RIZAL COURSE Prof. Jose J.

Lemana

INTRODUCTION TO THE COURSE

The necessity to understand the general components of any subject area in, imperative for a
learner to appreciate it. This course is directed towards introducing students enrolled in Rizal
Course on the need to study the life, works and writings of our national model in moulding the
young minds towards the values of nationalism and patriotism and some issues on the heroism of
Jose Rizal.
Republic Act 1425 also known as the Rizal Law, mandates the teaching of Jose Rizal’s life,
works in all schools throughout the country. The main author of the law Jose P. Laurel, said that
since Jose Rizal was the founder of Filipino nationality and architect of the Filipino Nation, there is
a need to know and imbibe the great ideas and principles for which he died. Furthermore, Jose P.
Laurel that by reading and studying the life, works and writings of Jose Rizal, the Filipino of today
and the incoming generations will be able to develop incorruptible confidence, direction, courage
and determination in our journey towards national unity and an abundant life.
Rizal Law was enacted in 1956 which mandates the teaching of Rizal’s life, works and writings
seeks also to achieve the following objectives:
 To rededicate the lives of the youth to the ideals of freedom and nationalism, for which our
heroes lived and died;
 To pay tribute to Jose Rizal for devoting his life and works in shaping the Filipino characters;
 To gain an inspiring source of patriotism thru the study of Rizal’s life, works and writing.

The teaching of Rizal Course in tertiary schools both private and public statements of Rizal Law
and the patriotic goals set by then the Board on National Education.
These are the following goals:
 To recognize the relevance of Rizal’s ideals, thoughts, and life values to the prevailing
conditions in the community;

 To apply Rizal’s ideas of active non-violent solution of the day to day realities in our
contemporary society;

 To develop an understanding and appreciation of the qualities, behavior and character of

Jose Rizal; and

 To foster the development of moral character, personal discipline, citizenship and vocational
efficiency among the Filipino youth.

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COURSE SYLLABUS

Part I. Course Identification

1. Course Prefix/Number: Rizal Course

2. Course Title: The Life and Works of Jose Rizal

3. Course Units: 3 Units

4. Course Total Expected Hours: 54 contact hours

5. Course Description:

As mandated by Republic Act 1425, this course covers the life and works of the
country’s national hero, Jose Rizal. Among the topics covered are Rizal’s biography and his
writings, particularly the novels, Noli Me Tangere and El Filibusterismo, some of his essays
and various correspondences.
General Objective:
The course aims to develop critical appreciation of the life of our national hero and
discern the relevance of Rizal’s works and writings to contemporary times.

6. Course Outcomes:

At the end of the course, the student is expected to:

a) Discuss Jose Rizal’s Life within the context of 19 th century Philippines.
b) Analyze Rizal’s various works particularly the novels, Noli Me Tangere and El
Filibusterismo.
c) Demonstrate a critical reading of primary sources.
d) Understand the life, works and writings of Rizal particularly his moral and intellectual
legacies to the Filipino youth.
e) Know the relevance of Rizal’s teachings to contemporary situations.
f) Gain inspiration and insight from the experience of Rizal as a son, student, patriot
and nationalist.
g) Imbibe the spirit of patriotism and nationalism.

7. Course Audience:

Students of all college programs in the university.

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8. Course Prerequisite: None

9. Other General Course Requirements:

a. Trinal Examinations (First Trinal, Midterm, and Finals)

b. Quizzes
c. Seatwork
d. Homework/Assignments
e. Powerpoint, video and creative presentations
f. Attendance
g. Active participation in any classroom activities

10. Evaluation Procedures for Course Learning Outcomes:

Students should be evaluated according to their performance in quizzes,

recitations, assignments, reports, etc. Generally, there shall be three major examinations
which are scheduled by the university.

11. Attendance Policy:

Refer to Faculty and Student Manual on University Policies on absences,

tardiness, etc.

12. Grading Policy:

Refer to Faculty Manual on University grading system.

a. Lecture (100%)
a.1. Class Standing (60%) (1/3 Assignments/Seatwork + 2/3
Quizzes)
a.2. Written Examination (40%) (first/second/third trinal)

13. Learning Resources/Reference Materials:

a. Book References:
Anderson, Benedict. Why Counting Counts: a study of forms and
consciousness and Problems of language in Noli Me Tangere and El Filibusterismo.
QC: ADMU Press, 2008.
Almario, Virgilio. Si Rizal Nobelista. QC: University of the Philippines Press.
2008

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RIZAL COURSE Prof. Jose J. Lemana
Constantino, Renato. The Making of a Filipino. A story of Philippine colonial
politics. QC:R.Constantino, 1982.
Constantino, Renato. “Our task; to make Rizal obsolete” in this Week Manila
Chronicle (14 June 1959)
Coates, Austin. “Rizal: Filipino Nationalist and Martyr.” Hongkong:Oxford
University Press, QC:(1969)
Eugenio, Damiana. Philippine Folk literature: the Epics. QC: UP Press, 2001
Hau, Caroline S. “Introduction” in Necessary Fictions: Philippine Literature and
the Nation, 1946-1980. QC: ADMU Press, 2000.
Ileto, Reynaldo. “Rizal and the Underside of Philippine History” QC: ADMU
Press.1998
Joaquin, Nick. A question of heroes.Pasig: Anvil, 2000. Chapters on Rizal,
Bonifacio and Aguinaldo
Ocampo, Ambeth. “Rizal’s Morga and views of Philippine History” in Philippine
Studies vol.46 No. 2(1998).http://www, Philippine
studies.net/ojs/index.php/ps/article/view file/662/663.
Reyes, Miguel Paolo. “El Filibusterismo and Jose Rizal as Science Fictionist”
in HumanitiesDiliman vol.10 no. 2(2013)
Rizal, Jose. El Filibusterismo. Trans. Virgilio almario or soledad Maximo Locsin
Zaide, Gregorio “Jose Rizal:Life, works and Writings”QC:All Nations Publishing
Co. Inc.(1994).

b. Powerpoint presentations

c. Video presentations

d. Visual Aids (Diagrams, Illustrations)

14. Instructor Data:

Name: PROF. JOSE J. LEMANA

Office Location: Mathematics/Natural and Social Sciences Department,
College of Arts and Sciences
Office Hours: 7:30 - 11:30 am – 1:00 – 4:00 pm, Monday – Friday
7:30 - 11:30 am - Saturday
Office Phone: 421-26-98 local 316
E-mail Address: lemana.jj@ndu.edu.ph

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Part II. Learning Plan

Week Learning Topics Teaching Values Evaluation

(Hrs/ Outcomes Learning Integration
Day) Activities
Week Explain the history Introduction to Lecture: Patriotism Writing
1 of Rizal Law and the course Historical exercise:
its important background Compare and
provisions RA 1425 and context of contrast the
RA 1425; Why views of those
study the life in favor and
and works of against RA
Rizal? 1425
considering the
context of the
1950s; Will
similar
arguments still
have force
today?

Thought Paper:
Reflect on your
secondary
education.
Did your school
comply with RA
1425?
How effective is
the Rizal law in
instilling
patriotism
among
secondary
school
students?
Week Appraise the link The Philippines in Lecture: Brief Nationalism Reflection
2 between the 19th century summary of Paper on the
individuals and as Rizal’s Spanish film: Guide
society. Context. colonization of questions:
the Philippines
as a
background.

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Analyze the Economic: End of Lecture: the 1. Describe the
various political, Galleon Trade, nineteenth 19th century
economic, Opening of Suez century of Philippines as
religious, and Canal, Opening change. represented in
cultural changes of ports to the the film.
that occurred in world trade, Film Viewing:
the 19th century. economic “Ganito kami 2. Based on
policies, taxes noon, Paano your reading
Understand Jose kayo ngayon?” and class
Rizal in the context Religious: church discussion what
of his times. and state can you say
relations about the film’s
representation
Political: of the 19th
Liberalism century.

What is the
main question
that the film
seeks to
answer? What
is your own
reflection based
on the film and
your
understanding?
Week Analyze Rizal’s Rizal’s Life, Lecture: Love of Students will
3 family, childhood family, and Rizal’s Family, Family create
and early education childhood childhood and A short
education early biographical
Evaluate the education Essay that
people and events compare the
and their influence Class activity: student’s
on Rizal’s early life Read Rizal’s Early childhood
“Memoirs of with Rizal’s
the student in own.
Manila”
Quiz
Class activity;
create a
timeline of
Rizal’s
childhood and
early
education

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Week Appreciate Rizal’s Rizal’s life: Lecture: Excellence Written

4 scholastic triumph Higher education Rizal’s document,
at the Ateneo and education at Analysis
UST the Ateneo worksheet.
Municipal and
Know the reasons at the Quiz
why Rizal left UST University of
and study abroad Sto. Thomas

Assign
students to
report on the
topics
Week Explain the Rizal’s life: Lecture: Rizal Nationalism Thought paper
5 principle of Rizal in sunny and the on Rizal’s
assimilation Spain and his Propaganda speech.
advocated by the involvement in Movement
propaganda the Propaganda
movement Movement Read: Jose
Rizal’s Brindis
Appraise Rizal’s speech
relationship with
other propagandist Class Activity:
Read first the
Analyze Rizal’s issue of La
growth as a Solidaridad
propagandist and and analyze
disavowal of the aims
assimilation stated therein
Week Analyze the First Assign student Service Quiz
6 reasons why Rizal Homecoming reporters on
had to go home for and the the topic
the first time controversy over
the Noli Me
Appreciate Rizal’s Tangere
intention to serve
his people
Week
First Trinal Examination
7

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Week Know why Rizal Rizal in Assign student Solidarity Quiz

8 had to leave the Hongkong, reporters on
country for the Macau, Japan, the topic
second time United States,
London, etc.
Appreciate the
culture of the
different places
visited by Rizal
Week Know the reasons Ophthalmic Assign student Service Quiz
9 why Rizal left Surgeon in reporters on
Europe for Hongkong (1891- the topic
Hongkong 1892)

Analyze Rizal’s
abandonment of
the Propaganda
Movement
Analyze the factors
which Led to
Rizal’s execution

Analyze the effects

of Rizal’s
execution on
Spanish colonial
rule and the
Philippine
Revolution
Week Analyze the factors Rizal’s life: Exile, Lecture: Freedom Graphic
10 which Led to Trial and death Rizal’s last organizer for
Rizal’s execution years Covering activity in the La
his exile, trial Liga Filipina
Analyze the effects and death
of Rizal’s Quiz
execution on Class activity:
Spanish colonial Read the Reflection paper
rule and the Constitution of on the film:
Philippine the La Liga Guide
Revolution Filipina and fill questions:
out a 1. Describe the
table(graphical life of Rizal as
organizer) with represented in
the aims of the the film.

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La Liga Filipina 2. Based on

in one column your reading
and examples and class
of how these discussion what
aims could be can you say
attained in about the film’s
another representation
column of Jose Rizal?
Class activity: 3. What is the
Read Rizal’s main question
letters to family which the film
members and seeks to
Blumentritt answer?

Film viewing:
Jose Rizal,
GMA films,
directed by
Marilou Diaz
Abaya

Rizal sa
Dapitan,
directed by
Tikoy Aguiloz
Week Analyze Rizal’s Annotation of Lecture: Nationhood Group
11 ideas on how to Antonio Morga’s Rizal’s view of discussion and
rewrite Philippine Sucesos De Las Philippine oral
History compare Islas Filipinas History and presentation on
and contrast Rizal Historiography Rizal’s
and Morga’s Class Activity: historiography
different views Read the
about Filipinos and Introduction Quiz
Philippine culture and Last
chapter of
Morga’s
Sucesos

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Week Appraise NOLI ME Lecture on Freedom Class

12 important TANGERE Rizal’s Presentation
characters in the representation
novel and what of the
they represent conditions and Patriotism Thought Paper
problems of
Examine the Philippine
present Philippine society in the
situation through nineteenth
the examples century
mentioned in the through the
Noli Noli Me
Tangere

Class
Activity1.
Present a skit
showcasing a
theme
presented in
the Noli(some
examples:
comparison of
women in the
nineteenth
century and
the present;
social change;
colonization;
church
ministers;
social
hierarchy;
patriotism;
social reform

Class activity
2. Write an
essay with the
aim of
answering the
following:
a. What is
freedom?

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b. How is the
lack of
freedom
portrayed in
the novel?
c. How is the
situation in the
novel different
from today?

Class activity
3. Write an
essay with the
aim of
addressing the
questions: a.
What are the
anti-modern
aspects of
colonial
society
portrayed in
the Noli? b.
Why can
modernity be
considered as
the central
problem of
Rizal’s novel?
(For reference,
refer to
Introduction in
Caroline Hau,
2000)
Week
Midterm Examination
13
Week Compare and EL Lecture in the Nationalism Quiz
14 contrast the FILIBUSTERISMO background
characters, plot and publication
and the theme of of the El Fili
the Noli and El
Fili Lecture on the
major themes,
plot, character
and ideas in
the novel
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Value the role of Class activity: Thought

the youth in the Read the Paper on
development and dedication to the novel
future of society Gomburza

Class activity:
Group
discussion on
the differences
between the
Noli and El Fili
Week Assess Rizal’s The Philippines: A Lecture on the Industry Essay writing:
15 writings century Hence background of Write a
the essay response to
Appraise the Other essays: Jose Rizal with
value of Letter to the young Class Activity: Human the students
understanding women of Malolos Group rights situating
the past discussion on themselves a
The Indolence of Rizal’s essay century after
Frame arguments the Filipinos and the Rizal’s time.
based on Arguments he
evidence presented Write and
deliver a
speech as a
response to
Rizal.
Week Interpret views Jose Rizal and Lecture/discus Quiz Kabayanihan
16 and opinions Philippine sion on the
about bayani and Nationalism-bayani changing
kabayanihan in and kabayanihan forms and
the context of definitions of
Philippine history bayani and
and society kabayanihan
from
Assess the precolonial
concepts of Philippines to
bayani and present
kabayanihan in
the context of
Philippine history
and society

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Week Examine the Philippine Lecture: Heroism Present a photo
17 values Nationalism- criteria for exhibit of
highlighted by the national symbol National Notion of different Rizal
various Heroes as sacrifice monuments in
representation of determined by the Philippines
Rizal as a the National and abroad.
national symbol Heroes Write short
Committee descriptions
Advocate the created by about their
values Rizal’s life executive background and
encapsulates Order no.75, interpretations
1993 on their imagery
and
representations.

Essay writing or
speech about a
particular value
Advocated by
Rizal.
Integrating
project on the
course
Week Final Examination
18

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PART III: STRUCTURED LEARNING EXPERIENCES

Diagnostic Test
Name: Year & Section: Date:

Fill in the blanks. This is assessment of what you know about the following questions. Please
answer according to your personal knowledge.

1. Rizal Bill is ______________________

2. Rizal Law is _____________________

3. A literature is ___________________

4. A history is _____________________

5. A hero is _______________________

6. Unexpurgated editions of Noli Me Tangere and El Filibusterismo mean ____________________

7. The National Committee is ___________________

8-10. Dr. Rizal suggests with his annotations of ______________, writings of Noli Me Tangere

_____________ and El Filibusterismo __________________

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COURSE INSTRUCTIONAL PLAN

Instructor: _____________________ Department: _______________________

__________Semester AY ______________________________
Course Number: ________________ Units: _____ Descriptive Title: ____________________
Day/time: __________________ Room: ____________

Week Topic Coverage

Orientation: School Policies, grading system, Course requirement and Course topics
1
Rules and Regulations about the Republic Act 1425

2 Rizal Law: Circumstances obtaining about the time of Rizal’s birth

3 Political, Economic and Social conditions about the time of Jose Rizal’s birth
4 Continuation… Religions/Socio – Cultural conditions
Birth of Jose Rizal/Biography of Jose Rizal
5 - Childhood years in Calamba; Early Educations
- Formal Educations: Ateneo; UST and MCU
6 FIRST TRINAL EXAMINATION
First Travels of Jose Rizal
7
- Spain; France; Germany
8 Grand Tour of European Cities with Maximo Viola
First Homecoming
9
- Meeting with Gov. Gen. Ferrerro; Medical Practice
Second Travels: Hongkong; Macau
10
- Romantic Interlude in Japan ; Seiko Usni
Rizal in the United States of America
11
- Trip to London; Paris and the Universal Exposition; Belgium and Madrid
12 MIDTERM EXAMINATION
Novels of Jose Rizal
a. Noli Me Tangere
13
b. El Filibusterismo
Essays of Rizal
Other Writings of Jose Rizal
14 a. Poems
b. Articles
Exiles to Dapitan
15 Last Travels Abroad
Arrest and Deportation
Trials of Jose Rizal
a. Preliminary Investigations
16
b. Grand Trials
c. Verdict

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The Grand Betrayal
17
Final Days of Jose Rizal
Consumatum Est: Mission Accomplished
18
Martyrdom in Bagumbayan
Significance of Rizal’s Martyrdom
19 - Perspective of Rizal in the 21st Century
- Rizal as Authentic Hero
20 FINAL EXAMINATION

Prepared and Submitted by: ________________________________ Date: ____________

Signature Over Printed Name

Approved by: _____________________________ Noted by: _____________________________

Program Head Dean, CAS

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CHAPTER I

THE RIZAL LAW: HISTORICAL BACKGROUND AND ITS IMPLEMENTING

RULES AND REGULATIONS
Overview:
Dr. Jose Rizal lived and died more than a century ago; thus, Filipino students of this era may
wonder, “How is this man relevant today?” and “Why do I need to study Rizal’s life and writings.
The answers to these questions can be summarized in two reasons:
1. First of all it is mandated by law RA 1425;
2. Secondly, the life and works of Dr. Jose P. Rizal comprise a model in building a Nation
that can promote the development of the Filipino youth in all aspects of citizenship.
In this chapter, you will be introduced to the Rizal Law and its important provisions, as well as the
significance of Rizal’s novels – Noli Me Tangere and El Filibusterismo.

Learning Outcomes:

By the end of this lesson, you should be able to:

1. Explain the history of the Rizal Law and its important provisions;
2. Make a critical assessment of the provisions of this Law and
3. Discuss the importance of studying the life and works of Dr. Jose Rizal.

History of Rizal Law

Republic Act No. 1425 mandates the inclusion of Rizal’s life, works and writings in the
school curriculum. The act mandated all public and private schools, colleges and universities
nationwide to educate students about Rizal’s idealism which were greatly depicted in this famous
writings and novels like the Noli Me Tangere and El Filibusterismo.
Rizal’s firmness against the abuses of some Spaniards and the role played by the friars of
the Catholic Church to promote such misconduct and immoralities during the Colonial era were
condemned by the secular clergy of the Catholic Church.
Rizal law was considered by the Catholic Church as a challenge or even a degradation of its
teachings. The Roman Catholic Church in the Philippines strongly opposed the printing and
distribution of the expurgated novels of Rizal and its readings because they would corrupt the
youth towards the teaching of the Catholic Church.

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The opposition of the Catholic Church in the Philippines persisted until the 1955 Senate
election. Senator Claro M. Rector, the main author of the Rizal Bill as communists. The Catholic
Church argued that the Rizal Bill violated the freedom of Religion and the Catholic Church was
able to get many supporters to stop the reproduction and enforced reading of Rizal’s Novels, the
Noli Me Tangere and El Filibusterismo. Catholic faithful were advised to produce and send written
documentaries to their Representatives and Senators stating about their unfavorable views about
the Rizal Bill. Tensions between those who supported the Rizal Bill and the Catholic Church
emerged.
In one of the symposia organized by the Catholic Church, Fr. Jesus Cavanna as guest said
that Rizal’s works in view of the past injustices would corrupt the present hierarchy of the Catholic
Church in the Country.
Jesus Paredes, a radio commentator, argued that Catholics were not deprived of their to
decline reading Rizal’s novels if they felt like they could threaten their salvation (Abinales and
Amoroso, 2005).
In this response, Archbishop Rufino Santos of manila asserted that Catholic students would
be affected if the mandatory reading of unexpurgated writings of Rizal would prevail.
In his Pastoral letter, the Archbishop clearly opposed the Rizal Bill. Then, manila Mayor
Arsenio Lacson walked out of the mass when the Pastoral letter was read. Many organizations of
the Catholic Church like the Catholic Action of the Philippines, the Congregations of the Missions,
the Knights of Columbus, and the Catholic Teachers Guild, collaborated against the passage of the
Rizal Bill. On the other hand, counter movement was also organized by Veteranos dela Revolucion
(Spirit of 1896), Alagad ni Rizal, The freemasons, and The Knights of Rizal. In addition, a bill co-
authored by Senators Jose P. Laurel and Claro M. Recto was sponsored by the Senate Committee
on Education but opposed by Francisco Rodrigo, Mariano Jesus and Decoroso Rosales (Araneta,
2010).
Cuenco argued that Rizal directly attacked the practices, beliefs and Creeds of the Catholic
Church. Rizal according to Cuenco did not only critical to the friars of his era but it was a total
disbelief of the Bible and the Catholic faith. The non-mentioning of the purgatory, the story of
Moses and that of Jesus Christ are not found in the Bible according to Jose Rizal. Rizal’s doubting
the dogmas of the Catholic Church was fallacious and misleading. His denial of a purgatory has
opposed the beliefs of the majority members of the Senate Committee on Education. Senator
Domocao Alonto, a muslim was opposed to the majority views of the Filipino that Jose Rizal is our
National Hero, he despised the writings of Jose Rizal. Many followers of Jose Rizal viewed him as
a Saint so that his writings became a Bible of Indonesians in quest of their independence. Such
views of Alonto were countered by a supporter of the Bill like Pedro Lopez, a Cebuano, stating that
the essence of the independence movement began in Cebu when Lapu-lapu fought
Magellan(Pangalangan,2010).
Various Catholic schools in the country threaten to close down if the bill is passed. Senator
Recto countered that if that happened, schools would be nationalized. These statements of Recto

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RIZAL COURSE Prof. Jose J. Lemana
led the Catholic Schools to campaign against law-makers who supported the Rizal Bill.
Furthermore, Senator Recto argued that the people who eliminated Rizal’s writings from schools
put in oblivion his memories as a martyr who died for the sake of our nation. Sen. Recto added that
this was not a fight against him but a fight against Rizal (Abinales and Amoroso, 2005).
The Chairman of the Committee of Education catered to the sentiments of the Catholic
Church and made adjustments to compromise the opposition and the approbation of the
supporters of the Rizal Bill. On May 12, 1956, the inserted compromise (contents) on the bill, which
specified that only tertiary students would have the option of reading unexpurgated versions of
Clerically contested reading materials, like the Noli Me Tangere and El Filibusterismo, was
approved unanimously. The bill was enacted on June 12, 1956 (Araneta,2010).

HONORING FILIPINO NATIONAL HEROES

RA 1425 does not recognized Jose Rizal as our National Hero nor no Laws either passed
recognizing as such. However, there were laws enacted honoring significant historical persons and
their heroic acts that molded our history. Rizal law is a tribute to Jose Rizal in recognition of his
significant role in social transformation in our country.
Many other historical icons are given due recognition like Andres Bonifacio who acquired
spotlight in heroism. Despite the absence of a formal declaration proclaiming them are national
heroes, Philippine history these men and many historical icons because of their great contributions
to the Filipino nation. Historians argue, that heroes must not be legislated, the acclamation for
heroes would be recognition enough. Their recognition is better executed in the schools, where the
stories about their contributions to our country’s history would be relived.
Thus, on March 28, 1987, then Pres. Fidel V. Ramos issued Execution Order No. 75 titled
“Creating the National Heroes Committee under the Office of the President:
The following functions of the said committee are:
a. to learn, assess, and suggest national personalities in recognition of the impact
they have made on Philippine history; and
b. to make sure that just recognition be given to heroes for their authentic character
and extraordinary triumphs for the country.
Criteria of a hero identified by the Committee are:
a. heroes are those who have a concept of nation and hereafter aspire and struggle
for the nation’s freedom.
b. advocates order for a nation;
c. contribute to the quality of life and destiny of a nation (National Commission for
Culture and the Arts, 2015).

