THE PHILOSOPHICAL AND POLITICAL THOUGHT OF DR.

JOSE RIZAL
Ramces M. Dili
Thammasat University

Prof. Ferdinand Blumentritt of Austria once said: “ Not only Rizal the most prominent
man of his own people but the greatest man the Malayan race has produced. His memory
will never perish in his fatherland, and future generations of Spaniards will yet learn to
utter his name with respect and reverence ”. This quotation surmises the immortality of
Rizal’s teachings and philosophy. For more than a hundred years after his death, Dr. Jose
Rizal and his philosophies survive and still continue studied by the youth. The youth of
today never stop exhuming the richness of his ideas as seen in his many sided-
philosophies. Many of his philosophy were found in the pages of his writings. The idea of
better society, refined man, moral transformation, economic transfiguration and among
others were some of the content.

In one of his writings, Rizal pointed out the importance of philosophy into our lives.
Rizal wrote: “Our life is a perpetual toast, an eternal aspiration, an insatiable desire …It is
a useless life which is not consecrated to a great idea. It is a stone wasted in the fields
without becoming a part of any edifice. Man needs an objective toward which he must aim
his actions, he must delineate a purpose, see beyond matter and the general hubbub; he
needs something worthy of his being and of his faculty.” Because of this, Rizal left his
people sumptuous philosophies to be pondered upon.

Moral Teachings and Principles

Rizal lived in a time where injustice, inequality, bias and prejudices were common in
the context of Spanish dominion; social discrimination, suppression of the freedom of
speech, violation of human rights and graft and corruption in the government. This unholy
trend was so prevalent and made moral confusion among the Filipino populace. To fight
these evils, Rizal “made use of the practical method of appealing to the better nature of
the conquerors and of offering useful methods of solving the moral problems of the
conquered”. Rizal did not hesitate to present and admit the decaying moral character of
the Philippine society during those days. In the foreword of his Noli, Rizal pointed out their
vices, miseries and misfortunes; “I have raised the curtain in order to show that lies
behind the deceitful and brilliant words of our government; I have shown our compatriots,
our defects, our vices, our culpable and cowardly complacencies with their miseries.
Wherever I have seen virtue, I have proclaimed it in order to give it homage, and even
though I have not cried in speaking of our misfortunes, I have laughed because nobody
wishes to lament with me the misfortunes of our fatherland”.i

According to Rizal, one doesn’t need to be a prolific writer to elevate the moral
character of his people rather he should be a good man and a good citizen. In his speech
at a café in Madrid, on December 31, 1883 Rizal expressed this profound sentiment. Rizal
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criticizes to all Filipinos who have no concern on the moral recovery of his country.
Filipinos who love to live in abundance without thinking about human dignity and progress
in their character. “My country which they call uncivilized, my country were hospitality is
neither sold nor bought, but is offered and served as a duty; if this country which in the
midst of her poverty helps her sons in the foreign lands, her sons whom the civilized
government denies the meager salary of their works; if this fatherland, rude and barbaric
because it has less criminals, less revolts because brothers respect the stranger and the
abandoned…”ii

Rizal’s effort to elevate the moral virtue of his people is seen in the pages of his
letters, diaries, essays and novels. In his letter to the young women of Malolos, Rizal
gives emphasis on the role of the mother in developing the character of the child: “ Raise
your children close to the image of the true God…awaken and prepare the mind of every
child for every good and desirable idea-love of honor, sincere and firm character, clear
mind, clean conduct, noble action, love for one’s fellowmen, respect for God-teach this to
your children, and because life is full of sorrows and perils, fortify their character against
any difficulty, strengthen their hearts against any danger…Teach your children to guard
and love their honor, to love their fellowmen, their native land, and to perform their duties.
Tell them repeatedly to prefer death with honor to life with dishonor”.iii

Educational Philosophy

Since childhood Rizal realized the importance of education in the life of every
individual. In Noli me Tangere, Rizal emphasized the supreme role of education in the
progress of a country: “The school is the basis of society, the school is the book on which
is written the future of nations! Show us the schools of a people and we will show you
what that people is”. iv

During his nurturing years in Ateneo, Rizal wrote a poem “ Por la educacion reside
lustre la patria” which gave tribute to the importance of education. In one of its line, it
reads, “such is he who wise education directs; to wield unconquered the reins of country”.
Rizal believes that the hope of this country lay in education.

