CHAPTER 5

THE GREAT NOVEL: NOLI ME TANGERE AND THE FIRST HOMECOMING

The Novel: Noli Me Tangere

As a man obsessed with freedom and liberty for the Filipino people, Rizal proposed
a book writing project to the Filipino members of the Circulo Hispano Filipino. The book
would deal on the socio-cultural and political aspects of life in the Philippines. When details
were discussed during the meeting, most of the members wanted to write about the
characters and activities of the Filipino women. Most of them were not interested in Rizal’s
proposed project. With this, Rizal decided to write the book by himself. He did not lose
hope, “Noli Me Tangere”. He joined the Brotherhood of Masons for more mature contacts
and enlightenment to complete the book.
He managed to finish the first half of the Noli Me Tangere in Madrid. He continued
writing in Paris where he was inspired through the immortal declaration of the rights of
man, that had been passed and being implemented. He finished it in Germany where
scientific research and philosophy were free from the church and state control.
The Noli Me Tangere was printed in Berlin because Rizal was short of funds. He was
charged P300.00 for 2,000 copies. His friend Maximo Viola offered. To pay the amount and
the book was finally released in March 1887.
Rizal studied Hebrew to enable him to interpret the Bible in its original text and be
better prepared to defend any controversial religious issues that Noli Me Tangere might
arise. He had translated some passages from the Bible that he used in his book.
“Noli Me Tangere” is a Latin phrase that Rizal took from the Bible, meaning “Touch
me not”. In John 20:13-17, the newly-risen Christ says to Mary Magdalene “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.”
Noli Me Tangere (The Social Cancer as the alternative English title) is a Spanish-
language novel written by Dr. Jose P. Rizal that is credited with the awakening of
nationalism among the Filipinos of Rizal’s time. It was published in 1887 in translation of
Charles Derbyshire was titled The Social Cancer, although some other translations retain the
original Latin.

