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Module 7
Rizal’s Life: Exile, Trial, and Death

Life in Dapitan

Rizal arrived in Dapitan, a northwestern part of Mindanao on 17 July 1892. He used his time and skills productively to ease
his solitude. For four years (1892-1896), Rizal kept himself busy with various pursuits and occupations: as an educator, doctor, farmer,
artist, architect and engineer, entrepreneur, archaeologist, and naturalist.

Rizal was welcomed by Lt. Ricardo Carnicero, the politico-military Commander of Dapitan. Because of the conditions given by
the Jesuits, Rizal decided to live in the commandant’s residence. The money that he won the Manila Lottery and from his earnings as
a farmer and a merchant was used to purchase a piece of land near the shore of Talisay near Dapitan. On this land, he built three
houses- all made of bamboo, wood, and nipa. The first house which was square in shape was his home. The second house was the
living quarters of his pupils. And the third house was the barn where he kept his chickens. The second house had eight sides, while
the third had six sides.

In a letter to his friend, Ferdinand Blumentritt, on December 19, 1893, Rizal described his peaceful life in Dapitan.

"I shall tell you how we lived here. I have three houses-one square, another hexagonal, and the third octagonal. All these houses are
made of bamboo, wood, and nipa. I live in the square house, together with my mother, my sister, Trinidad, and my nephew. In the
octagonal house live some young boys who are my pupils. The hexagonal house is my barn where I keep my chickens.

"From my house, I hear the murmur of a clear brook which comes from the high rocks. I "At noon, I return home to
Talisay for lunch. Then, from 2:00 to 4:00 p.m., I am busy as a teacher. I teach the young boys.

Rizal as a community leader and scientist

(taken from: http://nhcp.gov.ph/museums/rizal-shrine-dapitan/)
With the Dapitanons’ welfare in mind, Rizal cultivated a 34-hectare farm in Katipunan, Zamboanga del Norte, some 38
kilometers south of Talisay, Dapitan where the museum in his honor stands today. Rizal also put up a school and dormitory for boys in
Talisay as well as a clinic where he treated ailments and performed eye surgery. With engineering and architectural skills, he built a
dam and waterworks in Talisay and set up the town plaza of Dapitan with street lighting.
Rizal’s scientific mind spurred him to conduct archaeological excavations uncovering pre-colonial artifacts; as a naturalist, he
collected biological and botanical specimens, a few of which were named after him; and as a linguist, he studied Visayan and Malayan
languages.

Affair with Josephine Bracken

After practising his profession in Dapitan, Rizal became a famous ophthalmologist. Many patients from other places came to
the place to consult Rizal regarding their eye illnesses. One of the patients was Mr. George Tauffer who arrived together with
Josephine Leopoldine Bracken.
Josephine and his uncle, Mr. George Tauffer, travelled all the way from Hong Kong, with a recommendation from Julio
Llorente. Mr. Tauffer was examined by eye specialists in the British colony but was not cured. For this reason, Bracken’s uncle wanted
to see Rizal at that time to seek help for his eye ailment.
Rizal’s daily activities eventually changed due to the presence of Josephine. He spent much of his time attending to the needs
of Mr. Tauffer and of his foster daughter. He was enticed by the beauty of young Irish woman and found himself head over heels in love
with Josephine, who in turn, also reciprocated Rizal’s feeling for her. .
Despite the suspicion of Rizal’s sisters, doubting Josephine of being an emissary of the friars with evil plans, Rizal accepted
Josephine, trusting his own intuition and the promptings of his unhappy heart. Thus, less than a month after Josephine’s arrival, Rizal
asked her to become his lifetime partner.

Literary Works in Dapitan

Rizal continued his literary pursuits while in exile, writing poetry such as Mi Retiro, which described his place of exile as a
tranquil haven from political persecution, and the song, Himno a Talisay, for his pupils, which paid tribute to individual
excellence and holistic education. Rizal also created sculptures from clay such as Oyang Dapitana and Mother’s Revenge
(Note: All the remaining details on Rizal’s exile, trial and martyrdom are taken from: Garcia, Carlito, D, De Viana, Augusto V. &
Cruz, Cynthia V. (2015) Rizal and the Development of Filipino Nationalism: A textbook on the Life, Works, and Writings of
our National Hero. Books Atbp. Publishing Corp., Mandaluyong)
.
Attempts to Win Back Rizal to Catholicism
While in Dapitan, attempts were made by the Catholic Church through the Jesuits to win back Rizal to the fold of the Church.
Efforts exerted by Fr. Antonio Obach, the parish priest of Dapitan; Fr. Villaclara, the parish priest of Dipolog; and Fr. Francisco
Sanchez, his former teacher at Ateneo, failed. Fr. Pablo Pastells, the Superior of the Jesuit Order, continued the work of his
predecessors. He sent Rizal a series of letters convincing Rizal of the flaws of his religious views, which led to religious debate
between Rizal and Pastells. In the end Rizal was nor persuaded as the debate ended in stalemate. Fr. Juan Ricart attributed the failure
of the Jesuits could be attributed to Carnicero, who entertained Rizal’s political and religious views.

