RIZAL'S

PHILOSOPHIES
Group 9
 Topics Included
Rizal's Philosophies as shown in
Three Essays

Rizal's Ideas on what a Government

should be

Rizal's Thoughts on Revolution

Rizal's Thoughts on Human Dignity

Rizal's Challenge to the Youth

 RIZAL'S
PHILOSOPHIES AS
SHOWN IN THREE
ESSAYS

 RIZAL'S PHILOSOPHIES AS SHOWN IN THREE ESSAYS

The Philippines a Century Hence

- to forecast the future of the country within a hundred years

- published in La Solidaridad
- whether or not Spain can indeed prevent the progress of the
Philippines
 RIZAL'S PHILOSOPHIES AS SHOWN IN THREE ESSAYS

The Philippines a Century Hence

“History does not record in its annals any lasting domination by

one people over another, of different races, of diverse usages and

customs, of opposite and divergent ideas. One of the two has to

yield and succumb.”

 RIZAL'S PHILOSOPHIES AS SHOWN IN THREE ESSAYS

La Indolencia de los Filipinos

The Indolence of the Filipinos - English Version

The alleged idleness of his people during the Spanish colonization

Admits the existence of indolence among the Filipinos
Traces its causes to factors such as the climate and social disorders
Defends the Filipinos by saying that they are not indolent by nature
 RIZAL'S PHILOSOPHIES AS SHOWN IN THREE ESSAYS

La Indolencia de los Filipinos

Indolence therefore has more deeply rooted causes such as

abuse and discrimination, inaction of the government, rampant
corruption and red tape, wrong doctrines of the church and
wrong examples from some Spaniards who lead lives of
indolence which ultimately led to the deterioration of Filipino
values.
Main causes of indolence to the limited training and
education Filipino natives receive and to the lack of
national sentiment and unity among them.

Education and liberty would be the cure to Filipino

indolence
 RIZAL'S PHILOSOPHIES AS SHOWN IN THREE ESSAYS

’
Rizal s Letter to the Young Women of Malolos

Written in Tagalog when he was residing in London

(Sa Mga Kababayang Dalaga sa Malolos)

Expresses great joy and satisfaction over the battle they had fought

His ultimate desire was for women to be offered the same

opportunities as those received by men in terms of education
 RIZAL'S PHILOSOPHIES AS SHOWN IN THREE ESSAYS

’
Rizal s Letter to the Young Women of Malolos

On December 12, 1888, a group of 20 young women, daughters of well-

to-do citizens of Malolos petitioned Gov. Gen. Valeriano Weyler
(successor of Gov. Gen. Terrero) for permission to open a “night school” so
that they might study Spanish under Teodoro Sandiko.

Fr. Felipe Garcia, objected so that the Gov. Gen. turned down the petition

However, the young women, in defiance to the friar’s wrath, bravely

continued their petition for putting up the school – a thing unheard of
in the Philippines during those times.
 RIZAL'S PHILOSOPHIES AS SHOWN IN THREE ESSAYS

’
Rizal s Letter to the Young Women of Malolos

They finally succeeded in obtaining government approval to their

project on condition that Señorita Guadalupe Reyes should be their
teacher

A great stir in the Philippines and in far away Spain.

Del Pilar, writing in Barcelona on February 17, 1889, requested Rizal

to send a letter in Tagalog to the brave women of Malolos, to give
them a boost in their task of promoting their country’s welfare.

In a letter dated February 22, 1889, he congratulated

the young women of Malolos for their exceptionally
courageous behavior.
 RIZAL'S PHILOSOPHIES AS SHOWN IN THREE ESSAYS

’
Rizal s Letter to the Young Women of Malolos

He was happy to learn that at last a group of young women in his country had
emerged to seek identity and dignity.

Goodness did not consist in blind obedience to the whims of the friars but in
pure consciousness of good judgment that would “only obey what is
reasonable and just.”
 RIZAL'S PHILOSOPHIES AS SHOWN IN THREE ESSAYS

’
Rizal s Letter to the Young Women of Malolos

Here are some timely good pieces of advice given by Rizal

Important indeed are the duties that women must fulfill in order to relieve the
country of her sufferings, but they are not beyond the strength and character of the
Filipino women to perform.

If she is a young woman, let the young man love her not only for her beauty or the
sweetness of her disposition but also for the firmness of her character, her lofty ideas
that invigorate and encourage the weak and timorous men or arouse brilliant ideas.
 RIZAL'S PHILOSOPHIES AS SHOWN IN THREE ESSAYS

’
Rizal s Letter to the Young Women of Malolos

The young woman should ask the man she is going to love for a noble and
honorable name, a manly heart that can protect her weakness, a noble mind that will
not permit him to be the father of slaves.