Summary of Noli Me Tangere

Having completed his studies in Europe, young Juan Crisostomo Ibarra came back to
the Philippines after a 7-year absence. In this honor, Captain Tiago threw a get-together
party, which was attended by friars and other prominent figures. In an unfortunate
incident, former curate Father Damaso belittled and slandered Ibarra. But Ibarra brushed
off the insult and took no offense; he instead politely excused himself and left the party
because of an allegedly important task.
 The day after humble party, Ibarra went to see Maria Clara, his love interest, a
beautiful daughter of Captain Tiago and an affluent resident of Binondo, Manila. Their long-
standing love was clearly manifested in this meeting, and Maria Clara cannot help but
reread the letters her sweetheart had written her before he went to Europe. Before Ibarra
left for San Diego, Lieutenant Guevara, a Guardia Civil, revealed to him the incidents
preceding the death of his father, Don Rafael Ibarra, a rich haciendero of the town.
According to the Lieutenant, Don Rafael was unjustly accused of being a heretic, in
addition to being a filibuster – an allegation brought forth by Father Damaso because of
Don Rafael’s non-participation in the Sacraments, such as Confession and Mass. Father
Damaso’s animosity against Ibarra’s father was aggravated by another incident when Don
Rafael helped out on a fight between a tax collector and a student fighting, and the former’s
death was blamed on him, although it was not deliberate. Suddenly, all of those who
thought ill of him surfaced with additional complaints. He was imprisoned, and just when
the matter was almost settled, he got sick and died in jail. Still not content with what he had
done, Father Damaso arranged for Don Rafael’s corpse to be dug up and transferred from
the Catholic cemetery to the Chinese cemetery, because he thought it inappropriate to allow
a heretic such as Don Rafael a Catholic burial ground. Unfortunately, it was raining and
because of the bothersome weight of the cadaver, the men in charge of the burial decided to
throw the corpse into the lake.
Revenge was not in Ibarra’s plans; instead he carried through his father’s plan of
putting up a school, since he believed that education would pave the way to his vountry’s
progress (all over the novel the author reveals refers to both Spain and the Philippines as
two different countries which form part of a same nation or family, being Spain the mother
and the Philippines the daughter). During the inauguration of the school, Ibarra would have
been killed in a sabotage had Elias – a mysterious man who had warned Ibarra earlier of a
plot to assassinate him – not saved him. Instead, the hired killer met an unfortunate
incident and died. The sequence of events proved to be too traumatic for Maria Clara who
got seriously ill but was luckily cured by the medicine Ibarra sent her.
After the inauguration, Ibarra hosted a luncheon during which Father Damaso,
uninvited and gate-crashing the luncheon, again insulted him. Ibarra ignored the priest’s
insolence, but when the latter slandered the memory of his dead father, he was no longer
able to retrain himself and lunged at Father Damaso, prepared to stab the latter for his
imprudence. As a consequence, Father Damaso excommunicated Ibarra. Father Damaso
took this opportunity to persuade the already-hesitant father of Maria Clara to forbid his
daughter from marrying Ibarra. The friar wished Maria Clara to marry a Peninsular named
Linares who just arrived from Spain.
With the help of Captain-General, Ibarra’s excommunication was mollified and the
Archibishop decided to accept him as a member of the Church once again. But, as fate
would have it, some incident of which Ibarra had known nothing about was blamed on him,
and hed was wrongly arrested and imprisoned. But the accusation against him overruled
because during the litigation that followed, nobody could testify that he was indeed involed.
Unfortunately, his letter to Maria Clara somehow got into the hands of the jury and was
manipulated such that it the became evidence against him.
Meanwhile, in Captain Tiago’s residence, a party was being held to announce the
upcoming wedding to Maria Clara and Linares. Ibarra, with the help of Elias took this
opportunity and escaped from prison. But before leaving, Ibarra talked to Maria Clara and
accused her of betraying him, thinking that she gave the letter her to the jury. Maria Clara
explained to Ibarra that she will never conspire against him but that she was forced to
surrender Ibarra’s letter to her in exchange for the letters written by her mother even
before she, Maria Clara, was born. The letters were from her mother, Pia Alba, to Father
Damaso alluding to their unborn child; and that she, Maria Clara, was therefore not the
daughter of Captain Tiago, but of Father Damaso.
Afterwards, Ibarra and Elais boarded a boat and left the place. Elias instructed
Ibarra to lie down and the former covered the latter with grass to conceal the latter’s
presence. As luck would have it, they were spotted by their enemies. Elias thought he could
outsmart them and jumped into the water. The guards rain shots on the person in the water,
all the while not knowing that they were aiming at the wrong man.
Maria Clara, thinking that Ibarra has been killed in the shooting incident, was greatly
overcome with grief. Robbed of hope and severe disillusion, she asked when Maria Clara
threatened to take herr own life, demanding, “the nunnery or death!” Unbeknown to her,
Ibarra was still alive and able to escape. It was Elias who had taken the shots. It was
Christmas Eve when Elias woke up in the forest, gravely wounded and barely alive. It was in
this forest that Elias found Basilio and his lifeless mother Sisa.
Noli Me Tangere was Rizal’s first novel. He was 26 at its publication. This book was
historically significant and was instrumental in establishing the Filipino’s sense of national
identity. The book indirectly influenced a revolution although the author, Jose Rizal, actually
advocated for direct representation to the Spanish government and larger role of the
Philippines inside the Spanish political affairs. The novel was written in Spanish, the
language of the educated at a time when Filipinos were markedly segregated by diverse
native languages and regional cultures.
The novel created so much controversy that only a few days after his arrival,
Governore-General Emilio Terrero summoned him to the Malacanang Palace and told him
of the charges saying that the Noli Me Tangere was full of subversive ideas. After a
discussion, the liberal Governor General was appeased; but he mentioned that he was
unable to offer resistance against the pressure of the Church to take action against the book.
The persecution can be discerned from Rizal’s letter to Ferdinand Blumentritt in
Leitmeritz:
“My book made a lot of noise; everywhere, I am asked about it. They wanted to
excommunicate me because of it… I am considered a German spy, an agent of
Bismarck, they say I am a Protestant, a freemason, a sorcerer, a damned soul and evil.
 It is whispered that I want to draw palns, that I have a foreign passport and that I
wander through the streets by night…”

The book was instrumental in creating a unified Filipino national identity and
consciousness, as many Filipinos previously identified with their respective regions to the
advantage pf the Spanish authorities. It lampooned, caricatured and exposed various
elements in the colonial society.

Characters of Noli Me Tangere

Rizal included around 30 characters in the novel. Below are some of the major
characteristics of the story that represent conditions of the Philippines.

1. Crisostomo Ibarra – also known in his full name as Juan Crisostomo Ibarra y
Magsalin, a Filipino who studied in Europe for 7 years, the love interest of Maria Clara. Son
of the deceased Don Rafael Ibarra; Crisostomo change his surname from Eibarramendia to
Ibarra, from his ancestor’s surname. The main and most important character in the novel
manifesting in him the Filipino who acquired European idea through his education in
Europe. In the novel, Ibarra’s personality will result in the disagreements of liberal idealism
in education and conservatism represented by the Catholic Church.

2. Elias – Ibarra’s mysterious friend, a master boater, also a fugitive. He was referred
to at one point as “the pilot”. He wants to revolutionize his country. In the past, Ibarra’s
grandfather condemned his grandfather of burning a warehouse, making Elias the fugitive
he is. The character that Rizal placed to represent the Filipino masses who suffered from
Spanish brutalities and abuse due to their powerlessness in the novel and in real
Philippines social situation of that time.

3. Maria Clara – Maria Clara de los Santos, Ibarra’s sweetheart; the illegitimate
daughter of Father Damaso and Pia Alba. In her, Ibarra has fallen in-love, she also mirrored
the Filipina woman of religious upbringing and orientation, and through her love to Ibarra,
and she represents true fidelity and religiosity of the woman in real Filipino society.