Moreover, in El Filibusterismo, Rizal pointed out that education is the most important
duty of every Filipinos needs to fulfill. He said: “ Besides the duty of everyone to seek his
own perfection, there is the desire innate in man to cultivate his intellect, a desire the
more powerful here in that it is repressed”.

For Rizal, the mission of education is to elevate the country to the highest seat of
glory and to develop the people’s intellect. Rizal claimed that education is a prerequisite
for man’s progress.. Education is the process by which the men gets his experiences and
make his actions efficient. Education, according to Rizal helps man to become a good
member of his society. No wonder why Rizal acquires education immensely because he
has an intense purpose. In his letter to his nephew Alfredo Hidalgo, Rizal exemplified its
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“true essence”. “Go ahead then; study, study and meditate well what you study. Life is a
very serious thing and only those with intelligence and heart go through it worthily. To live
is to be among men and to be among men is to struggle. But his struggle is not a brutal
and material struggle with men alone. It is a struggle with them, with one’s self, with their
passions and one’s own, with errors and preoccupations. It is an eternal struggle with a
smile on the lips and tears in the heart. On this battlefield man has no better weapon than
his intelligence, no other force but his heart. Sharpen, perfect, polish then your mind and
fortify and educate your heart”.

1. Aims of Education - In developing our intelligence and educating our heart, Rizal
stressed that good judgment, proper appreciation of the importance of self-
esteem and attainment of self-control are the aims of education. This can be
achieved through self-evaluation, understanding of our abilities and determining
the effects of our abilities to ourselves and to other people.

In his first novel, Noli me Tangere, Rizal explained the value of good judgment,
self-esteem and self-control. He pointed out: “…when God gave each one the
faculty to judge what he possesses, He did what was most convenient and He
did not want that he who had less think like the one who had more and vice
versa. In my opinion, self-esteem is the greatest good that God has endowed
man with for his perfection and purity, saving him from many unworthy and base
acts when he forgets the precepts he had learned or had been inculcated in him.
Precisely for me self-esteem is dignity when it is not passionate and it is
moderate by judgment.”

2. Goals of Learning - According to Rizal, there are six goals of learning namely;
knowledge, information, skills, habits, ideals and attitudes and these goals can
be achieve through reading, observation, experiment, and reasoning. For him, if
man acquires these goals, the world becomes his heritage, “Man comprehends
that his heritage is the vast world, dominion over which is within his reach; tired
of his useless and presumptuous toil, he lowers his head and examined what
surrounds him”.

In his letter to a group of Filipino friends in Spain, Rizal suggested that: “ you try
to buy, read, but critically… Knowledge of a thing prepares one for its mastery:
knowledge is power… Study so that when the hour comes it will not find you
unprepared.” Rizal seeks knowledge not for its own sake but for the sake of
elevating the country to its highest level. Rizal also used his knowledge to
educate his fellowmen. He used the power of his pen to demonstrate how mighty
an intellectual man is.

The same idea is to be found in the letter to his sister Trinidad, he said: “It is pity
that there in our country the principal adornment of all women almost always
consists of clothes and finery rather than of knowledge… For this reason, now
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 that you are still young and you have time to learn, it is necessary that you study
by reading, and reading attentively. It is a pity that you allow yourself to be
dominated by laziness when it takes so little effort to shake it off. It is enough to
form only the habit of study and later everything will go by itself ”. Rizal stressed
the usefulness of a firm determination in learning. In forming good habits one
must have a good model and strong resolution to do what he wants to do. One
must not allow excuses until a new habit is formed.

3. A Lesson’s Learn for Teachers - Rizal is a product of educational system as

posed by the Spanish friars in the Philippines. Thus, he knew very well the
defects of their instructions. The educational instruction during the Spanish
regime was impregnated with corporal punishment, racial prejudices, and poor
methods of instruction.

