GE 109-READINGS IN PHILLIPPINE HISTORY

Rizal and Nationalism
Lysa Caloyloy Mr. Kim Bartolo
LPT

Jose Rizal is commonly known as the “Father of Filipino

Nationalism” and the first Filipino”, not because he helped
establish an independent Philippine State (in fact, he
specifically and explicitly denounced the 1896 Revolution
against Spain), but because he was instrumental in the
creation of conceptualization of  “Filipino” as
an ethnopolitical collective- as “a people” ,or, in Language
of nationalism “the people”. In other words, Rizal is
acclaimed the father “Philippine Nationalism” for his
intellectual and idealistic support for
Philippine independence. As an analysis of his works and
speeches will show, Rizal did not support violent uprising or
revolutions in calling for an independent state. He was not a
war monger but rather an academic seeking as much a possible
as peaceful, logical, and political solution for the
independence of Filipino from colonial rule over the political
and social aspect of life in the Philippines. He peached for
and encouraged Filipinos to recognize their potential as
Filipino citizens and also their obligations and duty to their
motherland.

The definition of Nationalism and elements that

contribute to nationalism
Nationalism is a sentiment in which a person manifests his
pride in being part of a nation.  A person who
exhibits nationalism shows his loyalty to the nation for which
he is willing to serve it’s interests.
Nation refers to the people identified as occupying a certain
peace of territory.  These people developed an attachment to
the territory or the land that sustained them.  That land
provided their livelihood and they have lived on that land for
generations.  As a people occupying a certain territory, they
developed their own culture, a way of a life and a way of
interacting and governing each other.  The people became
identified with the land and they developed a certain
affection and attachment to it. The essence of nationalism and
patriotism is living of what truly a Filipino, living by our
culture, keeping it alive, keeping it vibrant and for always
retaining of our Filipino tradition so, first respect our
Philippine flag, second, be a productive citizen,
third commemorate our national hero in our country
fourth, preserve our culture various norms beliefs and
celebrate our first different festivals in our country, five
don’t be ashamed of using our comments and we can, lastly
patronize our own local products.  There are things that tests
our nationalism and patriotism what is important though is
that we stand united as Filipino and we love Philippines as
our mother county.

NATION,  AN IMAGINED COMMUNITY?

According to writer Benedict Anderson a nation is an imagined
community because it created delineations and artificial
boundaries. Some boundaries are not natural or geographical in
nature but were created by human actions.  These include
latitudes and longitudes that appear on a map or a globe.
Often political boundaries are problematic that cause disputes
with neighbors especially when there are no natural features
that would serve as points of reference. 

MODELS FOR NATIONALISM 

To demonstrate the formation of nationalism, history
provides various examples how it develops in various
countries.

The French, English, Russian and Spanish Models

The formation of nations of Spain, France and England took
place in the middle Ages. Ethnic groups sharing the same
language heritage, which is a mixture of native and Roman
influences, helped from distinct identifies for the three
countries. The three countries were former part of the old
Roman Empire. There histories had parallel events:  all three
are invaded by barbarian tribes after the fall of the Western
Empire.  The mixture of cultures in each country created
a character that is unique.  There is a quality of being
French among the people of France and “Englishness”.  Being
French separated the French people  from the non-French like
the Belgians, Germans and the Dutch and as for the English;
their English character separated them from the Scots and the
Welsh. The people of both countries rallied themselves around
a monarch to whom they pledged their loyalty.  That monarch
was expected to rule his people as a monarch would do. The
unique ethnicity created a cultural quality for each people.
This included the evolution and development of language and
their way of life. Ethnicity therefore was a key
to nationalism in both countries.  Adding to ethnicity was the
force of religion.  The franks who later became the French
were ordered by the Frankish king Clovis to adopt the
Christian religion under the pain of death.  The adoption of
Christianity solidified his authority over the
various Frankish tribes and Clovis is considered the father of
the French nation.  Thus to be French is to speak the French
language, follow French customs and to become a Christian.

The  American Model 

During the 17th century,  various English settlers came to
North America.  Primarily the English came to colonize the
newly found continent and to expand the empire. But there
colonists were a diverse group: some like the Catholic who
found Boston and Baltimore so they can freely practice
their religion. These was the same reason for the Quakers who
came to Pennsylvania were looking for a place where they can
freely practice their religion; others were looking for a
place to settle.  Eventually they formed the thirteen English
colonies in the Eastern part of North America.  As
the colonies settled down,  they created their own culture
that was different and unique to their original English roots.
Even the language spoken by the colonists in American was
different from the one spoken in England.  Though considering
themselves as loyal Englishmen the colonists developed an
attachment to the land that they have called their own,
build their homes, and raised their families. 

