Module in Life and Works of Rizal 1

UNIT I
THE RIZAL LAW
INTRODUCTION
The way José Rizal is honored as a national hero in the Philippines is
unparalleled in the world. Shrines and monuments dedicated to his figure can be
found all over the archipelago, and his name is often associated with the city's most
prominent street or plaza. Rizal is a university subject because he has become a
symbol of Filipino patriotism.
This Unit discusses the history of RA 1425 or the Rizal Law and its significant
provisions. This will also tackle differing views of the provisions of the original Rizal
bill of Recto and Laurel.
TOPIC LEARNING OUTCOMES

At the end of this Unit, students are expected to:
1. Explain the history of the Rizal Law and its important provisions, and
2. Compare and contrast the views of those in favor and against the RA 1425.
3. Discuss the controversies of the several drafts of a pastoral letter written by
Horacio dela Costa for the bishops in 1952
4. Appreciate the value of studying the life and works of Rizal
WARMING UP
Think of a recent novel/story that you have read. How did you learn from that
study? Apply this experience to Rizal’s writings? How would reading Rizal’s novels
impart patriotism? Reflect on this an discuss to the class.
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LESSON 1: REPUBLIC ACT 1425 OR THE RIZAL LAW
Intended Learning Outcome

At the end of this lesson, students are expected to:
1. Explain the history of the Rizal Law and its important provisions
Lesson Discussion
The Rizal Bill was passed into law as Republic Act No. 1425, sometimes
known as the 'Rizal Law.' The law's full title is "An Act to Include in the Curricula of All
Public and Private Schools, Colleges and Universities Courses on the Life, Works
and Writings of Jose Rizal, Particularly His Novels Noli Me Tangere and El
Filibusterismo, Authorizing the Printing and Distribution Thereof, and for Other
Purposes." A republic act is a law that has already been passed and implemented,
according to the judicial system. A bill, on the other hand, is only a proposed law that
may or may not become law.
Here is the full text of RA 1425:

REPUBLIC ACT NO. 1425
AN ACT TO INCLUDE IN THE CURRICULA OF ALL PUBLIC AND PRIVATE SCHOOLS,

COLLEGES AND UNIVERSITIES COURSES ON THE LIFE, WORKS AND WRITINGS OF
JOSE RIZAL, PARTICULARLY HIS NOVELS NOLI ME TANGERE AND EL
FILIBUSTERISMO, AUTHORIZING THE PRINTING AND DISTRIBUTION THEREOF, AND
FOR OTHER PURPOSES
WHEREAS, today, more than any other period of our history, there is a need for a re-
dedication to the ideals of freedom and nationalism for which our heroes lived and died;
WHEREAS, it is meet that in honoring them, particularly the national hero and patriot, Jose
Rizal, we remember with special fondness and devotion their lives and works that have
shaped the national character;
WHEREAS, the life, works and writing of Jose Rizal, particularly his novels Noli Me Tangere
and El Filibusterismo, are a constant and inspiring source of patriotism with which the minds
of the youth, especially during their formative and decisive years in school, should be
suffused;
WHEREAS, all educational institutions are under the supervision of, and subject to
regulation by the State, and all schools are enjoined to develop moral character, personal
discipline, civic conscience and to teach the duties of citizenship; Now, therefore,
SECTION 1. Courses on the life, works and writings of Jose Rizal, particularly his novel Noli
Me Tangere and El Filibusterismo, shall be included in the curricula of all schools, colleges
and universities, public or private: Provided, That in the collegiate courses, the original or
unexpurgated editions of the Noli Me Tangere and El Filibusterismo or their English
translation shall be used as basic texts.
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The Board of National Education is hereby authorized and directed to adopt
forthwith measures to implement and carry out the provisions of this Section,
including the writing and printing of appropriate primers, readers and textbooks.
The Board shall, within sixty (60) days from the effectivity of this Act, promulgate
rules and regulations, including those of a disciplinary nature, to carry out and
enforce the provisions of this Act. The Board shall promulgate rules and
regulations providing for the exemption of students for reasons of religious belief
stated in a sworn written statement, from the requirement of the provision
contained in the second part of the first paragraph of this section; but not from
taking the course provided for in the first part of said paragraph. Said rules and
regulations shall take effect thirty (30) days after their publication in the Official
Gazette.
SECTION 2. It shall be obligatory on all schools, colleges and universities to keep

in their libraries an adequate number of copies of the original and unexpurgated
editions of the Noli Me Tangere and El Filibusterismo, as well as of Rizal’s other
works and biography. The said unexpurgated editions of the Noli Me Tangere and
El Filibusterismo or their translations in English as well as other writings of Rizal
shall be included in the list of approved books for required reading in all public or
private schools, colleges and universities.
The Board of National Education shall determine the adequacy of the number of
books, depending upon the enrollment of the school, college or university.
SECTION 3. The Board of National Education shall cause the translation of the
Noli Me Tangere and El Filibusterismo, as well as other writings of Jose Rizal into
English, Tagalog and the principal Philippine dialects; cause them to be printed in
cheap, popular editions; and cause them to be distributed, free of charge, to
persons desiring to read them, through the Purok organizations and Barrio
Councils throughout the country.
SECTION 4. Nothing in this Act shall be construed as amendment or repealing

section nine hundred twenty-seven of the Administrative Code, prohibiting the
discussion of religious doctrines by public school teachers and other person
engaged in any public school.
SECTION 5. The sum of three hundred thousand pesos is hereby authorized to be

appropriated out of any fund not otherwise appropriated in the National Treasury to
carry out the purposes of this Act.
SECTION 6. This Act shall take effect upon its approval.
Approved: June 12, 1956
Published in the Official Gazette, Vol. 52, No. 6, p. 2971 in June 1956.
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According to RA1425, all public and private schools, colleges, and
universities should include classes in their curricula about Jose Rizal's life and
writings, particularly his books Noli Me Tangere and El Filibusterismo.
Senator Claro M. Recto drafted the Rizal Bill, which was sponsored in the
Senate by Senator Jose P. Laurel, Sr., then Chairman of the Committee on
Education. They were both noted for their strong sense of patriotism. This
nationalism served as the framework for drafting the republic act, which aimed to free
our country from foreign control and enable us to stand on our own—exactly the
ideas and values that Rizal fought for. It was created for Filipinos, particularly Filipino
youngsters, who may have lost their sense of direction Because teenagers play such
a crucial role in nation building, it is only natural to remind them of the past. The bill
was signed into law on June 12, 1956.
The Rizal Law provides for the following:
1. Requirement for students in the colleges and universities to study the life,
works and writings of Jose Rizal; (Section 1)
2. Requirement for the colleges and universities to have sufficient and
unexpurgated copies of Rizal’s works and writings especially his novels Noli
Me Tangere and El Filibusterismo in their respective libraries; (Section 2)
3. Translation and publication of Rizal’s works to English and the other dialects of
the Philippines in cheap editions and the distribution of his works through the
Purok organizations and Barrio Councils throughout the country; (Section 3)
4. Stipulation that the discussion of Rizal’s idea does not violate the state’s
prohibition of discussion of religious beliefs in the country’s public learning
institutions; (Section 4) and
5. The appropriation of the sum of Php. 300,000.00 for the publication of popular
and cheap editions of Rizal’s works. (Section 5)
This law was clearly produced during a period when patriotism and nationalism
were in short supply and desperately required, and when people were inspired by the
authors' initiative. The Philippines and its population looked to the United States for
direction, assistance, and welfare at this time. It was composed in order to seek
assistance from the same great mind that inspired the Filipinos of the past to struggle
for freedom from colonists, implying that the country may have needed a slow-paced
revolution led by patriotism against dormancy, apathy, and futility in the absence of
invaders.
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LESSON 2: THE TRIALS OF RIZAL LAW

1. Compare and contrast the views of those in favor and
against the RA 1425.
Lesson Discussion
Senator Claro M. Recto proposed the bill in the Philippine Senate called the
Senate Bill No. 438. This was followed the House Bill No. 5561 proposed by
Congressman Jacobo Gonzales. In addition to Recto’s Bill, House Bill No. 5561
aimed to also give importance to study the life of Rizal which results to mandating
schools and universities to inculcate in their curriculum the Life and Works of Rizal.
This was sponsored by Senator Jose B. Laurel who was the Chairperson of the
Committee on Education.
Debates on Senate Bill No. 438 began in April 23, 1956. Senator Jose B. Laurel
was supported by Senator Recto to take side in implementing the bill. They meet
some opposition. The issue was divided into two groups. The “anti-Catholics” was the
group of Recto and Laurel. Their opponents were Senators Mariano J. Cuenco,
Francisco Rodrigo, and Decoroso Rosales. Senator Rodrigo said that he got
dispensation from the Catholic Church to read the two novels of Rizal, Noli Me
Tangere and El Filibusterismo. When he finished reading them, he commented that
he would not allow his 16 year old son in reading the novels since it might confuse
his beliefs. He suggested though, that one should have the guidance of an expert, if
a minor would read it. He further said that the reading of the novels in schools should
be optional so as not violate the right of freedom and right of religion. There is a need
for a written statement to be allowed.
Senator Recto proved to his opponent that the state should require the reading of the
Noli Me Tangere and El Filibusterismo in both public and private schools. He said
that the soul objective of this bill was to foster the better appreciation of Rizal’s times
and of the role he played in combatting Spanish tyranny. He derived that the novels
had any religious motivation, he declared:
“Rizal did not pretend to teach religion or theology when he wrote those
books. He aimed at inculcating civic consciousness in the Filipinos, national dignity,
personal pride, and patriotism, and if references were made by him in the course of
his narration to certain religious practices in the Philippines in those days and to the
conduct and behaviour of erring ministers of the church, it was because he portrayed
faithfully the general situation in the Philippines as it then existed. Nobody can
dispute that the situation described by Rizal in those days, political, social, and
religious, was the one actually obtaining in the Philippines, but while he criticized and
ridiculed the unworthy behaviour of certain ministers of the church, he made
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exceptions in favour of the worthy ones, like the Dominican friar, Padre Fernandez,
and the virtues native pries, Padre Florentino and the Jesuits in general.”
Senator Rodrigo, Rosales, and Cuenco derived much support from the Catholic
Church itself and from its hundreds of thousands of adherents throughout the
country. They invoked the need for unity, which they said would compromise if the bill
were approved. Contending that they were no less lovers of their country because
they were devoted children of their church, Senator Rodrigo remarked:
“A vast majority of our people are the same time Catholics and Filipino
citizens. As such, they have two great loves: their country and their faith. These two
loves are not conflicting loves. They are harmonious affections, like the love of a child
for his father and for his mother.”
“This is the basic of my stand. Let us not create a conflict between

nationalism and religion, between the government and the church.”
The conflict reach the House of Representatives on April 19, 1956 when the
House Bill No. 5561 introduced by Congressman Jacobo Z. Gonzales which was an
identical copy of senate Bill No. 438. Debates started on May 9, 1956 recommending
approval without amendment.
Notable defenders of the bill in the house, besides the author, where
Congressman Emilio Cirtez, Mario Bengzon, Joaquin R. Roces and W. Rancap
Lagumbay. Aming the outspoken opponents were Congressmen Ramon Durano,
Jose Nuguid, Marciano Lim, Zossa Lucas, Paredes Godofredo, Ramos Miguel
Cuenco and Congressmen Carmen D. Cosing and Teda San Andreas Ziga.
As the daily debates wore on in Congress and throughout the country it became
clearer that no agreement could reached on the original version of the bill. On May 9,
1956, two weeks had passed new hope for a final resolution of the issue. This came
about when Senator Laurel, rose to propose in his own name and amendment by
substitution which read in full as follows:
“An Act to include in the curricula of all public and private schools,
colleges, and universities courses on the life, works and writings of Jose Rizal,
particularly his novels Noli Me Tangere and El Filibusterismo authorizing the printing
and distribution thereof, and for other purposes.
Whereas, today, more than in any other period of our history, there is a
need for a re-dedication to the ideals of freedom and nationalism for which our
heroes lived and died;
Whereas, it is meet that in honouring them, particularly the national

hero and patriot, Jose Rizal, we remember with special fondness and devotion their
lives and works that have shaped the national character;
Whereas, the life, works and writings of Jose Rizal particularly his
novels Noli Me Tangere and El Filibusterismo, are a constant and inspiring source of
patriotism with which the mminds of the youth, especially during their formative and
decisive years in school, should be suffused;
6
Whereas, all educational institutions are under the supervision of, and
subject to regulation by the state, and all schools are enjoined to develop moral
character, personal discipline, civic conscience and to teach the duties of citizenship;
Now therefore,
Be enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the

Philippines in Congress assembled:
Section1. Courses on the life, works, and writing of Jose Rizal,

particularly his novels Noli Me Tangere and El Filibusterismo, shall be included in the
curricula of all schools, colleges, and universities, public or private: Provided, that in
the collegiate courses, the original or unexpurgated editions of the Noli Me Tangere
and El Filibusterismo of their English translation shall be used as basic texts.
The Board of National Education is hereby authorized and directed to

adopt forthwith measures to implement and carry out the provisions of this Section,
including the writing and printing of appropriate primers, readers and textbooks. The
Board shall, within sixty days (60) from the effectivity of this Act promulgate rules and
regulations, including those of disciplinarynature, to carry out and enforce the
provisions of this Act. Said rules and regulations shall take effect thirty (30) days after
their publication in the official Gazette.
Section 2. It shall be obligatory on all schools, colleges and universities

to keep copies of the original and unexpurgated editions of the Noli Me Tangere and
El Filibusterismo, as well as of Rizal’s other works and biography. They said
unexpurgated editions of the Noli Me Tangere and El Filibusterismo or their
translation in English as well as other writings of Rizal shall be included in the list of
approved books for required reading in all public or private schools, colleges and
universities.
The Board of National Education shall determine the adequacy if the

number of books, depending upon the enrolment of the school, college or university.
Section 3. The Board of National Education shall cause the translation

of the Noli Me Tangere and El Filibusterismo as well as other writings of Jose Rizal
into English, Tagaloh and the principal dialects; cause them to be printed in cheap,
popular editions; and cause them to be distributed free of charge, to persons desiring
to read them, through the Purok organizations and Barrio Councils throughout the
country.
Section 4. Nothing in this Act shall be construed as amending or

repealing Section 927 of the Administrative Code, prohibiting the discussion of
religious doctrines by public school teachers and other persons engaged in any
public school.
Section 5. The sum of the three hundred thousand pesos is hereby

authorized to be appropriated in the National Treasury to carry out the purposes of
this act.
Section 6. This Act shall take effect upon its approval.
7
Senator Laurel explained his amendment that in his substitute bill, he included
not the Noli Me Tangere and the El Filibusterismo but all the works and writings of
Rizal and even those written by other about him. This led to the removal of the idea
of compulsion. This new measure was also debated in the chamber but with less
heat this time. Several members spoke on the substitute bill and they strongly
opposed and suggested the deletion of the provision in Section1, but this was
rejected by the sponsor.
Furthermore, Senator Lim proposed the exemption of student from the

requirements of the bill, certain conditions, and the Senate seemed headed again for
another lengthy discussion and then the following proceedings took place:
“The Board shall promulgate rules and regulations providing for the
exemption of students for reasons of religious belief stated in sworn written statement
from the requirement of the provision contained in the second part of the first
paragraph of this section; but not taking the course provided for in the first part of
said paragraph.”
On May 12, 1956, the substitute bill was unanimously approved on the second
reading. The House of Representatives was also casting out their votes for the
substitute bill. On May 14, 1956, Congressman Tolentino, the house majority leader,
sponsored a bill identical to Senator Laurel’s substitute bill, and it was approved on
second reading in the Upper House.
Senate Bill No. 438 was approved on the third reading with 23 votes in favour of
the passing of the bill. House Bill No. 5561 was also approved on the third reading,
with 71 votes in favour and it was sent to the Senate on the same day.
On June 12, 1956, the bill was signed into law by President Ramon Magsaysay
and became Republic Act No. 1425 also known as “Rizal Law”.
Based on the discussion above, what is your opinion on the

provisions of RA 1425?
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LESSON 3: THE RIZAL BILL OF 1956 HORACIO DE LA
COSTA AND THE BISHOPS
Intended Learning Outcomes

1. Discuss the controversies of the several drafts of a pastoral letter written by
Horacio dela Costa for the bishops in 1952
Lesson Discussion
This is an excerpt from the article of Fr. John n. Schumacher, S.J., the Rizal
Bill of 1956 Horacio de la Costa and the Bishops. This discusses the controversies of
the several drafts of a pastoral letter written by Horacio dela Costa for the bishops in
1952.
Rizal, as shown by De la Costa, is a remarkable moral figure whose

adherence to the truth made his writings a source of moral, social, and political
enlightenment for Filipinos. Despite the fact that he was pushed to soften his views
by an unknown interlocutor in later drafts, he maintained an essentially good
perspective of the works. However, in the face of Recto's 1956 statute mandating the
novels, Abp. Fr. Rufino J. Santos was commissioned by Rufino J. Santos. A new
"Statement" will be written by Jesus Cavanna. The "Statement" began with a few
complimentary phrases from De la Costa before categorically condemning the novels
and forbidding their reading, a prohibition that proved ineffectual. The drafts of De la
Costa reveal that there was a very different attitude regarding Rizal within the
Catholic Church, whose legacy the church could welcome.
The Catholic Church encouraged its followers to write to their congressman

and senators expressing their opposition to the Rizal law, and later arranged
symposiums. One of these symposiums included Fr. The novels, according to Jesus
Cavanna, belong in the past, and teaching them would misrepresent current reality.
Cavanna believed that Rizal's works should be read in the order in which they
were written. As a result, if the characters in the novel are liberal Catholics or have
lost their faith, it is only fair that the opinions they express be interpreted as what is
appropriate for such a character to say, rather than as the author's teaching. He had
added that "we are unable to discover any clear example of Rizal doing this," that is,
"suggest that these are his own opinions which he proposed to his readers as true" in
order to be "teaching and not merely portraying error," and thus concludes that there
is no passage in which Rizal shows that he wishes to attack.
Even without being misled by the prejudiced translation, this statement was
later withdrawn and changed because they chose to read it as an attack on the
church itself. They were denying that there was any passage in the novels where
Rizal could be seen attacking the church in his own person rather than having his
characters speak as befitted them, and the "Statement" continued to contradict itself:
9
“Furthermore, there are passages in both volumes where the author, rather than the
characters in the novels, talks. Aside from the attacks aimed at unworthy priests, several of
these passages are insulting to Catholic doctrines and practices as a whole. 4–5 par. 6)
([Philippine Hierarchy] 1956, 4–5 par.
They then go on to cite over 120 passages that "are against Catholic dogma
and morals," "disparage divine worship," and "make light of ecclesiastical discipline."
The "Statement" (the Church's statement in response to the Rizal Bill) instead quoted
canon law prohibiting certain types of books, under which it declared the two novels
fell. They could only be read with the authorization of ecclesiastical authorities, which
was "readily granted for justifiable reason" to individuals with sufficient knowledge of
Catholic doctrine.
The rest of the "Statement" focused on the Senate bill's irrationality and
injustice in requiring Catholic pupils to read attacks on their faith. Under the pretext of
nationalism, such a law would violate "one of our country's essential freedoms,
namely, their freedom of conscience" ([Philippine Hierarchy] 1956, 6–8 par. 11–13). It
then proceeded to issue eleven concise declarations for the guidance of all Filipinos,
particularly law-making bodies. After expressing their admiration for Rizal, the
bishops stressed that, despite the fact that he wrote the novels during a period when
he was estranged from the Catholic Church, he retracted anything he had written
about her before his death. His final will and testament should remain untouchable.
As a result, they proposed extracting "patriotic portions," claiming that the

novel Noli "was not truly patriotic" because "just 25 pages featured patriotic
passages, while 120 pages were devoted to anti-Catholic insults" (Constantino,
1971). The Archbishop of Manila, Rufino Santos, went on to state in a pastoral letter
to the people of his archdiocese that the novels were not only condemned by the
church, but that they were also illegal. "It is a sin for any Catholic to read these works
in their entirety, or to keep, publish, sell, translate, or convey the same to others in
any way without due permission," he said ([Santos] 1956, 350).
Soon after, senators reached an agreement under which a student who

"serves written notice under oath to the head of the college or university that the
reading and study of the... unexpurgated edition is contrary to his religion or religious
beliefs, said student shall be exempt from using the said edition" would be exempt
from using the edition (Acosta 1973). Although Acosta saw it as a "win for the local
Catholic Church," it was actually a face-saving compromise that allowed it to pass
the Senate unanimously and obtain President Magsaysay's signature.
What is your takeaway on the role of the Catholic Church in the

passing of the Rizal Law?
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LESSON 4: WHY STUDY RIZAL

1. Appreciate the value of studying the life and works of Rizal
Lesson Discussion
When Laurel and Recto proposed teaching
Jose Rizal's works at the tertiary level, they were
labeled as communists and threatened with
excommunication. They believed that learning
about Rizal's worldview would help Filipinos
recognize that they have their own interests to
promote and safeguard in the early 1950s. The
popular mood at the time was to regard the
Americans as our perpetual savior, and the two
nationalists were concerned that this would weaken
the youth's commitment to love their country and
countrymen more.
Figure 1 Jose Rizal. Source: Encyclopedia
They persevered in the face of adversity Britannica
and invectives, resulting in the passage of Republic Act No. 1425, which mandates
the teaching of Rizal's novels. The topic was clearly not Rizal's failed love for Leonor
Rivera, nor was it whether he was gay or not, nor was it when and where "El
Filibusterismo" was published. The question of whether he preferred Suzanne
Jacoby to Gertrude Beckett is ridiculous. Memorizing "Mi Ultimo Adios" can be
difficult for students of mass communication and language, but it can be torturous for
others. What good will that accomplish in terms of instilling in students the principles
of patriotism, honesty, courage, and fortitude?
What role does Rizal education play? "A dead person cannot do anything
about the lives of the living," Maribel Q. Galindo was correct, "but the thoughts,
ideals, dreams, beliefs, or convictions that he left may be highly important to people's
lives as a source of strength in their day-to-day existence." The Rizal Course is about
being loyal to your fellow Filipinos in times of adversity, and that's where the
relevancy of the theme came in." It's standing up for the truth as you see it. It's being
unafraid to do the right thing. It contributes to the community's overall well-being.
Finally, it's about your neighbors' love and how you and them can work together.
Rizal has the potential to be a paradigm for all times, all locations, and all
people who value liberty and justice. He chastised his fellow Indios' corrupt mentality,
asking that they live with dignity and pride, just as he decried the colonial authorities'
injustices. He would have scoffed at political dynasties and foreign commercial
disparities. He would have bemoaned the millennials' lack of engagement and
indifference. He would have chastised politicians who prioritized their own agenda
11
over that of the public. He would have scorned individuals who would sooner travel
overseas than use their skills to improve the lives of their neighbors.
Learning is the process of integrating our gained knowledge with the reality
we have created for ourselves. "In the fields of observation, chance favors only the
prepared mind," Louis Pasteur is said to have said. Mel Thompson writes in
"Understanding Philosophy" (1995) that "the varied situations and crises that chance
throws up present both hazards and opportunities." He believes that a "person who is
alert and sensitive to what life is about, and who has already considered the
fundamental principles of what we can know or what we should do, will be
successful."
Returning to the plots of Rizal's works is no longer interesting because they

have previously been discussed in secondary school. Analyzing the plots of "Noli"
and "Fili," as well as analysing the meaning of his essays, is more important.
"Everything we do is a process in which our memories of past experiences impact
our choices and intents. The critical moment is a brief passage from the past to the
future."
Those who do not know about the past are doomed to repeat its mistakes,
according to George Santayana. Rizal felt that those who are unaware of their origins
will never arrive at their destination. It has turned into a forewarning to us. Also, do
we really need to go over Jose Rizal's life and writings again? It's because of the
Rizal Law, also known as Republic Act 1425.
Make a drawing portraying the importance of studying the life and

works of Rizal.
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ASSESSMENT
Name: ________________________________________________ Date: ______

Course / Section: _______________________________________ Score: _____
Instructions: Write your answer on a separate sheet of paper. Always write your
NAME, COURSE and YEAR, and STUDENT NUMBER.
Answer the following questions comprehensively.
1. Considering the context of the 1950s, what issues and interests were at stake
in the debate over the Rizal Bill? Do these issues remain pertinent to the
present?
2. Do you agree with the rationale of the Rizal Law? Cite specific provision that
you agree on and explain why.
3. Why do we need to study the Life and Works of Rizal?
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UNIT II
Rizal and the Theory of

Nationalism
INTRODUCTION
National or group identity is the most powerful political or social force. The
ideology of liberal individualism may be more popular at times, but its polar opposite,
nationalism, tribalism, or group or national identification, balances it out. Even if they
don't realize it, belonging to a country is one of the simplest and most basic methods
to find out who you are. But what drives this identification? Is it a natural affinity to
individuals who are physically or culturally near to you, or has it formed via debates
that lead to political motivation? What benefit does national identity have? To
completely comprehend them, we must explore how they came into historical
existence, how their meaning has evolved over time, and why they are still relevant
today.

At the end of this unit, students are expected to:
1. Explain the views about how the concept of nationalism came into light;
2. Examine the values highlighted by the various representations of Rizal as a
national symbol; and
3. Advocate the values Rizal’s life encapsulates.
WARMING UP
Study the history of your town/municipality; know how and where your
ancestors came from. Know the hardships your town/municipality and your ancestors
have experienced and the great actions done by them to solve their problems. This
would help you know where your ancestors came from and how your country came
to be.
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LESSON 1: NATION AS IMAGINED COMMUNITIES

1. Explain the views about how the concept of nationalism came into light;
Lesson Discussion
Before tackling the issue of nationalism, it's a good idea to think about what a
"nation" is and come up with a useful definition. Nation must be regarded as an
imagined community - one that is both restricted and sovereign in nature, but that
does not diminish its reality, Benedict Anderson discussed.
It is imagined because even the smallest nation's citizens will never meet, let
alone hear of, the majority of their fellow citizens, but the idea of their communion will
live on in their minds. Even the largest of them, with perhaps a billion living human
beings, has limits, albeit elastic, borders beyond which other nations reside. No
country considers itself to be coterminous with humanity.
Because the notion was born in an age when the Enlightenment and
Revolution were eroding the legitimacy of the divinely centered, hierarchical dynastic
world, it is regarded as sovereign. Nations dream of being free, and if under God,
directly so, as they mature at a time in human history when even the most devout
adherents of any universal religion are inescapably confronted with the living
pluralism of such religions, and the allomorphism between each faith's ontological
claims and territorial stretch.
Finally, it is envisioned as a community, because the nation is always

regarded as a deep, horizontal comradeship, whatever of the actual inequality and
exploitation that may exist in each. In the end, it is this brotherhood that has allowed
so many millions of people to gladly die for such restricted imaginings during the past
two centuries. What is the purpose of a person's sacrifice when they die for their
country? It's for a notion, according to Anderson: nations are emotional and cultural
phenomena, not concrete ones.
NATIONALISM AND IMAGINED COMMUNITIES

Benedict Anderson’s attribute nation and national identity to a number of key
phenomena. He asserts that the main causes of nationalism are the following:
1. The concept of a continuous, solid national identity was an ideal replacement

for the religious worldview that dominated Europe during the Middle Ages. He
claimed that, with the help of the printing press, newspapers began to present
15
the country as a continuous story, with characters entering and exiting the
stage at various times. Furthermore, you assume that other members of the
community have read the same story and that you share a cultural code.
2. Next he argues that capitalism encourage printers to print first in Latin, but
then in local vernacular to find new markets and to keep expanding.
Anderson’s study looks at Indochina and Latin America, asking why in the
former, nationalism in Vietnam, Cambodia, and China were at odds with each
other when they’re all communist countries. And in the latter, asking why
nationalisms develop in a continent with roughly a shared language. He
argues that the combination of capitalism and print media created these
imagined geographical communities.
3. Then there's the growth of the effort to eliminate hereditary monarchy and the
concept of primordialism, which holds that monarchy is based on the
monarchs' divine right to govern.
Many of these events coincided with the onset of the Industrial Revolution,
which resulted in a significant shift in society in all aspects. In order to better
illustrate the concept of nationalism. Anderson drew on the new nationalism that
can be seen in memorials and tombstones of unknown soldiers. Even if these
memorials are either empty or contain unidentified bodies, public ceremonial
devotion is nonetheless paid to them, nations would create them and claim them
as their own. That the unknown soldier is nonetheless put into the imagined
group, regardless of their true origins or stories.
Furthermore, he demonstrated that nationalism differs from other political

ideologies in that no one would die for liberalism, yet hundreds of people die every
year for their countries. Because the concept of nation is so powerful, everyone
assumes that everyone else is a member of one. One of nationalism's most essential
impacts, according to Anderson, is to provide meaning where it is lacking, such as
when someone dies in war. As a result, a national identity was gradually forged from
collective ideas, which spurred an individual's daily quest for a better life.
Finally, Anderson added a crucial acknowledgment of the role of forgetting to

his numerous studies of the social and material circumstances for creative
imagination. Memory appears to fit into a pattern of national cohesion and identity
reproduction that is probably self-evident. National memory is created by an entire
industry of history and commemoration, which also provides more specific
recollections within a national context. Schoolchildren are taught about their country's
history. Tourists pay a visit to historical battlegrounds. But this isn't a whole memory.
It's also forgetting, as Anderson showed us. When English schoolchildren think of
William the Conqueror as a great Founding Father of the English nation, they must
understand that he did not speak English and was the conqueror as well as the
parent of the English.
16
LESSON 2: RIZAL AND POPULAR NATIONALISM
At the end of the lesson, students are expected to:

1. Examine the values highlighted by the various representations of Rizal as a
national symbol;
Lesson Discussion
It's crucial to remember the situations in Asia, particularly the Philippines,
during Rizal's lifetime in order to better understand why he became the Father of
Filipino Nationalism. With the exception of China, Japan, and Thailand, the Western
Powers dominated the remainder of Asia and the Far East. Under Spanish rule,
Filipinos were denied essential human rights, such as freedom of speech, press,
religion, and association, as well as other benefits that come with a democratic
society. In their native nation, they were merely "wood hewers and water draws."
Church and state were fused together in Spain, with the clergy wielding more
authority and influence than the civil authorities.
While Rizal was a passionate advocate for improving his country's deplorable
conditions, he also believed that his people should strive to develop themselves via
industry and knowledge in order to earn the respect and admiration of foreigners.
Because he was the first Filipino leader to argue for the idea of nationhood for his
countrymen, Dr. Rizal has been dubbed the "Father of Filipino Nationalism" by his
own people. Unfortunately, some Filipinos still believe that our Rizal is a "made-to-
order" national hero.
Before we go any further, it's a good idea to understand what the term hero
means. A hero is "a prominent or central personage taking an excellent part in any
exceptional deed or event," according to Webster's New International Dictionary of
the English language. He is also "a man honored after death by public worship,
because of exceptional service to mankind," according to the historical committee of
the Philippine National Heroes Commission.
The National Heroes Commission's historical committee - tasked for

studying, evaluating, and expressly recommending Filipino national figures as
national heroes in appreciation of their sterling character and outstanding
contributions for the country. - came up with a list of traits that should be assessed
before a person is declared a hero:
1. The extent of the person’s sacrifices for the welfare of the country;
2. Motive and methods employed in the attainment of the ideal, did the person
concerned or was there any selfish or ulterior motive in the making such
sacrifices. Were the methods employed in the attainment of the ideal morally
valid?
17
3. The third criteria concerned the moral character of the person. Did he do
anything immoral to taint his personal character? If there was any immorality,
did it affect his work, his society of the ideal?
4. The final criterion examines the influence of the person to his age or epoch
and the succeeding eras.
If we were to choose a single work by a Filipino writer from their day that
contributed more than any other to the establishment of Filipino nationalism, we
would choose Rizal's Noli Me Tangere without hesitation. None of the works
published at the same time elicited as many positive and negative responses from
friends and adversaries alike as Rizal's Noli. "The novel was excellent," observed
Regidor, a Filipino exile in London in 1872, and "if Don Quijote has made its author
famous because he exposed the world to Spain's miseries, your Noli Me Tangere will
bring you similar fame." If Rizal's friends and lovers lauded the Noli and its author
with justifiable pride, his opponents did not.
In order to demonstrate the Filipinos' potential for self-government,

Congressman Henry Allen Cooper of Wisconsin gave a tribute to Rizal and even
recited the martyr's Ultimo Pensamiento on the floor of the United States House of
Representatives. "It has been stated that if American institutions had done nothing
else than provide the world with the character of George Washington, it would be
enough to earn them the respect of mankind," he added. So, Sir, I say to all those
who dismiss Filipinos as barbarians and savages with no hope of a civilized future,
that his hated race earned their respect and the esteem of mankind when it gave the
world Jose Rizal."
Another reason is that no Filipino has yet been born who might match or
surpass Rizal as "a person of distinguished heroism or enterprise in peril, or
endurance in suffering." Consider what a Filipino biographer stated about these
characteristics of our hero:
"What is most admirable about Rizal is his entire self-denial, his
complete abandonment of his personal interests in order to think only of the
interests of his country," wrote Rafael Palma. Given his natural gifts, he
could have been anything he wanted to be; he could have made a lot of
money from his career; he could have had a relatively comfortable, happy,
prosperous life if he hadn't dedicated himself to public affairs. However, the
voice of the species overrode the voice of personal advancement and
private money in him, and he preferred to live far from his family and
sacrifice his personal attachments for an ideal he had envisioned. He paid
little attention to his brother or even his parents, both of whom he admired
and revered.
"He didn't have much in the way of resources to carry out his
campaign, but that didn't deter him; he made do with what he had." He
endured the rigors of Europe's frigid winter, starvation, poverty, and misery;
but his hope was resurrected when he raised his eyes to heaven and
recognized his aspirations. He bemoaned his compatriots, he bemoaned
those of those who had promised him support but failed to deliver, to the
point where, deeply disillusioned, he wanted to abandon his quest and give
up everything. But such feelings faded quickly, and he returned to his work
of bearing the cross of his suffering."
18
To bigoted Spaniards in Spain and the Philippines, Rizal was the most
intellectual, courageous, and deadly opponent of reactionaries and tyrants; as a
result, he should be publicly murdered as an example and a warning to those of his
ilk.
If you're still looking for a reason why he's regarded as the greatest Filipino
hero of all time, look no further. It's simply because he is "a man honored after death
by popular veneration, because of remarkable service to mankind." We can see that
Rizal was already regarded as the preeminent leader of his country by both Filipinos
and foreigners even before his execution. Many people thought he was the
Philippines' greatest export, and that his arrival in the world was akin to the
emergence of a rare comet, whose unusual brilliance occurs every other century.
Many examples may be provided to show that Rizal's leadership was

recognized by his countrymen both at home and abroad even before the
commencement of the Revolution against Spain in 1896. He was frequently elected
or appointed as president or leader by a unanimous vote. The revolutionary group
known as the Katipunan recognized Rizal's leadership and magnificence by making
him Honorary President and using his surname Rizal as the password for third-
degree members, according to history.
We occasionally come across Filipinos who believe that Andres Bonifacio, not
Jose Rizal, is the first national hero who deserves to be recognized and canonized.
They claim that Rizal never used a gun, rifle, or sword in the fight for the country's
liberty and independence on the battlefield. In these lines, Rafael Palma sums up the
case of Rizal vs. Bonifacio perfectly:
It should be a source of pride and satisfaction for Filipinos to have one of such
exceptional traits and merits among their national heroes, which may be equaled but not
surpassed by any other guy. Unlike most heroes in western countries, who serve their cause
with the sword, distilling blood and tears, the Filipino hero served his cause with the pen,
demonstrating that the pen is just as powerful as the sword in freeing a people from political
enslavement. True, the sword of Bonifacio was needed to break the yoke of a foreign power
in our instance; yet the revolution organized by Bonifacio was merely the effect, the result of
the revolution prepared by the people.
During his lifetime, Spanish reactionaries regarded Rizal as the country's

worst enemy and traitor, and they continued to persecute him until his execution on
December 30, 1896; nowadays, Rizal is widely regarded as his country's greatest
hero and martyr, and the "Father of Filipino Nationalism." "Not only is Rizal the most
prominent man of his own people, but the greatest man the Malayan race has
produced," Prof. Blumentritt remarked, "his memory will never expire in his
fatherland, and future generations of Spaniards will learn to pronounce his name with
respect and reverence."
We have shown that until the moment of his immolation, Rizal had projected
himself as the foremost leader of the Philippines through his own efforts and
sacrifices for his oppressed countrymen, and that this fact was spontaneously
acknowledged not only by his own people but also by the elite of other lands who
were intimately familiar with his patriotic labors. There was no single person or group
19
of people who made the Greatest Malayan the People's Number One Hero. Rizal's
own people, as well as foreigners, all contributed to his status as the greatest hero
and martyr of his people. Rizal could not be transformed into a great hero no matter
how much adoration and canonization he received from Filipinos and foreigners.
Make a poster of you expressing your nationalistic sentiments as a Filipino.
20
ASSESSMENT
Name: ________________________________________________ Date: ______

TEST I
1. What is a nation and why is it “imagined”?
2. How does Rizal and his works relate to Philippine nationalism?
3. Why is Rizal considered the Father of Filipino Nationalism?
TEST II
Instruction: In an essay, write about a particular value Rizal advocated that should
be given emphasis and of why it should be emulated by the people.
21
UNIT III
RIZAL’S SOCIAL ORIGINS AND

HISTORICAL CONTEXT
INTRODUCTION
When seen within a time frame and the right historical context, the meaning
and relevance of a man’s activity can be more understood and appreciated. To
properly understand and appreciate Jose Rizal’s role in the formation of the Filipino
nation, one must be familiar with the events of the century in which he lived and the
time he worked.