When she becomes a wife, she should help her husband in every difficulty,
encourage him, share with him all perils, console him and drive away his woes,
always bearing in mind that a heroic heart can endure any suffering and no legacy is
as bitter than the legacy of infamy and slavery.
 RIZAL'S PHILOSOPHIES AS SHOWN IN THREE ESSAYS

’
Rizal s Letter to the Young Women of Malolos

The women must raise their children close to the image of the true God. “The
mother who can teach nothing else but how to kneel and kiss the hand should
not expect any other kind of children but stupid ones or oppressed slaves."

They must awaken and prepare the mind of every child for very good and desirable
idea - love, honor, sincere and firm character, clear mind, clean conduct, noble action,
love of one’s fellowmen, respect for God. Teach these to your children
 RIZAL'S PHILOSOPHIES AS SHOWN IN THREE ESSAYS

’
Rizal s Letter to the Young Women of Malolos

They must fortify the character of their children against any difficulty, strengthen
their hearts against any danger.

They must teach their children to guard and love their honor, to love their native
land, and perform their duties. They must repeatedly tell them to prefer death with
honor to a life with dishonor.

Country should not expect honor and prosperity as long as the education of the child
is defective, so long as the women who raise the children are enslaved and ignorant.

Nothing can be drunk in a turbid and bitter spring. No sweet thing can be picked
from sour seed.
 RIZAL'S PHILOSOPHIES AS SHOWN IN THREE ESSAYS

’
Rizal s Letter to the Young Women of Malolos

First. That the tyranny of some is possible only through cowardice and negligence on
the part of others.
Second. Ignorance is servitude, because as a man thinks, so he is

Third. He who loves his independence must first aid his fellowman

Fourth. If the Filipina will not change her mode of being, let her rear no more
children, let her merely give birth to them.
Fifth. All men are born equal, naked, without bonds.

Sixth. Consider well what kind of religion they are teaching you.
Thoughts on the Letter:
Rizal's Idea on
What a
Government
Should Be
 RIZAL'S IDEA ON WHAT A GOVERNMENT SHOULD BE

“governments are made for the good of the people, and in order to accomplish
this purpose properly, it has to follow the suggestions of the citizens who are the
ones who know best their needs. An immoral government corresponds to a
demoralized people, to an administration without a conscience, to rapacious and
servile citizens in the towns, bandits and robbers in the mountains! Like master,
like slaves. Like government, like country.”

-Isagani
 RIZAL'S IDEA ON WHAT A GOVERNMENT SHOULD BE

“"we should consider well to whom we give such unlimited power and authority.
So much power placed in human hands of ignorant and willful men, men without
moral training, without proven honesty, is a weapon placed in the hands of a
madman let loose in an unarmed crowd. I admit, and I want to believe like you
(Ibarra) that the government needs this strong right arm, but it should choose well
from among the most worthy on itself rather than receive it from the people, let it
at least show that it knows how to do so.”

-Elias
 RIZAL'S IDEA ON WHAT A GOVERNMENT SHOULD BE

“If you continue the system of banishments, imprisonments, and sudden assaults
for nothing, if you will punish the Filipinos for your own faults, you will make then
desperate, you take away from them the horror of revolutions and disturbances,
you harden them and excite them to fight…Treat the people well, teach them the
sweetness of peace so that they may adore it and maintain it.”

-Political and Historical Writings

Rizal's Thoughts
on Revolution
 RIZAL'S THOUGHTS ON REVOLUTION

His novels sanctioned

To the Marxists,
As a realist, reforms even when he
revolution is a tragic
Rizal has been had predicted and
necessity, unavoidable warned his readers on
misconceived by his
because they believe that the inevitability and
detractors as necessity of revolution
the ruling class will never
if pleas for reform went
indecisive.
give up without a fight
unheeded.
 RIZAL'S THOUGHTS ON REVOLUTION
Rizal believes in the political
theory of Locke and
Rousseau that revolution
should be the last recourse
of an aggrieved people.
He advocates revolution,
which starts from godliness,
liberation of the people from
superstitions and freedom
from ignorance through
education, morality, dignity,
industry, justice and
perseverance.
 RIZAL'S THOUGHTS ON REVOLUTION

The idea of peaceful struggle

Noli Me Tangere expresses Rizal’s belief the peaceful way of attaining independence.

“If I ever see the multitude armed I would place myself on the side of the
government for in such a mob I should not see my countrymen.”
- Ibarra, Noli me Tangere
 RIZAL'S THOUGHTS ON REVOLUTION

The idea of peaceful struggle

“I would tell you to think well about what you are going to do. You are going to
start a war, for you have money and brains and will easily find many helping hands;
unfortunately, many are discontented. But in this fight which you propose to start,
the defenseless and the innocent will suffer most. The same sentiments which a
month ago led me to ask you for reforms, lead me now to ask you to reflect
further. Our country does not think of independence from the motherland; she
asks nothing more than a small measure of liberty, of justice and of love. The
discontented, the criminal and the desperate will follow you, but the people will
stand apart. I would not follow you myself; I would never resort to these extreme
measures while I could see some hope in man."
- Elias as he spoke to Ibarra
 RIZAL'S THOUGHTS ON REVOLUTION

