cental Luzon, Batanga, part ofthe Bike ‘gin, Nogros, and Panay profited the most. These included not nly the Filipino hacendoros of Pampanga, Batanens, and Western ‘Vinnyas, and the friar orders owning Ue large hacendas of Bulacan, Laguna, and Cavite, but alas the Ingulins ofthe friar hasenda. By this time, many of Ue ingles were equivalently hacen {eros in their wn right, passing on from one generation tothe next the lands they rented from the fir hacienda, and farming them by means oftheir share-tonants or agama. To ihe later they stood {na werieialvelatonahip ile diferent from that which exited18 Rina in Ninetaenth-Century Context between ownerhacenderos and their enants*The prosperity which the new export economy hed brought to some may be illustrated by the cas of Rizal's Chines ancestor Domingo Lamo, When he had ome tothe Bilan hacienda in mi-cightoenth century, the average holding ofan ingilino was 2:9 hectares; after Rials father had ‘moved tothe Calan hcicnda, the Rial family in the 18908 ‘ented from the hacienda over 300 hectares* ‘But on the far hacienda, ring prosperity had alto brought ‘ition between ingulinos and haclendas as lands grow in value land rents wore raised. A combination of traditional methods and ‘noderizingefiioney led to disputes, ultimately over who should ‘Teap the larger pas ofthe fruits of the economic boom. Eventually, ‘his would lsd toa questioning ofthe fia rights ta the hacen: las. But iti a gross misnomer to speak ofthe Revolution a 2 “agrarian revolt in the modern sense. For it would nat be the ‘kasama who would challenge far ownership, but the prosperous inguin. And thir mative would be as mith political as eco romiowto weaken the fia inflenee in Philippine political Iie Poltical Developments Beenomic development, a5 it largely took place under non Span- ‘sh initiatives, had imporant politcal consequences st well Md. terniing Filipinos saw the eolonial policies of Spain a not oly nob the causes ofthe existing economie prosperity, bat increasingly as postive hindrances preventing further progres and even threaten Ing what hed already been achieved. In Spain Liberals suceeded (Conservatives at iregular intervals as one or the other proved incapable of coping withthe problems of governing the nation. The instability ofthese goveraments made it impossible to develop any onsstent policy forthe overseas colonies, Worse both partes used pines as ahandy dumping ground to reward party hangers- on with Jabs. Hence each change of government brought nother ‘whole new mab af job-seekers tothe Philippines, ready t line their Dockets with Filipino money before they would be replaced by sill thers. Thus, Flipinos were deprived of thoae few pestions they hha formerly held in the bureaucracy while the vast majrity of Spanish bureaucrats hed no interest in, or even knowledge of, dhe ountry they were supposed to be governing. Ifthe Spanish bu ‘Feaucracy ad always been charactrized by grat and earruption, ft Jest thove bureauerats of en earlier day had often remained in ‘he eountry If they too had often lined ther wn packets, they bad ia in Nineteenth-Centary Content. 19, not been completaly indifferent to the welfare of the Philippines ‘ere they were making their hme. But withthe opening ofthe ‘Suez Canal in 1869 and relatively easy passage between Spin and ‘the Philippines, most became bird of prey, staying nly lng enough to feather thelr nests Fer worse in many ways then the corruption ofthe government ‘was its inability to provide for basi need of pblie works, shoo, pence and order, and other prerequisites to even a semimodern ‘conomy. Created tard the provines ofthe bands of talieaes, the Gaardia Civil not ooly failed to achieve this end, ut became an oppressive force in the provinces, heassing farmers and using heir pation for personal profit, nx ial dapies so vividly in hi now: fs? The antiquated sytem of taxation In offect actualy penelized ‘mederization, and the taxes nevr found ther way into the rads, bridges, and olter public works needed for mgresltral progress Finally highly protective tariffs fered Filipinos ta bay ‘Spanish textiles end othr products instead Bish onea? In the fae of «sytem dat was both incepabe of preducing benefits for the colony, liberal nationalists land even conservative upper-class Pilipinas ieeasingly ne longer fond any compelling motive fer maintaining he Spanish clonal ‘regime, a it became more and more clear that reforms would net be forthcoming. Tos nationalist ke Rizal the decision to separate from Spain had been made long since, it was, as the Spanish prosecutors noted in 1896 (with substantial erretness though with Tittle respect for due legal process) « matter of when and how the Revolution should ome.” Cultural Development ‘A hey factor inthe emergence of nationalism in the late nine: teenth century was the cultral development consequent onthe ‘api spread ef education fom about 1860. It has bocome a com ‘monplace to speak ofthe role of ideas learned by the Buropeat ‘uated dlustradoe in the