Decision to volunteer as a doctor in Cuba

Propagandists and friends of Rizal thought of ways to rescue Rizal out of Dapitan. They were the following;
1. The members of the Grand Regional Council of Philippine Masonry felt that Rizal’s presence is a threat to the existence of
masonry. They solicited funds to transport Rizal to Spain.
2. The Propagandists commissioned Paez to find a suitable vessel to rescue Rizal but, failed to do so.
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3. Jose Maria Basa plan was to work on Rizal’s release thru the minister in Madrid
4. Antonio Ma. Regidor ‘s plan was to work for his election as a deputy in the Spanish Cortes or Del Pilar’s election in the Cortes
and Del Pilar worked on Rizal’s freedom
5. Katipunan commissioned Pio Valenzuela, the emissary to go to Dapitan and convince Rizal to support the organization.
However, Rizal rejected the plan of revolution due to the unpreparedness of the people and the lack of funds and weapons.
6. Regidor took last option to free Rizal from Dapitan. He requested Blumentritt to persuade Rizal to volunteer as a doctor for the
Spanish army in Cuba.
As the advice came from his best friend, Rizal acceded to the scheme. Doña Teodora and Don Francisco did not favor Rizal’s
decision, as the latter will be risking his life since the revolution is ranging on in Cuba that time.
Despite the expressed disapproval of his parents, Rizal applied as a volunteer doctor to Cuba through Governor Blanco on
December 17, 1895. Inasmuch as no reply from Blanco came, he was no longer expecting that his application would be approved. Six
months after, however, Blanco suddenly acted favorably to his letter. The said correspondence reached Rizal on July 30, 1896. This
letter stated that a safe conduct pass shall be given to Rizal to come to Manila and upon reaching Spain, shall be given assignment to
the army operations in Cuba.
At first Rizal thought of no longer accepting the appointment. Later he backed down. This change of decision stemmed from
his thinking that if he rejects the appointment and the revolution of the Katipunan breaks out, he would be suspected of desiring to stay
in the country to spearhead the revolution. In the words of Guerrero (1998), Rizal opted to run a race with Bonifacio’s revolution.

Adios Dapitan
Rizal left Dapitan on July 31, 1896 on board the steamer España. He arrived in Manila on August 6, 1896. From the steamer
that ferried him from Dapitan, Rizal was transferred to the cruiser Castilla, where he stayed for almost a month, pending the availability
of a vessel bound for Spain. Although no longer an exile, Rizal was detached from the rest of the world, as no one allowed to see him
except his family, His frequent visitor, however, was Josephine, the beautiful Irish lady with whom Rizal gave his name and heart.
(from the book of Garcia, Carlito, D, De Viana, Augusto V. & Cruz, Cynthia V. (2015) Rizal and the Development of Filipino
Nationalism: A textbook on the Life, Works, and Writings of our National Hero)

The Trial and Martyrdom of Rizal

The arrival of the steamer Colon in Manila on November 3, 1896, brought too much jubilation on the part of the friars and the
Spaniards, as the leader of the revolution could now be made to answer for a crime he committed against the Spanish government.
Under heavy guard, Rizal was brought to Fort Santiago pending the prosecution of his case. He was held incommunicado for almost
four weeks in his detention cell. In the meantime, the Spanish authorities were very much preoccupied with the gathering and
fabrication of evidence to be used against him.

The Preliminary Investigation

Colonel Francisco Olive, the Judge Advocate the Spanish military tribunal, summoned Rizal to appear before him on
November 20, 1896. Desiring to clear his name from the accusation imputed on him, Rizal appeared before the Judge Advocate. There
were two kinds of evidence presented by the Olive to Rizal during the preliminary investigation of Rizal (Palma, 1949): documentary;
and testimonial. The documentary evidence were culled from the following: the letters of Antonio Luna, Marcelo del Pilar, Carlos Oliver,
and Rizal himself; poems Kundiman and Hymn to Talisay; and transcript of speeches of Emilio Jacinto and Jose T. Santiago. On the
other hand, the testimonial evidence against Rizal consisted of oral statements of people who had been associated with him. Like Jose
Dizon, Deodato Arellano, Pio Valenzuela, Timoteo Paez, and Pedro Laktaw.
After reviewing the brief prepared by Olive, Peña concurred with Olive on his assessment of the case. As a prima facie case
against Rizal for the complex crime of rebellion and formation of illegal organization, Peña made the following recommendations to
Governor Blanco on December 8, 1896). (Zulueta, 2004); (1) hat the accused be kept under the custody of law; (2) that the accused be
brought to trial: (3) that an order of attachment be issued against his property; and (4) that the accused be defended I court by an army
officer.
The Trial of Rizal
The trial started with the reading of the charges against the accused by Judge Advocate Dominguez. This was followed by a
detailed presentation of Rizal’s case by Alcocer, which culminated in his call on the members of the military tribunal render a decision
by imposing death penalty on the accused. Alcocer’s argument rested on Rizal’s admission of the founding of La Liga, which to his
mind had something to do with Bonifacio’s revolution Thus, Alcocer averred that:
In a crime founded on rousing the passions of the people against government power’s the main burden of guilt is on
the man who awakens dormant feeling and raises false hopes for the future (Guerrero, 1998).
Taviel de Andrade took the floor to present his defense of Rizal after the Alcocer’s passionate speech,. Taviel de Andrade’s
defense was based on the rule of evidence and the law applying the Penal Code of Spain in the Philippines. Believing that prosecution
was biased on Rizal, he defended Rizal by saying that penalties can only be imposed on an accused through any of the following
means: ocular inspection; confession of the accused; credible witnesses; expert opinion; official documents or conclusive evidences
(Guerrero, 1998). As none of these conditions existed. Rizal was not guilty of the crime charged against him. Moreover, as oral
testimonies used against Rizal were given by those who were interested in ascribing leadership of the revolution to Rizal, these were
biases and should not be used against the accused.
After Taviel de Andrade’s brilliant defense, Rizal was asked by the Judge advocate whether he had something to add to what
his counsel had presented his own brief, (Zulueta, 2004; Guerrero, 1998)
1. I am not guilty of rebellion as I even advised Dr. Pio Valenzuela in Dapitan not to rise revolution.
2. The revolutionist used by name without my knowledge. If I were guilty, I could have escaped from Singapore
3. If I had a hand in the Katipunan revolution, I could have escaped Dapitan and should have not built a house there.
4. If I were the chief of the revolution, why did they not consult me on their plans?
5. I was not the founder of La Solidaridad and the Associacion Hispano-Filipino.
6. I had nothing to do with the introduction of masonry in the Philippines. Fransisco Laktaw Serrano, founder of the Lodge
Nilad, had a higher degree than I had. If I were the head, since when does an officer permit himself to be promoted to a
captain general?
7. The La Liga did not live long. It died a natural death after my banishment to Dapitan.
8. If the La Liga was re-organized nine months later, I was totally unaware of it.
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9. It was true that I wrote the statues of the La Liga. The La Liga, however, is a civic association whose purposes are unity
and development of commerce and industry.
10. While it was true that there were some bitter statements in my letters, it was because they were written when my family
was being prosecuted, being dispossessed of their houses and lands; and my brother and brother-in-law were rusticated
without due process of law.
11. It was not true that the revolution was inspired in one of my speeches at the house of Doroteo Onjungco, as alleged by the
witnesses whom I would like to confront. My friends knew very well about my vehement opposition to an armed rebellion.
12. Why did the Katipunan send an emissary to me in Dapitan, who was a total stranger to me? Because those who knew me
were cognizant that I would never sanction any violent movement.
13. My life in Dapitan had been exemplary as evidenced by my productive activities for the welfare of the people. Even the
politico-military commanders and missionary priests could attest to this.

