CHAPTER 6 Sharecropper (kasama) - an individual who rented the land from an
inquilino and worked the land
AGRARIAN DISPUTES
In 1891, José Rizal was in Hong Kong when he received
distressing news about his family who were, at that time, embroiled in a
litigation case concerning the Hacienda de Calamba. He heard that the
Spanish authorities were summoning his mother, Doña Teodora, and two
younger sisters, Josefa and Trinidad, for further investigation. In show of
support, he wrote to his family, "I am following your cavalry step by step.
Do not be afraid, I am doing all I can.... Patience, a little patience.
Courage!"
Scholars and students of history agree that the conflict between his
Family and the Dominicans over the hacienda greatly affected Rizal.
This chapter will attempt to show the historical context behind this
incident that played a pivotal role in Rizal's life. It will first provide a brief
history of friar estates in the Philippines and will then look closely into
The Hacienda de Calamba conflict.
VOCABOLARY
Conquistador - a Spanish conqueror
Caballeria - a small tract of land included in a land grant
Canon -annual rent paid by the inquilino
Cavan - a measure equal to 75 liters
Hacienda -large estates that were used for raising livestock and
agricultural production
Inquilino - a tenant who rented land from the friars and subleased the land
to sharecroppers
Principales - ruling elite class
Sitio de ganado mayor - a large tract of land included in a land grant
Brief History of Friar Estates in the Philippines
The origin of the friar estates can be traced back to land grants
awarded to the early Spanish conquistadores who arrived in the Philippines
during the late sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries. Approximately
120 Spaniards were given grants that were often composed of a large tract
of land known as sitio de ganado mayor (measuring 1,742 hectares) and
smaller tracts of land known as caballerias (measuring 42.5 hectares).
In time, the Spanish hacenderos failed to develop their lands for
three reasons. First, the Spanish population in the Philippines was
transient. It was a common practice for Spanish administrators to return to
Spain after having served in the country. Second, the market for livestock
products, which haciendas offered, remained relatively small until the
latter part of the Spanish colonial period. Third, the Galleon Trade that was
based in Manila offered bigger economic rewards and attracted more
Spaniards. Because the Spanish hacenderos lacked the interest and
inclination to develop their lands, the religious orders soon took over the
task.
Land was acquired by the religious orders through various means.
Often, the lands were donated by Spaniards seeking spiritual benefits.
There were cases, too, in which estates that had been heavily mortgaged to
the ecclesiastics were eventually purchased by the religious orders
themselves. Records reveal that a number of Filipino principales also
contributed to the formation of the friar estates through donations and
sales. Despite these methods, there persisted a commonly held belief
among the Filipinos that the religious orders had no titles to their lands and
that they had acquired these lands through usurpation or other dubious
means. Nevertheless, religious estates in the Tagalog region continued to
grow that by the nineteenth century, they constituted approximately 40
percent of the provinces of Bulacan, Tondo (presently Rizal), Cavite, and
Laguna.
The preoccupation in the estates was varied during the early
centuries of Spanish colonial rule. In the sixteenth and seventeenth
centuries, the estates primarily served as cattle ranches as well as farms of
subsistence crops. Rice and sugar later served as main commodities
produced in the haciendas and became important sources of income for the
religious orders especially during the nineteenth century.
Agrarian relations in the haciendas developed in the time. In the
sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, the social structure found in the
haciendas was primarily composed of lay brother administrators at the top
and cultivating tenants below. Although the lay brother administrators
were under the direct authority of the heads of their religious orders, they
were relatively free to make their own decisions on administrative affairs.
The tenants, on the other hand, were expected to work the land and pay an
annual rent, which was usually a fixed amount of harvest and in later
centuries, money.
By the mid-eighteenth century, an expanding economy based on
exporting agricultural crops ushered in change and gradually put into place
an inquilinato system. Under this system, an individual rented land for a
fixed annual amount, known as canon. Aside from the rent, the inquilino or
lessee was also expected to render personal services to his landlords. If the
inquilino failed to satisfy these requirements, he could face expulsion from
the land. Usually, the inquilino, in turn, would sub-lease the land to a
kasamá or sharecropper who would then take on the task of cultivating the
soil. Thus, a three-tiered system emerged with the landlords at the top, the
inquilinos at the middle, and the sharecroppers at the bottom.
By leasing the land to an inquilino, the religious hacenderos freed
themselves from the social responsibilities borne from a direct interaction
with the sharecroppers since it was now the inquilinos who dealt directly
with the kasamá. The sharecroppers, on the other hand, benefitted from the
arrangement because their labor obligations to the religious estates allowed
them to be exempted from the responsibilities of forced labor demanded
by the Spanish government. The downside to this type of arrangement,
however, was that two non-cultivating groups further diminished the
income of the sharecroppers. After the inquilino paid his rent to the
religious hacenderos and deducted his own share, the remaining amount of
income would then be divided among all the sharecroppers.
The change in the social structure and land tenure practices would
eventually render the haciendas as sites of contestation among the Spanish
religious hacenderos, the inquilinos, and the sharecroppers. It is not
surprising, then, that when the Philippine Revolution broke out in 1896,
the abuses in the friar estates were often identified as one of the main
causes that instigated the revolt.
Hacienda de Calamba Conflict
Not much is known about the Hacienda de Calamba prior to 1759
other than it was owned by several Spanish laymen. In 1759, a destitute
Spanish layman, Don Manuel Jauregui, donated the lands to the Jesuits on
the condition that he would be allowed to live in the Jesuit monastery for
the rest of his life. The Jesuits would claim ownership to the land for a
mere eight years before they were expelled from the Philippines through a
decree issued by King Charles III on February 27, 1767. As a result of the
expulsion, Hacienda de Calamba, along with other Jesuit properties, were
confiscated by the government and put under the management of the
Office of Jesuit Temporalities.
