Concordia College

Higher Education Department

School Year 2019-2020

Portfolio in
The Life and Works of
Dr. Jose P. Rizal

(Journal Entry and

Performance Task)

Name: Antonio G. Bertoso III

Course & Year: BSN

March 17, 2020

Mr. Darell Alejaga Lanuza
Question

2.1 Compare and contrast the characters, plot and theme of Noli Me Tangere and El
Filibusterismo.

= Noli Me Tangere and El Filibusterismo are the two marked novels of our national hero, Dr.
Jose Rizal which are similar and different in some ways. The two novels are similar primarily in
their author, Rizal. Another, in a way that they both talk about how Spaniards abused the
Filipinos, the abuse of the church of their power and the discrimination on Filipinos. Both Noli
and El Fili shows strong anti-Clerical and even anti-Catholic color. They convey one story
because the latter is published in sequel or continuation. However they also have many
differences

Noli Me Tangere (Touch Me Not) is not merely an attack on the Spanish colonial regime. It is
charter nationalism. It calls on the Filipino to recover his self-confidence, to appreciate his own
worth, to return to the heritage of his ancestors, to assert himself as the equal of the Spaniard. It
is a romantic novel, book of feeling, work of the heart, and contains freshness, color, humor,
lightness and wit despite that it depicts the sufferings of the Filipino people under the Spanish
rule.

El Filibusterismo (The Reign of Greed) was written in dedication of the three martyred priests
namely Mariano Gomez, Jose Burgos and Jacinto Zamora popularly known as GOMBURZA,
whose tragic execution left unforgettable imprint in his mind. It is a political novel, book of the
thought, work of the head and comprises bitterness, hatred, pain, sorrow and violence. Like
Noli Me Tangere, El Fili aims at enlightening the society, and at bringing the Filipinos closer to
the truth. In this novel, the society is urged to open its eyes to reality and rebel against the
Spanish government for its oppression and abuse.

The Noli is more on action and motion, the El Fili is thoughtful, discursive and dialectal. Noli
showed a soft spoken, patient, compassionate and idealistic Crisostomo Ibarra while El Fili
featured a different Ibarra who portrayed the angry and vengeful side of him and disguised
himself as the wealthy jeweller named Simoun. Noli is written in the idea that would expose
the ills of Philippine society. In short Noli focuses on the reformism side of Rizal while El fili is
on his revolutionist. These two novels helped awaken the Filipinos to fight for their freedom
and stand with their right. It had made me realized that war does not necessarily have to end
through means of violence, it could always be ended peacefully, through words and maybe even
forgiveness. Words are far stronger than any gun. Vengeance is not ours, it’s God. Evilness is at
every corner but thou shall not fear because good will always prevail.

2.2 Reflect on the importance of Rizal’s writing when it comes to being a Filipino. If you
were a Filipino searching for your identity, would this be a good place to start? Why? What are
the key ideas Rizal intended for his readers to learn about their country? Are the problems then
already addressed today? If you were to write about your life, what details would you write
about? To whom would you dedicate it?

= Pen is mightier than sword, a well-known saying that gives every Filipino a light and hope
from darkness. Rizal's works are significant not just to our society but also to our sense of
identity as a Filipino. It serves as an eye opener to every Filipinos and an inspiration as well. It
spoke volume on liberation, justice and equality that every Filipino deserves to have. It gives
tremendous gravity of patriotism, which is not merely about risking your lives for your
countrymen but to love our own country and to patronize our own country. This message is
what every Filipino should be learned and lived. His writings are greatly praised and taught
throughout the country, but the central key of it is to strengthen our sense of being a Filipino.
This is a well path to start in determining our truly identity as a Filipino. Why? Because it is not
the heroism of Rizal that gave birth to our independence but his love to his country that is
beyond compare. In this point, it will cultivate our spirit of being a Filipino and who we really
are yesterday, today and tomorrow. It will ignite our sense of being a Filipino through his
words, bravery and compassion that we can feel and see in his writings.

It is not the bravery that will pushes us to fight but our endless love to our country. This is what
he really wants us to learn and know, to love and patronize our own. In which, in today's
modernization the love and patriotism to our country is now vague. We should bring back the
spirit of patriotism today and let us not put his death into zilch. We should love and prioritize
our own first and not put foreign countries over our own.

Another crucial thing that Dr. Jose Rizal strongly emphasizes is the power of education. His
writings are not just a message to be a good Filipino to fight for what is right but also to give
great magnitude to education, because it will pave the way to success. Same goes with me, if I
have given a chance to write about my life, I would like to highlight the significance of
education. I am inspired by the eminent saying "Pen is mightier than sword", which taught us to
give more importance on our education as it will help us to achieve success. It is education that
will help us to stir up our minds and hearts to be wise and benevolent.

2.3 Reflect on the use of the Novel of Jose Rizal the Noli Me Tangere. How do you think the
narratives of the past can help us in understanding the issues of the country? For instance, what
are the pros and cons of the continued Martial Law in Mindanao under the Duterte’s
Administration? Does history repeat itself? Is it the same with the Martial Law under the
Marcos Regime?

= José Rizal’s Noli Me Tangere played a crucial role in the political history of the Philippines.
Drawing from experience, the conventions of the nineteenth-century novel, and the ideals of
European liberalism, Rizal offered up a devastating critique of a society under Spanish colonial
rule. The narratives of the past help immensely in understanding the issues of our country
because we can look at and examine what happened in the past and learn from them as to what
is the best course of action to take. I think that there are no Pros but only Cons the declaration
of martial law in the Philippine region of Mindanao creates a desperate situation for the people
and the stability of Mindanao. Military operations and repressive actions will more likely
increase the extremist violence than subdue it. Given the history of the Philippines and the
abhorrent record of the Duterte administration, as seen by his “war on drugs,” the return of
martial law to Mindanao is an ominous sign of the violence and bloodshed which will certainly
follow. Yes, history does repeat itself, a brief assessment of the Islamic independence
movement in Mindanao shows that the legacy of the extremist violence that Duterte intends to
squash stems directly from the repressive military action carried out by during the period of
martial law declared in the 1970s under the Marcos regime. Ferdinand Marcos declared martial
law in 1971 in response to the reciprocal violence between armed Muslim and Christian groups
that followed the Jabidah Massacre. Rather than suppressing the armed groups, operations by
the Armed Forces of the Philippines lead to a consolidation of Islamic independence groups
under Nur Misuari and the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF), which managed to field
30,000 fighters and tie up 80 percent of the armed forces in the resulting conflict. This is the
same as the martial law that Marcos put in place.