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A Reflection on Historical and Socio-Political Context From Which Rizal

Developed His Thoughts and Actions Against Spanish Oppression and Bigotry -
"The Philippines: A Past Revisit...

Article · June 2022

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Charmaine Mae Catalan Allego

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 Republic of the Philippines

POLYTECHNIC UNIVERSITY OF THE PHILIPPINES

College of Business Administration

A Reflection on Historical and Socio-Political Context

From Which Rizal Developed His Thoughts and Actions

Against Spanish Oppression and Bigotry

“The Philippines: A Past Revisited” by Renato Constantino

by:

Charmaine Mae C. Allego

BS Office Administration 4-1N

to:

Instructor Jacinto Valila Jr.

GEED 10013

Buhay at Mga Sinulat ni Rizal

June 2022
 RIZAL AGAINST SPANISH OPPRESSION AND BIGOTRY

The most common thing that almost everyone in the Philippines know is that our
country’s national hero, Jose Rizal, used his intelligence and talent in his literary works to
express his thoughts on their current situation with the Spanish colonization that involves
a lot of human rights violation like abuses, tortures, rape, illegal detention, and killings.
His major works, like Noli Me Tangere and El Filibusterismo, lighted the Filipino’s hope
for our country’s independence against our oppressors and ignited the revolution. With
that being said, I had the chance to dig deeper about the historical and socio-political
context from which Rizal developed his thoughts and actions against Spanish oppression
and bigotry through Renato Constantino’s “The Philippines: A Past Revisited”.

For context, Renato Constantino was a Filipino historian and a nationalist. He lived
his life as a historian that focuses on re-examining our colonial history for the Filipino
people to use the past as a powerful instrument to face our future nationalism. His works
speaks for Philippines’ national sovereignty, democratic rights, peace, and social justice.
With this purpose, he wrote “The Philippines: A Past Revisited” where it tackled the
situation of the Philippines under colonization that affected the way we live today, and as
the title itself, it is revisiting our country’s past to fully understand it and correct the
misconceptions built through time about the Philippine history.

As I was reading the chapter’s four to twelve of the book, I encountered a lot of
triggers why a Filipino, like Rizal, had the courage to speak up and criticize the treatment
of the Spanish government and the friars of Catholic church to our fellow countrymen. It
is blood boiling to read lines about the abuse and manipulation of our colonizers that
lasted for so long without them being accountable with their wrong doings.
 The chapter four of the reading introduced the expedition of Spaniards to the
Philippines after Magellan’s exploration to our island. The King of Spain disseminated the
job of expediting being financed by his royal treasury to expand their empire. Although,
they sent men like Miguel Lopez de Legazpi to expedite with the use of their own money
with a promise of rewards and honor if they succeeded. This is the start of the Spanish
mindset of taking a task with a great deal of returns and make themselves a great wealth
as conquerors. This agreement for exploration and colonization became the common
deal. Their purpose is to strengthen Spanish sovereignty and enrich people who conquer
territories. They see being an official as an opportunity to enrich themselves quickly that
later became the start of rampant graft and corruption.

If we have taxes today, they have tributes before worth eight reales that the men
aged 19 to 60 needs to pay yearly. Encomienda was the Spanish administrative that
collects this then forward the tributes to friars and government. Officials like
gobernadorcillos are the tribute collectors who abuse their power and collect more tribute.
Those who didn’t pay were abused, tortured, imprisoned, and their properties are
forcefully taken.

Aside from corrupt officials, here comes the two-faced friars who spread Godly
intentions while doing a lot of manipulation and abuses to people. They are one of the
beneficiaries of the tributes, but not being contented, they also became greedy of owning
lands and selling religious ornaments. One of their manipulative acts was offering a
partnership to farmers by giving them money for their farm expenses, then received half
of the harvest. If harvest was poor, friars’ advances and make it a loan payable with
interest. With debts being accumulated, they force farmers to mortgage their land to them
and eventually foreclosed the mortgage. The friars obtained the land title then the farmers
were driven away or became tenants. High taxes, forced higher tributes, rents, forced
labor, and personal services was a clear abuse of friars.
 Then the economy of the Philippines was tackled. For numerous times, it was
raised to abandon the country because of the failed economy, but it was later then
become the transshipment of Galleon trade between Mexico and China. It was mentioned
that China was vital to the betterment of our country’s economy than Spain.