In 1803, the government sold the property to a Spanish layman,
Don Clemente de Azansa, for 44,507 pesos. When he died in 1833, the
Hacienda de Calamba, which measured 16,424 hectares, was purchased by
the Dominicans for 52,000 pesos. By this time, many families from
neighboring towns had migrated to the hacienda in search of economic
opportunities. Among the families that arrived at the hacienda were Rizal's
ancestors, who eventually became one of the principal inquilinos in the
hacienda.
Although the lands in Calamba were leased to several families,
was Rizal's family that rented one of the largest leased lands, measuring
approximately 380 hectares. Sugar was a main commodity planted in the
hacienda as there was a demand for the crop in the world market. Much of
the wealth of Rizal's family came from these lands; hence, it is but natural
that when the conflict began to manifest itself as early as 1883, there was
much for the family to be concerned about.
In 1883, Paciano Rizal wrote that the friars were collecting rents
without issuing the usual receipts. Two years later, the tenants failed to pay
their rents because the rent had supposedly increased while sugar prices
had remained low. To punish the tenants for not paying the rent, the
Dominicans declared the lands vacant and invited residents of other towns
to take over the tenancies. Because only a few outsiders responded to the
Dominican's invitation, the friars weakened their position. Most tenants,
except for four or five, were spared from eviction.
The charges against the friars continued with Rizal's brother- in-
law, Mariano Herboso, specifically complaining about the yearly increase
in rentals, faulty irrigation systems, and failure to issue receipts. Coupled
with these problems was the fact that at this time, the price of sugar
continued to decline in the world market. The situation became so dire that
Paciano, at one point, considered giving back his lands to the friars and
clearing land elsewhere.
Problems continued to escalate when in 1887, the colonial
government demanded from the tenants of the hacienda a report on the
income and production of the estate because they suspected that the
Dominicans were evading payment of their taxes. The tenants complied
and submitted a report, but they also attached a petition authored by José
Rizal. The petition presented a list of grievances against the hacienda
owners including a complaint on the increasing amount of rent. To show
resistance, some of the tenants began to withhold rents.
As a form of retaliation, the friars began to evict tenants who
refused to pay rent in 1891. Those who persisted still in resisting the friars
were eventually expelled. Among those who were exiled to remote areas in
the country were Rizal's parents, brother, and sisters. Although Rizal had
worked on reversing the decision of the Philippine courts, his family's
exile would only be lifted upon the issuance of a decree from another
governor-general. The experience affected Rizal deeply and the increasing
despair he felt from the event would be reflected in his second novel, El
Filibusterismo.
Tenant Grievances and Rizal's Petition
Read the following excerpt from "Petition of the Town of Calamba"
written by José Rizal in January 1888. Answer the worksheet found at the
end of the text.
From the declaration of the tenants interviewed, it turns out that the
products of the Estate-if by-products are to be understood everything that
the land produces-have increased for the Estate and diminished remarkably
for the tenants, not only in the years that have passed but also in the last
three, as the enclosed account proves. Such a statement needs to be
explained. The products increase to the benefit of the Estate:
(1) Because the wild forests which are given to the tenants for a low rent at
the beginning according as the tenants clear and clean them, investing
large capital in them, according as the fortune of the farmer becomes
involved in them, the contract is arbitrarily altered by the Estate, the rent
rises enormously, there being a case when 45 pesos became 900 in a few
years through an annual forced imposition.
(2) Because some lands pay twice for two harvests of rice, where some
bamboo groves are found, the farmer pays for the land and for each
bamboo grove besides, regardless of whether it is useless or it has been
felled. In the lands where huts have been erected for the workers, one has
to pay for the lots and the huts besides.
(3) Because the rent of the town lots where houses or warehouses are
erected increases every time an official or servant of the Estate measures
them. There seems to exist either a supernatural power that invisibly
extends the land or a natural power that shortens the measure of the
official, who after all is neither an expert nor a surveyor, though he is very
venal indeed. Without this trick, the rent is also raised when the tenant
makes improvement in the lot, or when he replaces the bamboo fence with
a stone one, or builds a wooden house, for comfort and public
embellishment; therefore, many do not improve their dwellings even if
they have the means to do so...
(4) Because ricefields that are planted with only 3 or 4 cavanes of seed,
pay as if they have a capacity for 9.5 and 14 cavanes, on pain of being
declared vacant and given to others... The products for the tenants have
decreased considerably in spite of continuous labor, not only before but
also these last years as proven by the large number of ruined farmers,
indebted and dispossessed of their property... On the other hand, the
desperate ones who wish to return a parcel of land that is unproductive will
not be allowed to do so and they face ruin as they will be threatened of
being despoiled of all their other parcels. It arouses suspicion that they do
not want to write in the receipts the amount paid as rental and the total
absence of any record, especially in these last years...
CHAPTER 7
EMERGING NATIONALISM
When Rizal published El Filibusterismo in 1891, he dedicated the book to
the three martyred priests, Mariano Gomez, Jose Burgos, and Jacinto
Zamora. In his dedication, he wrote:
I have the right to dedicate my work to you as victims of the evil which I
undertake to combat. And while we await expectantly upon Spain someday
to restore your good name and cease to be answerable for your death, let
these pages serve as a tardy wreath of dried leaves over your unknown
tombs, and let it be understood that everyone who without clear proofs
attacks your memory stains his hands in your blood!
