Alienation of the Filipino's through Capitalism in the 18th Century: Analyzing Rizal's

Message for the Filipinos in Mi Ultimo Adios

Abstract

This paper tackles about the message of Rizal’s Mi Ultimo Adios in terms of Rizal showing

how the Filipino’s were alienated back then as he may have also experienced it and this will result

to him fighting for the rights of the Filipino to gain their freedom and identity in their own land.

This will be done using Karl Marx’s concept of Alienation to see the meaning under Rizal’s use

of creative speech in the poem. Trough knowing the underlying message of the poem in these

terms, Mi Ultimo Adios may bring new meaning for the Filipino’s about their freedom and make

them realize the freedom that they have and they have the right to fight for it.

Introduction

Mi Ultimo Adios, a poem of significance and symbolism, depicting the hope for his country

and that his fellow countrymen would continue his work. Dr. Jose Rizal had written the poem

hoping that his sacrifice and love for his motherland, along with the sacrifice of many others along

him would influence the youth one day to be of their own. The poem was written on the night of

his execution on December 30, 1896, when he was imprisoned in Fort Santiago, Intramuros, after

being charged with conspiracy, treason, and rebellion, in which he was convicted on all three

charges, and was then sentenced to death by the firing squad. Mi Ultimo Adios was written

unsigned, undated, and untitled. The day before his execution, on the afternoon of December 29,

1896, his mother Teodora Alonzo and his sisters, Narcissa, Josefa, Trinidad, Maria, and Lucia

visited Dr. Jose Rizal and when they are about to leave, Dr Jose Rizal told Trinidad that he left a
small letter inside the small alcohol stove, in which the Mi Ultimo Adios was written. According

to Kapitbisig (2009), The lamp was not delivered until after the execution. Rizal needed it to light

the room and to be able to write the poem and his other parting words. It showed in the poem his

nationality and undying love for his country. The poem was originally written in Spanish and it

consists of 14 five-line stanzas.

One of the events that were relevant to his work was when the friars had taken hold of his

family’s land once again. Although they had been loaned the land and were friends with the

Dominicans, once the first installation of his work had been sent to the Philippines for all to see,

Rizal quickly became the enemy of the church. In this act of the friars,

it can be seen as an act of capitalism. They had mortgaged the land to the family of the

Rizals, thus being able to make a way to legally earn money. According to Aguilar (1992) Rizal

was obviously thinking about the Hacienda de Calamba and the troubles that his family, started to

experience in the 1880s. The troubles would culminate in the banishment of Rizal’s family from

the Dominican hacienda in 1891.

The researchers believed that the Filipino's are oppressed by the Spaniards, the colonizers.

As Rizal is a Filipino and part of the oppressed, this is the reason why he strived for his goals to

redeem back the Filipino's identity and be free from oppression. By this paper may it serve its

purpose to let Filipino's know about their rights as citizens and would not be taken advantage of

by those in power. Through understanding how the Filipino's were oppressed and how Rizal can

relate to that is the reason for his motives and fight for it until the end.

This study seeks to answer the following questions:

1. How did Rizal expressed the alienation of the Filipino’s in the poem?

2. What particular line showed that Filipino's are being oppressed Spaniards?
 3. Was Rizal’s motive to gain freedom was due to him experiencing alienation?

Discussion

Conceptual Framework

This study will be based using Karl Marx's Concept of Alienation through capitalism to

see if the Filipino's were really alienated by the Spaniards through Capitalization and resulted to

oppression. As these will be used to relate in Rizal's life and find answers that this paper seeks.

Karl Marx claimed that through capitalism the people are being alienated.

As capitalism means that the production is crucial to the economy thus it is so important

that all means must be taken in order to produce. Usually those who are ruled by capitalist leaders

divide their people into distinct classes. Those who own their land as their property and the workers

who do labor work in order to produce. As these classes were introduced to the people. People

doesn't have a choice but to comply mainly because it is in their nature to adapt. Marx stated the

involvement the behavior of human beings being dependent on other humans. As humans must

interact with each other or adapt to the transformation of their environment in order to survive.

With the division of these classes and the owner being in an advantage to control the profit of their

workers, it was further stated that workers are at a disadvantage as they are being alienated from

the products of their labor and their own labor. As Marx further explained that the humans should

be doing their work freely but instead, they are being forced as it has become a necessity to keep

themselves alive. Their products that came up from their work should be owned by them but

instead it was being divided to other people as they live in these two classes.
 Since capitalism runs back in the 18th century and was experienced in the Philippines.

Rizal must have been involved in this as such he seeks to gain freedom for his country that were

being constructed by their own nature to live and to think on their own.
Methodology

The researchers will determine what part in Rizal's Mi Ultimo Adios was the Alienism of

the Filipinos' were expressed and a particular line that shows it was by the Spaniards. These will

then be reduced to the point that Rizal's motive was due to these reasons. For this to be obtained,

the researchers will then base their study in the Modern English Translation of Mi Ultimo Adios

by Edwin Agustin Lozada as the words used are much easier to be comprehended by the others

and by the common readers. Evidence pointing out the relation of the part of the poem to Karl

Marx's Concept of Alienation will be obtained through articles and events that shows the topic’s

connection to each other. The data that will be collected through this analysis will be presented in

a table to narrow down the point and obtain the answers that are needed for the objective of this

paper.