emergence of Use nationalist movement. But it was not just cis handful of Plipines who were important, nor was it only the Buropean intalletual atmosphere which sma. lated nationalism, In many respects, th spread af higher edueston ‘mong mide and lower-middle-lae Filipinos who could not ford {ogo abroad was more important for propagsting te liberal and progressive ideas written about from Burope by Rival er Del Pilar ‘The creation of «limited but substantial number (acne 8 perce20 Rizal in Nineteenth-Century Context perhaps) of Filipinos in all parts of the country who eould omic ate in Spanish made pessible for the fist time in history & ‘movement thet wer both regional and national in seape ‘One of the major influences on the educational developments of the nineteenth eontury was the return ofthe Jesuits. Expeled from the Philippines and the est of the Spanish empire in 1765, they finally retired in 1850 to take charge of the Mindanao. Having escaped, because of their expuls tineral decline that in the early part of the nineteenth century ‘feted the Philippine chureh and the system of education that ‘depended omit, they returned with ideas and methods new to the ‘Municipal and apenod it to Filipino students as well as the Span- Jards for whom it had been founded. By 1865 it had been tran formed into a secondary schol that offered a evel of istration beyond the offiial reqiirements and more approximated todays ‘allege han high schol. Aside from Latin and Spanish, Greek, French, and English were studied. At the same me such a ole was ‘Bven tothe ntbral sence that Rizal has the iosafoTasio say, “the Philipines owes (Uhe Jesuits] the beginnings ofthe Nataral ‘Seiense, soul sf the nineteenth eentury."™ ‘Under the direction of te Jesuits too was that ather new ed cational inetitaten, the Beeuela Normal de Maestros, It was opened {1868 to provide Spninh- speaking teachers for the projected new Drimary achol system, The Escuela Normal represented a hope of Drogres nthe minds af many Filipinos, ast as it would be opposed Ey thee for whom modern education fr Plipinos posed «danger to the continuance of Spanish rule.” Ria’ picture of the trials of the schooltaacher inthe Nol, mat perhaps typieal, was certainly ‘ot completly a carieate, Jenit sarees frequently complain aboot the opposition that the gradeatos af the Nermal School mt from ‘many parish piesa" If farther conrete prot were required, one ‘need only read the back published in 1886 by the Franciscan Fe. ‘Miguel Lucio y Bustamante. Here he denoaneed “tong) manga ‘matstrong bagong tae ngayon, na ang pangalaj, norma?” and proclaimed the danger of studying, and especially of leeraing Bpanish Fo, he declared, “ang me tagalog, ng mee indo baga, sniya, na humsihialay,o pnahihivalay a ealaba, ay ang eadslasa, ‘naguigaing mesama at pelamarang avo sa Dice at sa Heri ‘More then in the primary school, however, it was in the secon: dary schools that he ideas of natinaliam were to swale, even ltmongthote who had never gone to Barope, While stil a wnversity Risa in Nineteenth Century Context 21 student in Manila Rizal would write fn his Memariag that through his studies of literature, sienc, and philosophy, “the eyes of my Intelligence opened ale, and my heart began io cherish nobler sentiments” And more exliitly, speaking of his fifth year at the ‘Avene, through these states "my patrote sentiments grestlyde- veloped" When already in Barope, he would write to his Austrian Eid Fercinand Blumen concerning the young Fp in pain 18 ot fer Snore abl, at can bo Tt was not that the Ateneo taught principles of progress. Buti imparting wits fducation in literature, scence, and phil Driniples of homan dignity and justice and the equality effectively undermined the foundations of the Spanish ealonial ‘ope, even without the Spanish Jesults wishing to doo. If they id no draw al the conclusions to their principles, many of their Filipino students would do so. The eyes of these Filipinos had been ‘opened to « much wider perspective than their narrow Philippine ‘experince before they ever sot fot in Burope, and they no longer ‘would accept the established order. "As the chapter of Ris in BI Flbuateremo on a elass in the university or ie passing remarks in the Noll show, the Pipi rationliste were much less appreciative ofthe other education {nstittions run by the Dominiean, No dag the wright of tradi {lon hung mach heavier on these than an the newly founded Jest schools and it would only be later in the century that they would bogin ta moderne ™ Yot one has to remember that the early ‘atioalist leaders among Use Pilipino clergy, ike Fr Joue Burgos fand Fr. Maviane Sevilla, came from the Univesity of Santa Tomas Without ever having studied abroad. Moreover, such later key fg- {es ab Marcelo del Pla, Emilio Jacinto, and Apolinarie Mabini ‘buained thelr education in San Jose, Son Juan do Letran, and Santo Tomes. As exry as 1843, the Spanich officiel Juan dela ‘Matta had propored the closing of these institutions as being “nurseries. of subversive