Jasper T.

Dela Cruz BIST201A

1. Provide a brief description of who an Ilustrado was.

They were middle class Filipinos who had been exposed to liberal
and nationalist European beliefs while studying in Spain for a large portion
of their schooling. Under Spanish direction, the Ilustrado elite sought
change through "a more equitable distribution of both political and
economic power. This group included native-born intellectuals who bridged
racial and ethnolinguistic borders, including Indios, Insulares, and Mestizos.
2. What did Rizal do in Europe?
For the next five years, he traveled around Europe, bringing up
politics wherever he went. While pursuing a medical degree at the
University of Heidelberg, he wrote the famed novel Noli me Tangere, which
was published in 1886. In it, he condemned the Catholic Church in the
Philippines for promoting Spanish colonialism.
3. Were there other Filipinos with the same agenda as he? Justify your
statement.
The wealthy or "ilustrados" would travel to Europe, preferably Madrid,
the capital of Spain, and stay there to learn more about Spanish traditions
and culture in order to eventually assimilate or be accepted by more
tolerant or educated Spaniards and possibly avoid those who still refer to
them as "Indios," which was always an insulting term. These wealthy
Filipinos established La Liga Filipina, a political, social, and cultural
organization, in the interim with the hope that one day they would be
recognized for their writings, artwork, and other creative endeavors,
especially by people like the Luna brothers, Rizal, and Marcelo del Pilar.
Non-members of this super-rich class would simply remain at home and
study the political ideas of countries like France, Germany, or the United
States. Then, with the intention of producing more or less effective
indigenous clones, they would loosely model their dispersed groupings
after these ideas. The underlying coherence of these organizations was
rebellious, in contrast to the group(s) in Spain who favored diplomacy over
insurrection.
4. Why did these young Filipinos become expatriates?
According to Expat Insider 2021 by InterNations, 61% of Filipino
expats name their careers as the primary reason for leaving their home
country. Only 47% of working expats in the world moved for professional
reasons. Filipino nationals who currently or in the past have lived overseas.
However, individuals who were located abroad and had citizenship in the
host country are excluded, even though they make up the bulk of foreign
Filipino employees.