The

INDOLENCE
of the Filipino

GROUP 5
 LEARNING

01
SUMMARIZE IN THEIR OWN
WORDS RIZAL’S ESSAY,” ON THE
INDOLENCE OF THE FILIPINOS”.
OBJECTIVES
02 EXPLAIN FACTORS THAT CAUSE
THE INDOLENCE OF FILIPINOS

DEFEND THEIR PERSONAL VIEWS

03
ON THE QUESTION OF THE
INDOLENCE OF THE FILIPINOS
Table of 01. Introduction

CONTENTS 02. Admitting the

Existence of Indolence
 03. Indolence of

Table of Chronic Illness

CONTENTS 04. Wars,

Insurrections,
Expeditions, and
Invasion
Table of 05. Death of Trade
in the Philippines

CONTENTS 06. Limited Training

and Education
 INDIO
a term used by the Spaniards
to refer to the native Filipinos;

VOCABULARY
occasionally used in a
derogatory manner.

MORO PIRACY
a series of raids in several
Philippine towns committed by
Muslims from Mindanao during
the seventeenth and eighteenth
century.
 What is
“INDOLENCE”
 Question
e lie ve th at
Do you b
is a n in h er ent
indolence
trait am o n g th e
Filipinos?
IntroDUCTION “As I believe in the Gospel!

The Indios are indolent!”

Padre Damaso

Indolence, according to Jose Rizal, is

defined as "a lack of interest in or
enthusiasm for work." This, he stated,
was an issue in the Philippines.

Rizal did not believe that it was a genetic

trait.
IntroDUCTION “As I believe in the Gospel!

The Indios are indolent!”

Padre Damaso

FILIPINOS = LAZY
SPANISH ERA
IntroDUCTION
"It is their laziness that makes them
appear less ingenious; and they are so
entirely addicted to it, that if in walking
they find a thorn run into their foot, they
will not stoop to put it out of the way, that
another may not tread on it."
IntroDUCTION
“Their laziness is such that if they open a
door, they never close it; and if they take
any implement for any use, such as a
knife, pair of scissors, hammer, etc., they
never return it whence they took it, but
drop it there at the foot of the work."
IntroDUCTION
"Along the river Pasig, somebody might be
seen asleep on a heap of coconuts. If the
nuts run ashore, the sleeper rouses
himself, pushes off with a long bamboo,
and contentedly relapses into slumber, as
his eccentric rafts regains the current of
the river."
Sobre la Indolencia
DE LOS FILIPINOS
Sobre la Indolencia
DE LOS FILIPINOS
The essay was serialized in
six issues of La Solidaridad
from July 15 to September
15, 1890.
Sobre la Indolencia
DE LOS FILIPINOS
Addressed the accusations
made by foreign observers.
5 PIECE-ESSAY
Admitting the
Existence of Indolence
Rizal acknowledges the presence of
indolence among Filipinos.
5 PIECE-ESSAY
Indolence of Chronic
Illness
He compares this indolence to a
chronic illness afflicting the nation.
5 PIECE-ESSAY
Wars, Insurrections,
Expeditions, and
Invasion
Rizal discusses how historical events such
as wars, insurrections, and invasions have
contributed to this indolence.
5 PIECE-ESSAY
Death of Trade in the
Philippines
He highlights how the decline of trade
in the Philippines has worsened the
problem of indolence.
5 PIECE-ESSAY
Limited Training and
Education
Rizal points out the lack of proper
training and education as factors
reinforcing the indolence among
Filipinos.
Sobre la Indolencia
DE LOS FILIPINOS
Sancianco advocated for reforms in
the government's taxation system.

He also confronted the issue of the

laziness of Filipinos.
 Sobre la Indolencia
DE LOS FILIPINOS
"inasmuch as the talk about it has continued, not only by
employees who blame it to cover their own stupidity, not only
by friars who consider it necessary for the perpetuation of
their pretention that they cannot be replaced, but also by
serious-minded and disinterested persons."
Sobre la Indolencia
DE LOS FILIPINOS
Does not deny the existence of
indolence in the Filipinos.