ideas Though the accustion of subversin was often rashly bestowed on Filpinos, especialy priests,122 Rizal in Nineteenth Century Content iti clear thatthe university was eommunicating something that treed up the spar of nationalism. ‘Nonetheless, « major factor in giving nationalism the frm it sctully took was the experience of Blipino students in Spain Seeing the liberties enjoyed inthe Penineua, they became all Uhe ‘more sonecious ofthe servitude which their people suffered, On the ther hand, the more perceptive sa Ube backwardness of Spain in fomparison with olher European countries, the corruption and fatity af tbe Spanish political system, and the systan's inability to promote even the welfare of Spin, much less that ofher colonies Many whe came to Europe wil in hope of reform and madernization In dhe Philippines came to realize that this ould never be achieved tinder Spanish rale and that Ue Flipngs mst lok ta themselves “Ummnaa (lipinas) sa sarling lakes,” as Rizal would say, turning his back on Europe and returning to his own country to carry of the strugule there ‘One final cultural factor involved in the ree of nationalism was the intra in the Flpine past, largely inspired by the European, pecially German, preoccupation with history and ethnology. Ia fe German universities of Une nineventh century, and to a lesser fxtent in ether Buropeen countries, modern historical method was ‘means the only, Flipine to te the importance of such hstorizal Snvestigntion for Uh erention ofa national consciousness among his ‘runtrymen * Fr. Jose Burgos had already emphasized the nood for Filipinos to look to their heritage, and it was fom him that zal hha learned that concern. To this concern Rial ined nn istorial ‘insciouaness formed by German historiography, applying madera ‘stare method tothe investigation ofthat heritage Inthe preface twhis edition of Antonio de More's Sucesvs de (as Teas Filipina, Is most important historical work, Rizal outlines the process by ‘which he hed come o sec a foundation fr his nationalism in the Tistorical past and emphasizes the importance of history to the ‘atinal tak = ‘In hi annotations to the book, Rizal socks out all the evidence of Filipino civilization before the coming of the Spaniar {ria to show how the intervening three centries have ment decline father than progress At the same time he emphasizes Filipino ‘values, contrasting them withthe Spanish andextlling the accom- Dlishmentsafhis people. IF from a scent historical point of view, Taal proves too much and veers toward the opposite distortion from that of firs who had denied all eivilization tothe pre-His- Rina in Nineteenth-Century Contest 23 panic Filipinos, he did lay histories! foundation in hie Morga and Sher essays for a national consciousness and pride in the race Which was to prove important forthe fate, Religions Developments "Tho growth of education was producing an sastrado clas, nt to ‘be completely identiid with the wealthy, as the examples of Mabini and Jacinto show. Thos lustrades were Increasingly anti, at times even antclerieal or anti-Catholic A simpliaehisaragraghy hha atributed ths hostility to th “abuses ofthe friars o to Use Influence of Spensh atileriealso Both of these factors no doubt played their part. There were indeed abuses on the part of some friars. Theres, however, tle or no evidence that theee were commited more in the later part of the than tan earier period, rather th contrary ‘mong the sastrados ie tae sought eleewhere—in fling of the politcal and the religious 0 charactereti of he Spanish Patronato Heal, most especially in the ator haf ofthe nineteenth “As Spain became less and less willing o able to promete the ‘happiness and prosperity of the Philippines, the Spanish clonal government leaned more heavily on what had always been ‘mainstay of Spanih rulethe devotion of Filipinos to their Cato. lifith'The sentiment tht animated many a Spanith afl was ‘expressed with brutal frankness by Gov. Valriane Weyler in 1891: ar fom rigs exageration bung an beta nthe Pilipines, ste upper at Un none tn pres pa may oo swine tsa can and sold bein sn and the ‘tape a meaoeof goeramen ch oo be taken atvenagy oad ‘mich jis thw can af the religious orders ™ For this reason, even the mest antclerealof Spanish governors maintained thai it was necessary to support the friars by every ‘means, Writing confidential memorial for the use of ‘in 1872, Rafael Izquierdo expressed the ey ideas af thie policy” ‘The sligoas rds hav thir ict, vie nd hr eon tut in he Pallpne hay have to Gui ich een paca int of ew reo great and So Upurant hat they oblige or resin frm whatver rnb al ‘lie ft unceab 1 today, tl unl great coir fm reserving ator24 Rizal in Nineeenth-Contury Contest ‘His sucesso, Juan Alamings,Ukewise an antilerial, could not ruficinty emphasize the importance of the friars, No ene, he fl, (ould deny thelr patriotism, “which verges on fanaticism, and they ‘make the Indio believe that enly in loving the Spaniards ean he ve his el in the next ie "That patriotism