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Philippine National Literature

The two masterpieces of Jose Rizal, the Noli Me Tangere and El Filibusterismo are
considered as inspiring Sources of Patriotism and Nationalism for the Filipino youth during
formative years. The Rizal bill showcased the existence of a corrective space, an ensemble of
discourses and practices creating the field of literary education in our country. A literary work which
shows the life of our ancestors therefore a good source of learning the value of education. Rizal’s
novels portrayed the Filipino people whose national character had been molded by literary works
and reading these works, the Bill gave Rizal and his novels not only a central place in the State’s
nationalistic project but also the vital role to enable us grasp the ideas of freedom and nationalism
(Hau,2000;p.1).
Rizal’s annotation of Sucesos delas Islas Filipinas by Morga traced the lineaments of the
country’s history. He used and believed that pen is mightier than sword in combating the Spanish
abuser and bloodless tool in asking for reforms.
Literature gives importance to nationalism. Rizal viewed it as something essential. Literature
opens the door to significant events, which describe certain setups, behaviors and the current
image of society today (Mojares, 2013).
Literature can also be a good basis of history a glimpse of the past attributes of Filipinos. It
has its intervening function like Rizal’s novels; it was artifactual, a mixture of reality and best
portrayed by fiction characters, which represent certain people back then. It’s a result of all the
observations and experiences of Jose Rizal in Philippine society. It was through literature that Jose
Rizal of showcasing society’s creative hard work and ambitions. Thus, during those period were
able to acquire, preserve, and reshape their culture through literature originated from their
ancestors’ days. This shows the intertwined relationships of literature and Philippine nationalism,
strengthened by the idea that literature embodies and creates culture.
Literature is a good driving fool to execute and command one’s country. It allows people to
speak and change the future; it’s an execution of dominance in one’s works.
Rizal’s third novel “Makamisa” was written in Tagalog language for the Tagalog readers and
not for the Europeans readers. He also assisted his brother Paciano in translating the Noli and El
Fili from Spanish to Tagalog. Rizal used his native tongue to showcase the richness of the Tagalog
language and culture. Rizal found it difficult writing in Tagalog but it was not in vain because it was
a sign of his desire for a literature more deeply anchored in the realities of home (Mojares, 2013).

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Practice Exercises/Self Evaluation

Activity 1.1

Name: Year & Section: Date:

Matching Type. Match column A with column B. Write the letter of your answer on the space
provided.

______1. Author of the book Sucesos delas Islas Filipinas a. Noli Me Tangere

______2. The Second novel of Jose Rizal b. Dr. Antonio Morga

______3. An Executive Order creating the National Heroes c. Filipino Culture

Committee under the Office of the President d. Fr. Jesus Canvanna

______4. Known as Rizal Law e. Makamisa

______5. The main proponent of the Rizal Bill f. Executive Order No.75

______6. Year of Publication of Noli Me Tangere g. June 12, 1956

______7. He argued that the novels belonged to the past and h. Claro M. Recto

that teaching them mould misrepresent current trends i. 1887

______8. These served as artifactual concrete examples j. Rizal’s Novels

______9. Date of approval of Republic Act 1425 k. R.A. 1425

______10. The third novel of Dr. Jose Rizal

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Activity 1.2

Name: Year & Section: Date:

ESSAY TYPE. Answer the following questions.

1. Is R.A. 1425 considered a victory for the Catholic Church? Why not? Why yes?

2. Rizal’s life, works and writings, especially his novels, Noli Me Tangere and El Filibusterismo,
Shall be included in the curricula of all schools, colleges, and universities, public and private, as
long as they are unexpurgated or original editions of these novels. Explain this.

3. If the Rizal Bill had not existed before and it were proposed today, would there objections to it?
Why or why not?

4. Why is the learning of patriotism form Rizal’s novels a complicated process? What is the
“danger” inherent in reading Rizal’s novels?

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Summative Test

Name: Year & Section: Date:

Multiple Choice. Encircle the letter that best represent your answer.

1. Main proponent of Rizal Law

a. Jose W. Diokno c. Maria Kalaw Katigbak
b. Claro M. Recto d. Domocao Alonto

2. One of the reasons for the strong opposition of the Catholic Church to the novels of Dr. Jose
Rizal was:
a. malicious statements c. argumentative in nature
b. anti-heretical d. none of them

3. The exact date when Rizal Law was enacted

a. January 3, 1956 c. August 12, 1956
b. June 12, 1956 d. December 8, 1956

4. Rizal’s novels serve as inspiring sources of the Filipino sense of:

a. loyalty and devotion c. patriotism and nationalism
b. courage and bravery d. love and peace

5. Besides from Dr. Jose Rizal, the implied recognized national hero was:
a. Carlos P. Garcia c. Juan Luna
b. Emilio Aguinaldo d. Andres Bonifacio

6. During the time of Dr. Jose Rizal, he asserted that Tagalog literature is:
a. Living and dynamic c. Imaginative and Creative
b. Inspiring and Challenging d. All of them

7. Rizal Law was published in:

a. Manila Bulletin c. Diaryong Tagalog
b. La Solidaridad d. Official Gazette

8. The third and unfinished novel of Jose Rizal was:

a. Elias and Salome c. Alabok sa Ulap
b. Makamisa d. Ilaw

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RIZAL COURSE Prof. Jose J. Lemana
9. Rizal’s third novel was written sometime in:
a. 1891-1892 c. 1893-1894
b. 1892-1893 d. 1894-1895

10. Among the criteria for proclaiming national heroes, which of the following must be included:
a. Those who contribute to the quality of life and destiny of the nation
b. Those who have a concept of a nation
c. Those who have money and resources
d. Those who define and contribute to a system of freedom and order for a nation.

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NOTRE DAME UNIVERSITY
RIZAL COURSE Prof. Jose J. Lemana
CHAPTER II

The Philippines in the 19th Century – Time of Jose Rizal

(II.a – Economic: End of Galleon Trade)

Overview:
The relationship between the individual and society in interrelated society cannot exist
without the individual; at the same time, the individual is molded by the social structures in which
an individual is a part,
The 19th century was an era of social change, an era when Dr. Jose Rizal thrived in. In this
chapter we will discuss about the social structures in 19 th century Philippines to put Jose Rizal in
the context of his era.

Learning Outcomes:
By the end of this lesson, you should be able to:
1. Cite the social and political structures of 19 th Century Philippines;
2. Discuss the significant realities that the Filipino encountered during the time of Jose Rizal; and
3. Discuss the challenges of the 19th century.

The 19th century was a period of rapid economic growth and innovation brought about by the
idea of industrialization. Machines replaced most made of productions in Europe and the United
States of America. Industrialization not only changed the economic conditions of those countries in
Europe and the United States but also in politics and the society. However, in the Philippines in the
19th century remained primitive despite the emerging marks of growth noted in some sectors. Self-
indulgent people occupied the government who remained in different to realities experienced by
the masses.

The Philippines Social Structure in the 19th Century

Feudalism – the land holding system was controlled by the Spanish conquistador. Dominion
toward the land owned was practiced wherein the authority and power resided in the hands of the
wealthy few. There was a huge gap between the landlords and their tenants.
The Spaniards were at the peak of the pyramid structure of the social system of the
Philippines in the 19th century.

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Spanish officials, peninsulares and the friars comprised the topmost part of the pyramid. The
middle part is composed of the favored natives, mestizos or the halh-breeds, the insulares or
Philippine – born Spaniards and the criollos, while the indios who lost their lands to these groups
where degraded and enslaved by the society, they occupied the lowest part of the pyramid.
The Spanish colonization made the Philippines embraced the “master-slave” relationship
allowing the elites to hold the Indios captive. Exploitation was rampant and heavy taxation dragged
the Indios down. This social structure left the Indios powerless in their native land.

The Political System

The Spanish conquistadores were in total control of the Philippine government. The Spanish
monarch held the Executive, Legislative, Judicial and Religion power. Such power was executed
through the Ministro de Ultramar (Ministry of the Colonies) founded in Madrid in 1863.
In the Philippines, the Governor-General was appointed by the Spanish Monarch who acted
as petty-monarch. The Governor-General enjoyed the power of the monarch.
The unitary system of the government put governance in the hands of one person, the
Governor-General, who acted according to the mandate of the Spanish government. He led the
Royal Audiencia, then known as the Supreme Court until 1861. He was even empowered to select
a priest who would occupy highest position in the Church and society (Delgado, 1904).
The Lieutenant-General or general Segundo Cabo assisted the Governor-General in the
administration of the government, with the Board of Authorities as adviser. But the Council of
Administration was more influential than the Board of Authorities. In 1874, the Secretariat of the
Central Government was created to assist the Governor-General growing power and later
introduced to a bigger body of administrative advisers, the Directorate of the Civil Administration.
The following political system were established:
1. The National Government or Central Government
- headed by the Governor-General
2. The Provincial Government or the Alcaldia
- headed by the Alcalde-Mayor or the civil governors
3. The City Government known as Cabildo or Aguntamiento
- two alcaldes ordinarios or the mayor and the vice mayor led the Aguntamiento
4. The Municipal Government
- headed by the gobernadorcillo or capitan who acted as the town executive and judge.
5. The Barangay Government

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- headed by the Cabeza de barangay or people of high standing in the community, usually
the Mestizo or Filipino Chinese (The Life and Works of Jose Rizal, Mutya Publishing House,
Inc., 2018).
Since there was no official law-making body during the colonial era, laws enforced in the
Philippines came from various sources like:
a. Leyes de Indias/Laws of the Indies
b. Codigo Comercio
c. Codigo Penal
d. Las Siete Partidas
e. Las Leyes de Toro
These laws did not seek quality and fairness, but they were made to exploit the Philippines
(Vidal, 1904).
The Philippines was briefly represented in the Spanish Cortes or Parliament from 1810 to
1813, and from 1834 to 1837. The Filipinos and their Spanish sympathizers failed to restore our
representation to the Parliament after 1837.
Widespread abuses in the Administrative system led to some superficial reforms introduced
by the Spanish Monarch but it failed.
Doña Teodora, the mother of Jose Rizal was a victim of injustice. She was arrested by the
guardia civil due to false accusation by her unfaithful sister-in-law. She was imprisoned for two
years and a half and pardoned by acting Governor-General Manuel Blanco Valderama
This event led Jose Rizal to fight for his country and freedom for the nation.

The Educational System

Pitiable and limited only to the few especially the elite. The friars censored intellectual
growth especially among the middle class, for fear that the knowledge would expose the injustices
that had been going on in the country. The friars overemphasis on religious matters, outdated
teaching methods, poor classroom facilities, limited curriculum and lack of teaching materials, like
books. Primary educations were neglected and illiteracy was widespread (de Tavera, 1995).
Middle-class Filipinos were discriminated in schools not only by their classmates but also by
their teachers. Ateneo de Manila was exclusive only the elite like all other schools.
The Colegio de San Juan Letran was the only official secondary school thru out the Spanish
rule. Although the Ateneo de Manila was founded as secondary school but limited only for the
Spaniards and mestizos.

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The University of Sto. Thomas opened its doors to Filipino students but such was the only
institution of university status in manila (Reports of the Philippine Commission, 1900).
Most of the schools were founded by religious orders like the Jesuits, Paulists, Dominicans
located in Manila, Cebu, Ilo-ilo, Nueva Caceres and Nueva Segovia. These schools were intended
as theological seminaries for Spanish students. It was only in the later part of the Spanish regime
were Filipino seminarians were admitted.
Public schools were welcomed in the year 1855 when the Spanish monarch recognized the
need to educated Indios in primary education. Governor-General Manuel Crespo(1854-1856)
organized to study and recommend measures to improved elementary education in the Philippines
Education Decree of 1863 was issued on December 20, 1863 to establish one primary school for
boys and girls in major towns thru-out the country.
Normal schools for men were opened in 1855 to train educators or teachers. Spanish was
the medium of Instruction placed under the supervision of the Jesuits. Escuela Normal Elemental
was founded, and by 1893 served as training schools for male teachers in the secondary schools.
The friars were against this development under the Educational Decree of 1863 (Ganzon,1967).
Moret Decree of 1870 was made to secularize higher education in the Philippine but blocked
by the friars and the political development in Spain made it impossible to implement (Alonzo,
1932).
Felipe Buencamino led the students of UST to petition in 1870 the implementation of Moret
Decree. This act was interpreted by the Dominicans as rebellion against the King of Spain.
Such corrupt conditions in education urged Jose Rizal and some of illustrados to continue
their studied abroad, when the social, political and intellectual dissatisfaction became widespread
in the Philippines. Spain could not introduce much-needed reforms due to her own impassive
resistance to the developing economic and industrial progress of other European countries
(Sanciano, 1975).

The Challenges of the 19th Century

The Philippines’ economic and political setup was greatly affected by the rapid
industrialization in Europe. This marked also the growth of democracy, liberalism and nationalism.
Ilustrados who studied in European Universities brought these economic and political
developments when they returned to their native lands.
Industrialization replaced normal mode of producing goods as well as the thinking towards
development.
Secularization led people to question about the teachings of the Church, thus, materialism
and individual liberty challenged spiritual liberty as found in the Catholic teaching.

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Spain reluctantly opened the Philippine to world trade. Port of Manila was opened in1834,
Sual, Ilo-ilo and Zamboanga in 1855, Cebu in 1860 and Legazpi and Tacloban in 1873. These
made the ports accessible to European vessels that made the Philippines popular to world traders.
Other developments followed like in agriculture, transportation and other economic and
social activities.

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Activity 2.1
Name: Year & Section: Date:

This is a group activity using role-play. The class will be divided into eleven small groups. Each
group will pick one of the given practices. The group is given ten(10) minutes to discuss the issue
and five(5) minutes to present its written output to the class.
During the Spanish era, Filipinos were victims of the evil of the unjust, biased, and deteriorating
power of the Spaniards.
Enumerated below are the eleven evil practices. Listed also below the rubric for the presentation.
1. Instability of colonial administration
2. Corrupt colonial officials
3. No Philippine representation in Spanish Cortes
4. Human rights denied to Filipinos
5. No equality before the law
6. Maladministration of justice
7. Racial discrimination
8. Frailocracy
9. Forced labor
10. Haciendas owned by the friars
11. The Guardia Civil
Role-playing Rubric
Rubric: Criteria: Rating: 5-excellent; 4-very good; 3-good; 2-fair; 1-poor
Speech was clear with appropriate volume and inflection 5 4 3 2 1
Role was played in a convincing, consistent manner 5 4 3 2 1
Arguments and viewpoints expressed fit role played 5 4 3 2 1
Costumes and props were effectively used 5 4 3 2 1
Role-play was well prepared and organized 5 4 3 2 1
Role-played captured and maintained audience interest 5 4 3 2 1

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Activity 2.2

Name: Year & Section: Date:

Comprehension: Answer the following using bullet elements. Each question is equivalent to five (5)
points. Minimum of three (3) bullet statements.

1. The Philippines’ Social Structure during

the Spanish era

2. Discuss the political system adopted by

the Philippines during the Spanish era.

3. The Educational System of the

Philippines was limited to wealthy
students.

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Activity 2.3

Name: Year & Section: Date:

Answer the following questions: Ten points each.

1. How did the central government manage the colony?

2. How did Doña Teodora experience injustice from the courts of justice?

3. How did the friars educate the natives of the archipelago?

4. Did the industrialization bring economic progress to the local inhabitants of the islands?

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Summative Test

Name: Year & Section: Date:

Multiple Choice. Encircle the letter that best represent your answer.

1. The social structure of colonial Philippines was not:

a. Feudalists; b. A pyramid structure; c. A master-slave relationship; d. A system that provided
equal opportunity.
2. The political system of Colonial Philippines was:
a. Democratic; b. A centralized machinery; c. Represented by elected officials from Spain; d.
Responsible to the people hence leaders could be recalled.
3. Which of the following did not describe the Judicial system of Colonial Philippines?
a. The Royal Audiencia was the highest judicial body;
b. The Royal Audiencia was tasked to legislate laws for the country;
c. The laws in the Philippines came from many sources;
d. The Philippines was fully represented in the Spanish Cortes.
4. Describe the administrative system of the Philippines during the Spanish era:
a. Principal officials underwent a long process;
b. Principal officials needed consent to appoint lower-ranked officers;
c. High-ranking officials were subject to many restrictions and most often moved from one
assignment to the next;
d. Appointed officials were forced to collect money from the people for Spain.
5. The role of the Catholic friars in the Spanish-era Philippines:
a. Political authority was placed in the hands of the friars;
b. Friars were used as instrument of control by the government;
c. To spread Catholic Christianity as their major role;

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6. Which of the following statements best described the relationship between the friars and the
government officials in the Philippines during the Spanish era?
a. Church officials shared extensive powers with civil authorities;
b. The tenure of higher official at times was subjected to the will of the friars:
c. There was the union of the state and the Church in terms of governance;
d. All of the above.
7. The educational system of the Philippines during the Spanish era was:
a. Not systematic;
b. Not largely memorizing books;
c. Not criticized because of its overemphasis on religious matters;
d. Not opened to Filipino students until the later decades of the Spanish rule
8. Why was the Educational Decree of 1863 a milestone in the history of the educational system in
the Philippines?
a. Teacher-training schools were established;
b. It established separate primary schools for boys and girls in major towns;
c. The Spanish government realized the urgency to supervise the educational system in the colony;
d. All of the above
9. As a student in Europe, Jose Rizal, together with the other Filipino students:
a. Pushed for the opening of the Philippines to world trade to improve our economic conditions;
b. Called on the Spanish monarch to enact laws to protect the Filipino workers;
c. Called for political reforms in the colony;
d. Plotted to revolt against Spain when they returned home
10. Which of the statement is not true about the industrial developments in Europe?
a. The working class realized their strength as they increased in numbers;
b. They brought about the emergence of a new social class that was largely illiterate and without
property;
c. These industrial developments in Europe during the 19th century made the lives of the proletariat
more comfortable;
d. The proletariat demanded better labor practices and environment from their employees like
better pay, fixed work hours, universal education and old-age pension.
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Diagnostic Test

Name: Year & Section: Date:

True or False. Write TRUE if the statement is correct and FALSE if the statement is not correct in
the space provided.
________1. Domingo Lam-co married Ines dela Rosa, a Chinese mestiza from the Parian. They
migrated in Biñan and became tenants in the Dominican estate.
________2. Francisco Mercado, Jose Rizal’s great grandfather, had agricultural skills, like his
father. He was a skilled farmer.
________3. Chinese mestizos had already established in the region, particularly in Luzon. They
had been significantly involved in the economic and social affairs of the Philippines.
________4. The money-lending activities of Chinese mestizos eventually led them to acquire land
owned by the naturales thru an arrangement known as “pacto de retro venta.”
________5. The pre-conquest social organization, and indigenous belief system justified the datu
as deserving deference, labor service, control of larger and better land holding and share of the
harvest.
________6. The primary sources of land for the state were the donations and mortgages of land
owned by the Spaniards.
________7. Kalabaw is the important technology that was introduced by the friars to Philippine
agriculture.
________8. Diezmoz perdiales was the center of trouble in Calamba.
________9. The friars rather than the Inquilinos were the main objects of grievances by Indio
peasants in the uprising in 1896.
________10. The provinces surrounding Manila in the 18 th and 19th centuries were the reasons the
friar land owners were induced to enclose hacienda.

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Chapter III
RIZAL’S SOCIAL ORIGIN and HISTORICAL CONTEXT

The Filipino-Chinese were an important element of 19 th century Philippines. They were the
middle class or principalia in those eras, and they played an important role in the agitation for
reforms, during the revolution, and in the formation of Filipino identity as a nation.
In this chapter we will discuss Jose Rizal’s ancestry, starting from his Chinese ancestor who
moved to the Philippines from China. This chapter will also discuss how Rizal’s ancestors
established themselves as a well-to-do Filipino-Chinese family amid Spanish governance.

Learning Objectives:
By the end of this chapter, students should be able to:
a. Trace Rizal’s Genealogy
b. Discuss the significant role of the Filipino-Chinese mestizos in nation-building the 19th century;
and
c. Cite the impact of Cavite Mutiny and the GOMBURZA execution

Rizal’s Social Origin

Genealogy of Jose Rizal:
Spanish rulers and few other individuals lived within the walls for fear of being attacked.
Greater numbers of the Chinese lived in the Parian intended for them by the government.
Domingo Lam-co, great patriarch of Jose Rizal came from China. He was a native of the
Chinchew District, where the Jesuits first, and later the Dominicans, had a mission. Perhaps he
knew about Christianity before leaving China. According to the Church account he lived in
Siongque, a farming village near the great city. He was baptized as catholic in the Parian church of
San Gabriel on a Sunday in June of 1697. Thus, name Domingo was his given name as he was
baptized on a Sunday.
Domingo Lam-co helped in building Tubigan barrio inhabited by Filipino-Chinese mostly
from Chinchew, “the city of springs.” He married Inez dela Rosa, a native of Chinese, they were
married in the Parian Church by the same priest, who baptized him before.
The Lam-co family suffered a great loss in 1741 when their daughter, Josepha Didnio, lived
only for five days. They had another son, Francisco Mercado, partly given the said name because
he had an uncle his namesake.

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Choice of names counts much to the Chinese. Thus, the surname “Mercado” or “Merchant”
mean the same; Francisco, therefore, set out with a surname to free him from prejudice for being a
Filipino-Chinese mestizo (Wickberg, 2000).
Francisco Mercado freed himself from his ancestry, choose to settle in the hacienda of St.
John the Baptist of Calamba rather than in a Jesuit parish. As bachelor, he freely visit Manila and
Cavite and involved in politics. He married on May 26, 1771 Bernarda Monicha, a Chinese mestiza
from hacienda of San Pedro Tunasan (Craig, 2005 pp. 59-62).
Mr. and Mrs. Francisco Mercado had two sons, Juan and Clemente. In 1783, Francisco
Mercado became alcalde of the town, he died in 1801. He was very popular man in the community.
Mrs. Francisco outlived her husband and helped in taking care of her sons.
A grandson was also name Francisco, the father of Jose Rizal. Juan Mercado eldest son of
Francisco and Bernarda, built a fine house in the heart of Biñan, Laguna.
Juan married a girl from Tubugan named, Cirila Alejandro, daughter of Domingo Lam-co’s
Chinese godson, Siongco, father of Cirila. Jose Rizal was, Siongco’s great grandson (Craig, pp.68-
73). Juan Mercado was three times Chief Officer of Biñan in 1808, 1813, and 1815 (Craig, 68-73).
Francisco was orphaned by his father when he was 8 yrs. Old, his mother and sister
Potenciana looked after him well. He attend a Biñan Latin school and seemed to have studied Latin
and Philosophy at Colegio de San Jose de Manila. They had a sister, Petrona, a dress goods
merchant in Calamba. Later upon the death of their mother, they settled in Calamba.
Francisco, Rizal’s father was given further lot allotments by the landlords because of his
agricultural skill. He married Teodora Alonzo, a native of Manila but settled with her mother in
Calamba. Her father, Lorenzo Alberto was said to be very Chinese in appearance. Lorenzo Alberto
had a brother who was a priest and a sister, Isabel, who was wealthy. Their mother, Maria
Florentina, maternal side, came from the Florentina family of Chinese blood from Balinag, Bulacan.
Maria Florentina’s father was Mariano Alejandro of Biñan. Lorenzo Alberto was the municipal
captain of Biñan in 1824. The grandfather, Gregorio Alonzo, was from barrio of Quiotan and twice
appointed municipal captain in 1763 and 1768. He was a surveyor, became wealthy and had
invested big capital with the American Manila Shipping firms of Peele, Hubble and Co., and Russell
Sturgis and Co. The most obscure branch of the Rizal’s family tree was the Ochoas, from maternal
side because of all the archives – the church, land and court were destroyed during the late
uprising in Cavite (Craig, pp. 70-71).
Regina Ochoa, wife of Atty. Manuel de Quintos, was of Spain, Chinese, and Tagalog
ancestry. Atty. Quintos was from Lingayen, Pangasinan and an uncle led the Chinese mestizo’s
protest against the arbitrariness of their provincial governor. The maternal side of Jose Rizal were
much richer than his paternal side and gained prominence in the society.
Maternal sides of Jose Rizal who gained prominence during the Spanish era were:
a. Felix Florentino, uncle of Doña Teodora, was the first uncle of Nueva Segovia
(Vigan) court.
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RIZAL COURSE Prof. Jose J. Lemana
b. Jose Florentino, coucin of Doña Teodora, was a Philippine deputy in the Spanish
Cortes, a lawyer.
c. Manuel, brother of Jose Florentino, a lawyer.
d. Fr. Layva, priest of Rozario, Vicar of Batangas, half-blood relation.
e. Fr. Alonzo, paternal uncle of Doña Teodora (Craig, pp. 72-73).
Doña Teodora was baptized in Sta. Cruz on Nov. 18, 1827 as Teodora Morales Alonzo,
completed her training at Sta. Rosa College, Manila run by the Filipino sisters-sisters of
charity.