Although Rizal was only 10 years old when the three priests were
Although Rizal executed, the events of 1872 would play a decisive role in
shaping Rizal's ideas and decisions. This chapter will focus on these
events, particularly the Cavite Mutiny and the execution of the three
priests. Gomez, Burgos, and Zamora.
VOCABULARY
Episcopal visitation - an official pastoral visit conducted by the bishop on
a diocese to examine the conditions of a congregation; often done once
every three years
Garrote - an apparatus used for capital punishment in which an iron collar
is tightened around a condemned person's neck
Polo - system of forced labor that required Filipino males from 16 to 60
years old to render service for a period of 40 days
Regular clergy -priests who belong to religious orders
Secular clergy - priests who do not belong to religious orders and are
engaged in pastoral work
Tribute - system of taxation imposed by the Spanish colonial government
on the Filipinos in order to generate resources for the maintenance of the
colony
Cavite Mutiny
On January 20, 1872, approximately 250 Filipino soldiers and
workers rose in revolt at an arsenal in Cavite. Eleven Spaniards were killed
during the mutiny, but an immediate assault led by government forces put
an end to the uprising after three days.
An oft-cited reason for the mutiny was a decree released by
Governor-General Rafael de Izquierdo. The decree ordered that the arsenal
workers would no longer be exempt from the tributo and polo, a privilege
they had enjoyed in the past. Official accounts, however, argued that the
revolt was part of a larger movement with the aim of overthrowing the
Spanish government and asserting independence.
Official reports also claimed that the leaders of the mutiny had
expected the support of close to 2,000 men from regiments based both in
Cavite and in Manila. The plan was to begin the revolt after midnight in
Manila with rebels setting fires in Tondo to distract the authorities. A
signal by way of fireworks would then be sent to the rebels in Cavite who
would then lay siege to the arsenal. In reality, however the mutiny in
Cavite began earlier in the evening and many of those who pledged
support defected and vowed loyalty to Spain. Ultimately, the mutiny failed
and the Spanish government used the incident as a means to suppress the
increasing calls for a more liberal administration.
Among those who clamored for reforms were Filipino secular
priests. To understand how the Filipino secular priests became involved in
the Cavite Mutiny of 1872, a brief historical background on missionary
efforts in the Philippines shall first be discussed.
Secularization Movement
The introduction and the strengthening of the Catholic faith were
largely through the efforts of two types of clergy: the regular priests and
the secular priests. The regular clergy, whose jurisdiction fell on their
elected prelates, were better prepared for missionary work because of their
standards of discipline and asceticism. Their job, then, was to introduce the
faith, convert the natives, and establish religious communities. In the
Philippines, five religious orders took on this task: the Augustinians who
arrived in 1565, the Discalced Franciscans who arrived in 1578, the Jesuits
who arrived in 1581, the Dominicans who arrived in 1587, and the
Augustinian Recollects who arrived in 1606.
The secular clergy, on the other hand, were priests who "live in the
world." They were under the authority of bishops and not members of a
religious order. Their primary task was the management of the religious
communities and ideally, the continuation of the work already laid down
by the regular clergy. In other words, while it was the task of the regular
clergy.
The second issue had to do with the management of the parishes.
Regular priests maintained control over the parishes in the early stages of
Christianization out of necessity because of the scarcity of secular priests
to whom the parishes would be passed However, beginning in the late
seventeenth century, efforts were intensified to produce and train Filipino
secular priests that by the nineteenth century, they constituted an
increasingly significant number. Despite this, the regular clergy usually
contested, if not outright refused, the rights of the secular clergy to the
parishes.
One reason provided by the regulars was that the Philippines still
remained an active mission, en viva conquista espiritual, with some groups
not yet Christianized. They would, therefore, that the Filipinos were not
ready to be turned over to the secular clergy. Another reason was more
economic in nature with the regulars refusing to give up the parishes that
generated large profits for them. However, an overwhelming reason why
the regulars refused to give up the parishes had to do with their view that
the Filipino secular clergy were unqualified and Incompetent. Even worse,
some viewed the seculars as potential leaders of any future separatist
movement.
The secular clergy would react strongly to these claims. In the
mid-nineteenth century, Fr. Mariano Gomez, parish priest of Bacoor, and
Fr. Pedro Pelaez, secretary to the archbishop, drew up expositions to the
government on behalf of the secular clergy, but their efforts proved futile.
The struggle eventually took on a different tone towards the 1860s as the
issue of secularization was no longer limited to questions of merit and
competence. By 1864, the nature of the issue became one of racial equality
as well. At the forefront of this struggle to gain equality between Spanish
and Filipino priests was P. Jose Burgos.
Execution of Gomez, Burgos, and Zamora
As a result of the revolt in Cavite, several priests and laymen were
arrested on the orders of Governor-General Izquierdo, Among the priests
arrested in the succeeding days were Fathers Jose Burgos, Jacinto Zamora,
Jose Guevara, Mariano Gomez, Feliciano Gomez, Mariano Sevilla,
Bartolome Serra, Miguel de Laza, Justo Guazon, Vicente del Rosario,
Pedro Dandan, and Anacleto Desiderio. Among the laymen were lawyers
and businessmen: Gervacio Sanchez, Pedro Carillo, Maximo Inocencio,
Balbino Mauricio, Ramon Maurente, Maximo Paterno, and Jose Basa.
These Filipinos were sentenced to varying terms of exile in Guam. The
three priests, Burgos, Gomez, and Zamora, on the other hand, were
condemned to death by garrote on February 15, 1872.
