From what I’ve read, the government being described in the article by Jose Rizal is a type

of government where people of position care more about their position in the government than
the people. “However, these liberals forget the part they have in the mess: if they did not
allow themselves to be governed and did not serve as an instrument as often happens;”
Everyone in the Philippines at the time knew something was wrong. Even the friars themselves
knew there was something wrong with the government but instead of fixing the issue, they instead
acted slowly as if to show they were making action. “These same friars agree that there are
deficiencies, imperfections, abuses, and that reforms are necessary and imposed, only
that they would like a homeopathic treatment, very slow, like the doctors who, lacking
clients, wish to lull and rock a chronic disease,” Foreigners in this type of government laugh
at and take advantage of this government. People who have no connection to this land think of
the country merely as a playground to satisfy their own personal desires. In this type of
government, the foreigners are the happiest as they can leave whenever they want and stay as
long as they want. “Foreigners, among whom we put the Chinese in the forefront, laugh at
everything that happens and take advantage of the faults and defects of the governed and
rulers to use them.” In other words, this type of government is not a government. A government
is a ruling body which acts in the favor of its own people, this “government” is a breeding ground
of selfish and docile people, which nothing good will come out of.

I find it interesting how everyone in the country knew something was wrong but instead of
acting on their own sense of justice, instead hid and only thought of themselves. Thinking of things
that are happening as only “necessary evils” and doing nothing afterwards. While it does make
sense at the time, I wonder what would have happened if people gathered earlier and made a
stand for what they thought was right. Would the friars and people of position had acted differently
if the people told them their thoughts on what was wrong earlier or would it not have mattered? I
believe in the idea that history repeats itself and this one is no exception. From the people doing
nothing to the foreigners taking advantage of the weak government, such things are still
happening to this day. An example of this is the dispute in the South China Sea/West Philippine
Sea. While a bit complex, this shows how foreigners take advantage of a weak government.
Basically, China believes that they own the South China Sea because a map that contains the
nine dash line which conveniently covered that body of water, a “historical” piece of evidence
which they believe supports their claim. This argument was taken to the Hague in which the
Philippines won the trial but after that trial, China refuses to acknowledge it and even the new
president of the Philippines(Duterte) disregards it and instead allows China to freely use up our
resources. This is a parallel to what happened during Rizal’s time, because of a weak government,
the foreigners take advantage of us and they benefit from our lack of actions. Another example
would be the initial Coronavirus outbreak that happened earlier last year. At the time, everyone
knew that the government should act preemptively, to try and control the outbreak even before it
happens. Barring airplanes to and from China should have been the obvious action but most
people believe that the government did not do this because of their relationship with China. They
chose to prioritize their relationship with China instead of acting for the people. The consequences
of their action lead to thousands of deaths and millions of cases. This could have easily been
avoided or minimized if the government acted for the people instead of for themselves. The
government here is acting in a similar way to how the friars acted back then, acting slowly as if
only to show that they were taking action and then taking the benefits for themselves.

As I’ve mentioned before, I believe that history repeats itself and this is no exception, but
with knowledge of past actions and understanding the consequences of our actions, we would be
able to change our future for the better. With this knowledge, we must encourage each other to
help create a unified society by spreading awareness to the local people about the issues within
our government. Moreover, we must do our part within the society. In short, this means that we
must be cooperative within our community and act accordingly for the benefit of the society in
regards to what circumstance we may face ahead. Knowledge about this type of issue is important
as it allows us to grow from it.

Tony Adrian Salvo

Hist 3 CCF