1. Discuss relevant events and circumstances surrounding the life and works of
Rizal;
2. Analyze how external events affect the course of life and works of Rizal;
WARMING UP:
Are you familiar with your own origin? Is your origin a hindrance or an
inspiration to achieve your dreams?
22
LESSON 1: SOCIAL CLASS DIVISION
INTENDED LEARNING OUTCOME
1. Identify the different social structures that evolved in the Philippines during
the 19th century
Lesson Discussion
The social structure of the Philippines in the late nineteenth century was
multi-ethnic and multi-layered. The threads of this evolving colonial society, each of
which was undergoing internal class differentiation, were the resident Spanish, the
expanding Chinese community, and the native people (Indios). They were mostly
classified into three social groups:
Highest Class
• Peninsulares
- they are of pure Spaniard descent born
in Spain;
- Wealthiest and most politically powerful
among the social classes;
- Highest position in the Government
Figure 2Ramon Blanco y Erenas - Governor

General during Rizal time and the
Katipunan Source: thepinoywarrior.com
• Criollos
- they are pure Spanish
descent but born in the
Americas or other
colonies
- Enjoy various
government and church
positions
Figure 3Augustinians, Carmelites, Dominicans, and
Franciscans during the 19th century in the Philippines Source:
worsdpress.com
23
Middle Class
• Mestizos de Espanol – they are of

Spaniard descent but have mixed
Filipino ancestry.
Figure 4Picture of a Mestizo de Spanol Family Source:

wordpress.com
• Principalia – the Native

political elites.
Figure 5 The Principalía of a rural parish in the Philippines, walking in rows in front
of the parish priest during the Holy Week procession, c. 1870. Source:
wikipedia.com
24
Lowest Class
• Indio – they are Pure Blooded

Filipino people.
Figure 6Picture of pure blooded Filipinos Source:

wordpress.com
• Mestizo de Sangley – they are of mixed Chinese and Filipino ancestry; also
called as chino mestizo.
Figure 7Sample of Mestizo de Sangley during the Spanish era

Source:blogspot.com
A son born to a sangley male and an indio or mestizo de sangley female was
designated as a mestizo de sangley, and all subsequent male descendants were
mestizos de sangley regardless of whether they married an india or a mestiza de
sangley.
This caste system has its origins in the Spanish colonial area and continues
to this day in the Philippines. The system was created for the purpose of taxation.
Indios paid a base tax, mestizos de sangley paid twice that, sangleys paid four times
that, and criollos and peninsulares paid none.
25
1. I am a pure Spanish, I hold a highest position in the
Philippines. What am I?
2. I am a native Filipino but holds an important position in
the government. What am I?
3. I am pure Spanish but was born in Guam and holds a
position in the church. What am I?
4. I am a full blooded Filipino and subject to the orders
from the Spanish government. What am I?
5. They also refer to me as Chino Mestizo. What am I?
26
LESSON 2: ASCENDANCE OF CHINESE MESTIZOS

1. Explain the role of the Chinese Mestizos to the Philippine economy during the
Spanish era.
Lesson Discussion
There is misunderstanding concerning the term mestizo, which is
exacerbated by the fact that there has been no legally designated mestizo class
since 1898, which we may use to explain how the term is used in Spain. When the
term mestizo appears in its original form in materials from the Spanish period, it
refers to Spanish mestizos (people of mixed Spanish and native heritage), not
Chinese mestizos.
The establishment of a Chinese mestizo community in the Philippines can

only be understood by first looking at some aspects of Chinese history in the
Philippines. The Chinese quickly ascended to a powerful economic position after the
Spaniards came. The Spanish started to regard the Chinese as vital because they
swiftly monopolized the commerce industry. Given the Spanish belief that the
Chinese were economically necessary, the only option to solve the problem would be
to convert the Chinese to Catholicism and Hispanism. This isn't to suggest that
efforts to convert the Chinese were only a result of calculated policy aimed at
"taming" those who dominated the colony's economic life. However, there is a better
option.
Binondo began as a Chinese settlement around 1594. All Chinese were to be

expelled from the Philippines, according to a royal order. Governor Dasmarinas, on
the other hand, recognized that the city of Manila, the greatest Spanish settlement,
required at least a small number of Chinese for commercial services. By 1741, the
Chinese mestizos had established themselves as a distinct social group in the
Philippines, with enough numbers to be organized and categorized individually.
The economic standing of Chinese mestizos was greater than it had ever
been by the middle of the nineteenth century. They not only had significant land
holdings, but they were also well on their way to monopolizing internal trade, with
only the province governors as competition. Other observers remarked on the
mestizos' riches and economic clout. In his 1842 report, Sinibaldo de Mas stated:
“They control almost all retail business in the Philippines, and they may be
considered the country's middle class. They are the country's proprietors, merchants, and
educated citizens, and they will control public opinion. By the end of the century, the Chinese
mestizos will have swelled to at least one million, thanks to natural growth and immigration
from China, and will control the majority of the Islands' wealth.”
27
Foreign traders that wanted to distribute imported goods through Manila's
mestizos used the city's mestizos. The retail trade in Manila was exclusively handled
by Chinese mestizos and Chinese. They also controlled the majority of artisan stores
and participated in urban wholesale.
The rise of outside markets for Philippine exports, in turn, sped up the
collecting of raw materials across the archipelago. During the latter years of the
Manila Galleon trading system, galleons that had previously transported mostly
Chinese products and Mexican bullion began to load a more diverse cargo, including
growing amounts of Philippine produce. As Philippine lands became more widely
exploited for commercial agriculture, land acquisition became more competitive.
Collectors of Philippine items began to see more opportunities.
Spaniards and Spanish mestizos were rare in the Philippines, and even fewer
were interested in trade, with the exception of speculating in the Manila Galleon. The
majority of indios lacked the necessary funds and experience. Provincial governors
(Spaniards), Chinese, and mestizos were the only ones left. Mestizos appear to have
been more active collectors and transporters of Philippine products among the
survivors.
Because the Chinese were temporarily absent from most of the provinces, the
mestizos were able to attain economic success. The new opportunities that began to
surface in the late eighteenth century would almost certainly have been taken by the
Chinese if there had been no limits on Chinese immigration and geographic
movement. Instead, the temporary application of Spanish rules provided a chance for
the increasing mestizo community, with only the provincial governors as a
competition.
The mestizos' rise to economic significance was accompanied by a rise in

social prominence. Being a Chinese mestizo was, in fact, a source of social respect.
In a letter written around 1840, Sinibaldo de Mas laments the rise of riches as the
benchmark of social position, rather than lineage considerations. With the rise of the
concept of riches as a measure of prestige, it's no surprise that Chinese mestizos
have become sought-after role models. They were often among the wealthiest
persons in the towns where they were numerous, and, perhaps more importantly,
they were thought to be wealthier as a class than the indios. As a result, the term
"mestizo" gained a lot of respect.
However, the indios' attitude toward the mestizo was not entirely positive.
Many small disagreements between mestizo and indio gremios existed, and their
litigation dragged on for decades. With the development of the mestizos to a position
of luxury and prominence, the Spanish were increasingly concerned about their
interactions with the indios. This was particularly true once the Spaniards were
concerned about the danger of revolution in their Philippine colony. Because Spain
sought to keep the Philippines, a strong divide-and-rule policy was judged effective.
The indios and mestizos, in particular, must be kept apart - the mestizos' intellect and
money must not be linked to the number system.
28
1. What is the role of the Chinese Mestizos to the Philippine
economy during the Spanish era?
29
LESSON 3: THE FRIAR LANDS

1. Recognize the role of the agrarian relations to the uprising of the different
propagandists.
Lesson Discussion
The land grants provided by the
King of Spain through the encomienda
system were the principal source of the
Church haciendas. These were the lands
given to various Spaniards who took part
in the first conquest by the Royal Crown.
The religious orders, for example, The
haciendas were obtained by contributions
from Dominicans, Augustinians, and
Recollects, or through sales by Spanish
proprietors who had lost interest or found
themselves unable of efficiently
maintaining the estates. Following then,
the estates were augmented by grants or
sales made by Filipino principals acting on their own or on behalf of the towns.
The royal land grants stated that the lands given were only from lands not
owned by Filipinos; yet, both Cushner and Roth (1976) contend that some Filipino-
owned estates must have been included, despite the lack of concrete evidence. As a
result, the question of whether the large plots of property sold or donated to Catholic
orders by Filipinos after the founding of the religious hacienda genuinely belonged to
individuals who sold or donated them to the monks arises. The Spanish law
established a variety of measures to ensure land ownership and availability for sale,
but these were not always followed, and both Cushner and Roth believe that unfair
transfers of common land were possible.
The haciendas became increasingly important as commercial agriculture

grew rapidly in tandem with population increase in the nineteenth century. While the
profits of the owners of the haciendas continued to rise, the wages of the laborers
continued to fall, and this rising profit became a component in the revolution that
occurred later. Although there is no conclusive evidence that the revolution was
precipitated by agrarian issues, it is possible. However, it was clear that many
revolutionaries were eager to acquire control of the friar estates and profit from the
sale of the haciendas during the American rule. Even the Malolos administration took
the friars' lands following the earthquake.
30
1. How do you think the agrarian issue sparked the
revolution of most Filipinos during the Spanish era?
31
ASSESSMENT
Name: ________________________________________________ Date: _____

Give a short description on how the various political, economic, and cultural
changes in the 19th century shaped the:
1. Life and Works of Rizal, and
2. The Philippines as a whole.
32
UNIT IV
THE 1872 CAVITE MUTINY
INTRODUCTION
The availability of resources, historians' interpretations, and the growth of
people's ideas can all influence historical debates and concerns. On the contrary, we
also have a famous saying, “there are always two sides of the coin.” The later
describes the 1872 Cavite Mutiny. The Spaniards has their own side of the story so
as the Filipinos. Let us understand and help us choose a stand on what really
happened during the 1872 Cavite Mutiny through this chapter.
LEARNING OUTCOMES
Rizal;
WARMING UP:
Social media or internet is one of the frequently used tool by most of us in
acquiring different kinds of information. Unfortunately, this tool can also be the source
of fake news. How can you be sure that the information you choose to share or post
is true and correct?
33
LESSON 1:
TWO FACES OF THE 1872 CAVITE MUTINY
By Chris Antonette Piedad-Pugay
INTENDED LEARNING OUTCOMES

1. Describe the Philippine situation during the 1872 Cavite Mutiny
2. Compare the Spanish and Filipino version of the Cavite Mutiny
3. Critique the two versions of the Cavite Mutiny
Lesson Discussion
Since 1898, the 12th of June has been

a significant date in the lives of all Filipinos. The
whole Filipino country, as well as Filipino
communities around the world, congregate on
this day to commemorate the Philippines'
independence. For all of us, 1898 has become
a pivotal year—it is on par with 1896, the year
when the Philippine Revolution erupted in
response to the Filipinos' desire to be free of
the Spanish colonial regime's injustices.
However, another year, 1872, is just as
significant as the previous two.
In the year 1872, two big events

occurred: the 1872 Cavite Mutiny and the
martyrdom of the three martyr priests, Fathers
Mariano Gomes, Jose Burgos, and Jacinto
Figure 8. GOMBURZA.Source:
Zamora (GOMBURZA). However, not everyone https://www.reddit.com/r/Philippines/comments/sg6iys/gomburza_or
was aware that alternative reports of the same _gomburza_refers_to_three_filipino/
event existed. Because this occurrence led to another terrible yet significant aspect
of our history—the execution of GOMBURZA, which was a vital element in the
awakening of nationalism among Filipinos—all Filipinos should be aware of all sides
of the tale.
34
1872 CAVITE MUTINY: SPANISH PERSPECTIVE
A famous Spanish historian, Jose Montero y Vidal, described the incident and
characterized it as an attempt by the Indios to topple the Spanish rule in the
Philippines. Meanwhile, the official account of Gov. Gen. Rafael Izquierdo
exaggerated the incident and used it to blame the native clergy, which was at the
time engaged in the campaign for secularization. The general's report was more
caustic, yet the two tales complimented and confirmed each other. Initially, both
Montero and Izquierdo claimed that the abolition of privileges enjoyed by Cavite
arsenal workers, such as non-payment of tributes and exemption from forced labor,
were the main reasons for the "revolution," as they called it; however, they also cited
other factors, such as the Spanish occupation of the Philippines.
The two Spaniards believed that the 1872 incident had been organized in
advance and that it was the result of a large conspiracy including educated leaders,
mestizos, abogadillos (local lawyers), people of Manila and Cavite, and the native
clergy. They said that Manila and Cavite conspirators planned to assassinate high-
ranking Spanish officers, followed by a massacre of the friars. The firing of rockets
from the walls of Intramuros was allegedly a pre-planned signal among the
conspirators of Manila and Cavite.
According to their testimonies, the district of Sampaloc celebrated the feast of

the Virgin of Loreto on January 20, 1872, but regrettably, the festivities were marred
by the typical fireworks displays. According to reports, people in Cavite mistook the
pyrotechnics for an attack signal, and the 200-man detachment led by Sergeant
Lamadrid launched an attack on Spanish officials on sight, seizing the arsenal, as
arranged.
When word of the revolution reached the iron-fisted Governor Izquierdo, he

quickly ordered the reinforcement of Spanish forces in Cavite to put down the
rebellion. When the expected reinforcements from Manila failed to arrive, the
"revolution" was quickly subdued. The fight resulted in the deaths of major
instigators, including Sergeant Lamadrid, while the GOMBURZA were prosecuted by
a court-martial and sentenced to death by strangling. Joaquin Pardo de Tavera,
Antonio Ma., and other Patriots Regidor, Jose, and Pio Basa, as well as other
abogadillos, were barred from practicing law by the Audencia (High Court), arrested,
and condemned to life in prison in the Marianas Island. Furthermore, Governor
Izquierdo dissolved the local artillery regiments and ordered the formation of an
artillery force made up entirely of Peninsulares.
The GOMBURZA were executed on February 17, 1872, in an attempt by the

Spanish government and Frailocracia to create dread in the Filipinos so that they
would never do such a daring deed again. This sad occurrence was one of the
driving causes in the formation of Filipino nationalism.
A RESPONSE TO INJUSTICE: THE FILIPINO VERSION OF THE INCIDENT
The Filipino version of the deadly incident in Cavite was written by Dr.
Trinidad Hermenigildo Pardo de Tavera, a Filipino academic and researcher.
35
According to him, the episode was only a mutiny by the Cavite arsenal's native
Filipino soldiers and employees, who were upset with the removal of their privileges.
Indirectly, Tavera blamed Gov. Izquierdo's cold-blooded policies, such as the
abolition of workers' and native army members' arsenal privileges, and the prohibition
on the establishment of schools of arts and trades for Filipinos, which the general
saw as a cover-up for the formation of a political club.
On January 20, 1872, a group of roughly 200 soldiers, arsenal workers, and
Cavite locals led by Sergeant Lamadrid rose out in arms and assassinated the
commanding officer and all Spanish officers in sight. Unfortunately, the insurgents did
not receive assistance from the majority of the army. When word of the mutiny
reached Manila, Gen. Izquierdo ordered the reinforcement of Spanish troops in
Cavite right away. The revolt was officially proclaimed over after two days.
Tavera believed that the Spanish friars and Izquierdo used the Cavite Mutiny
as a powerful lever to overthrow the Spanish government in the Philippines by
magnifying it as a full-blown conspiracy involving not only the native army but also
residents of Cavite and Manila, and most importantly, the native clergy. It's worth
noting that the Central Administration in Madrid proclaimed at the time that the friars
would be stripped of all powers of intervention in matters of civil government and
educational direction and management. This turn of events, according to Tavera,
spurred the friars to take harsh measures in their desperate attempt to maintain
authority in the Philippines.
Meanwhile, the Spanish Central Government supported an educational

decree drafted by Segismundo Moret that encouraged the unification of sectarian
schools managed by the friars into a school known as the Philippine Institute in order
to implement reforms. The order sought to raise the standard of education in the
Philippines by establishing competitive examinations for teaching positions in such
schools. Despite the native clergy's enthusiasm for secularization, most Filipinos
welcomed this advancement.
Fearing that their power in the Philippines would dwindle, the friars exploited
the episode and presented it to the Spanish government as part of a broad plot
across the archipelago with the goal of overthrowing Spanish sovereignty. Sadly,
Tavera verified that the Madrid administration came to believe that the program was
accurate without conducting any investigation into the true facts or scope of the
purported "revolution" reported by Izquierdo and the friars.
Convicted educated males sentenced to life in jail for their roles in the revolt,
while members of the native clergy led by the GOMBURZA were tried and executed
by garrote. This incident sparks the emergence of nationalism, which leads to the
eruption of the Philippine Revolution in 1896. The testimony of Edmund Plauchut, a
French writer, supported Tavera's account by affirming that the event occurred as a
result of dissatisfaction among the arsenal employees and troops in Cavite fort. The
Frenchman, on the other hand, focused on the execution of the three martyr priests,
which he witnessed firsthand.
36
UNRAVELING THE TRUTH
When comparing the four accounts of the 1872 Mutiny, some basic facts
remained consistent: first, there was dissatisfaction among the arsenal workers and
members of the native army after their privileges were revoked by Gen. Izquierdo;
second, Gen. Izquierdo implemented rigid and strict policies that caused the Filipinos
to flee the Spanish government in disgust; and third, the Central Government failed
to conduct an invest.
The road to independence was long and winding, and many patriots, both
known and unknown, sacrificed their lives to gain reforms and independence. Our
victory on June 12, 1898, was a magnificent moment for us, but we must not forget
that our predecessors had already endured enough. May we be more historically
aware of our past while we enjoy our freedom in order to have a better future ahead
of us. May we "not forget those who fallen throughout the night," as Elias remarked in
Noli me Tangere.
37
ASSESSMENT
Name: ________________________________________________ Date: _____

I.
Make a venn diagram that will illustrate the differences and similarities of the two
versions of the Cavite Mutiny. The left or right space of the venn diagram will
describe the differences of the claims and the space in the middle will be for the
similarities of the two claims.
II.
Evaluate the two claims. What is your stand? Write an essay of not more than 500
words explaining your stand in the 1872 Cavite Mutiny.
38
UNIT V
Rizal in Europe, the

Propaganda Movement, and
Noli Me Tangere
INTRODUCTION
Without the Propaganda Movement, there might never have been a Philippine
Revolution. The Propaganda Movement (1872-1892) was the first Filipino nationalist
movement, led by a Filipino elite and inspired by the pronationalist activism of figures
such as José Burgos and by his execution at the hands of colonial authorities.
Through which the famous La Solidaridad and the La Liga Filipina were immortalized
and became a spark that started the journey of the country towards liberation.

At the end of this chapter, students are expected to:
Rizal;
WARMING UP:
Identify a person in your community that you can call a “Rizal” of today’s
generation. What are his/her characteristics that made say he/she is “Rizal” of
today’s generation?
39
LESSON 1: RIZAL IN EUROPE

1. Discover Rizal’s intention in traveling to Europe; and
Lesson Discussion
It is very clear that Rizal was going to Europe not just to compete his medical
studies, there were hidden purposes for his voyage to a new world. It can be inferred
from Paciano's letter to Rizal that the following were the real purposes of Rizal’s
voyage to Europe: to make a name for himself in the realm of journalism; to observe
and study European society; & to prepare himself for the task of liberating the
Filipinos from Spanish tyranny.
Rizal’s departure for Spain was kept secret to avoid detection by the Spanish
authorities and the friars. Even his own parents did not know because his mother
would not allow him to do so. Only his older brother, his uncle, his sisters Neneng
and Lucia, the Valenzuela family, Pedro Paterno, Mateo Evangelista, the Ateneo
Jesuit fathers, and some intimate friends. The Jesuit priests gave him letters of
recommendation to the members of their Society in Barcelona. He used the name
Jose Mercado.
It was a constitutional monarchy that governed Spain when the 21year-old

student Rizal arrived in Spain in 1882. Within a few months of his arrival in Spain,
Rizal met a socialist republican by the name Pi y Margall, who became his
intellectual mentor, political ally, and personal friend. And from the revolutionary
vision of Pi y Margall, Rizal was able to conceive the logic of his emancipatory
discourses and display the groundings of his political economic program of La Liga
Filipina, which was patterned from the early 19th-century mutualist traditions of the
European Left.
José Rizal was so blessed with many gifts, talents and treasures, but he, like
everyone else did not have everything. In the economic sense, they did not possess
the infinite resources of certain Spanish mestizos and creoles like the Legardas who
controlled the Manila distilleries and cigar factories, Pardo de Taveras who were
trendsetters with all kinds of international connections. As a result, while Rizal was in
Madrid, he led a frugal life while in Europe. He knew that he came to Spain to study
and prepare himself for service to his motherland. Accordingly, he rigidly budgeted
his money and time. He lived frugally, spending his money on food, clothing, lodging,
and books – his only extravagance was investing a few pesetas for a lottery ticket in
every draw of the Madrid Lottery. All the while he spent his leisure time reading and
writing at his boarding house, attending reunions of Filipino students at the house of
40
the Paterno brothers – who in their Madrid mansion entertained the alta sociedad of
Spain – and practicing fencing and shooting.
After obtaining his degree of Licentiate in Philosophy and Letters and his
separate degree of Licentiate in Medicine, Rizal went to Paris and Germany in order
to specialize in ophthalmology. He particularly chose this branch of medicine
because he wanted to cure his mother’s eye ailment. He also continued his travel
and observations of European life and customs, government and laws in Paris. All
the while his merits as a scientists were recognized by eminent scientists of Europe.
1. Discuss how the different reasons why Rizal travelled to

Europe will help the situation of the Philippines during the
Spanish era.
41
LESSON 2: THE PROPAGANDA MOVEMENT

1. Explain the principle of assimilation advocated by the Propaganda Movement;
2. Discuss the significance of the establishment of LaLiga Filipina
Lesson Discussion
Between 1872 and 1892, a national consciousness was growing among the
Filipino immigrants who had settled in Europe. After encountering first-hand, the
tumult of 19th century political movements inspired by Enlightenment thought,
individual rights, constitutionalism, and anti-clericalism. These emigrants – liberals
exiled in 1872 and students attending European universities – formed the
Propaganda Movement. The propagandists were largely young men, often mestizos
and creoles whose families could afford to send them to study in Spanish universities
in Madrid and Barcelona.
It was an assimilationist movement in that the propagandist – many of whom

were of half Spanish parentage and saw themselves as inheritors of Spanish
civilization. Influenced by the Spanish Constitution, things became clear for them
that, whether the Philippines was going to be an autonomous member in the
Federation, it must be a nation first. They believed that the Philippines should be fully
incorporated into Spain as a Spanish province and not merely as a colony, with
Filipinos granted the same citizenship rights accorded to Spanish citizens. Second, it
sought the expulsion of the Spanish friars from the Philippines and the empowerment
of a native Filipino clergy. Lastly, as a cultural movement, it showcased the writing
and artistic production of the young Filipino elite as a means of demonstrating their
intellectual sophistication, on par with their Spanish peers.
It was in this juridical framework that the Filipino ilustrados waged their
propaganda movement in Spain to gain parliamentary representation for their country
and to work for the much-needed reforms. Their hope was to win the support of a
sufficient number of diputados to sponsor bills in the Cortes for these ends.
Rizal posed the Filipinos’ demands to Spain as a constitutional – contractual

– matter: does she recognize Filipinas as a province to be represented in the Cortes,
an integral part of Spain, with all the civil rights accorded to the Filipino people, as
she had done before with the Constitution of Cádiz? By Spain’s own constitutional
traditions since 1812 and centuries earlier, the Filipinos now pressed their demands
as a matter of right.
Rizal’s summation to Carnicero of what their goals were: grant representation

in the Cortes to the country; secularize the friars, thus removing their influence over
42
government and country; reform the Administration in all its branches; promote
primary education freed from all intervention by the friars; share in halves the
country’s governmental posts between peninsulares and insulares ; clean up the
Administration; and create schools of arts and trades in all provincial capitals with
more than 16,000 people (Retana 1907). These reforms were perfectly consistent
with the principles and goals of Spain’s noblest statesmen from the ilustrados of the
Enlightenment to the federalistas of the day. But those who held the reins of power in
Madrid and in Manila were not of this persuasion, so the reformists, after years of
hard work and sacrifice, were going nowhere.
Rizal came with concept of establishing the Estatuto de la Liga Filipina upon
his return to Manila in 1892. Though there has been record of what he said at those
gatherings it was clear that it was there where he presented his proposal for an
organization, so all we have is the publication itself.
It will be seen that La Liga is at bottom a mutualist association; its goal: to

create a compact, vigorous and homogeneous Civil Society. The basic unit, the
building block out of which Civil Society is to be constructed, is the people’s council
(consejo popular) to be established at the local level all over the country. The
councils are to be as numerous as possible and must regenerate themselves
continuously. Most of all, they are all integrated within a pyramidal structure of
councils from the ground level of consejo popular (popular council) through the
consejo provincial (provincial council) up to the consejo supremo (supreme council),
which is the highest level and situated at the capital of the Archipelago. Each council
functions as a mutualist association where the members relate to each other in
mutually beneficial ways which are well spelt out in the Statutes. The nature of these
interrelationships both within and outside a particular council and the Liga as a whole
is summed up in the last article of the Statute, Article 15 of General Provisions.
“Beyond the confines of the council and in all matters not affecting generally
the rule of conduct of La Liga Filipina, all members from the highest supreme chief
(gefe supremo) to the last member shall in all social dealings regard themselves as
brothers in blood; for such fraternal reason are all obliged to defend mutually the
interests of all members, to console and comfort them in misfortune; let it be
understood that what a member suffers from and endures is also what all the others
suffer from and endure” (Ibid.). The last embodies all. The Liga’s motto: Unus instar
Omnium (One is equal to all.)
The basic economic principle at work in the Liga, is the organization of credit.
The associated workers – artisans, peasants, workers, professionals – are enabled
to produce and exchange on the basis of loans made available to them by the
association itself; with the loans, they can invest in capital goods – their means of
production, the tools of their trade – and working capital. Note that all the rights of the
members of the Liga are economic in nature, designed to promote and facilitate the
growth of productive enterprises and professional services through the extension of
credit, discount on purchases and services, and other forms of support including
protection and defense against injury or injustice. The credit proposed here is
interest-free and is based on mutual lending via a people’s bank. Liga members are
to pay dues – one-time entry and monthly quotas – and are expected to make, as
43
contributions to the council, an undertaking, an idea, a study, or a new applicant for
membership. With these funds the Liga functions as a people’s bank or as a
development agency directly involved with the members as they strive to develop
their businesses. Thus, the Liga grows in assets and strengths.
The rest of the duties of the members have to do with the security of La Liga
itself. There is an unsaid presumption in Rizal’s statutes that La Liga must grow and
survive in a hostile environment and must protect itself at all moments. Hence the
dictatorial command and communication structure of the organization: top-to-bottom
channels of communication: immediate implementation of orders without question;
absolute secrecy of everyone on everything; information on a need-to-know basis
only; the use of pseudonyms and codes for members and councils; constant and
systematic reporting of any signs of trouble; no horizontal sharing of information but
bottom-to-top flow only; and readiness to replace any post or part of La Liga which
may be rendered disabled for any reason whatsoever (Estatuto, Disposiciones
generales). La Liga appears as a conspiratorial or revolutionary organization, like a
Leninist vanguard party or, the argument could well be advanced: from the start La
Liga is already designed to act as a revolutionary party if and when the moment
comes: La Liga awaits Ang Katipunan.
La Liga was Rizal’s answer to ever present question of how the country would
break away from Spain and show its capacity of being independent and self-
sufficient. Its architectural structure rests on an integration of building blocks,
people’s councils spread all over the country, mutualist associations of producers
and consumers united on the basis of cooperation and reciprocity. La Liga Filipina is
at the national level an association of associations, vertically integrated but self-
managing at all levels. Through the organization of credit and mutual help, the
association aims to promote individual and cooperative entrepreneurship, a step
towards the ideal of a non-exploitative social order because workers and peasants
can possess their means of production, and each identifies his interests in relation to
the whole.
Theoretically, Rizal already knew, before he conceived La Liga, that the

autonomous union with Spain would never happen because it would have required
as a precondition the transformation of Spain herself into a federation, and the
balance of forces was against that. The only course of action, therefore, was to work
for the independence of the Philippines. Rizal came back to his country for that, and,
organizationally and conceptually, La Liga Filipina was to be the first step to freedom.
1. Discuss the principle of assimilation manifested in the

Propaganda movement.
2. For not more than 250 words, explain the significance of
the establishment of the La Liga.
44
LESSON 3: NOLI ME TANGERE

1. Appraise important characters in the novel and what they represent.
Lesson Discussion
After reading Harriet Beecher Stowe’s Uncle Tom’s
Cabin which portrayed the brutalities of American slave-
owners and the general situation of the Negro slaves, Rizal
was inspired to create a novel that would depict the miseries
and the plight of his people. At that time, he was then living as
a student in Madrid.
He proposed his idea of creating a novel about the

Philippines with his friends, who at first were eager about
writing it but later did not follow because most did not write
anything, while others wanted only to write about women. He
brought it upon himself to finish the daunting task of writing a
novel that would shed light to the situation of his country.
Towards the end of stay in Madrid he was able to finish about
one-half of it, and after completing travelling to Paris he
continued to write the second half. He was finally able to finish Figure 9 Noli Me Tangere book.
his novel when he wrote his last chapter when he was in Source: joserizal.com
Germany. But he saw no hope of having it published for he
was already penniless during the time that he completed his work. Amid his
despondency he met Dr. Maximo Viola, who was from a rich family in Bulacan, gladly
financed the publication of his book and supported him financially. In order to save
printing cost, Rizal decided to delete certain parts in his book, including a whole
chapter – Elias and Salome.
The title Noli Me Tangere is a Latin phrase which means “Touch me not.” It is
not originally conceived by Rizal, for he admitted taking it from the Bible. It was taken
from the Gospel of John 20: 13-17. It the story after the First Easter Sunday, when
Mary Magdalene visited the Holy Sepulcher and was surprised to see the Lord has
risen from dead, who admonished her by saying: “Touch me not; I am not yet
ascended to my Father, but go to my brethren, and say unto them, I ascend unto my
Father, and your Father; and to my God and your God.”
Rizal dedicated his work to the Philippine, his “Fatherland”. His dedication
goes:
Recorded in the history of human sufferings is a cancer so
malignant a character that the least touch irritates it and awakens in it the
45
sharpest pains. Thus, how many times, when in the midst of modern
civilizations I have wished to call thee before me, now to accompany me in
memories, now to compare thee with other countries, hath thy dear image
presented itself showing a social cancer like to that other!
Destiny thy welfare which is our own, and seeing the best
treatment, I will do with thee what the ancients did with their sick, exposing
them on the steps of the temple so that everyone who care to invoke the
Divinity might offer then a remedy.
And to this end, I will strive to reproduce thy condition faithfully,

without discrimination; I will raise a part of the veil that covers the evil,
sacrificing to truth everything, even vanity itself, since, as thy son I am
conscious that I also suffer from thy defects and weaknesses.
The plot revolves around Crisostomo Ibarra, mixed-race heir of a wealthy

clan, returning home after seven years in Europe and filled with ideas on how to
better the lot of his countrymen. Striving for reforms, he is confronted by an abusive
ecclesiastical hierarchy and a Spanish civil administration by turns indifferent and
cruel.
The death of Ibarra’s father, Don Rafael, prior to his homecoming, and the
refusal of a Catholic burial by Padre Damaso, the parish priest, provokes Ibarra into
hitting the priest, for which Ibarra is excommunicated. The decree is rescinded,
however, when the governor general intervenes. The friar and his successor, Padre
Salvi, embody the rotten state of the clergy. Their tangled feelings—one paternal, the
other carnal—for Maria Clara, Ibarra’s sweetheart and rich Capitan Tiago’s beautiful
daughter, steel their determination to spoil Ibarra’s plans for a school. The town
philosopher Tasio wryly notes similar past attempts have failed, and his sage
commentary makes clear that all colonial masters fear that an enlightened people will
throw off the yoke of oppression.
Precisely on how to accomplish this is the novel’s central question, and one
which Ibarra debates with the mysterious Elias. The privileged Ibarra favors peaceful
means, while Elias, who has suffered injustice at the hands of the authorities,
believes violence is the only option.
Ibarra’s enemies, particularly Salvi, implicate him in a fake insurrection,

though the evidence against him is weak. Then Maria Clara betrays him to protect a
dark family secret, public exposure of which would be ruinous. Ibarra escapes from
prison with Elias’s help and confronts her. She explains why, Ibarra forgives her, and
he and Elias flee to the lake. But chased by the Guardia Civil, one dies while the
other survives. Convinced Ibarra’s dead, Maria Clara enters the nunnery, refusing a
marriage arranged by Padre Damaso. Her unhappy fate and that of the more
memorable Sisa, driven mad by the fate of her sons, symbolize the country’s
condition, at once beautiful and miserable.
The Noli Me Tangere, was based on the condition of the Philippines during
the last decades of the Spanish rule. The places, the characters, and the situation
really existed. Rizal said, “The facts I narrate there, are all true and have happened; I
46
can prove them.” The characters were drawn by Rizal from individuals who existed
during his times.
The Main Characters

1. Juan Crisóstomo Ibarra y Magsalin – Crisostomo Ibarra is depicted as one
of the Filipinos who managed to finish their studies abroad. He had been
living abroad for seven years. Unlike his countrymen, he has a liberal mind,
outspoken and idealistic. Crisostomo Ibarra exemplified the vision that Jose
Rizal had aimed for the youth of the Philippines during his time. Others
attribute Ibarra as Rizal’s reflection of himself.
2. María Clara de los Santos – Maria Clara's character is related to Rizal's
childhood sweetheart, Leonor Rivera. Like the real-life Leonor, she plays the
piano and the harp and has a sweet voice. She was portrayed as a faithful
sweetheart, a good friend, and an obedient daughter. She portrayed as the
ideal woman during her time. She does not impose her will except when she
refused being married off to Linares. Maria Clara symbolizes the purity and
innocence of a sheltered native woman during the time of Spanish
occupation. She does not value material things that were abundantly
bestowed upon her by admirers and family alike but holds in high esteem her
parents’ honor and the promise she had given to her sweetheart
3. Padre Damaso Verdolagas – He’s a Franciscan friar and the former parish
curate of San Diego. He is best known as a notorious character who speaks
with harsh words and has been a cruel priest during his stay in the town. He
is the real father of María Clara and an enemy of Crisóstomo's father, Rafael
Ibarra. He symbolizes the Spanish friars of Rizal's time and is a comment on
the Spanish control of the Philippines
4. Elias – He is a former boatman who became one of the most wanted
criminals in San Diego. He distrusts human judgment and prefers God's
justice instead. He is acquainted with the tulisanes and other crooks, which
he uses to his advantage in discerning the troubles of the town. Elias
represents the common Filipino who is not only aware of the injustices done
to their countrymen but would also like to deliver them from their oppressors.
He is said to be the personification of Andres Bonifacio.
5. Pilosopo Tacio – Known by his Filipinized name Pilosopo Tasyo, is another
major character in the story. Seeking for reforms from the government, he
expresses his ideals in paper written in a cryptographic alphabet similar from
hieroglyphs and Coptic figures hoping "that the future generations may be
able to decipher it" and realized the abuse and oppression done by the
conquerors. Tasio symbolizes the learned Filipinos who had once embraced
the culture of the Spanish regime. They eventually became disenchanted
when they return to the Philippines and observe the stark contrast their
countrymen receive from their colonizers. The more they turn to learning, the
more they become eccentric to the masses they seek to enlighten.
6. Padre Salvi – He has a secret admiration to Maria Clara. On the Later part of
the story he and padre Damaso devised a plan to break Ibarra and Maria
Clara apart. Symbolizes the lecherous friars of Rizal's time.
47
The Undesirables -- These are characters that portray the pervading social cancer
in the novels of Rizal.
1. Capitán Tiago – Don Santiago de los Santos, known by his nickname Tiago
and political title Capitán Tiago is a Filipino businessman and the cabeza de
barangay or head of barangay of the town of San Diego. He is also the known
father of María Clara. Capitan Tiago was a typical character during the time of
Jose Rizal. He is a rich native-born Filipino who rubbed elbows with the
powers that be during that time. He symbolizes the rich Filipinos who oppress
their fellow countrymen in exchange for the influence and the riches that they
might gain from their powerful associations.
2. Donya Concolacion – her adulation of the Spaniards leads her to imitate the
very actions and attitudes of the Spanish women. She symbolizes the
Filipinos in society who are ashamed of their race and nationality.
3. Doña Victorina – Commonly known as Doña Victorina, is an ambitious
Filipina who classifies herself as a Spanish and mimics Spanish ladies by
putting on heavy make-up. As one of the lesser evils in the novel, Doña
Victorina symbolizes those who have a distorted view of their identity.
Everything that is indigenous is inferior and everything foreign as superior. It
is the comedic form of ‘’colonial mentality’’.
4. Don Tiburcio de Espadana – Don Tiburcio is the husband of Doña Victorina.
He was introduced as one of the invited guests of Capitan Tiago in the latter's
welcome party for Juan Crisostomo Ibarra. He was known for charging
exorbitant fees for his medical treatment. He is a caricature of ignorant
Spaniards who wreak havoc in the provinces during the colonial era. His
countrymen condone his actions for they do not want him to become a burden
to them.
The Supporting Characters – they are the victims of poverty and ignorance, who
represent a Filipino family persecuted by the Spanish authorities.
1. Sisa – Sisa(Narcisa) is the typical native wife. She endures her husband's
beatings and irresponsibility. She had been stripped of her few jewels by her
husband, Pedro, an inveterate gambler. Despite the abuse, she considers
him her god. She is described as a mother who considers her sons her only
treasure. Sisa is thought to have represented the motherland who was
suffering as her character have suffered with the loss of her children. The
tragic events that ruined her life represented the abuse that the motherland
received from her colonizers.
2. Basilio – Sisa's 10-year-old son. An acolyte tasked to ring the church bells
for the Angelus, he faced the dread of losing his younger brother and the
descent of his mother into insanity. At the end of the novel, Elías wished
Basilio to bury him by burning in exchange for a chest of gold located on his
death ground. He will later play a major role in El Filibusterismo
3. Crispin – Crispin represents the innocents who have been wrongly accused
of the crime they did not commit. The injustice they suffered under the hands
48
of the authorities during their time were silenced by their deaths and the
cover-ups that follow it.
1. Relate yourself to one of the characters of Noli Me Tangere and

justify your answer.
49
ASSESSMENT
Name: ________________________________________________ Date: ______

TEST I
1. What was the propaganda movement and what did it stand for?
2. What was Rizal’s involvement in the propaganda movement?
3. Why did the members of the propaganda movement advocate for
assimilation?
4. Why did Rizal dismiss the idea of assimilation?
5. Who are the characters in Noli Me Tangere? Who are they symbolizing?
TEST II
Instructions: Read the constitution of the La Liga Filipina and fill out a table with the
aims of La Liga Filipina in one column and examples on how these aims could be
attained today in another column.
50
UNIT VI
THE MORGA AND RIZAL’S

SEARCH FOR ORIGIN
INTRODUCTION
Rizal claimed that Noli Me Tangere is a sketch of our country's current
problems, and while writing his first novel, he recognized that before he could write
additional Units about the present or create a sequel, he needed to go back in time.
He needed to think about what had happened during the last three centuries. He said
that, like most of his contemporaries, he was born and raised unaware of our history,
and that he believed he had no right or authority to speak about something he didn't
understand. He felt compelled to "invoke the testimony of an "illustrious Spaniard"
who oversaw the Philippines' fate and witnessed the fading of our old identity.
LEARNING OUTCOMES
1. Discuss the blood compact of Sikatuna and Legazpi and its significance to
Philippine history
2. Explain Morga’s Sucesos de las Islas Filipinas
3. Compare and contrast Rizal and Morga’s different views about Filipinos
and Philippine Culture
4. Analyze Rizal’s ideas on how to write Philippine History.
WARMING UP
Before embarking on this Unit, reading some books and articles about
Philippine History from reputable sources is advisable. This preliminary activity will
help you understand why Rizal gave importance to the history of our country.
Suggested Philippine History Books:
1. State and Society in the Philippines by Patricio N. Abinales and Donna J.