4. Father Damaso – also known in his full name as Damaso Verdoglagas, Franciscan
friar and Maria Clara’s biological father. An antagonist in character and represents the un-
Christian works of the Catholic friars who are in the church.

5. Sisa – the mother of Basilio and Crispin, who became insane after losing her sons.
She represented in the novel a sad plight of the Filipina mothers losing her two sons, Basilio
and Crispin. In the novel, Sisa looses her sanity.
 6. Kaptain Tiago – also known in his full name as Don Santiago de los Santos the
known father of Maria Clara but not the real one; lives in Binondo. An illegal opium trader
who subsequently was a landlord. He represented a different view in religion and thus,
more of a businessman who used his money to work for him even in religious life and
obligations.

7. Pilosopong Tasyo – also known as Don Anastosio, portrayed in the novel as

pessimistic, cynic, and mad by his neighbors. He portrays the role of a Philosopher who was
completely misunderstood in many aspects, he argues with the belief of the Catholic Church
and social changes and concerns in the novel.

8. Dona Victorina – Victorina de los Reyes de De Espadana, a woman who passes

herself off as a Peninsulares. Wife of Don Tiburcio de Espadana, known in the novel as a
trying hard rich woman who abhors anything that is Filipino and clings to Spanish way of
life. This kind of character was manifested on some Filipinos of that time.

9. Pedro – abusive husband of Sisa who loved cockfighting.

10. Don Rafael Ibarra – known in the plot as concerned citizen and property owner
who was the father of Crisostomo Ibarra. Padre Damaso who played an antagonist role
called him heretic and rebel due to his view on relating to liberalism in society.

11. The School Master – A teacher at San Diego who’s view in the novel represented
the weak and useless education in the Philippines. He attributes the problem from facilities
and methods of learning that the friars implemented in the country.

12. Tandang Pablo – The leader of the rebels, whose family was destroyed because
of the Spaniards.

13. Basilio – the elder son of Sisa.

14. Crispin – the younger son of Sisa who died from the punishment of the soldiers
from the false accusation of stealing an amount of money.

15. Padre Sibyla – Hernando de la Sibyla, a Filipino friar. He is described as short

and has fair skin.

16. Padre Salvi – also known in his full name as Bernardo Salvi, a secret admirer of
Maria Clara.
 17. The Alferez – chief of the Guardia Civil; mortal enemy of the priests for power in
San Diego.

18. Don Tiburcio – Spanish husband of Donya Victorina who was limp and
submissive to his wife; he also pretended to be a doctor.

19. Dona Consolacion – wife of the alferez, another woman who passed herself as a
Peninsular; best remembered for her abusive treatment of Sisa.

20. Captain – General – (no specific name) – The most powerful official in the
Philippines, a hater of secular priests and corrupt officials, and a friend of Ibarra.

The First Homecoming

With all beautiful memories of his five years of travel to foreign lands, Rizal could
never forget the Philippines, his Motherland. During the time he was abroad, he studied,
acquired knowledge and learned the language foreign nations, enjoyed the friendship of
many great men of the Western world, but he remained at heart a true Filipino with an
enduring love for the Philippines and very strong determination to serve and die in the land
of his birth the Philippines. He decided to return to Calamba for such reasons: to operate
on his mother’s eyes; to help his family and the Filipino people; to find out why for
himself how the Noli Me Tangere and his other writings were affecting the Filipinos
and Spaniards in the Philippines. Last but not the least; he wanted to find out why
Leonora Rivera remained silent while he was in Rome. On June 29, 1887, Rizal wrote to
his father about his homecoming. He expected to be in the Philippines by the 15 th to 30th of
August 1887.
Rizal boarded the steamer Djemnah on July 3, 1887, the same ship which brought
him to Europe 5 years ago, Rizal was the only Filipino among the passengers (Englishmen,
German, Chinese, Frenchmen, and also Japanese) who could speak many languages, so he
had a good time acting as an interpreter for his companions. He also got along well with the
other passengers by playing chess.

Reaching Saigon, he transferred to another steamer Haiphong which was bound for
Manila on August 2, 1887. He reached Manila on August 6, and was welcomed heartily by
his parents, relatives and friends. He found Manila the same as when he left it 5 years ago.
He stayed in the city for a short time to visit his friends. He returned to Calamba on August
8. He wrote to Blumentritt. “I had a pleasant voyage, I found my family enjoying good health
and happiness. It was great seeing each other again. They shed tears of joy and I had to
answer their thousands of questions at the same time”.
 Amidst the happy and peaceful aura of his arrival, his family was worried for his
safety. Thus, Paciano did not leave him to protect him from any enemy assault. His own
father would not let him go out alone for something else might happen.