From the novel El Filibusterismo, Rizal gave a classic argument in education

against the prevalent practice of corporal punishment, “whipping…has been the
distinctive features in the schools and which heretofore has been considered as
the only efficacious means of making pupils learn…thus we had been
indoctrinated to believe…appeared to me that, far from contributing to the pupil’s
progress, it was a great hindrance. I became convinced that it was impossible to
think and reason when whipping or other punishment was in sight. Fear and
terror upset the most serene and the imagination of the child, besides being very
active, it is also impressionable. And since to impress upon the mind, it is
necessary that there be inner and outer calm, that there be serenity of spirit,
physical and moral poise, and live interest, I believe that above all, I should
develop in the children confidence, assurance, and self-respect. I realized
furthermore that the daily sight of corporal punishment killed kindness in their
hearts and destroyed that sense of dignity, the lever of the world, at the same
time of shame which is difficult to restore.”

Here, we find a clear picture by which his power of a teacher originated. And this
cannot be blame to Rizal because he was also a victim of unkindness from his
teachers. In Biñan, he always received beatings of his palm, in UST it grew much
into wickedness. No wonder why Rizal opposed this kind of educational method.
For him, “In order to be heeded and to maintain authority the teacher needs
prestige, reputation, moral strength, and some freedom of action”. Thus, Rizal
demanded the following educational developments; “healthful school buildings,
regularity and punctuality in attendance, moral suasion instead of corporal
punishment, physical education and attention to children’s health, subject matter
useful for life, teaching through projects, adult education, and constant education
of the teacher himself”v.

In his writings, Rizal had numerous excellent views on the methods of teaching
and criticism to educational system. In his letter to Soledad, Rizal offered some
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 advice, “…improve yourself more and more in an effort to be a model of virtues
and good qualities, for the one who should teach should be better than the
persons who need her learning”vi. According to him, teachers have a great share
in building the character of the children, “…cultivate in the children confidence,
assurance, and personal pride… The teacher must make study a thing of love
and joy… The school room must not be a place of sorrows but a scene of
intellectual refreshment”. According to him, teachers cannot be tyrannical,
narrow-minded, and fanatical because these qualities do not contribute in
achieving the aims of education. If the student is well taught in the spirit of
cooperation, by examples of deeds, moral force and certain liberty rather
repression of ideas thus, all pitiful incidences will be eliminated and realizing the
aim of education, “moral and physical developments, transforming the students
into prosperous, intelligent and noble persons”.

Religious Thoughts and Practices

Jose Rizal grew up and nurtured by a closely-knit Catholic family: his letters to them
attests his high regard to the supreme God. “ Concerning what you say about my duties as
a Christian, I have the pleasure to be able to answer you that I haven’t stopped a moment
in believing in the fundamental principles of our religion…”vii

Rizal at young age was greatly affected by the death of the three priests and
inspired them to dedicate his second novel. It is even said that had it not been the event
of February 1872, Rizal would have become a Jesuitviii. He praises his professors in
Ateneo, especially Father Francisco de Paula Sanchez. Many of his writings were center
to God’s exaltations such as Al Niño Jesus, A la Virgen Maria, Alianza Intima entre la
Religion y la Buena Educacion and a poem written to the rector of Ateneo Fr. Pablo
Ramon S.J.

It was expected therefore, that he should have been also, a devout Catholic.
However, in his later life Rizal developed a religious philosophy different from the Catholic
religion. It all started when he first went abroad in 1882.  In Europe he found the
boisterous atmosphere of freedom: where conservatives and liberals, socialists and
anarchists, protestants and Catholics, atheists and agnostics, debated and discussed at
meetings without the fear of being apprehended. Rizal was amazed by this kind of
freedom by which the Filipino society never experienced. His acquaintances with the great
thinkers, leaders, scholars, scientists and philosophers in Europe revolutionized his
religious philosophy. He made contacts with prominent people with different creed and
professing various beliefs. When he stayed in the house of Karl Ullmer, a protestant
pastor, he and Ullmer exchanged ideas on several topics, one of which was their
respective beliefs about God, “There, in calm and slow conversation, with freedom to
speak, we talked about our respective beliefs, of the morality of peoples and the influence
of their respective creeds on them. A great respect for the good faiths of the adversary
and for the most contrary ideas that must necessarily arise due to differences in race,
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education, and age, led us almost always to the conclusion that religions, whatever they
might be, should not make men enemies of one another but rather brothers and real
brothers”.ix