Amoroso
2. History of the Filipino People by Teodoro A. Agoncillo
51
LESSON 1: PACTO DE SANGRE: WHY WERE WE
CONQUERED?

1. Discuss the blood compact of Sikatuna and Legazpi and its significance to
Philippine history
Lesson Discussion
Pacto de Sangre (Blood Compact) has a crucial significance in Filipino
conceptions of history. However, it is seldom interrogated in Philippine
Historiography. This event happened in Bhol in 1565, before the Philippines was
officially occupied by the Spaniards, involving Sikatuna and Legazpi, was narrativized
in the late 19th century and became integral to the nationalist emplotment of the past.
This event tells the start of Spanish occupation in the country and how they
succeeded in colonizing the islands. This is very significant because it revisits the
making of a founding myth of Filipino nationhood in light of scholarship on ancient
blood oaths and the historical account of the encounter of Sikatuna and Legazpi.
Pacto de sangre
The Pacto de sangre,

Sandugo was a blood compact
performed in the island of Bohol in
the Philippines, between the Spanish
explorer Miguel López de Legazpi
and Datu Sikatuna the chieftain of
Bohol on March 16, 1565, to seal
their friendship as part of the tribal
tradition. This is considered as the
Figure 10 Sandugo Shrine in Bohol. source:
first treaty of friendship between the nomadexperiences.com
Spaniards and Filipinos. "Sandugo"
is a Visayan word which means "one blood".
The Sandugo is depicted in both the provincial flag and the official seal of the
government in Bohol. It also features the image of the blood compact. The top of the
seal explains the history behind the Sandugo event that occurred in Bohol, the fleet
and the location where the Spaniards anchored and the place where the treaty was
conducted which was dated on March 16, 1565.
52
In 1521, Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan became the first person
from Europe to reach Asia by sailing west, a voyage of which he would meet an
untimely death in the island of the Philippines. Spain sent expeditions to colonize the
East Indies in their competition with Portugal to seize control over the spice trade.
However, all of these expeditions failed. It was not until Miguel López de Legazpi,
sailing from Mexico with five ships and five hundred men, reached the Philippines in
1565 and a Spanish settlement was established. López de Legazpi was greeted by
hostile Muslim tribes opposing a foreign invasion. His attempt to land on the island of
Cebu resulted in the death of one of his soldiers prompting him to explore another
island and seek trade with various tribes.
Sailing south toward the island of Mindanao, López de Legazpi's fleet

encountered highwinds forcing them to sail northward to the island of Bohol. There,
he captured a vessel from Borneo whose Malay sailors informed the Spaniards that
the natives inhabiting the region traded with people from Borneo and Indonesia.
Arriving in Bohol, López de Legazpi noticed the hostility of the people. The Malayan
servant explained that such hostility was due to the expeditions conducted by the
Portuguese from the Moluccas islands. In 1563, Portuguese fleets arrived in Visayan
waters and enslaved about 1,000 inhabitants. López de Legazpi, with the help of the
Malayan sailor, explained to the tribes in Bohol that they were not Portuguese and
that they had come to the islands to trade. Upon learning this, the chieftains and their
tribes became friendlier and welcoming to the Spaniards.
The Significance
The hostility of the Visayans toward the Legazpi expedition was
understandable in view of their bad experience with the Portuguese. Two years
before Legazpi came, a group of Portuguese and their allies tricked the Boholanos
and plundered the island of Dauis-Panglao. They also did the same to Camiguin and
other Visayan settlements. So when Legazpi came, the hatred against the "white
men with beards" was still strong. Being white and bearded, Legazpi and his men
were easily thought of as Portuguese.
Because of this hostile attitude, Legazpi and his men could not get help from
the natives in terms of getting food to eat and supplies. But when Legazpi learned
about the reason for the hostile behavior, he used an interpreter to inform the
Boholanos that he and his men were not Portuguese and that they did not come to
plunder but for peace.
That the Boholanos welcomed the Spaniards despite their bad experience
with white and bearded foreigners is also understandable since Legazpi met
Pagbuaya or Lagubayan. Pagbuaya was the brother of Dailisan, the great datu of
Bohol who was killed by the Portuguese. Pagbuaya migrated to Dapitan after the
siege of Bohol. His rank was higher compared to Sikatuna. According to some
sources, Sikatuna was a vassal (a person under the protection of a feudal lord to
whom he has vowed homage and fealty) of Pagbuaya. And according to Rizal's
sources, Pagbuaya gave Legaspi sea pilots. Hence, it is very likely that the pilots
brought Legazpi to Bohol or informed Legazpi about it when the expedition was near
the island.
53
We can only surmise the intention why Sikatuna went on board a Spanish
vessel and performed the sandugo rite with Legazpi. Probably, Legazpi told Sikatuna
that he was a friend of Pagbuaya. Probably, the previous raid taxed the courage of
the Boholanos and made them complacent to offers of friendship. Perhaps the
memory of the plunder simply made them glad that white foreigners are friendly and
then seized this opportunity to formally seal the friendship to prevent any more
Portuguese or similar attacks. Sikatuna's intention, however, may become clearer by
looking at the context of sandugo.
The prehispanic Visayan settlements were regularly at war with each other.
These hostilities were "suspended or avoided by sandugo (Scott, p. 156, 1994)."
Sandugo is a Visayan procedure by which "two men, not necessarily enemies,
became blood brothers, vowing to stick together through thick and thin, war and
peace, and to observe mourning restriction whenever they were separated from one
another (Ibid.)." Because of this, "[A]ll Spanish explorers from Magellan to Legazpi
made such pacts with Visayan datus (Ibid.)." Since sandugo is a Visayan rite, it was
very likely that Sikatuna had good intentions in making the peace pact.
What is questionable was the motive of Legazpi in agreeing to perform the

sandugo. First, he was authorized by the King of Spain to enter the Philippine Islands
and to use force when necessary (of course with the concurrence of his chiefs who
are part of his council). Second, his men were hungry so they needed the natives to
provide them with food, even if they have to rightfully pay for it. Third, he did not have
the cultural background to understand the natives' sandugo rite, hence, probably did
not understand the deep and wide implications of such rite. Fourth, he took
possession of the island in the name of the King of Spain inspite of the sandugo. And
fifth, he made Bohol part of the encomienda system of the country.
The Sikatuna-Legazpi sandugo, therefore, was not a formal international

treaty of friendship. Granting that it was, the terms and conditions were definitely not
consummated on the part of the Spaniards. On the contrary, the blood compact could
be interpreted as the first formal treachery or swindling committed by the Spaniards
against the Boholanos, as distinguished from the one committed by the Portuguese
and their allies.
As far as can be ascertained, the late nineteenth-century constructions of the

Pacto de Sangre diverged from the ancient blood oaths as well as the historical event
in Bohil in 1565, in which, on the one hand, Sikatuna sought a way of dealing with a
world that was changing radically because of European rivalries and the Spanish
intent to colonize the islands and, on the other hand, Legazpi sought survival and a
means to effect smooth conquest. The complex wold of small politics, networks of
rulers and vassal chiefs, status contests, internecine warfare, and dyadic blood oaths
had become by the late nineteenth century inaccessible to Spain’s colonial subjects,
precisely because Spanish colonialism had intervened and transformed the
indigenous societies.
54
Discuss the importance of blood compact in Philippine history by
making a poster.
55
LESSON 2: MORGA’S SUCESOS DE LAS ISLAS
FILIPINAS

Lesson Discussion
Sucesos de las Islas Filipinas, written by renowned
Spaniard Doctor Antonio de Morga, was published in
Mexico in 1609. The book had been out of publication for a
long time when Rizal discovered it in an obscure corner of
the British Library and Museum. Some historians think
Rizal meant to write a Philippine history for a long time but
couldn't find the time, so he annotated Morga's work and
copied it by hand. Rizal’s annotations of the Sucesos was
how he portrayed the precolonial past and this gave his
readers the idea of nation that had been born even without
a colonizing power. This search for origin of Rizal
represented the “Filipinos” or who we are before a foreign
culture assimilated in our own, and we have to go back to Figure 11 Antonio de Morga. source:
our lost part to know we are as a group of people. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki
/File:Antonio_de_Morga_efigie.jpg
Rizal had previously studied writings on the
Philippines by friars such as Fr. Gaspar de San Agustin Morga's book was unique
since it was written by a layperson and was about the conquest and conversion of
the Philippines. Rizal would include Chirino and Gaspar de San Agustin, as well as
Isabelo los Reyes ("Limahong and Los Régulos de Manila"), Argensola (The Molucas
Conquest), and Trinidad Pardo de Tavera in his comments. Professor Ferdinand
Blumentritt was given the duty of drafting the prologue in Spanish, but instead wrote
Rizal a long letter full of criticism.
The first seven Units, which covered Spanish colonial rule from Adelantado
Miguel Lopez de Legazpi to Don Pedro de Acua, were packed with political intrigue
stories that gurgled from the Capitania-General de Filipinas, swirled directly to the
Metropolis (Spain), but occasionally took a circuitous route through the Virreinato de
la Nueva Espaa (Mexico). While overseeing the evangelizing of the Philippines, the
Captain-Generals (Governor-Generals) had their sights set on the Moluccas, China,
Japan, and, believe it or not, Cambodia, Siam, and Cochin China. Despite the fact
that the Moluccas were under Portuguese control, the spice trade proved seductive,
and Spaniards residing in Manila would travel there to foment discord among the
princelings that were always at odds.
56
Corruption and nepotism were both widespread. Even if a number of them
were tortured and executed in China, Japan, and other heathen places, religious
organizations were steadfast in propagating the Faith to "infidels." These politico-
religious actions were frequently carried out with the Spanish kings' knowledge. In
several annotations, Rizal repeatedly pointed out that the politically correct words
during Morga's time, "to pacify" or "pacification," were, in fact, synonyms for "make
war" or "sow animosity," and that the evangelization of the Philippines was far from
complete, necessitating the need to cross borders.
Morga detailed the Moro pirate incursions in the Visayas and Luzon, as well
as the Spanish rulers' several efforts to seize Mindanao, Jolo, and Sulu. Because the
Spanish colonial authorities prevented Christianized locals from carrying weaponry,
they were unable to defend themselves against Moro assaults, which encouraged the
marauders, according to Rizal.
Antonio de Morga, according to Rizal, was a witness to the last days of the
native way of life, the end of the time of contact, and because he was a layman, his
views would be a counterbalance to what the religious missionaries had written about
the Philippines.
Sucesos de las Islas by Antonio de Morga has long been acknowledged for
its worth. It was initially published in Mexico in 1609 and has since been re-edited
several times. It provides a first-hand account of the early Spanish colonial foray into
Asia. The Hakluyt Society took notice of it in 1851, despite the fact that the edition
created for the Society by H. It took until 1868 for E. J. Stanley to be published.
Morga's work is based on firsthand experiences or eyewitness accounts of the
events depicted. Furthermore, as he admits, survivors from Legazpi's voyage were
still alive when he was writing his book in Manila, and he could consult them as well.
As a lawyer, it goes without saying that he would look for such proof. The Sucesos is
the product of an objective observer who was also a prominent player in the drama of
his day, a dynamic bureaucrat who knew the inner workings of the government. It's
also the first history of the Spanish Philippines written by a layperson rather than a
religious chronicler. Contemporaries and successors lauded, quoted, and copied
Morga's text. Filipinos have found it to be a valuable depiction of the status of their
original culture prior to the arrival of the conquistadors, while Spaniards have viewed
it as a work to praise or condemn, depending on their viewpoints and the historical
context.
Explain the important views of Morga about Filipinos and Philippine

culture.
57
LESSON 3: RIZAL’S MORGA AND ILUSTRADO
VIEW OF THE PRECONQUEST

Lesson Discussion
“To the Filipinos: In Noli Me Tangere I started to sketch the present state of
our native land. But the effect which my effort produced made me realize that, before
attempting to unroll before your eyes the other pictures which were to follow, it was
necessary first to post you on the past. So only can you fairly judge the present and
estimate how much progress has been made during the three centuries (of Spanish
rule).”
“Like almost all of you, I was born and brought up in ignorance of our
country's past and so, without knowledge or authority to speak of what I neither saw
nor have studied, I deem it necessary to quote the testimony of an illustrious
Spaniard who in the beginning of the new era controlled the destinies of the
Philippines and had personal knowledge of our ancient nationality in its last days.”
“It is then the shade of our ancestor's civilization which the author will call
before you... If the work serves to awaken in you a consciousness of our past, and to
blot from your memory or to rectify what has been falsified or is calumny, then I shall
not have labored in vain. With this preparation, slight though it is, we can all pass to
the study of the future.”
Morga stated the Indians adore and reverence the crocodile because they are
terrified of its might, and Rizal patiently put things in their appropriate context. "May
the crocodile kill him!" even Christians curse. "to those who make false pledges,
perjure themselves, or break commitments." May the buhaya's fury fall upon them!
Crocodiles have been known to eat friars while spare their Indio attendants,
according to Rizal. When this happens, historians have offered plausible reasons, but
not when Indios are the victims.
58
LESSON 4: DR. JOSE RIZAL'S ANNOTATIONS TO
MORGA'S 1609 PHILIPPINE HISTORY

Lesson Discussion
Governor Antonio de Morga was not only the first to compose a Philippine
history, but also the first to publish one. This statement refers to our author's
treatment of the subject in a succinct and concrete manner. The work of Father
Chirino, produced in Rome in 1604, is more of a chronicle of the Missions than a
history of the Philippines, but it still offers a wealth of information on usages and
customs. In fact, the honorable Jesuit admits that he gave up writing a political
history because Morga had already done it, implying that he had seen the manuscript
before leaving the Islands.
Doctor Morga appears to be referring to the Roman Catholic religion, which he

intends to preserve in its purity in the Philippines through fire and sword. However, in
other regions, particularly in Flanders, similar methods were inadequate in
maintaining the church's authority or even holding its subjects.
Great kingdoms were discovered and conquered in far-flung corners of the globe
by Spanish ships, but we may also include Portuguese, Italians, French, Greeks, and
even Africans and Polynesians among those who sailed in them. Despite being
Spanish fleets, the expeditions led by Columbus and Magellan, one a Genoese
Italian and the other a Portuguese, as well as those that followed them, were manned
by a diverse range of nationalities, including negroes, Moluccans, and even men
from the Philippines and the Marianes Islands.
Writing as intolerantly as Morga does was the norm three centuries ago, but
today it would be considered arrogant. No one has a monopoly on the true God, and
no nation or religion can claim, or at least demonstrate, that it has been given
exclusive access to the Creator of all things or sole understanding of His actual
nature.
The Spaniards' conversions were not as widespread as their historians say. The
missionaries were only able to convert a small portion of the Filipino population.
There are still Mahometans, or Moros, in the southern islands, and negritos, igorots,
and other heathens occupy the majority of the archipelago's territory. Then there are
59
the non-Christian islands of Formosa, Borneo, and the Moluccas, which the
Spaniards briefly ruled but quickly lost. And if the Carolines have Christians, it is
because of Protestants, whom neither Morga's Roman Catholics nor many Catholics
today consider Christians.
Morga demonstrates that the ancient Filipinos possessed an army and navy, as
well as artillery and other weapons of war. Their treasured krises and kampilans are
deserving of appreciation for their superb temperament, and some of them are
lavishly damascened. Their mail and helmet jackets, examples of which may be
found in various European museums, demonstrate to their considerable achievement
in this field.
Morga's statement that the Spaniards "brought war to the gates of the Filipinos"
contrasts sharply with historians' subsequent use of the word "pacified" to describe
Spain's possession of a region. Perhaps "to make peace" meant the same thing as
"to stir up conflict" back then. (This is a hidden allusion to the old Roman phrase,
often recounted by Spaniards, that they made a desert and called it peace.)
As far as we know, Morga had mixed up Legaspi's tranquil arrival with the
onslaught of Goiti and Salcedo. According to other historians, Manila was burned in
1570, along with a large complex for making artillery. Goiti did not take possession of
the city, instead retreating to Cavite and then Panay, raising doubts about his alleged
victory. When it came to the date, the Spaniards were sixteen hours behind Europe
since they had followed the sun's path. This situation persisted until the end of 1844,
when the 31st of December was removed from the calendar for that year by special
agreement among the authorities.
As a result, Legaspi did not arrive in Manila on May 19th, but on May 20th, and it
was not on the festival of Santa Potenciana, but on the feast of San Baudelio. The
similar error was made with regard to other early events that are still incorrectly
celebrated, such as San Andres' day, which commemorates the repulse of the
Chinese corsair Li Ma-hong.
Morga's claim that there was not a single Filipino province or town that opposed
or refused conversion may have been accurate of the civilized indigenous. However,
for the mountain tribes, the opposite was true. Several Dominican and Augustinian
missionaries said that it was impossible to effect conversions anywhere without the
presence of other Filipinos and a military escort. "There would have been no fruit of
the Evangelic Doctrine harvested otherwise," writes Gaspar de San Agustin, "for the
infidels sought to kill the Friars who came to preach to them." A trek to the mountains
by two Friars with a large escort of Pampangans was an example of this method of
conversion provided by the same writer. Don Agustin Sonson, the escort's leader,
had a reputation for daring and had brought fire and sword into the kingdom,
murdering many people, including the chief, Kabadi.
According to Morga, "the Spaniards were accustomed to holding as slaves such

locals as they bought and others that they took in the expeditions in the conquest or
pacification of the islands." As a result, the "pacifiers" did not bring about any moral
reform in this regard. We don't even know if the Filipinos used to enslave one other in
their wars, though it wouldn't be surprising given the chroniclers' accounts of captives
60
being returned to their own people. Although the Spaniards were the first aggressors
in these piratical wars, and gave them their character, the behavior of the Southern
pirates almost proved this.
What are the annotations of Rizal on Morga’s Sucesos that explains

the Philippine culture?
61
LESSON 5: RIZAL AND MORGA’S VIEWS ABOUT
THE FILIPINOS AND PHILIPPINE HISTORY

1. Analyze Rizal’s ideas on how to write Philippine History.
Lesson Discussion
Jose Rizal bemoaned the fact that he was born and raised unaware of our
country's pre-colonial history. As a result, he felt he had no voice or authority to
speak about something he didn't understand. You can bet that the majority of his
peers shared his sentiments. When he was a student at the Ateneo Municipal, Rizal
wrote an anti-colonial drama in which the Devil extolled the beauty of the archipelago
before the Spaniards arrived.
We can only imagine how difficult it must have been to conduct historical
study back then. The majority of the extant sources were authored by religious order
friars, fervent missionaries determined to eradicate native beliefs and cultural
practices that they considered pagan and primitive. Rizal must have spent hours
poring over early Philippine histories by Fathers Pedro Chirino (1604), Francisco
Colin (1663), and Gaspar de San Agustin (1698), all of whom he mentioned in his
annotations to Dr. Antonio Morga's book, Sucesos de las Islas Filipinas, which was
published in Mexico (Nueva Espaa) in 1609. When Rizal came across it in an
obscure nook of the British Library and Museum, it was already out of print.
Rizal and his "Indios Bravos" were not completely unaware of the
Motherland's ethnic and indigenous populations; in fact, they despised the colonial
habit of showing "samples" of these "savages" in European fairs in order to justify
Spain's invasion of the Philippines. Rizal came discovered study articles about
numerous ethnic communities in Asia written by famous European scientists while in
Europe, one of which was Ferdinand Blumentritt, the author of "Versuch einer
Etnographie der Philippinen," to whom Rizal wrote and thus began their friendship.
Unit 8 discusses the appearance of the locals, their clothing and gold jewelry,
customs, and administration prior to the advent of the Spaniards and after the
conquest, as well as other unique characteristics. The annotations by Rizal are as
extensive as the Unit itself. Rizal corrected all of Morga's "mistakes," including
misspellings of native place names, flora and fauna, and social classes, as well as
clarifying geographical positions. Tendaya Island, for example, is one of the largest,
62
according to Morga. Fr. It was close to Maluco, according to Urdaneta, but Fr. Colin
confirmed that it was in the Leyte area. Other sources revealed that Tendaya was the
name of a person, not an island.
Cotton was grown widely on virtually all of the islands, according to Morga,
and the indigenous sold it as thread and woven cloths to Chinese and other foreign
traders. They also spun thread from banana leaves; Rizal stated that Morga must
have meant sinamay, which is fashioned from abaca thread derived from the trunk
rather than the leaves. After that, he quoted Fr. Chirino claimed that these cotton
garments were in high demand in Nueva Espaa, and that encomenderos made a
fortune from the cotton trade. That was 31 years after the encomiendas were
established, but the hardworking locals were so frustrated by excessive exploitation
that they abandoned the fields and torched the weaving looms, as Rizal pointed out.
Morga was clearly captivated by the indigenous' social structure; he

highlighted origins, differences, social class advantages, upward and downward
mobility, and the inheritance of property and titles. Unlike their European
counterparts, local ladies never lost their noble titles, according to Rizal. Because the
bride's parents were losing a wonderful daughter, the groom gave the bride's parents
a dowry in marriage.
As expected, Morga was critical of the government structure, which he

claimed scarcely existed because no great figure controlled over a slew of
settlements, the majority of which were coastal and each with its own set of leaders.
Why should the communities be indebted to one ruler who didn't even live among
them and was unfamiliar with their needs and concerns, Rizal argued? If he didn't
even live in the neighborhood, how could he have resolved disputes, mete justice,
and implemented policies? (Perhaps Rizal thought federalism was a good idea.)
The literacy of pre-colonial Filipinos was one of the most time-consuming

footnotes. Morga claimed that the residents of each island had their own writing
system with characters that resembled Greek or Arabic. Unfortunately, Rizal stated
that this was no longer the case. The colonial authority claimed to be educating the
Filipinos in word and practice, but in reality, it was fomenting ignorance by putting the
friars in charge of education. They were accused of wanting to stupefy (embrutecer)
the country by not only Filipinos but even Peninsulars and foreigners, and this was
clear in their writings and behavior.
Many notable experts have published on the subject of the ancient script.
After Chirino, Colin, and De San Agustin, there was Jacquet of the "Journal
Asiatique," Alfred Marche's "Luçon and Palaouan," concerning the Tagbanuas, and
T. Pardo de Tavera's "Contribucion para el studio de los antiguos alfabetos Filipinos"
(1884).
Rizal met the most famous European ethnologists of the day through
Ferdinand Blumentritt. They must have been so struck by this young Asian's
intellectual interest that they invited him to join their famous club of ethnologists.
Rizal was so enthusiastic that he planned an international conference on the
Philippines, but his bold aspirations were not realized.
63
“Had he lived longer, I am sure he would have spent many years studying the
past.” After all, his third novel, Makamisa, was about the period of transition about
which we know so little. He would have gone to the highlands to meet the Ifugaos
and Tinggians and live among our ancestors.
Make a table comparing and contrasting Rizal and Morga’s views on

Philippine culture.
64
ASSESSMENT
Name: ________________________________________________ Date: _____

Course / Section: _______________________________________ Score: ______
A. Make a timeline of the coming of Miguel Lopez de Legazpi in our country until
his blood compact with Sikatuna. Explain its significance to the search of
origin of Rizal.
B. Make a table comparing and contrasting Rizal and Morga’s views on Filipino
culture and history in relation with the Sucesos delas Islas Filipinas.
C. Make a short essay expressing your impression towards Jose Rizal as a
historian.
65
UNIT VII
The Philippines: A Century

Hence
INTRODUCTION
It is important for us to know some literary works of Jose Rizal. Through his literary
masterpieces, he expressed his strong opposition to the abuses of the Spanish colony and
his messages conveyed that he hoped would inspire his fellow Filipinos. His essay, “The
Philippine: A Century Hence” forecasts the future of the country within a hundred years. Rizal
felt that it was time to remind Spain that the circumstances that ushered in the French
Revolution could have a telling effect in the Philippines. This will show the visionary character
of Rizal on how his historical knowledge is aptly used to forecast what will happen to the
Philippines in the future.

1. Explain the factors that causes the miseries of Filipinos as explained in the
essay
2. Appraise the value of understanding the past
WARMING UP
Aside from the masterpieces of Rizal- Noli Me Tangere and El
Filibusterismo – what other literary works do you know?
LESSON DISCUSSION
The Philippines: A Century Hence is an essay written by Jose Rizal to

forecast the future of the country within a hundred years. This was published in La
Solidaridad that starts analysing the various miseries suffered by the Filipinos.
Below is the essay of Rizal, “The Philippines: A Century Hence”:
I.
Following our usual custom of facing squarely the most difficult and delicate
questions relating to the Philippines, without weighing the consequences that our
frankness may bring upon us, we shall in the present article treat of their future.
In order to read the destiny of a people, it is necessary to open the book of its past,
and this, for the Philippines, may be reduced in general terms to what follows.
Scarcely had they been attached to the Spanish crown than they had to sustain with
their blood and the efforts of their sons the wars and ambitions of conquest of the
Spanish people, and in these struggles, in that terrible crisis when a people changes
its form of government, its laws, usages, customs, religion and beliefs the Philippines
were depopulated, impoverished and retarded—caught in their metamorphosis,
without confidence in their past, without faith in their present and with no fond hope
for the years to come. The former rulers who had merely endeavored to secure the
fear and submission of their subjects, habituated by them to servitude, fell like leaves
from a dead tree, and the people, who had no love for them nor knew what liberty
was, easily changed masters, perhaps hoping to gain something by the innovation.
Then began a new era for the Filipinos. They gradually lost their ancient traditions,
their recollections—they forgot their writings, their songs, their poetry, their laws, in
order to learn by heart other doctrines, which they did not understand, other ethics,
other tastes, different from those inspired in their race by their climate and their way
of thinking. Then there was a falling-off, they were lowered in their own eyes, they
became ashamed of what was distinctively their own, in order to admire and praise
what was foreign and incomprehensible: their spirit was broken and they acquiesced.
Thus years and centuries rolled on. Religious shows, rites that caught the eye,
songs, lights, images arrayed with gold, worship in a strange language, legends,
67
miracles and sermons, hypnotized the already naturally superstitious spirit of the
country, but did not succeed in destroying it altogether, in spite of the whole system
afterwards developed and operated with unyielding tenacity.
When the ethical abasement of the inhabitants had reached this stage, when they
had become disheartened and disgusted with themselves, an effort was made to add
the final stroke for reducing so many dormant wills and intellects to nothingness, in
order to make of the individual a sort of toiler, a brute, a beast of burden, and to
develop a race without mind or heart. Then the end sought was revealed, it was
taken for granted, the race was insulted, an effort was made to deny it every virtue,
every human characteristic, and there were even writers and priests who pushed the
movement still further by trying to deny to the natives of the country not only capacity
for virtue but also even the tendency to vice.
Then this which they had thought would be death was sure salvation. Some dying
persons are restored to health by a heroic remedy.
So great endurance reached its climax with the insults, and the lethargic spirit woke
to life. His sensitiveness, the chief trait of the native, was touched, and while he had
had the forbearance to suffer and die under a foreign flag, he had it not when they
whom he served repaid his sacrifices with insults and jests. Then he began to study
himself and to realize his misfortune. Those who had not expected this result, like all
despotic masters, regarded as a wrong every complaint, every protest, and punished
it with death, endeavoring thus to stifle every cry of sorrow with blood, and they made
mistake after mistake.
The spirit of the people was not thereby cowed, and even though it had been
awakened in only a few hearts, its flame nevertheless was surely and consumingly
propagated, thanks to abuses and the stupid endeavors of certain classes to stifle
noble and generous sentiments. Thus when a flame catches a garment, fear and
confusion propagate it more and more, and each shake, each blow, is a blast from
the bellows to fan it into life.
Undoubtedly during all this time there were not lacking generous and noble spirits
among the dominant race that tried to struggle for the rights of humanity and justice,
or sordid and cowardly ones among the dominated that aided the debasement of
their own country. But both were exceptions and we are speaking in general terms.
Such is an outline of their past. We know their present. Now, what will their future
be?
Will the Philippine Islands continue to be a Spanish colony, and if so, what kind of
colony? Will they become a province of Spain, with or without autonomy? And to
reach this stage, what kind of sacrifices will have to be made?
Will they be separated from the mother country to live independently, to fall into the
hands of other nations, or to ally themselves with neighboring powers?
68
It is impossible to reply to these questions, for to all of them both yes and no may be
answered, according to the time desired to be covered. When there is in nature no
fixed condition, how much less must there be in the life of a people, beings endowed
with mobility and movement! So it is that in order to deal with these questions, it is
necessary to presume an unlimited period of time, and in accordance therewith try to
forecast future events.
II.
What will become of the Philippines within a century? Will they continue to be a
Spanish colony?
Had this question been asked three centuries ago, when at Legazpi’s death the
Malayan Filipinos began to be gradually undeceived and, finding the yoke heavy,
tried in vain to shake it off, without any doubt whatsoever the reply would have been
easy. To a spirit enthusiastic over the liberty of the country, to those unconquerable
Kagayanes who nourished within themselves the spirit of the Magalats, to the
descendants of the heroic Gat Pulintang and Gat Salakab of the Province of
Batangas, independence was assured, it was merely a question of getting together
and making a determined effort. But for him who, disillusioned by sad experience,
saw everywhere discord and disorder, apathy and brutalization in the lower classes,
discouragement and disunion in the upper, only one answer presented itself, and it
was: extend his hands to the chains, bow his neck beneath the yoke and accept the
future with the resignation of an invalid who watches the leaves fall and foresees a
long winter amid whose snows he discerns the outlines of his grave. At that time
discord justified pessimism—but three centuries passed, the neck had become
accustomed to the yoke, and each new generation, begotten in chains, was
constantly better adapted to the new order of things.
Now, then, are the Philippines in the same condition they were three centuries ago?
For the liberal Spaniards the ethical condition of the people remains the same, that
is, the native Filipinos have not advanced; for the friars and their followers the people
have been redeemed from savagery, that is, they have progressed; for many
Filipinos ethics, spirit and customs have decayed, as decay all the good qualities of a
people that falls into slavery that is, they have retrograded.
Laying aside these considerations, so as not to get away from our subject, let us
draw a brief parallel between the political situation then and the situation at present,
in order to see if what was not possible at that time can be so now, or vice versa.
Let us pass over the loyalty the Filipinos may feel for Spain; let us suppose for a
moment, along with Spanish writers, that there exist only motives for hatred and
jealousy between the two races; let us admit the assertions flaunted by many that
three centuries of domination have not awakened in the sensitive heart of the native
a single spark of affection or gratitude; and we may see whether or not the Spanish
cause has gained ground in the Islands.
69
Formerly the Spanish authority was upheld among the natives by a handful of
soldiers, three to five hundred at most, many of whom were engaged in trade and
were scattered about not only in the Islands but also among the neighboring nations,
occupied in long wars against the Mohammedans in the south, against the British
and Dutch, and ceaselessly harassed by Japanese, Chinese, or some tribe in the
interior. Then communication with Mexico and Spain was slow, rare and difficult;
frequent and violent the disturbances among the ruling powers in the Islands, the
treasury nearly always empty, and the life of the colonists dependent upon one frail
ship that handled the Chinese trade. Then the seas in those regions were infested
with pirates, all enemies of the Spanish name, which was defended by an improvised
fleet, generally manned by rude adventurers, when not by foreigners and enemies,
as happened in the expedition of Gómez Pérez Dasmariñas, which was checked and
frustrated by the mutiny of the Chinese rowers, who killed him and thwarted all his
plans and schemes. Yet in spite of so many adverse circumstances the Spanish
authority has been upheld for more than three centuries and, though it has been
curtailed, still continues to rule the destinies of the Philippine group.
On the other hand, the present situation seems to be gilded and rosy—as we might
say, a beautiful morning compared to the vexed and stormy night of the past. The
material forces at the disposal of the Spanish sovereign have now been trebled; the
fleet relatively improved; there is more organization in both civil and military affairs;
communication with the sovereign country is swifter and surer; she has no enemies
abroad; her possession is assured; and the country dominated seems to have less
spirit, less aspiration for independence, a word that is to it almost incomprehensible.
Everything then at first glance presages another three centuries, at least, of peaceful
domination and tranquil suzerainty.
But above the material considerations are arising others, invisible, of an ethical
nature, far more powerful and transcendental.
Orientals, and the Malays in particular, are a sensitive people: delicacy of sentiment
is predominant with them. Even now, in spite of contact with the occidental nations,
who have ideals different from his, we see the Malayan Filipino sacrifice everything—
liberty, ease, welfare, name, for the sake of an aspiration or a conceit, sometimes
scientific, or of some other nature, but at the least word which wounds his self-love
he forgets all his sacrifices, the labor expended, to treasure in his memory and never
forget the slight he thinks he has received.
So the Philippine peoples have remained faithful during three centuries, giving up
their liberty and their independence, sometimes dazzled by the hope of the Paradise
promised, sometimes cajoled by the friendship offered them by a noble and generous
people like the Spanish, sometimes also compelled by superiority of arms of which
they were ignorant and which timid spirits invested with a mysterious character, or
sometimes because the invading foreigner took advantage of intestine feuds to step
in as the peacemaker in discord and thus later to dominate both parties and subject
them to his authority.
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Spanish domination once established, it was firmly maintained, thanks to the
attachment of the people, to their mutual dissensions, and to the fact that the
sensitive self-love of the native had not yet been wounded. Then the people saw their
own countrymen in the higher ranks of the army, their general officers fighting beside
the heroes of Spain and sharing their laurels, begrudged neither character, reputation
nor consideration; then fidelity and attachment to Spain, love of the fatherland, made
of the native, encomendero and even general, as during the English invasion; then
there had not yet been invented the insulting and ridiculous epithets with which
recently the most laborious and painful achievements of the native leaders have
been stigmatized; not then had it become the fashion to insult and slander in
stereotyped phrase, in newspapers and books published with governmental and
superior ecclesiastical approval, the people that paid, fought and poured out its blood
for the Spanish name, nor was it considered either noble or witty to offend a whole
race, which was forbidden to reply or defend itself; and if there were religious
hypochondriacs who in the leisure of their cloisters dared to write against it, as did
the Augustinian Gaspar de San Agustin and the Jesuit Velarde, their loathsome
abortions never saw the light, and still less were they themselves rewarded with
miters and raised to high offices. True it is that neither were the natives of that time
such as we are now: three centuries of brutalization and obscurantism have
necessarily had some influence upon us, the most beautiful work of divinity in the
hands of certain artisans may finally be converted into a caricature.
The priests of that epoch, wishing to establish their domination over the people, got
in touch with it and made common cause with it against the oppressive
encomenderos. Naturally, the people saw in them greater learning and some prestige
and placed its confidence in them, followed their advice, and listened to them even in
the darkest hours. If they wrote, they did so in defense of the rights of the native and
made his cry reach even to the distant steps of the Throne. And not a few priests,
both secular and regular, undertook dangerous journeys, as representatives of the
country, and this, along with the strict and public residencia then required of the
governing powers, from the captain-general to the most insignificant official, rather
consoled and pacified the wounded spirits, satisfying, even though it were only in
form, all the malcontents.
All this has passed away. The derisive laughter penetrates like mortal poison into the
heart of the native who pays and suffers and it becomes more offensive the more
immunity it enjoys. A common sore, the general affront offered to a whole race, has
wiped away the old feuds among different provinces. The people no longer has
confidence in its former protectors, now its exploiters and executioners. The masks
have fallen. It has seen that the love and piety of the past have come to resemble the
devotion of a nurse who, unable to live elsewhere, desires eternal infancy, eternal
weakness, for the child in order to go on drawing her wages and existing at its
expense; it has seen not only that she does not nourish it to make it grow but that
she poisons it to stunt its growth, and at the slightest protest she flies into a rage! The
ancient show of justice, the holy residencia, has disappeared; confusion of ideas
begins to prevail; the regard shown for a governor-general, like La Torre, becomes a
crime in the government of his successor, sufficient to cause the citizen to lose his
liberty and his home; if he obey the order of one official, as in the recent matter of
71
admitting corpses into the church, it is enough to have the obedient subject later
harassed and persecuted in every possible way; obligations and taxes increase
without thereby increasing rights, privileges and liberties or assuring the few in
existence; a régime of continual terror and uncertainty disturbs the minds, a régime
worse than a period of disorder, for the fears that the imagination conjures up are
generally greater than the reality; the country is poor; the financial crisis through
which it is passing is acute, and every one points out with the finger the persons who
are causing the trouble, yet no one dares lay hands upon them!
True it is that the Penal Code has come like a drop of balm to such bitterness. But of
what use are all the codes in the world, if by means of confidential reports, if for
trifling reasons, if through anonymous traitors any honest citizen may be exiled or
banished without a hearing, without a trial? Of what use is that Penal Code, of what
use is life, if there is no security in the home, no faith in justice and confidence in
tranquility of conscience? Of what use is all that array of terms, all that collection of
articles, when the cowardly accusation of a traitor has more influence in the timorous
ears of the supreme autocrat than all the cries for justice?
If this state of affairs should continue, what will become of the Philippines within a
century?
The batteries are gradually becoming charged and if the prudence of the government
does not provide an outlet for the currents that are accumulating, some day the spark
will be generated. This is not the place to speak of what outcome such a deplorable
conflict might have, for it depends upon chance, upon the weapons and upon a
thousand circumstances which man can not foresee. But even though all the
advantage should be on the government’s side and therefore the probability of
success, it would be a Pyrrhic victory, and no government ought to desire such.
If those who guide the destinies of the Philippines remain obstinate, and instead of
introducing reforms try to make the condition of the country retrograde, to push their
severity and repression to extremes against the classes that suffer and think, they
are going to force the latter to venture and put into play the wretchedness of an
unquiet life, filled with privation and bitterness, against the hope of securing
something indefinite. What would be lost in the struggle? Almost nothing: the life of
the numerous discontented classes has no such great attraction that it should be
preferred to a glorious death. It may indeed be a suicidal attempt—but then, what?
Would not a bloody chasm yawn between victors and vanquished, and might not the
latter with time and experience become equal in strength, since they are superior in
numbers, to their dominators? Who disputes this? All the petty insurrections that
have occurred in the Philippines were the work of a few fanatics or discontented
soldiers, who had to deceive and humbug the people or avail themselves of their
power over their subordinates to gain their ends. So they all failed. No insurrection
had a popular character or was based on a need of the whole race or fought for
human rights or justice, so it left no ineffaceable impressions, but rather when they
saw that they had been duped the people bound up their wounds and applauded the
overthrow of the disturbers of their peace! But what if the movement springs from the
people themselves and bases its cause upon their woes?
72
So then, if the prudence and wise reforms of our ministers do not find capable and
determined interpreters among the colonial governors and faithful perpetuators
among those whom the frequent political changes send to fill such a delicate post; if
met with the eternal it is out of order, proffered by the elements who see their
livelihood in the backwardness of their subjects; if just claims are to go unheeded, as
being of a subversive tendency; if the country is denied representation in the Cortes
and an authorized voice to cry out against all kinds of abuses, which escape through
the complexity of the laws; if, in short, the system, prolific in results of alienating the
good will of the natives, is to continue, pricking his apathetic mind with insults and
charges of ingratitude, we can assert that in a few years the present state of affairs
will have been modified completely—and inevitably. There now exists a factor which
was formerly lacking—the spirit of the nation has been aroused, and a common
misfortune, a common debasement, has united all the inhabitants of the Islands. A
numerous enlightened class now exists within and without the Islands, a class
created and continually augmented by the stupidity of certain governing powers,
which forces the inhabitants to leave the country, to secure education abroad, and it
is [57]maintained and struggles thanks to the provocations and the system of
espionage in vogue. This class, whose number is cumulatively increasing, is in
constant communication with the rest of the Islands, and if today it constitutes only
the brain of the country in a few years it will form the whole nervous system and
manifest its existence in all its acts.
Now, statecraft has various means at its disposal for checking a people on the road
to progress: the brutalization of the masses through a caste addicted to the
government, aristocratic, as in the Dutch colonies, or theocratic, as in the Philippines;
the impoverishment of the country; the gradual extermination of the inhabitants; and
the fostering of feuds among the races.
Brutalization of the Malayan Filipino has been demonstrated to be impossible. In