end the undeniable infloenee thatthe rar parish priest had onthe ordinary Filipino, rather tan thoee offen ret but litte documented abuses ofthe friar, explain why the friars inevitably bocame the main target of tho Filipino nationalists, and of Riral n parGeular® The same may be said eneerning the friar haciendas, For instance, although the Rizal had a land dlspate with the Dominican hcienda of Calamba, the real issue was ‘hmething bigger—to be abe to show thet the Filipino was the ‘equal of the Spaniard, even ifthe Spaniards be friars. For Filipinos {win a leweait guise perf friar order maant eventually to nullify that influence af the Fars which the Spanish government to emphasized as 4 means to control the indios™ On that point ‘isa! and hi fellow nationalists were in agroement—em a dif. ‘ent point of vew—vwith Governors Weyer, Inquerdo, and Alaminos "A Inter of Paciano Rial fo his brother Jase in Burope, writen at the height ofthe Clam haciendadispta, is sgnfcant in this ‘egerd. He wrate in reference to a rumor he had hen that Arch tor bishop Nesaleda, then in Europe, had proposed fir suppor ‘forms tothe Flpine nationalists there, nthe person of Del Fl {in order to end the entfier campaign of La Solidaridad. 1h Hada of Caer et i cee Ff Bape to nonce hce Hades becesle he hts two handad ovr tote order in 18h] approximately by Ava, But They lewis ow (cane fe nef ede) tt thn onde ‘Ea sot have te sntanson whieh they sow wah ogi them In hs ‘Stuaton te toe jt an wate Sng nto mar eH of he Hess rio cles al nt ha raped he SSSR She i etna ib emgemiin ‘shave trae wil a Sure fhe oan which ou or upheld, [ropes t's input halt the unboraba eto eh he ‘Froie themes ft woud be har, wil always bee Set {toner of a mcondry onder abou be subordinated” ‘The cause tht Rizal is spoken of as upholding, and to which eemomie {nterests were tobe subordinatod, was ofcourse the opportunity for Filipinos to run User own affairs nd eventually to throw off the ‘yoke of Spain completely, ‘Rizal in Nineteonth-Century Context 25 One can see here the paradox of Philippine Catholicim atthe ‘endof the nnetzenth eontury-On the ane hand, the ordinary Filipino tho ed not gone to Manila or abroad for higher education re ‘sined in the traditional relgias pratias and lity of hie forefathers and continued to oak up to his friar parish priet a father af his people and protector against oppresive goverment ‘fica So muuch was this true that during the Revolution ane of the great sources of division was the soraw with which the ord rary Pilipino saw his fier parish priest imprisoned. and taken ‘vey. In sume cass, notably among the Guardia de Honor, this ‘even ld to valent opposition tothe Revolution n others to such 1 paradoxical situation as that ofthe Dominican parish priest of ‘Orion, Bataan, who hed taken refuge in the church tower with ‘Spanish solders when the fighting broke out, When the Spanish trovps could no longer old out, Father serange for sucender. As he himself later On seine ma fa a sgn al imoditaly el dowa ed broke fen dete ‘Sterement salamat ou Diol, Deewuatthay added i the eae Tinguge i po oa contrac apd Sire Father isanharmed? ‘eT cre. dn forthe hae to paw to the convent, aDbther ‘ontaraous shout broke foreh fom af who led he pln hay ‘pera ine two fe, shouting "Vir ang Parag Cur! Vival™™ ‘On the other hand, the Filipino iustrado educated in Europe found the Cathole practice of hiv day childish and incompatible with modern ideas, Ae Rizal pots i through the mouth of las in he ot Do you cll dn external prac fath? Oe that bins in cod and lr, ele Orth soo tals snd hr ry a v Ynys? Tl the a of eeu Che’ Aad i ot Ie to let imei be eed fort, nor am tosume the gon lena eae, Superson ext lrg before il tha a ‘ended wot to prc and to ioe te pie af the eerchandie What was more, fr the nationalists religion had come to sigity 2 means to perpetuate the status quo, to maintain Spanish power {in the Philippines. Rizal expressed his own mind in a letor to lumentrie wanted tt te ars bt ane the farsa avaye raking ue ‘fveligon not oly ar abel bat den see weapon, proecsoncal from mon, ey wma three force tate tt le and28 Rial Nineteonth-Century Context superstar a cma ha ny wa id hind he seater dnc tu mt ‘The picture of the religious environment in which nineteonth century nationalism care to maturity would be incomplete, above ‘or Rizal, without the Fipino clergy. Not only were Riel and his fellow Propagandists partly the heis of the confit between Filipino secular priests and Spanieh friars Ut hed led to the martyrdom of Fathers Borges, Gomer, and Zamora in 1872; it was ‘lo i that confit thatthe seed of nationalism, which were to fome to fll ower amang the Propagandst, had Mest been sowed. ‘Tastaa one cannot understand Boniface without knowing Rival, ‘whose thoughts he imbibed and rephrased in more popular lan fringe, so one cannot understand Rizal without knowing the in fee of Burgos on him, Rizal prolonged the incipient national ‘onssousness, of which Burgos was the most ateulae spokesman, {nto the