He asserts that the evil does not lie

in the existence of indolence, but
in the way that it is perpetuated.
Sobre la Indolencia
DE LOS FILIPINOS
"The evil is found in the fact that
indolence in the Philippines is an
exaggerated indolence, a snowball
indolence, so to speak, a vice which
increases four-fold as time elapses."
Sobre la Indolencia
DE LOS FILIPINOS
The Filipinos were not always lazy.

Pigafetta described the flourishing

trade of goods such as cinnamon,
pepper, nuts, and other articles.
 Sobre la Indolencia
DE LOS FILIPINOS
If early Spanish accounts were in
agreement on the industry of the Filipinos,
what then brought about a change in them?
Sobre la Indolencia
DE LOS FILIPINOS
circumstances that produced a
predisposition towards laziness were:

the constant wars waged during the

early stages of colonization
the Moro piracies
abuses committed by the Spaniards
against the Filipinos.
Sobre la Indolencia
DE LOS FILIPINOS
Also argues that while the previous
circumstances made it possible for
laziness to take root in the Filipino's
constitution, other factors ensured its
maintenance.
Sobre la Indolencia
DE LOS FILIPINOS
While the government did not provide the
economic and moral incentives to
encourage industry among the Filipinos,
the Filipinos themselves also had their
own flaws.
Sobre la Indolencia
DE LOS FILIPINOS
Concludes that all attempts to reform the
Filipino would only be successful with
education and freedom.
IADMITTING THE
EXISTENCE OF INDOLENCE
IADMITTING THE
EXISTENCE OF INDOLENCE
Rizal admits that indolence does
exist among the Filipinos, but it
cannot be attributed to the
troubles and backwardness of the
country; rather it is the effect of
the backwardness and troubles
experienced by the country.
IADMITTING THE
EXISTENCE OF INDOLENCE
Past writings on indolence revolve
only on either denying or
affirming, and never studying its
causes in depth. One must study
the causes of indolence, Rizal
says, before curing it.
IADMITTING THE
EXISTENCE OF INDOLENCE
He therefore enumerates the
causes of indolence and
elaborates on the circumstances
that have led to it. The hot climate,
he points out, is a reasonable
predisposition for indolence.
IADMITTING THE
EXISTENCE OF INDOLENCE
Filipinos cannot be compared to
Europeans, who live in cold
countries and who must exert much
more effort at work. An hour ' s work
under the Philippine sun, he says, is
equivalent to a day ' s work in
temperate regions.
IIINDOLENCE OF
CHRONIC ILLNESS
 IIINDOLENCE OF
CHRONIC ILLNESS
When in consequence of a long chronic illness
the condition of the patient is examined, the
question may arise whether the weakening of
the fibers and the debility of the organs are the
cause of the malady’s continuing or the effect
of the bad treatment that prolongs its action.
IIINDOLENCE OF
CHRONIC ILLNESS
The attending physician attributes the entire
failure of his skill to the poor constitution of the
patient, to the climate, to the surroundings,
and so on. On the other hand, the patient
attributes the aggravation of the evil to the
system of treatment followed. Only the
common crowd shakes its head and cannot
reach a decision.
IIINDOLENCE OF
CHRONIC ILLNESS
Indolence in the Philippines is a chronic
malady, but not a hereditary one. The
Filipinos have not always been what they
are, witnesses whereto are all the historians
of the first years after the discovery of the
Islands. Before the arrival of the Europeans,
the Malayan Filipinos carried on an active
trade with all the neighboring countries.
IIINDOLENCE OF
CHRONIC ILLNESS
The first thing noticed by Pigafetta, who
came with Magellan in 1521, on arriving
at the first island of the Philippines,
Samar, was the courtesy and kindness
of the inhabitants and their commerce.
Wealth abounded in the islands.
IIINDOLENCE OF
CHRONIC ILLNESS
New arrivals propose remedies like
prayer, saint relics, shower-baths, and
blood transfusions. The patient's only
solution is to find white corpuscles in
the form of an agricultural colony.
IIINDOLENCE OF
CHRONIC ILLNESS
In the treaties of peace that the survivors
of Magellan’s expedition made with the
chief of Paragua, when the servant-
interpreter died they communicated with
one another through a Moro who
understood some Spanish
IIINDOLENCE OF
CHRONIC ILLNESS
Spaniards did not reach Luzon until 1571.
Legazpi’s expedition met in Butuan
various traders of Luzon with their boats
laden with iron, wax cloths, porcelain,
plenty of provisions, activity, trade,
movement in all the southern islands.
IIINDOLENCE OF
CHRONIC ILLNESS
Abound in long accounts about the
industry and agriculture of the natives,
and, considering the time and the
conditions in the islands, prove that
there was life, there was activity, there
was movement.
IIIWARS, INSURRECTIONS,
EXPEDITIONS AND INVASION
IIIWARS, INSURRECTIONS,
EXPEDITIONS AND INVASION
Rizal enumerates several reasons
that may have caused the Filipinos '
cultural and economic decadence.
The frequent wars, insurrections,
and invasions have brought
disorder to the communities. Chaos
has been widespread, and
destruction rampant.
IIIWARS, INSURRECTIONS,
EXPEDITIONS AND INVASION
Many Filipinos have also been sent
abroad to fight wars for Spain or for
expeditions. As a result, the
population has decreased in
number. As forced labor, many men
have been sent to shipyards to
construct vessels.
IIIWARS, INSURRECTIONS,
EXPEDITIONS AND INVASION
Meanwhile, natives who have had
enough of abuse have gone to the
mountains. As a result, the farms
have been neglected. The so-called
indolence of Filipinos definitely has
deeply rooted causes.
Wars and INTERNAL DISORDER
It was necessary to subject the
people either by cajolery or
force; there were fights, there
was slaughter; those who had
submitted peacefully seemed
to repent of it; insurrections
were suspected, and some
occurred; naturally there were
executions, and many capable
laborers perished.
 PIRATICAL ATTACKS ON
COSTAL TOWNS AN VILLAGES BY MUSLIM PIRATES
Fatal expeditions that wasted all
the moral and material energies of
the country, the frightful inroads of
the terrible pirates from the south.