The Chinese Mestizo during the Spanish era

As early as 15th century, Chinese were already established in the region, especially in
Luzon. They were significantly involved in the economic and social affairs of the Philippines.
The coming of the Spanish conquerors in the Philippines meant new opportunities for the
Chinese. The Chinese population at 20,000 outnumbered the Spaniards who were only around
1,000 in 1603.
The Spanish government into four (4) categories:
1. Those who did not pay any tribute – Spaniards and Spanish mestizos, either mother or
father were Chinese.
2. Indios – Malayan inhabitants of the archipelago, now called Filipinos, paid the lowest
tribute.
3. Chinese tribute paying group
4. Chinese Mestizos, paid double tribute paid by the Indio.
These categories of this Chinese, mestizo and Indio legally was based on the status of the
parents, particularly the father.
In terms of ancestry, Rizal might be considered a fifth-generation Chinese meztizo. Thus,
Rizal’s father and Rizal himself were considered an Indio (Craig, p.41).
Binondo was founded as a Chinese town in 1594 based on the decree of Gov-Gen
Dasmariñas for its economic services.

THE CAVITE MUTINY AND THE GOMBURZA EXECUTION

The Cavite Mutiny of January 21, 1872 ended in the mass arrest of Filipino patriots like Sgt.
La-Madrid, allegedly the mastermind. However, three innocent secular Filipino priests were

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implicated and ordered by Court Martial to be executed by strangulation in Bagumbayan field,
Luneta, now Rizal Park on February 28, 1872 (Schumacher, 1972).
Their death marked a turning point in the history of Filipino nationalism, a catalyst that
unified them to fight for liberal reforms that would set us free from the Spaniards. Without the
GOMBURZA execution Jose Rizal would had become a Jesuit and instead of writing the Noli Me
Tangere, would have written the contrary.
Thus, Jose Rizal himself looked back to that date, as decisive in his own development as a
nationalist. This served as inspiration for him to study for the sake of his countrymen. Rizal
dedicated his El Filibusterismo to the GOMBURZA who were victims of Spanish tyranny, he was
then eleven (11 yrs old) when they were executed.

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Activity 3.1
Name: Year & Section: Date:
Role Play. The class will be divided into five groups. Each group will act on the assigned event
based on their interpretation of the concepts and theories that were discussed in the class. Each
group will be given 8 eight-to-twelve-minute presentation and graded in the rubric provided.
Situation 1: Cavite Munity
Situation 2: Agrarian Controversy in Calamba
Situation 3: GOMBURZA’S EXECUTION
Situation 4: Jose Rizal’s genealogy or social origin
Role-Play Rubric

Social Criteria 5 4 3 2 1
EXCELLENT GOOD NEEDS SOME NEEDS MORE N/A
IMPROVEMENT IMPROVEMENT
Relates to Audience
Provides a fluent
rendition of scenario
Role-plays a
scenario with feelings
and expression
Varies intonation
Present characters
appropriately
Gives the scenario a
full range
Breaches are easily
identified
Scale:
30-35: A EXCELLENT
25-29: B GOOD
19-24: C NEEDS SOME IMPROVEMENT
13-18: D NEEDS MORE IMPROVEMENT
7-12: E NOT APPLICABLE

TOTAL:_______________
COMMENTS:

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Activity 3.2

Name: Year & Section: Date:

Answer the following questions:

1. What major factor brought Chinese mestizos to a position of economic and social prominence
during the period of 1750-1850?

2. Friars owned land with no titles and they enlarged illegally their lands. What can you comment
about this issue?

3. Why was legal improbable for Fr. Burgos to have been implicated with the Cavite Mutiny?

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Summative Test

Name: Year & Section: Date:

MULTIPLE CHOICE. Encircle the letter that best represents your answer.
1. He became the municipal captain of Biñan in 1824.
a. Lorenzo Alberto; b. Francisco Mercado; c. Domingo Lam-co; d. Gregorio Alonzo
2. The wife of Domingo, Chinese mestiza was
a. Teodora Alonzo; b. Bridaga de Quintos; c. Regina Ochoa; d. Ines dela Rosa
3. The Chinese in 1603 was approximately at this number
a. 10,000; b. 20,000; c. 30,000; d. 40,000
4. The native inhabitants of the archipelago who are now called Filipinos
a. Indios; b. Malays; c. Chinese; d. Chinese mestizos
5. The Chinese arrived in the Philippines soon after the Spaniards arrived and became an
important entity.
a. Political; b. Social; c. Economic; d. Cultural
6. The year Binondo was founded as a Parian or Chinatown
a. 1593; b. 1594; c. 1641; d. 1645
7. The four Tagalog-speaking provinces
a. Manila, Bulacan, Cavite, Tondo; b. Tondo, Batangas, Manila, Pampanga; c. Cavite, Tondo,
Bulacan, and Laguna de Bay; d. Laguna de Bay, Tondo, Manila, Pampanga
8. The year that the Dominican friars began formal proceedings to gain control of the land.
a. 1640; b. 1740; c. 1840; d. 1940
9. The secular priest who openly challenged the religious sector by writing in the Madrid
newspaper La Discussion.
a. Fr. Burgos; b. Fr. Gomez; c. Fr. Zamora; d. Fr. Pelaez
10. The secular priest known as “Cura indigena.”
a. Fr. Pelaez; b. Fr. Zamora; c. Fr. Burgos; d. Fr. Gomez

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Diagnostic Test

Name: Year & Section: Date:

True or False. Write True if the statement is correct and False if the statement is not correct in the
space provided.
_______1. Dr. Jose Rizal gained recognition as the most brilliant Atenean of his time and the
“Pride of the Jesuits.”
_______2. At UST, a controversial writing of Rizal, “A La Juventud Filipina,” as allegory, allegedly
won a prize in a literary competition, but he was denied for the prize because he was an Indio.
_______3. From the University of Heidelberg, Jose Rizal went to the University of Leipzig when he
studied psychology and history and met the historian Otto Becker.
_______4. As soon as Noli Me Tangere was published, Jose Rizal was ready to go home and
perform surgery on his mother’s eyes, he was called in his hometown “Doctor Uliman.”
_______5. Dr. Jose Rizal was exiled where he employed practical nationalism like as building of
water system, putting up school for boys, providing to his patients, and many more.
_______6. Dr. Jose Rizal readily supported Dr. Pio Valenzuela’s idea about revolution.
_______7. Rizal’s advocacy is education for the people not assimilation.
_______8. Isla de Panay brought Jose Rizal to Barcelona on October 06, 1896 where he stayed
for few hours in Cell no. 11 at Montuich Castle, he was brought back to the Philippines on board
SS Colon.
_______9. Jose Rizal was tried by a civilian court in Fort Santiago.
_______10. The execution of Dr. Jose Rizal becomes a world news.

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Chapter IV
Biography of Dr. Jose Rizal

OVERVIEW
A biography is a detailed account of a person’s life. It also tells us about the experiences of
the person while he was still active in his life. Thus, it is more than just an account of basic
informations about the person like as birth, birthplace, genealogy, family, education and death.
In this chapter we will talk about Dr. Jose Rizal’s family, childhood, early education, studies
in Europe, and other activities of Dr. Jose Rizal that led to his capture, trial, and martyrdom in the
hands of the Spanish authority.
Learning Objectives:
By the end of this lesson, you should be able to:
a. Analyze Rizal’s family, childhood, and early education;
b. Evaluate the people and events and their influenced on Rizal’s life; and
c. Discuss the capture of Jose Rizal, trial, and martyrdom.

BIRTH, FAMILY, AND FAMILY ANCESTRY OF JOSE RIZAL

Calamba, Laguna – place of birth of Jose Rizal
June 19, 1861 – his birthdate.
Fullname in his birth certificate – Jose Protacio Rizal Mercado Alonzo y Realonda. The 7th child of
his parents.
The parents of Jose Rizal:
Father – Don Francisco Mercado, born on May 11, 1818 in Binan, Laguna and graduated at the
College of San Jose, Manila. He died on January 5, 1898 at the age of 80.
Mother – Doña Teodora Alonzo y Realonda, born on November 8, 1826 in Manila and graduated at
the College of Sta. Rosa, now College of Sta. Isabel, the oldest college for girls in the Philippines.
She died in Manila on August 15, 1911 at the age of 85.
On June 22, 1861, Jose Rizal was baptized by Father Rufino Collantes with Father Pedro
Collantes as his godfather in Calamba Catholic Church.
The Siblings:
1. Saturnina – The eldest, nicknamed Neneng, she married Manuel Hidalgo of Batangas.

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2. Paciano – Confidant of Jose Rizal, like a father to him who supported all of his plans like
studying abroad and all expenses of Jose Rizal.
3. Narcisa – known as Sisa, she married Antonio Lopez, nephew of Father Leoncio Lopez and a
school teacher of Morong.
4. Olimpia – known as Ypia she married Silvestre Ubaldo, a telegraph operator from Manila.
5. Lucia – She married Mariano Herbosa of Calamba. He was denied a Christian burial because he
was the brother in law of Jose Rizal.
6. Maria – called as Biang, married to Daniel Faustino Cruz of Binan, Laguna.
7. Jose – Pepe to his siblings, family, and friends. He had a common law wife Josephine Bracken
where he met in exile in Dapitan, denied the sacrament of matrimony because he was under
excomunicado. They had a son named Francisco who died a few hours of his birth and buried by
Jose Rizal at the back of their house in Dapitan (Talisay).
8. Conception – known as Concha, she died at the age of three, her death was the first sorrow of
Jose Rizal.
9. Josefa – known as Panggoy, an oldmaid and died at the age of 80.
10. Trinadad or Trining – died an oldmain at the age of 83.
11. Soledad or Choleng – the youngest who married Pantaleon Quintero of Calamba.
The family of Jose Rizal belonged to the prinscipilia, ilustrados. They could read and write in
Spanish or latin and even maintained a small library in their homes. They could vote for the town
mayor, collected taxes, they had preference, after The Spaniards either in town hall or in the
Church. They can afford to buy precious clothes, jewelry and have abundant in life.

EARLY EDUCATION OF JOSE RIZAL

Doña Teodora, Rizal’s mother was his first teaher, where he learned how to write, read, and
count or arithmetic and pray-religion, at the age of 3.
Early tutors of Jose Rizal were:
1. Maestro Celestino his first tutor
2. Lucas Padwa
3. Leon Monroy, stayed in their house to further his skills in reading, writing and the rudiments of
Latin (Craig, 1913).
His material Uncle, Manuel, developed the physique Of Jose Rizal since he was sickly and
have freak body. While his Uncle Gregorio taught the value of rapidity in work, to think for himself,

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and to observe carefully and describe what he saw. At the age of eight, he write a poem “Sa Aking
Mga Kabata/Kababata” in Tagalog.
He resonated that those who truly love their native language would surely endeavor for
freedom.
At the age of nine, his father sent him to the boy’s school in Biñan under Maestro Justiano
Cruz, a strict disciplinarian. His uncle, Jose Alberto who was also his tutor lived in Biñan.

A. FORMAL EDUCATION IN ATENEO

June 10, 1872, took the entrance examination at Colegio de San Juan de Manila. He
passed all the qualifying tests in Christian doctrine, reading and arithmetic.
Fr. Magin Ferrando, registrar of Ateneo denied to accept Jose Rizal because late for
registration and undersize of his age.
Manuel Zerez Burgos, nephew of Fr. Burgos helped Jose Rizal’s admission in Ateneo.
Jose Rizal studied in Ateneo de Manila for its six-year course leading to the degree of
Bachelor of Arts, equivalent to our high school today.
Besides from Christian doctrine, it included Spanish, Latin, Greek, and French, World
Geography, and History, The History of Spain and the Philippines, mathematics, and the Sciences
(arithmetic, algebra, geometry, trigonometry, mineralogy, chemistry, physics, botany and zoology).
It also included classic disciplines of poetry, rhetoric and philosophy. In all of these subjects, Jose
Rizal got grades of “EXCELLENT” (Craig, pp. 10-11).
One educational device at the Ateneo was calculated to stimulate the utmost competitive
instincts. Each class was divided into two teams or empires namely:
1. The Roman Empire for boarders
2. The Carthagenians for day scholar or out boarders
Each empire had its ranks and dignities, namely:
1. Emperor, best student
2. Tribune, second best student
3. Decurion, third best student
4. Centurion, fourth best student
These kind of groupings were utilized as tools for better classroom management and a
administration of excellent education in Ateneo. The two empires competed with each other as

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team while the individuals within each team strove to rise in rank by means of challenges. To
improve his knowledge and fluency in Spanish, Jose Rizal took tutorial lessons during free time at
the Sta. Isabel College (Craig, pp. 11-13).
In his senior year (1875-1876) Rizal became an interno under Fr. Francisco de Paula
Sanchez who encourage him to study more and write poetry. He considered Fr. Sanchez as the
best professor in Ateneo who always gave attention and consideration for the “advancement his
students.” Jose Rizal excelled in all subjects and gained recognition as the most brilliant Atenean
of his time and the “Pride of the Jesuits.”
On March 23, 1877 at the age of 16 Rizal graduated and received the degree, Bachelor of
Arts (AB) with highest honors (Sobresaliente) Excellent (Craig, 1913).
Shortly after graduation from college, the sixteen-year-old Jose Rizal experienced his first
romance. He met Segunda Katigbak, a college student at La Concordia College where Olimpia
also studying. Through her sister he was able to know her intimately. It was love at first sight for
both of them. Unfortunately, Segunda was already engaged to marry her townmate, Manila Lug.
Rizal returned to Calamba nursing a frustrated heart (Craig, 1913).

B. UST Years of Jose Rizal

Jose Rizal in his first year enrolled first in Philosophy and Letters while waiting the letter
response of Father Pablo Ramon, S.J, rector of Ateneo. Thus, in his second year through the
advised of Fr. Pablo Ramon, Rizal enrolled medicine.
Although, Rizal was then a Thomasian, he remained loyal to Ateneo where he happy and
beautiful memories. He was loved by his Jesuits professors who inspired not only him all of their
students, contrary to his professors in UST who were hostile to him and his Indio classmates. They
were discriminated by their professors and Spanish classmates. The methods of instructions were
obsolete and repressive. His grades in medical course were only “fair and good,” while he got
higher grades in Philosophy and Letters.
Jose Rizal took vocational course, surveying in Ateneo while he was studying in UST. He
passed the examinations at the age of 17 as expert surveyor or perito agrimensor but the
Certificate was given to him when he was 20 years old on November 25, 1881.
Rizal lived in a boarding in Intramuros where he met Leonor Rivera, daughter of Antonio
Rivera, his landlord uncle. To keep their intimate relationship secret, Leonor used “Taimis” as her
pseudonym (Craig, 1913).
At 18, Rizal in the special prize for “Indians and Mestizos” for his poem A La Juventud
Filipina (To The Filipino Youth) sponsored by Licea Artistico Literario. The same lyceum sponsored
a literary Contest in honor of Cervantes, famous writer of Spain. Rizal got first prize for his prose

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entitled Consejo delos Dioses (Council of the Gods). Everybody expected Fr. Evaristo Arias, a friar
to win first prize.
These two prize-winning works of Rizal proved that an Indio could write as well as a
Spaniard, or even better. Jose Rizal had several literary works, like poems, zarzuela, and many
more like:
1. Junta al Pasig (Beside the Pasig) a zarzuela staged by the Ateneans in 1880 in honor of
Immaculate Conception.
2. A Filipina, for the albums of the Society of Sculptors, a poem urging Filipino artists to
glorify the Philippines (Craig, pp. 14-15).
Shortly after his fourth year in UST (1882) decided to continue his studies in Universidad
Central Madrid in Spain. He enrolled in Medicine and Philosophy and Letters.
Reasons why he decided to leave UST:
1. He was no longer happy in his study in the Dominican owned school;
2. He could no longer endure the rampant bigotry, discriminations, and hostility existing in
UST.
Paciano, his brother, Saturnina and Lucia his sisters, Uncle Antonio Rivera, and some of
close friends were informed by Rizal. This was kept secret from parents. They agreed that Paciano
would send ₱35.00 monthly allowance and his uncle Antonio Rivera would solicit from friends for
the other expenses.
Aside from his strong desire to finish his medical course to sure his mother’s eyes illness,
Rizal took Fine Arts at San Fernando and private lessons in various languages like French,
German, and English. He also took time for sports and practical fencing and shooting in the Hall of
Arms of Sanz y Carbonnel.

C. FIRST TRAVEL ABROAD and STUDIES IN EUROPE

May 5, 1882, Rizal boarded the mail streamer Salvadora from Singapore through Suez
Canal to Marseilles, and to Barcelona. He enrolled in Universidad Central de Madrid and in June
21, 1884, the university granted him Licentiate in Medicine. He passed all the subjects leading to
the degree of Doctor of Medicine but failed to submit the thesis and corresponding fees.
June 19, 1885, the university conferred him the degree of Licentiate in Philosophy and
Letters.
Specialization in Opthalmolgy:

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In Paris, Rizal on November 1885 to around 1886, he became clinical assistant to Dr. Louis
de Weckert, one of the famous oculists in Paris (Craig,1913).
Other famous European ophthalmologist and renowned personalities Rizal worked with
were, Virchow, Jagor, Blumentritt.
Rudolf Virchow sponsored Rizal’s membership in the Berlin Antropological Society. He
visited various cities, museums and attended lectures to further his knowledge in European culture
and economic advances of these places so that he can introduce these to his own countrymen.
It was in Paris where Rizal took the first direct steps to his own ruin. He took his pen and
started seriously upon the composition of a story of Philippine life (Craig, 1913). This was the
beginning of Noli Me Tangere where wrote opening chapters of Noli Me Tangere and carried them
to Heidelberg. It was in Heidelberg where wrote the latter half of Noli Me Tangere based on Mrs.
Stowe’s Uncle Tonis Cabin book. Noli Me Tangere was printed and bound and launched on
February 21, 1887. Maximo Viola helped him the printing cost through the Berliner Burchcdrukrei
Action Gesselcraft printing house. They were charged the lowest rate of 300 for 2,000 copies.

D. RIZAL AND VIOLA TOUR OF EUROPE

Maximo Viola invited Rizal to visit various places in Europe. When the delayed allowances
of Rizal from his family arrived, Rizal repaid his obligation to Viola. Then the two sailed forth on
their trip (Bagalong, et al, 2014). They ramped together thru Germany, Switzerland and Austria.
Rizal observed the remote villages as well as the urbanization of these places they visited. Rizal
saw by himself the big difference compared to the Philippine farmers. He met Dr. A.B Meyer who
called him doctor and some other scientists who became his friends.

E. THE FIRST HOMECOMING

Although Jose Rizal enjoyed freedom in Europe but he saw the needs to go home due to
various reasons like:
a. He would to know why Leonor Rivera never respond to his letters;
b. to cure the failing eyesight of his mother;
c. to see for himself the reaction of the Spaniards and the friars about his Noli Me Tangere,
and
d. to assuage his loneliness of his family.
July 3, 1887, Jose Rizal Djemnah from Marseilles via Saigon, Vietnam.
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July 30, 1887, he arrived in Saigon then boarded Haiphong for Manila.
August 5, 1887, he arrived in Manila.
August 8, 1887, he went home to Calamba.
Governor General Emilio Terrero him to Malacañang Palace and explain to him about the
Noli Me Tangere.
Don Jose Taviel Andrade, personal bodyguard assigned to him, Gov. Gen. Terrero. Gov.
Gen. Terrero advised him to leave the country which he needed for the following reasons:
a. His presence in Calamba endangered not only his life but as well as his family and
friends, and
b. He could fight better his nemesis and serve his country’s effectively in foreign lands.
He succeeded operating the eyes of his mother double cataract. He was popularly called in
Calamba as Dr. Uliman. During his seven month’s stay in Calamba, he accumulated over
₱5,000.00 though his charges were moderate.

F. SECOND TRAVELS OF JOSE RIZAL

February 03, 1888, Rizal started his second travel abroad via Hongkong on board Zafiro
then Japan.
February 08, 1888, Rizal arrived in Hongkong and stayed in Victoria hotel. He also visited
Macao and stayed in the house of Don Francisco Lecaros, a Filipino married to a Portuguese.
February 28, 1888, Rizal in Yoko hama, Japan and proceeded to Tokyo a day after. Juan
Perez Caballero, Secretary of the Spanish Legation met Seiko Usui or U O-Sei-san where they
mutually love each other. His stay in Japan was very short.
April 28, 1888, Rizal landed in San Francisco, USA, where he met a Japanese writer and
journalist, Tetcho Saehiro and became friends, while travelling on board the vessel Belgic.
Asian passengers of Belgic were not allowed to disembark because of allege cholera
epidemic. But Rizal learned that it was to the Chinese cheap laborers or coolies on board the
vessel.
A politician helped them to steep foot on the American soil. Rizal traveled the North America
continent on board a locomotive. He commented that “America is economically developed and the
land par excellence of freedom but only for the whites.”
May 24, 1888, he arrived in Liverpool, England and stayed in the house of Antonio Ma.
Regidor, an exile and lawyer. Rizal did research work in the British Museum where he befriended
Dr. Reinhold Rost, Librarian of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
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Rizal annotated the book of Antonio Morga, Sucesos delas Islas Filipinas. Did some
historical research on the works of Fr. Chino, Fr. Argensola, Fr. Plasencia, and many others in the
British Museum.
Rizal briefly visited Paris and Madrid in the second week of December 1888 to get
acquainted with Marcelo H. del Pilar and Mariano Ponce leaders of the Propaganda Movement. He
was voted Honorary President of the Filipino Patriotic Society in Barcelona called as Asociacion La
Solidaridad, a reform crusade movement.
March 19, 1889, Rizal left for his second trip to Paris to witness the Universal Exposition in
Paris opened on May 06, 1889. He founded the Kidlat Club, a temporary club during the
exposition. Eiffel Tower was one of the main exhibits during the Universal Exposition.
Indios Bravos replaced the Kidlat Club.
While Jose Rizal was in Belgium, he continued writing El Filibusterismo which he started
while he was in Calamba in 1887. On March 29, 1891, he completed in Biarritz, France. It was
published in September 1891 partially funded by Valentin Ventura.
His family in Calamba had trouble over their land. Gov. Gen. Weyler sent troops and were
forced to carry away their things and bring them back again when the lawsuits favor them. Many
farmers including his father were exiled to a distant part of the archipelago (Craig, 1913).

G. RIZAL BRIEFLY STAYED IN HONGKONG

October 03, 1891 boarded Melbourne for Hongkong.

November 20, 1891, he arrived in Hongkong and put up a clinic. He had a reunion with his
family before Christmas of 1891.
Dr. Lorenzo P. Marquez, a Portuguese helped Rizal build up a wide clientele.

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Activity

Name: Year & Section: Date:

Family Tree of Jose Rizal

Direction. This is an individual activity. Using the internet make an artistic presentation of Jose
Rizal’s genealogy or family tree, put this in long coupon bond.

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Activity 4.1

Name: Year & Section: Date:

Reaction Paper.
Instruction. This is an individual activity. Give your reaction on Rizal’s comment: “America is the
land par excellence of freedom but only for the white.”

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Activity 4.2

Name: Year & Section: Date:

Comparative Analysis: Small Group Discussion

In response to Jose Rizal’s “Secret Mission,” make a comparative on the life of the Europeans and
the Filipinos during the time of Jose Rizal.
Follow this activity on the given direction below:
1. Divided the class into eight (8) groups
2. Each group to fill in the table given, and
3. Present the Analysis to the class after 15 minutes and each group is given 3 minutes to
report.
Aspect of Life Europeans Filipinos
Political
Economic
Social
Cultural

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SUMMATIVE TEST

Name: Year & Section: Date:

Multiple Choice. Encircle the letter that best represent the correct answer.

1. Why was Jose Rizal the only “Rizal” in their family?

a. Mercado was their surname, Rizal was just a pen name.
b. Their surname was Mercado but their alcalde mayor gave Jose the surname Rizal.
c. Their surname was Mercado and Jose Rizal family preferred to use it.
d. Their surname, Mercado is a very big clan.
2. At the age of eight, Jose Rizal wrote a poem “Sa Aking Mga Kababata,” what does it reveal?
a. Jose was a genius at a young age.
b. Jose loves his country and was ready to die his country.
c. Jose showed early signs that he would become an award-winning writer.
d. Jose loved mother tongue and expressed that those who truly love their native language would
endeavor for freedom.
3. Jose Rizal’s rigorous Jesuit training was a system called ratio studiorum. What did this involve?
a. Memorizing and understanding all his lessons under tight and constant discipline.
b. Strictly following the mass and novena schedules along with his lessons.
c. Acquiring knowledge through curiosity and open inquiry.
d. An object based learning.
4. Travels in the Philippines by Dr. Feodor Jagor was one of Rizal’s favorite to read. What do you
think made this as Rizal’s favorite?
a. It was an exciting tale of adventure in the Philippines.
b. The author prophesied that the Philippines would be free from Spain.
c. It pointed what Filipinos should do to become independent.
d. It contained Jagors careful observation and analysis about the imperfections of the Spanish
Colonication in the Philipines.