fll lown natinalisn which led to the Revolution, He would hint at that infuence ina slightly fetonalized passage in an aly chapter ofthe Nol. In the novel Thar, jost back fom his ules in Burope, passes by Bagumbayan, where the three priests hind beon oxeceed in 1872, Though inthe novel the priest fa re ferred to as an old nan for he ake ofthe tory, Burgos, with whom equainted bath personally and through his brother ‘leary the one intended. He writes of the priest as ‘he man who had oped the eyes of hie ntalligene, nd had mae i ert the gondii the Jus og ht ely han tea, ‘et then commenplees but ceictons that fad ood ea ‘See the Ga fal athe hed ere later») prtng words i eoondeda Me ears, “Do tt forget tf woes the pte al sen oly oe af good eat can inert Je ave ted te fener ag ha ‘Youmandothe ume with your own rane incense etl, {Erp gutncouses at oe wry fet And he pes had aed wh ‘Tomer "They came ere seeing pl go you to te eansien in ‘sarah fhe earron we ack ot remember al Sat pare ao (pid The pont Had inden = sn on tae ‘What heritage had Burgos pascd onto the next generation? He transformed the century-old apute between the Spanish friars land the Flpino secular clergy from an intramural eclsiatial tontroverty Inte a clear assertion of Plipino equality with the Spaniard, into a demand Yor justice to the Pilipino” A century ‘earlier th court prelate, Archbishop Basilio Sancho de Sta. Justa, Rizal in Ninotenth-Centory Context 27 hed attempted to subject the religious orders to his own jrivtion find to that of the government whosa crestare he was, by Une tvermight creation of a Pilipino clergy whe would tale their places ‘The chief victims ofthis power play had been the Filipino clergy, ‘whose slow but steady growth had been acslerated atthe expense ‘tquality. When the Archbishop's rach program produced unwor- thy priest, whooe bevior led othe Spanish jake Bat there were ‘no more oarsmen for the Pasig river boats beeaase the archbishop Ihe ordained ther al, «permanent prejudice was ereated against the Filipino ele "The lack of friars atthe begining of the nineteenth centary led to taming over many parishes te the Bilipino priests. Bat ence the numberof friars began to increase again afar about 1825, a serie ‘of moves to deprive the Filipinos of the parishes once mare sue- ‘seeded each other forthe next Sy years ‘on of lipno priests under the swere attempting to daprove the age-old ther {by showing that they were equal inability to tho govern ‘ment hardened its position, filled with suspicion that these priests, 15 had earlier happened in America, might beome the leaders of Fine emancipation from Spain. Pelae ded inthe earthquake of 1865, sceusod axa subversive” His role in fighting for the rights cf the Plipin clergy was taken over by one of his young disciples, ‘Tose Burgos, who published an anonymous pamphlet the following Yyear, defending. the memory of Pole andealing for jasc othe Filipino clergy. Burgor's defence ofthe rights of Ove secular clergy inhis-Maniesto, however, goes beyond the scholarly arguments fom eanon law uted by Pelae tounge the rights of the Filipino Clergy tothe parishes; t Blazes forth in a passionate challenge {the whole notion of inferiority of the Flipine, whether of Spanish ood oF indigenous, tothe Buropean. Citing along list of Pilipino priests and lawyers from the past, he insists: sn oar days we do not a mre Pilipinas outtanding nthe eens, ha oot be rte to treater orto chi ata nr #0 {inks oi dia ern a ra ther tthe youth bese of the almost compe Ick ef inert or ane ‘ater f fee whet yur man wil el make ele tere nthe ince of In raf nly he doe pot se inte are agg ‘al ahcarty an iairence!™ ‘With Burgos we se the first articulation of national fesling, of ‘sonae of national identity. One cannot speak of nationalism in the23, Rina in Nineteen Century Context full snse, Inept ofthe accusations made against him, for which he was executed, there is no evidence that Bargos ever aimed at separation ofthe Philipines from Spain. Rather, is was the first ‘Sep the expression of sense of thore bor nthe Philippines being tne people wth a national identity and national rights, even under the sovereignty of Spain. From thi inital artulation of national feeling, Rizal and others would move toward whet they had eome forsee was the only way of maintaining that identity and obtaining those rights seperation frem Spain, if need ba, by means of @ revotion Ie is not any accident that we find numerous close ‘connections between the activist Filipino clergy led hy Burgos and the next generation of Filipinos who would lead the Propagenda ‘Moveent of the 1880s and 1690» Rizas rather, Pacano, tras living inthe house of Burg in 1872; and that among those {led to Guam in the fermath of Burgodsexecation woul be F¥. ‘Torbio H. del Pilar, older brother of Marcelo, and Fr. Mariano Sevilla, in whode house Marcelo del Pilar wna living as a student in 1812" The Propaganda Movement would be the heir of ‘movement ofthe Filpin clngy, and would cary the ideas of national Hlenity