THE WORLD AND THE PHILIPPINES

IN RIZAL’S TIME
• Rizal was born and raised in the 19th century
• One cannot fully understand Rizal’s thoughts without understanding the social
and political context of the 19th century.

• Scientists marked the 19th century as the birth of modern life as well as the
birth of many nation states around the world.

• During this era, the glory and power of Spain had warned both in her colonies
and in the world.

• To understand and appreciate the life of Dr. Jose Rizal, it is necessary to learn
the historical conditions of the world and of the Philippines during his time.

After all, heroes are said to be the products of their own settings and the
conditions of their times.
The Philippines During Rizal’s Time
Social System
• Before the Spanish conquest in 1563, Filipino had their own
indigenous culture and their own government.

• Spanish colonizers forced them to accept foreign culture and

Catholicism that they never completely understood.

• They lost their ancestral lands to the colonial masters by way of the
encomienda system.
• granting a person a specified number of natives of a specific community, with
the indigenous leaders in charge of mobilizing the assessed tribute and labor.

• The Spaniards brought the doctrine of “limpieza de

sangre” (referred to those who were considered pure "Old Christians",
without Muslim or Jewish ancestors) into the Philippines,
creating a social ranking among people:

• Spanish peninsulares and insulares (Spanish-born Spaniard), Spanish mestizos, town

ruling class, native elites, Chinese mestizos and the Indios referring to the
native.
 Political System
• Spain governed the Philippines through the Ministry of the Colonies (Ministro
de Ultramar) based in Madrid.
• Governor-general
• headed the central government (appointed by the
King of Spain)

• representative in governmental matters and was the

Vice Royal Patron over religious affairs.

• Alcalde mayor - head to the central government

known as Alcaldia or provincial government

• Gobernadorcillo - headed the pueblo, composed of the

barangays as the local government unit.
• Cabeza de barangay - headed the smallest political unit
- the barangay (barrio)

• Guardia civil - a company of native police

led by Spanish officers.
• most feared instrument, can arrest at any time
of the day or night of persons denounced by the
friars as filibusteros.

• Royal Audencia was the highest court

headed the judicial system.
Educational System
• The first schools established were
parochial schools with the Spanish missionaries as teachers.
• Fear of God was emphasized and obedience to the friars was
instilled in the minds of the people.
• Indios are reminded that they had low intelligence and that they
were fit only for manual work.

• This indoctrination resulted in a lack of confidence that

developed an inferiority complex among the natives.
• Friars decide what to teach to the children.
• Teacher discrimination against Filipino was present in the higher
levels of learning.
• Friars assigned to implement the education were against the
teaching of Spanish in the colony.
• They believed that knowledge of the language would develop
social and political awareness among the natives and they might
be inspired by the liberal ideas about freedom and
independence.
Frailrocracia

• The unionof thechurch and statewas practiced by

almost absolute monarchial
states

• It spawnedin the colony an invincible government

called“frailrocracia” meaning rule of the friars
.

• From1849 to 1898, 45 governor -generals had been

assigned to the colony and each one of them sought
the counsel of the friars who had been permanently
residing in the country.

• Since the friarswere found in each town, they gradually became the
ruler of that political unit
.

• They becamevery influentialand sopowerfulthat the Spanish civil

authorities, including the
governor-general, feared them.
Opening of the Philippines to World Commerce

• In 1834, Spain, following the economic policy of other

European countries, officially opened Manila to world
commerce.

• From 1834 to 1873, more ports were opened to foreign trading like Sual,
Iloilo, Zamboanga, Cebu and Legazpi stimulating vigorous economic activity
that brought prosperity to some Filipinos, mostly Spanish and Chinese
mestizos.

• As a result, there emerged a new class: the Filipino

middle class.
• They did not only acquire material wealth but also
improve their social standing and influence.
• Consequently, the middle class Filipinos clamored and agitated for social and
political equality and form their children emerged the initial propagators of
the reform movement.
Opening of the Suez
Canal

• Suez Canal an artificial

sea-levelwaterway
in Egypt thatwas opened to international
shipping onNovember 17, 1869 .

• 103miles long, connects the

Mediterranean to
theGulf of Suezand also to the Red Sea and the
Indian Ocean
.

• With the opening of this canal,distance

the of
travel between Europe and the Philippines was
shortenedbringing the country closer to Spain.

• In previous years, a steamer from Barcelona had

to sail around the Cape of Good Hope(rocky headland
thatcanreach Manila of more
on the Atlantic coast)
than three months.

• With this canal, the trip was reduced to only 32

days.
The Secularization Movement

• Since 1565, the religious orderstook possession of

the parishes for conversion of the natives to
Catholicism.

• By the 19th century,many Filipinos had become

secular priests, but the regular priests calledfriar
curates did not want to relinquish their parishes to
the seculars.

