BUKIDNON STATE UNIVERSITY

Malaybalay City, Bukidnon 8700

Tel (088) 813-5661 to 5663; TeleFax (088) 813-2717, www.buksu.edu.ph

2nd Activity in The Life and Works of Jose Rizal

Name: Vann Harley B. Apoong Date: October 13, 2023

Section: AB-Soc.Sci 3C Subject: The Life and Works of Rizal
Instructor: Cyrel Deocampo Schedule: 1:30 – 3:00 P.M. TF

A Brief Summary of the Noli Me Tangere

Juan Crisostomo Ibarra young Filipino who, after studying for seven years in Europe,
returns to his native land to find that his father, a wealthy landowner, has died in prison
as the result of a quarrel with the parish curate, a Franciscan friar named Damaso.
Ibarra is engaged to a beautiful and accomplished girl, Maria Clara, the supposed
daughter and only child of the rich Don Santiago de los Santos, commonly known as
Tiago.

Ibarra resolves to forego all quarrels and to work for the betterment of his people. To
show his good intentions, he seeks to establish, at his own expense, a public school in
his native town. He meets with ostensible support from all, especially Padre Damaso’s
successor, a young and gloomy Franciscan named Salvi, for whom Maria Clara
confesses to an instinctive dread.

At the laying of the cornerstone for the new schoolhouse, a suspicious accident,
apparently aimed at Ibarra’s life, occurs, but the festivities proceed until the dinner,
where Ibarra is grossly and wantonly insulted over the memory of his father by Fray
Damaso. The young man loses control of himself and is about to kill the friar, who is
saved by the intervention of Maria Clara.

Ibarra is excommunicated, and Capitan Tiago, through his fear of the friars, is forced to
break the engagement and agree to the marriage of Maria Clara with a young and
inoffensive Spaniard provided by Padre Damaso. Obedient to her reputed father’s
command and influenced by her mysterious dread of Padre Salvi, Maria Clara consents
to this arrangement, but becomes seriously ill, only to be saved by medicines sent
secretly by Ibarra and clandestinely administered by a girl friend.

Ibarra succeeds in having the excommunication removed, but before he can explain
matters, an uprising against the Civil Guard is secretly brought about through agents of
Padre Salvi, and the leadership is ascribed to Ibarra to ruin him. He is warned by a
mysterious friend, an outlaw called Elias, whose life he had accidentally saved; but
 BUKIDNON STATE UNIVERSITY
Malaybalay City, Bukidnon 8700
Tel (088) 813-5661 to 5663; TeleFax (088) 813-2717, www.buksu.edu.ph

desiring first to see Maria Clara, he refuses to make his escape, and when the outbreak
page occurs, he is arrested as the instigator of it and thrown into prison in Manila.

A Brief Summary of the Noli Me Tangere cont…..

On the evening when Capitan Tiago gives a ball in his Manila house to celebrate his
supposed daughter’s engagement, Ibarra makes his escape from prison and succeeds in
seeing Maria Clara alone. He begins to reproach her because it is a letter written to her
before he went to Europe which forms the basis of the charge against him, but she clears
herself of treachery to him. The letter had been secured from her by false
representations and in exchange for two others written by her mother just before her
birth, which prove that Padre Damaso is her real father. These letters had been
accidentally discovered in theconventoby Padre Salvi, who made use of them to
intimidate the girl and get possession of Ibarra’s letter, from which he forged others to
incriminate the young man. She tells him that she will marry the young Spaniard,
sacrificing herself thus to save her mother’s name and Capitan Tiago’s honor and to
prevent a public scandal, but that she will always remain true to him.