A French writer-journalist named Edmund Plauchut gave an account of the
execution:
Late in the night of the 15th of February 1872, a Spanish court martial
found three secular priests, Jose Burgos, Mariano Gomez and Jacinto
Zamora, guilty of treason as the instigators of a mutiny in the Cavite navy-
yard a month before, and sentenced them to death. The judgment of the
court martial was read to the priests in Fort Santiago early the next
morning and they were told it would be executed the following day... Upon
hearing the sentence, Burgos broke into sobs, Zamora lost his mind and
never recovered, and only Gomez listened impassively, an old man
accustomed to the thought of death.
When dawn broke on the 17th of February, there were almost forty
thousand of Filipinos (who came from as far as Bulacan, Pampanga,
Cavite and Laguna) surrounding the four platforms where the three priests
and the man whose testimony had convicted them, a former artilleryman
called Saldua, would die.
The three priests followed Saldua: Burgos "weeping like a child," Zamora
with vacant eyes, and Gomez head held high, blessing the Filipinos who
knelt at his feet, heads bared and praying. He was next to die. When his
confessor, a Recollect friar, exhorted him loudly to accept his fate, he
replied: "Father, I know that not a leaf falls to the ground but by the will of
God. Since He wills that I should die here, His holy will be done."
Zamora went up the scaffold without a word and delivered his body to the
executioner; his mind had already left it.
Burgos was the last, a refinement of cruelty that compelled him to watch
the death of his companions. He seated himself on the iron rest and then
sprang up crying: "But what crime have I committed? Is it possible that I
should die like this. My God, is there no justice on earth?"
A dozen friars surrounded him and pressed him down again upon the seat
of the garrote, pleading with him to die a Christian death. He obeyed but,
feeling his arms tied round the fatal post, protested once again: "But I am
innocent!"
"So was Jesus Christ," said one of the friars. At this Burgos resigned
himself. The executioner knelt at his feet and asked his forgiveness. "I
forgive you, my son. Do your duty." And it was done.
Although the public execution of the three priests was meant to instill fear
in the Filipinos, it had the opposite effect. In his work, La Revolucion
Filipina, Apolinario Mabini stated:
The friars wanted to make an example of Burgos and his companions so
that the Filipinos should be afraid to go against them from then on. But
that patent injustice, that official crime, aroused not fear but hatred of the
friars and of the regime that supported them, and a profound sympathy
and sorrow for the victims. This sorrow worked a miracle: it made the
Filipinos realize their condition for the first time. Conscious of pain, and
thus conscious of life, they asked themselves what kind of a life they lived.
The awakening was painful, and working to stay alive more painful still,
but one must live. How? They did not know, and the desire to know, the
anxiety to learn, overwhelmed and took possession of the youth of the
Philippines. The curtain of ignorance woven diligently for centuries was
rent at last: fiat lux, let there be light, would not be long in coming, the
dawn of a new day was nearing.
Rizal and Gomburza
Read the following excerpt from a letter José Rizal wrote to Mariano
Ponce. Answer the questions that follow.
Without 1872 there would not be now either a Plaridel, or Jaena, or
Sanciangco, or would there exist brave and generous Filipino colonies in
Europe; without 1872 Rizal would be a Jesuit now and instead of writing
Noli Me Tángere, would have written the opposite. At the sight of those
injustices and cruelties, while still a child, my imagination was awakened,
and I swore to devote myself to avenge one day so many victims, and with
this idea mind I have been studying and this can be read in all my works
and writings. God will someday give me an opportunity to carry out my
promise. Good! May they commit abuses, let there be imprisonments,
banishments, executions, good. Let Destiny be fulfilled! The day they lay
their hands on us, the day they martyrize innocent families for our faults,
goodbye, friar government, and perhaps, goodbye Spanish government!
CHAPTER 8
IMAGING A NATION
Towards the end of the nineteenth century, economic conditions in
the Philippines had improved in such a way that it was possible for many
creole and mestizo families to send their sons to school not only in Manila,
but also in Europe. The young Filipino students' sojourn to the Peninsula
would awaken in their minds ideas about progress and love for their
motherland.
Nineteenth century Spain was also going through several
processes of change. Politically speaking, the Restoration put back into
place the monarchy of Alfonso XII and established a constitutional
monarchy with a bicameral legislature. The Constitution of 1876 ensured
that political stability relied on the rotation of the Liberal and Conservative
parties in the government. The parliamentary system of two parties,
however, was weakened by managed elections and numerous turnovers of
government employees.
The young Filipino students also observed position of the Church
in Spain. While the Constitution of 1876 declared Catholicism as the
religion of the state, private practice of other religions was tolerated. More
significantly, the Church had little influence on political matters.
The environment where the Filipinos immersed themselves,
therefore, was one where ideas of progress could be expressed and
exchanged freely. Political and religious institutions could be questioned
and attacked without fear of reprisal. It was an environment that allowed
these young Filipino students to think, question, and imagine what a nation
is.
VOCABULARY
Cortes - the legislative or lawmaking body of the Spanish government
Creole - a Spaniard born in the Philippines
Mestizo -an individual born of mixed ancestry; may refer to a Spanish
mestizo or a Chinese mestizo
Propaganda - information used to promote or publicize a particular cause
or point of view
Restoration - refers to the Spanish Restoration; a period in Spanish
history spanning the years 1874-1931 that saw the restoration of the
monarchy under Alfonso XII together with the establishment of a
bicameral legislature
The earliest attempt to unite Filipinos studying in Spain was the
formation of the Circulo Hispano-Filipino, an organization under the
leadership of a creole, Juan Atayde. It had the support of Spaniards who
were sympathetic towards the Filipinos. The Circulo published a bi-weekly
newspaper titled Revista del Circulo Hispano-Filipino in 1882, but the
newspaper and the organization itself were short-lived and lasted only until
1883.
