Republic of the Philippines

Western Mindanao State University

Zamboanga City

The Philippines: A Century Hence

(Manila, 1912)

Hussin, Shermahal

Imdani, Reema Rayne

Isnang, Czarianne

Jaljis, Al-Raqib

Unding, Fatima Aleeza

December 2022
 ABSTRACT

The Philippines: A Century Hence, or “Filipinas dentro de Cien Años” is an essay written
by the Philippine national hero Jose Rizal, which supplements his great novels, “Noli Me Tangere”
and its sequel, “El Filibusterismo”. The essay entails Rizal’s forecast on the future of the
Philippines within a hundred years. It was originally published in the Filipino fortnightly review,
“La Solidaridad” in Madrid from September of 1889 to January of 1890.

One of the main references used in this paper is the essay itself by Dr. Jose Rizal which
was digitalized by the Internet Archive in 2008. Another one is the eBook version uploaded by
The Project Gutenberg in 2011 by Jeroen Hellingman. These references were used diligently as
primary sources, and as basis for in-depth analysis of Rizal’s work.

Rizal’s essay served as a reminder to Spain of their wrongdoings in the Philippines, which
have greatly left an impact and harmed historic customs, memories, and writings, as well as other
Filipino fields. His main focus is to expose the evils of colonial rule that engulfed the country at
the time, and to find a possible future solution to that evil. Rizal mentioned numerous eventualities
for the ways the Philippines would possibly evolve over the next century: first of which is that our
country would remain a Spanish colony. Second, if Filipinos persevered to be exploited and
abused, they might unavoidably revolt towards Spain. Lastly, after Spain’s presence in the country
is extinguished, the Philippines might be conquered by another country. In addition to those
predictions, Rizal also addressed numerous problems concerning the Philippines which includes
human rights violations, a loss of press freedom, and a loss of representation withinside the Spanish
government.
 I

Analysis of the Past and the Effects of Spanish Colonization

In this section, it was discussed how little time had passed since they had been a part of the
Spanish crown before they had to support the wars and conquest ambitions of the Spanish people
with their blood and the labor of their sons. During these struggles, during the terrible crisis that
occurs when a people change its form of government, usages, customs, religion, and beliefs, the
Philippines were depopulated, impoverished, and retarded, lacking confidence in their history and
faith in the future. The people, who had no love for the former rulers and had no concept of what
liberty was, easily changed masters, perhaps in the hopes of benefiting from the innovation. The
former rulers, who had only attempted to secure the fear and submission of their subjects,
habituated by them to servitude, fell like leaves from a dead tree.

Then the Filipino people entered a new age. In order to memorize other doctrines, which
they did not understand, other ethics, and other tastes that were different from those instilled in
their race and their way of thinking, they gradually lost their ancient traditions, their memories,
and they forgot their writings, songs, poetry, and their laws. Then there was a collapse; they lost
respect for themselves and started to feel ashamed of what made them uniquely themselves in
favor of admiring and praising what was foreign.

After that, centuries and years passed. Despite the fact that the entire system was later
established and implemented with unwavering persistence, religious performances, eye-catching
rituals, songs, lights, images adorned with gold, worship in a foreign tongue, and sermons managed
to mesmerize the already inherently superstitious spirit of the land but were unable to eradicate it
completely.

As soon as the desired outcome became apparent, it was assumed to be true, the race was
insulted, and efforts were made to deny it every virtue and human quality. Some writers and priests
even took the campaign a step further by attempting to deny to the country's residents not only the
ability for virtue but also the tendency to vice. With the insults, enormous endurance reached its
peak, and the spirit's alternative state was awakened. Filipinos' sensitivity, the primary
characteristic of a native, was touched, and while they had the fortitude to suffer and die under a
foreign flag, they did not have it when those they served insulted and made fun of them in return
for their sacrifices. Then they started to examine themselves and understood tragedy. Those who
had not anticipated this outcome, like all tyrannical masters, viewed every complaint and protest
as wrong and punished them with death in an effort to quiet every sob of anguish. They made
mistake after error.