On the same day, the verdict of the military court, signed by Jose Togores, was submitted to Governor Polavieja, who referred
the same to Nicolas de la Peña, the Judge Advocate General, for comments, De la Peña concurred with the decision made by the
court. He found Rizal guilty beyond reasonable doubt and therefore, should be condemned to death by firing squad at the place and
time to be chosen by the governor-general. Polavieja approved De la Peña’s recommendations on December 28, 1896.
Manila, December 28,1896

Conformably to the foregoing opinion, I approve the sentence dictated by the Court Martial in the present case, by virtue of
which the death penalty is imposed on accused Jose Rizal Mercado, which shall be executed by shooting him at 7:00 o’clock
in the morning of the 30th of this month in the field of Bagumbayan.

For compliance and the rest that may correspond, let this be returned to the Judge Advocate, Captain Don Rafael Dominguez.
The Last Remaining Hours on Earth
The verdict of death sentence was read to Rizal on December 29, 1896 (Romero eta al , 1978). At the outset, Rizal refused to
sign it owing to his innocence and objection to his being labeled as a Chinese mestizo. Later, realizing that the law required it, he
affixed his signature on the notification of the court’s decision.
With the only twenty fours remaining on earth, Rizal sent a note to his family, as he wants to see them before his execution.
The day proved to be hectic one for him as visitors come and go: members of his family; journalist; his defense counsel; Jesuits and
other friars who were convincing Rizal to go back to the fold of Catholicism.
While busy attending to his visitors, he took time to write his last letter to his best friend and confidante, Blumentritt. The letter
runs this way (National Centennial Commission, 1962)
When you receive this letter, I shall be dead. I shall be shot tomorrow at seven o’clock, but I am innocent of the crime
of rebellion. I am going to die with a clear conscience. Farewell my best, my dearest friend, and never think ill of me.
Later in the afternoon, his mother, together with Maria, Trinidad, Narcisa, his niece Angelica and his favorite nephew
Mauricio, visited Rizal. First to see him was his mother. Doña Teodora, who was then crying, approached Rizal to embrace him but the
cell guard separated them. Rizal knelt and kissed his mother’s hand. After a brief silence between them, Rizal asked Doña Teodora to
secure the permission of the authorities for his family to bury his dead body. She then, left the cell afterwards. As his mother could not
accept Rizal’s fate, she even tried seeking executive clemency for her son. Nonetheless, her attempt to secure such pardon from the
governor general proved futile.
After his mother, Rizal’s family members came one at a time. As a person who is about to die, he tried to give each one of
them something that would make them remember him. He gave a wicker chair to Narcisa, while Angelica, his niece, received a
handkerchief from him. To Trinidad Rizal gave an alcohol burner and told her that something important was inside it. It was inside this
alcohol burner where Rizal placed his last poem, which came to be entitled later as Mi Ultimo Adios or My Last Farewell. Only Maria,
however, was not given a gift by Rizal as nothing was left for her. Josephine came later for a brief visit. Rizal kissed her before she left.
Josephine was in tears, knowing that Rizal would soon leave her.
The Execution of a Hero
Rizal woke up early in spite of the physical and mental fatigue he had the previous day. After taking his breakfast at 5:30 in
the morning, he took time to write two letters: one of his family; and the other one for Paciano. His first letter presented below (National
Heroes Commission, 1946)
To my family,
I ask you forgiveness for the pain I cause you, but someday I shall have to die and it is better that I die now in the
plenitude of my conscience.
Dear Parents, brother, and sisters, give thanks to God that I may preserve my tranquility before my death. I die
resigned, hoping that my death you will be left in peace. Ah! It is better to die than to live suffering. Console
yourselves.
I enjoin you to forgive one another the little meanness of life and try to live united in peace and good harmony. Treat
your old parents, as you would like to be treated by your children later. Love them very much in my memory.
Bury me in the ground. Place a stone and a cross over it –my name, the date of my birth, and of my death. Nothing
more. If later you wish to surround my grave with fence, you can do so. No anniversaries. I prefer Paang Bundok.
Have pity on poor Josephine.
Rizal’s second letter, which was addressed to Paciano runs as follows (National Heroes Commission, 1964):
My Dear Brother,
It has been four and a half years that we have not seen each other or addressed one another in writing or orally. I do
not believe this is due to lack of affection either on my part or yours, but because knowing each other so well, we had
no need of words to understand each other.
Now I am going to die, it is to you I dedicate my last words to tell you how much I regret to leave you alone in life
bearing all the weight of the family and our old parents.
I think of how you have worked to enable me to have a career. I believe that I have tried not to waste my time. My
brother: If the fruit has been bitter, it is not my fault, it is the fault of circumstances. I know that you have suffered
much because of me. I am sorry.
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I assure, brother, that I die innocent of this crime of rebellion. If my former writings had been able to contribute
towards it, I should not deny absolutely, but then I believe I expiated my past with my exile.
Tell our father that I remember him, but how? I remember my whole childhood, his tenderness and his love. Ask him
to forgive me for the pain I cause him unwillingly.
Your Brother
Jose Rizal
Josephine arrived at 5:30 in the morning accompanied by Josefa. With tears in her eyes, she embraced Rizal. Rizal
reciprocated by embracing her and giving her, his last gift, the book of Thomas Kemphis, entitled Imitation of Christ. After watching
Josephine walk out of his cell, Rizal wrote his last letter to his father. This letter is presented below (National Heroes Commission,
1964):
My Beloved Father,
Pardon me for the pain I repay you for sorrows and sacrifices for my education. I did not want or prefer it.
Goodbye, father, goodbye
Jose Rizal
Rizal also prepared a letter for his mother but he was not able to complete it. The trumpet sounded at 6:30 in the morning,
signaling the beginning of Rizal’s death march.
The Death March and Execution of Rizal
The death march began at exactly 6:30 in the morning. Rizal sported a black suit and vest with a black hat. Although his arms
were tied behind his back, he walked serenely as if nothing would happen to him. Behind him were Lieutenant Taviel de Andrade, his
defender, Father March, and father Villaclara marching behind them, with pomp and precision, was platoon of Spanish soldiers.
Upon arriving at Bagumbayan Field Rizal bid goodbye to Lieutenant Luis Taviel de Andrade, the two priest who accompanied
him in the march and finally, to Josephine. Before proceeding to the designated place where Rizal was supposed to stand, Dr. Felipe
Castillo, a military physician, checked his pulse and found it normal. Before the execution, Rizal requested the commander of the
cavalry that he be shot facing his executioners considering that he was not a traitor. The request, however, was denied as the Spanish
officer had a standing order from higher authorities that Rizal should be shot at the back.
The trumpet sounded again signaling the commencement of the execution. As the commander shouted Fuego or Fire, the
guns of the firing squad rang out in a row. Rizal slowly turned his back to the firing squad, faced the sea and fell to the ground. The
military band played the Marcha de Cadiz, Spain’s national hymn. Shouts of Viva España (Long Live Spain) and Muerte A Los
Traidores (Death to the Traitors) could be heard all over the place at exactly 7:03 in the morning. It was all over. Rizal had been
executed.
Rizal had died but he lives in the hearts of the people, as a martyr to Filipino freedom (Capino et al, 1977). His leadership –
being direct, enlightened, liberal, democratic, progressive, compassionate and peaceful –was the crowning glory of his service to the
Filipino people. This kind of leadership that he manifested can be gleaned from his writings and personal examples. Here lies his
excellence as an individual, a man with a purpose and conscience.
Garcia, C. D. & Cruz, C. B. (2005) Rizal and the Development of Filipino Nationalism: A Textbook on the life, works, and writings of our
national hero.