These piratical attacks continually

reduced the number of the
inhabitants of the Philippines
FORCED LABOR ON SHIPBUILING
The construction of large ships
disrupted indigenous communities
and hindered their ability to
sustain themselves.

Gaspar de San Agustin highlights

the depopulation of Bacolor due to
labor demands for ship
construction.
FORCED LABOR ON SHIPBUILING
Native communities faced
challenges in maintaining their
livelihoods and cultivating their
lands.

The construction of large ships

disrupted indigenous communities
and hindered their ability to
sustain themselves.
FORCED LABOR ON SHIPBUILING
Gaspar de San Agustin highlights
the depopulation of Bacolor due to
labor demands for ship
construction.
DEPOPULATION OF THE ISLAND
Fernando de los Rios Coronel adds
further reasons for depopulation,
including executions, forced
displacement, slavery, and other
forms of exploitation endured by
the native population.
DEPOPULATION OF THE ISLAND
These atrocities, including those
detailed by Philip II in
reprimanding Bishop Salazar,
contributed to a significant
reduction in the Philippines'
population over a period of less
than thirty years.
NUMEROUS
IN THE PHILIPPINES
CALAMITIES
The inhabitants of the Philippines
faced uncertainty regarding the
outcomes of their labor amidst
numerous calamities.

Friars to advise their parishioners to

cease their economic activities and
prepare for death as their only solace.
ABSENCE
TO WORK HARDER
OF INCENTIVES
Human motivation is
driven by objectives;
without them, individuals
are inclined towards
inaction.
TO CONCLUDE
Wars and piracy disrupted
agricultural activities, leading to
the abandonment of fields and
decline in trade.