Because of abuses and the foolish attempts of some classes to crush noble and charitable
impulses, the people's spirit was not so subdued. In fact, even though it had only been ignited in a
small number of hearts, its flame was nonetheless spread across society.

Throughout all of this period, there were undoubtedly both good and noble individuals
from the dominating race who strove to fight for the rights of humanity and justice, as well as vile
and cowardly individuals from the dominated who helped to degrade their own nation. However,
both instances were outliers.

II

What will become of the Philippines within a century? Will they continue to be a Spanish
colony?

In his essay, Rizal begun the second part with the question “what will become of the
Philippines within a century? Will they continue to be a Spanish colony?”. He answered these
questions differently. For those who are enthusiastic over the liberty of the country, independence
was guaranteed for them; and for those who were disillusioned by the miseries caused by wars
would remain imprisoned in the colony. At that time, discord justified pessimism. However, three
centuries have passed, and each new generation, who were born in the chains of the colony, have
adapted to the new order of things. According to Rizal’s essay, the liberal Spaniards believed that
Filipinos would not have advanced. The friars and their followers believed that people progressed
and Filipino ethics assumed that the people have retrograded. Spaniards during this time were
judged harshly. According to Umali (2020), Felipe de Salcedo would describe the Filipinos as
“hostile” and “treacherous.” Three centuries ago, the Spanish authority was upheld among the
natives by a handful of soldiers; the Filipinos have remained faithful, giving up their liberty and
independence, placing their confidence in the priests. During the Spanish colonial era, the
Philippine colony was governed by Spaniards, by laws made in Spain, and for the only advantage
of their mother country. The Filipinos were only limited in minor offices, no benefits of public
education and their rights were given to them, even their wishes were almost completely ignored
(American Historical Association, n.d.). Rizal stated that the progress in the country may be
prevented if the brutalization of the masses through a caste addicted to the government; another
would be the impoverishment of the country, and the gradual extermination of the inhabitants.

III

Freedom of Press and Spanish Injustices

In this part of the essay, the first of Rizal's hypothetical scenarios for the Philippines'
development over the following century was that it would continue to be a Spanish colony. Second,
Filipinos would unavoidably rebel against Spain if they were to continue being exploited and
mistreated. Finally, the Philippines might be occupied by another nation after Spain's influence in
the region is eliminated. Aside from such forecasts, Rizal also discussed a number of problems
that our nation has, such as a lack of press freedom, human rights violations, and an inadequate
representation in the Spanish government. (Benavides,2022)

Governors and rulers were trying to introduce reforms. An example would be the freedom
of press in order to express their grievances and recommendations This would also be a method of
staying in contact with the public's viewpoint while working toward a better and reformed nation.
However, injustice reasons of the Spanish government, it produced minimal results, the Philippines
was likely reminded of Sancho Panza and Pedro Rezio analogy, in which Sancho was appointed
and he was given many fruits and dishes however Pedro Rezio Intervened and took away the dishes
and mentioned he should only consume on what the island customs needs him to consume. but
with every dish there was something wrong, some too hot, some too cold. Baldoza (2012) stated
that Rizal made this analogy on putting that the Philippines was Sancho and the dishes were the
reforms and Mr. Rezio is played by the Spanish government They do not want us to touch the
dishes perhaps they wanted to get the benefits for themselves. The minister must first declare press
freedom in the Philippines before reforms may be implemented.
 The injustices worth mentioning are that the Spanish government doesn't want to appoint
Filipino officials in the government, this is the reason why the reforms were not fair to the Filipino
citizens. The Spanish government does not want Filipinos to be appointed to a seat because it
believes that Filipinos are rowdy, lack discipline, and occasionally get out of control. It also
believes that Filipinos are political trimmers who lack a solid position and opinion and cannot
behave appropriately.

The Philippines will only continue to be governed by Spain if they are given press freedom,
respect from the populace, and liberal policy without misinterpretation. Otherwise, if an attempt
was made to exploit the resources and manpower of Filipinos for the benefit of the Spanish
government, Filipinos won't turn a blind eye. At the end of the essay Rizal stated “In contemplating
such an unfortunate eventuality, we must not turn away in horror, and so instead of closing our
eyes we will face what the future may bring. For this purpose, after throwing the handful of dust
due to Cerberus, let us frankly descend into the abyss and sound its terrible mysteries.” this only
proves that if this isn’t solved by legal and peaceful means the people will be forced to go against
the Spanish government through violent actions.