Module 8
Annotation of Antonio Morga’s Sucesos de las Islas Filipinas

A book written by Antonio Morga, a short-lived Governor General assigned in the Philippines. It is one of the important works
in the history of Spanish Colonization which was published in Mexico in 1609. The content is about the account of the travels of Morga
in the Philippines. There were some facts that were erroneously written and thus, Rizal decided to annotate to check some of its errors.
According to Rizal in his dedication

If the book (Sucesos de las Islas Filipinas) succeeds to awaken your consciousness of our past, already effaced
from your memory, and to rectify what has been falsified and slandered, then I have not worked in vain, and with this
as a basis, however small it may be, we shall be able to study the future.
-- Dr. Jose Rizal
Europe, 1889
Guerrero (1998) identified three reasons why Rizal annotated Sucesos and they were the following;
1. To awaken the consciousness of the Filipinos of their glorious or dignified ways of the past;
2. To correct what has been distorted and falsified about the Philippines prior to Spanish conquest; and
3. To prove that the Filipinos were civilized, even before the coming of the Spaniards.
When Rizal published his annotation of Antonio de Morga's Sucesos in 1890, he had already travelled in parts of Spain,
France, Germany, Czechoslovakia, Austria, Switzerland, Italy, China, Hong Kong, Japan, the United States and England. He could
converse in Spanish, French, German, Italian, Japanese and English. He was only 29-years-old!
In his travels he familiarized himself with each country's history, customs, ways of life and language. He held the common
sense belief that learning a people's language "will open ... the treasures of a country, that is, the knowledge, the learning" and "its
own way of thinking." Although he was interested in the social and scientific progress he witnessed abroad and understood the factors
that lead to such advancement, he was even more fascinated by the collage of cultural symbols that become embraced by a people as
their own national identity. A consummate student of ancient and modern history, Rizal was convinced that the enduring and unifying
strength of all great societies lies in their collective sense of tradition -- a tradition that is carried forth and becomes that people's
cultural history.
By publishing his annotated version of de Morga's Sucesos de las Islas Filipinas (Events of the Philippine Islands, originally
published in 1609), Rizal's intent was not only to provide the Filipino people their early history, a pre-Spanish history, but to present to
them their own authentic culture and identity. Aware of most of the books written about the Philippines, he selected
the Sucesos because he "considered it necessary to invoke the testimony of an illustrous Spaniard who governed the destinies of the
Philippines in the beginning of her new era and witnessed the last moments of our ancient nationality." His annotations included
clarifications and amplifications of details, refutations of statements where necessary, and confirmations when checked against other
sources.
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Rizal offered the annotated Sucesos to the Filipinos with the wise counsel that "to foretell the destiny of a nation, it is
necessary to open the books that tell of her past."
(from: https://www.univie.ac.at/Voelkerkunde/apsis/aufi/rizal/hall03.htm )
Blumentritt’s Prologue
Rizal requested Ferdinand Blumentritt to write the prologue of the annotation. Some points that Blumentritt presented wrote
the following;
1. The writing in Spanish instead of Morga’s native German language
2. He praised Rizal’s work as scholarly and well-thought out
3. He noted that Morga’s Sucesos was so rare that very few libraries that have guarded it with the same solicitude as if it were
the treasure of the Incas
4. He criticized Rizal’s annotation in two counts;
 First, he observed that Rizal had committed the mistake of many modern historians who judged events in the past in
the context of contemporary ideas and mores
 He perceived as the overreach of Rizal’s denunciation of Catholicism that Rizal should confine his critique to the
religious orders in the Philippines who spared not effort to suppress calls for reforms

