VENTURA, BRITTANY M.

BSE SST II-1

Rizal
May 24, 2022

Activity No. 5

“The Philippines: A Century Hence”

The Philippine: A Century Hence (Filipinas Dentro de Cien Anos) was an essay written
by Jose Rizal that was published in La Solidaridad (the Propaganda’s newspaper) in Madrid from
1889 to January 1890 which also supplements Rizal’s two legendary novels “Noli Me Tangere”
and “El Filibustirismo”. This essay forecasted the future of the country within a hundred-year
which was supposed to be an initial issue in the Rizal planned series of ten to correct the
misunderstanding of his writings. More so, Rizal’s essay did not only predict the future of the
Philippines without bases, but he studied the historical conditions and his current era to deduce
his vision regarding the future of the Philippines.

In addition, upon comparing the vision of Rizal to the country’s future and what the
Philippines have now, I pointed out some differences. Rizal mentions that the Philippines will
still be under the hands of Spaniards but, it is actually three centuries after we achieved our own
independence from the Spaniards. In the first part of the essay, I do agree with the vision of
Rizal that talks about the poverty which became rampant today, but I disagree with his claims
that it is because of the implementation of Spanish military policy where in fact, it is because of
having weak governance throughout the years after the Philippines achieved its independence. I
also agree with his claims that Catholicism and Spanish tradition dominate our own culture, but I
disagree when Rizal added his claim about the disappearance of indigenous Filipino tradition and
culture because in this era, many indigenous people still embodied their own culture, and the
government also implemented some laws to protect the rights as well as to preserve the culture of
Indigenous groups.

I have also pointed out some of the similarities between his vision of the country’s
future and what the Philippines have now. Rizal was right when he envisioned that the
Philippines would have a massive revolt against the Spaniards when Filipinos realize how brutal
the Spaniards were towards them. Moreover, he also predicted it right when the Philippines was
colonized by other countries such as Japan and America. Hence, in 1898, the Americans wins the
Philippines against the Spaniards, and it was in 1942-1945 that Japan colonized the country.

In conclusion, the vision of Rizal regarding the future of the Philippines serves as one of
the most significant political works of the movement in Spain which aimed to awaken the
nationalism and patriotism of the Filipinos. These also serve as a reminder to Spain regarding
their wrongdoings in the Philippines which have harmed historical customs, traditions, memories
writings, as well as other Filipino fields.