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5. What was Jose Rizal’s winning poem titled “A la juventud Filipina” all about?
a. A call to fellow Filipinos to fight for freedom.
b. About the beauty and strength of Filipinos.
c. A critically acclaimed poem where he won first prize.
d. An open avowal of nationalism that evolve the ideas of freedom and independence.
6. Why did Jose Rizal study abroad?
a. He disgusted with the antiquated educational system in the Philippines.
b. He was disgusted by the racial discrimination against Filipino students in UST.
c. He was disgusted with the biased and hostile treatment of the Dominican professors.
d. All of the above.
7. Which among the following was not a reason for Jose Rizal to leave the Philippines the second
time?
a. He wanted to pursue further studies in medicine.
b. He was thinking of writing a sequel to Noli Me Tangere.
c. He was unofficially deported of the bad influences of Noli Me Tangere to the Filipinos.
d. He was brokenhearted when he found out that his sweetheart Leonor Rivera married someone
else.
8. Which of these statements best the Noli Me Tangere?
a. How the Philippines colonized by Spain.
b. A proposal to reform in Spanish governance.
c. It pictured out the situation of the Philippines under Spanish rule.
d. The circumstances of the main character’s life were similar to those of Rizal’s life.
9. Which of these statements best describe the novel El Filibusterismo?
a. It was a sequel of Noli Me Tangere.
b. It was a proposal for reform in Spanish governance.
c. It was a signal for the Filipinos to revolt against Spain.
d. It showed what the future holds for the colonizers and the Filipinos would be if no government
reforms were made.

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10. When Jose Rizal returned home, his activities prior to his arrest was founding “La Liga Filipina,”
a civic society aimed to:
a. Unite brave Filipinos of good character to hold rallies and protest Spanish abuses.
b. Unite brave Filipinos who could become leaders of the Philippines once we became free from
Spain.
c. Unite brave and intelligent Filipinos to form a political party to represent the Philippines in Spain.
d. Unite Filipinos for a concerted action toward economic advancement for the Philippines and
assure opportunities for education and development for the Filipino youth.

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Diagnostic Test

Name: Year & Section: Date:

TRUE OR FALSE. Write TRUE if the statement is correct and FALSE if it is not correct.
________1. The Universities and general intellectual life that Rizal and other ilustrados
encountered in Spain in 1880’s were among the most advance in Europe.
________2. Rizal’s speech in 1884 banquet in honor to Juan Luna Felix R. Hildalgo praised their
work as it brought glory to the Philippines but not to Spain and insinuated that there would be a
time when the Spanish flag would no longer wave over the Philippines.
________3. The selection of the periodical to be published by the new organization La Solidaridad
was a smooth process.
________4. In early issues of La Solidaridad, articles written by ilustrados were either unsigned or
used pseudonym.
________5. As a contributor to La Solidaridad, Rizal generally treat a subject matter in depth, he
wrote polemical pieces such as his critique.
________6. Marcelo H. del Pilar was the official delegate in Spain of Comite de Propaganda de
Manila.
________7. The Comite de Propaganda first was legal; political campaign was advocated in Spain,
which was very successful. The second was vague but it involved a struggle for control of the
Philippines.
________8. The reformists were successful in accomplishing the platforms of the Propaganda
Movement.
________9. Noli Me Tangere was scathing, full-scale indictment of the Philippines political and
religious regime.
________10. Rizal was inspired to write the Noli Me Tangere based on the book Uncle Tom’s
Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe.

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Chapter V
Rizal in Europe and the Propaganda Movement
Overview
Jose Rizal unpleasant experiences as student at UST made to decide to continue his proper
medical studies in Madrid Central University. This was kept secret to his parents and other siblings
and to Leonor Rivera. Besides he had also a “serest mission” to accomplish while he is in Europe.

Learning Objectives
By the end of this lesson, you should be able to:
a. Discuss student activism in Spain;
b. Explain the Propaganda Movement and how it inspired nationalism; and
c. Explain how the Noli Me Tangere contributed to Filipino national consciousness.

STUDENT ACTIVITIES IN SPAIN

Illiteracy was high in Europe in 1880’s, education was poor, and its quality was very low.
Though industries were blooming in Europe, the educational system was awful. Basic educations
were stuck in their old and ineffective ways of teaching. Students were bookish rather than be
enthusiastic; all was dependent on memorization alone. Several professors of universities had two
jobs and were far more focused in their political than in teaching.
European Universities in Europe in 1867 to 1868 and 1875 were behind and very expensive.
The Church back then monopolized the decision on curriculum offerings, thus secular matters were
excluded in the curricula, and only religious dogmas were included. Thus, Spanish universities
remained stagnant and old style.
Progress had started only at the end of 1880’s wherein there was a renewal of Spain’s
university life. It was in the 1880’s and 1890’s when Spain opened its doors to Filipinos. Filipino
students were able to know Spain at that time the dealings of Spain’s laws and policies in the
Philippines. They were able to interact freely than when they were in the Philippines.
Policies and other political issues can be discussed freely especially those realities in the
Philippines. Filipino students were awakened. Hence, the aspiration for independence and
Philippine liberty strengthened and Church dogmas were rejected (Schumacher, 1997).

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Juan Luna and Hildalgo’s Achievement
In the year 1884, two Filipino artists, namely Juan Luna y Novicio and Felix Resurreccion
Hidalgo, rose to fame. These painters won prizes Exposicion de Bellas Artes in Madrid. Juan
Luna’s Spolarium got a gold medal of the first class while Hidalgo’s Vigenes Cristianas Ezpuestas
as Populacho (Christian Virgin Expose to the Populace) awarded a medal of the second class.
Pedro Paterno organized a banquet in honor of these artists. This event and triumph was
popular to the media a journalist. A liberal newspaper, Ellmparcial, covered the masterpieces of
Luna and Hidalgo as well as other forces at work in the Filipino movement. The publication in the
said newspaper caught the attention of the Spanish community (National Centennial Commission,
1999).

THE PROPAGANDA MOVEMENT

The public execution of the three priests GOMBURZA marked the turning point of the
Propaganda Movement intended to attain independence from Spain. Jose Rizal was only eleven
years old when the GOMBURZA were executed in Bagumbayan field.
Marcelo H. del Pilar, a lawyer, and pamphleteer, was one of the voices and leaders or the
peaceful reform movement. Together with his brother, a priest, Fr. Toribio de Pilar, who was exiled
in Guam, he desired to uplift the welfare of his countrymen thru preaching work and dignity in
public places.
Aims of the Propaganda Movement:
a. Equality among Filipinos before the law;
b. Assimilation of the Philippines as regular province of Spain;
c. Filipinazation of the Philippine parishes; and
d. Granting of individual liberties, like freedom of speech, of the press and of association
and redress of grievances.
Some of the Propagandists are:
1. Graciano Lopez Jaena, first editor of La Solidaridad
2. MH. del Pilar, second editor of La Solidaridad
3. Jose Rizal
4. Felix R. Hidalgo
5. Eduardo Lete

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6. Mariano Ponce
7. Jose Alejandrino
8. Edil berto Evangelista
9. Galicano Apacible
10. Antonio Luna
11. Juan Luna, and many more Filipino ilustrados, either students, exiles or those who
settled in Madrid.
La Solidaridad, official newspaper of the Propaganda Movement, founded on December 31, 1888,
its aims were:
a. To work peacefully for political and social reforms;
b. To portray the deplorable conditions of the Philippines and for Spain to remedy them;
c. To oppose the evil forces of reaction and medievalism;
d. To advocate liberal ideas and progress; and
e. To campaign the legitimate aspirations of the Filipino people to life, democracy and
happiness.
Jose Rizal novels were written to awaken the nationalism and awareness of Filipinos
against the Spain tyranny. Thus, there novels attached the corrupt; immoral and abusive friars,
which the friars banned.
Non-Filipino supporters of the Propagandists were:
1. Dr. Miguel Morayta, former Spanish minister and professor of Jose Rizal in Madrid
Central University.
2. Ferdinand Blumentritt, an Austrian ethnologist who supported Jose Rizal even up to his
execution.

Failure of the Propaganda Movement

According to Bernard (1974), the Propaganda Movement failed due to various reasons:
1. Internal problems in Spain, nobody paid attention to the demands of the Propagandists.
2. The friars blocked the propagandists and countered thru the friars’ owned newspaper “La
Political de España en Filipinos.”
3. Disunity of the Propagandists, and
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4. Lack of funds to sustain their activities, especially the publication of La Solidaridad, very
important weapon in the Propaganda.
Although the Propagandists failed but they achieve some success in promulgating ideas
used in its struggle for reforms. They become the voice of the voiceless among the majority of the
Filipinos. To some extent, it united the Filipinos to fight tyranny thru active non-violent means.
Marcel H. del Pilar as delegate in Barcelona of the Propaganda Movement.
MH. del Pilar was the official delegate to Spain of the Comite de Propaganda de Manila who
carried with him the Two plans of the committee.
1. Plan A – to use legal and peaceful campaign to win the heart of Spain and provide a sent
in the Cortes.
2. Plan B – to awaken the consciousness of Filipinos in the Philippines and encourage them
to join the movement that later on paved the way to evolt.
April 02, 1889, del Pilar and members of the Masonic lodge “Revolucion,” petitioned Dr.
Miguel Morayta, grand master of the Gran Oriente Expañol, for federation.
These Filipino reformists later became revolutionaries who totally sought to overthrow the
Spanish regime. Followers of the regime like Andre Bonifacio, Emili Jacinto, Emilio Aguinaldo,
Apolinario Mabini, and some other leaders were greatly drawn toward revolts to achieve reforms
(Agoncillo, 1990).

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Activity 4. 1

Name: Year & Section: Date:

ESSAY TYPE. Answer the following questions.

1. What instigated students’ activism in Spain?

2. What do Luna’s and Hidalgo’s achievements symbolize?

3. How did the Propaganda Movement set the fire of nationalism?

4. In what ways did Noli Me Tangere contribute to the formation of Filipino national consciousness?

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SUMMATIVE TEST

Name: Year & Section: Date:

Multiple Choice. Encircle the letter that best represents your answer.

1. The educational system in the Philippines when Jose Rizal moved to Europe:
a. Had greatly improved, which was why Rizal was sent to Europe as an exchange student.
b. Was deplorable, as a large part of the population was illiterate and the primary as well as
secondary schools provided by the government were few and poor quality.
c. Gradually improved since the government asked support from Catholic priests to manage the
schools.
d. Was under the full control of Catholic priests as they were the only ones who put up schools in
different part of the country.
2. The two Filipino painters who were awarded for their work at the Exposicion de Bellas Artes in
Madrid in 1884:
a. Juan Luna Novicio for Spolarium and Felix Resurreccion Hidalgo for Vigenes Cristianas
Expuestas al Populacho.
b. Juan Luna who won gold medal of the first class and Felix Resurreccion Hidalgo who received
the silver medal of the second class.
c. Juan Luna y Novicio for Spolarium and Felix Resurreccion Hidalgo for Vigenes Cristianas
Expuestas al Populacho.
d. Juan Luna Novicio was first place for Spolarium and Felix Resurreccion Hidalgo was second
place for his Vigenes Cristianas Expuestas al Populacho.
3. What signaled the beginning of the Propaganda Movement?
a. Jose Rizal’s Noli Me Tangere and El Filibusterismo
b. The abuses of the Spaniard remained unabated.
c. Filipinos started to peacefully campaign reforms.
d. The execution of the three Filipino Catholic priests, namely, Mariano Gomez, Jose Burgos, and
Jacinto Zamora.

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4. Which of the following does not describe the La Solidaridad?
a. It could be considered as the very first Philippine mainstream media.
b. An organization aimed to peacefully work for political and social reforms
c. A publication that promoted Filipino interest
d. An organization that was established by the Filipino expatriates in Barcelona.
5. Which among the statements best describe why the propaganda movement failed?
a. Spain could not care less because the country was busy with her own problems.
b. The Catholic priests in the Philippines put up their own counter-propaganda.
c. Lack of finances to support the propaganda activities and petty quarrels among the reformists
weakened the movement.
d. All of the above.
6. Did the propaganda movement achieve some success?
a. Yes. This moved Filipinos to revolt against Spain.
b. Yes. It expressed the pain, anger and dissatisfaction of the Filipinos under Spain.
c. No. it articulated the Filipino’s desire and demands for justice, equality, and freedom.
d. No. Because of the deplorable educational system, most Filipinos at that time were illiterate and
could not read.
7. What was the Comite de Propaganda de Manila’s plan of action to push for reforms in the
Philippines?
a. It aimed to use the political process in Spain to win advocates for the Philippines in the Cortes.
b. To eventually remove the Spanish friars from the Philippines and have an autonomous
government controlled by Filipinos.
c. Both A and B
d. Neither A nor B because propaganda and politics were the functions of the delegation in Spain.
8. The contributors of La Solidaridad used pseudonyms. Jose Rizal wrote using:
a. Dimasalang
b. Laong Laan
c. Both A and B
d. Neither A nor B because Jose Rizal wrote Noli Me Tangere using his own name.

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9. Which of these was one of the main demands of the Filipino reformists including Jose Rizal?
a. Assimilation of the Philippines as a regular province of Spain
b. To seek independence from Spain
c. To let Filipinos govern themselves
d. None of the above
10. Which of these was not among the main demands of the Filipino reformists including Jose
Rizal?
a. Assimilation of the Philippines as a regular province of Spain
b. Equality of the Filipinos before the law
c. The granting of individual liberties
d. None of the above

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Chapter VI
The Exile of Jose Rizal in Dapitan: Arrest, Trials and Martyrdom
Overview
Rizal put his clinic in Hongkong and a happy reunion with his family especially his father
who was exiled in Hongkong. Gov. Gen. Weyler ordered around twenty five Calambans because of
agrarian problems.
His second homecoming had proven that it has a big mistake of Jose Rizal because he was
ordered exile in Dapitan by Gov. Gen. Eulogio Despujol.

Learning Objectives:
By the end of the chapter your are expected to:
a. Discuss the reasons why had to go home in Calamba;
b. Explain the events that led to his deportation;
c. Explain why his deportation became productive part of his life; and
d. Cite the contributions of Jose Rizal to the community in Dapitan.

A. Decree of Deportation
Jose Rizal and sister Lucia landed in Manila without difficulty, Rizal lodge immediately to the
Oriente Hotel. He met his brother masons, who gave him a banquet. Her sister Lucia gathered
copies of “Pobres Frailes” (Poor Friars), a pamphlet denouncing the immoral acts of the friars.
Rizal last act as a free man was the founding of La Liga Filipina, a civic assoc iation seeking
to unite all Filipinos of good characters for concerted action toward the economic development of
the Philippines, for a higher standard of manhood and to assure opportunities for education and
development to the talented Filipino youth. Resistance to opportunities by lawful means was also
urged, Rizal believed that no one could fairly complain of bad government until he had exhausted
and found unavailing all the legal resources provided for his protection (Craig, 1913).

B. Dapitan Exile
Jose Rizal was arrested imprisoned in Fort Santiago upon the order of Gov. Gen. Eulogio
Despujol because he allegedly founded La Liga Filipina ought to overthrow the Spanish
government in the country, and the leaflets of “Probailes Frailes” was found in his baggage in
Oriente Hotel.

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July 07, 1892, Gov. Gen. Despujol issued the Decree of Deportation in Dapitan. This deree
was published at Gaceta de Manila, Dapitan was chosen as the place of exile upon the advice of
the Jesuits to Gov. Gen. Despujol.
July 14, 1892, Rizal scheduled to leave Fort Santiago. Rizal accompanied by the Guardia
Civil was brought to Dapitan on board the ferry boat “Cebu.” He was given special treatment on a
prime cabin marked as “jefes” means commanding officers, but guarded by a sentry and a corporal
when he ate his meals.
July 17, 1892 the ferry boat arrived in Dapitan where he was met Capt. Ricardo Carnicero,
warden of Dapitan, who offered him either in his house or at the Jesuit Mission house, Fr. Antonio
Obach, S.J, was the parish priest of Dapitan. Fr. Pablo Pastells, S.J, superior of the Jesuit Missions
in the Philippines at that time, where Rizal had exchange of ideas by mail (Bagolong, et al., 2014).
In September of 1892 Rizal, Carnicero and another local Spaniard from Dipolog, had won a
second prize in the lottery worth ₱20,000. The three shared the prize money from the ticket
number 9726.
Butuan, a mail boat from Manila brought the winning money to Dapitan, ₱6,200 was Rizal’s
share.
Rizal was given considerable liberty and able to practice as ophthalmologist. Rizal put up a
small hospital in Talisay, Dapitan he bought from his winning share.
Rizal also put up a school for 14 boys. Rizal and his 14 boys put a water reservoir in his
property that supplied water in Dapitan. He also put the map of Mindanao in the town plaza of
Dapitan, where until now exist.
Besides, he made natural history collections which he exchanged with Europeans (Russe
and Rodriguez, 1923).
Fr. Francisco Paula de Sanchez, teacher of Jose Rizal in Ateneo visited Rizal and gave him
some surveyor’s instruments.
Rizal’s unmarried sisters and mother left Hongkong and joined Rizal in Dapitan in April
1893.
Mr. Taufer with his adopted daughter Josephine Bracken met Jose Rizal for an eye check-
up. Josephine Bracken promptly in love with Jose Rizal. Rizal and Josephine Bracken’s marriage
was not allowed by the bishop of Cebu (Russell and Rodriguez, 1923).

C. Rizal and Katipunan

When Jose Rizal founded the Liga Filipina in the house of Doroteo Dugjunco on the night of
July 03, 1892, Andres Bonifacio founded the KATIPUNAN. La Liga was openly organized was
done in utmost secrecy. Jose Rizal was used as honorary president of the Katipunan without his

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knowledge while Andres Bonifacio was to be the Soul of the Katipunan (Jose Baron Fernandez,
Jose Rizal: Filipino Doctor and Patriot, pp.239,1981).
La Liga Filipina was a civic society ought to unite the entire Filipino nation to fight for reforms in
active but non-violent means, while the Katipunan was for the overthrowing by force of the Spanish
power and establishing of the Philippine nation, free and independent (Russell and Rodriguez,
1923). When Dr. Pio Valenzuela went to Dapitan as emissary of Andres Bonifacio, he rejected
Bonifacio’s plan due to lack of readiness of the Filipino people.

D. Rizal’s Deportation to Spain – His last trip Abroad

Dr. Ferdinand Blumentritt, Austrian and friend of Rizal informed him that Cubans are in
need of Doctors. Rizal wrote to Gov. Gen. Ramon Blanco’s permission that he be granted
permission as volunteer doctor to Cuba.
July 30, 1896, the government accepted Rizal’s request and he was transferred to Manila on
board a cruiser “ESPAÑA.” This ended 4 year exile of Rizal, and the start of the 1896 Philippine
revolution (Craig, 1913).
Rizal left Barcelona on September 03, 1896 on board the “ISLA de PANAY.” Rizal was put
under arrest while they were nearing Malta Island, Africa and confined in a cabin. Rizal was
blamed for the outbreak of the revolution in the Philippines. October 06, 1896 the ship docked at
Barcelona Harbor and Rizal was imprisoned in cell no. 11 at Montjuich Castle and brought back to
Manila on board the “SS COLON” a Spanish warship carrying Spanish soldiers to fight The Filipino
revolutionists (Craig, 1913). On November 03, 1896 “SS COLON” reached Manila, and Rizal was
brought directly to Fort Santiago under heavy guard (Craig, 1913).

E. PRELIMINARY INVESTIGATION
Capt. Francisco de Olive gathered proofs of Jose Rizal’s guilt. Col. Rodriguez Dominguez,
special judge advocate, head of the investigation. It took five days when Jose Rizal was informed
of the charges and questioned by the Judge Advocate, but never allowed to confront those who
testified against him.
Testimonies and documentary evidenced were presented against Jose Rizal:
1. A Letter of Antonio Luna to Mariano Ponce, showing Rizal’s connection with the Filipinos
reforms in Spain.
2. Rizal’s letter to his family, that the deportation is good for they will encourage to hate
tyranny.
3. A Letter from Marcelo H. del Pilar, implicating Rizal in the Propaganda Movement.
4. A poem “KUNDIMAN,” allegedly written by Rizal in Manila.

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5. A Letter to Carlos Oliveros to an unidentified person, describing Jose Rizal as the man to
free the Philippines from the Spanish oppression.
6. A Masonic documents nonoring Jose Rizal for his patriotic services.
7. A Letter signed “Dimasalang.” Rizal pseudonym to Tenluz (Juan Zulueta), stating that he
was preparing a safe refuge for the Filipinos persuted by the Spanish authorities.
8. A Letter to Dimasalang asking help to an identified committee in the patriotic work.
9. An anonymous and undated letter to the editor of the Hongkong Telegraph, censuring
Rizal’s banishment to Dapitan.
10. A Lette of Ildefonso Laurel to Jose Rizal, saying that the Filipinos look up to him as their
savior.
11. Another letter of Ildefonso Laurel, informing Rizal of a unidentified correspondent of the
arrest and exile of Doroteo Cortes and Ambrosio Salvador.
12. A Letter of Marcelo H. del Pilar to “Tenluz,” recommending the establishment of a
special organization, independent of Masonry, to help the cause of the Filipino people.
13. Transcript of Emilio Jacinto’s speech, in the reunion of the Katipunan in which the
following cry was uttered, “Long live the Philippines! Long live liberty! Long live Dr. Jose Rizal!
Unity!.”
14. Transcript of “Tik-tik” speech (Jose Turaino Santiago) in the same Katipunan reunion,
where the Katipuneros shouted; “Long live the eminent Dr. Jose Rizal! Death to the oppressor
nation!”
15. A poem by “Laong Laan” (Jose Rizal) entitled to “talisay” in which the author made the
Dapitan schoolboys sing, that they know how to fight their rights.

November 26, 1896, Col. Olive finished the preliminary investigation and transmitted to Gov.
Gen. Ramon Blanco the records of the investigation.
The Judge Advocate recommended the following:
1. That Jose Rizal be immediately brought to trial;
2. That he should be kept in prison;
3. That an order of attachment be ordered against his property to the amount of one million
pesos as indemnity; and
4. That he should be defended in Court by an army officer not by a civilian lawyer.

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Don Luis Taviel de Andrade, chosen by Rizal as his counsel from among the rooster of the
military officers. He was the brother of Don Jose Taviel de Andrade, personal body guard assign by
Gov. Gen. Terrero in his first homecoming.

F. The Trial
Judge Advocate General Nicolas dela Peña approved the recommendation of Rafael
Dominguez. Rizal was tried by a Court Martial being a volunteer doctor in Cuba before his arrest.
December 11, 1896, Rizal was formally informed of the charges against him: rebellion and
sedition but plead “ not guilty “ of the charges.
Although Rizal was a civilian but he was tried a military court. Only evidences of the
procecutor’s were accepted but not the defense side.
December 26, 1896, under heavy guards, the prosecution started. Only Spaniards were
allowed to witness the prosecution.
Jose Rizal, in his defense, presented the following supplementary defenses as follow:
1. He could not qualify of rebellion, for the advised Dr. Pio Valenzuela in Dapitan not to rise
in revolution;
2. He did not correspond with the radical revolutionary elements;
3. The revolutionists used his name without his knowledge, if he were guilty he could have
escape in Singapore;
4. If he had a hand in the revolution he could have escaped in Dapitan and settled
elsewhere in Moroland.
5. If he were the chief of the revolutionary, why the revolutionists did not consult him?
6. It was true he wrote the by-laws of the Liga Filipina, but it is only civic association, not a
revolutionary society;
7.The Liga Filipina did not live long, for after the first meeting he was exiled to Dapitan and it
died out.
8. If La Liga Filipina was reorganized later, he did not know about it.
9. La Liga Filipina did not serve the purpose of the revolutionists, otherwise they would not
have supplanted it with the Katipunan.
10. If it were true that there were bitter comments in Rizal’s letter, they were written in 1890
when his family was being persecuted.
11. His life as exile in Dapitan had been exemplary as the politico – military governor and
missionary Jesuit priest could attest.
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12. It was not true that the revolution was inspired by his speech in the house of Doroteo
Ongjunco, as alleged by the witnesses.
December 29, 1896, early morning, Rizal was formally notified of the military Court’s verdict;
DEATH. Gov. Gen. Camilo Polavieja affirmed the death sentence and ordered his immediate
execution in Bagumbayan field, Luneta on December 30, 1896, early in the morning (Craig, 1913).