spite of the dark horde of friars, in whose hands rests the instruction of youth, which
miserably wastes years and years in the colleges, issuing therefrom tired, weary and
disgusted with books; in spite of the censorship, which tries to close every avenue to
progress; in spite of all the pulpits, confessionals, books and missals that inculcate
hatred toward not only all scientific knowledge but even toward the Spanish language
itself; in spite of this whole elaborate system perfected and tenaciously operated by
those who wish to keep the Islands in holy ignorance, there exist writers,
freethinkers, historians, philosophers, chemists, physicians, artists and jurists.
Enlightenment is spreading and the persecution it suffers quickens it. No, the divine
flame of thought is inextinguishable in the Filipino people and somehow or other it will
shine forth and compel recognition. It is impossible to brutalize the inhabitants of the
Philippines!
May poverty arrest their development?
Perhaps, but it is a very dangerous means. Experience has everywhere shown us

and especially in the Philippines, that the classes which are better off have always
been addicted to peace and order, because they live comparatively better and may
be the losers in civil disturbances. Wealth brings with it refinement, the spirit of
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conservation, while poverty inspires adventurous ideas, the desire to change things,
and has little care for life. Machiavelli himself held this means of subjecting a people
to be perilous, observing that loss of welfare stirs up more obdurate enemies than
loss of life. Moreover, when there are wealth and abundance, there is less
discontent, less complaint, and the government, itself wealthier, has more means for
sustaining itself. On the other hand, there occurs in a poor country what happens in a
house where bread is wanting. And further, of what use to the mother country would
a poor and lean colony be?
Neither is it possible gradually to exterminate the inhabitants. The Philippine races,

like all the Malays, do not succumb before the foreigner, like the Australians, the
Polynesians and the Indians of the New World. In spite of the numerous wars the
Filipinos have had to carry on, in spite of the epidemics that have periodically visited
them, their number has trebled, as has that of the Malays of Java and the Moluccas.
The Filipino embraces civilization and lives and thrives in every clime, in contact with
every people. Rum, that poison which exterminated the natives of the Pacific islands,
has no power in the Philippines, but, rather, comparison of their present condition
with that described by the early historians, makes it appear that the Filipinos have
grown soberer. The petty wars with the inhabitants of the South consume only the
soldiers, people who by their fidelity to the Spanish flag, far from being a menace, are
surely one of its solidest supports.
There remains the fostering of intestine feuds among the provinces.
This was formerly possible, when communication from one island to another was rare
and difficult, when there were no steamers or telegraph-lines, when the regiments
were formed according to the various provinces, when some provinces were cajoled
by awards of privileges and honors and others were protected from the strongest. But
now that the privileges have disappeared, that through a spirit of distrust the
regiments have been reorganized, that the inhabitants move from one island to
another, communication and exchange of impressions naturally increase, and as all
see themselves threatened by the same peril and wounded in the same feelings,
they clasp hands and make common cause. It is true that the union is not yet wholly
perfected, but to this end tend the measures of good government, the vexations to
which the townspeople are subjected, the frequent changes of officials, the scarcity
of centers of learning, which forces the youth of all the Islands to come together and
begin to get acquainted. The journeys to Europe contribute not a little to tighten the
bonds, for abroad the inhabitants of the most widely separated provinces are
impressed by their patriotic feelings, from sailors even to the wealthiest merchants,
and at the sight of modern liberty and the memory of the misfortunes of their country,
they embrace and call one another brothers.
In short, then, the advancement and ethical progress of the Philippines are inevitable,
are decreed by fate.
The Islands cannot remain in the condition they are without requiring from the
sovereign country more liberty Mutatis mutandis. For new men, a new social order.
74
To wish that the alleged child remain in its swaddling-clothes is to risk that it may turn
against its nurse and flee, tearing away the old rags that bind it.
The Philippines, then, will remain under Spanish domination, but with more law and
greater liberty, or they will declare themselves independent, after steeping
themselves and the mother country in blood.
As no one should desire or hope for such an unfortunate rupture, which would be an
evil for all and only the final argument in the most desperate predicament, let us see
by what forms of peaceful evolution the Islands may remain subjected to the Spanish
authority with the very least detriment to the rights, interests and dignity of both
parties.
III.
If the Philippines must remain under the control of Spain, they will necessarily have
to be transformed in a political sense, for the course of their history and the needs of
their inhabitants so require. This we demonstrated in the preceding article.
We also said that this transformation will be violent and fatal if it proceeds from the
ranks of the people, but peaceful and fruitful if it emanate from the upper classes.
Some governors have realized this truth, and, impelled by their patriotism, have been
trying to introduce needed reforms in order to forestall events. But notwithstanding all
that have been ordered up to the present time, they have produced scanty results, for
the government as well as for the country. Even those that promised only a happy
issue have at times caused injury, for the simple reason that they have been based
upon unstable grounds.
We said, and once more we repeat, and will ever assert, that reforms which have a
palliative character are not only ineffectual but even prejudicial, when the government
is confronted with evils that must be cured radically. And were we not convinced of
the honesty and rectitude of some governors, we would be tempted to say that all the
partial reforms are only plasters and salves of a physician who, not knowing how to
cure the cancer, and not daring to root it out, tries in this way to alleviate the patient’s
sufferings or to temporize with the cowardice of the timid and ignorant.
All the reforms of our liberal ministers were, have been, are, and will be good—when
carried out.
When we think of them, we are reminded of the dieting of Sancho Panza in his
Barataria Island. He took his seat at a sumptuous and well-appointed table “covered
with fruit and many varieties of food differently prepared,” but between the wretch’s
mouth and each dish the physician Pedro Rezio interposed his wand, saying, “Take it
away!” The dish removed, Sancho was as hungry as ever. True it is that the despotic
Pedro Rezio gave reasons, which seem to have been written by Cervantes especially
for the colonial administrations: “You must not eat, Mr. Governor, except according to
the usage and custom of other islands where there are governors.” Something was
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found to be wrong with each dish: one was too hot, another too moist, and so on, just
like our Pedro Rezios on both sides of the sea. Great good did his cook’s skill do
Sancho!
In the case of our country, the reforms take the place of the dishes, the Philippines
are Sancho, while the part of the quack physician is played by many persons,
interested in not having the dishes touched, perhaps that they may themselves get
the benefit of them.
The result is that the long-suffering Sancho, or the Philippines, misses his liberty,
rejects all government and ends up by rebelling against his quack physician.
In like manner, so long as the Philippines have no liberty of the press, have no voice
in the Cortes to make known to the government and to the nation whether or not their
decrees have been duly obeyed, whether or not these benefit the country, all the able
efforts of the colonial ministers will meet the fate of the dishes in Barataria island.
The minister, then, who wants his reforms to be reforms, must begin by declaring the
press in the Philippines free and by instituting Filipino delegates.
The press is free in the Philippines, because their complaints rarely ever reach the
Peninsula, very rarely, and if they do they are so secret, so mysterious, that no
newspaper dares to publish them, or if it does reproduce them, it does so tardily and
badly.
A government that rules a country from a great distance is the one that has the most
need for a free press, more so even than the government of the home country, if it
wishes to rule rightly and fitly. The government that governs in a country may even
dispense with the press (if it can), because it is on the ground, because it has eyes
and ears, and because it directly observes what it rules and administers. But the
government that governs from afar absolutely requires that the truth and the facts
reach its knowledge by every possible channel, so that it may weigh and estimate
them better, and this need increases when a country like the Philippines is
concerned, where the inhabitants speak and complain in a language unknown to the
authorities. To govern in any other way may also be called governing, but it is to
govern badly. It amounts to pronouncing judgment after hearing only one of the
parties; it is steering a ship without reckoning its conditions, the state of the sea, the
reefs and shoals, the direction of the winds and currents. It is managing a house by
endeavoring merely to give it polish and a fine appearance without watching the
money-chest, without looking after the servants and the members of the family.
But routine is a declivity down which many governments slide, and routine says that
freedom of the press is dangerous. Let us see what History says: uprisings and
revolutions have always occurred in countries tyrannized over, in countries where
human thought and the human heart have been forced to remain silent.
If the great Napoleon had not tyrannized over the press, perhaps it would have
warned him of the peril into which he was hurled and have made him understand that
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the people were weary and the earth wanted peace. Perhaps his genius, instead of
being dissipated in foreign aggrandizement, would have become intensive in laboring
to strengthen his position and thus have assured it. Spain herself records in her
history more revolutions when the press was gagged. What colonies have become
independent while they have had a free press and enjoyed liberty? Is it preferable to
govern blindly or to govern with ample knowledge?
Some one will answer that in colonies with a free press, the prestige of the rulers,
that prop of false governments, will be greatly imperiled. We answer that the prestige
of the nation is preferable to that of a few individuals. A nation acquires respect, not
by abetting and concealing abuses, but by rebuking and punishing them. Moreover,
to this prestige is applicable what Napoleon said about great men and their valets.
We, who endure and know all the false pretensions and petty persecutions of those
sham gods, do not need a free press in order to recognize them; they have long ago
lost their prestige. The free press is needed by the government, the government
which still dreams of the prestige which it builds upon mined ground.
We say the same about the Filipino representatives.
What risks does the government see in them? One of three things: either that they
will prove unruly, become political trimmers, or act properly.
Supposing that we should yield to the most absurd pessimism and admit the insult,
great for the Philippines, but still greater for Spain, that all the representatives would
be separatists and that in all their contentions they would advocate separatist ideas:
does not a patriotic Spanish majority exist there, is there not present there the
vigilance of the governing powers to combat and oppose such intentions? And would
not this be better than the discontent that ferments and expands in the secrecy of the
home, in the huts and in the fields? Certainly the Spanish people does not spare its
blood where patriotism is concerned, but would not a struggle of principles in
parliament be preferable to the exchange of shot in swampy lands, three thousand
leagues from home, in impenetrable forests, under a burning sun or amid torrential
rains? These pacific struggles of ideas, besides being a thermometer for the
government, have the advantage of being cheap and glorious, because the Spanish
parliament especially abounds in oratorical paladins, invincible in debate. Moreover,
it is said that the Filipinos are indolent and peaceful—then what need the government
fear? Hasn’t it any influence in the elections? Frankly, it is a great compliment to the
separatists to fear them in the midst of the Cortes of the nation.
If they become political trimmers, as is to be expected and as they probably will be,
so much the better for the government and so much the worse for their constituents.
They would be a few more favorable votes, and the government could laugh openly
at the separatists, if any there be.
If they become what they should be, worthy, honest and faithful to their trust, they will
undoubtedly annoy an ignorant or incapable minister with their questions, but they
will help him to govern and will be some more honorable figures among the
representatives of the nation.
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Now then, if the real objection to the Filipino delegates is that they smell like Igorots,
which so disturbed in open Senate the doughty General Salamanca, then Don
Sinibaldo de Mas, who saw the Igorots in person and wanted to live with them, can
affirm that they will smell at worst like powder, and Señor Salamanca undoubtedly
has no fear of that odor. And if this were all, the Filipinos, who there in their own
country are accustomed to bathe every day, when they become representatives may
give up such a dirty custom, at least during the legislative session, so as not to offend
the delicate nostrils of the Salamancas with the odor of the bath.
It is useless to answer certain objections of some fine writers regarding the rather
brown skins and faces with somewhat wide nostrils. Questions of taste are peculiar
to each race. China, for example, which has four hundred million inhabitants and a
very ancient civilization, considers all Europeans ugly and calls them “fan-kwai,” or
red devils. Its taste has a hundred million more adherents than the European.
Moreover, if this is the question, we would have to admit the inferiority of the Latins,
especially the Spaniards, to the Saxons, who are much whiter.
And so long as it is not asserted that the Spanish parliament is an assemblage of

Adonises, Antinouses, pretty boys, and other like paragons; so long as the purpose
of resorting thither is to legislate and not to philosophize or to wander through
imaginary spheres, we maintain that the government ought not to pause at these
objections. Law has no skin, nor reason nostrils.
So we see no serious reason why the Philippines may not have representatives. By
their institution many malcontents would be silenced, and instead of blaming its
troubles upon the government, as now happens, the country would bear them better,
for it could at least complain and with its sons among its legislators would in a way
become responsible for their actions.
We are not sure that we serve the true interests of our country by asking for
representatives. We know that the lack of enlightenment, the indolence, the egotism
of our fellow countrymen, and the boldness, the cunning and the powerful methods of
those who wish their obscurantism, may convert reform into a harmful instrument.
But we wish to be loyal to the government and we are pointing out to it the road that
appears best to us so that its efforts may not come to grief, so that discontent may
disappear. If after so just, as well as necessary, a measure has been introduced, the
Filipino people are so stupid and weak that they are treacherous to their own
interests, then let the responsibility fall upon them, let them suffer all the
consequences. Every country gets the fate it deserves, and the government can say
that it has done its duty.
These are the two fundamental reforms, which, properly interpreted and applied, will
dissipate all clouds, assure affection toward Spain, and make all succeeding reforms
fruitful. These are the reforms sine quibus non.
It is puerile to fear that independence may come through them. The free press will
keep the government in touch with public opinion, and the representatives, if they
are, as they ought to be, the best from among the sons of the Philippines, will be their
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hostages. With no cause for discontent, how then attempt to stir up the masses of the
people?
Likewise inadmissible is the objection offered by some regarding the imperfect

culture of the majority of the inhabitants. Aside from the fact that it is not so imperfect
as is averred, there is no plausible reason why the ignorant and the defective
(whether through their own or another’s fault) should be denied representation to look
after them and see that they are not abused. They are the very ones who most need
it. No one ceases to be a man, no one forfeits his rights to civilization merely by being
more or less uncultured, and since the Filipino is regarded as a fit citizen when he is
asked to pay taxes or shed his blood to defend the fatherland, why must this fitness
be denied him when the question arises of granting him some right? Moreover, how
is he to be held responsible for his ignorance, when it is acknowledged by all, friends
and enemies, that his zeal for learning is so great that even before the coming of the
Spaniards every one could read and write, and that we now see the humblest
families make enormous sacrifices in order that their children may become a little
enlightened, even to the extent of working as servants in order to learn Spanish?
How can the country be expected to become enlightened under present conditions
when we see all the decrees issued by the government in favor of education meet
with Pedro Rezios who prevent execution thereof, because they have in their hands
what they call education? If the Filipino, then, is sufficiently intelligent to pay taxes, he
must also be able to choose and retain the one who looks after him and his interests,
with the product whereof he serves the government of his nation. To reason
otherwise is to reason stupidly.
When the laws and the acts of officials are kept under surveillance, the word justice
may cease to be a colonial jest. The thing that makes the English most respected in
their possessions is their strict and speedy justice, so that the inhabitants repose
entire confidence in the judges. Justice is the foremost virtue of the civilizing races. It
subdues the barbarous nations, while injustice arouses the weakest.
Offices and trusts should be awarded by competition, publishing the work and the
judgment thereon, so that there may be stimulus and that discontent may not be
bred. Then, if the native does not shake off his indolence he can not complain when
he sees all the offices filled by Castilas.
We presume that it will not be the Spaniard who fears to enter into this contest, for
thus will he be able to prove his superiority by the superiority of intelligence. Although
this is not the custom in the sovereign country, it should be practiced in the colonies,
for the reason that genuine prestige should be sought by means of moral qualities,
because the colonizers ought to be, or at least to seem, upright, honest and
intelligent, just as a man simulates virtues when he deals with strangers. The offices
and trusts so earned will do away with arbitrary dismissal and develop employees
and officials capable and cognizant of their duties. The offices held by natives,
instead of endangering the Spanish domination, will merely serve to assure it, for
what interest would they have in converting the sure and stable into the uncertain
and problematical? The native is, moreover, very fond of peace and prefers an
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humble present to a brilliant future. Let the various Filipinos still holding office speak
in this matter; they are the most unshaken conservatives.
We could add other minor reforms touching commerce, agriculture, security of the
individual and of property, education, and so on, but these are points with which we
shall deal in other articles. For the present we are satisfied with the outlines, and no
one can say that we ask too much.
There will not be lacking critics to accuse us of Utopianism: but what is Utopia?
Utopia was a country imagined by Thomas Moore, wherein existed universal
suffrage, religious toleration, almost complete abolition of the death penalty, and so
on. When the book was published these things were looked upon as dreams,
impossibilities, that is, Utopianism. Yet civilization has left the country of Utopia far
behind, the human will and conscience have worked greater miracles, have
abolished slavery and the death penalty for adultery—things impossible for even
Utopia itself!
The French colonies have their representatives. The question has also been raised in
the English parliament of giving representation to the Crown colonies, for the others
already enjoy some autonomy. The press there also is free. Only Spain, which in the
sixteenth century was the model nation in civilization, lags far behind. Cuba and
Porto Rico, whose inhabitants do not number a third of those of the Philippines, and
who have not made such sacrifices for Spain, have numerous representatives. The
Philippines in the early days had theirs, who conferred with the King and the Pope on
the needs of the country. They had them in Spain’s critical moments, when she
groaned under the Napoleonic yoke, and they did not take advantage of the
sovereign country’s misfortune like other colonies, but tightened more firmly the
bonds that united them to the nation, giving proofs of their loyalty; and they continued
until many years later. What crime have the Islands committed that they are deprived
of their rights?
To recapitulate: the Philippines will remain Spanish, if they enter upon the life of law
and civilization, if the rights of their inhabitants are respected, if the other rights due
them are granted, if the liberal policy of the government is carried out without trickery
or meanness, without subterfuges or false interpretations.
Otherwise, if an attempt is made to see in the Islands a lode to be exploited, a

resource to satisfy ambitions, thus to relieve the sovereign country of taxes, killing
the goose that lays the golden eggs and shutting its ears to all cries of reason, then,
however great may be the loyalty of the Filipinos, it will be impossible to hinder the
operations of the inexorable laws of history. Colonies established to subserve the
policy and the commerce of the sovereign country, all eventually become
independent, said Bachelet, and before Bachelet all the Phœnecian, Carthaginian,
Greek, Roman, English, Portuguese and Spanish colonies had said it.
Close indeed are the bonds that unite us to Spain. Two peoples do not live for three
centuries in continual contact, sharing the same lot, shedding their blood on the
same fields, holding the same beliefs, worshipping the same God, interchanging the
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same ideas, but that ties are formed between them stronger than those fashioned by
arms or fear. Mutual sacrifices and benefits have engendered affection. Machiavelli,
the great reader of the human heart, said: la natura degli huomini, é cosi obligarsi per
li beneficii che essi fanno, come per quelli che essi ricevono (it is human nature to be
bound as much by benefits conferred as by those received). All this, and more, is
true, but it is pure sentimentality, and in the arena of politics stern necessity and
interests prevail. Howsoever much the Filipinos owe Spain, they can not be required
to forego their redemption, to have their liberal and enlightened sons wander about in
exile from their native land, the rudest aspirations stifled in its atmosphere, the
peaceful inhabitant living in constant alarm, with the fortune of the two peoples
dependent upon the whim of one man. Spain can not claim, not even in the name of
God himself, that six millions of people should be brutalized, exploited and
oppressed, denied light and the rights inherent to a human being, and then heap
upon them slights and insults. There is no claim of gratitude that can excuse, there is
not enough powder in the world to justify, the offenses against the liberty of the
individual, against the sanctity of the home, against the laws, against peace and
honor, offenses that are committed there daily. There is no divinity that can proclaim
the sacrifice of our dearest affections, the sacrifice of the family, the sacrileges and
wrongs that are committed by persons who have the name of God on their lips. No
one can require an impossibility of the Filipino people. The noble Spanish people, so
jealous of its rights and liberties, can not bid the Filipinos renounce theirs. A people
that prides itself on the glories of its past can not ask another, trained by it, to accept
abjection and dishonor its own name!
We who today are struggling by the legal and peaceful means of debate so
understand it, and with our gaze fixed upon our ideals, shall not cease to plead our
cause, without going beyond the pale of the law, but if violence first silences us or we
have the misfortune to fall (which is possible, for we are mortal), then we do not know
what course will be taken by the numerous tendencies that will rush in to occupy the
places that we leave vacant.
If what we desire is not realized....
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.
IV.
History does not record in its annals any lasting domination exercised by one people
over another, of different race, of diverse usages and customs, of opposite and
divergent ideals.
One of the two had to yield and succumb. Either the foreigner was driven out, as
happened in the case of the Carthaginians, the Moors and the French in Spain, or
else these autochthons had to give way and perish, as was the case with the
inhabitants of the New World, Australia and New Zealand.
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One of the longest dominations was that of the Moors in Spain, which lasted seven
centuries. But, even though the conquerors lived in the country conquered, even
though the Peninsula was broken up into small states, which gradually emerged like
little islands in the midst of the great Saracen inundation, and in spite of the
chivalrous spirit, the gallantry and the religious toleration of the califs, they were
finally driven out after bloody and stubborn conflicts, which formed the Spanish
nation and created the Spain of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries.
The existence of a foreign body within another endowed with strength and activity is
contrary to all natural and ethical laws. Science teaches us that it is either
assimilated, destroys the organism, is eliminated or becomes encysted.
Encystment of a conquering people is impossible, for it signifies complete isolation,

absolute inertia, debility in the conquering element. Encystment thus means the tomb
of the foreign invader.
Now, applying these considerations to the Philippines, we must conclude, as a

deduction from all we have said, that if their population be not assimilated to the
Spanish nation, if the dominators do not enter into the spirit of their inhabitants, if
equable laws and free and liberal reforms do not make each forget that they belong
to different races, or if both peoples be not amalgamated to constitute one mass,
socially and politically homogeneous, that is, not harassed by opposing tendencies
and antagonistic ideas and interests, some day the Philippines will fatally and
infallibly declare themselves independent. To this law of destiny can be opposed
neither Spanish patriotism, nor the love of all the Filipinos for Spain, nor the doubtful
future of dismemberment and intestine strife in the Islands themselves. Necessity is
the most powerful divinity the world knows, and necessity is the resultant of physical
forces set in operation by ethical forces.
We have said and statistics prove that it is impossible to exterminate the Filipino
people. And even were it possible, what interest would Spain have in the destruction
of the inhabitants of a country she can not populate or cultivate, whose climate is to a
certain extent disastrous to her? What good would the Philippines be without the
Filipinos? Quite otherwise, under her colonial system and the transitory character of
the Spaniards who go to the colonies, a colony is so much the more useful and
productive to her as it possesses inhabitants and wealth. Moreover, in order to
destroy the six million Malays, even supposing them to be in their infancy and that
they have never learned to fight and defend themselves, Spain would have to
sacrifice at least a fourth of her population. This we commend to the notice of the
partizans of colonial exploitation.
But nothing of this kind can happen. The menace is that when the education and
liberty necessary to human existence are denied by Spain to the Filipinos, then they
will seek enlightenment abroad, behind the mother country’s back, or they will secure
by hook or by crook some advantages in their own country, with the result that the
opposition of purblind and paretic politicians will not only be futile but even
prejudicial, because it will convert motives for love and gratitude into resentment and
hatred.
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Hatred and resentment on one side, mistrust and anger on the other, will finally result
in a violent and terrible collision, especially when there exist elements interested in
having disturbances, so that they may get something in the excitement, demonstrate
their mighty power, foster lamentations and recriminations, or employ violent
measures. It is to be expected that the government will triumph and be generally (as
is the custom) severe in punishment, either to teach a stern lesson in order to vaunt
its strength or even to revenge upon the vanquished the spells of excitement and
terror that the danger caused it. An unavoidable concomitant of those catastrophes is
the accumulation of acts of injustice committed against the innocent and peaceful
inhabitants. Private reprisals, denunciations, despicable accusations, resentments,
covetousness, the opportune moment for calumny, the haste and hurried procedure
of the courts martial, the pretext of the integrity of the fatherland and the safety of the
state, which cloaks and justifies everything, even for scrupulous minds, which
unfortunately are still rare, and above all the panic-stricken timidity, the cowardice
that battens upon the conquered—all these things augment the severe measures
and the number of the victims. The result is that a chasm of blood is then opened
between the two peoples, that the wounded and the afflicted, instead of becoming
fewer, are increased, for to the families and friends of the guilty, who always think the
punishment excessive and the judge unjust, must be added the families and friends
of the innocent, who see no advantage in living and working submissively and
peacefully. Note, too, that if severe measures are dangerous in a nation made up of
a homogeneous population, the peril is increased a hundred-fold when the
government is formed of a race different from the governed. In the former an injustice
may still be ascribed to one man alone, to a governor actuated by personal malice,
and with the death of the tyrant the victim is reconciled to the government of his
nation. But in a country dominated by a foreign race, even the justest act of severity
is construed as injustice and oppression, because it is ordered by a foreigner, who is
unsympathetic or is an enemy of the country, and the offense hurts not only the
victim but his entire race, because it is not usually regarded as personal, and so the
resentment naturally spreads to the whole governing race and does not die out with
the offender.
Hence the great prudence and fine tact that should be exercised by colonizing
countries, and the fact that government regards the colonies in general, and our
colonial office in particular, as training schools, contributes notably to the fulfillment of
the great law that the colonies sooner or later declare themselves independent.
Such is the descent down which the peoples are precipitated. In proportion as they
are bathed in blood and drenched in tears and gall, the colony, if it has any vitality,
learns how to struggle and perfect itself in fighting, while the mother country, whose
colonial life depends upon peace and the submission of the subjects, is constantly
weakened, and, even though she make heroic efforts, as her number is less and she
has only a fictitious existence, she finally perishes. She is like the rich voluptuary
accustomed to be waited upon by a crowd of servants toiling and planting for him,
and who, on the day his slaves refuse him obedience, as he does not live by his own
efforts, must die.
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Reprisals, wrongs and suspicions on one part and on the other the sentiment of
patriotism and liberty, which is aroused in these incessant conflicts, insurrections and
uprisings, operate to generalize the movement and one of the two peoples must
succumb. The struggle will be brief, for it will amount to a slavery much more cruel
than death for the people and to a dishonorable loss of prestige for the dominator.
One of the peoples must succumb.
Spain, from the number of her inhabitants, from the condition of her army and navy,
from the distance she is situated from the Islands, from her scanty knowledge of
them, and from struggling against a people whose love and good will she has
alienated, will necessarily have to give way, if she does not wish to risk not only her
other possessions and her future in Africa, but also her very independence in
Europe. All this at the cost of bloodshed and crime, after mortal conflicts, murders,
conflagrations, military executions, famine and misery.
The Spaniard is gallant and patriotic, and sacrifices everything, in favorable

moments, for his country’s good. He has the intrepidity of his bull. The Filipino loves
his country no less, and although he is quieter, more peaceful, and with difficulty
stirred up, when he is once aroused he does not hesitate and for him the struggle
means death to one or the other combatant. He has all the meekness and all the
tenacity and ferocity of his carabao. Climate affects bipeds in the same way that it
does quadrupeds.
The terrible lessons and the hard teachings that these conflicts will have afforded the
Filipinos will operate to improve and strengthen their ethical nature. The Spain of the
fifteenth century was not the Spain of the eighth. With their bitter experience, instead
of intestine conflicts of some islands against others, as is generally feared, they will
extend mutual support, like shipwrecked persons when they reach an island after a
fearful night of storm. Nor may it be said that we shall partake of the fate of the small
American republics. They achieved their independence easily, and their inhabitants
are animated by a different spirit from what the Filipinos are. Besides, the danger of
falling again into other hands, English or German, for example, will force the Filipinos
to be sensible and prudent. Absence of any great preponderance of one race over
the others will free their imagination from all mad ambitions of domination, and as the
tendency of countries that have been tyrannized over, when they once shake off the
yoke, is to adopt the freest government, like a boy leaving school, like the beat of the
pendulum, by a law of reaction the Islands will probably declare themselves a federal
republic.
If the Philippines secure their independence after heroic and stubborn conflicts, they
can [104]rest assured that neither England, nor Germany, nor France, and still less
Holland, will dare to take up what Spain has been unable to hold. Within a few years
Africa will completely absorb the attention of the Europeans, and there is no sensible
nation which, in order to secure a group of poor and hostile islands, will neglect the
immense territory offered by the Dark Continent, untouched, undeveloped and almost
undefended. England has enough colonies in the Orient and is not going to risk
losing her balance. She is not going to sacrifice her Indian Empire for the poor
Philippine Islands—if she had entertained such an intention she would not have
84
restored Manila in 1763, but would have kept some point in the Philippines, whence
she might gradually expand. Moreover, what need has John Bull the trader to
exhaust himself for the Philippines, when he is already lord of the Orient, when he
has there Singapore, Hongkong and Shanghai? It is probable that England will look
favorably upon the independence of the Philippines, for it will open their ports to her
and afford greater freedom to her commerce. Furthermore, there exist in the United
Kingdom tendencies and opinions to the effect that she already has too many
colonies, that they are harmful, that they greatly weaken the sovereign country.
For the same reasons Germany will not care to run any risk, and because a
scattering of her forces and a war in distant countries will endanger her existence on
the continent. Thus we see her attitude, as much in the Pacific as in Africa, is
confined to conquering easy territory that belongs to nobody. Germany avoids any
foreign complications.
France has enough to do and sees more of a future in Tongking and China, besides
the fact that the French spirit does not shine in zeal for colonization. France loves
glory, but the glory and laurels that grow on the battlefields of Europe. The echo from
battlefields in the Far East hardly satisfies her craving for renown, for it reaches her
quite faintly. She has also other obligations, both internally and on the continent.
Holland is sensible and will be content to keep the Moluccas and Java. Sumatra
offers her a greater future than the Philippines, whose seas and coasts have a
sinister omen for Dutch expeditions. Holland proceeds with great caution in Sumatra
and Borneo, from fear of losing everything.
China will consider herself fortunate if she succeeds in keeping herself intact and is
not dismembered or partitioned among the European powers that are colonizing the
continent of Asia.
The same is true of Japan. On the north she has Russia, who envies and watches
her; on the south England, with whom she is in accord even to her official language.
She is, moreover, under such diplomatic pressure from Europe that she can not think
of outside affairs until she is freed from it, which will not be an easy matter. True it is
that she has an excess of population, but Korea attracts her more than the
Philippines and is, also, easier to seize.
Perhaps the great American Republic, whose interests lie in the Pacific and who has
no hand in the spoliation of Africa, may some day dream of foreign possession. This
is not impossible, for the example is contagious, covetousness and ambition are
among the strongest vices, and Harrison manifested something of this sort in the
Samoan question. But the Panama Canal is not opened nor the territory of the States
congested with inhabitants, and in case she should openly attempt it the European
powers would not allow her to proceed, for they know very well that the appetite is
sharpened by the first bites. North America would be quite a troublesome rival, if she
should once get into the business. Furthermore, this is contrary to her traditions.
85
Very likely the Philippines will defend with inexpressible valor the liberty secured at
the price of so much blood and sacrifice. With the new men that will spring from their
soil and with the recollection of their past, they will perhaps strive to enter freely upon
the wide road of progress, and all will labor together to strengthen their fatherland,
both internally and externally, with the same enthusiasm with which a youth falls
again to tilling the land of his ancestors, so long wasted and abandoned through the
neglect of those who have withheld it from him. Then the mines will be made to give
up their gold for relieving distress, iron for weapons, copper, lead and coal. Perhaps
the country will revive the maritime and mercantile life for which the islanders are
fitted by their nature, ability and instincts, and once more free, like the bird that
leaves its cage, like the flower that unfolds to the air, will recover the pristine virtues
that are gradually dying out and will again become addicted to peace—cheerful,
happy, joyous, hospitable and daring.
These and many other things may come to pass within something like a hundred
years. But the most logical prognostication, the prophecy based on the best
probabilities, may err through remote and insignificant causes. An octopus that
seized Mark Antony’s ship altered the face of the world; a cross on Cavalry and a just
man nailed thereon changed the ethics of half the human race, and yet before Christ,
how many just men wrongfully perished and how many crosses were raised on that
hill! The death of the just sanctified his work and made his teaching unanswerable. A
sunken road at the battle of Waterloo buried all the glories of two brilliant decades,
the whole Napoleonic world, and freed Europe. Upon what chance accidents will the
destiny of the Philippines depend?
Nevertheless, it is not well to trust to accident, for there is sometimes an

imperceptible and incomprehensible logic in the workings of history. Fortunately,
peoples as well as governments are subject to it.
Therefore, we repeat, and we will ever repeat, while there is time, that it is better to
keep pace with the desires of a people than to give way before them: the former
begets sympathy and love, the latter contempt and anger. Since it is necessary to
grant six million Filipinos their rights, so that they may be in fact Spaniards, let the
government grant these rights freely and spontaneously, without damaging
reservations, without irritating mistrust. We shall never tire of repeating this while a
ray of hope is left us, for we prefer this unpleasant task to the need of some day
saying to the mother country: “Spain, we have spent our youth in serving thy interests
in the interests of our country; we have looked to thee, we have expended the whole
light of our intellects, all the fervor and enthusiasm of our hearts in working for the
good of what was thine, to draw from thee a glance of love, a liberal policy that would
assure us the peace of our native land and thy sway over loyal but unfortunate
islands! Spain, thou hast remained deaf, and, wrapped up in thy pride, hast pursued
thy fatal course and accused us of being traitors, merely because we love our
country, because we tell thee the truth and hate all kinds of injustice. What dost thou
wish us to tell our wretched country, when it asks about the result of our efforts? Must
we say to it that, since for it we have lost everything—youth, future, hope, peace,
family; since in its service we have exhausted all the resources of hope, all the
disillusions of desire, it also takes the residue which we can not use, the blood from
86
our veins and the strength left in our arms? Spain, must we some day tell Filipinas
that thou hast no ear for her woes and that if she wishes to be saved she must
redeem herself?”
ANALYSIS
This essay, published in La Solidaridad starts by analyzing the various causes of the
miseries suffered by the Filipino people:
1. Spain’s implementation of her military policies – because of such laws,

the Philippine population decreased dramatically. Poverty became more
rampant than ever, and farmlands were left to wither. The family as a unit of
society was neglected, and overall, every aspect of the life of the Filipino was
retarded.
2. Deterioration and disappearance of Filipino indigenous culture – when
Spain came with the sword and the cross, it began the gradual destruction of
the native Philippine culture. Because of this, the Filipinos started losing
confidence in their past and their heritage, became doubtful of their present
lifestyle, and eventually lost hope in the future and the preservation of their
race.
3. Passivity and submissiveness to the Spanish colonizers – one of the
most powerful forces that influenced a culture of silence among the natives
were the Spanish friars. Because of the use of force, the Filipinos learned to
submit themselves to the will of the foreigners.
The question then arises as to what had awakened the hearts and opened the minds
of the Filipino people with regards to their plight. Eventually, the natives realized that
such oppression in their society by foreign colonizers must no longer be tolerated.
One question Rizal raises in this essay is whether or not Spain can indeed prevent
the progress of the Philippines:
1. Keeping the people uneducated and ignorant had failed. National

consciousness had still awakened, and great Filipino minds still emerged from
the rubble.
2. Keeping he people impoverished also came to no avail. On the
contrary, living a life of eternal destitution had allowed the Filipinos to act on
the desire for a change in their way of life. They began to explore other
horizons through which they could move towards progress.
3. Exterminating the people as an alternative to hindering progress did
not work either. The Filipino race was able to survive amidst wars and
famine, and became even more numerous after such catastrophes. To wipe
out the nation altogether would require the sacrifice of thousands of Spanish
soldiers, and this is something Spain would not allow.
87
Spain, therefore, had no means to stop the progress of the country. What she needs
to do is to change her colonial policies so that they are in keeping with the needs of
the Philippine society and to the rising nationalism of the people.
What Rizal had envisioned in his essay came true. In 1898, the Americans wrestled
with Spain to win the Philippines, and eventually took over the country. Theirs was a
reign of democracy and liberty. Five decades after Rizal’s death, the Philippines
gained her long-awaited independence. This was in fulfillment of what he had written
in his essay: “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 had to yield and succumb.”
88
ASSESSMENT
Name: ________________________________________________ Date: _____