In his letter to Blumentritt, Rizal summarizes his commentary over God and religion;
the sentiment which reflects how he hated so much the religion as posed by the friars in
the Philippines. “God ought not to be utilized as a shield and protector of abuses, nor
should religion be used for such purpose. If the friars really had more respect for their
religion, they would not use so often its sacred name and would not expose it to the most
dangerous situations. What is happening in the Philippines is horrible. They abuse the
name of religion for a few pesos. They hawk religion to enrich their treasuries. Religion to
seduce the innocent young woman! Religion to get rid of an enemy! Religion to disturb
the peace of marriage and the family, if not to dishonor the wife? Why should I not combat
this religion with all my strength when it is the primary cause of all our sufferings and
tears? The responsibility falls on those who abuse the name of religion!”x

In August 1887, a few days after he came back from Europe, Rizal visited his alma
mater. There, he was welcomed by Fathers Francisco de Paula Sanchez, Federico Faura
and Jose Bech. With his conversation with Father Federico Faura, Rizal exclaims the
following statement, “I wished to hit the Friars, for they utilize religion not only as a shield
but also as a weapon, a protection, castle, fortress, an armor. I was forced to attack their
false and superstitious religion, to fight the enemy that hid behind it! God ought not to be
utilized as a shield and protector of abuses, nor should religion be used for such a
purpose”.xi

But despite the sufferings brought by the friars to him and to his family, still Rizal
never questions the existence of God. His faith and conviction to God never ceases or at
least diminished. As a proof, Rizal calls the presence of God in his consolation to all the
pains that the Spanish friars caused him. “What happened to my family? When I think of
my family, I am overcome by such sorrows that if my faith in God has been less, I would
have committed a folly. I am not repenting for having undertaken this campaign. If I were
now in the beginning of my life, I would do the same that I have done, because I am sure
that I ought to do it, it was the duty of everyone; and God could ask me, why did you not
combat the evil and injustice when you saw them ?”xii “In the face of those injustices and
cruelties, my youthful imagination was aroused and I swore to avenge someday those
numberless persons who suffered from them. To this end, I have been studying; one can
read about this in all my works and writings. God will someday give me an opportunity to
put my plans into effect”xiii.

In his letters to Fr. Pablo Pastells also contributes his strong belief in the existence
of God, he said: “I believe firmly in the existence of God the Creator…I firmly believe in
His wisdom, His infinite power… His goodness manifested in the marvelous creation of
the universe; in the order that reigns in His creation; His magnificence that overwhelms
my understanding; His greatness that enlightens and nourishes all. His wisdom is so
6
great that it humiliates human reason and makes me dizzy with vertigo for my own
reasoning is imperfect and confused. Many times my reasoning leads me to raise my
eyes to Him. I believe Him to be in the immense system of planets, in all the aggregation
of nebulae, that bewilders and stretches my imagination beyond my comprehension that I
am filled with dread, awe and bewilderment and leaves me dumb with wonder. How can I
doubt God when I am convince of my own existence? Who recognizes the effect
recognizes the cause. To doubt God would be to doubt one’s conscience and
consequently, to doubt everything; and then, what is life for?

While in Germany, Rizal visited various places and attending mass celebrations of
other religious sect. In his letter to Saturnina, Rizal shared his thoughts on how high his
reverence to religion is. He said: “I am here in Germany going from city to city, from town
to town, visiting all educational centers, the town schools, the parishes, the churches, and
many times after listening to a Catholic sermon, I go to a Protestant church to attend the
services there and sometimes to the synagogue of the Jews…”xiv

From the above foregoing statements, we can say that Rizal was a sincere believer
of God. However, because of the circumstances brought by the friars in his life, he learned
to fight their abuses as he realized his mission to fight evil everywhere; in the government,
among his people, and of course, in the church.xv

The domineering Catholic friars in the Philippines were also observed and criticize
by some Spanish officials and one of them was Manuel Scheidnagel, a military officer. In
his letter Scheidnagel anxiously wrote “The Friar is greatly needed in the colony. But he
should carry on his mission, religious and humanitarian, without intervening directly in
matters that pertain to the executive power. His counsel is and will always be listened to
and will be accorded due respect; but his will or desire which, on many occasions is
unjustified, should not prevail over the laws and interests of the Nation…”xvi