• The movement gradually became racial

a and
national conflictwith the friar curates on one
side and the Filipino clergy on the other.
The Democratic Rule of Gov. Gen. Dela Torre
• The political instability in Spain resulted in frequent changes of
Spanish officials in the Philippines caused further confusion and
increased social and political discontent in the country.
• In 1868, a provisional government was set up and the new
government extended to the colonies the reforms they adopted
in Spain.
• These reforms included the grant of universal suffrage and the recognition of
freedom and conscience, the press, association and public assembly.
• General De la Torre was appointed by the provisional government in Spain as
Governor-General of the Philippines in 1869.
• The rule of the first liberal governor-general became significant in the birth of
national consciousness in the 19th century.
• His pro-people governance gave Rizal and other Filipinos a foretaste of a
democratic rule and way of life.
• He put into practice his liberal and democratic way of living a simple life.
• He encouraged freedom and abolished censorship.
• He recognized freedom of speech and of the press which were guaranteed by
the Spanish Constitution. His greatest achievement was the peaceful solution to
the land problem in the province of Cavite.
The Cavite Mutiny and the Martyrdom of GOMBURZA

• Two historical events in the late 19th century that hastened the growth of
nationalism in the minds of Rizal, the reformists and the Filipino people were
the Cavite mutiny and the martyrdom of Fathers Gomez, Burgos and Zamora,
popularly known as GOMBURZA.
• The Cavite mutiny was a uprising against the Spaniards in Manila on January
20, 1872 led by Sgt. Fernando La Madrid .
• However if failed due to miscommunication between between Sgt. Lamadrid
and the Filipino soldiers.
• The mutineers thought that soldiers in Manila would join them in a
concerted uprising, the signal being the firing of rockets from the city walls
on that night.
• Unfortunately, what they thought to be the signal was actually a burst of
fireworks in celebration of the feast of Our Lady of Loreto, the patron of
Sampaloc.
• Many Spanish officers were killed by the Filipino soldiers and, as a revenge,
many mutinees were killed, including Lamadrid.

• This unfortunate incident in Cavite became an opportunity

for the Spaniards to implicate the three Filipino priests who
had been campaigning for Filipino rights, particularly the
rights of Filipino priests to become parish priests – the
“Filipinization” of the parishes in the country.
• They magnified the event and made it appear as a “revolt”
against the government.

• The three priests were arrested and charged falsely with treason and mutiny
under a military court. With a farcical trial, a biased court the three priests were
convicted of a crime they did not commit.
• At sunrise of February 17, 1872, Fathers Gomez, Burgos and Zamora were
escorted to Luneta and executed by garrote before a vast crowd of Filipinos and
foreigners.
• The execution of GOMBURZA hastened the growth of Filipino nationalism.
• The Filipino people resented the execution of the three priests because they
knew that they were innocent and were executed because they championed
Filipino rights.
• Rizal dedicated his novel “El Filibusterismo” to GOMBURZA to show his
appreciation to their courage, dedication to Filipino rights and sense of
nationalism.
Discontent with Spanish
Institutions

• Spainintroducedobligationof supporting the

Church’s mission of Christianizing the natives
and to contribute to the Spanish King’s welfare.

• These institutions included encomienda

the ,
the polo (forced labor) and the tribute
(tribute).

• These colonial systems became the major

sources of discontent of many natives during
the Spanish period.

• Because of the oppressive nature of these

systems, many revolts and uprising erupted in
various parts of the country which
contributed to the weakening of the Spanish
th
rule in the 19 century.
Union of Church and State

• The Catholic religion became the State religion.

• Under the arrangements between the Pope and the

Spanish King called the “Patronato Real de las
Indias”, civil and church authorities must Christianize the natives in the colony.

• Civil authorities support the material needs of the

missionaries in building churches and catechizing
the inhabitants.
• The government provided salaries to the Spanish
missionaries and the clergy, technically making
them government officials.

• With vast powers, both spiritual and political, in their hands, the Spanish friars
and the clergy held absolute powers in the colony.

• This attracted the attention of the reformists and illustrados led by Jose Rizal
resulting in a nationalist desire for reforms in the country.
Racial Discrimination

• is a form of social exclusion where people are prevented from having access to
public goods by virtue of their physical traits. It is an abusive behavior of one
race against another.

• Spanish authorities regarded the brown Filipino as an inferior people and

derisively called them “indios” or Indians.
• This racial prejudice against native Filipinos existed in government offices, in
the armed forces, in courts of justice and in high society.

• To prevent that the natives were not inferior people, some talented and
intelligent Filipinos endeavored to excel in their chosen fields.

• Juan Luna excelled in painting, Fr. Jose Burgos in Theology, Jose Rizal by
surpassing the Spanish writers in literary contests and winning fame as a
physician, man of letters, scholar and scientist, proved that a brown man
could be as great or even greater than a white man.
• The decline of the Spanish rule in the 19th century and the popularity of Rizal
and his reform agenda were products of an interplay of various economic,
social, political and cultural forces.

• The revolutions liberal ideas gradually secularized

societies in the 19th century and thereby weakened the
influence of religion in peoples mind, especially the well educated reformists
and ilustrados.

• Although the influence of the Catholic church

in the 19th century led by the friars did not
diminish, the liberal and progressive ideas of
Rizal and the reformists already awakened the
nationalist sentiment of the natives that soon
became the catalysts for political change in
the late 19th century.
Question:

th
If you are like Rizal during the century,
19
what would you do today to address our
country’s problem on corruption and
abuse of power?