G. THE LAST FEW DAYS of RIZAL

Rizal refused to sign the notification of the court, reiterating his innocence but was forced to
sign as required by the law. The remaining 24 hours of Rizal’s life was his busiest – as if trying to
meet the deadline.
December 29, 1896
6:00 AM – Capt. Rafael Domiguez read the verdict of DEATH to Jose Rizal. “To be shot at the
back by firing squad at 7:00 AM in Bagumbayan”
7:00 AM – Rizal was transferred to the prison chapel. His first visitors were Fathers Miguel Saderra
and Luiz Viza.
7:15 AM – Fr. Saderra left, Fr. Viza handed over the Sacred Heart of Jesus carved by Jose Rizal in
Ateneo.
8:00 AM – Fr. Rosell came to replace Fr. Viza.
9:00 AM – Fr. Jose Villaclara (Jose Rizal’s teacher in Ateneo) and Fr. Vicente Balaguer, Jesuit
priest in Dapitan visited Rizal. Spanish journalist Santiago Mataix interviewed Rizal for the Spanish
newspaper EL Heraldo de Madrid.
12:00 PM – Rizal was left alone in his cell, took his last lunch, and was busy writing later, probably
he wrote his last poem.
3:30 PM – Rizal wrote his last letter to Blumentritt. Fr. Balaguer returned to Rizal’s cell probably to
discuss about his retraction of anti-Catholic ideas.
4:00 PM – Dona Teodora came with his siblings Maria, Trinidad, Narcisa and his niece Angelica,
favorite nephew Mauricio. Rizal asked forgiveness to his mother. He gave Angelica a handkerchief,
wicker chair to Narcisa, a belt and watch with chain to Mauricio. A little alcohol burner to Narcisa
who can understand English whispering “There is something in it,” probably his last poems put
inside the alcohol lamp. He had nothing left for Maria, but he confided to her that he would marry
Josephine Bracken (Russell and Rodriguez, 1923).
- Josphine Bracken came briefly after his family left.

6:00 PM – Don Silvino Lopez Tuno visited Rizal

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8:00 PM – Last Supper of Rizal, he informed Capt. Dominguez that he forgive his foes, including
the military judges.
9:30 PM – Don Gaspas Centeno, Fiscal of the Royal Audiencia of Manila met Rizal and they have
a pleasant conversation.
10:00 PM – Fr. Balaguer submitted to Jose Rizal the draft of the retraction sent by anti-Filipino
Archbishop Bernardino Nozaleda but Rizal did not sign it.
December 30, 1896
3:00 AM – Jose Rizal heard mass, confessed his sins, and took the Holy Communion.
5:30 AM – Rizal took his last breakfast. Josephine Bracken together with Josefa came. Rizal gave
to his The religious book, “Imitation of Christ,” with his autograph; “To My Dear Unhappy Wife,
Josephine.”
6:00 AM – Rizal wrote a letter for his parents, thanking them for everything and asking forgiveness.
6:30 AM – Rizal was ready for the execution. A trumpet sounded for the forthcoming execution of
Rizal
7:03 AM – When the Command “Fuego” (Fire) was heard, Rizal make a supreme effort to face his
executioners. His death was the life of the Filipino people. He was thirty five years, five months,
and eleven days of age, for him “mission accomplished” – Consumatum Est!

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Diagnostic Test

Name: Year & Section: Date:

TRUE OR FALSE. Write True if the statement is true and False if it is not correct.
________1. Rizal founded La Liga Filipina, a revolutionary movement out to overthrow the Spanish
regime in the Philippines.
________2. The North Borneo Colonization of Rizal was fully supported by the Governor General.
________3. Govenor General Depujol ordered Rizal’s deportation in Dapitan.
________4. Dr. Jose Rizal was immediately arrested in his second homecoming and deported in
Dapitan.
________5. Jose Rizal gave his authority to be the honorary President of the Katipunan.
________6. Dr. Pio Valenzuel was sent by Andres Bonifacio as his to Dapitan to ask the support of
Jose Rizal.
________7. Lt. Luis Taxiel de Andrade defended Jose Rizal during his court martial.
________8. Isla de Panay, a steamer brought Jose Rizal his last trip abroad.
________9. Jose Rizal and Josephine Bracken lived together as husband and wife without the
blessings of the Catholic Church.
________10. Trinidad, Rizal’s sister received gave a little alcohol burner whispering in English
“there is something in it.”

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Activity 6.1

Name: Year & Section: Date:

Answer the following questions.
1. How was Dr. Rizal’s personality developed in relation to his own childhood and adolescent
experiences?

2. Why was Dr. Rizal called “Doctor Uliman”?

3. Why was it that Dr. Rizal’s advocacy in education of the people, not in assimilation?

4. What were Dr. Rizal’s practical nationalistic practices in Dapitan?

5. How did Dr. Rizal’s execution become world news?

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Activity 6.2
The Execution

Name: Course & Year: Date:

Essay: Answer the following briefly.
1. Why do you think the Katipuneros did not attempt to rescue Jose Rizal from execution?

2. During the execution, Jose Rizal suddenly turned his back and faces his executioners. What
message Jose Rizal tried to convey to the people? Explain.

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Activity 6.3
The Death of Jose Rizal

Name: Course & Year: Date:

Symbol Drawing Activity/ Caricature Making
Direction. Draw an object or caricature that you think symbolizes Rizal’s death.

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Activity 6.4
The Impact of Rizal’s Execution to the Filipinos

Name: Course & Year: Date:

Synergetic Convergence
Direction: A. Divide the class into Five (5) groups.
B. Task each group to do the following:
1. Discuss the Impact of Jose Rizal’s Execution
2. Present the group’s idea(s) into:
a. dance/drama
b. song
c. poem
d. radio drama/tv drama
e. collage
3. Write the group’s idea(s) and concept below.

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SUMMATIVE TEST
Name: Course & Year: Date:
Multiple Choice. Encircle the letter that best represents your answer.
1. The last words, which Dr. Jose Rizal cried out at his execution were:
a. I am dying!; b. Concumatum Est!; c. Forgive me Philippines; d. I am innocent!
2. On December 30, 1896, Dr. Jose Rizal sent a letter to his mentor and friend named:
a. Fr. Fancisco Sanchez; b. Juan Luna; c. Ferdinand Blumentritt; d. Feodor Jagor
3. While Jose Rizal was awaiting his execution, he gave a book to his wife, Josephine Bracken
titled:
a. My Beloved; b. Imitation of Christ; c. Revenge is the Answer; d. None of them
4. The defense counsel chosen by Jose Rizal during his trials was
a. Lt. Luis Taviel de Andrade; b. Marcelo H. del Pilar; c. Graciano Lopez Jaena; d. Lt. Jose Taviel
de Andrade
5. The Governor General who decreed Rizal’s deportation in Dapitan was:
a. Camilo Polavieja; b. Ramon Blanco; c. Eulogio Despujol; d. Emilio Terrero
6. The Spanish warship that brought Rizal back to the Philippines as prisoners was:
a. SS Isla de Panay; b. SS Melbourne; c. SS Colon; d. SS ESPAÑA
7. A special Judge Advocate who head the trials of Jose Rizal was
a. Capt. Rafael Dominguez; b. Colonel Olive; c. Nicolas dela Peña; d. Capt. Alemany
8. The Governor General who affirmed of death handled by the Court Martial was:
a. Eulogio Despujol; b. Camilo Polavieja; c. Bernardino Nozaleda; d. Narciso Claveria
9. Luneta is now known as:
a. Bagumbayan Field; b. Rizal Park; c. Plaza Independencia; d. Plaza Real
10. The execution of Jose Rizal was published in a Spanish newspaper called:
a. El Heraldo de Madrid; b. El Globo; c. El Heraldo Barcelona; d. La Solidaridad

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Chapter VII

Two Novels of Jose Rizal

A. THE NOLI ME TANGERE

Overview
Noli Me Tangere is one of the greatest novels in the Philippines. In this book, Dr. Jose Rizal
presented the conditions and problems of the Philippine society in the 19 th century. This book is
important because it made the Filipinos in Rizal’s time aware of their social problems, as well as
what and who caused these problems.
This chapter will give a synopsis of the Noli Me Tangere and discuss the message that it
imparted to the Filipinos then and now.

Learning Objectives:
By the end of this lesson, you should be able to:
1. Appraise the important characters of Noli Me Tangere and what they represent;
2. Explain its significance to the Filipinos and why the Spanish priests were so
interested in it; and
3. Examine the present Philippine situation through the situations presented in the
Noli Me Tangere.

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Diagnostic Test
Name: Year & Section: Date:
TRUE OR FALSE. Write True if the statement is correct and False if it is incorrect in the space
provided.
_______1. Initially, Rizal thought of writing his novel because it was the language of the civilian
world, but he finally decided to write it in Spanish.
_______2. According to Anderson (2008), to indicate that Elias is not contaminated by the flaws of
society, Rizal renders his speech in flawless French.
_______3. In Noli Me Tangere, “Las Islas Filipinas” is not describe as a nation (nacion)?
_______4. According to Anderson (2008), an important aspect or characteristic of the lowland
Philippines, which is not mentioned in the Noli is ethnolinguistic diversity.
_______5. In the Noli, the tale of Tasio the Sage is the most tragic story.
_______6. In the Noli, Elias is the bearer of the nationalist movement.
_______7. In the Noli, Ibarra shows that he has good attitude by the way he talks.
_______8. Noli Me Tangere is Charter of Nationalism.
_______9. The “hero” of Noli Me Tangere is a Creole.
_______10. Noli Me Tangere contributes to the formation of Filipino national consciousness.

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On the 29th day of March year 1887, a novel inspired from the Gospel of St. John Chapter
20, verse 17: “touch me not; for I am not risen to my Father: but go to my brethren, and say unto
them, I ascend to my Father and your Father; and to my God and you God” was written by Jose
Rizal. The Noli Me Tangere meaning “touch me not” was made up of 63 chapters and an epilogue.

REACTIONS
Having been exposed to numerous knowledge-hungry people, Rizal surrounded himself with
enthusiastic pals, like Ferdinand Bluementritt, who applauded his writings. In addition Enrique
Rogers, a former classmate of his in Barcelona who wrote a letter stating, “Let if suffice to say that
it has aroused great enthusiasm in the few who have known how to understand it.” Also, from
London, Antonio Rigidor, exiled because of the uprising in 1872, who showed a strong liking to
Rizal’s social and political dealings, “Your book gives a photographic reproduction of part, if not all,
of the great ills which afflict the country.”
Nevertheless, Rizal’s homecoming invited pros and cons his novels. Many Filipinos sought a
copy of the book but distribution was limited by the church to protect its self-interest. The
Archbishop Pedro Payo, a Dominican, sent a copy of Rizal’s novel to the University of Santo
Thomas on the 18th day of August for evaluation (Schumacher, 1997). In addition, the archbishop
forwarded the report to Governor-General Emilio Terrero. Rizal was called to answer questions in
the place. Rizal objected stating that he wanted nothing more than the truth to fulfill his duty to
Spain and to the Philippines. Later, the Comision Permanente de Censura was asked whether the
Noli was to be allowed to enter the Philippines. In December 1887, Father Salvador Font, an
Augustinian, prepared a report recommending the complete prohibition of the book in the
Philippines. It was later declared scandalous and destructive to church and the general welfare of
the public. Noli Me Tangere was later forbidden to the public.

ATTACKS AND DEFENSES

Rizal’s Noli was written foe the foreign colonizers to depict their wrongdoing. The language
of the novel was directed more to the Spaniards, especially the Catholic Church. Noli Me Tangere
was an illustration of the immoral conduct and manipulations of the church to take hold of the
natives and push them into the pit of poverty. Meanwhile, the Fili was directed more to Rizal’s
countrymen. Both novels showcase an extraordinary command of the language to better portray
nationalism and inform the Filipinos about the racial discrimination that the Philippines faced.
Nothing exemplifies this better than Simoun’s extensive, confused outburst against Hispanization
(Anderson, 2008).
The Noli Me Tangere was a charter of nationalism, done through the degradation and
exposure of the Spaniards’ anomaly. It encouraged Filipinos to know their values in their own
homeland. It called for the use of education to mold minds about what was truly right and wrong
and to know which ideology to put into practice (Schumacher, 1997).

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SYNOPSIS OF THE “NOLI ME TANGERE”
The novel noli Me Tangere contains 63 chapters and an epilogue. It begins with a reception
given by Capitan Tiago (Santiago de los Santos) at his house in Calle Anloque (now Juan Luna
Street) on the last day of October. This reception of dinner was given in honor of Crisostomo
Ibarra, a young and rich Filipino who had just returned after seven year of study in Europe. Ibarra
was the only son of Don Rafael Ibarra, friend of Capitan Tiago, and a fiancé of beautiful Maria
Clara, supposed daughter of Capitan Tiago.
Among the guests during reception were Pabre Damaso, a Franciscan friar who had been
parish priest of San Diego (Calamba), Ibarra’s native town for 20 years; Padre Sibyla, a young
Dominican parish priest of Binondo; Señor Guevara, an elderly and kind lieutenant of the Guardia
Civil; Don Tiburcio de Espadaña, a bogus Spanish physician, lame, and henpecked husband of
Doña Victorina; and several ladies. Ibarra, upon his arrival, produced a favorable impression on the
guests, except Padre Damaso, who was rude to him. In accordance with a German custom, he
introduced himself to the ladies.
During the dinner, the conversation was centered to Ibarra’s studies and travels abroad.
Padre Damaso was in a bad mood because he got a bony neck and hard wing of the chicken
tinola. He tried to discredit Ibarra’s remarks.
After dinner, Ibarra left Capitan Tiago’s house to return to his hotel. On his way to the hotel,
he met the kind Lieutenant Guevara who told him the sad story of his father’s death in San Diego.
Don Rafael, his father, was a rich and brave man. He defended a helpless boy from the brutality of
an illiterate Spanish tax collector, pushing the latter and accidentally killing him. He was thrown in
prison, where he died unhappily. He was buried in consecrated ground but his enemies, accusing
him of being a heretic, had his body removed from the cemetery.
On hearing his father’s sad story. Ibarra thanked the kind Spanish lieutenant and vowed to
find out the truth about his father’s death.
The following morning, he visited Maria Clara, his childhood sweetheart. Maria Clara
teasingly said that he had forgotten her because the girls in Germany were beautiful. Ibarra replied
that he had never forgotten her.
After the romantic reunion with Maria Clara, Ibarra went to San Diego to visit his father’s
grave. It was All Saints’ Day. At the cemetery, the grave-digger told Ibarra that the corpse of Don
Rafael was removed by the order of the parish priest to be buried in the Chinese cemetery, but the
corpse was heavy, and it was a dark rainy night, so he (the grave-digger) simply threw the corpse
into the lake.
Ibarra was angered by the grave-digger’s story. He left the cemetery. On his way from the
cemetery, he met Padre Salvi, the Franciscan parish priest of San Diego. In a flash, Ibarra
pounced on the priest, demanding redress for desecrating his father’s mortal remains. Padre Salvi
told him that he had nothing to do with it for he was not the parish priest at the time of Don Rafael’s

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death. It was Padre Damaso, his predecessor, who was responsible for it. Convinced of Padre
Salvi’s innocence, Ibarra went away.
In his town, Ibarra met several interesting people, such as the wise old man Tasio the Sage,
whose ideas were too advanced for his times so the people, who could not understand him, called
him “Tasio the Lunatic”; the progressive school teacher, who complained to Ibarra that the children
were losing interest in their studies because of the lack of a proper schoolhouse and the
discouraging attitude of the parish priest toward the teaching of Spanish and the use of modern
methods of pedagogy; the spineless gobernadorcillo, who catered to the wishes of the Spanish
parish priest; Don Filipino Lino, the teniente mayor and leader of the liberal faction in the town; Don
Melchor, the captain of the cuadrilleros (town police); and the former gobernadorcillos who were
prominent citizens – Don Basilio and Don Valentin.
A most tragic story in the novel is the tale of Sisa, who was formerly a rich girl but became
poor because she married a gambler, and a wastrel at that. She became crazy because she lost
her two boys, Basilio and Crispin, the only joys of her wretched life. These boys were sacristanes
(sextons) in the church, working for a small wage to support their poor mother. Crispin, the younger
of the two brothers, was accused by the brutal sacristan mayor (chief sexton) of stealing the money
of the priest. He was tortured in the convent and died. Basilio, with his brother’s dying cries ringing
in his ears, escaped. When the two boys did not return home, Sisa looked for them everywhere
and, in her great sorrow, she became mad.
Capitan Tiago, Maria Clara, and Aunt Isabel (Capitan Tiago’s cousin who took care of Maria
Clara after her mother’s death) arrived in San Diego. Ibarra and his friends gave a picnic at the
lake. Among those present in this picnic were Maria Clara and her four girlfriends--- “the merry
Sinang, the grave Victoria, the beautiful Iday, and the thoughtful Neneng”; Aunt Isabel, chaperone
of Maria Clara; Capitana Tika, mother of Sinang; Andeng, foster-sister of Maria Clara; Albino, the
ex-theological student who was in love with Sinang; and Ibarra and his friends. One of the boatmen
was a strong silent peasant youth named Elias.
An incident, which preceded the above-mentioned near tragic crocodile incident, was the
rendering of a beautiful song by Maria Clara who had a sweet voice. Upon the insistence of her
friends, she played the harp and sang. After Maria Clara’s song and the crocodile incident, they
went ashore. They made merry in the cool, wooded meadow. Padre Salvi, Capitan Basilio (former
gobernadorcillo and Sinang’s father), the alferez (lieutenant of the Guardia Civil), and the town
officials were present. The luncheon was served, and everybody enjoyed eating.
The meal was over, and Ibarra and Capitan Basilio played chess while Maria Clara and her
friends played the “Wheel of Chance,” a game based on a fortune telling book. As the girls were
enjoying their fortune-teller game, Padre Salvi came and tore the pieces of the book, saying that it
was a sin to play such game. Shortly thereafter, a sergeant and four soldiers of the Guardia Civil
suddenly arrived. Looking for Elias, who was hunted for (a) assaulting Padre Damaso, and (b)
throwing the alferez into a mudhole. Fortunately, Elias had disappeared, and the Guardia Civil went
away empty-handed. During the picnic also, Ibarra received a telegram from the Spanish

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authorities notifying him of the approval of his donations of a schoolhouse for the children of San
Diego.
The next day, Ibarra visited old Tasio to consult him on his pet project about the
schoolhouse. He saw the old man’s writings were written in hieroglyphics. Tasio explained to him
that he wrote in hieroglyphics because he was writing for the future generations who would
understand them and say, “Not all were asleep in the night of our ancestors!”
Tasio was pessimistic about the project of Ibarra to build a schoolhouse at his own expense.
However, the construction of the schoolhouse continued under the supervision of the architect
called Ñor Juan. Meanwhile, San Diego was merrily preparing for its annual fiesta in honor of its
patron Saint San Diego de Alcala, whose feast day is the 11 th of November. On the eve of the
fiesta, hundreds of visitors arrived from nearby towns, and there were laughters, music, exploding
bombs, feasting, and moro-moro. The music was furnished by five brass bands (including the
famous Pagsanjan Band owned by the escribano, Miguel Guevara) and three orchestras.
On the morning of the fiesta there was a high mass in the church, officiated by Padre Salvi.
Padre Damaso gave the long sermon, in which he expatiated on the evils of the times that were
caused by certain men who, having tested some education, spread pernicious ideas among the
people.
After Padre Damaso’s sermon, the mass was continued by Padre Salvi. Elias quietly moved
to Ibarra, who was kneeling and praying by Maria Clara’s side, and warned him to be careful during
the ceremony of the laying of the cornerstone of the schoolhouse because there was a plot to kill
him.
Elias suspected that the yellowish man, who built the derrick, was a paid stooge of Ibarra’s
enemies. True to his suspicion, later in the day, when Ibarra, in the presence of a big crowd, went
down into the trench to cement the cornerstone, the derrick collapsed. Elias quick as a flash
pushed him aside, thereby saving his life. The yellowish man was the one crushed to death by the
shattered derrick.
At the sumptuous dinner that night under a decorated kiosk, a sad incident occurred. The
arrogant Padre Damaso, speaking in the presence of many guests, insulted the memory of Ibarra’s
father. Ibarra jumped from his seat, knocked down the fat friar with his fist, and then seized a sharp
knife. He would have killed the friar, were it not for the timely intervention of Maria Clara.
Ibarra’s attack on Padre Damaso produced two results: (a) his engagement to Maria Clara
was broken, and (b) he was excommunicated. Fortunately, the liberal-minded governor-general
visited the town and befriended Ibarra. He told the young man not to worry. He persuaded Capitan
Tiago to accept Ibarra as his son-in-law and promised to see the Archibishop of Manila to lift the
ban of excommunication.
When the fiesta was over, Maria Clara became ill. She was treated by the quack Spanish
physician, Tiburcio de Espadaña, whose wife, a vain, frustrated native woman, was a frequent
visitor in Capitan Tiago’s house. This woman had hallucinations of being a superior Castilian, and

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although a native herself, she looked down on her own people as inferior beings. She added
another “de” to her husband’s surname in order to be more Spanish. Thus she wanted to be called
“Doctora Doña Victorina de los Reyes de De Espadaña.” She introduced to Capitan Tiago a young
Spaniard, Don Alfonso Linares de Espandaña, a godson of Padre Damaso’s brother-in-law.
Linares, penniless and jobless, came to the Philippines in search of a Filipino heiress and fortune.
Both Doña Victorina and Padre Damaso sponsored his wooing of Maria Clara, but the latter
did not respond because she loved Ibarra. A touch of comedy in the novel was the fight between
two ludicrous señoras – Doña Consolacion, the vulgar mistress of the Spanish alferez, and Doña
Victorina, the flamboyantly dressed wife of a henpecked Spanish quack doctor. Both insulted each
other in gutter language, and not satisfied with their verbal warfare, they squared off to come to
blows. The timely arrival of Padre Salvi stopped the fight, much to the regret of the curious
onlookers.
The story of Elias, like that of Sisa, was a tale of pathos and tragedy. He related it to Ibarra.
Some 60 years ago, his grandfather, who was then a young bookkeeper in a Spanish commercial
firm in Manila, was wrongly accused of burning the firm’s warehouse. He was flogged in public and
was left in the streets, crippled and almost dead. His wife, who was pregnant, begged for alms and
became a prostitute in order to support his sick husband and their son. After giving birth to her
second and the death of her husband, she fled, with her two sons, to the mountains.
Years later, the first boy became a dreaded tulisan named Balat. He terrorized the
provinces. One day he was caught by the authorities. His head was cut off and was hung from a
tree branch in the forest. On seeing this gory object, the poor mother (Elias’ grandmother) dies.
Balat’s younger brother, who was by nature kind-hearted fled and became a trusted laborer in the
house of a rich man in Tayabas. He fell in love with the master’s daughter. The girl’s father,
enraged by the romance, investigated his past and found out the truth. The unfortunate lover (Elias’
father) was sent to jail while the girl gave birth to twins, a boy (Elias) and a girl. Their rich
grandfather (father of their mother) took care of them, keeping secret their scandalous origin and
reared them as rich children. Elias was educated in the Jesuit College in Manila while his sister
studied in La Concordia College. They lived happily until one day, owing to certain disputes over
money matters, a distant relative exposed their shameful birth. They were disgraced. An old male
servant, whom they used to abuse, was forced to testify in court, and the truth came out that he
was their real father.
Elias and his sister left Tayabas to hide their shame in another place. One day his (Elias’s)
sister disappeared. Elias roamed from place to place, looking for her. He heard later that a girl,
answering to his sister’s description, was found dead on the beach of San Diego. Since then, Elias
lived a vagabond life, wandering from province to province--- until he met Ibarra.
Ibarra’s enemies left no stone unturned to bring about his ruin. They engineered an attack
on the barracks of the Guardia Civil, at the same time warning the alferez to alert his men that
night. They deceived the attackers by telling them that the mastermind was Ibarra, so that when
the attack failed and the surviving attackers were caught, Ibarra was blamed for the catastrophe.