Course / Section: _______________________________________ Score: ______
1. Make a caricature explaining the causes of miseries of Filipino people as

stated in the essay.
2. Make an essay explaining the importance of Rizal’s “The Philippines: A
Century Hence”.
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UNIT VIII
Indolence of the Filipinos
INTRODUCTION
In the opening scene of Noli Me Tangere, a social gathering in the house of
Kapitan Tiago serves as a venue for guests to mingle and converse. In one such
occasion, Father Damaso explicitly states his opinion of the Indio. While speaking to
a young man about the native Filipinos, Damaso exclaims, “As I believe in the
Gospel! The Indian is so indolent!” To this, the young man poses the question, “Does
this indolence actually, naturally, exists among the natives or is there some truth in
what a foreign traveler says that with this indolence we excuse our own, as well as
our backwardness and poor colonial system?
Indolence in the natives was a view commonly held by foreigners who came
to the Philippines as evident in the conversation narrated above. Rizal and other
propagandists, however, felt that this view was misguided and made efforts for its
rectification. One such attempt was through Rizal’s essay, “Sobre la Indolencia de los
Filipinos” which will serve as the topic of this Unit.
1. Explain the factors that cause the indolence of the Filipinos

2. Identify one aspect (e.g., trade) of Philippine society and discuss the change
that took place on this aspect going to the Spanish period.
WARMING UP
Make a position paper regarding the “Indolence of the Filipinos”. Do you
believe in the idea that Filipinos are lazy people?
90
LESSON 1: INDOLENCE OF THE FILIPINOS

1. Explain the factors that cause the indolence of the Filipinos
Lesson Discussion
The following is the full, English translation of the essay, Indolence of the
Filipino People, originally written by Jose Rizal:
DOCTOR Sancianco, in his Progreso de Filipinas, (1), has taken up this question, agi
tated, as he calls it, and, relying upon facts and reports furnished by the very same S
panish authorities that rule the Philippines, has demonstrated that such indolence do
es not exist, and that all said about it does not deserve reply or even passing notice.
Nevertheless, as discussion of it has been continued, not only by government employ
ees who make it responsible for their own shortcomings, not only by the friars who re
gard it as necessary in order that they may continue to represent, themselves as indi
spensable, but also by serious and disinterested persons; and as evidence of greater
or less weight may be adduced in opposition to that which Dr. Sancianco cites, it see
ms expedient, to us to study this question thoroughly, without superciliousness or sen
sitiveness, without prejudice, without pessimism. And as we can only serve our count
ry by telling the truth, however bit, tee it be, just as a flat and skilful negation cannot r
efute a real and positive fact, in spite of the brilliance of the arguments; as a mere affi
rmation is not sufficient to create something impossible, let us calmly examine the fac
ts, using on our part all the impartiality of which a man is capable who is convinced th
at there is no redemption except upon solid bases of virtue.
The word indolence has been greatly misused in the sense of little love for work and l
ack of energy, while ridicule has concealed the misuse. This much-discussed questio
n has met with the same fate as certain panaceas and specifies of the quacks who b
y ascribing to them impossible virtues have discredited them. In the Middle Ages, and
even in some Catholic countries now, the devil is blamed for everything that superstiti
ous folk cannot understand or the perversity of mankind is loath to confess. In the Phi
lippines one's own and another's faults, the shortcomings of one, the misdeeds of an
other, are attributed to indolence. And just as in the Middle Ages he who sought the e
xplanation of phenomena outside of infernal influences was persecuted, so in the Phil
ippines worse happens to him who seeks the origin of the trouble outside of accepted
beliefs. The consequence of this misuse is that there are some who are interested in
91
stating it as a dogma and others in combating it as a ridiculous superstition, if not a p
unishable delusion. Yet it is not to be inferred from the misuse of a thing that it does n
ot exist.
We think that there must be something behind all this outcry, for it is incredible that s
o many should err, among whom we have said there are a lot of serious and disintere
sted persons. Some act in bad faith, through levity, through want of sound judgment,
through limitation in reasoning power, ignorance of the past or other cause. Some re
peat what they have heard, without, examination or reflection; others speak through p
essimism or are impelled by that human characteristic which paints as perfect everyt
hing that belongs to oneself and defective whatever belongs to another. But it cannot
be denied that there are some who worship truth, or if not truth itself at least the sem
blance thereof, which is truth in the mind of the crowd.
Examining well, then, all the scenes and all the men that we have known from Childh
ood, and the life of our country, we believe that indolence does exist there. The Filipi
nos, who can measure up with the most active peoples in the world, will doubtless no
t repudiate this admission; for it is true that there one works and struggles against the
climate, against nature and against men. But we must not take the exception for the
general rule, and should rather seek the good of our country by stating what we belie
ve to be true. We must confess that indolence does actually and positively exist there
; only that, instead of holding it to be the cause of the backwardness and the trouble,
we regard it as the effect of the trouble and the backwardness, by fostering the devel
opment of a lamentable predisposition.
Those who have as yet treated of indolence, with the exception of Dr. Sancianco, hav
e been content to deny or affirm it. We know of no one who has studied its causes. N
evertheless, those who admit its existence and exaggerate it more or less have not th
erefore failed to advise remedies taken from here and there, from Java, from India, fr
om other English or Dutch colonies, like the quack who saw a fever cured with a doz
en sardines and afterwards always prescribed these fish at every rise in temperature
that he discovered in his patients.
We shall proceed otherwise. Before proposing a remedy we shall examine the cause
s, and even though strictly speaking a predisposition is not a cause, let us, however,
study at its true value this predisposition due to nature.
The predisposition exists? Why shouldn't it?
A hot, climate requires of the individual quiet and rest, just as cold incites to labor and
action. For this reason the Spaniard is more indolent than the Frenchman; the French
man more so than the German. The Europeans themselves who reproach the reside
nts of the colonies so much (and I am not now speaking of the Spaniards but of the G
ermans and English themselves), how do they live in tropical countries? Surrounded
92
by a numerous train of servants, never going afoot but riding in a carriage, needing s
ervants not only to take off their shoes for them but even to fan them! And yet they liv
e and eat better, they work for themselves to get rich, with the hope of a future, free a
nd respected, while the poor colonist, the indolent colonist, is badly nourished, has n
o hope, toils for others, and works under force and compulsion! Perhaps the reply to t
his will be that white men are not made to stand the severity of the climate. A mistake
! A man can live in any climate, if he will only adapt himself to its requirements and co
nditions. What kills the European in hot countries is the abuse of liquors, the attempt t
o live according to the nature of his own country under another sky and another sun.
We inhabitants of hot countries live well in northern Europe whenever we take the pr
ecautions the people there do. Europeans can also stand the Torrid Zone, if only they
would get rid of their prejudices.
(2) The fact is that in tropical countries violent work is not a good thing as it is in cold
countries; there it is death, destruction, annihilation. Nature knows this and like a just
mother has therefore made the earth more fertile, more productive, as compensation.
An hour's work under that burning sun, in the midst of pernicious influences springing
from nature in activity, is equal to a day's work in a temperate climate; it is, then, just
that the earth yield a hundred fold! Moreover, do we not see the active European, wh
o has gained strength during the winter, who feels the fresh blood of spring boil in his
veins, do we not see him abandon his labors during the few days of his variable sum
mer, close his office--where the work is not violent and amounts for many to talking a
nd gesticulating in the shade and beside a lunch-stand,--flee to watering places, sit in
the cafes or stroll about? What wonder then that the inhabitant of tropical countries,
worm out and with his blood thinned by the continuous and excessive heat, is reduce
d to inaction? Who is the indolent one in the Manila offices? Is it the poor clerk who c
omes in at eight in the morning and leaves at, one in the afternoon with only his para
sol, who copies and writes and works for himself and for his chief, or is it the chief, w
ho comes in a carriage at ten o'clock, leaves before twelve, reads his newspaper whil
e smoking and with is feet cocked up on a chair or a table, or gossiping about all his f
riends? Which is indolent, the native coadjutor, poorly paid and badly treated, who ha
s to visit all the indigent sick living in the country, or the friar curate who gets fabulous
ly rich, goes about in a carriage, eats and drinks well, and does not put himself to any
trouble without collecting excessive fees? [3]
Without speaking further of the Europeans, in what violent labor does the Chinaman
engage in tropical countries, the industrious Chinaman, who flees from his own count
ry driven by hunger and want, and whosewhole ambition is to amass a small fortune?
With the exception of some porters, an occupation that the natives also follow, he ne
arly always engages in trade, in commerce; so rarely does he take up agriculture that
we do not know of a single case. The Chinaman who in other colonies cultivates the
soil does so only for a certain number of years and then retires. [4]
We find, then, the tendency to indolence very natural, and have to admit and bless it,
for we cannot alter natural laws, and without it the race would have disappeared. Ma
n is not a brute, he is not a, machine; his object is not merely to produce, in spite of t
93
he pretensions of some Christian whites who would make of the colored Christian a k
ind of motive power somewhat more intelligent and less costly than steam. Man's obj
ect is not to satisfy tile passions of another man; his object is to seek happiness for hi
mself and his kind by traveling along the road of progress and perfection.
The evil is not that indolence exists more or less latently but that it is fostered and ma
gnified. Among men, as well as among nations, there exist not only aptitudes but also
tendencies toward good and evil. To foster the good ones and aid them, as well as c
orrect the evil and repress them, would be the duty of society and governments, if les
s noble thoughts did not occupy their attention. The evil is that the indolence in the P
hilippines is a magnified indolence, an indolence of the snowball type, if we may be p
ermitted the expression, an evil that increases in direct proportion to the square of th
e periods of time, an effect of misgovernment and of backwardness, as we said, and
not a cause thereof. Others will hold the contrary opinion, especially those who have
a hand in the misgovernment, but we do not care; we have made an assertion and ar
e going to prove it.
II
When in consequence of a long chronic illness the condition of the patient is examine
d, the question may arise whether the weakening of the fibers and the debility of the
organs are the cause of the malady's continuing or the effect of the bad treatment tha
t prolongs its action. The attending physician attributes the entire failure of his skill to
the poor constitution of the patient, to the climate, to the surroundings, and so on. On
the other hand, the patient attributes the aggravation of the evil to the system of treat
ment followed. Only the common crowd, the inquisitive populace, shakes its head an
d cannot reach a decision.
Something like this happens in the case of the Philippines. Instead of physician, read
government, that is, friars, employees, etc. Instead of patient, Philippines; instead of
malady, indolence.
And, just as happens in similar cases then the patient gets worse, everybody loses hi
s head, each one dodges the responsibility to place it upon somebody else, and inste
ad of seeking the causes in order to combat the evil in them, devotes himself at best t
o attacking the symptoms: here a blood-letting, a tax; there a plaster, forced labor; fur
ther on a sedative, a trifling reform. Every new arrival proposes a new remedy: one, s
easons of prayer, the relics of a saint, the viaticum, the friars; another, a shower-bath
; still another, with pretensions to modern ideas, a transfusion of blood. "It's nothing,
only the patient has eight million indolent red corpuscles: some few white corpuscles
in the form of an agricultural colony will get us out of the trouble.
94
"So, on all sides there are groans, gnawing of lips, clenching of fists, many hollow wo
rds, great ignorance, a deal of talk, a lot of fear. The patient is near his finish!
Yes, transfusion of blood, transfusion of blood! New life, new vitality! Yes, the new wh
ite corpuscles that you are going to inject into its veins, the new white corpuscles that
were a cancer in another organism will withstand all the depravity of the system, will
withstand the blood-lettings that it suffers every day, will have more stamina than all t
he eight million red corpuscles, will cure all the disorders, all the degeneration, all the
trouble in the principal organs. Be thankful if they do not become coagulations and pr
oduce gangrene, be thankful if they do not reproduce the cancer!
While the patient breathes, we must not lose hope, and however late we be, a judicio
us examination is never superfluous; at least the cause of death may be known. We
are not trying to put all the blame on the physician, and still less on the patient, for we
have already spoken of a predisposition due to the climate, a reasonable and natural
predisposition, in the absence of which the race would disappear, sacrificed to exces
sive labor in a tropical country.
Indolence in the Philippines is a chronic malady, but not a hereditary one. The Filipin
os have not always been what they are, witnesses whereto are all the historians of th
e first years after the discovery of the Islands.
Before the arrival of the Europeans, the Malayan Filipinos carried on an active trade,
not only among themselves but also with all the neighboring countries. A Chinese ma
nuscript of the 13th century, translated by Dr. Hirth (Globus, Sept. 1889), which we wi
ll take up at another time, speaks of China's relations with the islands, relations purel
y commercial, in which mention is made of the activity and honesty of the traders of L
uzon, who took the Chinese products and distributed them throughout all the islands,
traveling for nine months, and then returned to pay religiously even for the merchandi
se that the Chinamen did not remember to have given them. The products which they
in exchange exported from the islands were crude wax, cotton, pearls, tortoise-shell,
betel-nuts, dry-goods, etc. [5]
The first thing noticed by Pigafetta, who came with Magellan in 1521, on arriving at th
e first island of the Philippines, Samar, was the courtesy and kindness of the inhabita
nts and their commerce. "To honor our captain," he says, "they conducted him to thei
r boats where they had their merchandise, which consisted of cloves, cinnamon, pep
per, nutmegs, mace, gold and other things; and they made us understand by gesture
s that such articles were to be found in the islands to which we were going." [6]
95
Further on he speaks of the vessels and utensils of solid gold that he found in Butuan
, where the people worked mines. He describes the silk dresses, the daggers with lon
g gold hilts and scabbards of carved wood, the gold, sets of teeth, etc. Among cereal
s and fruits he mentions rice, millet, oranges, lemons, panicum, etc.
That the islands maintained relations with neighboring countries and even with distan
t ones is proven by the ships from Siam, laden with gold and slaves, that Magellan fo
und in Cebu. These ships paid certain duties to the King of the island. In the same ye
ar, 1521, the survivors of Magellan's expedition met the son of the Rajah of Luzon, w
ho, as captain-general of the Sultan of Borneo and admiral of his fleet, had conquere
d for him the great city of Lave (Sarawak?). Might this captain, who was greatly feare
d by all his foes, have been the Rajah Matanda whom the Spaniards afterwards enco
untered in Tondo in 1570?
In 1539 the warriors of Luzon took part in the formidable contests of Sumatra, and un
der the orders of Angi Siry Timor, Rajah of Batta, conquered and overthrew the terribl
e Alzadin, Sultan of Atchin, renowned in the historical annals of the Far East. (Marsd
en, Hist. of Sumatra, Chap. XX.) (7)
At that time, that sea where float the islands like a set of emeralds on a paten of brigh
t glass, that sea was everywhere traversed by junks, paraus, barangays, vintas, vess
els swift as shuttles, so large that they could maintain a hundred rowers on a side (M
orga;) that sea bore everywhere commerce, industry, agriculture, by the force of the
oars moved to the sound of warlike songs (8) of the genealogies and achievements o
f the Philippine divinities. (Colin, Chap. XV.) (9)
Wealth abounded in the islands. Pigafetta tells us of the abundance of foodstuffs in P

aragua and of its inhabitants, who nearly all tilled their own fields. At this island the su
rvivors of Magellan's expedition were well received and provisioned. A little later, thes
e same survivors captured a vessel, plundered and sacked it, add took prisoner in it t
he chief of the Island of Paragua (!) with his son and brother. (10)
In this same vessel they captured bronze lombards, and this is the first mention of art
illery of the Filipinos, for these lombards were useful to the chief of Paragua against t
he savages of the interior.
They let him ransom himself within seven days, demanding 400 measures (cavanes?
) of rice, 20 pigs, 20 goats, and 450 chickens. This is the first act of piracy recorded i
n Philippine history. The chief of Paragua paid everything, and moreover voluntarily a
dded coconuts, bananas, and sugar-cane jars filled with palm-wine. When Caesar wa
s taken prisoner by the corsairs and required to pay twenty five talents ransom, he re
96
plied; "I'll give you fifty, but later I'll have you all crucified!" The chief of Paragua was
more generous: he forgot. His conduct, while it may reveal weakness, also demonstr
ates that the islands were abundantly provisioned. This chief was named Tuan Maha
mud; his brother, Guantil, and his son, Tuan Mahamed. (Martin Mendez, Purser of th
e ship Victoria: Archivos de Indias.)
A very extraordinary thing, and one that shows the facility with which the natives lear
ned Spanish, is that fifty years before the arrival of the Spaniards in Luzon, in that ver
y year 1521 when they first came to the islands, there were already natives of Luzon
who understood Castilian. In the treaties of peace that the survivors of Magellan's ex
pedition made with the chief of Paragua, when the servant-interpreter died they com
municated with one another through a Moro who had been captured in the island of t
he King of Luzon and who understood some Spanish. (Martin Mendez, op, cit ) Wher
e did this extemporaneous interpreter learn Castilian? In the Moluccas? In Malacca,
with the Portuguese? Spaniards did not reach Luzon until 1571.
Legazpi's expedition met in Butuan various traders of Luzon with their boats laden wit
h iron, wax cloths, porcelain, etc. (Gaspar de San Agustin,) plenty of provisions, activi
ty, trade, movement in all the southern islands. (11)
They arrived at the Island of Cebu, "abounding in provisions, with mines and washing
s of gold, and peopled with natives," as Morga says; "very populous, and at a port fre
quented by many ships that came from the islands and kingdoms near India," as Coli
n says; and even though they were peacefully received discord soon arose. The city
was taken by force and burned. The fire destroyed the food supplies and naturally fa
mine broke out in that town of a hundred thousand people, (12) as the historians say,
and among the members of the expedition, but the neighboring islands quickly reliev
ed the need, thanks to the abundance they enjoyed.
All the histories of those first years, in short, abound in long accounts about the indus
try and agriculture of the natives: mines, gold-washings, looms, farms, barter, naval c
onstruction, raising of poultry and stock, weaving of silk and cotton, distilleries, manuf
actures of arms, pearl fisheries, the civet industry, the horn and hide industry, etc., ar
e things encountered at every step, and, considering the time and the conditions in th
e islands, prove that there was life, there was activity, there was movement.
And if this, which is deduction, does not convince any minds imbued with unfair preju
dices, perhaps of some avail may be the testimony of the oft-quoted Dr. Morga, who
was Lieutenant-Governor of Manila for seven years and after rendering great service
in the Archipelago was appointed criminal judge of the Audiencia of Mexico and Cou
nsellor of the Inquisition. His testimony, we say, is highly credible, not only because a
ll his contemporaries have spoken of him in terms that border on veneration but also
97
because his work, from which we take these citations, is written with great circumspe
ction and care, as well with reference to the authorities in the Philippines as to the err
ors they committed. "The natives," says Morga, in Unit VII, speaking of the occupatio
ns of the Chinese, "are very far from exercising those trades and have even forgotten
much about farming, raising poultry, stock and cotton, and weaving cloth AS THEY U
SED TO DO IN THEIR PAGANISM AND FOR A LONG TIME AFTER THE COUNTR
Y WAS CONQUERED." (13)
The whole of Unit VIII of his work deals with this moribund activity, this much-forgotte
n industry, and yet in spite of that, how long is his eighth Unit!
And not only Morga, not only Chirino, Colin, Argensola, Gaspar de San Agustin and o
thers agree in this matter, but modern travelers, after two hundred and fifty years, ex
amining the decadence and misery, assert the same thing. Dr. Hans Meyer, when he
saw the unsubdued tribes cultivating beautiful fields and working energetically, asked
if they would not become indolent when they in turn should accept Christianity and a
paternal government.
Accordingly, the Filipinos, in spite of the climate, in spite of their few needs (they wer
e less then than now), were not the indolent creatures of our time, and, as we shall s
ee later on, their ethics and their mode of life were not what is now complacently attri
buted to them.
How then, and in what way, was that active and enterprising infidel native of ancient t
imes converted into the lazy and indolent Christian, as our contemporary writer's say
?
We have already spoken of the more or less latent predisposition which exists in the
Philippines toward indolence, and which must exist everywhere, in the whole world, i
n all men, because we all hate work more or less, as it may be more or less hard, mo
re or less unproductive. The dolce far niente of the Italian, the rascarse la barriga of t
he Spaniard, the supreme aspiration of the bourgeois to live on his income in peace
and tranquility, attest this.
What causes operated to awake this terrible predisposition from its lethargy? How is i
t that the Filipino people, so fond of its customs as to border on routine, has given up
its ancient habits of work, of trade, of navigation, etc., even to the extent of completel
y forgetting its past?
III
98
A fatal combination of circumstances, some independent of the will in spite of men's
efforts, others the offspring of stupidity and ignorance, others the inevitable corollarie
s of false principles, and still others the result of more or less base passions has indu
ced the decline of labor, an evil which instead of being remedied by prudence, matur
e reflection and recognition of the mistakes made, through deplorable policy, through
regret, table blindness and obstinacy, has gone from bad to worse until it has reache
d the condition in which we now see it. (14).
First came the wars, the internal disorders which the new change of affairs naturally
brought with it. It was necessary to subject the people either by cajolery or force; ther
e were fights, there was slaughter; those who had submitted peacefully seemed to re
pent of it; insurrections were suspected, and some occurred; naturally there were exe
cutions, and many capable laborers perished. Add to this condition of disorder the inv
asion of Limahong, add the continual wars into which the inhabitants of the Philippine
s were plunged to maintain the honor of Spain, to extend the sway of her flag in Born
eo, in the Moluccas and in Indo-China; to repel the Dutch foe: costly wars, fruitless ex
peditions, in which each time thousands and thousands of native archers and rowers
were recorded to have embarked, but whether they returned to their homes was neve
r stated. Like the tribute that once upon a time Greece sent to the Minotaur of Crete, t
he Philippine youth embarked for the expedition, saying good-by to their country fore
ver: on their horizon were the stormy sea, the interminable wars, the rash expeditions
. Wherefore, Gaspar de San Agustin says: "Although anciently there were in this tow
n of Dumangas many people, in the course of time they have very greatly diminished
because the natives are the best sailors and most skillful rowers on the whole coast,
and so the governors in the port of Iloilo take most of the people from this town for th
e ships that they send abroad ............. When the Spaniards reached this island (Pan
ay) it is said that there were on it more than fifty thousand families; but these diminish
ed greatly; ........... and at present they may amount to some fourteen thousand tribut
aries." From fifty thousand families to fourteen thousand tributaries in little over half a
century!
We would never get through, had we to quote all the evidence of the authors regardin
g the frightful diminution of the inhabitants of the Philippines in the first years after the
discovery. In the time of their first bishop, that is, ten years after Legazpi, Philip II sai
d that they had been reduced to less than two thirds.
Add to these fatal expeditions that wasted all the moral and material energies of the c
ountry, the frightful inroads of the terrible pirates from the south, instigated and encou
raged by the government, first in order to get complaint and afterwards disarm the isl
ands subjected to it, inroads that reached the very shores of Manila, even Malate itse
lf, and during which were seen to set out for captivity and slavery, in the baleful glow
of burning villages, strings of wretches who had been unable to defend themselves, l
eaving behind them the ashes of their homes and the corpses of their parents and ch
ildren. Morga, who recounts the first piratical invasion, says: "The boldness of these
99
people of Mindanao did great damage to the Visayan Islands, as much by what they
did in them as by the fear and fright which the native acquired, because the latter wer
e in the power of the Spaniards, who held them subject and tributary and unarmed, in
such manner that they did not protect them from their enemies or leave them means
with which to defend themselves, AS THEY DID WHEN THERE WERE NO SPANIA
RDS IN THE COUNTRY." These piratical attacks continually reduced the number of t
he inhabitants of the Philippines, since the independent Malays were especially notor
ious for their atrocities and murders, sometimes because they believed that to preser
ve their independence it was necessary to weaken the Spaniard by reducing the num
ber of his subjects, sometimes because a greater hatred and a deeper resentment in
spired them against the Christian Filipinos who, being of the their own race, served th
e stranger in order to deprive them of their precious liberty. These expeditions lasted
about three centuries, being repeated five and ten times a year, and each expedition
cost the islands over eight hundred prisoners.
"With the invasions of the pirates from Sulu and Mindanao," says Padre Gaspar de S
an Agustin, [the island of Bantayan, near Cebu] "has been greatly reduced, because
they easily captured the people there, since the latter had no place to fortify themselv
es and were far from help from Cebu. The hostile Sulu did great damage in this islan
d in 1608, leaving it almost depopulated." (Page 380).
These rough attacks, coming from without, produced a counter effect, in the interior,
which, carrying out medical comparisons, was like a purge or diet in an individual wh
o has just lost a great deal of blood. In order to make headway against so many cala
mities, to secure their sovereignty and take the offensive in these disastrous contests
, to isolate the warlike Sulus from their neighbors in the south, to care for the needs o
f the empire of the Indies (for one of the reasons why the Philippines were kept, as co
ntemporary documents prove, was their strategic position between New Spain and th
e Indies), to wrest from the Dutch their growing colonies of the Moluccas and get rid
of some troublesome neighbors, to maintain, in short, the trade of China with New Sp
ain. it was necessary to construct new and large ships which, as we have seen, costl
y as they were to the country for their equipment and the rowers they required, were
not less so because of the manner in which they were constructed. (16)
Fernando de los Rios Coronel, who fought in these wars and later turned priest, spea
king of these King's ships, said: "As they were so large, the timber needed was scarc
ely to be found in the forests (of the Philippines!), and thus it was necessary to seek it
with great difficulty in the most remote of them, where, once found, in order to haul a
nd convey it to the shipyard the towns of the surrounding country had to be depopulat
ed of natives, who get it out with immense labor, damage, and cost to them. The nati
ves furnished the masts for a galleon, according to the assertion of the Franciscans,
and I heard the governor of the province where they were cut, which is Lacuna de Ba
y, say that to haul them seven leagues over very broken mountains 6,000 natives we
re engaged three months, without furnishing them food, which the wretched native ha
d to seek for himself!"
100
And Gaspar de San Agustin says: "In those times (1690), Bacolor has not the people
that it had in the past, because of the uprising in that province when Don Sabiniano
Manrique de Lava was Governor of these islands and because of the continual labor
of cutting timber for his Majesty's shipyards, WHICH HINDERS THEM FROM CULTI
VATING THE VERY FERTILE PLAIN THEY HAVE." (17)
If this is not sufficient to explain the depopulation of the islands and the abandonment
of industry, agriculture and commerce, then add "the natives who wore executed, tho
se who loft their wives and children and fled in disgust to the mountains, those who w
ere sold into slavery to pay the taxes levied upon them," as Fernando de los Rios Co
ronel says; add to all this what Philip II said in reprimanding Bishos Salazar about "na
tives sold by some encomendoros to others, those flogged to death, the women who
are crushed to death by their heavy burdens, those who sleep in the fields and there
bear and nurse their children and die bitten by poisonous vermin, the many who are
executed and left to die of hunger and those who eat poisonous herbs ............ and th
e mothers who kill their children in bearing them," and you will understand how in les
s than thirty years the population of the Philippines was reduced one-third. We are no
t saying this: it was said by Gaspar de San Agustin, the preeminently anti-Filipino Au
gustinian, and he confirms it throughout the rest of his work by speaking every mome
nt of the state of neglect in which lay the farms and fields once so flourishing and so
well cultivated, the towns thinned that had formerly been inhabited by many leading f
amilies!
How is it strange, then, that discouragement may have been infused into the spirit of t
he inhabitants of the Philippines, when in the midst of so many calamities they did no
t know whether they would see sprout the seed they were planting, whether their field
was going to be their grave or their crop would go to feed their executioner? What is t
here strange in it, when we see the pious but impotent friars of that time trying to free
their poor parishioners from the tyranny of the encomenderos by advising them to sto
p work in the mines, to abandon their commerce, to break up their looms, pointing ou
t to them heaven for their whole hope, preparing them for death as their only consolat
ion? (18)
Man works for an object. Remove the object and you reduce him to inaction The mos
t active man in the world will fold his arms from the instant he understands that it is m
adness to bestir himself, that this work will be the cause of his trouble, that for him it
will be the cause of vexations at home and of the pirate's greed abroad. It seems that
these thoughts have never entered the minds of those who cry out against the indole
nce of the Filipinos.
Even were the Filipino not a man like the rest; even were we to suppose that zeal in
him for work was as essential as the movement of a wheel caught in the gearing of ot
hers in motion; even were we to deny him foresight and the judgment that the past an
d the present form, there would still be left us another reason to explain the attack of t
101
he evil. The abandonment of the fields by their cultivators, whom the wars and piratic
al attacks dragged from their homes, was sufficient to reduce to nothing the hard labo
r of so many generations. In the Philippines abandon for a year the land most beautif
ully tended and you will see how you will have to begin all over again: the rain will wip
e out the furrows, the floods will drown the seeds, plants and bushes will grow up eve
rywhere, and on seeing so much useless labor the hand will drop the hoe, the laborer
will desert his plow. Isn't there left the fine life of the pirate?
Thus is understood that sad discouragement which we find in the friar writers of the 1
7th century, speaking of once very fertile plains submerged, of provinces and towns d
epopulated, of products that have disappeared from trade, of leading families extermi
nated. These pages resemble a sad and monotonous scene in the night after a lively
day. Of Cagayan Padre San Agustin speaks with mournful brevity: "A great deal of c
otton, of which they made good cloth that the Chinese and Japanese every year bou
ght and carried away." In the historian's time, the industry and the trade had come to
an end!
It seems that these are causes more thorn sufficient to breed indolence even in the m
idst of beehive. Thus is explained why, after thirty-two years of the system, the circu
mspect and prudent Morga said that the natives "have forgotten much about farming,
raising poultry, stock and cotton, and weaving cloth, as they used to do in their pagan
ism and FOR A LONG TIME AFTER THE COUNTRY HAD BEEN CONQUERED!"
Still they struggled a long time against indolence, yes: but their enemies were so num
erous that at last they gave up!
IV
We recognize the causes that, awoke the predisposition and provoked the evil: now l
et us see what foster and sustain it. In this connection, government and governed ha
ve to bow our heads and say: we deserve our fate.
We have already truly said that when a house becomes disturbed and disordered, we
should not accuse the youngest, child or the servants, but the head of it, especially if
his authority is unlimited, he who does not act freely is not responsible for his actions;
and the Filipino people, not being master of its liberty, is not responsible for either its
misfortunes or its woes. We says this, it is true, but, as will be seen later on, we also
have a large part, in the continuation of such a disorder.
The following, among other causes, contributed to foster the evil and aggravate it: the
constantly lessening encouragement that labor has met with in the Philippines. Feari
ng to have the Filipinos deal frequently with other individuals of their own race, who w
ere free and independent, as the Borneans, the Siamese, the Cambodians, and the J
apanese, people who in their customs and feeling's differ greatly from the Chinese, th
e Government acted toward these others with great mistrust and great severity, as M
orga testifies in the last pages of his work, until they finally ceased to come to the cou
ntry. In fact, it seems that once an uprising' planned by the Borneans was suspected:
we say suspected, for there was not even an attempt, although there were many exe
102
cutions. (19) And, as these nations were the very ones that, consumed Philippine pro
ducts, when all communication with them had been cut off, consumption of these pro
ducts also ceased. The only two countries with which the Philippines continued to ha
ve relations were China and Mexico, or New Spain, and from this trade only China an
d a few private individuals in Manila got any benefit. It, fact, the Celestial Empire sent
, her junks laden with merchandise, that merchandise which shut down the factories
of Seville and ruined the Spanish industry, and returned laden in exchange with the si
lver that was every year sent from Mexico. Nothing from the Philippines at that time w
ent to China, not even gold, for in those years the Chinese traders would accept no p
ayment but silver coin. (20) To Mexico went little more: some cloth and dry goods whi
ch the encomendoros took by force or bought from the natives at, a paltry price, wax,
amber, gold, civet, etc, but nothing more, and not even in great quantity, as is stated
by Admiral Don Jeronimo de Bacuelos y Carrillo, when he begged the King that "the i
nhabitants of the Manilas be permitted (!) to load as many ships as they could with na
tive products, such as wax, gold, perfumes, ivory, cotton cloths, which they would ha
ve to buy from the natives of the country ............... Thus the friendship of those peopl
es would be gained, they would furnish New Spain with their merchandise and the m
oney that is brought to Manila, would not leave this place," (21)
The coastwise trade, so active in other times, had to die out, thanks to the piratical att
acks of the Malays of the south; and trade in the interior of the islands almost entirely
disappeared, owing to restrictions, passports and other administrative requirements.
Of no little importance were the hindrances and obstacles that from the beginning we
re thrown in the farmers's way by the rulers, who were influenced by childish fear and
saw everywhere signs of conspiracies and uprisings. The natives were not allowed to
go to their labors, that is, their farms, without permission of the governor, or of his ag
ents and officers, and even of the priests as Morga says. Those who know the admini
strative slackness and confusion in a country where the officials work scarcely two ho
urs a day; those who know the cost of going to and returning from the capital to obtai
n a permit; those who are aware of the petty retaliations of the little tyrants will well u
nderstand how with this crude arrangement it is possible to have the most absurd agr
iculture. True it is that for some time this absurdity, which would be ludicrous had it n
ot been so serious, has disappeared; but even if the words have gone out of use othe
r facts and other provisions have replaced them. The Moro pirate has disappeared bu
t there remains the outlaw who infests the fields and waylays the farmer to hold him f
or ransom. Now then, the government, which has a constant fear of the people, denie
s to the farmers even the use of a shotgun, or if it does allow it does so very grudging
ly and withdraws it at pleasure; whence it results with the laborer, who, thanks to his
means of defense, plants his crops and invests his meager fortune in the furrows that
he has so laboriously opened, that when his crop matures, it occurs to the governme
nt, which is impotent to suppress brigandage, to deprive him of his weapon; and then
, without defense and without security he is reduced to inaction and abandons his fiel
d, his work, and takes to gambling as the best means of securing a livelihood. The gr
een cloth is under the protection of the government, it is safer! A mournful counselor i
s fear, for it not only causes weakness but also in casting aside the weapons strength
ens the very persecutor!
103
The sordid return the native gets from his work has the effect of discouraging him. W
e know from history that the encomenderos, after reducing many to slavery and forci
ng them to work for their benefit, made others give up their merchandise for a trifle or
nothing at all, or cheated them with false measures.
Speaking of Ipion, in Panay, Padre Gaspar de San Agustin says: "It was in ancient ti
mes very rich in gold, ............... but provoked by the annoyances they suffered from s
ome governors they have ceased to get it out, preferring to live in poverty than to suff
er such hardships." (Page 378). Further on, speaking of other towns, he says: "Goad
ed by the ill treatment of the encomenderos who in administering justice have treated
the natives as their slaves and not as their children, and have only looked after their
own interests at the expense of the wretched fortunes and lives of their charges ........
......." (Page 422) Further on: "In Leyte, where they tried to kill an encomendero of the
town of Dagami on account of the great hardships he made them suffer by exacting tr
ibute of wax from them with a steelyard which he had made twice as long as the othe
rs"
This state of affairs lasted a long time and still lasts, in spite of the fact, that the breed
of encomenderos has become extinct. A term passes away but the evil and the passi
ons engendered do not pass away so long as reforms are devoted solely to changing
the names.
The wars with the Dutch, the inroads and piratical attacks of the people of Sulu and
Mindanao disappeared; the people have been transformed; new towns have grown u
p while others have become impoverished; but the frauds subsist as much as or wors
e than they did in those early years. We will not cite our own experiences, for aside fr
om the fact that, we do not know which to select, critical persons may reproach us wit
h partiality; neither will we cite those of other Filipinos who write in the newspapers; b
ut we shall confine ourselves to translating the words of a modern French traveler wh
o was in the Philippines for a long time:
"The good curate," he says with reference to the rosy picture a friar had given him of
the Philippines, "had not told me about the governor, the foremost official of the distri
ct, who was too much taken up with the ideal of getting rich to have time to tyrannize
over his docile subjects; the governor, charged with ruling the country and collecting t
he various taxes in the government's name, devoted himself almost wholly to trade; i
n his hands the high and noble functions he performs are nothing more than instrume
nts of gain. He monopolizes all the business and instead of developing on his part th
e love of work, instead of stimulating the too natural indolence of the natives, he with
abuse of his powers thinks only of destroying all competition that may trouble him or
attempt to participate in his profits. It matters little to him that the country is impoveris
hed, without cultivation, without commerce, without, industry, just so the governor is q
uickly enriched!"
Yet the traveler has been unfair in picking out the governor especially: Why only the
governor?
104
We do not cite passages from other authors, because we have not their works at han
d and do not wish to quote from memory. The great difficulty that every enterprise en
countered with the administration contributed not a little to kill off all commercial and i
ndustrial movement. All the Filipinos, as well as all those who have tried to engage in
business in the Philippines, know how many documents, what comings, how many st
amped papers, how much patience is needed to secure from the government a permi
t for an enterprise. One must count upon the good will of this one, on the influence of
that one, on a good bribe to another in order that the application be not pigeonholed,
a present to the one further on so that he may pass it on to his chief; one must pray t
o God to give him good humor and time to see and examine it; to another, talent to re
cognize its expediency; to one further on sufficient stupidity not to scent behind the e
nterprise an insurrectionary purpose; and that they may not all spend the time taking
baths, hunting or playing cards with the reverend friars in their convents or country ho
uses. And above all, great patience, great knowledge of how to get along, plenty of m
oney, a great deal of politics, many salutations, great influence, plenty of presents an
d complete resignation! How is it strange that, the Philippines remain poor in spite of t
heir very fertile soil, when history tells us that the countries now the most flourishing d
ate their development from the day of their liberty and civil rights? The most commerc
ial and most industrious countries have been the freest countries: France,
England and the United States prove this. Hongkong, which is not worth the most insi
gnificant of the Philippines, has more commercial movement than all the islands toget
her, because it is free and is well governed.
The trade with China, which was the whole occupation of the colonizers of the Philipp
ines, was not only prejudicial to Spain but also to the life of her colonies; in fact, when
the officials and private persons at Manila found an easy method of getting rich they
neglected everything. They paid no attention either to cultivating the soil or to fosterin
g industry; and wherefore? China furnished the trade, and they had only to take adva
ntage of it and pick up the gold that dropped out on its way from Mexico toward the in
terior of China, the gulf whence it never returned.
The pernicious example of the dominators in surrounding themselves with servants a