ariulated by Burgos to their neat step and their logical tencasion, “The Propegnndiss would aio be heirs to ancther allied move- ‘ment, but one dating frm Uta the clergy—the lberal formats Gf the 28b0e There were the "modernizers” men who desired to bring ta the Philippines econamie progress, a modern legal system ‘nd, the modem iberties™—eedam ofthe press, of assoition, of “peach, and of worship. Allo ese goels would ofcourse be part fine gals ofthe naticnalst movement, but they were not confined {to nationalists. Todeed, most of the men who appear prominently ‘nmong the liberal eformsts who emerged into the public ight in 4880-72 wore erollos, Spaniards bora in the Philppines. These {rollos had ile or no deste to see the Philipines separated fom Spain, but rather wished to soe the Metis that had been intro- ‘ced into the Peninssla ale extended to Spanish Philippines. ‘Such were men like Joaquin Pardo de Tavera, Antoni Regidor, and ther lawyers and merchants. (Burgos himself was a Spanish ‘mestine, bute had identified himset clearly with all those born inthe Philippines, whether of Spanish or Malay blood—"seaneatos 1 que sn, fipince«indigenas” ashe put tn bis Manifesto). Generally ‘antivar, theas reformits aan in Uh Fars obstacles to progressive reforms and moder liberties. Iwas with enthusiasm ‘herefne that they weleomed the new governor, Carlos Ma, de la ‘Torre who arrived in Manila in 1869, the appointee ofthe ant- Rizal in Nineteenth-Cantury Contant 29 Clerical Hberals who had made the Revolution of 1888 in Spain, ‘Wien dele Torre opened to Manila some ofthe freedom of expres. ‘on procisimed by the Revolution, and announced his intention of {ntroding reforms into Une government, thes reformist cheered him on and were joined in their demonstration by Father Burgos. The latter saw in the new Hiberal government, with is prodaimed ‘eopect fr liberty and equality, the hope of gaining recognition for ‘he justice ofthe Plipino priea cause. Both the clergy and the Florists were deceived, In spite ofthe governars professed liber lism and his cord, be was suspicious of bth groups and had put them under teret police surveillance." Before long he ceseded by anather appointee of the Movoltion, Gen. Raf Tquierdo. Even more than with Do la Torr or Lzquerdo liberal ‘eforms were forthe Peninala, not the closes. He did not even ep phe pretense of is predecenn, bu gully suppres he ‘form committees and ended even the ‘expression allowed by De la Torr. Tho fontinoed their struggle through iendly “influence in Madrid, itl realizing that thos stps were watched: ‘When finally the opertanity cee, withthe outbreak of what seas to all evidence a merely local mutiny ove leal grovanees in the garrzon of Cavite, within hours all had boon arrested. Before the month wes over Uhre priests had gone to their death by the Jparote, while their clleagues and their reformist allies were on their way to exile in Guam, despito their political influences in Madrid. I i noteworthy that ie was the ree priests who wore fxceuted nt the reformist lawyers and merchants.” Their execu tion manifested Iqierd's eanvietin that the fears were w neces tary politi! instrament for maintaining the loyalty ofthe Flip hos o Spin; therefore, by the same token, dh Pilipino priets who Imight replace dsem inthe parishes mast be eliminated. Those who ‘amored fr liberal reforms would be silened, but they were only ‘pmatng snnayance; the clergy who represented Une growing Filipino fonsciousnese of their rights as equal to any Spaniard must be rushed. With the death ofits Ieaders and the esl oftheir fellow try the movement of the Filipino priests was indeed crashed. ‘When the exiles finally retarnad to Manila, they Knew betar than to expose themselves a second time. Only with the Revelation ‘would the survivors, Fr. Pedro Dandan and Fr. Mariano Sevilla, ‘Teappear i the public ee. Father Dandan would die fighting in the ‘mountains in 1897. Father Sevilla would work to rally Filipinos to ‘eis the Americans and once more be candemned—though even. ‘aly reprioved-ta exe sm Gam, this ime by the Americana‘90 inal in Nineteenth Century Context Many ofthe ibera reforeits of 1872, on the other hand, ne longer returned to the Philippines once they were fee, but made their homes in Hong Kong\or in Europe. For them the issue had been precisely that~beral reform, rather than ilpine rights—and tmhen they eould not obtain thete in the Philipines they lived Slewhere ‘Since the Propaganda Movement was also heir tothe liberal ‘frmist tradition, the degre to which tho Propagendiss were ‘uly nationalist, ike Rizal and Del Par, or merely iberal re ‘ormists, like many f their colleagues inthe campaign of La Sl dderidad, would only be made clearence war had broken oat with ‘the Americans, and the latter were offering the reforms which had bboen sought in vain fom Spain. To the reformist the American offer would be encugh; it was whet they had relly been looking for al along, Por the nationalisis, the struggle would go on tl It Deaume hopelss