THE LETTER RIZAL
Letter: to the young
women of malolos
THE YOUNG WOMEN OF
MALOLOS
• When the Spaniards came into the
Philippines, they brought with them their
patriarchal values about women which
eventually diffused into Philippine culture.
• There was an idea that men should be the
provider of the family and protector of the
women.
• Filipinos were familiarized to a patriarchal
system of education which emphasized
the domestic value that women were the
property of men.
• December 12, 1888 - a group of twenty
women of Malolos petitioned governor-
general Valeriano Weyler for permission
to open a night school so that they may
study Spanish under Teodoro Sandiko.
• Father Felipe Garcia objected resulting in
the turning down of the petition by the
governor-general
• But these young women courageously
sustained their agitation for the
establishment of the school. They
triumphed in the end and were granted
permission for their project on the
condition that Señorita Guadalupe Reyes
should be their teacher.
• Praising these young women for their
bravery, Marcelo del Pilar requested Rizal
to write a letter commending them for their
extraordinary courage.
TRANSMITTED TO THE YOUNG
WOMEN OF MALOLOS FOCUSED
IN THE FOLLOWING POINTS:
✓ The rejection of the spiritual authority
of the friars;
✓ The defense of private judgment;
✓ Qualities Filipino mothers need to
possess;
✓ Duties and responsibilities of Filipino
mothers to their children;
✓ Duties and responsibilities of a wife to
her husband; and
✓ Counsel to young women on their
choice of a lifetime partner.
• Rizal’s ultimate desire was to afford
Filipino women the same opportunities
men enjoy in education - an education
that will liberate women.
• He emphasized the need for maintaining
the independence of mind and reason. He
urged women to be vigilant over their
rights and not to be docile and passive in
their attitude towards the many injustices
forced upon them.
➢ RESPONSIBILITES OF FILIPINO
MOTHERS TO THEIR CHILDREN
➢ It is the mothers who are
responsible for the present
servitude of our compatriots, owing
to the unlimited trustfulness of their
loving hearts, to their ardent desire
to elevate their sons.
➢ What then was Rizal trying to put
across here?
▪ He was trying to tell the women
that whatever the mother is, would
be her son becomes who can teach
nothing else but kneeling and
 kissing the hand of the friars should
expect children who are not only
stupid but also exploited slaves.
RIZAL’S MESSAGE TO THE
FILIPINO WOMEN
▪ WHAT THEN ARE THE
DUTIES OF THE FILIPINO
MOTHERS TO THEIR
CHILDREN?
✓ To raise children close to the image
of God;
✓ To awaken and prepare the mind of
the child for every good and
desirable idea; and
✓ To teach children to prefer death
with honor than life with dishonor.
▪ RIZAL STRESSED THE
NEED FOR MOTHERS TO
EDUCATE THEIR CHILDREN
ON THE FOLLOWING
VALUES:
✓ Love for honor;
✓ Sincere and firm character;
✓ Clear mind;
✓ Clear conduct;
✓ Noble action; love for one’s
fellowmen; and
✓ Respect for God.
➢ THE QUALITIES OF MOTHERS
HAVE TO POSSESS:
✓ The Filipino mother has to be a
noble wife.
✓ She has to rear her children in the
service of the state. Rizal gives
reference to the women of Sparta
who embody this quality.
✓ A wife has to set standards of
behavior for men around her
✓ 3 basic things a wife must instill in
the mind of her husband:
o activity and industry
o noble behavior; and
o worthy sentiments
✓ Spartan Women: Independent-minded
✓ Empowered Women
✓ Strong, Independent Women
❖ Rizal gave the following advice to a
married woman:
▪ aid her husband;
▪ share his perils;
▪ refrain from causing him to
worry; and
▪ sweeten his moments of
affliction
❖ RIZAL’S ADVICE TO UNMARRIED
MEN AND WOMEN
▪ Rizal was directly telling young
men that in choosing their lifetime
partner, they should not consider
physical beauty nor the
sweetness character of a woman,
but rather give priority to firmness
of character and excellent ideas.
▪ On the other hand, Rizal counseled
young women not to surrender their
womanhood to a weak and timid
heart.
▪ There are 3 things that a young
woman must look for a man she is
going to marry:
o a noble and honored man;
o a manly- heart; and
o a high spirit incapable of
being slave.
 RIZAL’S REMINDERS ON SUMMARY:
EQUALITY, SELF-RESPECT 1. Filipino mothers should teach their
AND TRUE SPIRIT OF children love of God, country and
RELIGION: fellowmen.

1. The tyranny of some is possible only 2. Filipino mothers should be glad and
through cowardice and negligence on honored, like Spartan mothers to offer
the part of others. their sons in defense of their country.

2. What makes one contemptible is lack
of dignity and abject fear of one who
holds one in contempt.
3. Ignorance is servitude, because as a
man thinks, so he is; a man who does
not think for himself and allows himself
to be guided by the thought of another
is like a beast led by a halter.
4. He who loves his independence must
first aid his fellowman because he who
refuses protection to others will find
himself without it.
3. Filipino women should know how to
protect their dignity and honor.
4. Filipino women should educate
themselves aside from retaining their
good racial values.
5. Faith is not merely reciting prayers and
wearing religious pictures. It is living
the real Christian way with good
morals and manners.

5. If the Filipina will not change her mode

of being, let her rear no more children,
let her merely give birth to them. She
must cease to be the mistress of the
home, otherwise she will
unconsciously betray husband, child,
native land and all.

6. All men are born equal, naked, without

bonds. God did not create man to be a
slave; nor did he endow him with
intelligence to have him hoodwinked or
adorn him with reason to have him
deceived by others.

7. Consider well what kind of religion they

are teaching. See whether it is the will
of God or according to the teachings of
Christ that the poor be succored and
those who suffer alleviated.