Ibarra’s escape had been effected by Elias, who conveys him in abankaup the Pasig to
the Lake, where they are so closely beset by the Civil Guard that Elias leaps into the
water and draws the pursuers away from the boat, in which Ibarra lies concealed. On
Christmas Eve, at the tomb of the Ibarras in a gloomy wood, Elias appears, wounded
and dying, to find there a boy named Basilio beside the corpse of his mother, a poor
woman who had been driven to insanity by her husband’s neglect and abuses on the
part of the Civil Guard, her younger son having page disappeared some time before in
theconvento, where he was a sacristan. Basilio, who is ignorant of Elias’s identity, helps
him to build a funeral pyre, on which his corpse and the madwoman’s are to be burned.

Upon learning of the reported death of Ibarra in the chase on the Lake, Maria Clara
becomes disconsolate and begs her supposed godfather, Fray Damaso, to put her in a
nunnery. Unconscious of her knowledge of their true relationship, the friar breaks
down and confesses that all the trouble he has stirred up with the Ibarras has been to
prevent her from marrying a native, which would condemn her and her children to the
oppressed and enslaved class. He finally yields to her entreaties and she enters the
nunnery of St. Clara, to which Padre Salvi is soon assigned in a ministerial capacity.
 BUKIDNON STATE UNIVERSITY
Malaybalay City, Bukidnon 8700
Tel (088) 813-5661 to 5663; TeleFax (088) 813-2717, www.buksu.edu.ph

A Brief Summary of the El Filibusterismo

The protagonist ofEl Filibusterismoa jeweler namedSimoun. He is the new identity ofCrisostomo
Ibarra, in the prequelNoli, escaped from pursuing soldiers. It is revealed that Crisostomo dug
up his buried treasure and fled to Cuba, becoming richer and befriending Spanish officials.

After many years, the newly fashioned Simoun returns to the Philippines, where he is able to
freely move around. He is a powerful figure not only because of his wealth but also because he
is a good friend and adviser of the governor general.

Outwardly, Simoun is a friend of Spain; however, in secret, he is plotting a terrible revenge

against the Spanish authorities. His two obsessions are to rescue his paramourMaria Clarathe
nunnery of Santa Clara and to foment a Philippine revolution against Spain.

The story ofEl Filibusterismo begins on board a steamer ship sailing up the Pasig river from
Manila to Laguna de Bay. Among the passengers are Simoun;Doña Victorina, a pro-Spanish
native woman who is going to Laguna in search of her henpecked husband,Tiburcio de
Espadaña, who has deserted her;Paulita Gomez, her beautiful niece;Ben-Zayb(anagram of
Ibañez), a Spanish journalist who writes silly articles about the Filipinos;Padre Sibyla, vice-
rector of the University of Santo Tomas;Padre Camorra, the parish priest of the town of
Tiani;Don Custodio, a pro-Spanish Filipino holding a position in the government;Padre Salvi,
thin Franciscan friar and former cura of San Diego;Padre Irene, a kind friar who was a friend of
the Filipino students;Padre Florentino, a retired scholarly and patriotic Filipino priest;Isagani, a
poet-nephew of Padre Florentino and a lover of Paulita; andBasilio, son of Sisa and promising
medical student, whose medical education is financed by his patron,Capitan Tiago.

A man of wealth and mystery, Simoun is a very close friend and confidante of the Spanish
governor general. Because of his great influence in Malacañang, he was called the “Brown
Cardinal” or the “Black Eminence”. By using his wealth and political influence, he encourages
corruption in the government, promotes the oppression of the masses, and hastens the moral
degradation of the country so that the people may become desperate and fight. He smuggles
arms into the country with the help of a rich Chinese merchant,Quiroga, who aspires to be
Chinese consul of Manila. His first attempt to begin the armed uprising did not materialize
because at the last hour he hears the sad news that Maria Clara died in the nunnery. In his
agonizing moment of bereavement, he did not give the signal for the outbreak of hostilities.