Faced with a new colonial power, the clergy continued to play its role inthe ree of nationalism. The Amerinna directing the erash ing of guerrila resistance, whether civilian lke Governor Taf, or altary like Gon. J: Franklin Bellin Batangas and Gen. Jaca Smith in Samar, all singled out the Filipino priest as the most dangerous enemy and the scl ofthe Filipino resistance At the Iaight of the guercilla war in 1901 numerous pest in all pris of the country were in prison, and aot afew, expecially in the Vaayas, suffored torre and even ath fr eamplicty with the guerra ‘Taoueh tho initiative in the nationalist movement had passed frm {he Fipino priests to the young iustrados in Europe and Manila Jn the 1880, the clergy remained a powerful fore inthe Revolution and the major facto in keeping the masses loyal Main Currents of the Nationalist Movement In recent yours certain generalizations have been used concern: ‘the nationalist movement of the nineteenth century and the ‘evolution thet emerged from it Such eatchwords ab “the secular- zation movement the reform movement," “the revel ofthe masse,” snd "Use betrayal of tho ilstrados”obacure more than clarity the Character of Filipino national. The same might be sak of at. temple wo describe te Revaltion asa proletarian or lower mide ‘lass movement capured by Use bourgeois lustrado reformat, and ‘ther nach explanations that come more from Wealogical constructs {han from an examination of historia realities. These gneralan- ons may not entirely be falas. But by oversimpiying complex Rizal in Ninetenth-Century Context 91 ‘vents in @ complex sooty, they fil to give an account of the reality that was “To understand what happened in the nineteentncentury move: ‘ment culminating inthe Revolution, itis neeseary to distinguish the several different currents that went into. movement. At least five can be eonsidered—tho reformist, the liberal, the antilerical, ‘the modernizing, and the strictly nationalist. Bach individual need fot be placed ter ane of these onagores, for they eertainiy fverlaped. Almost al nationalists were Iiberale in some respec Almost all were in favor af modernization. 50 oo modt liberals were flo antilarical, or atleast antiar. Bat i ia neoasary to dats: fuish what was relly most important for individuals or groups in ‘rder to understand what they aimed atin supporting the Revol tion, an why they di or did not continue to da so when certain fends had been achieved. ai a rotably mt Five, cil a ining ent anderen Spaniard with any interest inthe county, in some senoe in the late ninetacth century; the Spanish clonal ‘regime obviously filed any lager to sts base needs and deires tthe Filipino people. As intimated in the letter of Pecan Rizal tne have quate, many of the friars themselves desired reforms. ‘They ores appear to have offered to make joint cause with th ilipinos in Spain to obtain such reforms fo all sulfered from the Inficient and coraptbureaueray, fom the antiquated and contr Aictory laws, fom the expleitation of the Philippine treasury by the ‘mother country, and from the inability of the government to main {in peace and order" Indeed, in an earlier period the harsheet condemnation of Spanish misgovernment came from the iar. It ‘vas nly when Ube cause of reform began ts take an anitiar and ‘atinalistie overtones that they opposed i "Though by ne meuns all refurmists were liberals, lberls were slmost by definition reformits a well For he safeguards of pereonal Iibergy—freedom of epeech and of the press, freedom of assorinton, freadom of religion, and especialy freedom from arbitrary arrest tnd detention and exile or imprisonment without a tial—could Gly be abained with major reform in Uh existing colonial govern- ‘ment. With the partial exception af freedom of religion those Ib fies were the aspiration of all the activist Filings who partic. Dited in the Propaganda Movement* Together withthe demand for ropreentaton inthe Spanish Cortes, thy headed the list of reforms demanded by La Solidaridad. As Rizal would write Blsmen- {ty eae liberties were an ensential component of any progress ‘worth the name? So integral wer Uh aspirations to cit Hberties{82 Rizal in Ninetanth-Century Context ‘tw the program ofthe Propagandists, that itis dificult to see how ‘anjone with any knowledge of our history and heritage coal remark, fi some id in the Mazeos years, that demacracy and evil Iberties ‘were an American impart which can now be dispensed with, Not ihe men who created Filipino nation lang before Une Americans ‘ver established themealves™ Tn the circumstances of tho timo tobe a iberal vry often meant tae antilerial ora least antiriar Soch antileicalim was not so much due to obscurantism, which certainly existed in some sectors ‘ofthe clngy, as it was to the well ostifed fear that eclesiastieal ‘ower would be used to suppress liberal progress. The influence af the friar orders in the Philipines was not rarely used for this Purpose, whether aucessfily or ney though the religious orders’ {ear of liberalism