In Calamba, Rizal built a medical clinic with his mother as his first patient who was
almost blind. He treated his mother’s eyes but could not be operated on because her eye
contracts were not yet ripe. His coming back as a doctor spread far and wide. He was called
“Doctor Uliman” because he came from Germany. His professional fees were reasonable,
even “gratis” for the poor. He opened a gymnasium for young folks to introduce European
sports, gymnastics, fencing and shooting so as discourage time being spent in cockfights
(sabong) and gambling.

Trouble in Noli Me Tangere

A few weeks after his stay in Calamba, he received a letter from the Gov. General
Emilio Terrero requesting him to come to Malacanang Palace to explain about the
subversive ideas contained in the Noli Me Tangere. Rizal went to see the Governor General.
He denied the charges and explained that he merely exposed the truth but he did not
advocate subversion. Pleased by his explanation and curios about the controversial book
the Governor General asked for a copy. Rizal promised to give him one. The Governor
General minded Spaniard and knew that Rizal’s life was in danger because the friars were
powerful, he assigned a cultured Spanish lieutenant named Don Jose Taviel de Andrande as
his bodyguard. Governor General Terrero read Noli Me Tangere and found nothing wrong
with it. Nonetheless, he had it banned when reports were submitted to him by the
Commission of Censorship calling for its outright censorship. The banning of the Noli Me
Tangere made it more popular; causing everybody among the masses to read the novel at
night secretly.

The Attacks of Noli Me Tangere

Salvador Fort printed copies of the Commission’s report and Fr. Jose Rodriguez
printed eight pamphlets under general heading “Questions of Supreme Interest (Custiones
de Sumoditues)”. Many Filipinos were forced to buy but they did not believe these Anti-
Rizal pamphlets. The Noli Me Tangere was also attacked by the Spanish academician,
Vicente Barrantes, who was once a ranking official of the Philippines.

Defenders of Noli Me Tangere

The Noli Me Tangere had its great defenders who bravely came out to prove the
merits of the novel and to enlighten the unkind attackers. They were the reformers in
foreign lands like Marcelo H. Del Pilar, Graciano Lopez Jaena, Mariano Ponce, Dr. Antonio,
Ma. Regidor, Professor Ferdinand Blumentritt, Dr. Miguel Morayta, and Don Segismundo
Moret, a former Minister of the Court. Father Sanches of Ateneo upheld and praised the Noli
in public. Rev. Father Vicente Garcia, a Filipino Catholic priest-scholar, a theologian of the
Manila Cathedral and a Tagalog Translator of the famous ‘Imitation of Christ’ by Kempis
wrote a defense of the Noli Me Tangere under the penname Justo Desiderio Magalang. This
was published in Singapore as an appendix to a pamphlet dated July 18, 1888. He blasted
the attacks and arguments of Fr. Rodriguez with the following counterargument:
1. Rizal cannot be an “ignorant man” as Fr. Rodriguez alleged, because he was a
graduate of Spanish universities and was a recipient of scholastic honors.
2. Rizal does not attack the Church and Spain because what Rizal attacked in the Noli
Me Tangere were the bad Spanish officials and not Spain, and the bad corrupt friars
and not the Church.
3. Father Rodriguez said that those who read the Noli Me Tangere committed a
mortal sin. Since he (Fr. Rodriguez) had read the novel therefore he also committed
mortal sin.

Rizal cried with overwhelming gratitude to Father Garcia’s brilliant defense of his
Noli Me Tangere. Rizal wrote a letter to Barrantes to defend himself and to expose
Barrantes’ ignorance of the Philippines affairs and mental dishonesty which is unworthy of
an academician. While the controversy over the Noli was raging in fury, Rizal was
untouched in Calamba because he was with a bodyguard. Because both of them are young,
educated and cultured with same interest so they became friends.

While Rizal was in Calamba, his help was sought by his folks for their grievances
against the hacienda management, and they were calling for the central government to
impose certain reforms. After a thorough study of the conditions of the Calamba hacienda
which the Dominician Order owned since 188, he wrote down his findings which the
tenants and the three officials of the hacienda signed on January 8, 1888, and was
submitted to the governor general for action.
1. The Hacienda of the Dominician order comprised not only the lands around
Calamba but the town of Calamba.
2. The profits of the Dominician order. Continuously increased because of the
arbitrary increase of the rentals being paid by the tenants.
3. the hacienda owner never contributed a single centavo for the celebration of the
town fiesta; for the education of the children and for the improvement of agriculture.
4. Tenants who had spent much labor clearing the lands were ejected from their
lands for flimsy reasons.
5. High rates of interest were charged from the tenants for delayed payment of
rentals and when the rentals could not be paid, their carabaos, tools and homes
were confiscated.
 This report further heightened the anger of the friars, and they pressured the
governor general to deport him. Governor Terrero refused for there is no valid charge
against Rizal in court. Governor General Terrero advised Rizal to leave the Philippines for
his own good and escape the fury of the friars.