Module 9
NOLI ME TANGERE

Basis of writing Noli Me Tangere

https://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Noli_Me_Tangere/Introduction
The first half of Noli me Tangere was written in Madrid, Spain from 1884-1885 while Dr. José P. Rizal was studying for
medicine.
While in Germany, Rizal wrote the second half of Noli me Tangere from time-to-time starting February 21, 1887. After he read
the novel Uncle Tom's Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe, he had an inspiration to write his own novel with the same topic–to expose
Spanish colonial abuse in print. Beecher Stowe's novel describes black slavery abuse done by white men. Rizal suggested to his fellow
Filipino friends in Europe, through writing, to have a meeting and plan for writing a novel similar to that of Beecher Stowe's. (At this
moment, Rizal planned not to write the novel himself, but through collective efforts done by other Filipinos who shared ideals with him.)
In 1884, Rizal and his friends including the Paterno brothers–Pedro, Maximo, and Antonio; Graciano López-Jaena, Evaristo Aguirre,
Eduardo de Lete, Melecio Figueroa, Valentín Ventura and Julio Llorento; decided to meet at the Paternos' house in Madrid. Each of
them agreed to write a unified novel. Suddenly, when the writing began, most of them wanted to change the topic from Spanish abuse
to somehow related to women. Rizal walked-out of the hall and decided to write the novel himself.
The title of Noli Me Tangere is not Spanish, nor Tagalog, but Latin. Rizal, in his letter to his friend and Czech scientist
Ferdinand Blumentritt, admitted that he obtained the title from the Bible. Rizal took the passage in John 20:17 where Jesus said to
Mary Magdalene "Don't touch Me!" when she recognizes him after his resurrection. The passage, when translated in Latin, is
equivalent to noli me tangere.
At the time when the novel is ready for printing, he ran out of fund. He contacted his friend, Maximo Viola, who agreed to lend
him money for publishing. According to accounts, Rizal is about to throw Noli manuscripts to the fireplace when he received Viola's
telegram agreeing for lending him.
Viola gave him an amount equal to three hundred pesos as preliminary payment for the first 2,000 copies of Noli. In 1887, the
first edition of Noli was published in Berlin, Germany. To express his gratitude, he gave the original manuscript plus the plume he used
to Viola. Rizal also signed the first print and gave it to Viola with dedication.

Synopsis of Noli Me Tangere

https://www.tagaloglang.com/noli-me-tangere-english-summary/
Juan Crisostomo Ibarra is a young Filipino who, after studying for seven years in Europe, returns to his native land to find that
his father, a wealthy landowner, has died in prison as the result of a quarrel with the parish curate, a Franciscan friar named Padre
Damaso. Ibarra is engaged to a beautiful and accomplished girl, Maria Clara, the supposed daughter and only child of the rich Don
Santiago de los Santos, commonly known as “Capitan Tiago.”
Ibarra resolves to forego all quarrels and to work for the betterment of his people. To show his good intentions, he seeks to
establish, at his own expense, a public school in his native town. He meets with ostensible support from all, especially Padre Damaso’s
successor, a young and gloomy Franciscan named Padre Salvi, for whom Maria Clara confesses to an instinctive dread.
At the laying of the cornerstone for the new schoolhouse, a suspicious accident, apparently aimed at Ibarra’s life, occurs, but
the festivities proceed until the dinner, where Ibarra is grossly and wantonly insulted over the memory of his father by Fray Damaso.
The young man loses control of himself and is about to kill the friar, who is saved by the intervention of Maria Clara.
Ibarra is excommunicated, and Capitan Tiago, through his fear of the friars, is forced to break the engagement and agree to
the marriage of Maria Clara with a young and inoffensive Spaniard provided by Padre Damaso. Obedient to her reputed father’s
command and influenced by her mysterious dread of Padre Salvi, Maria Clara consents to this arrangement, but becomes seriously ill,
only to be saved by medicines sent secretly by Ibarra and clandestinely administered by a girl friend.
Ibarra succeeds in having the excommunication removed, but before he can explain matters, an uprising against the Civil
Guard is secretly brought about through agents of Padre Salvi, and the leadership is ascribed to Ibarra to ruin him. He is warned by a
mysterious friend, an outlaw called Elias, whose life he had accidentally saved; but desiring first to see Maria Clara, he refuses to make
his escape, and when the outbreak page occurs, he is arrested as the instigator of it and thrown into prison in Manila.
On the evening when Capitan Tiago gives a ball in his Manila house to celebrate his supposed daughter’s engagement, Ibarra
makes his escape from prison and succeeds in seeing Maria Clara alone. He begins to reproach her because it is a letter written to her
before he went to Europe which forms the basis of the charge against him, but she clears herself of treachery to him. The letter had
been secured from her by false representations and in exchange for two others written by her mother just before her birth, which prove
that Padre Damaso is her real father. These letters had been accidentally discovered in the convento by Padre Salvi, who made use of
them to intimidate the girl and get possession of Ibarra’s letter, from which he forged others to incriminate the young man. She tells him
that she will marry the young Spaniard, sacrificing herself thus to save her mother’s name and Capitan Tiago’s honour and to prevent a
public scandal, but that she will always remain true to him.
6
Ibarra’s escape had been effected by Elias, who conveys him in a banka up the Pasig to the Lake, where they are so closely
beset by the Civil Guard that Elias leaps into the water and draws the pursuers away from the boat, in which Ibarra lies concealed.
On Christmas Eve, at the tomb of the Ibarras in a gloomy wood, Elias appears, wounded and dying, to find there a boy named
Basilio beside the corpse of his mother, a poor woman who had been driven to insanity by her husband’s neglect and abuses on the
part of the Civil Guard, her younger son having page disappeared some time before in the convento, where he was a sacristan. Basilio,
who is ignorant of Elias’s identity, helps him to build a funeral pyre, on which his corpse and the madwoman’s are to be burned.
Upon learning of the reported death of Ibarra in the chase on the Lake, Maria Clara becomes disconsolate and begs her
supposed godfather, Fray Damaso, to put her in a nunnery. Unconscious of her knowledge of their true relationship, the friar breaks
down and confesses that all the trouble he has stirred up with the Ibarras has been to prevent her from marrying a native, which would
condemn her and her children to the oppressed and enslaved class. He finally yields to her entreaties and she enters the nunnery of
St. Clara, to which Padre Salvi is soon assigned in a ministerial capacity.