Despite the demise of the Revista del Circulo Hispano- Filipino,
the Filipinos in Spain continued to write and engage in journalism. In
1883, a periodical called Los Dos Mundos came out with the intention of
demanding for the overseas Hispanic colonies equality of rights and equal
opportunities for Although it could not be determined whether the
newspaper was a Filipino project, Filipinos such as Graciano Lopez Jaena
and Pedro Govantes y Azcarraga were involved as staff members. Other
Filipinos including Rizal and Eduardo de Lete also contributed articles
concerned with socio-political and economic reforms in the Philippines.
During the time Rizal's first novel, Noli me Tángere, came out in
1887, another newspaper titled España en Filipinas began its publication
through the support of Filipinos, creoles, and mestizos in Madrid. The
newspaper was short-lived as well because of glaring differences and
internal feuding among its staff. With the end of the newspaper emerged a
stronger Filipino community united in its purpose to continue working for
Filipino rights. By January 1889, the Filipino community in Barcelona
began preparations for the publication of a new periodical. Among the
early supporters who helped with finances were Mariano Ponce and Pablo
Rianzares. On the other hand, Graciano Lopez Jaena offered his services as
editor. Marcelo H. del Pilar, having arrived from Manila at this time, also
joined the efforts.
The newspaper, La Solidaridad, released its first issue on February
15, 1889. In its first article, the staff defined its program as, "to combat all
reaction, to impede all retrogression, to applaud and accept every liberal
idea, to defend all progress." Among the reforms the newspaper sought
were: Philippine representation in the Cortes, freedom of the press, and the
end of the practice of exiling residents without due process. The periodical
placed particular emphasis on affairs dealing with the Philippines because
of all Spain's overseas provinces, it was the only one that lacked
parliamentary representation.
La Solidaridad often ran articles dealing with Spanish politics,
attacks on friars, and reforms for the Philippines. Sections were also
assigned to accommodate and print letters from foreign correspondents, all
speaking of situations on the ground. Aside from the political and
economic content, the periodical gave space for the publication of literary
works as well.
 Support for the newspaper gradually increased and its roster of
writers grew. Among those who eventually contributed articles were José
Rizal, Dominador Gomez, Jose Maria Panganiban, Antonio Luna, and
renowned Filipinist scholar Ferdinand Blumentritt. Other Filipinos who
contributed articles did so using assumed names.
In time, del Pilar gradually took on the active role of running the
paper. Lopez Jaena, although editor in name, spent most of his days in
cafes and was known to be incapable of sustained work. By the time del
Pilar decided to move to Madrid, the paper went with him. The first issue
printed in Madrid came out on November 15, 1889. A month later, the
periodical announced its change of editorship with del Pilar now taking the
helm.
By 1890, two of the most prominent members of the Filipino
community in Spain began to increasingly show differences in stance with
regard to Philippine affairs. Rizal always held the opinion that to serve the
country better, one had to bring the issues closer to home. One had to
speak to the Filipinos, rather than the Spaniards. Del Pilar, on the other
hand, was a skillful politician who felt that efforts at persuading the
Spanish leaders and officials needed to be continued and that this was the
best way to achieve the reforms Filipinos were seeking.
Things came to a head when at a New Year's Eve banquet in 1891,
the Filipinos in Madrid proposed that they elect a leader to unite their
community. Rizal agreed with the proposal while del Pilar expressed initial
misgivings. Nevertheless, the voting took place resulting in three
inconclusive ballots on the first day and two more inconclusive ballots the
next day. Rizal did eventually win the position as Filipino leader but only
through the manipulations of Mariano Ponce. In the end, Rizal felt his
triumph was shallow and left Madrid a few weeks later. From this point
onwards, Rizal stopped from contributing articles to La Solidaridad and
focused instead on the writing of his novels.
The periodical continued to publish only until 1895. Because of
lack of funds and internal feuding, the newspaper released its final issue on
November 15, 1895. In its final issue, its editor, del Pilar, had written, "We
are persuaded that no sacrifices are too little to win the rights and the
liberty of a nation that is oppressed by slavery."
Aims of La Solidaridad
Read the following excerpt from the article, "Our Aims," written by the
staff of La Solidaridad on February 15, 1889. Answer the questions that
follow.
Our Aims
Modest, very modest indeed are our aspirations. Our program aside from
being harmless is very simple; to fight all reaction, to hinder all steps
backward, to applaud and to accept all liberal ideas, and to defend
progress; in brief, to be a propagandist above all of ideals o of democracy
so that these might reign over all nations here and beyond the seas.
The aims of La Solidaridad are defined: to gather, to collect liberal ideas
which are daily exposed in the camp ear of politics, in the fields of science,
arts, letters, commerce, agriculture, and industry.
We shall also discuss all problems which deal with the general interest of
the nation, seeking solutions that are purely national and democratic...
We shall pay special attention to the Philippines because those islands
need the most help having been deprived of representation in the Cortes.
We shall thus fulfill our patriotic duty in the defense of democracy in those
islands.
The nation of eight million souls should not and must not be the exclusive
patrimony of theocracy and conservatism...
Indifference to our Archipelago will not be so good for Spain's integrity in
the Philippines. The country is attuned to progress. The heart of the nation
longs for legitimate hopes of a better life and we do not believe in any
political theory which would discuss such pleas with the classic "We shall
see."
We believe therefore that by offering to study the problems mentioned
above and those relating to them, we shall be, in our humble way, of
service to the nation and her institutions.