1. His presence in Calamba is endangering the safe and happiness of his family and friends.
2. He could fight better his enemies and serve his country’s cause efficiently by writing in
foreign ountries.

Before Rizal left Calamba in 1888, his friends from Lipa requested him to write a
poem to commemorate the town’s elevation to a city (villa) by virtue of the Becerra Law of
1888.

He wrote the poem dedicated to the industrious folks of Lipa entitled Hymn to Labor
(Himno Al trabajo). He finished it and sent it to Lipa before his departure from Calamba.

Himno Al Trabajo. “Hymn to Labor’ (188) which was written on request in

commemoration of Lipa’s elevation from a town to a city. This is an admirable poem
because it originated from one who himself worked hard and worked well. He asked the
people to assume their distinctive roles in promoting their country’s progress through the
dignity of labor and industry.
CHAPTER 6
RIZAL’S RETURN TO EUROPE AND THE NOVEL EL FILIBUSTERISMO

Realizing that Rizal’s family and friends’ safety were at risk; and that his fight against
the Spaniards had better chance of winning if he had to go abroad, he finally decided to sail
back to Europe. Before his departure, he gave the poem dedicated to the industrious
workers of Lipa City was the Himno Al Trabajo (Hymn to Labor).

East Asia
On February 3, 1888, for the second time, Rizal sailed to Hong Kong as a frustrated
being who wanted the utmost reform in his native land. Terrero’s former secretary, Jose
Sainz de Varranda, followed Rizal in the said British colony, and was believed to be
commissioned by the Spanish authorities to spy on the hero. After almost three weeks, on
board the Amerian steamer, Oceanic, he left Hong Kong and sailed to Japan where he was
invited by Secretary Juan Perez Caballero to live at the Spanish Legation. His instinct told
him that it was a bait – a way for the Spanish officials to keep track of his activities. Since it
was economical to stay at the legation and he believed that he had nothing to hide, he
accepted it. Rizal was impressed by the scenic Japan and had keenly observed the life,
customs and culture of the people. He had fallen in love not only with the view but more to
its women, particularly with the 23-years old O-Sei-San (a.k.a Usui Seiko).

Sail to the West

Rizal was almost tempted to settle in Japan with O-Sei-San, but on April 13, 1888,
Rizal boarded the English steamer, Belgic bound for the United States, reaching the land on
April 28. He visited San Francisco, left it on the second day for Oklahoma, then to
Sacramento, then to Reno, and finally to New York. On May 16, 1888 the ship, City of Rome
sailed for Liverpool and where he decided to stay in London until March 1899. Rizal choose
to stay in London so that he could improve his English skills, study and do an annotation of
Antonio Morga’s Sucesos de las Islas Filipinas and because he believed that he wanted for
the Philippines. He stayed at Dr. Antonio Ma. Regidor’s home and boarded at the Beckett
family where he fell in love with Gertrude.

In Great Britain
In London, Rizal received both good news and bad news from home. The good news
was that Rev. Vicente Garcia was defending his Noli from the attacks of the friars. On the
other hand, the bad news was that the Filipino signatories of the “Petition of 1888” and the
tenants of the Calamba agrarian trouble were facing persecution; that his brothers-in law,
Manuel T. Hidalgo and Mariano Herbosa, were exiled to Bohol and was denied Christian
burial, respectively; and his friend, Laureano Viado, a UST medical student, was imprisoned
for possessing a copy of his Noli. During his stay in this country, Rizal also made used of his
time in writing essays and articles for the La Solidaridad. On June 12, 1889, with Filipino
and Spanish friends, they founded the Asociacion Hispano-Filipino which aimed for
unionism and reforms. After ten months, Rizal left London and Departed for Paris.

In France
In Paris, Rizal continued his study on various languages and practiced his artistic
skills, and finished two statues – “The Beggar” and “The Maid With A Basket.” He organized
a social club called Kidlat Club which brought together young Filipinos residing in France.
Soon, the members of the said club founded a new Filipino society – the Indios Bravos, an
organization which envisioned Filipinos being recognized by Spain for being excellent in
various fields of knowledge.
By January 1890, Rizal’s annotation of the Sucesos was finally printed and published
by the Garnier Freres.

In Belgium
With his roommate, Jose Albert, Rizal celebrated Christmas in Paris. Shortly after
New Year, he visited London for the last time and on January 28, 1890, left Paris for
Brussels. With Albert, they left the extravagant and gay social life in Paris and stayed in a
boarding house owned by the Jacoby sisters in Brussels. Rizal continued contributing for La
Solidaridad under the pseudonyms Dimas Alang and Laong Laan. From Calamba, Rizal
received letters telling that the agrarian trouble in the province was getting worse. And as
such, he decided to go home. But instead of going home, a letter from Paciano told him that
they already lost the case against the Dominicans, and they were in need of a lawyer who
would defend their family and the families in Calamba from Madrid. Rizal traveled to
Madrid to seek justice but in vain – he could not find the right person and he heard that his
family was already evicted from their land in Calamba, and other family members were
banished to Mindoro and Manila.