was not without basis, For church property had s0 often been confscated In urope and the personal rights of tcclesnstics so often violated in the name of the new freedom.” Whether or not they fly agreed withthe liberal, Uhe Filipino lergy were much les ikely tobe the target of iberal antipathy ‘This was true even on the pat of thse Mberals who eaed tle for ‘the bond of common nationality, since ‘owerlss to block Hberal reform, even if Unoy hed wanted to. ‘Modernisation was s desire of all Hiberal, ar it wosld be of ‘nationalists sn general. But the converse was by no means tae ‘Modernization was primarily an ecnomic goal, and many ofthese \who were deeply interestd in progressive economic measures sought ‘thom for the prot they themselves would darive, ne forthe country. Many of these man were conservative politealy. Thowgh desiring reaching economic changes in Philippine ect, jst ae Use British, American and other foreign entrepreneurs did they had no desire to ereabe anew nation When Uhe Spanish regime fell under the onslaught of the Revolution, conservative moderizes had no ‘egrets for they realized how litle hope there was of Spain ver doing away with all the archaic obstacles to economic progress, ‘When the Philippine Repablie emerged, they supported it etutiousy, intending to control it. When they saw they very likly eould net, or that an American regime promised more inthe way of immediate Dotce and order and aldmate economie growth than could the fewbom Revolutionary government, they had few qualms about feceping positions in the new edlonial regime, even while ill holding postions in the Revolutionary government. Such were men like TH. Pardo de Tavera, nephew of the eile of 1872, fend of [ian and the Lunas in Paris. Although a bitter enemy of the friars ‘and highranking antileria! Mason, he was among the frst to Rial in Ninetenth-Century Context 23 ‘accep a postion in the American government. He would be one of the first Pilipino member Une Philippine Commission, thovgh he Ind been named Secretary of Foreign Affaire inthe goverament of ‘Aguinaldo™ A similar eace was Jose Ma. Baca exile f 1872, who perhaps did more than any other individual to promote the cam paign against the friars in the 1680s nnd 1800 He was also the Iain source by which the writings of Rial, Del Pla, end others ‘tthe Propaganda Movement were smuggled into the Philipines!” ‘Together with Drotea Corts, former head of the Comite de Prop {panda in Manila whieh had supported Del Pilar and La Solidaridad for five years, Base was among the frst to petition the American fens in Hong Kong for an American protectorate over the P&il- ‘opines "The establishment of an Ameriean colonial government would tort out those whe had been agitating openly er seretly during the ‘sends before the Revolution. It would make clear who were aly ‘government gave ‘main goals wood be aebieved-—-modernsing and the sconamy, civil Hberties, and the ination of Uhogeraical contel ever Philippine society; ony the fc the frustration af the principal goal for ‘which they had struggled. During the earlier years of stracle this Tine of nationalist thought lading from Burgos to Rizal to Boni ‘io, Jacinto, and Mabini, had atractd not only thse who yearned {or an independent Philippines, bat numeraas ober whose goals were at least partially diferent, or who supported only part othe Iatienalise program. Now the real nationalists were left to them felve, It would be an exaggeration to sey that the mastes as a ‘whole stood behind the nationalist struggle, but lage numbers of Then did. The halayaon they loked for might not be the same foncept as the independencia conceived by Rizal, Bonificio, and Mabini. But the freedom they longed for wat far nearer t the rationalist iden of independence than were the goals of economic progress, polieal reform, end moderaizaion sought by many’ of the iastradoe who had supported te Propaganda Movement only to shift their Iyaltios in the hour of crisis For the goals now tchieved from the Americans hal only partially enineided with Uh lenders like zal who had seen the strozle primarily a0 a ‘ovement aimed at th sreation of @ national consciousness, the ‘making ofthe Revolution, Tian of court favored reforms in Philippine society, not only by Spaniards, but by the Filipinos themselves. He opposed the infi-St Rina in Ninstonth-Cantury Conte ‘ence of the friars on that same society, for he saw thesn as an ‘bstale to freedom and to progress. He wns devoted othe mod "ation oPhis eountry, so that, ashe pu the might take her place fmong the proud nations of Burope: But what he sought above all ‘as that his country should bo fee, fee fom tyrants from abroad ‘rat home, aenuntry where there would notbe any tyrants because Fipinos would not allow Unemaslves tobe slave, twas the growth of a fee people, proud of is past, working fort future, waited in | common set of ideala® This vision it wa which made hin Uhe ‘enter of the nationalist movement of his day and the prinelpal Inspiration of the Revolution