The abandonment of once fertile

land and industries led to a sense of
discouragement and contributed to
indolence.
TO CONCLUDE
Despite efforts to resist indolence,
the challenges were
insurmountable, leading to
eventual surrender.
IVDEATH OF TRADE
IN THE PHILIPPINES
IVDEATH OF TRADE
IN THE PHILIPPINES
Filipinos, according to Rizal, are not
responsible for their misfortunes, as they
are not their own masters. The Spanish
government has not encouraged labor and
trade, which ceased after the government
treated the country ' s neighboring trade
partners with great suspicion.
IVDEATH OF TRADE
IN THE PHILIPPINES
Trade has declined, furthermore, because
of pirate attacks and the many restrictions
imposed by the government, which gives
no aid for crops and farmers. This and the
abuse suffered under encomenderos have
caused many to abandon the fields.
IVDEATH OF TRADE
IN THE PHILIPPINES
As a result of this, the Filipinos were forced
to become nomads, lost interest in
cultivating their lands or in rebuilding the
industries that were shut down, and simply
became submissive to the mercy of God.
IVDEATH OF TRADE
IN THE PHILIPPINES
This situation is compounded by the
Church ' s wrong doctrine which holds that
the rich will not go to heaven, thus
engendering a wrong attitude toward
work.
IVDEATH OF TRADE
IN THE PHILIPPINES
The friars taught the naïve Filipinos that it
was easier for a poor man to enter heaven,
and so they preferred not to work and
remain poor so that they could easily enter
heaven after they died.
IVDEATH OF TRADE
IN THE PHILIPPINES
Businesses are monopolized by many
government officials, red tape and bribery
operate on a wide scale, rampant
gambling is tolerated by the government.
IVDEATH OF TRADE
IN THE PHILIPPINES
Gambling was established and widely
propagated during those times. Almost
everyday there were cockfights, and
during feast days, the government officials
and friars were the first to engange in all
sorts of bets and gambles.
IVDEATH OF TRADE
IN THE PHILIPPINES
Along with gambling, which breeds dislike
for steady and difficult toil by its promise of
sudden wealth and its appeal to the
emotions, went also the religious
functions, the great number of fiestas,
IVDEATH OF TRADE
IN THE PHILIPPINES
The long masses for the women to spend
their mornings and the novenaries to
spend their afternoons, and the night, for
the processions and rosaries.
IVDEATH OF TRADE
IN THE PHILIPPINES
The countries which believe most in
miracles are the laziest, just, as spoiled
children are the most ill-mannered.
Whether they believe in miracles to
palliate their laziness or they are lazy
because they believe in miracles.
IVDEATH OF TRADE
IN THE PHILIPPINES
Most terrible of all: the education of the
native. From his birth until he sinks into his
grave, the training of the native is
brutalizing, depressive and antihuman.
IVDEATH OF TRADE
IN THE PHILIPPINES
The native should not be separated from
his carabao, that he should not have any
further aspirations, and so on. Thus, while
they attempt to make of the native a kind
of animal, but in exchange they demand of
him divine actions.
IVDEATH OF TRADE
IN THE PHILIPPINES
These are some of the main reasons that
Rizal cites as causing the deterioration of
values among the Filipinos.
VLIMITED TRAINING
AND EDUCATION
VLIMITED TRAINING
AND EDUCATION
According to Rizal, all the causes
of indolence can be reduced to
two factors. The first factor is the
limited training and education
Filipino natives receive.
VLIMITED TRAINING
AND EDUCATION
Segregated from Spaniards,
Filipinos do not receive the same
opportunities that are available
to the foreigners.
VLIMITED TRAINING
AND EDUCATION
They are taught to be inferior.
The second factor is the lack of a
national sentiment of unity
among them. Because Filipinos
think they are inferior, they
submit to the foreign culture and
do everything to imitate it.
VLIMITED TRAINING
AND EDUCATION

The solution, according to Rizal,

would be education and liberty.
 Question
e lie ve th at
Do you b
is a n in h er ent
indolence
trait am o n g th e
Filipinos?
Thank YOU
GROUP 5