In Spain
Rizal had many misadventures in Madrid. For one, he challenged Antonio Luna and
Wenceslao Retana in a duel. With Luna, it was about the latter’s frustration with his
unsuccessful “love affair” with Nellie Bousted, and so gave negative remarks on the lady
which Rizal did not tolerate. The other encounter was with Retana who had insulted Rizal
and his family by writing La Epoca, an anti-Filipino newspaper, that the Rizal family in
Calamba was evicted from their lands because they did not pay their rents. It is also from
this city where Rizal heard the news of Leonor Rivera’s marriage with Henry Kipping, an
Englishman, which terribly broke his heart.
 Another marked event in Madrid was the Marcelo H. del Pilar-Jose Rizal rivalry for
leadership in the Asociacion Hispano Filipino. A faction emerged from the Filipinos in
Madrid, the Rizalistas and Pilaristas, Rizal and del Pilar’s compatriots, respectively, during
the organization’s election. Losing the election, Rizal decided to go back home, fearing that
his presence may result to bigger and stronger faction among the Filipinos in Madrid. But
instead of going straight to Hong Kong, he went back to Brussels to finish his second novel,
the El Filibusterismo.

El Filibusterismo

Jose Rizal wrote his second novel which was a continuation of the Noli Me
Tangere in Brussels and he finished it in Biarritz, Madrid, inspired by the. Magnificent
place and his romance with Nellie Bousted.
On March 29, 1891, the eve of his departure from Biarritz to Paris, he finished
the manuscript of El Filibusterismo and he completed the revision on May 30, 1891,
ready for printing. He searched for a cheaper printing shop and he did find a publisher
F. MEYER – VAN LOO PRESS, No. 66 Viaanderen Street that published his books in an
installment basis. He pawned his jewels in order to pay the downpayment and early
partial payments during the printing of the novel. He had received some funds from
Basa and Rodriguez Arias. But printing was suspended because of insufficient funds
and the Valentin Ventura in Paris helped him because he learned about Rizal’s
predicament. He immediately sent the necessary funds for printing.
On September 18, 1891, the novel came off the press in Ghent. He immediately
sent copies to Basa, to Sixto Lopez in Hong Kong, to his friends Valentin S. Ventura in
Paris and his friends in the Philippines.
The novel was praised to the skies by Filipino patriots in foreign lands and in
the Philippines. The members of the Filipino colony of Barcelona published a tribute in
La Publicidad, a Barcelona newspaper, eulogizing the novel’s original style which is
comparable only to sublime Alexander Dumas and may well be offered as “a model, a
precious jewel in the decadent literature of Spain”.
The liberal Madrid newspaper, El Nuevo Regimen, serialized the novel in its
issues of October, 1891.
Rizal dedicated El Filibusterismo to the martyrs, Father Gomez, Father Burgos
and Father Zamora. Their martyrdom, which Paciano related to him when he was a
boy in Calamba was never forgotten.

Summary of El Filibusterismo
 Thirteen years after Jose Rizal left the Philippines, Juan Crisostomo Ibarra (the main
character from Noli Me Tangere) returned as Simoun, a rich jeweler sporting a beard and
blue-tinted glasses, and a confidant of the Governor-General of the Philippines Captain-
General. Abandoning his idealism, he became a cynical saboteur, the titular filibustero,
seeking revenge against the Spanish Philippines system responsible for his misfortunes by
a plotting a revolution. Simoun mingled himself into Manila high society and influenced
every decision of the Captain-General to mismanage the country’s affairs so that a
revolution will break out. He cynically sided with the upper classes, encouraging them to
commit abuses against the masses so that the latter would be encouraged to revolt against
the oppressive Spanish colonial regime. This time, he did not attempt to fight the
authorities through legal means, but through violent revolution using the masses. Simoun
had reasons for instigating a revolution. First is to rescue Maria Clara from the convent and
second, to get rid of ills and evils of Philippine society. His true identity is discovered by a
now grown-up Basilio while visiting the grave of his mother, Sisa, as Simoun was digging
near the grave site for his buried treausures. Simoun spared Basilio’s life and asked him to
join in his planned revolution against the government, up the tragic misfortunes of the
latter’s family. Basilio declined the offer as he still hopes that the country’s condition will
improve.