After a long time of illness brought about by the bitter loss of Maria Clara, Simoun perfects his
plan to overthrow the government. On the occasion of the wedding of Paulita Gomez and
Juanito Pelaez, he gives a wedding gift to them a beautifullamp. Only he and his confidential
associates, Basilio (Sisa’s son who joined his revolutionary cause), know that when the wick of
his lamp burns lower the nitroglycerine, hidden in its secret compartment, will explode,
destroying the house where the wedding feast is going to be held killing all the guests,
including the governor general, the friars, and the government officials. Simultaneously, all the
government buildings in Manila will be blown by Simoun’s followers.
 BUKIDNON STATE UNIVERSITY
Malaybalay City, Bukidnon 8700
Tel (088) 813-5661 to 5663; TeleFax (088) 813-2717, www.buksu.edu.ph

A Brief Summary of the El Filibusterismo Cont…..

As the wedding feast begins, the poet Isagani, who has been rejected by Paulita because
of his liberal ideas, is standing outside the house, sorrowfully watching the merriment
inside. Basilio, his friend, warns him to go away because the lightened lamp will soon
explode. Upon hearing the horrible secret of the lamp, Isagani realizes that his beloved
Paulita is in grave danger. To save her life, he rushes into the house, seizes the lightened
lamp, and hurls it into the river, where it explodes.
The revolutionary plot is thus discovered. Simoun is cornered by the soldiers, but he
escapes. Mortally wounded, and carrying his treasure chest, he seeks refuge in the
home of Padre Florentino by the sea. The Spanish authorities, however, learns of his
presence in the house of Padre Florentino.Perezthe Guardia Civil informs the priest by
letter that he will come at eight o’clock that night to arrest Simoun.
Simoun eludes arrest by taking poison. As he is dying, he confesses to Padre Florentino,
revealing his true identity, his dastardly plan to use his wealth to avenge himself, and
his sinister aim to destroy his friends and enemies.
The confession of the dying Simoun is long and painful. It is already night when Padre
Florentino, wiping the sweat from his wrinkled brow, rises and begins to meditate. He
consoles the dying man saying: “God will forgive you Señor Simoun. He knows that we
are fallible. He has seen that you have suffered, and in ordaining that the chastisement
for your faults should come as death from the very ones you have instigated to crime,
we can see His infinite mercy. He has frustrated your plans one by one, the best
conceived, first by the death of Maria Clara, then by a lack of preparation, then in some
mysterious way. Let us bow to His will and render Him thanks!” Watching Simoun die
peacefully with a clear conscience and at peace with God, Padre Florentino falls upon
his knees and prays for the dead jeweler. The priest then takes the treasure chest and
throws it into the sea.

Activity A. Noli Me Tangere and El Filibusterismo

 BUKIDNON STATE UNIVERSITY
Malaybalay City, Bukidnon 8700
Tel (088) 813-5661 to 5663; TeleFax (088) 813-2717, www.buksu.edu.ph

Instructions: Complete the Table of Comparison below by providing the most important parts
of the Noli Me Tangere and El Filibusterismo. In the second column of the table write the social
realities/issues/problems that are reflected in the important parts you identified. 50 points.

TITLE OF THE NOVEL 5 MOST IMPORTANT SOCIAL

EVENTS/PARTS AS INDICATED IN REALITIES/ISSUES/PROBLEMS
THE SUMMARY REPRESENTED BY THESE EVENTS
OR PARTS

Ibarra resolves to forego all This event shows deprivation on

quarrels and to work for the
betterment of his people. To
show his good intentions, he
seeks to establish, at his own
expense, a public school in his
native town.
NOLI ME TANGERE
the intellectual development of
the people especially the
children. The government should
prioritize the education of its
people especially the children
for its betterment. What
happened during colonization
was the government deprive the
people to have a good education
and so some people seek to
establish a public school at their
own expense like Ibarra.