CHAPER 9
NOLI ME TANGERE CONTEXT AND CONTENT
José Rizal's first novel, Noli Me Tangere, is considered one of the
most important written outputs by the national hero at the height of his
intellectual endeavors in Europe. In this novel, Rizal mustered his
academic acumens as he tapped his knowledge of various fields and wove
a narrative that aimed to represent, if not expose, the realities of nineteenth
century colonial life in the Philippines k Many appreciate the Noli for its
narrative that takes the readers, through the eyes of its characters, on a
journey of love and deception, struggles and triumphs; and in the process,
presents pressing questions about power and social inequalities.
This chapter will explore the context of the publication of the Noli.
The novel's major elements will also be appraised from its main characters
and settings and its plot and major conflicts will be tackled.
VOCABULARY
Novel - a long written story most often about fictional events and
characters
Setting (in a novel) - the context in which the events take place; covers
geographical areas in particular periods of time
Plot - the flow of the narrative in a story
The Publication of the Noli
As a sojourner in Europe, Rizal participated in the movement of
the ilustrados to utilize propaganda to campaign for reforms in the
Philippines. Utilizing their intellectual prowess, the ilustrados released
various written outputs from news bits, to feature articles, and
commentaries. They also produced creative outputs from satirical pieces to
world-class paintings. Within this artistic and literary collection, Rizal's
exemplary mastery of words was clearly evident in one of his most
celebrated works, his first novel, Noli Me Tangere.
The idea of publishing a book was not alien to Rizal. In a meeting
of the ilustrados in 1884, he proposed to write a book project to be done
collaboratively with his fellow writers. Unfortunately, the project did not
materialize. He eventually decided to write a novel on his own. He started
work on the project in 1884 and completed it in 1887.
Many of his biographers cite several works that influenced Rizal
in the writing of the Noli. One of these is Juan Luna's painting,
Spoliarium, which depicted the sufferings faced by humanity in the face of
inequalities. Another is Uncle Tom's Cabin, a novel by Harriet Beecher
Stowe that dealt with slavery in America.
Rizal finished the first half of the novel in Spain, supposedly the
other half in France, then completed the draft in 1886. The novel was
published the following year in Germany. Lack of funds delayed the book's
publication until a fellow ilustrado, Maximo Viola, insisted on lending him
300 pesos for the printing of the first 2,000 copies. By 1887, Rizal was
already sending out copies of the Noli to his friends and the book began to
take flight.
Motivations behind Writing the Noli
The title, Noli Me Tangere, had Biblical reference to the Gospel of
John in which Jesus appeared to Mary Magdalene and uttered these words:
"Touch me not, for I am not yet ascended to my Father." The choice of title
according to Rizal was because he intended to write about themes that
were taboo in the Philippines for centuries; things that people dared not
touch. According to his biographers, Rizal first planned to write his novel
in French, considered to be the language of the intellectuals in Europe at
that time. He, however, shifted to Spanish because he intended to reach out
to his countrymen in the Philippines. Rizal explained: "I must wake from
its slumber the spirit of my country... I must first propose to my
countrymen an example with which they can struggle against their bad
qualities, and afterwards, when they have reformed, many writers would
rise up to present my country to proud Europe" (qtd. in Schumacher, 1991,
p. 93)
In the initial pages of the Noli, the dedication titled "A Mi Patria"
clearly articulated Rizal's purpose for writing the novel:
To my Motherland
In the annals of human adversity, there is etched a cancer, of a breed so
malignant that the least contact exacerbates it, and stirs in it the sharpest
of pains. A thus, many times amidst modern cultures I have wanted to
evoke you, sometimes for memories of you to keep me company, other
times, to compare you with other nations-many times your beloved image
appears to me afflicted with a social cancer of similar malignancy.
Desiring your well-being, which is our own and searching for the best
cure, I will do with you as the ancients of old did with their afflicted,
expose them on the steps of the temple so that each one who would come
to invoke the Divine would propose a cure for them.
And to this end, I will attempt to faithfully reproduce condition without
much ado. I will lift part of the shroud that conceals your illness,
sacrificing to the truth everything, even my own self-respect, for, as your
son, I also suffer in your defects and failings.
Jose Rizal, 1886
The project of writing the Noli, as stated, was geared towards exposing the
ills of Philippine colonial society under Spain. Thus, through the passages
within the Noli, readers also get glimpses of how Rizal saw his country.
Plot
The story of the Noli Me Tangere followed the life of Juan
Crisostomo Ibarra after he returned to the Philippines from studying in
Europe. The novel opened with Capitan Tiago preparing a homecoming
gathering for the young ilustrado. Throughout the pages of the novel, the
characters could be seen navigating the complex realities of colonial
Philippines. Ibarra was shown to be rekindling links with his betrothed
Maria Clara. But not everything was fine and dandy for Ibarra. Upon his
return, he learned about the ills that plagued his town as well as the abuses
of the friars to which his late father fell victim to. Ibarra found an
antagonist in Padre Damaso, the former curate of San Diego who ordered
that the corpse of his father be exhumed and reburied in the Chinese
cemetery.
Despite these personal travails, Ibarra persevered to fulfill the plan
of building a school in San Diego, staying true to his belief that education
was crucial for his nation's progress. Ibarra almost got killed had it not for
Elias, a boatman, who saved him. Elias also previously cautioned Ibarra
about his actions that could anger the friars. After the incident, Ibarra
organized a luncheon.