The Latin American Models 

Modern nationalism in Latin America was started by descendants
of Spanish immigrants to South America. When the Spaniard
settled in areas what are now Argentina, Chile, Ecuador, Peru
Columbia and Venezuela their children were called criollios or
creoles.  They were distinct from Peninsulares or the
Spaniards born in the Ibarian Peninsula. As creoles, they were
subject to discrimination by the Peninsulare. In many cases,
only top positions in the colonial government were allocated
to the Peninsulares while the creollos served as
sub alterns or lower- ranking officials. Some Spaniards had
children with native Americans and they became mestizos and
mulattos. They became a class and served at positions, which
the criollos and the Peninsulars would not accept. At
the bottom were the native Americans and the descendants of
African slaves who were the most oppressed of the group.

The Italian Model 

Italy was the seat of the Roman Empire and the birth place of
the Renaissance. However, in the 1800s it was decided into
Papal States and the States of Sicily and Sardinia and the
Grand Duchy at Tuscany.  Parts of it were under foreign
domination such as Venice being occupied by Austria. Drawing
from the greatness of the past, Italian nationalists launched
the Risorgimento or the resurgence. The Risorgimento to was
actually a war for unification. Italian nationalists led by
Giuseppe Garibaldi, Giuseppe Mazzini and Camilo de Cavour
drove out the Austrians and pushed the Pope to what is now the
Vatican City. They absorted Tuscany into the new state, which
became the Kingdom of Italy. In launching the
Risorgimento, the knowledge of Italy’s great past played an
important role in the formation of the Italian state. The
Italians set aside their regional differences and we’re united
in the forming of a new nation.

NATIONALISM AS A WAY OF CHANGE 

Nationalism need not be directed against a foreign enemy.
It can be caused or aroused as a response to a need for
change. During the French Revolution, the French people rose
against the monarchy in 1789.  The monarchy was perceived by
the ordinary Frenchmen as aloof and insensitive to the
growing social problems such as poverty and widespread hunger.
While the nobles and clergy were free from taxation and to
support the wars France fought with it’s enemies aside from
having their sons to go off to war. News that their king Louis
XV1 was trying to flee to Austria caused the Frenchmen to
demand his execution, as well as that of his wife, Queen Marie
Antoinette.
NATIONALISM IN THE PHILIPPINE CONTEXT 
In the Philippines, nationalism is associated with
the word bayanihan. The etymological root of the term
is the bayan. Bayan in common usage means a town. It also
means a community and to an extension it may mean a country. 
To do something for the bayan, cannotes an unselfish act. This
act is given voluntarily to help others. People who helped
others. People who helped others and did unselfish sacrifices
even at the risk of losing their lives are recognized
as bayanis or heroes. Whenever the word bayanihan is
mentioned, the image of a nipa house carried on the shoulders
of the neighbors of the owners comes to mind. The ones who
were carrying the house were volunteers who were not forced to
carry the house. They probably did it out of sympathy or
solidarity with the owner of the house. The story behind the
image according to former President Diosdado Macapagal was
that the house stood on a land, which did not belong to the
house owner. When the owner of the land demanded that he
leaves his property, the neighbors of the house owner
took pitty upon on him and with the help of the other
neighbors. Lifted the house to it’s new location. Bayanihan or
nationalism caanotes a sense of community. The pain suffered
by one ie. Being evicted from the land was felt by the
neighbors who decide to help him. This is called damayan.

BAYAN, BANSA AND KALAYAAN AND THE GOAL OF FILIPINO

NATIONALISM
Eventually the bayan, which is more of a communal perspective,
will graduate into the bands. Bansa means the nation and it
also means the state. The components of a state is it’s land
or the area occupied by the bayan: the government, the
institution that protects and advances the interest of
the bayan; it’s sovereignty or kalayaan the power of
the bayan to decide and chart its own destiny and it’s most
important component, the people which is also called bayan.
The bansa or bangsa in the Malay language is the Community of
the bayan and it’s laws and institution.

RIZAL AND HOW HIS WORK HELPED DEVELOP NATIONALISM

In his desire to develop and instill a sense of nation in the
minds of the people of his time Rizal looked back to that past
through the history of the Philippines. In his essay “The
Philippines A Century Hence”, he begins with a line “In order
to know the destiny of a nation, it is important to open the
book of it’s past.” Rizal was living in a time when there was
a wholesale adoption of everything that was European and the
rejection of what is native. The spanish colonizers thought of
themselves as superior to the indios and without their help
the natives of the Philippines will remain backward. How did
Rizal become a nationalist? Rizal was not born to be
a nationalist though he had shown such inclination. When he
was studying at the Ateneo in Manila, he studied under the
sculptor Teodoro Romualdo de Jesus known as “Lolong” de
Jesus impressed on the young Riz the need to preserve the
heritage of the acestors of the Filipinos. He taught Rizal
about greatness of the Filipino culture before the arrival of
the Spaniards.  The character in the
novel Noli Me Tangere Filosoto Radio was inspired by his
mentor Teodoro Romualdo de Jesus who in 1888 founded a group
called katipunan. It’s objective was to tell Filipinos about
their glorious past and the need to go back to their roots.
De jesus katipunan antedated
the kataastaasang kagallanggalangang katipunan ng mga anal
ng bayan (KKK) founded by Teodoro Plata, Deodato Arrelano and
Andres Bonifacio in July 1892.