The Characters in the Noli Me Tangere

( Garcia, Carlito, D, De Viana, Augusto V. & Cruz, Cynthia V. (2015) Rizal and the Development of Filipino Nationalism: A
textbook on the Life, Works, and Writings of our National Hero. Books Atbp. Publishing Corp., Mandaluyong)

Although the novel is a work of fiction, the novel can be considered a true story of the Philippines during the last decades of
Spanish rule. The characters used by Rizal in the Noli were persons who actually existed during those times (Zaide & Zaide, 1999).
Maria Clara was Leonor Rivera. Tasyo was his older brother Paciano. Padre Salvi was Fr. Antonio Piernavieja the Augustinian Order.
Capitan Tiago was Capitan Hilario Sunico of San Nicolas. Doña Victorina was Doña Agustina Medel. Basilio and Crispin were the
Crisistimo brothers of Hagonoy, Bulacan. Padre Damaso, however, was the typical abusive friar during Rizal’s time.
Through the characters in the Noli, Rizal depicted the different pictures of Filipino society during his time (Capino et al, 1977).
1. Juan Crisostomo Ibarra. As the main character in the novel, Ibarra represented the affluent and liberal European-educated
Filipino. Civic –minded, liberty- minded and patriotic, he desired the education of the people. His plan of establishing the
schoolhouse at San Diego was opposed by Father Damaso, representing conservatism in Filipino society then. This conflict
between liberalism and conservatism is reflected in many episodes in the Noli, which culminated in Iba’ra's leaving the country
and Maria Clara’s entering the nunnery.

2. Elias. Rizal represented the Filipino masses in the novel through Elias. As the symbol of the common people, Elias did
everything to vindicate them from the injustices suffered from the Spaniards. Although Ibarra’s family had brought misfortunes
to his own family, he extended help to Crisostomo in many occasions in the novel. This might had been due to his belief that
the redemption of the country depends on the ilustrados. Just like Ibarra, he is a mouthpiece of Rizal’s contradictory thoughts
and purposes.

3. Maria Clara. As the object of Ibarra’s love and affection, Rizal represented Filipino womanhood trained in a convent and
immersed in education basically religious in orientation. She symbolizes the Filipino womanhood in their fidelity, coyness, and
modesty.

4. Don Rafael Ibarra. In the novel, Don Rafael was Crisostomo’s father. He was jailed for helping a young boy being harmed by
an ignorant Spanish tax collector. Father Damaso considered him a heretic and a filibuster owing to his liberal and
independent views. Rizal used Don Rafael in the Noli to symbolize an affluent landlord with a social conscience.

5. Sisa. Sisa was the mother of Basilio and Crispin in the Noli. She symbolized a lot of things in Filipino society during Rizal’s
time. In the novel, she lost her mental balance upon learning what happened to Basilio and Crispin, her two sons. Through
her, Rizal was able to illustrate lack of concern in facing and resolving problems confronting Filipino society. She was also
used by Rizal in the Noli to illustrate the typical characteristics of Filipino mothers –fully cognizant of the attributes of their sons
and daughters; and willing to defend them from all forms of injustice or accusations.

6. Capitan Tiago. To the people of San Diego, he was Don Anastacio delos Santos. Just like Don Rafael Ibarra, he was a rich
landlord. His wealth was derived from his involvement in the illegal in the illegal opium trade. To the common people, he was a
symbol of the cacique mentality. Professing to be religious, never did he prayed to God even in the face of difficulties. Instead,
he let his money pray for him. Moreover, Rizal employed Capitan Tiago in the novel to represent the subservient Filipino to the
authorities to protect his personal and business interest.

7. Doña Victorina. As a social climber, she married Don Tiburcio de Espadaña to support her claim of being Spaniard. She
despised everything Filipino and imitated what was Spanish. Thus, Rizal used her in the novel to symbolize colonial mentality
among some Filipinos during his time.