CHAPTER 10
Here, another confrontation occurred between Ibarra and anger,
NOLI ME TANGERE, CONTINUING RELEVANCE
Ibarra took a knife against Damaso's neck and threatened to Damaso who
attended the luncheon uninvited. In a fit of a slit his throat as he told While the Noli Me Tangere triggered social conversations in the
everyone of the abuses committed by Damaso and the desecration he did late nineteenth century Philippines, it is important to note how the novel
to Ibarra's father. Maria Clara calmed Ibarra and prevented him from continues to resonate beyond its time. The success of Rizal's novel also
killing the friar. Damaso, in an act of revenge, persuaded Capitan Tiago, rests on its timelessness in terms of present-day social issues and
the father of Maria Clara, to not allow his daughter to marry Ibarra. political/economic realities. In this chapter, Noli's legacy and continuing
relevance will be explained as a text not only in the field of literature but
After some time, a revolt was blamed on Ibarra, which caused his
also in the areas of history and the social sciences. The chapter will also
incarceration. With the help of Elias, he escaped and went to see Maria
look at Rizal as a social scientist who espoused early articulations of a
Clara who was soon marrying the man her father chose for her. In a
social-scientific manner of understanding and presenting the way of life, in
heartbreaking confrontation, Ibarra and Maria Clara exchanged
this case, within a colonial context. The lesson will start with a discussion
accusations and in the process, it was revealed that Damaso was the true
of the incarnations of the Noli as it was published after Rizal's time. This
father of Maria Clara.
will be followed by a section on the study of colonial society.
As turmoil and confusion engulfed the town, Maria Clara thought
Ibarra had been killed. This caused her endless grief. She asked to be
confined to a nunnery lest she take her own life. It was later revealed that VOCABULARY
Ibarra was not dead and that Elias was the one fatally shot. In the latter
passages, the dying Elias was waiting for Ibarra but instead, met and talked Censorship - the suppression of the release or publication of material
to the young Basilio. He instructed the orphaned boy (his mother Sisa, who deemed inappropriate, obscene, politically unacceptable, or a threat to
became insane looking for her young sons, had died) to find the treasure of security
Ibarra buried in the cemetery and use it to get an education. He reminded Critique - an evaluation, analysis, or assessment of a literary,
Basilio to never lose hope and if one day, freedom and progress would philosophical, or scientific work
come to his country, to not forget those who labored in the night.
Sociology - the social science dealing with the study of the development,
Within this general contour of the narrative, Rizal wove a complex structures, and functioning of human society
story and subplots. Reading through the novel, different characters and
their corresponding stories unfolded as told through the voice of an unseen Noli After Its First Publication
narrator. Truly, the pages of the Noli reflected the lives of people living in
At present, Noli Me Tangere is considered by many as a landmark
the complicated world of colonial Philippines.
piece of literature. In his account of the literary history of the Philippines,
scholaR Resil Mojares even went to the extent of naming Rizal as the
father of the Filipino novel (Testa-De Ocampo, 2011). As already
discussed in the previous chapter, the themes of the novel revolved around
societal issues experienced in the Philippines under the Spanish colonial
rule. As such, the novel did not go unnoticed and became a subject of
discussion and debate.
In the immediate months and years after its release in 1887, the
Noli generated reactions from readers, Filipinos and foreigners alike.
Responses ranged from praise to outright ridicule. One sector that
espoused utmost disdain for the novel was the Spanish clergy as well as
some Spanish colonial officials. It is thus understandable that Spanish
friars vehemently prohibited the circulation of the novel in 1887 when
Fray Salvador Font, chair of the censorship commission, outlawed the
reading and possession of Rizal's novel. Many other friars assessed and
judged the book as pernicious. They enjoined devout Catholics not to read
the novel to avoid committing capital sins. Not only confined in the
Philippines, critiques of the novel coming from Spanish officials and
academics also circulated in Spain. One staunch critic of the novel was the
Spanish academic/Vicente Barrantes/who wrote several articles in Spanish
newspapers ridiculing Rizal as a "man of contradictions." Barrantes
lamented that Rizal's lambasting of the friars and the Spaniards was
reflective of the author and telling more about the Filipinos.
As much as Rizal's critics came from various sectors, his novel
also found ardent defenders among his peers. Many of his colleagues in
the Propaganda Movement praised his novel. One example is Marcelo H.
del Pilar who even wrote essays in response to critics of the Noli Rizal's
friend, Ferdinand Blumentritt, also an academic, also expressed support for
the novel.
As the Noli stirred controversy in social circles in nineteenth
century Philippines, it is remarkable to realize that even beyond its time,
the novel continued to be a subject of debate and discussion. In the
immediate years after its publication, the Noli was translated into several
languages/One of the earliest translations of the novel was done in French
Many scholars posit that there were early attempts to translate the novel
into German (by Blumentritt) and even Tagalog (by Rizal's brother,
Paciano), but these plans never came to fruition. At the turn of the
twentieth century, during the American colonial period, several other
translations and editions of the novel came out. Arguably the most
circulated versions were the English translations of Charles Derbyshire By
the 1930s, Rizal's Noli had several Spanish editions, translations into
English, French, Japanese, and also into several languages in the
Philippines including Tagalog, Cebuano, Waray, Iloko, and Bikol (Testa-
De Ocampo, 2011).
The very controversy that surrounded the passage of the Rizal Law
indicated the relevance of the text in the 1950s and even beyond. In
academia, many scholars have also made it a point to discuss the politics
of translation and the nuances of transforming the text in several forms. As
Testa- De Ocampo points out, as much as the novel is elevated in the
highest echelons of Philippine literary history, seldom do we find Filipinos
reading it in the original Spanish. Versions and translations of the Noli also
did not go without scrutiny from academics like Benedict Anderson. Truly,
be it about its content, context, or the way it is read or used, the value of
Rizal's novel is definitely felt in the Philippines.