nd despising manual or corporal labor as a thing unbecoming the nobility and chivalr
ous pride of the heroes of so many centuries; those lordly airs, which the natives hav
e translated into tila ka castila, and the desire of the dominated to be the equal of the
dominators, if not essentially, at least in their manners: all this had naturally to produc
e aversion to activity and fear or hatred of work.
Moreover, 'Why work?' asked many natives. The curate says that the rich man will no
t go to heaven The rich man on earth is liable to all kinds of trouble, to be appointed a
cabeza de barangay, to be deported if an uprising occurs, to be forced banker of the
military chief of the town, who to reward him for favors received seizes his laborers a
nd his stock, in order to force him to beg for mercy, and thus easily pays up. Why be
rich? So that all the officers of justice may have a lynx eye on your actions, so that at
the least slip enemies may be raised up against you, you may be indicted, a whole co
mplicated and labyrinthine story may be concocted against you, for which you can on
ly get away, not by the thread of Ariadne but by Danae's shower of gold, and still give
thanks that you are not kept in reserve for some needy occasion? The native, whom t
105
hey pretend to regard as an imbecile, is not so much so that he does not understand
that it is ridiculous to work himself to death to become worse off. A proverb of his say
s that the pig is cooked in its own lard, and as among his bad qualities he has the go
od one of applying to himself all the criticisms and censures he prefers to live misera
ble and indolent, rather than play the part of the wretched beast of burden.
Add to this the introduction of gambling. We do not mean to san that before the comi
ng of the Spaniards the natives did not gamble: the passion for grumbling is innate in
adventuresome and excitable races, and such is the Malay. Pigafetta tells us of cock-
fights and of bets in the Island of Paragua. Cock-fighting must also have existed in Lu
zon and in all the islands, for in the terminology of the game are two Tagalog words:
sabong, and tari (cockpit and gaff). But there is not the least doubt that the fostering
of this game is due to the government, as well as the perfecting of it. Although Pigafe
tta tells us of it, he mentions it only in Paragua, and not in Cebu nor in any other islan
d of the south, where he stayed long time. Morga does not speak of it, in spite of his
having spent seven years in Manila, and yet he does describe the kinds of fowl, the j
ungle hens and cocks. Neither does Morga, speak of gambling, when he talks about
vices and other defects, more or less concealed, more or less insignificant. Moreover
, excepting the two Tagalog wordssabong and tari, the others are of Spanish origin, a
s soltada (setting the cocks to fight, then the fight itself), presto, (apuesta, bet), logro
(winnings), pago (payment), sentenciador (referee), case (to cover the bets), etc. We
say the same about gambling: the word sugal (jugar, to gamble), like kumpisal (confe
sar, to confess to a priest), indicates that gambling was unknown in the Philippines b
efore the Spaniards. The word laro (Tagalog, to play) is not the equivalent of the wor
d sunni. The word balasa (baraja, playing-card) proves that the introduction of playin
g-cards was not due to the Chinese, who have a kind of playing-cards also, because
in that case they would have taken the Chinese name. Is not this enough? The word t
aya (taltar, to bet), paris-paris (Spanish pares, pairs of cards), politana (napolitana, a
winning sequence of cards), sapore (to stack the cards), kapote (to slam), monte, an
d so on, all prove the foreign origin of this terrible plant, which only produces vice, an
d which has found in the character of the native a fit soil, cultivated by circumstances.
Along with gambling, which breeds dislike for steady and difficult toil by its promise of
sudden wealth and its appeal to the emotions, with the lotteries, with the prodigality a
nd hospitality of the Filipinos, went also, to swell this train of misfortunes, the religiou
s functions, the great number of fiestas, the long masses for the women to spend thei
r mornings and the novenaries to spend their afternoons, and the night, for the proce
ssions and rosaries. Remember that lack of capital and absence of means paralyze a
ll movement, and you will see how the native has perforce to be indolent for if any mo
ney might remain to him from the trials, imposts and exactions, he would have to give
it to the curate for bulls, scapularies, candles, novenaries, etc. And if this does not suf
fice to form an indolent character, if the climate and nature are not enough in themsel
ves to daze him and deprive him of all energy, recall then that the doctrines of his reli
gion teach him to irrigate his fields in the dry season, not by means of canals but with
masses and prayers; to preserve his stock during an epizootic with holy water, exorci
sms and benedictions that cost five dollars an animal; to drive away the locusts by a
procession with the image of St. Augustine, etc. It is well, undoubtedly, to trust greatl
y in God; but it is better to do what one can and not trouble the Creator every momen
t, even when these appeals redound to the benefit of His ministers. We have noticed
106
that the countries which believe most in miracles are the laziest, just, as spoiled child
ren are the most ill-mannered. Whether they believe in miracles to palliate their lazine
ss or they are lazy because they believe in miracles, we cannot say; but the fact is th
e Filipinos were much less lazy before the word miracle was introduced into their lan
guage.
The facility with which individual liberty is curtailed, that continual alarm of all from the
knowledge that they are liable to secret report, a governmental ukase, and to the acc
usation of rebel or suspect, an accusation which, to be effective, does not need proof
or the production of the accuser. With that lack of confidence in the future, that uncert
ainty of reaping the reward of labor, as in a city stricken with the plague, everybody yi
elds to fate, shuts himself in his house or goes about amusing himself in the attempt t
o spend the few days that remain to him in the least disagreeable way possible.
The apathy of the government itself toward everything in commerce and agriculture c
ontributes not a little to foster indolence. There is no encouragement, at all for the ma
nufacturer or for the farmer; the government furnishes no aid either when poor crop c
omes, when the locusts (23) sweep over the fields, or when a cyclone destroys in its
passage the wealth of the soil; nor does it take any trouble to seek a market for the pr
oducts of its colonies. Why should it do so when these same products are burdened
with taxes and imposts and have not free entry into the ports, of the mother country,
nor is their consumption there encouraged? While we see all the walls of London cov
ered with advertisements of the products of its colonies, while the English make heroi
c efforts to substitute Ceylon for Chinese tea, beginning with the sacrifice of their tast
e and their stomach, in Spain, with the exception of tobacco, nothing from the Philippi
nes is known: neither its sugar, coffee, hemp, fine cloths, nor its Ilocano blankets. Th
e name of Manila is known only from those cloths of China or Indo-China which at on
e time reached Spain by way of Manila, heavy silk shawls, fantastically but coarsely e
mbroidered, which no one has thought of imitating in Manila, since they are so easily
made; but the government has other cares, and the Filipinos do not know that such o
bjects are more highly esteemed in the Peninsula than their delicate piña, embroideri
es and their very fine jusi fabrics. Thus disappeared our trade in indigo, thanks to the
trickery of the Chinese, which the government could not guard against, occupied as it
was with other thoughts; thus die now the other industries; the fine manufactures of t
he Visayas are gradually disappearing from trade and even from use; the people, con
tinually getting poorer, cannot afford the costly cloths and have to be content with cali
co or the imitations of the Germans,who produce imitations even of the work of our sil
versmiths.
The fact that the best plantations, the best tracts of land in some provinces, those tha
t from their easy access are more profitable than others, are in the hands of the religi
ous corporations, whose desideratum is ignorance and a condition of semi-starvation
for the native, so that they may continue to govern him and make themselves necess
ary to his wretched existence, is one of the reasons why many towns do not progress
in spite of the efforts of their inhabitants. We will be met with the objections, as an arg
ument on the other side that the towns which belong to the friars are comparatively ri
107
cher than those which do not belong to them. They surely are! Just as their brethren i
n Europe, in founding their convents, knew how to select the best valleys, the best up
lands for the cultivation of the vine or the production of beer, so also the Philippine m
onks (25) have known how to select the best towns, the beautiful plains, the well-wat
ered fields, to make of them rich plantations. For some time the friarshave deceived
many by making them believe that if these plantations were prospering, it was becau
se they were under their care, and the indolence of the native was thus emphasized;
but they forget that in same provinces where they have not been able for some reaso
n to get possession of the best tracts of land, their plantations, like Baurand and Lian
g, are inferior to Taal, Balayan and Lipa, regions cultivated entirely by the natives wit
hout any monkish interference whatsoever.
Add to this lack of material inducement the absentee of moral stimulus, and you will s
ee how he who is not indolent in that country must needs be a madman or at least a f
ool. What future awaits him who distinguishes himself, him who studies, who rises ab
ove the crowd? At the cost of study and sacrifice a young man becomes a great che
mist, and after a long course of training, wherein neither the government nor anybody
has given him the least help, he concludes his long stay in the University. A competiti
ve examination is held to fill a certain position. The young man wins this through kno
wledge and perseverance, and after he has won it, it is abolished, because ......... we
do not care to give the reason, but when a municipal laboratory is closed in order to a
bolish the position of director, who got his place by competitive examination, while ot
her officers, such as the press censor, are preserved, it is because the belief exists th
at the light of progress may injure the people more than all the adulterated foods (26)
. In the same way, another young man won a prize in a literary competition, and as lo
ng as his origin was unknown his work was discussed, the newspapers praised it and
it was regarded as a masterpiece, but the sealed envelopes were opened, the winner
proved to be a native, while among the losers there were Peninsulars; then all the ne
wspapers hastened to extol the losers! Not one word from the government, nor from
anybody, to encourage the native who with so much affection was cultivating the lang
uage and letters of the mother country! (27)
Finally, passing over many other more or less insignificant reasons, the enumeration
of which would be interminable, let us close this dreary list with the principal and mos
t terrible of all: the education of the native.
From his birth until he sinks into his grave, the training of the native is brutalizing, dep
ressive and antihuman (the word 'inhuman' is not sufficiently explanatory: whether or
not the Academy admit it, let it go). There is no doubt that the government, some
priests like the Jesuits and some Dominicans like Padre Benavides, have done a gre
at deal by founding colleges, schools of primary instruction, and the like. But this is n
ot enough; their effect is neutralized. They amount to five or ten years (years of a hun
dred and fifty days at most) during which the youth comes in contact with books selec
ted by those very priests who boldly proclaim that it is an evil for the natives to know
Castilian, that the native should not be separated from his carabao, that he should no
t have any further aspirations, and so on; five to ten years during which the majority o
f the students have grasped nothing more than that no one understands what the boo
ks say, not even the professors themselves perhaps; and these five to ten years hav
108
e to offset the daily preachment of the whole life, that preachment which lowers the di
gnity of man, which by degrees brutally deprives him of the sentiment of self-esteem,
that eternal, stubborn, constant labor to bow the native's neck, to make him accept th
e yoke, to place him on a level with the beast--a labor aided by some persons, with or
without the ability to write, which if it does not produce in some individuals the desire
d effect, in others it has the opposite effect, like the breaking of a cord that is stretche
d too tightly. Thus, while they attempt to make of the native a kind of animal, vet in ex
change they demand of him divine actions. And we say divine actions, because he m
ust be a god who does not become indolent in that climate, surrounded by the circum
stances mentioned. Deprive a man, then, of his dignity, and you not only deprive him
of his moral strength but you also make him useless even for those who wish to mak
e use of him. Every creature has its stimulus, its mainspring: man's is his self-esteem
. Take it away from him and he is a corpse, and he who seeks activity in a corpse will
encounter only worms.
Thus is explained how the natives of the present time are no longer the same as thos
e of the time of the discovery, neither morally nor physically.
The ancient writers, like Chirino, Morga and Colin, take pleasure in describing them a
s well-featured, with good aptitudes for any thing they take up, keen and susceptible
and of resolute will, very clean and neat in their persons and clothing, and of good mi
en and bearing. (Morga). Others delight in minute accounts of their intelligence and pl
easant manners, of their aptitude for music, the drama, dancing and singing; of the fa
cility with which they learned, not only Spanish but also Latin, which they acquired al
most by themselves (Colin); others, of their exquisite politeness in their dealings and i
n their social life; others, like the first Augustinians, whose accounts Gaspar de San
Augustin copies, found them more gallant and better mannered than the inhabitants
of the Moluccas. "All live off their husbandry," adds Morga, "their farms, fisheries and
enterprises, for they travel from island to island by sea and from province to province
by land."
In exchange, the writers of the present time, without being better than those of former
times, neither as men nor as historians, without being more gallant than Hernan Cort
ez and Salcedo, nor more prudent than Legazpi, nor more manly than Morga, nor mo
re studious than Colin and Gaspar de San Agustin, our contemporary writers, we say
, find that the native is a creature something more than a monkey but much less than
a man, an anthropoid, dull-witted, stupid, timid, dirty, cringing, grinning, ill-clothed, ind
olent, lazy, brainless, immoral, etc., etc.
To what is this retrogression due? Is it the delectable civilization, the religion of salvat
ion of the friars, called of Jesus Christ by a euphemism, that has produced this miracl
e, that has atrophied his brain, paralyzed his heart and made of the man this sort of v
icious animal that the writers depict?
Alas! The whole misfortune of the present Filipinos consists in that they have become
only half-way brutes. The Filipino is convinced that to get happiness it is necessary fo
r him to lay aside his dignity as a rational creature, to attend mass, to believe what is
told him, to pay what is demanded of him, to pay and forever to pay; to work, suffer a
nd be silent, without aspiring to anything, without aspiring to know or even to underst
and Spanish, without separating himself from his carabao, as the priests shamelessly
109
say, without protesting against any injustice, against any arbitrary action, against an
assault, against an insult; that is, not to have heart, brain or spirit: a creature with arm
s and a purse full of gold ............ there's the ideal native! Unfortunately, or because t
he brutalization is not yet complete and because the nature of man is inherent in his
being in spite of his condition, the native protests; he still has aspirations, he thinks a
nd strives to rise, and there's the trouble!
In the preceding Unit we set forth the causes that proceed from the government in fo
stering and maintaining the evil we are discussing. Now it falls to us to analyze those
that emanate from the people. Peoples and governments are correlated and comple
mentary: a fatuous government would be an anomaly among righteous people, just a
s a corrupt people cannot exist under just rulers and wise laws. Like people, like gove
rnment, we will say in paraphrase of a popular adage.
We can reduce all these causes to two classes: to defects of training and lack of nati
onal sentiment. Of the influence of climate we spoke at the beginning, so we will not t
reat of the effects arising from it.
The very limited training in the home, the tyrannical and sterile education of the rare c
enters of learning, that blind subordination of the youth to one of greater age, influenc
e the mind so that a man may not aspire to excel those who preceded him but must
merely be content to go along with or march behind them. Stagnation forcibly results
from this, and as he who devotes himself merely to copying divests himself of other q
ualities suited to his own nature, he naturally becomes sterile; hence decadence. Ind
olence is a corollary derived from the lack of stimulus and of vitality.
That modesty infused into the convictions of every one, or, to speak more clearly, tha
t insinuated inferiority, a sort of daily and constant depreciation of the mind so that, it
may not be raised to the regions of light, deadens the energies, paralyzes all tendenc
y toward advancement, and at the least struggle a man gives up without fighting. If b
y one of those rare accidents, some wild spirit, that is, some active one, excels, inste
ad of his example stimulating, it only causes others to persist in their inaction. 'There'
s one who will work for us: let's sleep on!' say his relatives and friends. True it is that t
he spirit of rivalry is sometimes awakened, only that then it awakens with bad humor i
n the guise of envy, and instead of being a lever for helping, it is an obstacle that pro
duces discouragement.
Nurtured by the example of anchorites of a contemplative and lazy life, the natives sp
end theirs in giving their gold to the Church in the hope of miracles and other wonderf
ul things. Their will is hypnotized: from childhood they learn to act mechanically, with
out knowledge of the object, thanks to the exercises imposed upon them from the ten
derest years of praying for whole hours in an unknown tongue, of venerating things th
at they do not understand, of accepting beliefs that are not explained to them to havin
g absurdities imposed upon them, while the protests of reason are repressed. Is it an
y wonder that with this vicious dressage of intelligence and will the native, of old logic
110
al and consistent--as the analysis of his past and of his language demonstrates--sho
uld now be a mass of dismal contradictions? That continual struggle between reason
and duty, between his organism and his new ideals, that civil war which disturbs the
peace of his conscience all his life, has the result, of paralyzing all his energies, and
aided by the severity of the climate, makes of that eternal vacillation, of the doubts in
his brain, the origin of his indolent disposition.
"You can't know more than this or that old man!" "Don't aspire to be greater than the
curate!" "You belong to an inferior race!" "You haven't any energy!" This is what they
tell the child, and as they repeat it so often, it has perforce to become engraved on hi
s mind and thence mould and pervade all his actions. The child or youth who tries to
be anything else is blamed with vanity and presumption; the curate ridicules him with
cruel sarcasm, his relatives look upon him with fear, strangers regard him with great
compassion. No forward movement! Get back in the ranks and keep in line!
With his spirit thus moulded the native falls into the most pernicious of all routines: ro
utine not planned, but imposed and forced. Note that the native himself is not, natural
ly inclined to routine, but his mind is disposed to accept all truths, just as his house is
open to all strangers. The good and the beautiful attract him, seduce and captivate hi
m, although, like the Japanese, he often exchanges the good for the evil, if it appears
to him garnished and gilded. What he lacks is in the first place liberty to allow expansi
on to his adventuresome spirit, and good examples, beautiful prospects for the future
. It is necessary that his spirit, although it may be dismayed and cowed by the eleme
nts and the fearful manifestation of their mighty forces, store up energy, seek high pu
rposes, in order to struggle against obstacles in the midst of unfavorable natural cond
itions. In order that he may progress it is necessary that a revolutionary spirit, so to s
peak, should boil in his veins, since progress necessarily requires change; it implies t
he overthrow of the past, there deified, by the present; the victory of new ideas over t
he ancient and accepted ones. It will not be sufficient to speak to his fancy, to talk nic
ely to him, nor that the light illuminate him like the ignis fatuus that leads travelers ast
ray at night; all the flattering promises of the fairest hopes will not suffice, so long as
his spirit is not free, his intelligence not respected.
The reasons that originate in the lack of national sentiment are still more lamentable
and more transcendental.
Convinced by the insinuation of his inferiority, his spirit harassed by his education, if t
hat brutalization of which we spoke above can be called education, in that exchange
of usages and sentiments among different nations, the Filipino, to whom remain only
his susceptibility and his poetical imagination, allows himself to be guided by his fanc
y and his self-love. It is sufficient that the foreigner praise to him the imported mercha
ndise and run down the native product for him to hasten to make the change, without
reflecting that everything has its weak side and the most sensible custom is ridiculou
s in the eyes of those who do not follow it. They have dazzled him with tinsel, with stri
ngs, of colored glass beads, with noisy rattles, shining mirrors and other trinkets, and
he has given in return his gold, his conscience, and even his liberty. He changed his r
eligion for the external practices of another cult; the convictions and usages derived f
rom his climate and needs, for other usages and other convictions that developed un
111
der another sky and another inspiration. His spirit, well-disposed toward everything th
at looks good to him, was then transformed, at the pleasure of the nation that forced
upon him its God and its laws, and as the trader with whom he dealt did not bring a c
argo of useful implements of iron, hoes to till the fields, but stamped papers, crucifixe
s, bulls and prayer-books; as he did not have for ideal and prototype the tanned and
vigorous laborer, but the aristocratic lord, carried in a luxurious litter, the result was th
at the imitative people became bookish, devout, prayerful; it acquired ideas of luxury
and ostentation, without thereby improving the means of its subsistence to a corresp
onding degree.
The lack of national sentiment brings another evil, moreover, which is the absence of
all opposition to measures prejudicial to the people and the absence of any initiative i
n whatever may redound to its good. A man in the Philippines is only an individual, h
e is not a member of a nation. He is forbidden and denied the right of association, an
d is therefore weak and sluggish. The Philippines are an organism whose cells seem
to have no arterial system to irrigate it or nervous system to communicate its impressi
ons; these cells must, nevertheless, yield their product, get it where they can: if they
perish, let them perish. In the view of some this is expedient so that a colony may be
a colony; perhaps they are right, but not to the effect that a colony may flourish.
The result of this is that if a prejudicial measure is ordered, no one protests; all goes
well apparently until later the evils are felt. Another blood-letting, and as the organism
has neither nerves nor voice the physician proceeds in the belief that the treatment is
not injuring it. It needs a reform, but as it must not speak, it keeps silent and remains
with the need. The patient wants to eat, it wants to breathe the fresh air, but as such
desires may offend the susceptibility of the physician who thinks that he has already
provided everything necessary, it suffers and pines away from fear of receiving scoldi
ng, of getting another plaster and a new blood-letting, and so on indefinitely.
In addition to this, love of peace and the horror many have of accepting the few admi
nistrative positions which fall to the Filipinos on account of the trouble and annoyance
these cause them places at the head of the people the most stupid and incapable me
n, those who submit to everything, those who can endure all the caprices and exactio
ns of the curate and of the officials. With this inefficiency in the lower spheres of pow
er and ignorance and indifference in the upper, with the frequent changes and the ete
rnal apprenticeships, with great fear and many administrative obstacles, with a voicel
ess people that has neither initiative nor cohesion, with employees who nearly all stri
ve to amass a fortune and return home, with inhabit, ants who live in great hardship fr
om the instant they begin to breathe, create prosperity, agriculture and industry, foun
d enterprises and companies, things that still hardly prosper in free and well-organize
d communities.
Yes, all attempt is useless that does not spring from a profound study of the evil that
afflicts us. To combat this indolence, some have proposed increasing the native's ne
eds and raising the taxes. What has happened? Criminals have multiplied, penury ha
s been aggravated. Why? Because the native already has enough needs with his fun
ctions of the Church, with his fiestas, with the public offices forced on him, the donati
ons and bribes that he has to make so that he may drag out his wretched existence.
The cord is already too taut.
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We have heard many complaints, and every day we read in the papers about the effo
rts the government is making to rescue the country from its condition of indolence. W
eighing its plans, its illusions and its difficulties, we are reminded of the gardener who
tried to raise a tree planted in a small flower-pot. The gardener spent his days tendin
g and watering the handful of earth, he trimmed the plant frequently, he pulled at it to
lengthen it and hasten its growth, he grafted on it cedars and oaks, until one day the l
ittle tree died, leaving the man convinced that it belonged to a degenerate species, at
tributing the failure of his experiment to everything except the lack of soil and his own
ineffable folly.
Without education and liberty, that soil and that sun of mankind, no reform is possible
; no measure can give the result desired. This does not mean that we should ask first
for the native the instruction of a sage and all imaginable liberties, in order then to put
a hoe in his hand or place him in a workshop; such a pretension would be an absurdit
y and vain folly. What we wish is that obstacles be not put in his way, that the many h
is climate and the situation of the islands afford be not augmented, that instruction be
not begrudged him for fear that when he becomes intelligent he may separate from th
e colonizing nation or ask for the rights of which he makes himself worthy. Since som
e day or other he will become enlightened, whether the government wishes it or not, l
et his enlightenment be as a gift received and not as conquered plunder. We desire t
hat the policy be at once frank and consistent, that is, highly civilizing, without sordid
reservations, without distrust, without fear or jealousy, wishing the good for the sake
of the good, civilization for the sake of civilization, without ulterior thoughts of gratitud
e, or else boldly exploiting, tyrannical and selfish without hypocrisy or deception, with
a whole system well-planned and studied out for dominating by compelling obedienc
e, for commanding to get rich, for getting rich to be happy. If the former, the governm
ent may act with the security that some day or other it will reap the harvest and will fi
nd a people its own in heart and interest; there is nothing like a favour for securing th
e friendship or enmity of man, according to whether it be conferred with good will or h
urled into his face and bestowed upon him in spite of himself. If the logical and regula
ted system of exploitation be chosen, stifling with the jingle of gold and the sheen of o
pulence the sentiments of independence in the colonies, paying with its wealth for its
lack of liberty, as the English do in India, who moreover leave the government to nati
ve rulers, then build roads, lay out highways, foster the freedom of trade; let the gove
rnment heed material interests more than the interests of four orders of friars; let it
send out intelligent employees to foster industry; just judges, all well paid, so th
at they be not venal pilferers, and lay aside all religious pretext. This policy has the a
dvantage in that while it may not lull the instincts of liberty wholly to sleep, yet the day
when the mother country loses her colonies she will at least have the gold amassed
and not the regret of having reared ungrateful children.
SUMMARY
Unit 1 – Rizal accepts [[Gregorio Del Pilar's]] previous work and admits that
indolence exists among Filipinos, but it cannot be linked to the country's issues and
backwardness; rather, it is an outcome of the country's backwardness and troubles.
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In previous studies on indolence, the focus has always been on rejecting or
acknowledging its existence, rather than analyzing its causes in depth. Before
healing indolence, Rizal advises, one must first investigate the causes. As a result,
he lists the reasons of indolence as well as the conditions that led to it. He reminds
out that the hot environment has a natural inclination to laziness. Filipinos cannot be
compared to Europeans who live in frigid climates and have to work much harder. He
claims that an hour of work under the Philippine sun is equivalent to a day's work in
temperate climates.
Unit 2 – According to Rizal, if the wrong therapy is administered, the sickness

would deteriorate. Indolence is the same way. People, on the other hand, should not
give up hope in the struggle against indolence. Rizal claims that the early Filipinos
were already trading between provinces and with adjacent countries before the
Spaniards came; they were also engaged in agriculture and mining, and some
natives even understood Spanish. All of this disproves the stereotype that Filipinos
are lazy by nature. Rizal concludes by pondering what caused Filipinos to forget their
history.
Unit 3 – Rizal lists a number of factors that could have contributed to the
Filipinos' cultural and economic decline. The numerous conflicts, insurgencies, and
invasions have thrown the communities into disarray. There has been a lot of chaos
and a lot of destruction. Many Filipinos have also been sent abroad to fight in battles
or on expeditions on behalf of Spain. As a result, the population has shrunk. Many
men have been brought to shipyards to build vessels as a result of forced labor. In
the meantime, locals who have had enough of the abuse have fled to the mountains.
As a result, the farms have fallen into disrepair. The so-called indolence of Filipinos is
unquestionably due to deep-seated factors.
Unit 4 – According to Rizal, Filipinos are not to blame for their tragedies
because they are not their own masters. The Spanish government has discouraged
labor and trade, which ended once the government, began to treat the country's
trading partners with distrust. Furthermore, trade has slowed as a result of pirate
raids and the government's numerous limitations, which include little aid for crops or
farmers. Many people have left the fields because of this, as well as the harassment
they have received from encomenderos. Many government officials have
monopolized businesses, there is widespread red tape and bribery, and the
government tolerates rampant gambling. This condition is exacerbated by the
Church's incorrect dogma, which maintains that the wealthy will not enter paradise,
resulting in a negative attitude toward work. There has also been discrimination
against locals in the educational system. These are some of the major factors cited
by Rizal as contributing to the decline of Filipino ideals.
Unit 5 – All reasons of indolence, according to Rizal, can be reduced to two

factors. The first factor is the lack of training and education received by Filipino
indigenous. Filipinos are separated from Spaniards and do not have access to the
same chances as foreigners. They are educated that they are second-class citizens.
The lack of a national sense of solidarity among them is the second element.
Filipinos bow to foreign culture and do everything they can to emulate it because they
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believe they are inferior. Education and liberty, according to Rizal, would be the
remedy.
Rizal’s Views in Sobre La Indolencia de los Filipinos

"Sobre la indolencia de los Filipinos (On the indolence of the Filipinos)" is a
lengthy, and at times vehement, article by Rizal that appeared in the March 1890
issue of La Solidaridad. Rizal objected to the Spanish colonial masters' allegation
that Filipinos were sluggish or lazy from afar and over time. "We must admit that
indolence does actually and positively exist there; only that, rather than holding it to
be the cause of the backwardness and the trouble, we regard it as the effect of the
backwardness and the trouble, by fostering the development of a lamentable
predisposition," Rizal explained.
Rizal emphasized that the tropical environment is a big factor: "Nature
recognizes this and, like a good mother, has compensated by making the ground
more fertile, more productive." A day's work in a temperate climate is equal to an
hour's work beneath that scorching sun, in the midst of destructive forces emanating
from nature in action."
Rizal presented early accounts like the "Zhu Fan Zhi," published by Chau Ju-
kua in 1225, which described the industry and honesty of the Filipinos before the
Spanish conquest; and Antonio Pigafetta's chronicle of the Magellan expedition,
regarding the capture and ransom of the Philippine Islands, using notes gathered
from the British Library from 1888 to 1889 while working on his annotated edition of
Antonio de Morga's 1609 "Sucesos de las "How could the industrious infidel turn
lethargic centuries later when he was Christianized?" Rizal cynically queried,
wielding history as a weapon. Why did they lose sight of their illustrious past and
grow complacent? ”
Rizal also blamed the colony's deplorable status. The galleon trade had
effectively cut off existing trade between the Philippines and China and Southeast
Asia, putting Filipino traders and artisans out of business. Furthermore, the allure of
the galleon trade caused commerce and agriculture to be neglected. People were
recruited to labor in shipyards, where they were forced to work for little or no pay to
build roads and buildings, decimating the population and eliminating their natural
desire to work. Their goods and services were stolen by force, to the point that
people simply refused to work anymore in order to have their products taken for free,
paid poorly, or excessively taxed to the point where they were no longer worth the
effort.
Another element was gambling, which created a "dislike for constant and
laborious toil by its promise of quick prosperity and its appeal to the emotions,
through lottery," according to Rizal. Finally, he emphasized the failure of education,
which, with the exception of the Jesuits and Dominican Benavides, was more
focused on religion than on the secular and useful. "From the moment he is born until
he dies, the native's training is brutalizing, depressing, and antihuman (the word
'inhuman' is inadequate: whether or not the Academy recognizes it, let it go)."
Rizal did not just rant, he provided a solution: education and the formation of
what he called a “national sentiment.” Rizal left us with 25 volumes of writings to
instruct and inspire, but alas, he wrote a lot for a nation that does not read him. It
took a foreigner, Syed Hussein Alatas, to build on Rizal’s essay and publish “The
115
Myth of the Lazy Native” (1977), disproving as myth the laziness of the Malays,
Filipinos and Javanese in colonial times.
Do you believe that Filipinos are lazy as perceived by the Spaniards?
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LESSON 2: THE FILIPINO FARMERS

1. Discuss Rizal’s article on “The Filipino Farmers”
2. Identify one aspect of Philippine society and discuss the change that
took place on the aspect going to the Spanish period
Lesson Discussion
Rizal's thought-provoking literary works, such as his two novels Noli Me

Tangere and El Filibusterismo, and his additions to Antonio de Morga's Sucesos de
las Islas Filipinas, are well remembered. We also remember him as an outstanding
ophthalmologist—to the point where we refer to him as Doctor Rizal, despite the fact
that he only got a licentiate, not a doctorate.Yet, even if we think of Rizal as primarily
an intellectual, he did engage in manual labor. He was very active in agriculture,
which is maybe the most essential of all. During his childhood, he was exposed to
agriculture. His father, Francisco Mercado, rented land from Dominicans and
managed the farmers who worked the area. He contributed articles to La Solidaridad
called Sobre La Indolencia de Filipinos (On the Indolence of Filipinos), in which he
described how Filipinos had a rich agricultural culture prior to the arrival of Spaniards,
but that constant pirate raids and calls for arms and/or public works discouraged
many indios from aggressively developing their farms. The miserly reward that the
Filipino receives from his labor will eventually discourage him, as Rizal summarizes
his grievances.
“The Filipino Farmers” is an article about Filipino farmers, particularly from La

Laguna. It described their struggles, experiences on discrimination and injustices
from the Spanish government. Rizal wrote this addressed to the Minister of Colonies
and Spanish authorities. The primary purpose of this article was to cite government’s
faulty organization and use of power, and also to propose a reform that will favour the
rights and welfare of Filipino farmers in La Laguna.
The following is the English translation of Luchas de los Agricultores Filipinos

