Dr.

Jose Rizal wrote three essays entitled “To the Young Women of Malolos”, “The
Indolence of Filipinos”, and “The Philippines a Century Hence”. These essays were written by
the late national hero in order to point out points regarding to various social issues of his time.
The first essay, To the Young Women of Malolos, pointed out three important messages
to those twenty women of Malolos who successfully advocated the establishment of a Knights’
School. First point given was the rejection of the spiritual authority of the friars. He said that
these friars were not equal to God and people must not believe everything from them. Second
point was the defence of prudence. He wanted the Filipino people to be reasonable and have
good judgement, that they must use their ability to reason and only obey what is just. Third point
was that faith without reason was not faith at all. Faith must be something that is living the
Christian way with good manners by using their ability to reason. He also pointed out that those
friars were considered as tin god.
The second essay, The Indolence of Filipinos, remonstrated that Filipinos were truly
indolent. In here, Rizal explained indolence as little love for work and lack of energy in doing it.
However, he indicated that it was false to believe in the notion of indolence as the reason of the
misdeeds of Filipino people, that the people’s laziness brought forth the mishappenings and
catastrophes of their lives. He remarkably clarified that it is the Spanish’s fault due to the
backwardness of administration as they colonized the Philippines. Filipino indolence was a
predisposition which was awakened due to the factors of internal and external wars, wherein
Christian and Muslim Filipinos fought against each other, as well as the sending of Filipinos to
fight under the banner of the Spain against its enemies. Another factor was the imposition of the
Spanish institutions, such as the Encomienda and Hacienda policies, Manila Acapulco galleon
trade and force labor, wherein there were no given incentives for their hard works. Moreover, the
Filipino indolence was fostered and sustained due to the constant lessening of encouragement in
labor, the introduction of gambling, the beliefs in religion and miracles, the lack of moral
stimulus, and the kind of education given to the natives, which was backward, brutalizing and
anti-human.
The third essay, The Philippines a Century Hence, was written by Rizal in order to point
out the cause of the misery of the Filipinos. He stated three causes where one of these was the
implementation of military policies in the Philippines by the Spain, where it causes the
depopulation of Filipinos by sending the Filipino troops to foreign enemies; another one was the
deterioration and disappearance of indigenous people that caused destruction to the native
culture; and lastly was the passivity and submissiveness of the Filipinos to the Spaniards.
However, these causes of Filipino miseries also awakened their spirits and regained their
confidence to revolt against the Spanish administration. He further implied that Spain could no
longer prevent the development of the Philippines to its enlightenment. The Philippines will no
longer be colonized again by another European country; instead it would be by the United States,
where Rizal described as the Great American Republic.
These three essays of Rizal shared a common theme, which was the blunt opposition
against the Spanish administration, wherein he implicated their maladministration and backward
mindset against the Philippines and its people in terms of the social, educational, spiritual and
economic aspects. All of these essays clearly brought about the image of Rizal as a propagandist.
These were only one of his masterpieces that helped the awakening of Filipino people to fight
and revolt against the Spanish oppression in their own motherland.
As a student of History, Rizal’s essays had a significant historical value in a way that it
was considered as one of the pillars of Philippine independence. Rizal was one of the forerunners
of the propaganda movement that awakened the Filipinos from the abuses of the Spanish
colonizers. It is very important to continue learning and discussing his legendary works inside
and outside of our four-cornered classrooms in order to carry on its value and hopefully will
never be forgotten by the following generations. Amidst these fast growing society brought by
the advancement of technologies, I truly hope that the essence and purpose of these blood-
worthy works of Rizal will never come to an ease, wherein everyone will never forget what our
ancestors had been through in order to let us have the freedom that we are currently enjoying.
We truly owe to them everything.

Bibliography
Gloria, J. (2018). The Life and Works and Writings of Jose Rizal. Retrieved from
https://www.slideshare.net/ceygloria/the-life-works-and-writings-of-rizal-by-jonacel-gloria
Jose Rizal: National Hero of the Philippines (2018). Retrieved from
https://www.joserizal.com