The above statement was the situation during the reign of Catholic friars in the
Philippines; the same situations that Rizal was campaigning. “ God, who is just, cannot
abandon His cause which is the cause of liberty, without which there is no justice
possible”xvii. And as what Rizal echoed in the eyes of Elias, “radical reforms in the armed
forces, in the priesthood, in the administration of justice, that is to say they want paternal
solitude on the part of the government”.xviii
In the foreword of the Noli Me Tangere, the primordial purpose of Rizal as a believer
of God was clearly understood. “…I have tried to show the difference between real
religion and the hypocrisy that under its cloak has impoverished and brutalized us. I have
brought out the real meaning of the dazzling and deceptive words of our countrymen”.

However, he developed a philosophy of a different nature with the use of truth and
reason in regards to the teachings and practices of Catholic friars in the Philippines. “ To
me religion is the most sacred thing, the purest, the most ethereal, that eschews all
human adulterations, and I believe that I would fail in my duty as a rational being if I
7
prostitute my reason and accept the absurd. I believe God would not punish me if, in
trying to approach Him, I should use reason and intelligence, His most precious gift. I
believe that in order to honor Him more, all I can do is to present myself to Him making
use of the best that He has given me, in the same way that in presenting myself before
my parents I should wear the best clothes they have given me. If some time I shall come
to possess that divine spark that is called knowledge, I will not hesitate to use it for the
service of God”xix. This sudden change of belief was the result of his personal
experiences, brutalities in the hands of his oppressors and the possession of an
independent mind. “Ignorance is bondage…A man without a will of his own is a man
without personality. The blind who follows others’ opinion is like a beast led by a halter.
God, fountain of wisdom, does not expect man, created in His image, to allow himself to
be fooled and blinded…Men were not created by God to be enslaved; neither were
adorned with reason to be fooled by others. It is not pride to refuse to worship a fellow
man, to enlighten the mind, and to reason. The arrogant one is he who wants to be
worshipped, who misleads others and wants his will to prevail over reason and justice”xx.

Being a critical observer, Rizal did not agree with the prevailing Christian practices in
the country. Rizal did not believe in the Catholic doctrine that salvation was only for
Catholics and that outside Christianity; salvation was not possible. Nor in the sale of
religious items such as the cross, medals, rosaries in order to propagate the faith and
raise Church funds. In his letter to the Young Women of Malolos, “ Saintliness does not
consist in abjectness nor in the successor of Christ to be recognized by the fact that he
gives his hand to be kissed. Christ did not give the kiss of peace to the Pharisees and
never gave his hand to be kissed. He did not cater to the rich and vain; He did not
mention scapularies, nor did He make rosaries, or solicit offerings for the sacrifice of the
Mass or exact payments for His prayers…Why, then, do the friars refuse to stir a foot
unless paid an advance? And, as if they were starving, they sell scapularies, rosaries,
bits, and other things which are nothing but schemes for making money and a detriment
to the soul. Because even if all the rags on earth were converted into scapularies and all
the trees in the forest into rosaries…and if all the priests of the earth mumbled prayers
over all this and sprinkled oceans of holy water over it, this would not purify a rogue or
condone sin where there is no repentance…Let us be reasonable and open our eyes,
especially you women, because you are the first to influence the consciousness of man.
Remember that a good mother does not resemble the mother that the friar has created;
she must bring up her child to be the image of the true God, not of a blackmailing, a
grasping God, but of a God who is the father of us all, who is just; who does not suck the
life-blood of the poor like a vampire, nor scoffs at the agony of the sorely beset, nor
makes a crooked path of the path of justice..”xxi. All of these and a lot more are evidences
of Rizal’s religious philosophy. 

Socio-political Commentaries

One of the surprising things about Dr. Jose Rizal that should be recognized is his
countless testaments of political commentaries and its relevance to our political
8
development. This is particularly of great importance in the light of the many political
issues and concerns that we are confronting today.