8. Doña Patrocinio. As the mistress of the Alfarez, she was noted to be imprudent, vulgar, cruel, and quarrelsome. As such, she
symbolize the mentality of the Guardia Civil. Being the only competitor of Capitan Tiago in godliness, she did everything to
pretend that she was really religious by showing off to the public what she could contribute for the Church.

9. Pilosopo Tasyo. He represented Rizal’s epitome of a philosopher. He was perceived to be a sage by the educated and a
weird or lunatic by those who did not know him.

10. The School Master of San Diego. He symbolized intellectual dissatisfaction in Filipino society during Rizal’s time. As an
educated individual, he dreamed of changing the methods of teaching to facilitate greater learning on the part of the pupils
then.

Social Impact of the Novel

https://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Noli_Me_Tangere/Introduction
Noli Me Tangere is considered to be romantic but is more socio-historical because of its nature. Most of the issues discussed
in Noli can still be seen today.
7
After publication, Noli me Tangere was considered to be one of the instruments that initiated Filipino nationalism leading to the
1896 Philippine Revolution. The novel did not only awaken sleeping Filipino awareness, but also established the grounds for aspiring to
independence. Noli was originally written in Spanish, so the likelihood that Spanish authorities would read it first was very high; which is
what Rizal wanted to happen. Copies of books were redirected to churches, many were destroyed, many anti-Noli writers came into the
picture. Catholic leaders in the Philippines at the time regarded the book as heretical, while Spanish colonial authorities declared it as
subversive and against the government. Underground copies were distributed, so Rizal decided to increase the price, the demand was
so high.
The impact also included the expulsion of Rizal's clan in Calamba, Laguna. Extradition cases were filed against him. This led
to his decision to write the sequel of Noli Me Tangere, the El filibusterismo. Unlike El Fili or Fili, as they called it, Noli Me Tangere was
more delicate and did not invoke rebellion. as El Fili does. So to ensure revolutionary ideas and patriotic reaction, Rizal redefined his
careful concepts in Noli to aggression in El Fili.

Module 10
El Filibusterismo

The writing of El Filibusterismo

https://ourhappyschool.com/journalism/el-filibusterism
‘El Filibusterismo’ is Jose Rizal’s second novel written as the sequel of his ‘Noli Me Tangere’. Commonly nicknamed ‘El Fili’ or
simply ‘Fili’, the novel was written also in Spanish. Its commonly known English alternative title is ‘The Reign of Greed’.
Rizal started writing El Filibusterismo in October 1887 in Calamba during his first homecoming. The novel was thus written
against the background of threats and oppressions he and his family suffered because of the Noli and the so-called Calamba agrarian
trouble. He continued working on it, making some revisions, in London in 1888. Rizal then went on to write the novel in Paris, and then
in Brussels where distractions were less and the cost of living was cheaper. Being able to focus on finishing the book, Rizal had finally
completed it by March 29, 1891 in Biarritz.
Initially, Rizal financed El Fili’s printing by pawning his properties. In a letter to Jose Basa dated July 9, 1891, he related: “For
the past three months I have not received a single centavo, so I have pawned all that I have in order to publish this book. I will continue
publishing it as long as I can; and when there is nothing to pawn I will stop …”
Rizal’s next letter to Basa carried the sad news that the printing had to be suspended for lack of funds, and it was at this point
where Valentin Ventura came into the picture. Having known Rizal’s predicament, Ventura offered him financial help. In hindsight, we
can assume that Ventura was bothered by his conscience, hence his generous monetary assistance for Rizal’s novel. Remember that
Ventura was one of the Filipinos who promised to co-author Rizal’s proposed first book but ended up contributing nothing.
But even with Ventura’s help, Rizal found it necessary to fundamentally shorten the novel, erasing 47 whole pages from the
279-page manuscript to save expenses (Ocampo, p. 111). Thus, the printed El Fili, which came off the press by the middle of
September, 1891, turned out comprising only 38 chapters compared to the 64 of the Noli—contrary to his original plan to make a longer
sequel.

