Name: Baguio, Wendy Marie L.

Year & Section: II - A

Subject: Life and Works of Rizal Date: November 23, 2022

1) Compare the issue cited by Rizal mentioned in the article, The Philippines A Century Hence, with the present
conditions we have today and discuss how similar are they.
In the article “The Philippines A Century Hence,” Rizal cited that in the Philippines, there is the abuse of human rights and
the lack of freedom of the press. He stated that the Philippines will remain under Spanish rule, but with more law and liberty,
or they will declare independence after shedding blood for themselves and the mother country. Rizal stated that he only desired
liberty from Spain, not total separation.
In 2020, the Philippines' human rights situation deteriorated. President Rodrigo Duterte's murderous "war on drugs,"
which has been ongoing since he took office in June 2016, has primarily targeted impoverished Filipinos in urban areas.
Thousands of extrajudicial executions have been carried out by the police and unidentified gunmen linked to the police. Killings
increased dramatically during the Covid-19 lockdown, increasing by more than 50% from April to July 2020 when compared to
the previous four months. These killings have almost entirely gone unpunished. Both are similar because Filipinos are abused
and was not able to fight with the armed men or the Spaniards. They were unable to explain their side and was immediately
killed based on unevidenced suspicion.
Regarding the lack of freedom of the press, the Philippine press is commonly perceived to be among the freest in Asia,
but it remains one of the most dangerous places in the world to practice journalism. Press freedom and human rights defenders
continue to denounce the prevailing culture of impunity. News media organizations and journalists have been red-tagged or
accused of being communist sympathizers, and at least two journalists have been arrested and detained. There have also been
cyberattacks launched at the websites of news media organizations in an attempt to prevent them from doing their work. While
the distributed denial-of-service attacks — which overwhelm servers with too many data requests to shut it down — have
been happening since 2018, the most recent attack on two news media organizations was carried out by the Philippine Army.
Both are similar because in relation to the paragraph above, Filipinos now and then are unable to express their opinions
because once they do, they face serious punishment or even death. Also, media and information are controlled in both times
as the Spaniards wanted to prevent Filipinos from acquiring education and information. Same as today, once information
regarding criticism of the government is published, red tagging will happen.

2) Give an example of gender-related problem you can see around. If you are Rizal what advice you can give
them.
My 21 years of my life, and even the advanced world can still witness sexism or other gender-related problem in today’s
world. I have personally witness gender-related problem due to the people around me. They are being very homophobic and
does not even consider to hide their disgust of the LGBTQIA. Additionally, I have seen on social media how people who are
very close-minded, make fun of LGBTQIA individuals who are merely expressing themselves through make-up or dancing.
Lastly, this is a highly debated issue since even from head to toe, women are still subjected to criticisms against their outfit.
Girls and women are generally expected to dress in typically feminine ways and be polite, accommodating, and nurturing. By
dress, society dictates it to be just like a mummy, overly wrapped in cloth. However, women can dress however they want
because it is their body and they should have the power to do whatever with it as long as it does not harm other people. If we
look at it in another perspective, are men the only people allowed to dress lightly and revealing in the hot summer? I don’t
think so because women too feel hot in the prickly heat.
Anyone should be able to do whatever they want as long as it does not violate the safety and rights of other people. My
advice to them is to not stop living even against the hate they receive. Just be you and never stop expressing yourself because
self-expression is as important as living. Fight with expressing yourself because that is the only thing that they shouldn’t and
cannot take away from you.

3) If you are to annotate one book, what would it be?

In relation to our course, I would annotate Rizal’s novel El Filibusterismo because this novel has really touched my heart. When
I was in 9th grade, my teacher taught us that El Filibusterismo is a book of thought. Aside from my love of heroic novels, this
book has urged the Filipinos to face reality and revolt against the Spanish government's oppression and abuse. Furthermore,
I can also relate this book to the current situation of the Philippines. If I were to annotate this book, I would gladly do so,
because just like the time of Spanish colonization, people need to open their eyes and choose a leader who prioritizes his/her
people rather than mere title.