CHAPTER 16

“SISA”

A REFLECTION PAPER

In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements

In the Subject GE1804

Rizal’s Life and Works

To be Submitted to

Mr. Jesus Bagol

Submitted by

PABLO, John Johans B.

Date of Submission: 14 November 2022

SISA

Sisa is the mother of the Sacristan my Filipino instructor's interpretation regarding

siblings Crispin and Basilio. They live in a small this chapter is that life loves to play with people.

hut outside the town. They were poor. Sisa She believed that, when you're born poor a lot of

married a lazy, irresponsible gambling addict. struggles will come in you until nothing is left in

The husband would oftentimes be brutally harsh you. She also stated that money back then and

to Sisa. She is a martyr yet no one noticed her especially in our modern society plays a huge

suffering from her husband, who would go to role on how people would treat you. When you

church often. One night, she married a special have money, everyone will look up to you.

dinner, as Tasio the Sage said. This rarely Lastly, she admired how Sisa's character was

happened in their lives. She prepared dried fish written since she symbolizes our motherland

and tomato for Crispin and pork tapa and duck which beauty is taken by its colonizers.

thigh for Basilio. Unfortunately, her children were

unable to return home early to be with Sisa. REFLECTIONS OF THE ISSUE TO MODERN

They will never eat their dinner as her husband SOCIETY

finished everything without consideration. Most of the conflicts in the novel exist

Saddened, she prepared another dried fish for until today's generation that it affects our society

the children who are expected to arrive. and the country. The problems presented in this

However, it was late at night and they were chapter and somehow presented in our current

unable to return home. She stood up late at society are injustice, poverty and abuse. Sisa's

night until Basilio came and called her. unfortunate situation by her abusive husband is

still happening up to this day. The reason why

INTERPRETATION DURING JUNIOR HIGH many people believe that it is time to legalise

SCHOOL divorce in the Philippines, however as usual, the

As far as I remember during high school, Catholic Church does not approve due to the
fact that it ruins families and remarrying after a movie will always be remembered. It reminds

divorce is a sin. In my opinion, divorce should be me of Sisa, a loving mother of Crispin and

implemented in the Philippines simply because it Basilio. I've chosen Chapter 16 since Sisa is one

is a civil rights but the government fails to of the characters that showed bravery

recognise it as a need for its millions of citizens, throughout her time, most especially when a

specially by those who are among the woman back then had less advantage in society.

disadvantages. Which makes us into the next Sisa is also one of the unluckiest character in

problem which is injustice and poverty. Justice the novel. Pedro her husband abuses her and

will never be served from those who are poor. A their children, she lost Crispin due to Prayle's

word from a priest and Crispin was taken away punishment for a sin he didn't commit, she also

by Sisa that easily without any proper and legal lost Basilio which made her mentally ill, and

process, because if you are poor justice is just a when she nearly saw Basilio after so many

word you won't get to experience. It is still years, she dies. I can't imagine the pain Sisa felt

happening today, a perfect example is the in those events in her life.

controversial video of a policeman, who has a

sworn duty to protect citizens who pulled the In addition, one of the reasons why I

trigger on the defenceless. It became viral chose this chapter is because of my mother who

because the policeman and her daughter just is also as strong as Sisa. Despite many of the

walked away in the scene just like nothing problems that nearly made her surrender, she

happened. Poverty leads to injustice, in fact still stands tall. To be honest, I hate that at some

there are hardly any social problems that cannot point in my life I made Sisa's situation a laughing

be made by worse poverty. stock wherein people should feel proud of her,

learn her and should be inspired by her story. In

PERSONAL REFLECTION modern times, mental health issues are common

"I don't believe that people who lost in from ages 15 to 30 years old and I am here to

their own battles aren't strong, live longer and tell everyone that it is not something we should

you'll see that life will make you weak." Though I laugh about. People with conditions like this

can't remember the title at all, this line from that should be given serious help which Sisa had a
difficult time getting. Sisa is thought to have

represented the motherland who was suffering b. Are the problems presented in Noli Me

as her character have suffered with the loss of Tangere somehow present in our society?

her children. The tragic events that ruined her The culture of corruption has remained,

life represented the abuse that the motherland nothing much has changed. As seen from the

received from her colonizers. novel how corrupt most of the friars are, some

politicians in the Philippines somehow mirror

a. How does Noli Me Tangere Impact our these friars. Since Gloria's administration,

current society? corruption has risen. Duterte and Aquino did

To answer this question, as a person who nothing more effectively to diminish it. In the

doesn't believe in religion because it divides Philippines, all politicians are prone to

people and creates conflicts, the primary reason corruption. I'd rate my level of corruption an 8 on

I noticed regarding how the novel impacts our a scale of 1 to 10 since it is highly corrupt, and

society is the fact that some people begin to the rest of the world may be aware of how

second-guess their beliefs due to the fact that horrible it is.

"Church is the root of all evil" as protays in the

LAND OWNERSHIP IN THE COUNRTY
novel. Also, the Church is more powerful than
This is the main problem in the Philippines
the government so it is easy for them to make
the unequal distribution of land. There are
changes in their community whenever they
several problems as to why landownership is
want, which of course will negatively impact
unjust. First, you don’t know that you truly own
those who live in poverished area. In our society
land in the Philippines until well after you’ve sold
today, the only major problem I see with
it. Second, foreigners are not allowed to own
Catholicism is that there’s supposed to have
land. Third, squatters are given legal rights that
separation of church and state but in Philippines
violate the owner’s rights. And lastly, people
the rules against abortion and birth control is
have their property taken from them by the
being prevented by none other than the
government and given to others. As shown in
churches. It prevents the Philippines from
the novel, during the Spanish colonization lands
progressing as a country.
were divided and granted to Spanish settlers or
soldiers in exchange of protecting the land from Tangere”). (2022, November 12).

invaders, this is called encomiendas. KapitBisig.com.https://www.kapitbisig.com/philip

Technically, they do not own the land. pines/noli-me-tangere-the-social-cancer-by-dr-

jose-rizal-a-complete-english-version-chapter-

REFERENCES 16-sisa-english-version-of-noli-me-

Rizal, J. (2006, June 27). Noli Me Tangere tangere_737.html

(Touch Me Not) by Jose Rizal: 9780143039693 |

PenguinRandomHouse.com: Books. Poverty in the Philippines: Causes, Constraints

PenguinRandomhouse.com/https://www.pengui and Opportunities. (2022, November 7). Asian

nrandomhouse.com/books/291131/noli-me- Development Bank.

tangere-touch-me-not-by-jose-rizal/ https://www.adb.org/publications/poverty-

philippines-causes-constraints-and-opportunities

Rey, M. V. (2021, March 23). Chapter 16 Noli

Me Tangere – “Sisa” (SUMMARY). Philippine Inquirer, P. D. (2022, September 20). Weeding

News. https://philnews.ph/2021/03/22/chapter- out corruption. INQUIRER.net.

16-noli-me-tangere-sisa-summary/ https://opinion.inquirer.net/157129/weeding-out-

corruption

Chapter 16: Sisa (English version of “Noli Me