IV

Breaking Free from Colonization

This essay, which was published in La Solidaridad in Madrid between September 30, 1889,
and February 1, 1890, begins by examining the different reasons why the Spanish colonization of
the Philippines resulted in the suffering of the Filipino people, including Spain’s implementation
of her military policies where the military practices that were implemented caused a significant
decline in the population of the Philippines. Farmlands were neglected, and poverty spread like
wildfire. Every facet of Filipino culture was regressive, including the family's role as a social unit,
the deterioration and disappearance of Filipino indigenous culture where the slow eradication of
native Philippine culture after the invasion of Spain with its sword and cross. As a result, the
Filipino people began to doubt their present way of life, lose faith in their past and ancestry, and
eventually give up on their future and the continuation of their race and Filipinos passivity and
submissiveness to the Spanish colonizers where the Spanish friars were one of the most potent
factors in the development of a culture of silence among the indigenous people. The Filipinos
learned to surrender to the will of the foreigners as a result of the use of force.

The Philippines: A Century Hence reveals Rizal's daring prediction of how the country
would develop during the following century. Rizal outlined a clear vision of where the Philippines
would be centuries from now. He suggested that one of three outcomes would be possible: either
the Philippines would continue to be a colony of Spain while maintaining cordial relations with its
captors; either the Philippines would violently attempt to sever its ties with its captors; or the
Philippines would be colonized by another nation (Saplad, 2012).

Because of the struggle between Spain, the Filipinos are demanding for reform from the
Spaniards in this essay. The paper states that the Philippines has a representative in the Spanish
court and is free to request some reforms. The Rizal La Liga Filipina is mentioned in the revision.
"Spain, shall we someday tell Filipinas that thou hast no ear for her miseries and that if she wishes
to be rescued, she must redeem herself?" Rizal questioned at the conclusion.

The indigenous people eventually came to understand that such persecution by foreign
colonists in their civilization could no longer be tolerated. Maintaining the populace's naivety and
ignorance had failed. Great minds from the Philippines were still emerging from the ruins as the
national consciousness continued to rise. Keeping the populace in poverty was likewise fruitless.
The Filipinos, on the other hand, had been able to act on their desire for a change in their way of
life thanks to suffering in continuous destitution. They started looking into alternative perspectives
for how they might advance.

As an alternative to impeding progress, destroying the population did not succeed either.
The Filipino race was able to endure conflict and starvation, however it increased in size as a result
of these tragedies. Thousands of Spanish soldiers would need to be sacrificed in order to
completely destroy the nation, and Spain would not let this happen. The accumulation of injustices
would have benefited and strengthened Spain's moral character had it succeeded in eradicating the
Filipino people by keeping them ignorant and poor. This demonstrates that it is not possible to
eradicate the Filipino population.
 Therefore, Spain lacked the tools necessary to halt the nation's development. It needs to
alter its colonial practices to conform to the demands of Philippine society and the burgeoning
nationalism of the populace. Rizal's essay's ideal became reality. The Americans fought Spain for
control of the Philippines in 1898 and eventually won the conflict. They ruled during a democratic
and free period. (Baldoza,2012)
 Bibliography

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dentro de cien años (1905). Retrieved, December 11, 2022, from:

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Baldoza, W. (2012). Part 4: The Philippines a Century Hence. Filipinas de cien anos.

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https://www.slideshare.net/WilfredoBaldoza/part-4-the-philippines-a-century-hence-

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Benavides, J. (2022). The Philipppines a century hence. Polytechnic University of the

Philippines. Retrieved, December 11, 2022 from

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/357620641_The_Philippines_a_Century_Hence

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Jose Rizal. Retrieved, December 11, 2022, from

https://www.gutenberg.org/files/35899/35899-h/35899-h.htm