Basilio, at this point, is a graduating student in medicine at the Ateneo Municipal de

Manila. After the death of his mother, Sisa, and the disappearance of his younger brother,
Crispin, Basilio heeded the advice of the dying boatman, Elias, and traveled to Manila to
study. Basilio was adopted by Captain Tiago after Maria Clara entered the convent. With
Captain Tiago’s help, Basilio was able to go to Colegio de San Juan de Letran where, at first,
he is frowned upon by his peers and teachers not only because of the color of his skin but
also because of his shabby appearance which he also experienced at Ateneo. Captain Tiago’s
confessor, Father Irene was making Captain Tiago’s health worse by giving him opium even
as Basilio tried hard to prevent Captain Tiago from smoking it. He and other students
wanted to establish a Spanish Language Academy so that they can learn to speak and write
Spanish language in the Philippines despite the opposition from the Dominican friars of the
University of Santo Tomas. With the help of a reluctant Father Irene as their mediator and
Don Custodio’s decision, the academy was established; however, they will only serve as
caretakers of the school not as the teachers. Dejected and defeated, they hold a mock
celebration at a panciteria while a spy for the friars witnesses the proceedings.

Simoun, for his part, kept in close contact with the bandit group of Kabesang Tales, a
former cabeza de barangay who suffered misfortunes at the hands of the friars. Once a
farmer owning a prosperous sugarcane plantation and a cabeza de barangay (barangay
head), he was forced to give everything to the greedy and unscrupulous Spanish friars. His
son, Tano, who became a civil guard was captured by bandits; his daughter Juli had to work
as a maid to get enough ransom money for his freedom; and his father, Tandang Selo,
suffered a stroke and became mute. Before joining the bandits, Tales took Simoun’s revolver
while Simoun was staying at his house for the night. As a payment, Tales left a locket that
once belonged to Maria Clara. To further strengthen the revolution, Simoun has Quiroga, a
Chinese man hoping to be appointed consul to the Philippines, smuggled weapons into the
country using Quiroga’s bazaar as a front. Simoun wished to attack during a stage play with
all of his enemies in attendance. He however, abruptly aborted the attack when he learned
from Basilio that Maria Clara had died earlier that day in the convent.

A few days after the mock celebration by the students, the people were agitated
when disturbing posters were found displayed around the city. The authorities accused the
students present at the panciteria of agitation and disturbing peace and had them arrested.
Basilio, although not present at the mock celebration, was also arrested. Captain Tiago died
after learning of the incident and as stated in his will – forged by Father Irene, all his
possessions were given to the Church, leaving nothing for Basilio. Basilio was left in prison
as the other students were released. A high official tried to intervene for the release of
Basilio but the Captain-General, bearing grudges against the high official, coerced him to
tender his resignation. Juli, Basilio’s girlfriend and the daughter of Kabesang Tales, tried to
ask Father Camorra’s help upon the advice of an elder woman. Instead of helping Juli
however, Father Camorra tried to rape her as he had long-hidden desires for Juli. Juli, rather
that submits to the will of the friar, jumped over the balcony to her death.

Basilio was soon released with the help of Simoun. Basilio, now a changed man, and
after hearing about Juli’s suicide, finally joined Simooun’s revolution. Simoun then told
Basilio his plan at the wedding of Paulita Gomez and Juanito, Basilio’s hunch-backed
classmate. His plan was to conceal an explosive inside a pomegranate-styled Kerosene lamp
that Simoun will give to the newlyweds as a gift during the wedding reception. The
reception will take place at the former home of the late Captain Tiago, which was now filled
with explosives planted by Simoun. According to Simoun, the lamp will stay lighted for only
20 minutes before it flickers; if someone attempts to turn the wick, it will explode and kill
everyone – important members of civil society and the Roman Catholic Church in the
Philippines / Church hierarchy – inside the house. Basilio had a change of heat and
attempts to warn the people inside, including Isagani, his friend and the former boyfriend
of Paulita. Simoun left the reception early as planned and left a note behind;

“The writing on the Wall”/ “Mene Thecel Phares.”

Juan Crisostomo Ibarra

Initially thinking that it was simply a bad joke by those left behind, Father salvi
recognized the handwriting and confirmed that it was indeed Ibarra’s. As people began to
panic, the lamp flickered. Father Irene tried to turn the wick up when Isagani, due to his
undying love for Paulita, burst in the room and threw the lamp in the river, sabotaging
Simoun’s plans. He escaped by diving into the river as guards chased after him. He later
regreted his impulsive action because he had contradicted his own belief that he loved his
nation more than Paulita and that the explosion and revolution could have fulfilled his
ideals for Filipino society.
Simoun, now unmasked as the perpetrator of the attempted arson and failed
revolution, became a fugitive. Wounded and exhausted after he was shot by the pursuing
Guardia Civil soldiers, he sought shelter at home of Father Florentino, Isagani’s uncle, and
came under the care of Doctor Tiburcio de Espadana, the husband of Dona Victorina, who
has also hiding at the house. Simoun took poison in order for him not to be captured alive
by the authorities. Before he died, he reveal his real identity to Father Florentino while they
exchanged thoughts about the failure of his revolution and why God forsook him. Father
Florentino explained that God did not forsake him and that his plans were not for the
greater good but for personal gain. Simoun, finally accepting Father Florentino’s
explanation, squeezed his hand and died. Father Florentino then took Simoun’s remaining
jewels and threw them into the sea, hoping that they would not be used by the greedy, and
that when the time comes that it would be used for the greater good, when the nation
would be finally deserving liberty for themselves, the sea would reveal the treasures.