(The Filipino Farmers).
117
We applaud the efforts of the minister of colonies to foster agriculture in the Philippines.
Proofs of these are the boards, commissions, and committees and numerous projects. We
suggest, however, that the farmer be consulted also, the one in direct contact with the land,
who makes the land productive with his capital and labor and puts into practice the measures
that science and experience suggest.
And not only must he not forgotten but neither must his hands are tied, disabling them for
work, as it happens, unfortunately. It is not enough to issue royal decrees and timely
measures; they must be enforced and enforced expediently.
The Filipino farmer has to struggle not only with plagues and public calamities but also with
petty tyrants and robbers. Against the first, defense indeed is permitted; against the latter, not
always. We shall explain.
After the floods, locusts, fires, bad harvests, and the like, the farmer capitalist has to deal
with the constable who takes away from him his laborers for personal service, some public
works, repair of roads, bridges, and others; with the civil guard who arrests them for various
reasons, sometimes for not carrying with them their personal cedulas (certificates), for not
saluting properly, for being suspicious persons or for no reason whatsoever, and they
menacle them to clean the barracks and thus compel the capitalist to live on better terms with
the chief and, if not, they take away his carabaos, oxen, in spite of many protests, returning
them later however, as these acts of violence are almost always unjustified and not within the
competence of the civil guard. The work is usually delayed three or four days only but at
times it is delayed weeks, the animal is lost or dies; and this happens when the civil guard,
going beyond its jurisdiction or province, commits these plunders in another province and
then returns to its own; hence the question of competency; the coming and going, etc., etc.,
etc.
At times, it is not the constable or the civil guard who opposes so indirectly the minister of
colonies. An official of the court or of the provincial government, dissatisfied with the farmer,
urgently summons this or that laborer, if not two or three. The unfortunate man undertakes a
trip of two or three days, uneasy and distrustful, spends his savings, arrives, presents
himself, waits, returns, returns the next day and waits, finally to be asked with a frown and
the look of a judge, abstruse and unknown things. He is lucky if he comes out free from this
questioning, for not infrequently after it, he is sent to jail from which he comes out later as
stupid as before and all are as Christian as ever.
Sometimes, rare fortunately, a compania volante (flying squad) sweeps the province. Woe to
those who have enemies! It is enough to be in the list of suspects for the head of the squad
to pick him up and take him to another place without trial or filing of a complaint. Goodbye
farm and goodbye everything! See if after this he will be encouraged to plant in other islands.
But if the capitalist knows how to grease and through offerings to appease the gods and
render them favorable, he has already accomplished much. But still there remain other
deities, the tulisanes or bandits.
The tulisan is a terrible enemy of those whose farms are far from the towns. One cannot win
his favor by giving him gifts or bribing him, as some do secretly, because he would fall into
the opposite abyss and would be accused of being an accomplice of malefactors, which is
equivalent to being tortured and later exiled. The best remedy against this plague that the
government cannot destroy is to arm oneself and expose oneself to a daily and dangerous
combat.
118
Well now; for the peaceful tax-payer to use firearms and to be able to defend himself, he
needs the good report of the people, the civil guard, and the parish priest, to petition the
government in Manila, to have patience, to wait because the petition is not always acted
upon except after the end of several months if someone follows it up or if he has a friend of
the employee in charge of issuing licenses.
All this is very good. What is not so good is that despite the good reports, despite the peace
in the province, the abundance of bandits, the good conduct of the farmer tax-payer, and the
danger to which he and his farms are exposed, they deny him not only the use of the firearm,
or the renewal of the license but also they confiscate the firearm, which he bought at a
fabulous price sometimes, only to be left to rot, to become oxidized, in a corner of the
barracks or the townhall, useless to all, except to the bandits, who in this way are the most
favored.
This is the case of a citizen of the province of La Laguna; owner of extensive lands planted to
sugar cane, coffee, and abaca located far from the town. That province has been for almost
three centuries not only to loyal Spain but "superloyal", one Indio in that province, Captain
Francisco de San Juan, having declared war in the name of Spain against the English in
1762 when even the government was submitting to the invader, succeeding with his energy
to save the money that the authorities wanted to deliver to the enemy within bounds. This
made me say to a Spanish writer that that Indio was half a century ahead of the Mayor of
Mostoles. However, La Laguna is one of the most agricultural provinces, most liable to
natural and human calamities, this citizen is denied the renewal of his license, and in spite of
all the good reports, they confiscated his firearm. For this reason he had to abandon his
farms, losing his abaca crops, for he could not venture out unarmed and he was sure that the
authorities who left him thus could neither defend him nor ransom him from the bandits.
We are convinced that the minister of colonies and the good Spaniards who love the prestige
of Spain and have affection for those Islands do not know these details. We, who can cite
names, towns, dates, witnesses, and attest other incidents through our own experience or as
eye-witnesses, are content to cite this case and we say: Je passe et des meilleurs.
It would be desirable to correct this, Mr. Minister of Colonies, lest some mischievous men say
that the government there being impotent might come to an understanding with the bandits
and deliver to them the unarmed inhabitant, that it wants the lands to be cultivated with
speeches, projects, and boards and for this reason it binds the hands of the farmer and puts
a thousand obstacles on his path, so that he may plant according to the new system.
Agriculture is not improved only in that way. It is necessary to aid those who practice it.
Those who from their comfortable chairs think otherwise and see the inefficacy of the royal
decrees throw the blame for this backwardness to the indolence of the Indio. They do not
know with what obstacles he has to contend and they ignore that for a machine to run well, it
is enough that it be built according to principles but also that it be perfect in its details, that
everything be leveled, and that no part get out of its proper place.
These abuses, that for being unutterably bad become ridiculous, ruin the country and impair
the prestige of the government. This system of prevention, of unfounded fears, of unjust
suspicions, not only irritates and awakens men but exposes the weakness of the
government: Much fear reveals much weakness. This, added to the inability to stop banditry,
makes an evil-minded person say that the government is only hard on peaceful and
respectable citizens while it fondles or lets alone the rebellious and criminal. This is the usual
reproach of independent Indios on Christianized Indios.
119
This behavior of the government there hurts the real interests of Spain and through this
way of making discontented men; the government appears as the foremost filibustero. And
as we believe that one cannot serve a country better than to tell her the truth, we say this
to the Mother Country so that she can apply timely remedy. Hence, we ask for
representation in the Cortes and freedom of the press in Manila in order to expose abuses
to public opinion. Injustices there do not always find a writer who may relate them, nor
every article a generous newspaper that will accept it for its columns; and even if it were
not so, through the present road, the remedy always arrives late, if the abuse is remedied
at all.
We shall conclude by proposing to the minister a reform concerning the granting of

licenses for the use of firearms.
Inasmuch as they are not granted without the report of the people, of the chief of the civil
guard (European), and of the parish priest (almost always European), instead of being
issued in Manila, they should issued by the court of every town, after previous consultation
or secret voting of the judge, of the officer of the civil guard (European), and of the parish
priest (almost always European). It should not be granted without unanimity. In this way, it
is simplified and the business is shortened, and the time is better employed. There are no
other inconveniences but these two: There would be some more unemployed men and
hidden enmities could not be satisfied with revenge and secret reports, but on the other
hand, the treasury and mankind would be the gainer – the treasury with less employees
and mankind with more loyal men and less traitors.
Interview a farmer in your community. Ask about his or her

challenges and problems being faced as a farmer.
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ASSESSMENT
Name:___________________________________________________Date: ______
Course / Section: __________________________________________Score: _____
Instructions: Write your answer on a separate sheet of paper. Always write

your NAME, COURSE and YEAR, and STUDENT NUMBER.
1. Explain the factors that cause the Indolence of the Filipinos.

2. Identify one aspect (e.g., trade) of Philippine society and discuss the
change that took place on this aspect going to the Spanish period.
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UNIT IX
RIZAL’S CHANGING VIEWS ON
SPANISH RULE IN EL
FILIBUSTERISMO
INTRODUCTION
Jose Rizal's principles were a culmination of the teachings of what is known

as Enlightenment philosophy. This period of philosophy began in Europe at the
beginning of the eighteenth century and lasted until the nineteenth. Injustices
perpetrated by friars and Spanish misrule Jose Rizal's writings elevated him from a
writer and campaigner against Spanish rule's social and religious injustices in the
Philippines to a national hero. This Unit examines El Filibusterismo, one of Rizal's
works that had a significant impact on society.

1. Discuss the idea of assimilation of Rizal
2. Recognize the major themes, plot, characters, and ideas in the novel El
Filibusterismo.
3. Show the continuities and/or changes in Rizal’s views and ideas expressed
in El Filibusterismo.
4. Assess Rizal’s changing views on Spanish rule as reflected in El
Filibusterismo and other writings in the context of present Philippine Society.
WARMING UP
Reflective Activity: Identify and specific rules and regulations in your

community or institution where you belong (Example:school). Reflect how you react
those rules and regulations and share your insights to your classmates. Present a
narrative what transpired during the sharing.
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LESSON 1: RIZAL’S ABANDONMENT OF
ASSIMILATION

1. Discuss the idea of assimilation of Rizal
2. Analyze Rizal’s reason for his abandonment of assimilation
Lesson Discussion
MAIN IDEA
Rizal had significantly more notable and influential writings. However, his two
novels, Noli Me Tangere and El Filibusterismo, are his most well-known works.
Crisostomo Ibarra (as Ibarra in Noli; alias Simoun in Fili), Elias, Father Tolentino, and
Tacio were fictional characters who served as change agents in these works (the
philosopher). All of the other characters (Sisa and her kids, Maria Clara, Father
Damaso, Father Salvi, and so on) were manifestations of the cruelties of his day on
Filipino lives and fortunes.
Rizal, like other Filipino exiles at the time, would make a strong argument for
reforming Spain's colonial practices. The Enlightenment ideas had swept over
Europe the century before, but Spain had been mostly unaffected by these powerful
winds of thought. Rizal's work reflects the Enlightenment philosophy's influence. He
advocated for political and social reforms that reflected his general beliefs in
tolerance, liberty, and the need for civil government.
He didn't share much about his ancestors in his writings, though. He has a
remarkable ability to comprehend and repeat current events from his period. In his
political works, he was swift, straightforward, and to the point. And his most analytical
arguments demonstrate how he absorbed and learnt from others.
After the terrible consequences of his first book, Noli Me Tángere, José Rizal
penned El Filibusterismo. His initial portrayal of the Philippines' injustices enraged
individuals in positions of political authority, particularly the friars. This resulted in
increased tyranny of his family, who were subjected to a slew of unjustified
persecutions and legal attacks, as well as expulsion from the Philippines.
While continuing the story of Crisóstomo Ibarra from the Noli, the second
novel is a little more analytical, delving into the political powers at play in the
Philippines. The theme of insurrection and a militant uprising is explored throughout
the narrative, culminating in the following paragraph near the end.
It's worth noting that there was a lot of debate about independence from
Spain and the prospect of a revolution in the Philippines at the time of publishing.
This book, I believe, was Rizal's thesis and point of view on what should be done in
the event of a revolt. He never openly advocated a violent rebellion, and even denied
deep connection with the Katipunan, up until his death, while he did support the
Philippines' pursuit of independence – the means of achieving it differed.
123
Rizal did not want the Philippines and the Indios to be separated because he
felt they were not ready at the time. He desired equal opportunity because he
believes it is the best way for us to demonstrate our worth to the Spaniards.
Despite the fact that Rizal did not actively support the revolution, we can
argue that he contributed to it. His efforts and writings were pivotal in the revolution,
and he was a great source of inspiration for the Katipuneros at the time. Rizal
dedicated his life to his homeland (Philippines). His achievements and writings were
proof of his great reformer act.
RIZAL AS A REFORMIST
Our national hero, Jose Rizal, was one of the Filipinos who demanded
reforms. These reforms will bring about the reformists' ultimate goal: integration.
Filipinos will be granted the rights to which they are entitled. Rizal chose reform over
revolution because he saw that the Philippines was not yet ready to stand on its own
(during his time). Rizal advocated for reforms based on his liberal principles.
RIZAL AS A SEPARATIST
The Philippines a Century Ahead is the third and final well-known article in the
La Solidaridad, in which Rizal attempted to forecast the Philippines' future. He
predicted that the Philippines would eventually break away from Spain, an outcome
that would be unavoidable if the Philippines were not integrated and transformed into
a Spanish colony.
RIZAL’S CHANGING VIEWS ON ASSIMILATION
Rizal had private misgivings about the Propaganda Movement's objectives

while participating in the movement, which he conveyed in private correspondence to
his Austrian confidante Ferdinand Blumentritt. Jose Rizal reasoned that the Spanish
Crown and administration would not implement the reforms required for the colony's
prosperity, regardless of what Filipino expatriates peacefully did. He also stated that
he would not want to get involved in any covert or risky scheme against the colonial
administration, but that if it continues to persecute the Filipino people, he will have no
choice but to support violence.
Filipino expatriates like Galicano Apacible, Edilberto Evangelista, and Antonio
Luna were among those who received Blumentritt's message. In reality, due of
Rizal's sentiments, a sizable portion of the Filipino expatriate population supported
him. Luna himself believed that there should be a propaganda movement both in
Spain and at home, with the former pushing integration and the latter favoring
separation. Surprisingly, he would be willing to return home as a separatist agent
even if Filipino absorption into the Spanish nation was successful.
Apacible had the foresight to believe that pro-reform propaganda in Spain
would demonstrate that Filipinos were willing to use peaceful avenues to advocate
for their people, and that its failure would justify the separatist struggle. He also
encouraged Rizal to establish a revolution headquarters in Hong Kong or elsewhere
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to centralize support for the cause of independence. Many Filipino ilustrados
(enlightened people) supported Rizal at the time because he "was a separatist and
the more radical one," according to Apacible.
Unsurprisingly, discussion of independence from Spain, whether peaceful or
violent, clashed with del Pilar's reformist La Solidaridad program, especially after the
disaster at Hacienda Calamba. Hundreds of tenants of a property-owning religious
group, including Rizal's family, were expelled with the assistance of the colonial
government after the Supreme Court in Madrid sided with the friars in a land dispute.
This had a lasting impact on Rizal's political ideas, as he steered the community and
his family through the litigation. It's safe to assume that at this crucial juncture, he
made the decision to turn to independence and radicalism.
With del Pilar, Rizal clarified his political perspective. He intended to terminate
his relationship with La Solidaridad's political purpose of assimilation, but he was still
willing to write to the paper, albeit less frequently than before in order to allow other
Filipino views to be heard, and he preferred that del Pilar head it. Rizal had his
reasons for not contributing for La Solidaridad over time: he wanted to write his
novels, and he considered it would be foolish if his stated dissenting opinions were
disputed by other authors on the same newspaper, but La Solidaridad couldn't let
him go.
An item in the journal mocked Rizal in an indirect way, and he wasn't the only
one who noticed. Many readers of the journal despised del Pilar for publishing such a
divisive editorial, and support for the paper's editor and his cause was dwindling,
particularly following the catastrophe at Hacienda Calamba. Ilustrados who had been
funding the publication from the Philippines had stopped contributing, but del Pilar
persisted. In the end, the publication was shut down because Filipinos in the
Philippines had lost faith in it.
Jose Rizal eventually stepped up to fill this political hole. He claimed that
Filipinos who had been educated overseas should return to the Philippines to
enlighten the people and free them from their oppression, victimhood, and sorrow.
Given the Spanish government's obstinacy, there was little chance for change in
Europe, and the only way to change was to work in the Philippines. He not only
preached it, but also strove to put it into practice.
Why did Rizal abandon the idea of assimilation? What was hi main
point?
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LESSON 2: EL FILIBUSTERISMO

1. Recognize the major themes, plot, characters, and ideas in the novel El
Filibusterismo.
2. Show the continuities and/or changes in Rizal’s views and ideas expressed in El
Filibusterismo.
3. Assess Rizal’s changing views on Spanish rule as reflection in El Filibusterismo
and other writings in the context of present Philippine Society.
Lesson Discussion
El Filibusterismo (transl. The Filibusterism; The

Subversive or The Subversion, as in the Locsn English
translation, are also plausible translations) is José Rizal's
second novel, also known in English as The Reign of
Greed. It is the sequel to Noli Me Tángere and was written
in Spanish, as was the previous book. It was initially
published in the Belgian city of Ghent in 1891.
The novel follows Crisóstomo Ibarra, the main
character from the Noli-El Fili duology, who is now back for
revenge as "Simoun." The novel's dark tone contrasts
sharply with the previous novel's hopeful and romantic
tone, indicating Ibarra's resort to violent means to resolve
his country's problems after his previous attempts at
reforming the country's system failed and seemed
impossible given the Spaniards' corrupt attitude toward
Filipinos. Figure 12 A copy of El Filibusterismo. source:
https://www.amazon.com/El-Filibusterismo-
Because of its depictions of the Spanish Facsimile-Original-Manuscript/dp/B000HL8YYG
government's excesses and corruption, the novel, along
with its predecessor, was prohibited in various regions of the Philippines. Rizal was
exiled to Dapitan and eventually executed as a result of these works and his
involvement in groups aimed at addressing and reforming the Spanish system and its
ills. The novel and its predecessor, as well as Rizal's final poem, are now considered
literary masterpieces by Rizal.
Both of Rizal's novels had a significant impact on Philippine society,
particularly in terms of national identity, Catholic faith and its influence on Filipino
choice, government corruption, abuse of power, and discrimination, and, on a larger
scale, issues related to colonization's impact on people's lives and the cause for
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independence. These novels were eventually used as an indirect source of
inspiration for the Philippine Revolution.
Reading of both the novel and its precursor is now required reading for all
high school students in the Philippines, however it is now done in English, Filipino,
and the archipelago's regional languages.
PLOT
Crisóstomo Ibarra, a reform-minded mestizo who attempted to open a
modern school in his hometown of San Diego and marry his childhood sweetheart,
was wrongfully accused of rebellion and assumed dead following his escape from
prison in the previous Unit. Elas, a reformer friend, gave his life to allow Crisóstomo
to reclaim his fortune and depart the country, with the expectation of continuing their
struggle for reforms from afar. After a thirteen-year hiatus, a more revolutionary
Crisóstomo has returned to the country, assuming the persona of Simoun, a corrupt
jeweler whose goal is to force the government to commit as much abuse as possible
in order to incite people to revolt.
Simoun appears to be selling his diamonds as he travels from town to town.
He returns to the Ibarra mausoleum in San Diego to get more of his loot, but he
unintentionally stumbles with Basilio, who was also visiting his mother's tomb at the
time. Basilio had been serving as Kapitán Tiago's servant in exchange for being
permitted to study in the years since his mother's death. He is currently a final-year
university student wanting to be a doctor and the successor to Kapitán Tiago's
fortune. Simoun exposes his objectives to Basilio and offers him a role in his plans
when Basilio recognizes Simoun as Crisóstomo Ibarra. Basilio declines because he
is too certain of his standing in the world.
Simoun sleeps at the house of Tales, the village's cabeza de barangay, in
Barrio Sagpang, Tiani. Kabesang Tales is unable to resist the desire to grab
Simoun's gun and join the robbers after suffering misfortune after misfortune in
recent years.
Simoun meets up with his friend, the Captain-General, who is taking a
vacation from a hunting expedition in Los Baos. Simoun raises the stakes in a
friendly game of cards with him and his pals, half-jokingly obtaining blank orders for
deportation, jail, and summary execution from the Captain-General.
A talking head allegedly organized by a certain Mr. Leeds but covertly
commissioned by Simoun is gaining popularity at the Quiapo Fair in Manila. Padre
Bernardo Salv, now the chaplain of the Poor Clares Convent, watches one of the
performances. The exhibit is set in Ptolemaic Egypt, but it includes a story that is
eerily similar to Crisóstomo Ibarra's account of Mara Clara, their destiny under Salv,
and an ominous vow of vengeance. Salv, seized with terror and shame, orders the
show to be canceled, but not before Mr. Leeds has left for Hong Kong.
Simoun meets with Quiroga, a wealthy Chinese businessman who aspires to
be the Chinese empire's consul-general. Simoun offers Quiroga a significant discount
if he performs him a favor: store Simoun's large stockpile of weapons in Quiroga's
warehouses, where they will undoubtedly be used for extortion activities with Manila's
elite. Quiroga, who despises firearms, reluctantly agrees.
Months have passed since Simoun's revolution, and the night of Simoun's
revolution has arrived. Simoun pays a visit to Basilio at Tiago's residence and
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extends one final invitation to join his movement. Simoun's plan is for a cannon volley
to be fired, after which Kabesang Tales, now a bandit known as Matanglawin, and
Simoun, who has deceived and recruited a large rogue force among the government
troops, will lead their forces into the capital. The leaders of the Church, the
University, score of bureaucrats, the Captain-General himself, and the majority of
government troops defending them are all in one place: the theater where a
contentious and much-hyped performance of Les Cloches de Corneville is being
staged. While Simoun and Matanglawin direct their soldiers, Basilio and a group of
others are tasked with forcing open the Poor Clares Convent door and rescuing Mara
Clara.
Mara Clara, on the other hand, died just that afternoon, Basilio writes to
Simoun, murdered by the trials of monastic life under Salv, who had always lusted
after her. Simoun is distracted and crestfallen throughout the night, driven by grief.
He had a "accident" that night, which restricted him to his bed, according to later
reports. His revolt is certain to fail.
The next day, posters threatening violence against university and government
leaders were discovered on the university's doors. The principal suspects are
members of a reform-oriented student group to which Basilio belonged, and they are
all arrested. Except for Basilio, who is an orphan and has no means of paying for his
freedom, all are eventually rescued through the intercession of relatives. During his
incarceration, he learns that Capitan Tiago has died, leaving him nothing (though
Tiago's last will was changed by Padre Rene, Tiago's spiritual advisor who also
supplies him with opium); his childhood sweetheart has committed suicide to avoid
being raped by the parish priest when she tried to approach him on Basilio's behalf;
and he has missed his graduation and will be required to study for another year, but
with no funds to A darkened, disillusioned Basilio is released by Simoun's prayers
and joins Simoun's cause fully.
Meanwhile, Simoun has been planning a new revolution, which he discloses
to a now-committed Basilio. The wedding of Juanito Peláez and Paulita Gomez will
be used to plan the attack on the city. Leaders of the church and civil administration
are invited to the reception because the Peláez and Gomez families are renowned
members of Manila's elite. The Captain-General, who refused to extend his term
despite Simoun's pleas, is the guest of honor and will leave in two days.
As a wedding gift, Simoun will personally bring a pomegranate-shaped crystal
lamp. The lamp will be installed on a plinth at the reception site and will be bright
enough to illuminate the entire hall, which is also mirror-walled. After a while, the light
would flicker as if it were about to go out. When someone tries to raise the wick, a
device hidden within the lamp that contains fulminated mercury detonates, burning
the lamp that is actually packed with nitroglycerin and killing everyone in a massive
blast.
Simoun's mercenaries will attack at the sound of the explosion, backed up by
Matanglawin and his bandits who will descend from the surrounding hills. Simoun
believes that in the midst of the chaos, the masses, who have already been
frightened by the government's harsh reaction to the poster incident, as well as
rumors that German ships are approaching the bay to finish what the revolution has
failed to destroy, will step out in desperation to kill or be killed. Basilio and a few
others are to surround them and take them to Quiroga's warehouses, where
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Simoun's weaponry is still housed. Simoun hands Basilio a loaded revolver and
sends him away to await further orders, the scheme being complete.
Basilio spends hours walking the streets and goes past Kapitán Tiago's
riverside house on Anloague Street, where he used to live. Juanito Peláez's father
had purchased Tiago's house as a gift for the wedded couple, and he realizes that
this was to be the reception place. Simoun enters the house with the lamp later, then
quickly exits the house and boards his carriage. Isagani, Basilio's friend and Paulita
Gomez's former lover, is regretfully looking at Paulita through the window as Basilio
begins to pull away. Basilio tries to scare Isagani away by pointing out how close
they were to the condemned house, but the young guy is too distraught to listen.
Basilio confesses to Isagani, in despair, how the home is poised to explode at any
moment, but as Isagani continues to ignore him, Basilio escapes, leaving Isagani to
his fate.
Basilio's revelation temporarily unnerves Isagani, albeit belatedly. Isagani
rushes into the home, seizes the lamp, and throws it into the river, leaving the hall in
darkness. Simoun's second revolution is also thwarted because the home did not
explode and the church and government officials were spared.
As the trappings at the celebration location are broken down over the next
few days, sacks containing gunpowder are discovered hidden beneath the boards all
over the home. Simoun, who oversaw the modifications, has been revealed. Simoun
is forced to go without his bodyguard as his friend, the Captain-General, leaves for
Spain. A manhunt ensues, and Simoun is pursued all the way to the Pacific Ocean's
coasts. He subsequently spends the rest of his days hidden at Padre Florentino's
ancestral mansion, Isagani's uncle.
The local Guardia Civil lieutenant notifies Florentino one day that he received
an order to arrest Simoun that night. Simoun reacts by drinking the slow-acting
poison he keeps in a section of his treasure box. Simoun delivers his final confession
to Florentino before dying. Florentino is taken aback when Simoun exposes his true
identity. He then goes on to describe how, despite his good intentions, he lost
everything in the Philippines thirteen years ago as Crisóstomo Ibarra. Crisóstomo
vowed to exact retribution. Crisóstomo escaped to foreign nations and engaged in
trade after recovering the treasure buried beneath the Ibarra mausoleum in the
forest. He took part in the Cuban war, first assisting one side, then the other, but
always benefitting. Crisóstomo met the Captain-General, who was then a major, and
won his trust by lending him money and then covering for his illegal activities.
Crisóstomo bribed his way to a promotion to Captain-General and a posting to the
Philippines for the major. Once in the land, Crisóstomo used him as a tool, inciting
him to commit all kinds of wrongdoing, taking advantage of the Captain-voracious
General's need for riches.
Crisóstomo's confession is long and arduous, and the night has fallen before
he finishes. Florentino assures Crisóstomo of God's mercy in the end, but explains
that his revolution failed because he picked methods that God does not approve of.
Crisóstomo takes the explanation grudgingly. He dies in silence after a while.
Knowing that the police officers will seize Crisóstomo's belongings, Florentino
strips him of his diamonds and casts them into the Pacific, declaring that if they are
required for a good cause, God will give the means to retrieve them. For the time
being, they will remain concealed beneath the sea, where they will not be utilized to
skew justice or encourage greed.
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MAJOR CHARACTERS
1. Simoun – At the end of Noli Me Tángere, Crisóstomo Ibarra is assumed

dead. Simoun, a wealthy jeweler, has returned as Ibarra. He's tanned, with a
scant beard, long white hair, and enormous blue-tinted glasses, according to
his description. He might be abrasive and belligerent at times. Custodio and
Ben-Zayb mocked him, calling him an American mulatto or a British Indian.
While on the surface he appears to be an arrogant aristocrat, he is secretly
plotting a violent revolution to avenge himself for his tragedies as Crisóstomo
Ibarra and to advance Elias' reformist ambitions.
2. Basilio – son of Sisa and another character from Noli Me Tángere. He is a

future physician who is in his final year of university and was waiting for his
license to be released after graduation. Following the death of his mother, he
applied to work as a servant in Kapitán Tiago's household in exchange for
food, lodging, and the opportunity to study. He eventually went into medicine,
and once Tiago withdrew from society, he took over as manager of Tiago's
large estate. He is a calm, thoughtful man who is more concerned with his
immediate responsibilities as a servant, doctor, and student association
member than with politics or patriotic initiatives. Juli, the daughter of
Kabesang Tales, who took him in as a small lad fleeing the Guardia Civil and
his insane mother, is his sweetheart.
3. Isagani – Basilio's friend. He's a poet, taller and more strong than Basilio
despite being younger. He is Padre Florentino's nephew, but it is also
rumored that he was Florentino's son with his old sweetheart before he was
made a priest. Isagani is finishing his studies at the Ateneo Municipal and
intends to study medicine throughout the events of the novel. Isagani, a
student association member, is prideful and naive, and he has a habit of
putting himself on the spot when his ideas are questioned. His uncontrolled
idealism and poeticism collide with his girlfriend Paulita Gomez's more
practical and commonplace concerns. Paulita leaves Isagani for Juanito
Peláez after Isagani allows himself to be arrested after their relationship is
outlawed. In the novel's final mention, he is waving farewell to his landlords,
the Orenda family, in order to join Florentino permanently.
4. Father Florentino – Isagani's uncle and a retired priest. Florentino was the
son of a wealthy and influential Manila family. His mother persuaded him to
pursue a career as a priest. As a result, he was forced to end an affair with a
lady he adored, and in despair, he turned his attention to his parish. He
withdrew from the clergy shortly after the 1872 Cavite mutiny broke out,
scared of attracting undesired attention. His parish took in a large amount of
money despite the fact that he was an indio and a secular, or a priest who
was not linked with the orders. He moved to his family's sprawling estate on
the Pacific coast. He is characterized as having white hair, a calm, tranquil
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demeanor, and a robust frame. He didn't drink or smoke. His peers, including
Spanish friars and officials, held him in high regard.
5. Father Fernández – a Dominican who was a friend of Isagani. He asked

Isagani to a discourse after the event with the posters, not as a teacher with
his student, but as a friar with a Filipino. Despite their failure to resolve their
differences, they each promised to present their colleagues with the opposing
views of the other party – despite the fact that they both feared that, given the
animosity between their sides, their own compatriots would be skeptical of the
other party's existence.
6. Kapitán Tiago – Don Santiago de los Santos. María Clara's stepfather.

Despite having various landholdings in Pampanga, Binondo, and Laguna, as
well as taking over the Ibarras' large estate, Tiago was still depressed after
Mara entered the convent. He coped by smoking opium, which quickly turned
into an out-of-control addiction, aggravated by his friendship with Padre Rene,
who provided him with the drug on a regular basis. Tiago employed Basilio as
a capista, a servant who was given the opportunity to study as part of his pay;
Basilio went on to study medicine and eventually became his caregiver and
estate manager. When Tiago learned of Basilio's detention and Padre Rene's
inflated allegations of violent uprising, he died of shock.
7. Captain-General – the highest-ranking official in the Philippines during the

Spanish colonial period. Simoun's companion and confidant in El Fili is the
Captain-General, who is described as having an obsessive desire for riches.
Simoun first saw him in Cuba during the Ten Years' War, when he was still a
major. Through bribes, he was able to gain the friendship of the major and get
promotion to Captain-General. Simoun exploited him as a pawn in his own
power plays to drive the Philippines into revolution when he was deployed
there. After being admonished by a top official in the aftermath of Basilio's
detention, the Captain-General was disgraced into not extending his tenure.
This choice to retire would eventually show to be a key component of
Simoun's plans.
8. Father Bernardo Salví – the former parish priest of San Diego in Noli Me
Tángere, and now the director and chaplain of the Santa Clara convent. Salvi
habitually rapes Mara Clara when he is present at the convent, according to
the Noli's epilogue. He is described as her confessor in El Fili. Despite claims
to the contrary, SalvI believes Ibarra is still alive and is constantly afraid of his
vengeance.
9. Father Millon – a Dominican who serves as a physics professor in the

University of Santo Tomas.
10. Quiroga – a Chinese businessman who aspired to be a consul for China in

the Philippines. In order to prepare for the revolution, Simoun forced Quiroga
to hide firearms in his warehouses.
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11. Don Custodio – Custodio de Salazar y Sánchez de Monteredondo, a famous
"contractor" who was tasked by the Captain-General to develop the students
association's proposal for an academy for the teaching of Spanish, but was
then also under pressure from the priests not to compromise their
prerogatives as monopolizers of instruction. Custodio, who is described as an
opportunist who married his way into high society, who constantly critiqued
favorite ideas that did not come from him, but was ultimately, absurdly stupid
in spite of his scruples, receives some of the novel's harshest criticism.
12. Ben-Zayb – El Grito de la Integridad, a Spanish daily in Manila, employs her

as a columnist. Ben-Zayb is an anagram of Ybanez, which is an alternate
spelling of his surname Ibaez. He isn't given a first name. Ben-Zayb is
reported to have the appearance of a friar who believes that everyone in
Manila thinks the same way he does. He is a fervent nationalist, often
bordering on jingoism. As a journalist, he has no qualms about exaggerating
a tale, confusing and distorting information, repeating phrases, and making a
routine story appear more interesting than it is. Father Camorra mockingly
refers to him as an ink-slinger.
13. Father Camorra – the parish priest of Tiani. Ben-Zayb's regular foil, he is
said to look like an artilleryman in counterpoint to Ben-Zayb's friar looks. He
will go to any length to insult and humiliate Ben-liberal Zayb's claims.
Camorra has a reputation for unbridled lustfulness in his own parish. After
attempting to rape Juli inside the convent, he drives her to commit suicide. He
was "detained" in a magnificent riverside house just outside Manila for his
wrongdoing.
14. Father Írene – Kapitán Tiago's spiritual adviser. Along with Custodio, Írene is
severely criticized as a representative of priests who allied themselves with
temporal authority for the sake of power and monetary gain. The student
association sought his support and presented him with two chestnut-colored
horses, but he betrayed the students by advising Don Custodio to make them
fee collectors in their own school, which was then to be administered by the
Dominicans instead of being a secular and privately managed institution as
the students had envisioned. Rene provides opium to Kapitán Tiago on a
regular basis while encouraging Basilio to accomplish his job. Rene fabricated
accounts of fear following the outlawing of the student organization in which
Basilio was a member, hastening the death of Kapitán Tiago. He then struck
Basilio out of Tiago's last will and testament while he was in prison, ensuring
that he would not inherit anything.
15. Placido Penitente – a student of the University of Santo Tomas who had
distaste for study and would have left school if it were not for his mother's
pleas for him to stay. He has an argument with his physics professor, who
accuses him of belonging to the student society, which the friars abhor. He
meets Simoun in the Quiapo Fair after the confrontation. Simoun sees
potential in Placido and invites him to accompany him on a tour of his
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revolution preparations. Placido had become one of Simoun's devoted
disciples the next morning. He is then seen with Simoun's bomb-maker, who
was once a San Diego schoolteacher.
16. Paulita Gómez – the girlfriend of Isagani and the niece of Doña Victorina, the
old Indio who passes herself off as a Peninsular, who is the wife of the quack
doctor Tiburcio de Espadaña. In the end, she and Isagani part ways, Paulita
believing she will have no future if she marries him. She eventually marries
Juanito Peláez.
CHARACTERS FROM BARRIO SAGPANG
1. Kabesang Tales – Telesforo Juan de Dios, a former kabesa of Barrio

Sagpang in Tiani. He was a sugarcane planter who cleared lands he thought
belonged to no one, losing his wife and eldest daughter in the endeavor.
When the Dominicans took over his farm, he fought to his last money to have
it retained in his possession. He was kidnapped by bandits while out patrolling
his fields while his case against the Dominicans was still pending. Because
he didn't have enough money to pay his kidnappers, Juli was forced to work
as a maid in exchange for her mistress paying his ransom. Tales had no
money to pay for his son Tano's expulsion from the Guardia Civil after he was
recruited into the Guardia Civil. When Tales lost the lawsuit despite
everything, he not only lost his farm but also had to pay a hefty fine. Later, he
joined the bandits and rose to become one of their most ruthless
commanders. After Juli's death, Tandang Selo, his father, would later join his
band.
2. Tandang Selo – father of Kabesang Tales and grandfather of Tano and Juli.
He and Tales took in the young, ailing Basilio who was fleeing from the
Guardia Civil when he was a deer hunter and afterwards a broom
manufacturer. When Juli left to be with her mistress on Christmas Day, Selo
suffered a stroke that left him unable to speak. Selo left town permanently
after Juli's suicide, carrying his hunting spear with him. Later, he was seen
with the bandits and was killed in a shootout with the Guardia Civil —
ironically, by the sniper Tano, his grandson.
3. Juli – Juliana de Dios, the girlfriend of Basilio, and the youngest daughter of
Kabesang Tales. Juli petitioned Hermana Penchang to pay for Tales' ransom
after he was kidnapped by bandits. She had to work as Penchang's maid in
exchange. Basilio bought a house for her family and ransomed her. Juli
sought assistance from Tiani's priest, Padre Camorra, when Basilio was
sentenced to prison. Juli plunged to her death from the church's tower when
Camorra tried to rape her instead.
4. Tano – Kabesang Tales's son, second to Lucia who died in childhood. After
returning from Guardia Civil training in the Carolines, he was given the
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moniker "Carolino." When his unit was ambushed by robbers while escorting
prisoners along a path that skirted a mountain, they were ambushed. Tano,
the squad's sharpshooter, shot and killed a surrendering bandit from afar, not
realizing it was his own grandfather Selo.
5. Hermana Penchang – the one among the "rich folks" of Tiani who lent Juli
money to ransom Kabesang Tales from the bandits. Juli will serve as her
maid in exchange until the debt is paid off. Penchang is characterized as a
devout woman who speaks Spanish, but her piety has been tainted by the
friars' virtues. Juli worked continuously while in her service, refusing to give
her time off so she could care for her grandfather Selo. Nonetheless, when
the wealthy of Tiani shunned Juli for fear of retaliation from the friars if she
supported her family in any manner, Penchang was the only one who felt
sorry for her.
6. Hermana Báli – Juli's mother-figure and counselor. Juli's efforts to secure

Kabesang Tales' ransom and, later, Basilio's freedom were aided by her. Báli
was a gambler who previously performed religious services at a Manila
convent as a panguinguera. When Tales was kidnapped by robbers, Báli
suggested to Juli that they borrow money from Tiani's wealthy inhabitants,
which they would repay when Tales' legal battle over his farm was resolved.
REVIEW
El Filibusterismo carries up the basic story progression where Noli Me
Tangere left it 13 years later, and does so in such a way that the reader will notice no
difference if they haven't read the first. All we need to know is that Ibarra's naïve
affection for the Spanish colonial government has transformed into an obsessive hate
of it. Rather of leading an outright guerilla revolt, he works to divide enemies,
defrauds the colonial powers and later attempts but fails to bomb a number of
government officials.
When Ibarra, who now goes by the name Simoun, reveals to Basilo his
rationale and plans for attack, as well as the talks among the priests and students, he
writes some of the best prose in the work. Students' attempts to deploy their own
language of universal human brotherhood and different legal proclamations against
the friars are met with sophism, which devolves into crude power games. The
innumerable Filipino adolescents who attempt to play a good role in the development
of their country are one by one forced to commit suicide, be slaughtered by the army,
or self-emasculate in order to save their lives and futures.
Rizal's critiques of colonial friarocracy are vehement. Native women are
sexually preyed upon by friars – who are continually seeking to collect more forced
labor or products from the community – and the educational system is proven to be
not merely a farce but an actual barrier to the proper education of its pupils. The
image of the population's poverty and impossibility of upward mobility or peace as a
result of the friars is indeed serious, and Rizal demonstrates that while there are
bureaucrats willing to side with justice, with the natives, they are placed in a situation
where doing so openly is regarded by the power apparatus as treasonous and
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grounds for dismissal and expulsion from the country. On the other hand, constant
production of rebels, such as Cabesang Tales and his band of outlaws, which he
eventually turns political, must be constantly battled against. Spanish colonialism has
been repeatedly demonstrated to be a cancer on indigenous peoples. Despite this,
Rizal manages to intersperse enough comic words to keep the reader from becoming
bored and depressed.
Humorous comments alight on the peculiarities of the Chinese living in the
Philippines, the intellectualism of the friars that is large only in the colonial provinces
and shrinks to nothing once moved to European cities, the near autocratic powers of
friars that have in many ways the same sociopathy as children, and many other
topics.
“When a group of Friars chooses to go to a fair, one of the jokes that I thought
was very humorous”. A statue of a one-eyed, unkempt woman holding an iron with
puffs of steam pouring out of it stands among the carved handicrafts of local people.
The Philippine press, what is this woman's carving meant to represent?
In its criticisms of Spanish tyranny, documentation of the friars' immorality,
and exhortation for action toward a national rebirth that will eventually lead to their
expulsion by any means necessary, El Filibusterismo transforms a political tract into
a tale. While there are times of description rather than narration, it is as a whole
presenting the story of the Fillipino, their foes, and hints at ways to get them out, to
utilize a literary distinction created by Georg Lukacs. While Rizal does not portray a
character in the novel who is designed to substitute for his own convictions, he is
able to produce a fascinating piece of historical literature by having so many
characters renounce then current political attitudes, ideas, and illustrating their
interrelation.
Dr. Jose Rizal wrote the El Filibusterismo to show people how the
Philippines were being bondaged by Spain and Dr.Rizal made the Philippine
league to get their first group and to get their first reform group The theme of
El Fili focuses on the inevitable revolution and whether or not the Philippines
should rebel peacefully and diplomatically or violently. Also, not only El Fili but
as well as Noli Me Tangere had a profound effect on Philippine society in terms
of views about national identity, the Catholic Faith and its influence on the
Filipino choice, and the government’s issues on corruption, abuse of power,
and discrimination, and on a larger scale.
Group discussion on the differences between Noli Me Tangere

and El Filibusterismo.
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ASSESSMENT
Name: ________________________________________________ Date: _____

1. Identify the characters in El Filibusterismo. Who are they symbolizing?
2. Create a graphic organizer showing the continuities and/or changes in Rizal’s

ideas expressed in Noli and Fili.
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UNIT X
RIZAL’S LIFE: EXILE,TRIAL AND

DEATH
INTRODUCTION
Dr. José Rizal, the national hero of the Philippines, is not only admired for
possessing intellectual brilliance but also for taking a stand and resisting the Spanish
colonial government. While his death sparked a revolution to overthrow the tyranny,
Rizal will always be remembered for his compassion towards the Filipino people and
the country.