Noli and the Study of a Colonial Society
A remarkable aspect of Rizal's Noli lies in its text which espoused
the national hero's articulations of a social-scientific view of the nineteenth
century, Philippines he was describing. Sociologist Syed Fareed Alatas
even went as far as describing Rizal as "probably the first systematic social
thinker in Southeast Asia."
Taken together with Rizal's other writings, the Noli makes an
important contribution to the understanding of a colonial society and of the
workings of the Spanish empire in the Philippines. The novel portrayed the
lives of the characters of diverse positions from which people in nineteenth
century Philippines thought and acted in relation to others. Many scholars
interpret the Noli as Rizal's diagnosis of the ills of colonial society as he
assessed the role played by the church, the state, and the people, In the
Noli, Rizal highlighted some of his ideas on how the Philippine society
could be emancipated from the bondage of colonial rule. He underscored
the importance of Education as a powerful tool to achieve progress.
However, he also exposed the complexities and constraints wrought by the
colonial condition not only on foreigners, but also on some misguided
Filipinos that contributed to the ills of society. As Rizal exposed the vile
realities of the context he wrote about, he also emphasized the good
qualities the Filipinos, which needed to be harnessed in order to succeed in
the struggle for emancipation.
CHAPTER 11
LOOKING AT THE FILIPINO PAST
During the Spanish colonial period philippine history was
primarily written by the spaniards. Early Spanish historians took note of
the natives appearance and way of life however many of these early
histories depicted the Filipinos in negative terms and often contained
biases against the colonized people.
Jose rizal's annotation of Antonio Morga’s work, Sucesos de las
Islas Filipinas, was an attempt to redress the biased view of the filipinos.
Although Rizal's annotations have been “largely disregarded”, his work
has been credited as the first Philippine history to be written from the
viewpoint of a filipino.
VOCABOLARY
Audiencia - the royal audiencia or the royal court of justice in Spain and
its colonies.
Ecclesiastics - the religious missionaries
Secular - having ideas and attitudes not determined buy any religious bias
Antonio Morga was a spanish administrator who served in the Philippines
in the late sixteenth century. He was born in seville in 1559 and began
working for the government in 1580. He served as the Lieutenant-
Governor second most powerful position in the colony of the Philippines
in 1593 and then as a judge of the audiencia in 1598.
By 1615 he move d to Mexico where he served as the president of
audencia. He was later investigated for corruption and was found guilty.
Before being sent to the gallows, however he died in 1636
Morga's work sucesos de las islas filipinas was published in 1609
in Mexico and consisted of eight chapters. The first seven chapters dealt
with the terms of the governor-generals who had served in the Philippines
from the time of Miguel lopez de legaspi in 1565 to Pedro de Acuna I
1606.
The last chapter titled an “account of the Philippine islands”
provide ample descriptions of early filipinos upon the arrival of the
spaniards in the sixteenth century
While at the British museum in late 1898 Rizal found a copy of
the first edition of Antonio Morgas sucesos de las Islas Filipinas and began
copying the text by hand. He annotated the work along the way with the
intention of creating a critical work on the history of the philippines.
Despite hopes of getting the work published through the help of
Antonio Regidor, Rizal ended up with no publisher when his annotations
were done. By September 1889, Rizal decide to publish the annotations national consciousness or identity that was anchored on a glorious past
himself in Garnier Hermanos, a printing press based in Paris. where as early Spanish chroniclers ridiculed the early Filipinos for being
barbarians rizals copious notes of sucesos revealed early Filipino culture as
Rizal's choice of annotating Morga's work among all other early
rich and flourishing thus Rizal's annotations will be considered an effort to
chronicles written by Spaniards is not coincidental.
assert Filipino identity within an oppressive colonial framework.
Historian Ambeth Ocampo provide five reasons behind Rizal's choice.
Excerpt 1
1. Morga's work in its original Spanish edition was rare. In fact the
Morga
original Spanish text had never been reprinted in full until Rizal
published his annotations in 1889. Their regular daily food is rice. together with boiled fish of which
2. Second unlike other early Spanish chronicles written by there is an abundance, and pork or venison, likewise meat of wild buffalo
ecclesiastics Morgan was a civil administrator and therefore or carabao. They prefer meat and fish, saltfish which begin to decompose
provided a secular view of historical events during the early and smell.
Spanish colonial period.
Rizal's annotation
3. The second reason relates to Rizal's belief that secular account was
more credible than those written by religious missionaries, which This is another preoccupation of the Spaniards who, like any other
is the third reason for his choice. nation, in the matter food, loathe that to which they are not accustomed or
4. Fourth it was more sympathetic towards the native sin contrast to unknown to them. the English for example is horrified and seeing a
the biased accounts written by the friars. Finally Morga's work Spaniard eating snails; to the Spaniard the steak is repugnant and he can't
was a fitting choice because he was an eyewitness to historical understand how raw beef steak can be eaten; the Chinese who eat tahuri
events that occurred in thePhilippines during the period of early and shark cannot stand Roquefort cheese etc. etc. The fish that Morga
Spanish colonization mentions does not taste better when it is beginning to rot; all on the
country; it is bagoong and all those who have eaten it and tasted it know
With the publication of his annotations sucesos de las islas filipinas,
that it is not or ought not to be rotten.
Rizal presented an outline of a linear conception of history. While Noli Me
Tangere dealt with the nineteenth century or Rizal's present and El
Filibusterismo and the essay titled “The Philippines a Century Hence”
covered the future the annotations of sucesos tackled the past.
More than an attempt to write the country's history however rizals
annotations of Morga's Sucesos must also be seen within the context of the
propaganda movement. At a time when Filipino propagandists were
clamoring for reforms in Spain, presenting a critical narrative of the
countries history might be considered as an endeavor to create a sense of