Characters of El Filibusterismo

Below are some of the major characteristics in the novel:

1. Simoun – The continuation of the character of Crisostomo Ibarra disguised as a

wealthy jeweler, bent on starting a revolution. Using his wealth, he encouraged the people
who experienced abuse to join him in his rebellion against the church and the government.

2. Basilio – Sisa’s son was adopted by Kapitan Tiago, boyfriend of Juli and an aspiring
doctor.

3. Isagani – poet and Basilio’s best friend; portrayed as emotional and reactive student
leader; Paulita Gomez boyfriend before being dumped for fellow student Juanito Pelaez.

4. Kabesang Tales – Telesforo Juan de Dios, a former cabeza de barangay (barangay

head) who resurfaced as the feared Luzon bandit Matanglawin (Tagalog for “Hawkeye”); his
father, Tandang Selo, died eventually after his own son Tano, who became a guardia civil,
unknowingly shot his grandfather in an encounter.
 5. Don Custodio – Custodio de Salazar y Sanchez de Monteredondo, a famous
“journalist” who was asked by the students about his decision for the Academia de
Castellano. In reality, he was quite an ordinary fellow who married a rich woman in order to
be a member of Manila’s high society.

6. Paulita Gomez – The girlfriend of Isagani and the niece of Dona Victorina, the old
India who passing (racial identity) passes herself off as a Peninsulares/ Peninsular, who was
the wife of the quack doctor Tiburcio de Espadana. In the end, she and Juanito Pelaez were
wed, and she dumped Isagani, believing that she will have no future if she marries him.

8. Juli – Juliana de Dios, the girlfriend of Basilio, and the youngest daughter of Kabesang
Tales.

9. Ben Zayb – Abraham Ibanez is his real name. he is a journalist who thought he was the
“only” one thinking in the Philippines.

10. Placido Penitente – a student of the University of Santo Tomas who was very
intelligent and wise but did not want, if not only by his mother’s plea, to pursue his studies.
He controls his temper against his Physics teacher, Father Millon.

11. Quiroga – a Chinese businessman who dreamt of being a consul of a “Consulate of

China” in the Philippines. He kept Simoun’s weapons inside his house.

12. Tandang Selo – father of Kabesang Tales. He raised the sick and young Basilio after
his mother Sisa had died.

13. Father Fernandez – the priest-friend of Isagani. He promised Isagani kthat he and
the other priests will give in to the student’s demands.

14. Attorney Pasta – one of the great lawyers of mid-Hispanic Manila.

15. Captain-General – (no specific name) – the powerful highest official in the
Philippines.

16. Padre Sibyla – Hernando de la Sibyla, a Filipino friar and now vice-rector of the
University of Santo Tomas.

Comparison of Noli Me Tangere and El Filibusterismo

 Noli Me Tangere and El Filibusterismo vary in many aspects, although they are
written by the same author and are supposed to be dealing with the same story and have
the same characters.

The Noli Me Tangere is a romantic novel. It is a “work of heart” and “a book of

feeling”. It has freshness, color, humor, lightness and wit. Whereas, El Filibusterismo is a
political novel. It is a “work of heal” and a “book of the thought”. It contains bitterness,
hatred, pain, violence and sorrow.

Jose Rizal’s original intention was to make the El Filibusterismo longer than the Noli
Me Tangere. However, El Filibusterismo is shorter than Noli. It contains 38 chapters
whereas 64 chapters of Noli.

There were many opinions as to which the superior novel is – the Noli or the Fili.
Rizal himself considered the Noli as the superior to the Fili as novel. Marcelo H. del Pilar,
and Retana, Rizal’s first Spanish biographer, also believed that Noli is superior. However,
other including Blumentritt, Graciano Lopez Jaena and Dr. Rafael Palma against the Opinion
of Rizal. They believed the Fili is the superior to the Noli. In Lopez Jaena’s letter he said that
the Fili was superior because of its exquisite delicate, literary style, its easy and correct
dialogue, its phareseology, vigorous and elegant and its profound ideas and sublime
thoughts. However, Jaena advised Rizal to write another novel because he was not satisfied
with Fili as political novel.

The issue of which is the superior novel is purely academic. Noli and El Fili are good
novels from the point of view of history. Both depict with realistic colors the actua;
conditions of the Philippines and Filipinos the decadent days pf Spanish rule. Both are
instrumental in awakening the spirit of Filipino nationalism and are responsible in paving
the ground for Philippine Revolution that brought about the downfall of Spain. Neither the
Noli nor the Fili is superior to one another, Mariano Ponce told Rizal that Fili was indeed
excellent novel but it was marvelous like all the brilliant productions of his pen. He also said
that it was a true twin of the Noli.