The idea of peaceful struggle

“I do not mean to say that our liberty will be secured at the swords point, for the
sword plays but a little part in modern affairs, but that we must secure it by
making ourselves worthy of it, by exalting the intelligence and the dignity of the
individuals, by loving justice, right and greatness, even to the extent of dying for
them—and when a people reaches that height, God will provide a weapon, the
idols will be shattered, tyranny will crumble like a house of cards and liberty will
shine out like the first dawn.”
- El Filibusterismo
 RIZAL'S THOUGHTS ON REVOLUTION

Rizal advocated a non-violent revolution

“…the glory of saving a country cannot go to him who has contributed to its
ruin. You believed that what crime and iniquity had stained and deformed,
more crime and iniquity could cleanse and redeem. This was error. Hate
never produces anything but monsters, crime, and criminals. Only love can
work wonders, only virtue can redeem. If our country is someday to be free, it
will not be through vice and crime, it will not be through the corruption of its
sons, some deceived, others bribed; redemption presupposes virtue; virtue,
sacrifice; and sacrifice, love! You fomented social decay without sowing an
idea. From this fermentation of vices can spring only disgust and if
something is born from night to morning, it would be at best a fungus,
because spontaneously, only fungus can be born of trash.
- Fr. Florentino ( El Filibusterismo)
 RIZAL'S THOUGHTS ON REVOLUTION

“… why give them freedom? With or without Spain they would be the same,
and perhaps even worse! Why independence if the slaves of today will be the
tyrants of tomorrow?”
- Fr. Florentino ( El Filibusterismo)
 The idea of change by force

“You are right Elias (in advocating revolution), but men is a creature of
circumstances! Then a month ago, I was blind annoyed—what did I say?
Now I see the horrible cancer which feeds upon this society, which
clutches its flesh and which demands a violent uprooting out.”
- Ibarra, Noli Me Tangere

RIZAL'S THOUGHTS ON REVOLUTION

 The idea of change by force

“A peaceful struggle will always be a dream, for Spain will never learn the
lessons of her South American colonies.”
- Rizal's letter to Blumentritt
“The school of suffering tempers, the arena of combat strengthen souls. I do
not mean to say that our freedom is conquered by the sword’s point, the
sword plays only a little part now in modern destinies, but, yes, we have to
conquer it by being worthy of it, elevating reason and the dignity of the
individual, loving what is just, good, great, even dying for it..”
-Fr. Florentino

RIZAL'S THOUGHTS ON REVOLUTION

 RIZAL'S THOUGHTS ON REVOLUTION

The idea of using force but only as a last resort

“But if the government drives us to them, that is to say, when no other
hope remains to us but seek destruction in war, when the Filipinos
would prefer to die rather than injure longer their misery, then I will
become a partisan of violence. I have lost my hope in Spain”
- Rizal's letter to Blumentritt (June 19, 1881)
“We shall resort to force only when we have exhausted every other
means, when they drive us to the war, to fight or die, when God gives
every man the right to defend himself as best as he can.”
-Rizal's letter to Marcelo H. Del Pilar
 Rizal's
Thoughts on
Human Dignity
 RIZAL'S THOUGHTS ON HUMAN DIGNITY

God gave each one his own mind and his conscience so that he can
distinguish between right and wrong. All are born without chains, free
and no one can be subject to the will of another. Why would you submit
to another your noble and free thought? God, fountain of wisdom, does
not expect man, created in his image, to allow himself to be fooled and
blinded… Men were not created by God to be enslaved, neither were
they endowed with intelligence in order to be misled, nor adorned with
reason to be fooled by others.

-Political and Historical Writings

 RIZAL'S THOUGHTS ON HUMAN DIGNITY

In my opinion, self-esteem is the greatest good that God has endowed

man with for his perfection and purity saving him from many unworthy
and base acts when he forgets the precepts he had learned or had been
inculcated in him. Precisely for me, self-esteem is dignity when it is not
passionate and it is moderated by judgment. It is like the sap that
impels the tree to turn upward in search of the sun, the force that
launches a steamship on its course.

-Miscellaneous Correspondence
 Rizal's
Challenge to The
Youth
“the just and the worthy have to suffer so that
their ideas will become known and
propagated! The vases have to be shaken or
broken for their perfume to spread, the stone
has to be struck for the light to spark! There is
something providential in the persecution of
tyrants…”
- Fr. Florentino
“I die without seeing the dawn brighten over my
native land. You who have it to see, welcome it and
forget not those who have fallen during the night.”
- Elias
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LISTENING!
GROUP 9
LEADER: DANIELLE KATE PEÑARUBIA
MEMBERS: JAYCEL DOMO
JOYCE DINGLASA MERCADO
SHAINA PUERTOLLANO
CHRISTEL JEAN PUIG

GROUP 9