1. Discuss the factors that led to Rizal’s execution
2. Analyze the effects of Rizal’s execution on Spanish colonial rule and the
Philippine Revolution.
3. Assess the concepts of bayani and kabayanihan in the context of Philippine
society.
WARMING UP
The following resources will be your guide in understanding the events that lead to
Rizal’s arrest, trial and eventual execution. These are our main references but feel free
to look for other online/offline resources that would help you in navigating the module.
You can watch the following videos in Youtube.
1. Rizal sa Dapitan (directed by Tikoy Aguiluz)

2. Jose Rizal by GMA Films (directed by Marilou Diaz Abaya)
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LESSON 1: RIZAL’S EXILE IN DAPITAN

1. Discuss the factors the lead to the exile of Rizal
2. Appreciate the contributions of Rizal to Dapitan
Lesson Discussion
Jose Rizal is, in the annals of heroism, an anomaly. He was a man of
science, a scholar and writer, and to many young Filipinos he is idealized as a model
son and something of a ladies’ man.
Unlike other national heroes, he did not bear arms or lead an army. Indeed,
he preached against an armed rebellion, believing his countryfolk were yet
unprepared for battle and so concluded that a revolution was bound to fail. But
neither was he a milquetoast. While in Madrid, he challenged fellow propagandist
Antonio Luna to a duel after Luna disparaged Nellie Boustead while in a drunken
rage. Nellie apparently favored Rizal over Luna, and hearing the young lady
maligned, Rizal challenged Luna to a gun duel. The gunfight did not proceed,
fortunately, after Luna sobered up. Reports have it that, while a superior swordsman,
Luna was not as good with a pistol as Rizal was.
Rizal also challenged to a duel Wenceslao Retana, a minor official in the

Spanish colonial bureaucracy who became the foremost opponent of Filipino
propagandists in Spain. In an article in an anti-Filipino newspaper in Madrid, Retana
claimed that the reason Rizal’s family and friends were ejected from their Calamba
properties was that they failed to pay rent. It was an injustice that rankled Rizal
deeply, especially since stories reached him that his beloved mother was paraded
before the townsfolk with her hands in shackles. It is believed to have sparked Rizal’s
simmering anti-Spanish sentiment.
And so an incensed Rizal challenged the Spaniard to a duel, a challenge left

unmet after Retana retracted his claims in a later article. The Spaniard would later
become an ardent devotee, and after the hero’s death wrote the first book-length
biography of Rizal.Proud and quick to take offense, sensitive to slights and
determined to prove by personal example the superiority or at least the equality of
Filipinos to any other peoples on earth, Rizal was uniquely situated to take on the
mantle of national hero. Some have claimed that Rizal was nothing more than a
“creation” of the American colonial powers that deemed the scholar-writer a safer and
thus more palatable model of heroism than the more volatile Andres Bonifacio,
whose enduring image is, despite contrary scholarship, the firebrand in peasant wear
holding aloft a bolo and the Katipunan flag.
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But this flies against accounts of how Rizal—and later, his surviving family—
was beheld by his contemporaries. During his exile in Dapitan, Rizal was visited by
an emissary of the Katipunan who sought to convince him to lend his person and
reputation to the revolutionary cause. Rizal rebuffed him.
Historian and Inquirer columnist Ambeth Ocampo, in an account of Rizal’s

execution, describes the scene as Rizal is led on foot from his cell in Fort Santiago to
Bagumbayan: “The streets were lined with people who wanted to see the condemned
man, since Rizal was many things to different people: ‘leader of the revolution,’
physician, novelist, poet, sculptor, heretic, subversive. Rizal was a person one could
not be neutral about. Like him or hate him, he was a celebrity.”
In a time when it took at the very least some weeks for news to cross the
ocean from Spain to these islands, Rizal and his fellow propagandists were virtually
the sole voices of Filipino opposition to Spanish colonial policy. His novels articulated
the inchoate anger of the people against the symbols of Spanish oppression: the
military, the civil authorities, the clergy. At a time when armed conflict consisted of
bolos and spears and a few rifles employed against a well-armed military force with
long arms, cannons, swords and mounted troops, Rizal chose to fight with words—
scathing, bitter, pained and pointed—and aimed these at the heart of the colonizer.
He may have eschewed active, bloody battle, but he was no coward.
His words were missiles that covered a broad ground and outlasted his own
brief life. And their enduring influence explains why he is a hero
LIFE IN DAPITAN
Jose Rizal's arrival in Manila on June 26, 1892 had become very sensational
among the Filipinos. His popularity feared the Spaniards, and as such, payed careful
attention to his every move – all houses where he had been were searched and the
Filipinos seen in his company were suspected. As he had planned, on July 3, 1892
he founded the La Liga Filipina in the house of Doroteo Ongjunco in Tondo, Manila.
Four days after the civic organization's foundation, Jose Rizal was arrested by
the Spanish authorities on four grounds:
1. for publishing anti-Catholic and anti-friar books and articles;

2. for having in possession, a bundle of handbills, the Pobres Frailes, in
which advocacies were in violation of the Spanish orders;
3. for dedicating his novel, El Filibusterismo to the three “traitors” (Gomez,
Burgos and Zamora) and for emphasizing on the novel's title page that
“the only salvation for the Philippines was separation from the mother
country (referring to Spain)”; and
4. for simply criticizing the religion and aiming for its exclusion from the
Filipino culture.
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ARRIVAL IN DAPITAN
Aboard the steamer Cebu and under heavy guard, Rizal left Manila, sailing to
Mindoro and Panay, until he reached Dapitan at seven o'clock in the evening of June
17. From that day until July 31, 1896, Dapitan became the bare witness to one of the
most fruitful periods in Rizal's life. His stay in the province was more than “he” living
in exile – it was the period when Rizal had been more focused on serving the people
and the society through his civic works, medical practices, land development and
promotion of education.
CHALLENGING THE RELIGION

In Dapitan, Rizal had a scholarly debate with Father Pablo Pastells regarding
religion. This exchange of heated arguments revealed the anti-Christian Rizal – his
bitterness on the abuses performed by friars, doing such under the name of the
sacred religion. Father Pastells tried his best to win Rizal back to the faith but
fortunately or unfortunately, in vain. These series of debate ended inconclusively in
which neither of them convinced the other of his judgments/arguments.
CAREERS AND CONTRIBUTIONS

Rizal had maximized his stay in Dapitan by devoting much of his time in
improving his artistic and literary skills; doing agricultural and civic projects; engaging
in business activities, and writing letters to his friends in Europe, particularly to
Ferdinand Blumentritt and Reinhold Rost.
Rizal also partakes in civic works in Dapitan. Upon arriving in the province, he
noticed its poor condition. He drained the marshes of Dapitan to get rid of malaria-
carrying mosquitoes. He also provided lighting system – coconut oil lamps posted in
dark streets – in the province out of what he earned from being a physician. He
beautified Dapitan by remodelling the town plaza, with the aid of his Jesuit teacher,
Fr. Francisco Sanchez, and created a relief map of Mindanao (footnote: using
stones, soil and grass) right in front the church.
ROMANTIC AFFAIR WITH JOSEPHINE BRACKEN

Rizal had always been missing his family and their happy moments together
in Calamba and his despair doubled upon the announcement of Leonor Rivera's
death. Not soon, to his surprise, an Irish girl enlightened his rather gloomy heart. This
girl was the 18-year old Josephine Bracken who, to Wenceslao Retana's words, was
“slender, a chestnut blond, with blue eyes, dressed with elegant simplicity, with an
atmosphere of light (gaiety).”
From Hongkong, she arrived in Dapitan in February, 1895 with his blind foster
father, George Taufer, and a Filipina named Manuela Orlac. Rizal's fame as an
opthalmic surgeon reached overseas, and one of Rizal's friends, Julio Llorente
referred the group to Rizal. Rizal and Bracken instantly fell in love with each and in
just one month, they agreed to marry which appalled and disturbed Taufer. However,
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the parish priest of Dapitan, Father Pedro Obach, refused to do so unless they be
permitted by the Bishop of Cebu.
On the other hand, Taufer returned to Hongkong uncured. Because no priest

was willing to marry the two, the couple exchanged their vows before God in their
own way, which scandalized Fr. Obach. In 1896, their love bear its fruit – Josephine
was pregnant. Unfortunately, Bracken gave birth to a one-month premature baby boy
who lived only for three hours. The child was buried in Dapitan, bearing the name
Francisco, after Rizal's father.
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LESSON 2: KATIPUNAN SEEK RIZAL’S
ADVICE
Lesson Discussion
Prior to the outbreak of the revolution, the Katipunan leader, Andres
Bonifacio, seek the advice of Jose Rizal. In a secret meeting on May 2, 1896 at
Bitukang Manok River in Pasig, the group agreed to send Dr. Pio Valenzuela as a
representative to Dapitan who will inform Rizal of their plan to launch a revolution
against the Spaniards. On board the steamer Venus, Valenzuala left Manila on June
15, 1892 and in 6 days, arrived at Dapitan with a blind companion, Raymundo Mata.
At night, Rizal and Valenzuela had a talk in the former's garden. There, Valenzuela
told him of the Katipunan's plan. Regarding this, Rizal outspokenly objected
Bonifacio's “premature” idea for two reasons:
1. The Filipinos were still unready for such bloody revolution; and the
Katipunan lacked machinery – before plotting a revolution, there must be
sufficient arms and funds collected.
2. Valenzuela also told Rizal of their plan to rescue him in Dapitan. Again,
the exiled hero disagreed because he had no plan of breaking his word of
honor to the Spanish authorities.
AS A VOLUNTEER IN CUBA
During the peak of the Cuban revolution, Rizal offered his services as a
military doctor to compromise with the shortage of physicians in the said country. It
was his friend Ferdinand Blumentritt who informed him of the situation in Cuba and
suggested that he volunteer himself as army doctor. On December 17, 1895, Rizal
sent a letter to Governor General Ramon Blanco rendering his service for Cuba. But
for months Rizal awaited in vain for the governor's reply, and loss hope that his
request will be granted. It was only on July 30, 1896 when Rizal received a letter
from Governor Blanco, dated July 2, 1896, accepting his offer. The letter also stated
that Rizal will be given a pass so that he can go to Manila, then to Spain where its
Minister of War will assign shim to the Army of Operations in Cuba.
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FAREWELL IN DAPITAN
At midnight of July 31, 1896, Jose Rizal left Dapitan on board the steamer
España, together with Narcisa, Josephine, Angelica (Narcisa's daughter), three
nephews and six of his students. Many were saddened as the adopted son of
Dapitan left.
In Cebu, on their way to Manila, Rizal successfully performed an opthalmic

operation to a merchant who paid him fifty silver pesos. After almost a week, on
August 6, 1896, España arrived in Manila. Rizal was supposedly to board the Isla de
Luzon for Spain, but unfortunately, left ahead of time. Instead, he was transferred to
the Spanish cruiser Castilla to stay and wait for the next mail boat that woul sail for
Spain next month. He was prohibited from leaving the vicinity but was allowed to
accept visitors so long as they were his immediate family. Of course, all these delays
were part of the drama – Rizal has now fallen to the critical/deadly Spanish trap.
Rizal lived in exile in far-away Dapitan, a remote town in Mindanao which was
under the missionary jurisdiction of the Jesuits, from 1892 to 1896. This four-year
interregnum in his life was tediously unexciting, but was abundantly fruitful with
varied achievements (Zaide, 2008).
Discuss the reasons why Rizal rejected the idea of revolution of the
Katipunan. Do you agree with him?
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LESSON 3: THE TRIAL, THE EXECUTION AND THE
DEATH OF JOSE RIZAL

1. Discuss the factors that led to Rizal’s execution; and

Lesson Discussion
The Trial
On 20th December, 1896, Rizal together with his counsel, Lt. Taviel de
Andrade of the Spanish Artillery, prepared for his defense.
Five days later, on 25th December, Christmas Day, Rizal was informed that
on the following day, at 10:00 am, the Council of War would convene. Rizal wrote his
counsel Taviel, asking for a conference prior to appearing before the Council.
However, it was not known whether such pre-trial conference between Rizal and his
counsel took place.
On 26th December, at the Cuartel General de Espana, a soldier’s dormitory

was converted into an improvised courtroom.
The trial proceeded with the reading of the accusations against Rizal “as
principal organizer” and “moving spirit of the Philippine insurrection, founder of
societies, of newspapers and [who] has written books designed to foment and
propagate ideas of rebellion and sedition among the people, as well as the principal
leader of the anti-government in the country.”
Taviel de Andrade, Rizal’s defense counsel, argued that in the law applying
the Penal Code of Spain in the Philippines, none exists to establish the guilt of the
accused; he likewise challenged the veracity and impartiality of those who had given
statements incriminating Rizal; he closed his defense requesting the court to reject
the images of war, for they could only provoke ideas of vengeance, and that judges
should not be vengeful but fair and just.
After giving Rizal an opportunity to speak in his defense, the Court after
deliberations rendered its decision finding Rizal the author of rebellion and sentenced
him to death.
On 28th December, Governor General Polavieja approved the sentence of

the Council of War after knowing that none of the members of the Council of
Authorities recommended the commutation of the sentence against Rizal.
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On 29th December, Judge Dominguez went to Fort Santiago to notify Rizal
officially of the sentence. Rizal read the report or verdict but refused to sign it, stating
that he was innocent. He also alleged that he was not a Chinese mestizo as stated
by the auditor in the report but a pure Indio. Rizal was informed that no modifications
were allowed in the text of the judgment.
In the morning of 30 December, 1896, Rizal was executed at Bagumbayan

field by musketry. “Eight native soldiers composed the firing squad. Behind them
were eight Spanish soldiers with Mauser rifles, ready to shoot the native soldiers if
they refused to shoot Rizal.
The Execution
At 6:30 a.m. on 30 December 1896, Jose Rizal, bound elbow-to-elbow, left

Fort Santiago by foot for Bagumbayan field, accompanied by a bugler, a drummer
and two Jesuit priests, Fr. Estanislao March and Fr. Jose Villaclara. They took the
Paseo de Maria Cristina, now called Bonifacio Drive. Behind Rizal was his defense
counsel Lt. Luis Taviel de Andrade. A squad of soldiers surrounded them as they
walked slowly. Upon reaching Bagumbayan field, Rizal placed himself in the middle
of the square, filled with 400 men, with a band playing.
Eight native soldiers composed the firing squad. Behind them were eight
Spanish soldiers with Mauser rifles, ready to shoot the native soldiers if they refused
to shoot Rizal.
Rizal refused to be shot in the back, saying he had not been a traitor to the
country or to Spain. But the Spanish captain in charge of the execution told him that
he had orders to shoot him in the back. Rizal reluctantly agreed, but he firmly refused
to kneel or be blindfolded. One last request of Rizal was that the soldiers spare his
head and instead shoot him in the back near the heart. The captain agreed. Rizal
then shook hands with his defense counsel, Lt. Taviel de Andrade and thanked him
for his efforts in defending him. A military doctor came to take his pulse; it was
normal. The Jesuits raised a crucifix for him to kiss, but Rizal had already turned
away silently and prepared himself for death.
The order to fire was given. Before the shots rang out, Rizal shouted,
“Consumatum est!” (It is finished!). When the bullets hit their mark, Rizal made a last
effort to turn around, thus, falling lifeless with his back on the ground, his face to the
sky. Another soldier gave the body a “tiro de gracia” -- one last shot to make sure
Rizal was dead. Shouts of “Viva Espana!” rent the air. The band of the regiment
struck the first chords of “Marcha de Cadiz.” By 7:03 a.m. the execution was over.
Rizal Buried Without a Coffin
After the execution of Rizal his body was placed in a van and with utmost
secrecy buried in the old Paco Cemetery. Sra. Teodora, the mother of Rizal, wanted
to comply with the last wish of her son, that the family take charge of his remains.
After several objections on the part of some Spanish officials, Civil Governor Manuel
Luengo agreed to her petition. However, when the funeral coach left, they had
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already secretly taken the body away, and Rizal's sister, Narcisa, went to all the
cemeteries of Manila looking for the remains in vain.
On the way back, she saw, through the open gate of the Paco Cemetery,
some guardia civiles. This gave her a hint. She entered the cemetery and after much
searching found a freshly dug grave covered with earth. She gave the gravedigger
some money and placed a plaque with the initials of her brother in reverse, R.P.J.,
which means Rizal, Protacio Jose. (Jose Rizal, Filipino Doctor and Patriot, by Jose
Baron Fernandez, Paragon Printing Corporation, Manila, 1992, pp 370-371).
A few days after the Americans occupied Manila in August 1898, Rizal's sister
Narcisa asked permission from the new authorities to exhume the remains of Rizal.
Permission was granted. When the body was exhumed, it was discovered that
Rizal's body had not even been placed in a coffin. The shoes were identified, but
whatever had been hidden inside them had already disintegrated (Fernandez, p.
393).
In 1911, Rizal’s remains were transferred from the Paco Cemetery to the
base of the monument which had earlier been erected at the Luneta (now Rizal
Park). His aged, beloved mother was still able to attend the ceremonies of the
transfer. A few weeks later Sra. Teodora Alonso Quintos died. It appears she made
the effort to survive her son, to go on living until such time that her son’s memory
would be officially vindicated.
What is the impact of Rizal’s death to the Filipino society at his time?
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LESSON 4: THE CONCEPT OF BAYANI AND
KABAYANIHAN
1. Interpret views and opinions about bayani and kabayanihan in the context
of Philippine history and society
2. Assess the concepts of bayani and kabayanihan in the context of
Philippine society
Lesson Discussion
Bayani
Most people conceive the idea of a hero as a person who after their death
has been recognized by a nation. The Oxford dictionary defines a hero as “a person,
typically a man, who is admired or idealized for courage, outstanding achievements,
or noble qualities” (Oxford Dictionary, 2007). It would be easier to define the word
Bayani to the English translation of hero, but to the Filipino people, it has more
elements. First, Bayani is not gender specific. Second, the definition of Bayani, in a
Filipino traditional sense, is an unselfish act towards the human race; a person with
extraordinary courage or bravery that ignores extreme danger and exhibits strength
to overcome difficulties. Lastly, a Bayani never concern their own personal pleasure
nor do they expect compensation for what they do, rather their actions are done out
of kindness. In other words, a Bayani is one that humbly recognizes the interest of
what is bigger that the individual, like the group, the community, the nation, humanity
and the environment. The need to improve the state of humanity is instinctive and
habitual.
Kabayanihan: Our Collective Heroism
The first thing to be learned here is that the meaning of the English word
"hero" is not exactly the same as that of our very own "bayani".
The Webster's Dictionary gives only one definition of the word hero: "A figure
in mythology and legend renowned for exceptional courage and fortitude." The bigger
and much bulkier dictionary at home, with 1,560 large pages, gives the following
definitions: " 1a: a mythological or legendary figure often of divine descent endowed
with great strength or ability. b: an illustrious warrior. c: a man admired for his
achievements and noble qualities. d: one that shows great courage. 2a: the principal
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male character in a literary or dramatic work. b: the central figure in an event, period
of movement. 3: submarine. 4: an object of extreme admiration and devotion: IDOL.
(Etymology is given as "akin to Latin "servare," to protect.)
How about "bayani"? Let's read these entries in Diksyunario ng Wikang

Pilipino published in 1989 by the Linangan ng mga Wika sa Pilipinas (LWP), formerly
known as the Surian ng Wikang Pambansa:
- ba-ya-ni png. (pangngalan) Taong matapos mamatay ay ipinagbubunyi ng

bayan dahil sa kanyang hindi pangkaraniwang paglilingkod sa bayan o
sangkatauhan; taong may di pangkaraniwang tapang at tigas ng loob sa
harap ng panganib o kaya ay katatagan ng kalooban sa paghihirap at pasakit.
- ba-ya-ni, pd. (pandiwa) Nauukol sa paggawang hindi binabayaran ang
gumagawa. sk (singkahulugan): pakisuyo, tulong, bataris, suyuan.
After taking note of parallels in descriptions such as bravery and toughness,

we realize the glaring disparity in situating the phenomenon: the English, or Western
"hero" is mythological or legendary, and often "of divine descent" in the mold of the
Greek and Roman gods; the Tagalogs' "bayani" is situated in his or her (the word
"bayani" is not gender-specific) relation to the community spirit -- working for free the
way we have always known the "bayanihan" spirit to be.
The word "exceptional" in the small dictionary's definition grates against the
envisioned theme and message of the TV show being planned, the heroism can be
discovered and cultivated in each of us. This is also found in the LWP Diksyunaryo's
first definition, although counterbalanced somewhat by the second meaning, which
stresses the community and one's service to it, thus allowing ordinary folk to qualify
for the attribute. What disturbs me more is the qualifier in LWP's definition that says
"matapos mamatay."
The sense that one has to be dead to be a "bayani" in the first meaning given
by the LWP 's Diksyunaryo is disturbing. It may have discouraged many of us from
aspiring to be heroes. But this meaning has been attached only during this almost
one century that has passed since the days of the Katipunan. Rizal's execution at
Bagumbayan and his proclamation as "pambansang bayani" may have contributed
much to it. And I have very recently come across a proof that death as a qualifier for
"bayani" was not in the meaning attached to the word by the majority of those who
used it during the Spanish period.
The point is that you may not simply translate because what we think are
word equivalents are sometimes as varied as the cultures that used them. Of course,
I will still use the word "heroism" but this time I'll try to be closer to its "bayani" sense.
The qualifier in the first meaning of "bayani" given in the Diksyunaryo

produced by the Linangan ng mga Wika sa Pilipinas, to the effect that one becomes
a hero upon being recognized as such after death was not there much earlier in the
history of usage of the word. The Katipunan, under the leadership of Andres
Bonifacio, used the word "bayani" as the label for its third- grade members, the
highest rank in their "katipon" and "kawal." One became a "bayani" after being
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elected to any of the organization's collegial leadership councils. Surely, these were
not posthumous awards being given!.
Selection and Proclamation of National Heroes and Laws Honoring

Filipino Historical Figures (National Commission for Culture and the
Arts)
Executive Summary
No law, executive order or proclamation has been enacted or issued officially proclaiming
any Filipino historical figure as a national hero. However, because of their significant roles
in the process of nation building and contributions to history, there were laws enacted and
proclamations issued honoring these heroes.
Even Jose Rizal, considered as the greatest among the Filipino heroes, was not explicitly
proclaimed as a national hero. The position he now holds in Philippine history is a tribute to
the continued veneration or acclamation of the people in recognition of his contribution to
the significant social transformations that took place in our country.
Aside from Rizal, the only other hero given an implied recognition as a national hero is
Andres Bonifacio whose day of birth on November 30 has been made a national holiday.
Despite the lack of any official declaration explicitly proclaiming them as national heroes,
they remain admired and revered for their roles in Philippine history. Heroes, according to
historians, should not be legislated. Their appreciation should be better left to academics.
Acclamation for heroes, they felt, would be recognition enough.
1. Selection and Proclamation of National Heroes
1.1 National Heroes Committee
On March 28, 1993 , President Fidel V. Ramos issued Executive Order No.75 entitled
“Creating the National Heroes Committee Under the Office of the President”.
The principal duty of the Committee is to study, evaluate and recommend Filipino national
personages/heroes in due recognition of their sterling character and remarkable
achievements for the country
1.2 Findings and Recommendations of the National Heroes Committee
In compliance with Executive Order No. 75 dated March 28, 1993 , the National Heroes
Committee submitted its findings and recommendations.
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1.2.1 Criteria for National Heroes
The Technical Committee of the National Heroes Committee held a series of meetings on
June 3, 1993 , August 19,1993 , September 12, 1994 and November 15, 1995 , defining,
discussing and deliberating upon the merits of the various definitions and criteria of a hero.
The Committee adopted the following criteria as basis for historical researchers in
determining who among the great Filipinos will be officially proclaimed as national heroes
Criteria for National Heroes
(Adopted by the Technical Committee of the National Heroes Committee on June 3, 1993 ,
Manila . Members of the Committee included Drs. Onofre D. Corpuz, Samuel K. Tan,
Marcelino Foronda, Alfredo Lagmay, Bernardita R. Churchill, Serafin D. Quiason, Ambeth
Ocampo, then known as Dom Ignacio Maria, Prof. Minerva Gonzales and Mrs. Carmen
Guerrero-Nakpil)
1. Heroes are those who have a concept of nation and thereafter aspire and struggle for the
nation’s freedom. Our own struggle for freedom was begun by Bonifacio and finished by
Aguinaldo, the latter formally declaring the revolution’s success. In reality, however, a
revolution has no end. Revolutions are only the beginning. One cannot aspire to be free
only to sink back into bondage.
2. Heroes are those who define and contribute to a system or life of freedom and order for a
nation. Freedom without order will only lead to anarchy. Therefore, heroes are those who
make the nation’s constitution and laws, such as Mabini and Recto. To the latter,
constitutions are only the beginning, for it is the people living under the constitution that truly
constitute a nation.
3. Heroes are those who contribute to the quality of life and destiny of a nation. (As defined
by Dr. Onofre D. Corpuz)
Additional Criteria for Heroes

(Adopted by the Technical Committee of the National Heroes Committee on November 15,
1995, Manila)
1. A hero is part of the people’s expression. But the process of a people’s internalization of
a hero’s life and works takes time, with the youth forming a part of the internalization.
2. A hero thinks of the future, especially the future generations.
3. The choice of a hero involves not only the recounting of an episode or events in history,
but of the entire process that made this particular person a hero. (As defined by Dr. Alfredo
Lagmay)
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1.2.2 Historical Figures Recommended as National Heroes
On November 15, 1995 , the Technical Committee after deliberation and careful study
based on Dr. Onofre D. Corpuz’ and Dr. Alfredo Lagmay’s criteria selected the following
nine Filipino historical figures to be recommended as National Heroes:
a. Jose Rizal
b. Andres Bonifacio
c. Emilio Aguinaldo
d. Apolinario Mabini
e. Marcelo H. del Pilar
f. Sultan Dipatuan Kudarat
g. Juan Luna
h. Melchora Aquino
i. Gabriela Silang
1.2.3 Status of the Report/Recommendations Submitted by the National Heroes

Committee.
Since the submission of the report/recommendations by the National Heroes Committee to

then Secretary Ricardo T. Gloria of the Department of Education, Culture and Sports on
November 22,1995 , no action has been taken. This was probably because this might
trigger a flood of requests for proclamations. Another possibility is that the proclamations
can trigger bitter debates involving historical controversies about the heroes.
2. Laws Honoring/ Commemorating Filipino Historical Figures
2.1 Heroes
2.1.1 Jose Rizal
2.1.1.1 Decree of December 20, 1898 , issued by General Emilio Aguinaldo, declared
December 30 of every year a day of national mourning in honor of Dr. Jose Rizal and other
victims of the Philippine Revolution.
2.1.1.2 Act No. 137, which organized the politico-military district of Morong into the
Province of Rizal , was the first official step taken by the Taft Commission to honor our
greatest hero and martyr.
2.1.2 Andres Bonifacio
2.1.2.1 Act No. 2946, enacted by the Philippine Legislature on February 16, 1921 , made
November 30 of each year a legal holiday to commemorate the birth of Andres Bonifacio
2.1.2.2 Act No. 2760, issued on February 23, 1918 , confirmed and ratified all steps taken
for the creation, maintenance, improvement of national monuments and particularly for the
erection of a monument to the memory of Andres Bonifacio
151
2.1.3 Other Heroes
2.1.3.1 Act No. 3827, enacted by the Philippine Legislature on October 28,
1931 , declared the last Sunday of August of every year as National Heroes
Day.
2.1.3.2 Proclamation No. 510, issued by Pres. Fidel V.Ramos on November

30, 1994 , declared the year 1996 as the year of Filipino Heroes as a tribute
to all Filipinos who, directly and indirectly, gave meaning and impetus to the
cause of freedom, justice, Philippine independence and nationhood.
2.1.3.3 R.A. No. 9070, April 8, 2001, declaring the eighteenth of December of
every year as a special working public holiday throughout the country to be
known as the Graciano Lopez-Jaena Day
A hero symbolizes goodness. Rizal gave us freedom by using goodness.

Jose Rizal became the Philippine national hero because he fought for freedom in a
silent but powerful way. He expressed his love for the Philippines through his novels,
essays and articles rather than through the use of force or aggression. He was a very
amazing person at his time. He was humble, fighting for reforms through his writings
instead of through a revolution. He used his intelligence, talents and skills in a more
peaceful way rather than the aggressive way.
Rizal is an American-sponsored hero: he opted for a non-violence reform in

the government. Instead he used his writings to open the eyes of the Filipinos. He
dedicated his life for his countrymen without hesitation.
He was known for his meekness and coolness, but he never fought on a war.
Most of the world Heroes was elevated as such because of their war exploits. Rizal
never did it. He was using his pen for criticism about the handling of the Spanish
government in the Philippines. He fought to have the Philippines a permanent
representation in the Spanish Cortes. That's why when the US accepted the
Philippines as a vassal country, Gen. Taft who was the Governor general here,
appointed Jose Rizal as the National Hero for the Philippines, to douse the fighting
fervor of the Filipinos who are fighting for freedom at that time.
The Americans decided for him being a national hero at their time in the
country. It is said that the Americans, Civil Governor William Howard Taft, chose
Jose Rizal to be the national hero as a strategy. Rizal didn't want bloody revolution in
his time. So they wanted him to be a "good example" to the Filipinos so that the
people will not revolt against the Americans.
Rizal became a National Hero because he passed the criteria by being a

National Hero during the American period.
152
ADDING THAT, RIZAL PASSED CRITERIA FOR NATIONAL HEROES
1. Heroes are those who have a concept of nation and thereafter aspire and
struggle for the nation’s freedom. In reality, however, a revolution has no
end. Revolutions are only the beginning. One cannot aspire to be free
only to sink back into bondage.
2. Heroes are those who define and contribute to a system or life of freedom
and order for a nation. Freedom without order will only lead to anarchy.
Therefore, heroes are those who make the nation’s constitution and laws.
To the latter, constitutions are only the beginning; for it is the people living
under the constitution that truly constitute a nation.
3. Heroes are those who contribute to the quality of life and destiny of a
nation. (As defined by Dr. Onofre D. Corpuz)
ADDITIONAL CRITERIA FOR HEROES

1. A hero is part of the people’s expression. But the process of a people’s
internalization of a hero’s life and works takes time, with the youth forming
a part of the internalization.
2. A hero thinks of the future, especially the future generations.
3. The choice of a hero involves not only the recounting of an episode or
events in history, but of the entire process that made this particular person
a hero.
Read Ricardo Nolasco “Ang Pinagmulan ng Salitang Bayani” (2001).

Choose your own bayani according to your standards and present it to the
class.
153
ASSESSMENT
Name: ______________________________________________ Date: _____

Course / Section: __________________________________Score: ____
1. What are the factors that led to the execution of Jose Rizal?
2. What do you think are the effects of the Rizal’s execution on the Spanish
colonization and the Philippine Revolution?
3. What are the concepts of bayani and kabayanihan? Who can be considered a
bayani in today’s world? Select one person who you consider as bayani and
why.
154
REFERENCES
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Borromeo-Buehler, S. (1985, March). The Inquilinos of Cavite: A Social Class in

NineteenthCentury Philippines. Journal of Southeast Asian
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Cajes, A.S. (March 31, 2011). The Sikatuna-Legazpi Blood Compact. Retrieved
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laws-honoring-filipino-historical-figures/
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taught#ixzz6TlpXXnnQ
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UNIT I

THE RIZAL LAW

TOPIC LEARNING OUTCOMES

Intended Learning Outcome

Here is the full text of RA 1425:

AN ACT TO INCLUDE IN THE CURRICULA OF ALL PUBLIC AND PRIVATE SCHOOLS,

SECTION 2. It shall be obligatory on all schools, colleges and universities to keep

SECTION 4. Nothing in this Act shall be construed as amendment or repealing

SECTION 5. The sum of three hundred thousand pesos is hereby authorized to be

SECTION 6. This Act shall take effect upon its approval.

Approved: June 12, 1956

The Rizal Law provides for the following:

Intended Learning Outcome

“This is the basic of my stand. Let us not create a conflict between

Whereas, it is meet that in honouring them, particularly the national

Be enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the

Section1. Courses on the life, works, and writing of Jose Rizal,

The Board of National Education is hereby authorized and directed to

Section 2. It shall be obligatory on all schools, colleges and universities

The Board of National Education shall determine the adequacy if the

Section 3. The Board of National Education shall cause the translation

Section 4. Nothing in this Act shall be construed as amending or

Section 5. The sum of the three hundred thousand pesos is hereby

Section 6. This Act shall take effect upon its approval.

Furthermore, Senator Lim proposed the exemption of student from the

Based on the discussion above, what is your opinion on the

Intended Learning Outcomes

Rizal, as shown by De la Costa, is a remarkable moral figure whose

The Catholic Church encouraged its followers to write to their congressman

As a result, they proposed extracting "patriotic portions," claiming that the

Soon after, senators reached an agreement under which a student who

What is your takeaway on the role of the Catholic Church in the

Intended Learning Outcomes

Returning to the plots of Rizal's works is no longer interesting because they

Make a drawing portraying the importance of studying the life and

Name: ________________________________________________ Date: ______

Rizal and the Theory of

TOPIC LEARNING OUTCOMES

Intended Learning Outcome

At the end of this lesson, students are expected to:

Finally, it is envisioned as a community, because the nation is always

NATIONALISM AND IMAGINED COMMUNITIES

1. The concept of a continuous, solid national identity was an ideal replacement

Furthermore, he demonstrated that nationalism differs from other political

Finally, Anderson added a crucial acknowledgment of the role of forgetting to

Intended Learning Outcome

At the end of the lesson, students are expected to:

The National Heroes Commission's historical committee - tasked for

In order to demonstrate the Filipinos' potential for self-government,

Many examples may be provided to show that Rizal's leadership was

During his lifetime, Spanish reactionaries regarded Rizal as the country's

Make a poster of you expressing your nationalistic sentiments as a Filipino.

Name: ________________________________________________ Date: ______

RIZAL’S SOCIAL ORIGINS AND

TOPIC LEARNING OUTCOMES

INTENDED LEARNING OUTCOME

At the end of the lesson, students are expected to:

Figure 2Ramon Blanco y Erenas - Governor

• Mestizos de Espanol – they are of

Figure 4Picture of a Mestizo de Spanol Family Source:

• Principalia – the Native

• Indio – they are Pure Blooded

Figure 6Picture of pure blooded Filipinos Source:

Figure 7Sample of Mestizo de Sangley during the Spanish era

Name: __________________________________________ Date:

Name: __________________________________________ Date:

Name: ____________________________________________ Date: _

Name: ____________________________________________ Date: _

Name: __________________________________________ Date:

Name: ____________________________________________ Date: _