The Indolence

of the Filipinos
The Indolence of the Filipinos

essay
published in La Solidaridad Madrid,
Spain (July 15, 1890 – September 15,
1890)

Why did Rizal write this essay?

Rizal wrote this essay to defend the
Filipinos from the charge that they
were born indolent.
Indolent
Idle
Lazy
little love for work
lack of activity
 CAUSES of the
Indolence of the
Filipinos
1. Wars
the inhabitants of the Philippines were
dragged to maintain the honor of Spain
(thousands and thousands of Filipinos
were sent but nothing was said if they
ever returned to their homes.)

great diminution of the natives because

the governors got them as crews for the
vessels they send out.
2. Piratical Attacks
devastation of the terrible pirates
Reduced more and more the number of
inhabitants of the Philippines
burned down the towns, captured and
enslaved men
disarmed and subjected to tributes so that
they were left without the means to defend
themselves
3. Attitude of the Friars
At that time, the friars advised their poor
parishioners:
to stop work in the mines,
to abandon their industries,
to destroy their looms and pointing them
that heaven is their sole hope

The friars told them that it is easier for a

poor man to enter heaven than for a rich man
4.Lessening
encouragement
to Labor
Trade contact or relations between the
Borneans, Siamese, Cambodians and
Japanese nations were being cut off

The coast wide trade which was

flourishing before disappeared
5. Miserly return for one’s
Labor
(selfish, greedy, mean)
Encomienderos
reduced many to slavery
compelled Filipinos to work for their
benefit
Made them sell their products at an
insignificant price or for nothing or
cheated them with false measures
Treated them like slaves
6. Gambling
The sugal (from the Spanish word jugar,
to gamble) indicates that gambling was
unknown in the Philippines before the
Spaniards

Balasa – from the Spanish word

barajar, the introduction of playing
cards
7. Fiestas
Gave their contribution to large number
of fiestas, lengthy masses, novenae,
processions, rosaries

Filipinos were much less lazy before the

word miracle was introduced into their
language
8. Curtailment of
individual
liberty
(to cut off, to cut short, doubtful)
Individual liberty is being cut off
accused of being a filibustero (rebel) or a
suspect
Lack of confidence in the future
Uncertainty of reaping the fruits of their
labor
9. Apathy of the Government
No encouragement, aid pertaining to
commerce or agriculture
The products coming from the Philippines
were burdened with imposts and duties
and have no free entry in the ports of the
mother country and the consumption of
the products are not encouraged
Due to the fraudulent (dishonest,
deceitful) manipulations of the Chinese,
the Filipino industries were dying.
10. Ownership of the big
estates by the friars
the best estates, the best tracts of land in
some provinces were in the hands of the
religious corporations

the friars have deceived many by making

them believe that those estates were
prospering because those were under their
supervision
11. Lack of moral support

Absence of moral support

Absence of help from the government
Chemist (competitive examination)
Young man won a prize in a literary contest
Education of the Filipino
12. Deprivation of human
dignity
the students have to contend with the daily
preaching that lowers human dignity,
gradually or brutally killing their self-respect

Priests who boldly declared that it is evil for

the Filipinos to know Castilian, that the
Filipinos should not be separated from his
carabao, and that he should not have any
further ambition.
13. Feeling of inferiority
Constant plucking (pulling, removing) of
the soul
Deadens the energy
Paralyzes all tendency towards
advancement
14. Vicious dressing of the
intelligence and will
“You can’t do more than old So and So!-
Don’t aspire to be greater than the curate!
You belong to an inferior race! You
haven’t any energy.”
They say this to the child; and as it is
repeated so often, it has inevitably
engraved in his mind and thence it seals
and shapes all his actions.
Ridicules with cruel sarcasm
 15. Lack of an ideal for a
good worker
the Filipinos’ spirits were transformed
according to the taste of the nation that
imposed upon them its God and its laws
INSTEAD:
Ideal and prototype tanned and muscular
laborer (who should have brought along
with him the useful iron implements and the
hoes to till the fields)
BUT IT WAS AN:
Aristocratic lord who brought along with
him stamped papers, crucifixes, bulls and
prayer books
AS A RESULT:
the imitative people became clerks,
devout, prayer-loving, acquired ideas of
luxurious and ostentatious living without
improving correspondingly their means of
subsistence.
 16. Lack of national
sentiment
(expression of emotional ideas, feelings,
etc.)
Scarcity of any opposition to the measures
that are prejudicial to the people and the
absence of any initiative that will redound
to their welfare
Deprived of the right of association,
therefore they were weak and inert
(inactive, unmotivated, passive)
Thank you!