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Elias, learning of Ibarra’s arrest, burned all the papers that might incriminate his friend and
set Ibarra’s house on fire. Then he went to the prison and helped Ibarra escape. He and Ibarra
jumped into a banca loaded with zacate (grass). Ibarra stopped at the house of Capitan Tiago to
say goodbye to Maria Clara. In the tearful last scene between the two lovers, Ibarra forgave Maria
Clara for giving up his letters to her, which the Spanish authorities utilized as evidence against him.
On her part, Maria Clara revealed that those letters were exchanged with a letter from her late
mother, Pia Alba, which Padre Salvi gave her. From this letter, she learned that her real father was
Padre Damaso.
After bidding Maria Clara farewell, Ibarra returned to the banca. He and Elias paddled up the
Pasig River toward Laguna de Bay. A police boat, with the Guardia Civil on board, pursued them
as their banca reached the lake. Elias told Ibarra to hide under the zacate. As the police boat was
overtaking the banca, Elias jumped into the water and swam swiftly toward the shore. In this way,
he diverted the attention of the soldiers on his person, thereby, giving Ibarra a chance to escape.
The soldier fired at the swimming Elias, who was hit ad sank. The water turned red because of his
blood. The soldiers, thinking that they had killed the fleeing Ibarra, returned to Manila. Thus, Ibarra
was able to escape.
Elias, seriously wounded, reached the shore and went into the forest. He met a boy, Basilio,
weeping over his mother’s body. He told Basilio to make a pyre on which their bodies (his and
Sisa’s) were to be burned to ashes. It was Christmas Eve, and the moon gleamed softly in the sky.
Basilio prepared the funeral pyre. As life’s breathe slowly left his body, Elias looked toward the east
and murmured: “I die without seeing the dawn brighten over my native land! You, who have it to
see, welcome it--- and forget not those who have fallen during the night!”
The novel has an epilogue that recounts what happened to the other characters. Maria
Clara, out of her loyalty to the memory of Ibarra, the man she truly loved, entered the Santa Clara
nunnery. Padre Salvi left the parish of San Diego and became a chaplain of the nunnery. Padre
Damaso was transferred to a remote province, but the next morning he was found dead in his
bedroom. Capitan Tiago, the former genial host and generous patron of the church, became an
opium addict and a human wreck. Doña Victorina, still henpecking poor Don Tiburcio, had taken to
wearing eyeglasses because of weakening eye sight. Linares, who failed to win Maria Clara’s
affection, died of dysentery and was buried in Paco Cemetery.
The alferez, who successfully repulsed the abortive attack on the barracks, was promoted
major. He returned to Spain, leaving behind his shabby mistress, Doña Consolacion. The novel
ends with Maria Clara, an unhappy nun in Santa Clara nunnery – forever lost to the world.

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EXERCISE 7. A.1

Name: Year & Section: Date:

This is a role-playing activity. This activity may be considered as part of the class final
requirement. Having discussed the novel Noli Me Tangere, the teacher may require the students to
prepare a presentation based on the novel.
This class will be divided into groups with 10-15 members, depending on what topic/chapter
in the novel to take. Each group will select a specific chapter and portray the scenario in the
chosen chapter.
Note:
*Each group will be given a time to practice for their presentation.
*No group will have the same chapter to present.
*A specific schedule and venue will be decided y the group to allow the whole class
to present.
*The teacher may provide judges during the presentation. Criteria for judging may be
decided upon, either based on a rubric or upon the suggestion of the judges.

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EXERCISE 7. A.2

Name: Year & Section: Date:

Instruction: Answer the following questions.

1. Who are the characters in Noli Me Tangere? Give a short description of each character

2. Why did the Noli Me Tangere catch the interest of both the Filipino and the Spanish colonizers,
most especially the Spanish priest?

3. More than an attack on the Spanish regime, what message did the Noli Me Tangere give to the
Filipino people?

4. According to some analysis, Noli Me Tangere is foreign in form, but what makes it native?

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SUMMATIVE TEST

Name: Year & Section: Date:

Multiple Choice. Encircle the letter that best represents your answer.

1. Which of the following statements does not describe how the Noli Me Tangere was received in
the Philippines?
a. The book became a best-selling novel upon its release.
b. The book was sought after by Filipinos in Manila, but only a few copies were available.
c. The Augustinian and Dominican friars condemned the book and later had its circulation in the
Philippines prohibited.
d. It gave voice to the Filipinos who suffered from the abuses of the colonizers and awakened in
them the desire to stand for their rights.
2. Which of the statements below does not describe the Noli Me Tangere.
a. Rizal’s novel also exposed the ills that Filipinos did to fellow Filipinos.
b. Rizal’s novel called for Filipinos to recover their self-confidence and assert themselves as equals
to the Spaniards.
c. Rizal’s novel accepted that some aspects of foreign cultures could be absorbed to enhance
native traditions.
d. Rizal’s novel was written in Spanish, but the Philippine edition was translated in Tagalog.
3. In Noli Me Tangere, this character accidentally killed a Spanish tax collector while defending a
helpless boy the Spaniard was abusing. He died while in prison, but his body was dug up from the
cemetery where he was buried and got thrown in the river.
a. Capitan Tiago
b. Don Rafael Ibarra
c. Don Tiburcio de Espadaña
d. Señor Guevara

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4. In Noli Me Tangere, this character at the beginning of the story was described as rich and with
highly placed friends in the government and in the Catholic Church. However, his end was tragic as
he became an opium addict and a huma weck.
a. Capitan Tiago
b. Don Rafael Ibarra
c. Don Tiburcio de Espadaña
d. Señor Guevara
5. In Noli Me Tangere, this character’s story is tragic. She came from a rich family but married a
gambler who wasted all her money. One of her sons was killed by their sacristan mayor and her
other son went missing. She eventually lost her mind.
a. Victorina
b. Consolacion
c. Sisa
d. Isabel
6. How did the love story of Maria Clara and Crisostomo Ibarra end?
a. They were not allowed to marry because of political and religious differences.
b. Maria Clara and Crisostomo Ibarra eloped, but they got caught. Ibarra was imprisoned while
Maria Clara entered the convent.
c. When Ibarra became a fugitive, Maria Clara was betrothed to someone else.
d. When Ibarra became a fugitive, the heartbroken Maria Clara became a monastic nun.
7. In Noli Me Tangere, which of the scenarios below show how some Filipinos identified more with
their Spanish colonizers than with their fellow native Filipinos?
a. The grave-digger told Crisostomo Ibarra that the parish priest ordered to have the remains of
Don Rafael removed and transferred to the Chinese cemetery. However, the grave-digger said the
body was heavy, so he threw it in the river instead.
b. Doña Victorina, added another “de” to her husband’s surname to make her appear more
Spanish and wished to be called “Doctora Doña Victorina de los Reyes de Espadaña.”
c. The sacristan mayor accused and eventually killed Crispin, a Filipino sacristan, for allegedly
stealing money from the parish priest.
d. Maria Clara was forced to break up with Crisostomo Ibarra because he was an Indio and Maria
Clara was betrothed to a Spanish mestizo.

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8. This character was hunted for assaulting Padre Damaso and for throwing the alferez into a
mudhole. He also saved Crisostomo Ibarra’s life.
a. Elias
b. Linares
c. Guevara
d. Basilio
9. This character experienced tragedy at a very young age.
a. Elias
b. Linares
c. Guevara
d. Basilio
10. This character represents the power and cruelty of the friars during the Spanish colonization of
the Philippines.
a. The sacristan mayor
b. Padre Damaso
c. Padre Slavi
d. Padre Filipo

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Chapter VII – B
EL FILIBUSTERISMO

Overview
Dr. Jose Rizal wrote the El FIlibusterismo as a sequel to the Noli Me Tangere, and it is also
one of the most important novels in the Philippines. Although a sequel, El Filibusterismo was
radically different in theme from that of Noli Me Tangere. In the Noli, Rizal encouraged his
countrymen to open their eyes and see the problems the country was facing. Although they would
still find beauty and romance in the midst of these problems. In El FIlibusterismo, not only did Rizal
call for change and reform, there was even an indication that a revolution was needed for reform to
happen. Even the personality of the characters changed; you would feel their bitterness, hatred,
and antipathy.
This chapter will give a sypnosis of the novel and discuss Rizal’s idea of how Filipinos
should map their path to independence.

Learning Objectives:
By the end of this lesson, you should be able to:
1. Compare the plot and theme of Noli Me Tangere and El Filibusterismo;
2. Value the role of the youth in the development of future society; and
3. Give insights into the sociopolitical situation of colonial Philippines that Rizal conveyed in
El Filibusterismo

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DIAGNOSTIC TEST

Name: Year & Section: Date:

True or False. Write True if the statement is correct and False if the statement is incorrect in the
space provided.
_______1. El Filibusterismo was an attack on the Spanish colonial rule or regime for executing
GOMBURZA.
_______2. In the Fili, the word creole begins to be identified with the Spaniards than with the
Filipinos.
_______3. The meaning of mixed speech in El Filibusterismo is coloniality.
_______4. Simon, in the El Fili, says that Spanish will never be the common language of the
Philippines.
_______5. Dr. Rizal never supported the idea of rebellion as shown in El Fili.
_______6. Dr. Rizal wrote El Filibusterismo for compatriots unlike in the Noli, as seen in narrator’s
frequent use of the word indio.
_______7. Simon’s revenge is largely personal, with little substitution of political content.
_______8. In El Fili, Fr. Florentino’s words cannot be taken as Rizal’s judgment on Simon strategy.
Simon ends with an enigmatic smile and Isagani makes no confession.
_______9. “If the bomb will explode, the world will applaud.” This was the statement of Ibarra.
_______10. El Filibusterismo contributes to national consciousness and the revolution.

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THE EL FILIBUSTERISMO
In spite of the problems of the La Solidaridad, Jose Rizal decided to write a sequel to Noli
Me Tangere. Interrupted over and over again, he continued to work on the second novel for several
years. He began writing it in London, continued it in Paris and Madrid, and finally completed it in
Biarritz. The struggle for money in the course of writing and publication, the edition was finished
only in September 1891.
Rizal named the work El Filibusterismo. The French form “filibuster” is derived from the
English word “flyboat” or the Dutch word “Flieboat.” These were small fast boats that the pirates
used in the 7th century in the Carribbean. According to some other accounts, “filibuster” has its
origin in the English word “freebooter,” from which the German “Freibeuter” was derived (Craig,
1913). According to Jose Rizal, a filibuster is
 Someone who does not raise his hat to the Spaniards
 Someone who only greets a friar instead of kissing his hand or his habit
 Someone who offers resistance to being addressed with the familiar “tu” by the best
Spaniards
 Someone who subscribes to a periodical from Spain or another European country
 Someone who reads books other than miracle stories and biographies of saints

Rizal dedicated the new book to the three priests, Gomez, Burgos, and Zamora, who were
executed because of their supposed participation in the first revolutionary campaign of modern
Philippine nationalism, the Cavite Mutiny. Rizal derived the reason to dedicate the work to them
from the fact that the Church did not excommunicate the three priests and that there were serious
mistakes in the surreptitious trial which led to their death.
The Fili, like its predecessor, contains dramatic and romantic elements of the social novel of
the late 19th century. It is a reflection of the colonial society of that time. Moreover, it also has a
profound symbolism of Rizal. The question of “evolution or revolution” and the problem of whether
to wait for justice from the hands of the Spaniards or to take the law into one’s own hands are
interspersed in the entire book.
Compared with the Noli, the El Filibusterismo contained the book’s value and significance,
not in the melodramatic plot, but rather, in the dialogues and debates that raised the problems of
colonialism. With a brilliant foresight, Rizal took up issues and problems for discussion, which
today, are still of great importance. The Fili was essentially a call to revolution although with many
limitations. Nevertheless, it was published in an extensively more relaxed atmosphere than the
Noli. it created a stir, when for the first time, a Spanish newpaper, the liberal Nuevo Regimen (New
Regime) reproduced the novel in daily sequels in October 1891.

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PLOT OF THE NOVEL
El Filibusterismo picks up the threads of the narrative where Noli leaves off, with the return
of Ibarra under an assumed name, Simoun. Having amassed a fortune abroad, he returns to the
Philippinnes with the new Spanish Governor-General whom he has under his sinister influence as
he has already planned. On board the dingy steamer, Tabo, en route to San Diego on the Pasig
River, he is the subject of conversations on the lower deck, as well as the center of attention on the
upper deck. The thirteen years away from his country have transformed him into an exotic-looking,
mysterious personality with a definite purpose: the subversion of the regime. This he propsoses to
do by using his enormous wealth and influence to encourage corruption in the government and
foment such economic distress as possible to drive the people to take up arms. To his chagrin the
biggest obstacles to his plans are the young native intellectuals, who are dedicated to a program of
reforms leading to the assimilation of the Filipinos into the Spanish nation. Typical of these reforms
is the establishment of an academy of the Spanish language under lay control.
The book starts with a tease at the people with whose tardiness to respond to the
progressive ideas Rizal is becoming impatient:
…One morning in December the steamer Tabo was laboriously ascending the tortuous
course of the Pasig, carrying a large crowd of passengers towards the province of Laguna. She
was a heavily built steamer, almost round, like the taboo from which she derived her name, quite
dirty in spite of her pretentious whiteness, majestic, and grave from her leisurely motion. Although,
she was held in great affection in the region, perhaps from her Tagalog name or from the fact that
she bore the characteristics impress of things in the country, representing something like a triumph
over progress, a steamer that was not a steamer at all, an organism, sold imperfect, yet
unimpeachable, which, when it wished to pose as being rankly progressive, proudly contented itself
with putting on a fresh coat of paint. Indeed, the happy steamer was genuinely Filipino! If a person
were only reasonably considerate, she might have been taken for the ship of state constructed, as
she had been.
No one suspects that Simoun, the affluent jeweler, is the fugitive Ibarra. Only Basilio, son of
Sisa who has come to know the secret. But even Basilio finds it difficult to reconcile the dreamer
and the idealist that once was Ibarra to the shrewd, sly schemer that is now Simoun. Basilio,
stumbles on Simoun’s secret on a Christmas day visit to his mother’s grave in the woods of the
Ibarras. Simoun tries to win Basilio to his side as he explains his plans. He has returned to
overthrow the government and avenge the injustices he has suffered. He would use his wealth and
his influence to encourage corruption in the high circles of government; as a result, he would drive
the people to despair and incite to revolution. His obsession, the revolution, would primarily
become a fulfillment of his vow of vengeance. The people’s freedom in the process would come
only as a secondary purpose.
Simoun-Ibarra has another purpose: to take Maria Clara away from the nunnery and to
avenge the ruin of his life. He makes two efforts but both fails. Twice Simoun attempts to ignite the
fires of rebellion, but he fails. On the first occasion, the news of Maria Clara’s death reaches him
just as he is about to give the signal for the coordinated attacked on the city. His second attempt is
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thwarted by Isagani, who snatches the lamp Simoun sends as a wedding gift to Isagani’s former
sweetheart, who marries another suitor. The lamp contained a homemade bomb, which is timed to
blow up when all the invited high officials and friars are seated at the wedding feast. The lamp will
be hung over the main table of the feast, and the house itself, Capitan Tiago’s old mansion, has
been mined. At the decisive moment the lamplight will flicker; when the wick is raised, the bomb will
explode. Having been warned by his good friend Basilio of the impending explosion, Isagani risks
his life to save Paulita. Meanwhile, the parchment prophesying doom is passed around among the
wedding guests and Simoun is pinpointed as the instigator of the scheme. The signature identifies
Simoun as Ibarra (Russell & Rodriguez, 1923).
Simoun flies with his box of jewels. Hunted by the law and wounded, he seeks sanctuary in
the house of a native priest, Father Florentino, to escape his pursuers, he takes poison and dies in
despair. The priest takes the dead man’s treasure chest and hurls it into the sea “where it will not
do evil, thwart justice or incite greed.”
As before, Rizal uses with photographic accuracy the materials of Philippine life that had
passed under his own observation. The wanderings of Simoun the jeweler give him the needed
occasion: he hangs upon them startling pictures of actual conditions, the power of the friars, the
brutality and cowardice of the governing class, the terrible wrongs of the people; the story of Maria
Clara’s parentage he had from an incident in his own neighborhood. Poverty, chastity, and
obedience were the oath of the degenerate successors to a noble race of Christianity’s pioneers.
As to poverty, their corporations had become the wealthiest institutions on the Islands. Rizal is now
about to show how they had obtained the wealth that made their power supreme and pervasive
(Russell & Rodriguez, 1923).
Simoun’s purpose from the beginning has been to exile the people to an uprising by which
he hopes to win his revenge on friars and government alike and to free Maria Clara from the
nunnery where she has been virtually a prisoner since Ibarra’s arrest as told in Noli Me Tangere.
The actual situation on the Islands is illuminated by picturing Simoun as telling some persons that
insurrected is desired by the governor-general to free himself from the friars and telling others that
the friars are planning to rid themselves of the governor-general. In the chaos through which the
social order was drifting, either story was plausible. Simoun in his ceaseless intriguing ways has
maneuvered the chaos within his power. The character of Quiroga, an influential Chinaman, had
secret dealings with the government. Through this connection Simoun is able to have his rifles
passed through the custom – house as some of Quiroga’s illicit importations. He spreads his nets
and lays his plan, tutors his accomplices, distributes his arms, and when all is ready for his
explosion he is stunned with the news that so far Maria Clara is concerned it is too late. She is
dead in the convent (Russell & Rodriguez, 1923).
Some other characters of the first book reappear in El Filibusterismo. Father Salvi, the
lascivious friar whose machination have brought about Ibarra’s downfall; Capitan Tiago, Doña
Victorina, and Basilio, the son of Sisa, who is sent to school by Capitan Tiago and becomes a
physician but is unable to save his benefactor who, encouraged in opium smoking by a friar, dies
leaving his wealth to the Church. Espadaña runs away from Doña Victorina, who pursues him all
over the archipelago but never catches up with him. Father Salvi becomes ecclesiastical governor
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of the archdiocese. Father Sybila is glimpsed again, as elegant and sibylline as ever. Rizal tries to
redress the balance which was so weighed against the friars in the Noli. A Dominican, Father
Fernandez, earnestly tries to understand the Filipino intellectuals and defends the work of the
Church and the religious orders. The noblest character in the novel is a good priest, the native
secular Father Florentino. But the indictment is only softened. It is not a sinister and sanctimonious
lecher like Salvi but a jolly muscular serenade; Father Camorra, who rapes Basilio’s sweetheart Juli
and drives her to suicide; the crime is scarcely more palatable for all that. Cabesang Tales, the
farmer hounded into banditry, has more understandable motivations than Elias; the student
intellectuals are more human and believable than Ibarra; but there is no character to match Doña
Victorina, Tasio the scholar or the “Muse of the Constabulary.” Paulita is only a more calculating
Maria Clara; Isagani a less generous Ibarra; Pelaez, as instigating and craven as Linares. Even
Don Custudio, the “liberal” hoarder of reforms, does not come alive as Capitan Tiago (Russell &
Rodriguez, 1923).
One most remember that the Fili, as a novel, is inferior to the Noli – perhaps because it was
so drastically shortened. Many of the incidents and characters are taken from the society of the
times. The young intellectual’s project for an academy of the Spanish language, which causes such
a stir in official circles and eventually leads to the arrest of its principal proponents, is obviously
based on the identical proposal of the young women of Malolos. Even the quarrel for precedence
among the guilds in Binondo finds a place in the story.
The first attempt at rebellion planned by Simoun – Ibarra depends for its success partly on
the suburbs rising in protest against a decree for the demolition of nipa huts, a clear parallel with
the destruction of the houses of the dispossessed Kalamba tenants. The oblique references to the
personages of the regime are only thinly disguised: the Governor-General is described as a man
determined to put the highest official adviser in his place, automatically reversing his
recommendations: a reference to the relations between Wyler and Quiroga. The influence of the
well-connected “countess” is emphasized, as well as her greed for bribes. Sometime Rizal does
not even bother to mask the actual basis of his story, as in the case of Cabesang Tales (Russell &
Rodriguez, 1923).
Tales and his family have made a forest clearing only to find, on the eve of their first harvest,
that the religious order, which owns lands in the neighboring town, is claiming ownership of the
fields. Tales does not want “to match his clay pot against the iron plan of the friars” and agrees to
pay an annual rental. “Make believe,” his old father advises him, “that you dropped the money in
the riverand a crocodile swallowed it.” After two good harvest, the friars double the rental,
“Patience,” his father tells Tales, “make believe the crocodile has grown.” Still Tales prospers and
is named headman and tax collector, becoming Cabesang Tales. Soon he is making up from his
own funds the taxes he fails to collect. “Patience,” his father repeats, “make believe the crocodile’s
family has joined the party.” The rentals are now raised to ten times the original amount, and when
Tales protests, he is bluntly told that if he cannot pay, his lands, for which his wife and daughter
have paid with their lives, will be given to another. At last he rebels, refuses to pay, and is taken to
court. He spends all his savings on lawyers’ fees and court charges and in the meantime patrols
his fields armed with a shotgun. He loses the suit and appeals. His son is drafted into the
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constabulary and Tales refuses to pay for a substitute. A decree is issued against the carrying of
arms and his gun and bolo are taken away from him. The inevitable happens; he is kidnapped by
outlaws and to pay his ransom his favorite daughter has to go into domestic service. When Simoun
– Ibarra visits the town and offers any price or any of his jewels in exchange for a reliquary that
once belonged to Maria Clara, Tales takes the jeweler’s gun instead, leaving the reliquary in its
place. The next day the friar administrator of the estate and the tenant who had taken Tales’s
fields, as well as the tenant’s wife are found murdered.
“…Do not be alarmed, peaceful citizens of Calamba! None of you is called Tales, none of you
committed the crime! You are called Luis Habana, Matias Berlamino, Nicasio Eigasani, Cayetano de
Jesus, Mateo Elejorde, Leandro Lopez, Silvestre Ubaldo, Manuel Hidalgo, Paciano Mercado – you
are the whole town of Calamba. You have cleared your fields, you have spent on them the labors of
a lifetime, savings, sleepless nights, privations, and you have been stripped of all, driven out of your
homes, deprived by order even of the hospitality of others. They were not content with doing violence
to justice; they broke the most sacred traditions of our country. You have served Spain and the King
and, when you asked for justice in their names, you were exiled without trial and torn from the arms
of your wives and the kisses of your children. Any one of you has suffered more than Cabesang
Tales and yet none of you, not one has taken the law in his own hands. There was neither pity nor
human feeling for you, and like Mariano Herbosa you have been persecuted even beyond the grave.
Weep or laugh in the solitary islands where you wander, idle and uncertain of the future. Spain,
generous Spain, watches over you, and sooner or later you shall have justice!”
Rizal’s apostrophe does not more than reveal the source of his material and the emotions
under whose influence he wrote his story; it suggests the whole point of his novel: what is a man to
do when he is denied justice, take the law into his own hands or wait for Spain to give him his
rights? He had already posed the question in the dialogues between Ibarra and Elias in the Noli; El
Fili repeated it in broader terms. In the Noli Rizal had, as we have seen, concentrated his fire on
the friars; the Governor General had good intentions but was powerless to put them into effect
against the power of the religious orders whom he detested. In the Fili, Rizal indicated the entire
regime including its native defenders and supporters. Now the Governor-General himself, that is to
say, the representative of the Crown and the lay constitutional authority, was shown as no better
than the friars with whom he consorted. The highest official adviser, a left-handed tribute to
Quiroga, was pictured as resigning in disgust with an official policy that betrayed the true Spain.
Even a reputed liberal, like the counselor Don Custodio was likely to spend his searching for
compromise formulas. The native intellectuals were not much better. Either, like the eminent lawyer
Señor Pasta, they preferred to live peaceful and prosperous lives in discreet silence and subjection
or, like the university students, they were deluded by hopes of an impossible “assimilation” into the
Spanish nation. The Noli’s inconclusive debate between Ibarra and Elias is carried on in the Fili
between Simoun – Ibarra and Basilio, the medical student who is dreaming of marriage and a
career (Russell & Rodriguez, 1923).
Ibarra and Elias both had something of Rizal. There is very little of Rizal in Basilio, except
perhaps that young Rizal who had also once dreamed of settling down with Leonor Rivera as a

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country doctor. But that Rizal was gone, betrayed by an Englishman. What remained was the
embittered Simoun, and Rizal is close to identifying himself with the apostle of revolution.
Compared with Noli, Fili was more profound politically because it suggested a way out of the
impasse in which the intellectuals were finding themselves, asking for reforms that would never be
granted. These reforms were vain hopes that only fooled the people.
Father Florentino then closes the novel with what we must take to be of Rizal’s own
thoughts on the issue. “Assimilation” has been rejected as the vain hope. “Separatism” or in a
plainer word independence, has been advocated openly. Rizal in the Fili is no longer the loyal
reformer; he is the subversive separatist, making so little efforts at concealment that he arrogantly
announces his purpose, which means subversion, in its dedication to Gomez, Burgos and Zamora,
victims of the evil that Rizal was trying to fight but also officially condemned as instigators of
rebellion.
The thought of revolution in real life may have called up too many as “bloody apparitions”;
where it also suggested the many unexpected events, the twists and turns of circumstances, the
sudden whims of individuals on which the success of a revolution may hinge. There is a certain
uneasiness inherent in the failure of Simoun’s two attempts: the first, because of his own personal
demoralization upon the unforeseen death of Maria Clara; the second, because of the totally
incalculable intervention of Isagani in removing the bomb to save the unfaithful Paulita. Rizal surely
remembered the two greatest uprisings with his generation’s memory: Novales’s coup, which failed
because his own brother in command of Manila’s citadel had refused to surrender it and beat off
the rebels’ attack; and the 1872 mutiny, which failed because the conspirators in Cavite had risen
prematurely.
What are we to conclude from this? In Rizal’s mind, the Filipinos of his generation were not
yet ready for revolution because they were not yet ready for independence as they were still
unworthy of it. When the individuals learned to value the social good above personal advantages,
and when these individuals became a nation, “God would provide the weapon,” whatever it might
be, whether revolution or otherwise, independence would be a delusion, a change of masters, and
it was better to bury the revolution in the depth of the sea. However, Bonifacio would disagree.
History and revolution would not wait for the pure and immaculate victim.
What Rizal wanted, “but in the present circumstances we do not desire a separation from
Spain;” all that he was asking was more attention, better education, a higher quality of government
officials, one or two representatives in the parliament, and more security of ourselves and our
fortunes. Spain could win the affection of the Filipinos at any time if Spain were reasonable.
A glimpse of one of the Fili’s main themes was written by Rizal to his friend:
The Filipinos have desired Hispanization for a long time, and they were wrong in doing so. It is
Spain, not the Philippines, that should desire the assimilation of the country; now we have been
taught this lesson by the Spaniards and we should thank them for it.