During his time, Rizal was so conscious about his environment, his people’s
problems, plight and challenges. Rizal lived where injustices reigned. The sad condition of
his people were directly observed and experienced by him. In his letter to the members of
the La Solidaridad, Rizal uttered the following observation, “All these imprisonments,
abuses, etc., are the necessary evil in a corrupt society. I express myself thus because I
cannot accept that an evil is necessary in a good society just as medicine or surgical
operation in a healthy man. If the Filipinos in this cruel and unequal struggle demonstrate
fortitude and valor in spite of everybody and everything, then it will be because they are
worthy of freedom and we can say: Dumating na ang tadhana.”xxii.

Rizal bitterly criticized the apparent method of Spain in governing the country which
resulted in:xxiii 
a. the bondage and slavery of the Filipinos ;
b. the government’s requirement of forced labor and force military service upon the
natives;
c. the government’s abuse of power by means of exploitation;
d. the government ruling that any complaint against the authorities was criminal;
and
e. making the people ignorant, destitute and fanatic.

In one of his writings, Rizal continues to express his sentiments over the abuses of
the government of Spain in the Philippines and Rizal cannot resist but added some
suggestions of his own. He wrote: “These abuses that for being unutterably bad had
become ridiculous, ruin the country and impair the prestige of the government. This
system of prevention, of unfounded fears, of unjust suspicions, not only irritates and
awakens men but exposes the weakness of the government: much fear reveals much
weakness. This, added to the inability to stop banditry, makes an evil person say that the
government is only hard on peaceful and respectable citizens while it fondles or lets alone
the rebellious and criminal…this behavior of the government in the Philippines hurts the
real interests of Spain…the government appears as the foremost filibuster. And as we
believe that one cannot serve a country better than to tell the truth…”xxiv

This way, Rizal pictured himself as a true crusader of change and a leading political
man and proves himself worthy as a political scientist. Austin Craig considered him as a
political scientist because he had “enough concern for politics and was conservative and
practical”. Dr. Friedrich Ratzel, an Austrian professor, said that he had “ acquired learning
from the three continents and had a broad understanding of a social scientist that is very
much needed in order to analyze the true situation of his country and to give judgment to
its political development. He is the right person that is needed for a progressive
humanity.”xxv

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 The political ideas of Rizal were the results of many influences. Rizal was molded by
the following fragments of his existence; His family especially from the Alonzo’s were
politicians, truly in his veins runs a true political analyst; his extensive studies, travels in
Asia and Europe advanced him to generate political ideas; his being well-versed in four
languages – English, Spanish, French and German enticed him to study and critique well
the politics of many nations; his rich studies and researches in the libraries of Europe
forced him to study political ideals and philosophy of many countries and periods of their
political history; his famous professors, instructors, tutors, and acquaintances with
prominent men planted him the seed of political commentaries and reforms and, finally his
desire to alleviate. All of these helped him to become a conscientious political scientist.

The foundation of Rizal’s political ideas proved to be the study and application of
reforms, the extension of human rights, the training for self government, the separation of
the church and the state, social justice, defense of the poor and the weak, freedom and
justice for every individual, equality of men, the arousing of spirit of discontent over
oppression, brutality, inhumanity, sensitiveness and self love, freedom of the press and of
speech, rights of women, the importance of criticism, and trust in public office.xxvi

He was able to touch the malignant cancer afflicting the Philippines under the
Spanish regime and triumphed over cowardice and unconcern. He exposed the country’s
illness although he knew that he was making himself susceptible to danger and even
certain death. In an article entitled “The Town Schools of the Philippines”, Rizal wrote
about this courage: “Whether the sacrifice be big or small; whether men be ungrateful and
forgetful; whether malice be opposed; or whether sterile and barren egoism mock, we
ought not to be dismayed before an insignificant failure nor go backward at the least
obstacle that is discerned in the horizon. In order that the work of one single individual be
crowned with the most brilliant success, necessary are all the favors of fortune, all
assistance of happy circumstances, a prepared ground, a propitious predisposition;
otherwise the voice is lost in the void like hopes and efforts”.xxvii