At the laying of the cornerstone This event insulted Ibarra. It

for the new schoolhouse, a demonstrated inequality. Fray
suspicious accident, apparently Damaso wanted to dominate
aimed at Ibarra’s life, occurs, but over Ibarra’s family. Ibarra
the festivities proceed until the wanted to kill him which showed
dinner, where Ibarra is grossly rebellion on his part.
and wantonly insulted over the
memory of his father by Fray
Damaso. The young man loses
control of himself and is about to
kill the friar, who is saved by the
intervention of Maria Clara.
Ibarra is excommunicated, and This event represented the
Capitan Tiago, through his fear influence of the Catholic church
 BUKIDNON STATE UNIVERSITY
Malaybalay City, Bukidnon 8700
Tel (088) 813-5661 to 5663; TeleFax (088) 813-2717, www.buksu.edu.ph

of the friars, is forced to break over political and social affairs of

the engagement and agree to the people in the community. It
the marriage of Maria Clara with showed that their decisions in
a young and inoffensive Spaniard life were influence on what the
provided by Padre Damaso. friars told them what to do.

She tells him that she will marry This event shows abuse of
the young Spaniard, sacrificing power. Maria Clara was
herself thus to save her mother’s blackmail, she set aside her true
name and Capitan Tiago’s honor feelings in order to please them.
and to prevent a public scandal, It showed that Spanish friars
but that she will always remain wanted to dominate in all aspect
true to him. of their lives.

Unconscious of her knowledge This event represents

of their true relationship, the deprivation of the rights of a
friar breaks down and confesses person and inequality thru
that all the trouble he has stirred preventing a person from
up with the Ibarras has been to marrying a native. It shows that
prevent her from marrying a the friar belittled the native and
native, which would condemn all he wanted for her was to
her and her children to the marry a Spaniard like him. It only
oppressed and enslaved class. means that the Spaniards
thought that Filipinos are in low
profile compared to them and
are not compatible with them.

After many years, the newly This event represents that

fashioned Simoun returns to the money and position are power.
Philippines, where he is able to If you have wealth and
freely move around. He is a connections to government you
powerful figure not only because are powerful. The reality even
of his wealth but also because nowadays is that if you have
he is a good friend and adviser of money and in a position
EL FILIBUSTERISMO
the governor general. everybody will look up to you.

Simoun is cornered by the This event represents excessive

 BUKIDNON STATE UNIVERSITY
Malaybalay City, Bukidnon 8700
Tel (088) 813-5661 to 5663; TeleFax (088) 813-2717, www.buksu.edu.ph
soldiers, but he escapes.
Mortally wounded, and
carrying his treasure chest, he
seeks refuge in the home of
Padre Florentino by the sea.
By using his wealth and political
influence, he encourages
corruption in the government,
promotes the oppression of the
masses, and hastens the moral
degradation of the country so
that the people may become
desperate and fight.
Simoun eludes arrest by taking
poison. As he is dying, he
confesses to Padre Florentino,
revealing his true identity, his
dastardly plan to use his wealth
to avenge himself, and his
sinister aim to destroy his
friends and enemies.
Watching Simoun die peacefully
with a clear conscience and at
peace with God, Padre
Florentino falls upon his knees
and prays for the dead jeweler.
abuse of power. Men in
uniformed thought that they are
powerful just like what had
happened in our country
especially during Martial Law.
Soldiers use their positions to kill
even innocent people showing
that they dominate the country.
This event represents corruption
in government. It shows that
corruption and moral
degradation are present even
from the old times. And even
nowadays, we can observe that
it is still happening in our
country.
This event shows revenge.
Simoun plan to destroy the
colonization of the country from
the Spaniards showing his love
for the country and the people.
All he wanted is to have a
reform. That Filipinos will
dominate their own country and
not the colonizers, not the
Spaniards.
This event is so painful when
Simoun died. It shows pain and
sacrifices fighting against social
injustice and abuses. But all his
sacrifices paved the way for our
independence. It brings message
that we Filipinos should be the
 BUKIDNON STATE UNIVERSITY
Malaybalay City, Bukidnon 8700
Tel (088) 813-5661 to 5663; TeleFax (088) 813-2717, www.buksu.edu.ph

leaders of our own country and

not the colonizers. We can do it
ourselves to achieve peace and
unity.