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This was even before his return to the Philippines and the Calamba evictions. By October,
when the news came of the decrees of deportation against his family, his feelings were sharpened
by personal bitterness: “Those who deport or imprison any individual without a right to do so can
only expect our hatred and, if we cannot avenge ourselves, our sons and, if not, our grandson will
do so!”
However, Rizal was still very far from thinking like Simoun as stated in his letter to
Blumentritt in January 1889, and was nearer to the mind of Fr. Florentino.
We desire the happiness of the Philippines but we want to obtain it by noble and just means
for reason in on our side and we should not therefore do anything evil. If, to make my country
happy, I had to act vilely, I would refuse to do so because I am sure that what is built on sand will
collapse sooner or later…it it were impossible to overcome our enemies now, another day will
dawn, another day will come, for there must be a God of justice; otherwise, we would turn into
atheists.
On the other hand, this insight of Rizal did not last long since after his confinement, he wrote
a letter to Del Pilar in April 1890, which states that:
I am assiduously studying the events in our country. I believe that only intelligence can
redeem us, in the material and in the spiritual. I still persist in this belief. Parliamentary
representation will be a burden on the Philippines for a long time. If our countrymen felt otherwise
than they do, we should reject any offer of such representation but the way we are, with our
countrymen indifferent, representation is good. It is better to be tied elbow to elbow.
In this context, one can see the theme of the Fili is taking shape: the Filipinos may
eventually “prefer to die rather than to endure their miseries any longer.” And then violent means
will become inevitable; but in the long run “only intelligence can redeem us, in the material and in
the spiritual.”

NATIONALISM IN EL FILIBUSTERISMO
Rizal was a cultured man of ideas: a scholar with versatile talents, an intellectual humanist
obsessed with the fact that his people must be liberated from the oppressive ignorance and
delivered awareness of unity and freedom means of education.
None of Rizal’s writings has had more tremendous effect on the Filipino people than his two
novels that courageously criticized Philippine life during the 19 th century; both express the theme of
Philippine nationalism in a most profound and dramatic manner to arouse the latent spirit of a
frustrated Filipino people.
To the Filipino reader who understands the historical background of the novels, Rizal traced
the delicate portrait of a people faced with social problems and political enigmas. Many of the
predicaments presented have contemporary relevance.

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To understand Rizal’s purpose in writing the novels, one has to look at his dedication of the
El Filibusterismo, which reads thus:
To the memory of the priests, Don Mariano Gomez, eighty five, Don Jose Burgos, thirty, and
Don Jacinto Zamora, thirty five, who were executed on the scaffold at Bagumbayan on 28 February
1872.
The Church, by refusing to unfrock you, has put in doubt the crime charged against you; the
Government by enshrouding your trial in mystery and pardoning your co-accused has implied that
some mistake was committed when your fate was decided; and the whole of the Philippines in
paying homage to your memory and calling you martyrs totally rejects your guilt.
As long therefore as it is not clearly shown that you took part in the uprising in Cavite, I have
the right, whether or not you were patriots and whether or not you were seeking justice and liberty,
to dedicate my work to you as victims of the evil I am trying to fight. And while we wait for Spain to
clear your names some day, refusing to be a party to your death, left these pages serves as a
belated wreath of withered leaves on your forgotten graves. Whoever attacks your memory without
sufficient proof has your blood upon his hands.

J. RIZAL
In Philippine Nationalism: External Challenge and Response 1565 – 1946 points to the way
in which Fili lays out a nationalist response to Spanish colonialism in three stages:
It was, however, too much to expect Spain to see far ahead into the 20 th century. For the
time being it was appalled and alarmed at the rise of vocal Philippine discontent and restlessness.
Thereafter, the term “Filibusterism,” or advocacy of secession from Spain was used by the Spanish
government to nip any demand for reform in the bud. It was a term of opprobrium applied by the
Spanish authorities to Philippine nationalists who, being accused of advocating separation from
Spain, were liable to torture and even execution. The word, which gained wide currency in the
latter of the 19th century was immortalized in El Filibusterismo, a novel by Jose Rizal, the patriot-
saint of the Philippines. The term Filibusterimo, as indeed the novel, was not merely a poignant
articulation of a subject nation’s anguished defiance. It was also expressive of the three-phased
Philippine nationalism, which under Spanish repression evolved from multi-faceted passive
nationalism through organizational nationalism, into a militant revolutionary nationalism.

EL FILIBUSTERISMO AND THE REVOLUTION

Rizal’s 2nd novel, El Filibusterismo, was considered to have influenced the impending
revolution together with the first novel, Noli Me Tangere, despite his advocating for nonviolence in
the first masterpiece. It is justly considered the gospel of the Philippine Nationalism, which was
both praised and condemned. It was through his writings that Rizal promoted nationalistic ideas
that influenced the Filipino people to stand against the colonial abuses and discrimination and

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awakening the nation from a long, deep slumber, highlighting the need of significant reforms and
an end to Spanish rule. He remains to be a symbol of heroic inspiration, allowing for the necessary
revolution to free the Filipino people from the bondage of the colonizers. However, although the
inspiration of Philippine Revolution of 1896 seemingly connects with Rizal’s literary work, there was
no hard evidence that connects the novel to the revolution. The portrayal of Filipino struggles relies
on the symbolism of elements within Filipino society as depicted on the novel’s character. Instead,
the novel/s, serve as a tool of propaganda marking an uprising that was bound to happen under
the unstable conditions of the political government in peninsular Spain and her colonies.

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EXERCISE 7.1 B

Name: Year & Section: Date:

Big debate: the class will hold a class debate on the topic. See appendix F for classroom debate
rubric.
“REFORM THROUGH REVOLUTION OF REFORM TROUGH NONVIOLENT MEANS”

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EXERCISE 7.2 B

Name: Year & Section: Date:

Instruction: Answer the following questions.

1. How did Rizal describe a “filibustero”?

2. Who was Simoun? Why did he initiate a rebellion against the Spanish government?

3. What insights into the sociopolitical situation of colonial Philippines did Rizal convey in El
Filibusterismo?

4. Why did Simoun say that Spanish will never be the common language in the Philippines?

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SUMMATIVE TEST

Name: Year & Section: Date:

Multiple Choice. Encircle the letter that best represents your answer.

1. As a sequel, the El Filibusterismo continued to expose the real situation of the Filipinos in the
hands of the Spanish government and the Spanish Catholic priests. Which of the statements below
best describe what made the sequel unique?
a. Crisostomo Ibarra adopted a new identity as a wealthy jeweler called Simoun.
b. The love story of Crisostomo Ibarra and Maria Clara took a different turn.
c. El Filibusterismo offered various means of attaining social reform.
d. All of the above.
2. In Noli Me Tangere, Jose Rizal concentrated his fire on the friars. El Filibusterismo continued to
expose the real situation of the Filipinos under the colonizers. Which of the statements below best
describe what made this sequel different?
a. All the characters have changed.
b. Maria Clara was not in the story anymore.
c. Rizal indicated the Spanish Catholic clergy, the entire Spanish regime, and Filipinos who
supported Spain for abusing their power.
d. All of the above.
3. Which of the statements best describe Jose Rizal’s main point in El Filibusterismo?
a. An armed revolution was not only eminent, it was necessary.
b. The Filipinos have been denied of their rights for a very long time and are pushed to the brink of
staging a revolution.
c. Rizal was not sure whether the Filipinos were ready for an armed rebellion.
d. Spain will never implement reforms in the Philippines.

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4. Through El Filibusterismo, which of the statements best describe Jose Rizal’s thoughts on
armed revolution? The novel hinted that:
a. Rizal was categorically against revolution.
b. Rizal supported armed revolution as the best means for reform because Spain was apathetic to
the Filipino’s cries.
c. Rizal did not support armed revolution because he knew the revolution would fail because of the
weaknesses of the Filipinos.
d. Rizal supported armed revolution, but he was against an unprepared and disorganized rebellion
of uneducated people who were not yet ready for full independence.
5. Which of the statements below is not Jose Rizal’s idea of reform in the Philippines under
colonial rule?
a. The Philippines does not need to be independent in Spain.
b. Spain should give more attention to the needs of the Filipinos.
c. Spain should improve the quality of education in the Philippines.
d. Someone must represent the Philippines in the Spanish cortes.
6. The character in El Filibusterismo whose purpose was to incite people to an armed uprising, so
he could get his revenge against the friars and the government.
a. Basilio
b. Isagani
c. Ibarra
d. Simoun
7. In the name of love, the character in El Filibusterismo thwarted a bombing plan that would have
killed high government officials and friars attending a wedding feast.
a. Basilio
b. Isagani
c. Ibarra
d. Simoun

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8. Which of these statements best describe the difference between Noli Me Tangere and El
Filibusterismo?
a. Noli Me Tangere is fun and light to read. El Filibusterismo is more serious as there is less humor
and more bitterness in the treatment of situations.
b. Noli Me Tangere describes the suffering of the Filipinos under Spanish regime. El Filibusterismo
describes the Filipinos as a society on the brink of rebellion.
c. Noli Me Tangere shows Jose Rizal’s idealism and romanticism. El Filibusterismo shows Jose
Rizal’s darker and less hopeful attitude.
d. All of the above.
9. Other than exposing the cruelties of the Spanish colonizers, which of the following statements
best describe what El Filibusterismo was also about:
a. It was a story of revenge, unfulfilled love, and tradegy.
b. It was a secret call for Filipinos to rebel.
c. It was an eye-opener for the Spanish government to implement reforms in governance.
d. It showcased Jose Rizal’s exemplary writing skill.
10. How did Simoun plan to incite the people to revolt against the government?
a. By exposing the corrupt practices of the government officials and friars
b. By using his wealth and influence to encourage corruption and foment economic distress
c. By paying rallyists to take to the streets and protest against the government
d. By planting bombs all over town and kill innocent civilians.

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Chapter VIII
MAJOR WRITINGS OF RIZAL

Overview
Poetry is a literary work where feeling and ideas are expressed with style and rhythm
(Lehmann et al., 2018). Dr. Jose Rizal’s genius and love for his country and countrymen were
manifested not only in his novels but also through poetry. Rizal’s message of lover for family,
country, and countrymen is true then and now.
The poem “To Me Fellow Children” is still believed to be the first poem that Rizal wrote at
the very tender age of eight. However, dispute arose to the poem’s authorship because it is
believed that concepts and the words that were used in the poem were too mature to have been
used by an eight-year-old child. Even if the authorship claim remains open, this poem is still believe
to be written by Rizal.
Rizal showed his eternal love and appreciation for his mother in “My First Inspiration.”
Meanwhile, “To the Philippine Youth” was Rizal’s award-winning poem. At eighteen years old, he
wrote this poem as his entry to the Liceo Artistico-Literario (Artistic-Literary Lyceum) of Manila
Literary Contest. His prize? A silver pen.
Dr. Jose Rizal was a member of the Circulo Hispano Filipino, a society of Spaniards and
Filipinos in Madrid. There he wrote “They Asked Me for Verses” reflecting on his ability to stir up
emotions through poems but stifled and muted by the Spanish colonists in his own country.
Rizal once stayed in Heidelberg, Germany. While studying there, Rizal noticed a particular
flower that seemed to remind him of the flowers in his hometown, Calamba. The poem “To the
Flowers of Heidelberg” shows how much Rizal loved and missed the Philippines.
“The Song of Maria Clara” is part of the novel Noli Me Tangere. In the novel, Maria Clara
sand a song for her friends. On the other hand, Rizal wrote “The Song of the Traveler” upon
receiving the news that he would travel to Cuba as a military doctor and be a part of the
humanitarian efforts there.
“Hymn to Labor” was written upon the request of Rizal’s friends from Lipa, Batangas. The
Batangeños wanted a hymn to commemorate the event that Lipa became a city. Rizal dedicated
this poem to the industrious people of Lipa, Batangas.
“My Last Farewell” is perhaps Dr. Jose Rizal’s most celebrated poem. It is also considered
to be the most patriotic poem ever written. Rizal wrote this on December 30, 1896 – the night
before his execution. However, a day before he wrote the poem, when his mother, sisters, and
nephews came by to visit, Rizal told his sister Trinidad that there was something inside the lamp he
was using, Rizal spoke in English so that the guards would not know what they were talking about.
After his death, the guards gave Rizal’s things to his family, including the lamp. When they arrived
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home, they opened the lamp and there tucked inside was a folded piece of paper. It was an
unsigned, undated, and untitled poem that Rizal wrote. Rizal’s family made copies of the poem and
sent it to his friends hare in the country and abroad. Mariano Ponce published the poem in Hong
Kong and gave it a title “Mi Ultimo Pensamiento.” However, the more popular title “Mi Ultimo Adios”
was given by a Filipino priest named Father Mariano Dacanay.

Learning Objectives:
By the end of this lesson, you should be able to:
1. Asses Rizal’s writings;
2. Appraise the value of understanding the past; and
3. Frame arguments based on evidence.

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DIAGNOSTIC TEST

Name: Year & Section: Date:

Essay: Give what are asked for. You may use one whole sheet of paper for your answer.
To My Fellow Children Explain this, “He that knows not to love his
own language is worse than the beasts
and putrid fish.”
My First Inspiration Why was this poem dedicated to Dr.
Rizal’s mother?
To The Filipino Youth Why did Dr. Rizal call the Filipino youth the
promise of his native land?
They Asked Me for Verses Do you agree that this poem was written
when Dr. Rizal was in the depth of
depression for he was partly homesick for
his country, and partly lovesick for his lost
love, Leonor Rivera? Prove your answer.
To the Flowers of Heidelberg Why did the author call himself a pilgrim?
The Song of Maria Clara Why was this poem dedicated to Dr.
Rizal’s mother?
The Song of the Traveler What is the patriotic value of this poem?
Show particular words and phrases to
prove your answer.
Hymn to Labor Explain how Dr. Rizal urged the men,
wives, maidens, and children in this hymn
in an effort to reshape the moral and
ethical values of a Philippine society that
was held under Spanish occupation at the
time.
My Last Farewell What is the meaning of this: Rizal’s Ultimo
Adios has to “go out to the world in
enigmatic form”?

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EXERCISE 8.1

Name: Year & Section: Date:

Instruction: Answer the following questions.

On “To My Fellow Children”

1. What was Rizal’s message in the poem “To My Fellow Children”?

2. Considering there are 170 languages spoken in the Philippines, how can Filipinos cultivate love
for country through language?

On “My First Inspiration”

3. What was Rizal’s message in the poem “My First Inspiration”?

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On “To the Filipino Youth”
4. What was Rizal’s message to the Filipino youth?

5. As a Filipino youth, how would you answer Rizal’s call to become the hope of the Motherland?

On “They Asked Me for Verses”

6. Discuss the poem “They Asked Me for Verses.”

7. What message did Rizal convey when he wrote:

“While yet in childhood’s happy day,
I learn upon its sun to smile,
And in my breast there seems the while
Seething volcanic fires to play.”

On “To the Flowers of Heidelberg”

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8. What is your interpretation of Rizal’s poem “To the Flowers of Heidelberg”?

9. In Rizal’s poem, what did the flowers of Heidelberg symbolize?

On “The Song of Maria Clara”

10. Discuss what the poem “The Song of Maria Clara” was about.

On “The Song of the Traveler”

11. Discuss what the poem “The Song of the Traveler.” What emotion did Rizal communicate in
each stanza?

On “Hymn to Labor”

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12. The Poem “Hymn to Labor” by Jose Rizal is a call that focuses on four different groups of the
Filipino society. Each of these groups has its own stanza and chorus in the hymn. Analyze each
stanza and the chorus. Explain what message they convey to you as a Filipino.

On “My Last Farewell”

13. Rizal was executed shortly after he wrote “My Last Farewell.”
What was Rizal’s purpose in writing this poem? Did he achieve his purpose?

14. How did the poem affect you?

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EXERCISE 8.2

Name: Year & Section: Date:

1. As a final requirement of the class, the teacher may divide the class into two groups. The name
of the activity is SPEECH CHOIR.
The teacher may choose MI ULTIMO ADIOS (MY LAST FAREWELL) as the chosen piece
for the presentation. The teacher may provide enough time for the students to prepare for their
group presentation.
The teacher may appoint judges to become the adjudicator of the presentation using the
rubric which may be provided by the teacher, or the criteria, which the judges may prepare for
judging. A good venue may be provided by the teacher to inspire the group to perform well for their
final requirement.
2. Each students will compose his/her own version of the poem “My First Inspiration” in English.
Using a special paper, the student will write at least two stanzas, each with four lines that rhyme.
The student may dedicate this version of the poem to his/her own mother.
The teacher will check all the outputs of the students with a score of 10, as the highest and
I, as the lowest based on the rubric provided for the purpose. After the point has been given to the
output of each student. The teacher will return the paper for the student to personally give his/her
poem to his/her mother.

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SUMMATIVE TEST

Name: Year & Section: Date:

Multiple Choice. Encircle the letter that best represents your answer.
1. A poem of Dr. Jose Rizal, which was written when he was 8 years old. The poem in about the
love of one’s native language.
a. Mi Ultimo Adios
b. To My Fellow Children
c. To the Filipino Youth
d. They Asked Me for Verses
2.This poem was dedicated to the industrious people of Lipa City.
a. Hymn to Labor
b. They Asked Me for Verses
c. The Song of Maria Clara
d. My First Inspiration
3. Dr. Jose Rizal submitted this poem for the poetry contest, which was organized by the Filipinos
in Manila Lyceum of Art and Literature, and won the first prize. This poem is described as the
“winning classic in Philippine Literature.”
a. Mi Ultimo Adios
b. Hymn to Labor
c. To The Filipino Youth
d. The Song of Maria Clara
4. The poem was written by Dr. Jose Rizal while he was a member of the Circulo Hispano Pilipino.
This is a sad poem.
a. They Asked Me for Verses
b. To The Filipino Youth
c. Mi Ultimo Adios
d. The Song of Maria Clara

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5. In Spanish version, this is “Mi Primera Inspiracion” that was believed to have been written by Dr.
Jose Rizal before he turned 14 years of age; it was dedicated to his mother on her birthday. The
poetic verses show his eternal love for his mother.
a. To the Filipino Youth
b. My First Inspiration
c. To The Filipino Youth
d. My last Farewell
6. The poem was dedicated to Ms. Consuelo Ortiga y Rey, the daughter of Mr. Pablo Ortega y
Rey, who was the Vice President of the Council of the Philippines in Madrid.
a. They Asked Me for Verses
b. Miss C.O. y R
c. To the Filipino Youth
d. My First Inspiration
7. The poem was written by Dr. Jose Rizal when he remembered his memories in his hometown
Calamba, Laguna.
a. To The Filipino Youth
b. Un Recuerdo a Mi Pueblo
c. Hymn To Labor
d. The Song to Maria Clara
8. The poem was which written by Dr. Jose Rizal when he was in Heidelberg in which he admired
particularly the light blue spring flower “forget-me-not.” His poem also expressed prayer for the
well-being of Rizal’s native land.
a. They Asked Me for Verses
b. To the Flowers of Heidelberg
c. The Song of Maria Clara
d. Mi Ultimo Adios

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9. This poem forms part of Dr. Jose Rizal’s infamous novel Noli Me Tangere, as one of the
characters, Maria Clara.
a. The Song of Maria Clara
b. They Asked Me for Verses
c. To The Filipino Youth
d. Un Recuerdo a Mi Pueblo
10. In the last part of this poem, Dr. Jose Rizal mentioned his “sweet stranger” as his family and
joy, which might be an implication of his farewell to his beloved Josephine.
a. To The Flowers of Heidelberg
b. Mi Ultimo Adios
c. To The Filipino Youth
d. They Asked Me for Verses

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Chapter IX
POINT OF VIEW OF RIZAL IN THE 21st CENTURY

Overview
Dr. Jose Rizal lived a relatively short life. He was only thirty-five years old when he was
executed by firing squad in what is now known as the Luneta. He was a different type of
revolutionary because rather than taking up arms to overthrow the Spanish colonists, Rizal
encouraged nationalism in his fellow Filipinos through his novels and poems as he pushed for
reforms and independence. Rizal is an inspiration not only to his fellow Filipinos but to all those
who met him or read his writings here and abroad.
This chapter will show a few articles and reflections about Dr. Jose Rizal in the
contemporary setting.

Learning Objectives:
By the end of this lesson, you should be able to:
1. Express Rizal’s relevance to you;
2. Convey your idea as to why Rizal should be emulated by the Filipino youth; and
3. Critically assess the Rizal subject to make it relevant to the 21 st century Filipino youth.

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DIAGNOSTIC TEST

Name: Year & Section: Date:

True or False. Write True if statement is correct and False if the statement is incorrect in the space
provided.
________1. Dr. Jose Rizal was called “Perla del Ombre” because of his extraordinary
achievements and finest character.
________2. Monuments in honor of Dr. Jose Rizal were only erected in the Philippines.
________3. Dr. Jose Rizal is one of the most highly educated heroes of the Philippine history.
________4. Dr. Jose Rizal has mastered 100 languages.
________5. Rizal’s “Mi Ultimo Adios” (My Last Farewell) is the most-translated Filipino poem.
________6. Dr. Jose Rizal, as our national hero, exposed the good things and works of the
Spanish colonial government during his time.
________7. Rizal’s poems were dedicated to the Filipino youth, not only to the youth og his time
but to all Filipino youth of the past, present, and future.
________8. Rizal had been involved with numerous women, but he finally married Leonora Rivera.
________9. Rizal was bright and intelligent, and this was the reason he was killed by the
Spaniards.
________10. Rizal managed to ignite the fire for nationalism through his two novels: Noli Me
Tangere and El Filibusterismo.

DR. JOSE RIZAL, THE SYMBOL OF IDEAL LEADERSHIP TODAY

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Preciosa S. Soliven

Jose Rizal, The National Hero Of The Filipinos

No Filipino could be compared with Dr. Jose Rizal. He was one of a kind, from 1896 to
present his ideals were alive in the hearts of Filipinos. His life was a pedestal of education; he had
put a huge amount of importance to education. Rizal was number one in education, number one in
distinction. It is only right that he be called “Pambansang bayani ng sambayanang Pilipino.” He is
well-thought-out as one of the most educated heroes in Philippine History who used his
educational attainment to uplift Filipinos (the national hero of the Filipinos).

Jose Rizal, Una Perla Del Ombre (Pearl of a Man)

Rizal was well equipped with immeasurable intellect. He showcased that the Filipino race
was able to give birth to individuals gifted with the highest qualities. Jose Rizal’s friend, Don
Trinidad Herminigildo Pardo de Tavera, Doctor of Medicine and scholar of the 19 th century said,
“Rizal cultivated all his qualities in order not to perfect them, but he practiced them in order to bring
about the moral betterment of the race.” In crucial times when Filipinos are considered second-
class citizens, Rizal’s principles are best relive, and his experiences can be a good source of
motivation. Back then, he was discriminated by the oppressive friars and Filipinos were called Las
Indias or Los Indios! Rizal proved race did not define excellence. He surpassed all students at
Ateneo de Manila, where he took the course Bachelier in Artes and graduated summa cum laude.
He was a Indio, who, from his first year until he finished , his grades were all flat one or 100
percent. He showcased great skills even until he studied at Universidad de Santo Tomas. Rizal
was considered “Una Perla del Ombre” or Pearl of a Man because of his undying passion toward
education.

The true meaning of valor

The execution of Dr. Jose Rizal was witnessed by Rafael Palma, who was then 11 or 12
years old. “Biografia de Rizal” was then written commemorating or in remembrance of Rizal. Rafael
Palma became the president of the University of the Philippines and later founded the Partido
Nationalista. Being one of the great Filipinos, he has recognized Rizal’s effort to unite his
countrymen. Rizal used education to depict the lies hidden behind religion. He was a virtuous man
who loved his country a lot. His life became his best poem, better than “Ultimo Adios.” He died with
dignity and worth, he had accomplished a lot despite the short-lived life. Also, he put value on
nationalism, not on selfish ways.