And when he felt that his countrymen has no voice and typically divided, Rizal
consoled them and endeavored them to unite and promoted pride in their spirit: “Let us
work then together and instead of useless lamentations, of disconsolate complaints, of
accusations and excuses, let us apply the remedy, let us build, no matter if we begin with
the simplest, for later we shall have time to erect new edifices on that foundation. Step by
step one reaches the Temple of Progress whose numerous and fitful steps are not
climbed without having faith and conviction in the soul, in the heart courage necessary in
encountering disillusions, and the gaze fixed on the future. Let us do for the generation
that must follow us, which will be either our reward or our reproach, all that we would like
to have been done for us by our ancestors, perhaps placed by fatality in very dismal
circumstances, though full of generous aspirations. The road is ours as the present is
ours, and if is not given to us to reach the end, we may be sure that by fulfilling our duties,
the future will be ours also-the future full of blessings”.xxviii

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11
i
Jose Rizal, Cartas entre Rizal y sus Colegas de la Propaganda, p.9.
ii
Rizal, Escritos Politicos e Historicos, p.9.
iii
Jose Rizal, “Message to the Young Women of Malolos”, Political and Historical
Writings”, (National Heroes Commission, 1964), pp. 57-59.
iv
Noli me Tangere
v
Frank C. Laubach, The Greatness of Dr. Jose Rizal in PHA’s Historical Bulletin, 50 th
Anniversary Issue, 2009, p.2.
vi
Letter to his sister Soledad dated June 6, 1890 in Hernandez, de Ocampo and Ella’s
Rizal’s Life and His Works, Bustamante Press, Inc. 1972, p. 276.
vii
Jose Rizal, Letter to his mother, (National Heroes Commission, 1964), p.174
viii
Letter to Mariano Ponce in Epistolario Rizalino, Vol II, No.254.
ix
Jose Rizal, Rizal’s Letter to Pastor Karl Ullmer, June 26, 1886, Miscellaneous
Correspondence (National Heroes Commission, 1963), pp.85-86.
x
The Rizal-Blumentritt Correspondence, Letter to Ferdinand Blumentritt dated March
29, 1890 in Hernandez, de Ocampo and Ella’s Rizal’s Life and His Works, Bustamante
Press, Inc. 1972, p. 308.
xi
Jose Rizal, Letter to Ferdinand Blumentritt, January 20, 1890, The Rizal-Blumentritt
Correspondence, Part Two (Jose Rizal National Centennial Commission, 1961), pp.
322-323.
xii
The Rizal-Blumentritt Correspondence, Letter to Ferdinand Blumentritt dated March
29, 1891 in Hernandez, de Ocampo and Ella’s Rizal’s Life and His Works, Bustamante
Press, Inc. 1972, p. 310.
xiii
Letter to Mariano Ponce in Epistolario Rizalino, Vol II, No.254.
xiv
Jose Rizal, Letter to Saturnina Rizal, November 11, 1886, Letter Between Rizal and
Family Members (National Heroes Commission, 1964), p. 246.
xv
Camilo Osias, Rizal: Pioneer Nationalist and Internationalist in PHA’s Historical
Bulletin 5oth Anniversary Issue, 2009, p.16.
xvi
From Nicolas Zafra, Rizal and His Times, Historical Bulletin: 50th Anniversary
Issue, PHA, 2009, p.133.
xvii
El Filibusterismo, Chapter VVI
xviii
Noli Me Tangere, Chapter XLIX
xix
Jose Rizal, Letter to his mother, (National Heroes Commission, 1964), p.174
xx
Letter to the Young Women of Malolos
xxi
Letter to the Young Women of Malolos
xxii
Jose Rizal, Letter to La Solidaridad Association, April 2, 1889, Rizal’s
Correspondence with Fellow Reformists, (National Heroes Commission, 1963), pp.
313-314.
xxiii
Philosophical and other Viewpoints of Rizal retrieved from the internet on November
9, 2011. http://www.joserizal.ph/ph01.html
xxiv
Jose Rizal, “Filipino Farmers”, Political and Historical Writings”, (National Heroes
Commission, 1964), pp. 67-72.
xxv
Henry F. Funtecha, Rizal as a political scientist, retrieved from the internet on
November 9. 2011 at http://knightsofrizal.org/?p=354
xxvi
Henry F. Funtecha, Rizal as a political scientist, retrieved from the internet on
November 9. 2011 at http://knightsofrizal.org/?p=354
xxvii
Jose Rizal, “The Town Schools in the Philippines” In Diosdado Capino’s Jose
Rizal’s Character Teachings and Examples, Manlapaz Publishing Co., 1971, p. 193.
xxviii
ibid