Results and Discussion

The compiled data was analyzed by the researchers and was then interpreted and correlated

to Karl Marx's Concept of Alienism. The point, together with the evidences, will be discussed

under each table to better understand what has gone through the researchers’ analysis. As these

were the findings that are meant to answer this papers questions. These will be presented through

the table below, which was divided into three, the stanza or part from the poem, the interpretation

of the researchers and Karl Marx’s Concept of Alienism in relation to that part of the poem.
Table 1. Analysis of Rizal’s use of expression in the alienation of the Filipino’s

Part from the Interpretation Karl Marx’s Alienism

Poem

Pray for all the Since the Filipino families have suffered, Workers are alienated from the

unfortunate ones they experience pain and if they stand up act of labor.

who died, to at least fight for their rights they were

“Repetitive work is tiring and
tormented. They continue to seek
For all who only suited for machines who
redemption as Rizal asked them to pray
suffered torments are not freely conscious, when
for it.
unequalled, humans dwelled into it they

may seek human freedom.”

For our poor

mothers who in

their grief and

bitterness cry,

For orphans and

widows, for

prisoners in

torture,

And for yourself

pray that your

 final redemption

you’ll see.

Stanza no.9

According to the book The Life and The works of Rizal (2019), the Inquilinato system was

introduced where the social class are divided into three The Landlords at the top, which are the

Spanish Friars, the Inquilinos, who rents the land from the landlords, and at the bottom the

Kasamas which are the sharecroppers of the Inquilinos, the one responsible for cultivating the

land. In the introduction of the system, many Filipinos believed that the Friars do not have the

right to own the lands as they were obtained through corruption. Failure to comply will result in

expulsion in the land. Furthermore, according to Tonogbanua, C. (2011), there was the neglect in

the Philippines internal economy due to administrative differences such as extraction of tribute

and forced labour and the Proselytizing Tradition, the spread of Christianity, taking control over
the lands. With these conflicts due to corruption, the Filipinos were taken advantage as they are

required to pay the rent on their own land where they should be able to work freely as it is their

own.

Table 2. Analysis of how Rizal showed the oppression were by the Spaniards.

Part from the Interpretation Karl Marx’s Alienism

Poem

I’ll go where Rizal will be at peace and freedom where Workers are alienated from

there are no there is no one being oppressed, in other human beings

slaves, hangmen heaven. As he will go to the place where

“Under capitalism workers see
nor oppressors, God truly reigns not the faith introduced
each other as opposing
by the friars that imposed all the
Where faith competition; And so it is not the
corruption in the land.
doesn’t kill, proletariat who benefits from

where the one this competition, but

who reigns is capitalists.”

God.

Stanza no. 13,

Line 4-5
 As the Inquilinato System were introduced it was controlled by the friars and thus resulted

to corruption, as if the Inquilinos especially the Kasamas were treated poorly like a slave. In the

article The Two Faces of the 1872 Cavite Mutiny by Pugay C. (2012.) The secular priest tried to

participate in the mutiny were the goal was to give Filipino an education rights so they would gain

knowledge and not be abused. Since these were opposed to the friars, they sent a letter to the

kingdom of Spain where the meaning of the mutiny was slandered by the friars. Thus, the meaning

was misinterpreted into a revolutionary movement by the Filipinos. The scheme was believed to

be true without further investigation, resulting in life imprisonment to the men who participated

and the GOMBURZA were executed.

Summary of the Findings

By reading the translation of Rizal’s Mi Ultimo Adios by Lozada E., the researchers were

able to collect and analyze the data that they needed in order to find the answers that this paper

seeks to conclude. Combining the answers in the first and second question will result to the answer

in the third question, as these questions are interrelated to one another. Thus, this paper may serve

its purpose in analyzing the content of Rizal’s Mi ultimo Adios.

Since most of the happenings in the evidence presented in the data analysis above has

happened in Cavite, the main focus of the Sugar Capitalism. As Rizal lived in Cavite and where

his family is involved, his father being an Inquilino. He must’ve experienced and witnessed the

corruption by the friars and where all of his intention to fight for freedom came from. The Filipinos were
put in a social system where they belong to the taxpayers as they belong on the bottom. On the top where

the friars and the Gobernadorcillos where exempted from paying the taxes as they are the owners of the

land, they collect the rent from the Inquilinos and the kasamas, unable to violate as they will be expelled

from the land. When they seek for change by asking for reformation through education, they received

punishment as they fear they would revolt once they understood how the system works. Since education is

a privilege that Rizal have as he is considered as an Illustrado he stood up for those Filipino’s who cannot

fight for themselves.

With the help of Karl Marx’s concept of Alienation, the researchers were able to show that the

Filipinos experienced alienation by uncovering how Rizal used to introduce them in his farewell. In

addition, it was also shown that the abuse was done by the Spaniards, mainly the Friars as they are the

capitalists and they are the only ones who benefits in the system. Further knowledge given to the Filipinos,

they would be able to stand up for themselves and may result to revolution which is the main thing that the

Spaniards fear.

Conclusion

The family of Rizal was involved in the sugar capitalism, especially his father, who was

an Inquilino. There, he became exposed to the business which had a corrupted system ran by friars.

They became abusive of their power which then led to the oppression of the laborers. In summary

of Marx’s theory of alienation, it refers to the transformation of people’s own labor into a power.

The researchers conclude that due to Rizal’s unfortunate experiences, as he wrote his farewell

letter, he referred to Marx’s theory of alienation when he asserted the injustice and maltreatment

of the friars towards the Filipino people.

 The whole premise of Mi Ultimo Adios was not only to bid farewell but again, to teach

and wake up society. Rizal once again stated all the wrongdoings of the Spaniards, the corruption,

the abuse, and our freedom. It is simply to teach us and inspire the people to fight back against it.

Today, Rizal’s messages are still relevant. However, we are not to fight against foreign countries,

but our own government. The continuous corruption and neglect towards the marginalized are only

some of the battles we must fight for. We should not let the government exploit the poor and the

vulnerable since their job is to provide aid and assistance, and most importantly listen to the

people.
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