Poverty is also the basis of terrorism

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After 119 years to be exact, injustice still prevails in the country, as well as the wide-spread
poverty. Poverty promotes oppression by the rich. In Mindanao, poverty is rampant; people find it
hard to have food and shelter. Some are pushed to hold on to ill actions, like terrorism, just to
acquire attention or revenge against the deaf government. If Mindanao were well developed, many
would have benefited from it. Dr. Jose Rizal’s time, the oppression came from the political
structure. Now, we have a constitutional and liberal democracy, but we still have poverty because
of economic mishandling. This poverty will produce oppression, injustice, and a great amount of
unhappiness. Thus, Rizal’s dream has not yet materialized. Not until those who sit in government
position are more like Rizal in the accomplishment of their promises to the people and the
eradication of corruption.

The youth is the hope of the Fatherland

Jose Rizal has always believed that the Filipino youth is the hope of the Philippines. He
means that as youth we ought to equip ourselves with adequate knowledge and study well once
given the privilege to do so. Also, for those who have not been given a chance to go to school, they
should seek ways to educate themselves and be observant of the things around them to acquire
new leaning.
Filipino youths are the future of the Philippines since they will soon take over the reins of
government in the country. Hence, it is vital that the youth knows how to value knowledge and
education to prepare for the future of the nation as a whole.

Sambayanang Filipino
Nationalism is an idea best put into practice by our national hero Jose Rizal. It pertains to the worth
ones gives to his nation. It means practicing collaborations and unity with fellow countrymen before
oneself, then, we relate to the idea of nation to other nations, which we call internationalism.
Nevertheless, the concept of nationalism is often set aside to give way to human’s selfishness.
Internationalism and the international field become chaotic because of the power greedy who seek
to advance their self-interest while abusing the weaker ones. As far as the International Law is
concerned, equality among nations is present. Nevertheless, equality in the international arena is
hard to attain when there is no equality within the national setup. Such was taught to us by Jose
Rizal. We are one nation and as one we must move as one toward the future.

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APPENDIX
RIZAL AS AN AUTHENTIC HERO
Josephus B. Jimenez
In diplomatic engagement, crafting foreign policies and resolving conflicts in the international
field, like the territorial dispute with China and the other claimants of Spratlys, the Kalayaan
Islands, and Scarborough Shoal. Resolving such conflict demands massive political intellect and
charisma to attract political practitioners in the international field to listen. Such action would make
use of Rizal’s traits and expertise. As the Philippines enters the ASEAN Integration, the global
viewpoint of Rizal, the Great Malayan Hero and Filipino Illustrado, becomes essential in the
diplomatic process. Today’s fast-changing world, with complex international policies, calls for
authentic leaders whose views stand up and who have a broad knowledge of the international field.
Today, we are facing a modernized society. Together with modernization is the degration of
morals and relevant values that are needed in coping with life. The youth today, the millennials, are
in need of a leader well enough to manage and inspire people to reach their full potentials. If Rizal
would have existed today, he would have inspired the youth and Generation Y on how to properly
behave in a diverse society. Nevertheless, questions regarding the credibility of Rizal as the
National Hero prevails. In various instances, many would argue that Bonifacio best suit the title and
is more brilliant than Rizal; his man-to-man encounter with the Spaniards in their revolt has always
been viewed by many as a greater sign of heroism. This has been shown in a movie honoring
Bonifacio’s bravery, the movie titled “Bonifacio:Ang Unang Pangulo.” People have different views
certain on things; nonetheless, Rizal has always been the “el primus inter pares,” or the first among
equals, if ever the Great Plebian can arise anywhere near Rizal in standing and ability. He is a
good example of a good son, honoring his parents, and a responsible citizen of his country. He
used his pen in the battle of reforms, a hero who fought bloodlessly.
Rizal’s ability to establish useful linkages and connections with people and institutions in the
foreign lands can help our country and citizens. Having been a resident in Europe, he illustrates
that Filipinos should acquire more knowledge in other countries and come home bringing new
perspectives, new technology, new social and cultural insights and orientations. Reasons of going
abroad should include the acquisition of foreign knowledge for educational advancement in our
native land. Rizal would have taught no less than twelve million OFWs in about 200 countries all
over the world to behave in foreign lands and bring honor to the Philippines, by their hard work,
creativity, and unique character and culture.
The Department of Health and any other health practitioners would have benefited from Dr.
Jose Rizal’s expertise as a learned doctor and surgeon. He could have shared his ideas on Ebola,
HIV/AIDS, and some other disorders. Rizal would have made a good secretary in one of the
Philippine Departments and would have suggested significant reforms to better run the country.
Rizal is a great Internationalist, as well as a Nationalist. Rizal and his experiences and struggles in
the hands of the colonizers would have been a good source of experience, when asked to give
advice with regard to the peace matters of the Philippines. With his Dapitan experience, he could

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have shared better ideas with the country’s Department of Interior and Local Government.
Nevertheless, his death was not wasted, Philippine Independence is one of the fruits of his hard
labor.

The Desperate Search For True Leaders Today

What is a true leader? A true leader has his own perspective about things, someone who
stands firm in his belief. A leader has a foresight on the path that he is taking and he does not
behave in accordance with the norms of the public. But on established social norms. He weighs
things accordingly to be able to render a just judgment in every situation. These are the evidences
of true leadership.
True leadership traits were exemplified by Jose Rizal. He possessed astonishing judgment
about the scenes in his environment, which illustrated the lack of capacity of Filipinos to defend
themselves against foreign abuses. His intellect was used to fuel reforms to uplift the status quo of
warring Filipinos. Rizal’s fluency in Spanish and familiarity with German and French became an
open window for the foreign people to see the capacity and worth of the natives back then. His
brown skin and Filipino attributes were a representation of his native land abroad. He became the
voice of the voiceless Filipinos, he sought reforms in a peaceful manner, the manner of writing.
True leadership is sacrificial, willing to take the bumpy track to bring heaven to the people’s
doorstep. In a Christian passage, The Kingdom of God is like a merchant who searches for a
precious pearl. When he found one of great value, he sells everything that he has to buy it
(Matthew 13:46-16). The same is true with leadership; leaders are willing to walk a mile of thorns to
allow people to see God’s Kingdom.

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APPENDIX A
Rizal Law
The R.A. 1425
Republic Act No. 1425 is an act to include in the curricula of all public and private schools,
colleges and universities courses in life, works and writings of Jose Rizal, particularly his novels:
Noli Me Tangere and El Filibusterismo, authorizing the printing and distribution thereof, and for
other purposes.
WHEREAS, today, more than any other period of our history, there is a need for a re-
dedication to the ideas of freedom and nationalism for which our heroes lived and died;
WHEREAS, it is met that in honoring them, particularly the national hero and patriot, Jose
Rizal, we remember with special fondness and devotion their lives and works that have
shaped the national character;
WHEREAS, the life, works and writings of Jose Rizal, particularly his novels c, are a
constant and inspiring source of patriotism with which the minds of the youth, especially
during their formative and decisive years in school, should be suffused;
WHEREAS, all educational institution are under the supervision of, and subject to
regulation by the State, and all schools are enjoined to develop moral character, personal
discipline, civic conscience and to teach the duties of citizenship; Now, therefore,
SECTION 1. Course on the life, works and writings of Jose Rizal, particularly his
novel Noli Me Tangere and El Filibusterismo, shall be included in the curricula of all
schools, colleges and universities, public or private: Provided, That in the collegiate
courses, the original or unexpurgated editions of the Noli Me Tangere and El
Filibusterismo or their English translation shall be used as basic texts.
The Board of National Education is hereby authorized and directed to adopt
forthwith measures to implement and carry out the provisions of this Section,
including the writing and printing of appropriate primers, readers and textbooks. The
Board shall, within sixty (60) days from the effectivity of this Act, promulgate rules and
regulations, including those of a disciplinary nature, to carry out and enforce the
provisions of this Act. The Board shall promulgate rules and regulations providing for
the exemption od students for reasons of religious belief stated in a sworn written
statement, from the requirement of the provision contained in the second part of the
first paragraph of this section; but not from taking the course provided for in the first
part of said paragraph. Said rules and regulations shall take effect thirty (30) days
after their publication in the Official Gazette.
SECTION 2. It shall be obligatory on all schools, colleges and universities to keep in
their libraries an adequate number of copies of the original and unexpurgated editions
of the Noli Me Tangere and El Filinusterismo, as well as of Rizal’s other works and

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biography. The said unexpurgated editions of the Noli Me Tangere and El
Filinusterismo or their translations in English as well as other writings of Rizal shall be
included in the list of approved books for required reading in all public and private
schools, colleges and universities.
The Board of National Education shall determine the adequacy of the number
of books, depending upon the enrollment of the school, college or university.
SECTION 3. The Board of National Education shall cause the translation of the Noli
Me Tangere and El Filibusterismo, as well as other writings of Jose Rizal into English,
Tagalog and the principal Philippine dialects; cause them to be printed in cheap,
popular editions; and caused them to be distributed, free of charge, to persons
desiring to read them, through the Purok organizations and Barrio Councils
throughout the country.
SECTION 4. Nothing in this Act shall be construed as amendment or repealing
section nine hundred twenty-seven of the Administrative Code, prohibiting the
discussion of religious doctrines by public school teachers and other person engaged
in any public school.
SECTION 5. The sum of three hundred thousand pesos is hereby authorized to be
appropriated out of any fund not otherwise appropriated in the National Treasury to
carry out the purposes of this Act.
SECTION 6. This Act shall take effect upon its approval.
Approved: June 12, 1956
Published in the Official Gazette, Vol.52, No.6, p.2971 in June 1956

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APPENDIX A
THE RETRACTION AND THE EXECUTION
The Retraction
The matter of Rizal’s retraction is a very nebulous one. Eighty-five years have elapsed, and
the polemic on whether he did retract or was faithful to his convictions up to the last moment
remains unresolved. When two opposing camps maintain their positions, irreconcilable through
many years, it means that the facts are not clear. By depending on the ecclesiastical hierarchy
instead of the civil archives for any new findings on the matter, it is not possible to contribute any
new documentary proof on which to base an adherence to one or the other side of the question.
We shall, therefore, rely on what the Epistolario has to offer. We shall present the opinions of both
sides, commenting on those parts we consider relevant. This will be a summary of the case. Much
more has been written on this particular aspect of Rizal’s life than on his life in general. However,
we shall transcribe verbatim the documents that we deem noteworthy.
At the outset, we should like to state clearly our opinion that, whether or not Rizal retracted,
he should still be held in highest esteem by the Filipinos as their greatest patriot. The total
accomplishment of a man life cannot be measured merely by his conduct during the last hours of
his life. Rather, it should be evaluated on the basis of all his actuations, his virtues and defects, his
loyalty to the truth and to himself, as demonstrated throughout the span of his entire life.
Rizal himself, in a letter to Ponce, says that no one knows how one will behave in that
supreme instant. 1 This statement, however, should not be taken as supportive of the stand that
Rizal might have been disposed to retract.
The chronology begins on the 29th, with the arrival of the judge, to inform him of the
sentence, as we have already mentioned. Having read the sentence, Rizal sat down and wrote the
following letter:
“My dear parents and brothers:
I would like to see some of you before I die, though this may cause much pain. Let
the brave ones come. There are some important things that I have to tell you. Your son and
brother who loves you will all his heart.
Jose Rizal.”
The letter does not bear a date, but it was obviously written after reading the sentence,
hence, it corresponds to the 29th of December. A little later, at 7:30, the Jesuits, Father Miguel
Saderra and Luis Viza, 2entered his cell. From that moment on, until 7:00 of the next morning,
when he was shot, Rizal did not have a moment’s rest. Instead, he was bombarded with matters of
Christian Doctrine by several persons. The Archbishop had chosen the Jesuit and not the
Dominicans to persuade him to retract, which was a smart decision. In the first place, the
Dominicans had intervened in politics, and directly against the family of Rizal in the Calamba case.
In the second place, Rizal had been for many years a student of the Jesuits and had some

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affection for them. With his usual good nature, Rizal received the Jesuits pleasantly, asking them if
there still were some of the old professors of his time. They replied that only Fathers Vilaclara and
Balaguer remained. For a while they talked of insignificant things. Then, at a propitious turn of the
conversation, Father Saderra said that they still kept the statue of the Sacred Heart which he had
carved from baticuling3 when he was 14 years old. “It is the Sacred Heart of Jesus that has been
waiting for you for 20 years and comes to greet you,” said Father Viza.
Rizal had rejected the spiritual services of the chaplain of the fort, but he could not turn
down the dialogue with the Jesuits. But the attempt to initiate his conversion was politely repulsed.
At nine o’clock, the two priests withdrew, but, faithful to the precept of a drop-by-drop approach,
they were replaced by Father Rosell.
While Father Rosell was in the cell, Santiago Mataix a correspondent of Heraldo de Madrid,
entered. The conversation began with Rizal’s reminiscences of when he was a student at the
Ateneo and ended with an allusion to General Blanco whose conduct he lamented. He told Mataix
that he did not go to Spain as a deportee. (Rizal died without knowing that when he left the
Philippines the last time, he was sent apparently on an assignment, but in reality as a deportee.)
In those days, the news from the newspapers of the Peninsula were not impartial as regards
the Rizal case, for the censors, as well as state of war in which the archipelago was, did not permit
objectivity in the reports.
Archbishop Nozaleda had given instructions to Father Pia Pi, superior of the Jesuits
mission, to the effect that once the conversion was accomplished, they should let Rizal sign a
document of retraction before administering the sacraments. Two drafts of a retraction were
prepared.
At 10:00 in the morning two other Jesuits entered the cell, Fathers Vilaclara and Balaguer.
After touching on casual topics, Balaguer approached the subject of religion, asking Rizal his ideas
on doctrinal matters. They discussed numerous and valid topics. 4
When Rizal remained unyielding after a very long debate, Balaguer resorted to warning him
of eternal cremation “if he did not relinquish his ideas.”
This phrase reminds us of Unamuno’s comment 5 as regards Rizal’s alleged retraction: “Not
without reason. Overcome, yes; Converted, perhaps, convinced, no.”
In the fact of Balaguer’s threat, Rizal replied, “No, I shall not be condemned.” To which the
Jesuits harshly replied, “You shall go to hell, for there is no salvation outside the Catholic Church.”
Rizal then said, and we quote from Balaguer’s account, “Look, Father, if in order to please you I
said yes to everything and senselessly signed everything presented to me, I would be a hypocrite,
and would offend God.”
How like Rizal, always faithful to the truth until the last moments of his life, despite the
threats! Balaguer then took a step backward, saying that was not what he wanted, and that they
were willing to be shot, in his stead, to obtain his salvation. We recall that not one of the religious
had asked for a communication of his sentence, to save his life, although it would not necessarily
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risk their own. If anyone should argue that Rizal was a reprobate, it can be asked why, when hours
later, according to the Jesuits, Rizal retracted and was in the grace of God, nobody moved to
petition for commutation of his sentence.
The polemic continued with this man who, for a half a year, had been exposed to constant
tension, made hostile, deceived with a fictitious assignment to Cuba accused of acts in which he
had not participated, and finally condemned to death for rebellion! In addition, we have to consider
that his mental health had suffered much due to for years of deportation without trial. When a man
is hurt continuously and totally, without being left moment’s rest, animal atavism asserts itself, as a
reaction of the subconscious, which did not want this; “nor did I expect it. Goodbye, father,
goodbye.”
Another letter, undated, was addressed to his sisters:
“I ask for your pardon for the suffering which I have caused you. But one day or another
I have to die, and it is better that I die now in the fullness of my consciousness. Dear father
and brothers: Give my thanks to the Lord who has granted me serenity before my death. I die
resigned, and hope that with my death they will leave you in peace. It is better to die than to
live with suffering. Be consoled. I suggest that you pardon one another, the little, trivial things
of life and try to live united in peace and harmony. Treat your parents the way you wish your
children to treat you. Love them very much in memory of me. Bury me in the earth. Put a stone
and a cross, with my name and the dates of my birth and death. Nothing more. If you wish, to
put later an inclosure around my grave, you may do so. No anniversaries. I prefer to be buried
in Paang Bundok.13 Have pity on poor Josephine.”
Right after this, he wrote his last letter, undated. It is addressed, as was to be expected, to
his dear brother Paciano. It goes:
“It has been four years that we have not seen each other nor written each other, not
for lack of affection on my part nor on yours, I believe, but because, knowing each other
well, we did not need to speak to each other in order to understand one another. Now that I
am going to die, it is to you that I dedicated my last lines, to tell you how much I regret
leaving you alone in life, burdened with the care of the family and of our aged parents. I bear
in mind what you have labored to give me my career. I believe I have tried to make good
use of my time. My brother: if the fruit has been bitter, it was not my fault, but that of
circumstances. I know that you have suffered much because of me. I am sorry. I assure you,
brother, that I die innocent of the crime of rebellion. If my previous writings have contributed
to this. I should not deny it all, but then I thought that by my exile I was expiating for my past.
Jose.”13 – b
It is to be noticed that in none of his past letters did he take up the dissent which had
separated him from Catholic orthodoxy, in spite of its cardinal importance and in spite of the fact
that, for his mother and sisters, it was of special significance.
Going back to Balaguer’s report, which unfortunately, and for obvious reasons, is the only
available source of this matter, he relates that shortly after 6:00 a.m. Josephine arrived,
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accompanied by a sister of Rizal. Other sources do not mention the fact of the sister’s presence
during Josephine’s visit but it is logical to assume that Josephine would not have gone at such an
early hour in the morning, alone and unaccompanied.
According to Balaguer, he advised the captain of the Fort to proceed with the marriage
ceremony, the two standing on each side of the Spanish officer. At first the officer was opposed to
the bride and groom’s holding hands during the ceremony but he had to accede because the
marriage ritual required it. Balaguer then proceeded with the religious rites. Before parting, Rizal
whispered some words of advice to Josephine. Shortly after, her face bathed in tears, she
withdrew.
All the foregoing is as related by Father Balaguer.
Fifteen minutes before Rizal went out for the execution, Father March arrived, which brings
the number of priests who visited him to eight within 24 hours.
To the amazement of those present, Rizal was surprisingly calm. He knew that he was
making history and wished to act in an exemplary manner till the last moment. In a manifestation of
his personal courage. Thus, in order to maintain his serenity, he asked Father Balaguer not to
accompany him to the place of execution. Surely, he must have had in mind his own words when
he wrote of Burgos, the Filipino priest who was executed by the garrote in 1872; “If in his last
moments Burgos had demonstrated the same valor as Gomez, the Filipino of today would be did
different.”14
Thus, his firmness of conduct contrasts with the puerile manifestations attributed to him by
Balaguer, which are diametrically opposed to his actual, visible (hence, confirmable) conduct in his
last moments. Palma, a Filipino biographer of Rizal, 15 says the following: “Of this version circulated
by the ecclesiastical authorities of that time, the part referring to the retraction of Rizal and his
conversion at the last hour to Catholicism, has not been considered satisfactory, nor is its veracity
admitted by the Catholic opinion in the Philippines.”

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APPENDIX B
The Execution
The cocks, as strident heralds of the dawn, were hushed on that day, their silence perhaps a tacit
protest, a vain attempt as it were to delay the light that would announce the new and gloomy day.
At 6:30, the squad of artillery soldiers was formed, preceded by a bugle and a drum. Rizal
came out, bound elbow to elbow, flanked by Fathers Viliclara and March and followed by Taviel,
his counsel. The squad surrounded them all. They took the Paseo de Maria Critina, now named
Paseo de Bonifacio.16 The morning was cool, the air limpid, clear and diaphanous. Nature favored
Rizal with its profound transparency showing everything in clear-cut detail.
The hero walked with a relaxed, modest stride, as though taking a walk. He chatted with his
companions about the scene around him. Pointing to the Ateneo, he said to Taviel, “There I spent
seven years.” Then his gaze slowly alighted on other things in the distance – Corregidor and the
hills of Cavite. He must have remembered the tragedy of 1872, the epilogue of which he was
writing with his own death. He lapsed into silence. He must have realized that Cawit was
memorable, not only because of 1872 but also because of the present insurrection, for it was there
that the fighting raged with increasing fury. On his way to what the Filipinos would consider their
Golgotha, his steps became more firm, as though he was not conscious of the historic destiny he
was marking with every step. Across the Luneta they went to Bagumbayan, that tragic site where
Philippine liberties were sacrificed. He hastened his steps as they approached the square.
In spite of the earliness of the hour, there was a dense crown on the Luneta as well as many
carriage bearing Spaniards and well-dressed personages.
Cordially, he bade goodbye to his companions. Clean, well-groomed, his white shirt and
vest carefully buttoned and wearing his black hat, Rizal was the picture of correctness. Consuelo
Ortigas’ prediction in Madrid was now being fulfilled. 17 The prophetess was right in her prediction.
Rizal placed himself in the middle of the square, filled with 400 men, with a band playing.
Ironically, the firing squad was composed of eight native soldiers, but as a measure of caution,
another line of peninsular soldiers stood behind. 18 At this point a discussion arose, for Rizal refused
to be shot from behind, saying that only traitors were thus shot, and that he was not a traitor to
Spain. The captain replied that he was sorry but those were the orders and he had to follow them.
At the last moment, Rizal requested that he be shot in the body and not in the head. That way, he
must have thought, he could, at the last instant, turn his head and body sidewise so he would fall
face upwards, facing the Philippine blue sky of which he had so often sung, and fall on the earth,
which he never wished to see stained with blood.
At this point, Ruiz y Castillo, the military physician who attended to him, took his pulse and
was surprised to find it normal.
The order to fire was given. The shots rang out and the body of the patriot who had faced
death so bravely, with such dignity and honor, fell with his face up, toward the sky. He did not fall

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as a traitor. Nature had made the rectification, and Rizal, rationalist to the last minute of his life,
had used his head to obtain his ends.
Shouts of “Viva España!”, “Death to Traitors!” were heard from the Spaniards. Yes. Long live
Spain and death to the traitors, whenever and wherever there were traitors! But there were none in
this case. Unamuna says that over the still warm body of the martyr they hurled, like an insult to the
sky, that sacrilegious “Long live Spain,” and adds, “The concepts of Rizal regarding Spain are of
such moderation and serenity, of such deep sympathy and affection, which only barbarians could
fail to appreciate, those barbarians who, truncheon in hand, wanted us to shout ‘Long live Spain’
without any meaning whatsoever.” 19
The band of the regiment struck the first chords of the Matcha de Cadiz. The Philippines had
lost its greatest patriot but Spain had lost the Philippines. It can be said. Symbolically, that when
Polavieja with his military hand signed the death sentence of Rizal, he was inadvertently, signing
Spain’s loss of the country. The independence of the Philippines could have been obtained much
earlier than it was under American rule.
The body of Rizal was placed in a van and with the greatest secrecy buried in the old and
unused Paco cemetery. Teodora wanted to comply with the last wish of her son, i.e., that the family
should take charge of his cadaver. After several objections on the part of some officials. Civil
Governor Manuel Luengo20 acceded to the petition, but when the funeral coach left, they had
already secretly taken the body away and Narcisa went to all the cemeteries of Manila in search of
the body in vain. On the way back, she saw, through the open gate of the Paco cemetery, some
guardias civiles. This gave her a clue. She entered the cemetery and after much searching found a
grave with freshly-turned earth. She gave the gravedigger a tip and placed a plaque with the initials
of her brother in reverse, R. P. J., that is, Rizal, Protacio Jose.
On the afternoon of the 30th, according to Coates, who got the information from the Rizal
family, the books, letters and the alcohol lamp were handed over in the house of Narcisa. She
quickly opened the fuel receptacle and found the Ultimo Adios. Copies of the same were made and
distributed among the family and some were sent to the insurrectos of Cavite.
Going back to Balaguer, who plays an important role in this biography, after parting ways
with Rizal when the latter left for the execution, he went to the Ateneo to submit the alleged
document of retraction to Father Pio Pi, who on the same day left it in the hands of Archbishop
Nozaleda. The latter handed it to his secretary, Gonzales Feijoo, who kept it in the box of
confidential documents. This as related by Father Balaguer

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EXERCISE 9. 1

Name: Year & Section: Date:

Instructions: Answer the following questions.

1. Why should Filipino youths consider Rizal a hero and worth emulating?

2. How are the life and works of Rizal relevant to you as a person?

3. How can the youth identify with Rizal?

4. How can we make the subject Rizal relevant to the youth of the 21st century?

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Coates, A. (1968). Rizal: Philippine Nationalist and Martyr. Philippines: Solidaridad Publishing
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