Historically, a lot of resistance against Spanish colonization and forced Catholic

belief was mentioned. First is Lapu-Lapu who eventually killed Magellan. Tamblot who is
a babaylan that encouraged the beliefs for diwata or goddess along with Bangkaw who
was beheaded to scare people with this superstitious belief. Tapar who communicates
with a demon. Sumuroy who was ordered to kill a priest by his babaylan father. Dabao
who was a Manobo chieftain. The Maniago revolt led by Don Francisco Maniago because
of unpaid produce, and many rebels that chose to stay in the mountains to avoid abuses
and the need to pay for the high tributes.

Then the discrimination and injustices received by different kind of people like the
creoles, mestizos, natives, Chinese-mestizos, native priests, and military people were
presented. They all faced different kind of discrimination that is rooted with the problem
with peninsulares, who are Spain born Spaniards, and principales, who are the rich
people. They had different goals that’s why it triggered a lot of protests and revolts in
different places that opened the eyes of the people of who’s the true enemy and united
to fight against it.

Along with this luring discrimination was presenting the clear difference between
ilustrados and the mass. Ilustrados only wants reforms. They wanted to be treated equally
with other Spaniards. While Andres Bonifacio wanted a separation using armed
revolution. To have the revolution, Bonifacio built a group of revolutionary people and
started the revolution in different places. Magdiwang was led by him, but it comes with
another group, which is Magdalo that was led by Emilio Aguinaldo. Tejeros Convention
happened where they were to elect officials. They spoke ill about Bonifacio that’s why
Bonifacio lost the election. Bonifacio’s education was made a big deal for him to be
doubted as a person who can lead and acquire the highest position. Because he lost, and
just nominated to the least position, he denied the said election and his position was
replaced by another person.

These happenings from chapter four to twelve of the book presented different
situations that made me think that any people who are in the situation will definitely try a
way to get in the good side of the Spaniards to stop the mistreatments to Filipinos or fight
for the freedom and independence of the country through revolution to save our
countrymen to the abuses. The historical and socio-political contexts presented caused
the rampant graft and corruption of government officials, exploitation of the people, the
ruthless land grabbing of friars, neglected Philippine economy, fight for a different
religious beliefs, resistance and avoidance to Spanish government, discrimination and
injustices received by different socially classified people, the questioning of the revolution
and Bonifacio’s leadership, and hungriness to be in a desired position to have power.

If all of these things are in front of you, and you decided to close your eyes, that
means you are an enabler, and even though Rizal wanted to have a peaceful negotiation
with the Spaniards to achieve clean government and stop the abuses through a new
reform, he literally wrote his books with a clear representation of these living conditions
under Spanish colonization that maximize people’s thinking of wanting independence and
ways to achieve freedom in the hands of our colonizers. He narrated well how the corrupt
officials and friars use their power to abuse people and make a money out of them. No
wonder why Spanish government and friars were really displeased with Rizal and wanted
him out of their way that leads to his execution. Although I am still thinking of Rizal being
a coward and turned his back to Filipino people to save himself, I am beyond grateful that
his talent in literary writing presented the things he saw and observed with the living
conditions of the Philippines under Spanish regime that later ignited the revolution.
 REFERENCES

Simbulan, R. (2007). Renato Constantino: The Centennial Filipino Scholar, 1919–1999.

Retrieved from https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/00472330080000301

Constantino, R. (1975). The Philippines: A Past Revisited. Retrieved from

https://siagrey.files.wordpress.com/2014/09/the-philippines-a-past-revisited-renato-
constantino.pdf

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