The Plot of the El Fili

In the events of the previous novel, Crisóstomo Ibarra, a reform-minded mestizo who tried to establish a modern school in his
hometown of San Diego and marry his childhood sweetheart, was falsely accused of rebellion and presumed dead after a shootout
following his escape from prison. Elías, his friend who was also a reformer, sacrificed his life to give Crisóstomo a chance to regain his
treasure and flee the country, and hopefully continue their crusade for reforms from abroad. After a thirteen-year absence from
the country, a more revolutionary Crisóstomo has returned, having taken the identity of Simoun, a corrupt jeweler whose objective is to
drive the government to commit as much abuse as possible in order to drive people into revolution.
Simoun goes from town to town presumably to sell his jewels. In San Diego, he goes to the Ibarra mausoleum to retrieve more
of his treasure but accidentally runs into Basilio, who was then also in the mausoleum visiting his mother's grave. In the years since the
death of his mother, Basilio had been serving as Kapitán Tiago's servant in exchange for being allowed to study. He is now an aspiring
doctor on his last year at university as well as heir to Kapitán Tiago's wealth. When Basilio recognizes Simoun as Crisóstomo Ibarra,
Simoun reveals his motives to Basilio and offers him a place in his plans. Too secure of his place in the world, Basilio declines.
At Barrio Sagpang in the town of Tiani, Simoun stays at the house of the village's cabeza de barangay, Tales. Having suffered
misfortune after misfortune in recent years, Kabesang Tales is unable to resist the temptation to steal Simoun's revolver and join the
bandits.
In Los Baños, Simoun joins his friend, the Captain-General, who is then taking a break from a hunting excursion. In a friendly
game of cards with him and his cronies, Simoun raises the stakes higher and higher and half-jokingly secures blank orders for
deportation, imprisonment, and summary execution from the Captain-General.
In Manila, Simoun meets with Quiroga, [2] a wealthy Chinese businessman and aspiring consul-general for the Chinese empire.
Quiroga is heavily in Simoun's debt, but Simoun offers him a steep discount if Quiroga does him a favor—to store Simoun's massive
arsenal of rifles in Quiroga's warehouses, to be used presumably for extortion activities with Manila's elite. Quiroga, who hated guns,
reluctantly agrees.
During the Quiapo Fair, a talking heads[3] exhibit[4] ostensibly organized by a certain Mr. Leeds but secretly commissioned by
Simoun is drawing popular acclaim. Padre Bernardo Salví, now chaplain of the Convent of the Poor Clares, [5] attends one of the
performances. The exhibit is set in Ptolemaic Egypt but features a tale that closely resembled that of Crisóstomo Ibarra and María
Clara, and their fate under Salví. The show ends with an ominous vow of revenge. Deeply overcome with guilt and fear, Salví
recommends the show be banned, but not before Mr. Leeds sailed for Hong Kong.
Months pass and the night of Simoun's revolution comes. Simoun visits Basilio in Tiago's house and tries to convince him
again to join his revolution. Simoun's plan is for a cannon volley to be fired, at which point Kabesang Tales, now a bandit who calls
himself Matanglawin, and Simoun who managed to deceive and recruit a sizable rogue force among the government troops, will lead
their forces into the city. The leaders of the Church, the University, scores of bureaucrats, the Captain-General himself, as well as the
bulk of officers guarding them are all conveniently located in one location, the theater where a controversial and much-hyped
performance of Les Cloches de Corneville[6] is taking place. While Simoun and Matanglawin direct their forces, Basilio and several
others are to force open the door of the Convent of the Poor Clares and rescue María Clara.
8
However, Basilio reports to Simoun that María Clara died just that afternoon, killed by the travails of monastic life under Salví,
who always lusted after her. Simoun, driven by grief, aborts the attack and becomes crestfallen throughout the night. It will be reported
later on that he suffered an "accident" that night, leaving him confined to his bed.
The following day posters threatening violence to the leaders of the university and the government are found at the university
doors. A reform-oriented student group to which Basilio belonged is named the primary suspects; the members are arrested. They are
eventually freed through the intercession of relatives, except for Basilio who is an orphan and has no means to pay for his freedom.
During his imprisonment, he learns that Capitan Tiago has died, leaving him with nothing (but Tiago's will was actually forged by Padre
Írene, Tiago's spiritual advisor who also supplies him with opium); his childhood sweetheart has committed suicide to avoid getting
raped by the parish priest when she tried asking for help on Basilio's behalf; and that he has missed his graduation and will be required
to study for another year, but now with no funds to go by. Released through the intercession of Simoun, a darkened, disillusioned
Basilio joins Simoun's cause wholeheartedly.
Simoun, meanwhile, has been organizing a new revolution, and he reveals his plans to a now committed Basilio. The wedding
of Juanito Peláez and Paulita Gomez will be used to coordinate the attack upon the city. As the Peláez and Gomez families are
prominent members of the Manila elite, leaders of the church and civil government are invited to the reception. The Captain-General,
who declined to extend his tenure despite Simoun's urging, is leaving in two days and is the guest of honor.
Simoun will personally deliver a pomegranate-shaped crystal lamp as a wedding gift. The lamp is to be placed on a plinth at
the reception venue and will be bright enough to illuminate the entire hall, which was also walled with mirrors. After some time the light
will flicker as if to go out. When someone attempts to raise the wick, a mechanism hidden within the lamp containing fulminated
mercury will detonate, igniting the lamp which is actually filled with nitroglycerin, killing everyone in an enormous blast.
At the sound of the explosion, Simoun's mercenaries will attack, reinforced by Matanglawin and his bandits who will descend
upon the city from the surrounding hills. Simoun postulates that at the chaos, the masses, already worked to a panic by the
government's heavy-handed response to the poster incident, as well as rumors of German ships at the bay to lend their firepower to
any uprising against the Spanish government, will step out in desperation to kill or be killed. Basilio and a few others are to put
themselves at their head and lead them to Quiroga's warehouses, where Simoun's guns are still being kept. The plan thus finalized,
Simoun gives Basilio a loaded revolver and sends him away to await further instructions.
Basilio walks the streets for hours and passes by his old home, Kapitán Tiago's riverside house on Anloague Street. He
discovers that this was to be the reception venue – Juanito Peláez's father bought Tiago's house as a gift for the newlywed couple.
Sometime later, he sees Simoun enter the house with the lamp, then hastily exit the house and board his carriage. Basilio begins to
move away but sees Isagani, his friend and Paulita Gomez's former lover, sadly looking at Paulita through the window. Noting how
close they were to the condemned house, Basilio tries to head Isagani off, but Isagani was too dazed with grief to listen to him. In
desperation, Basilio reveals to Isagani how the house is set to explode at any time then. But when Isagani still refuses to heed him,
Basilio flees, leaving Isagani to his fate.
Seeing Basilio's demeanor, Isagani is temporarily, rather belatedly unnerved by the revelation. Isagani rushes into the house,
seizes the lamp leaving the hall in darkness, and throws it into the river. With this, Simoun's second revolution fails as well.
In the following days, as the trappings at the reception venue are torn down, sacks containing gunpowder are discovered
hidden under the boards all over the house. Simoun, who had directed the renovations, is exposed. With his friend, the Captain-
General, having left for Spain, Simoun is left without his protector and is forced to flee. A manhunt ensues and Simoun is chased as far
away as the shores of the Pacific. He then spends the rest of his days hiding in the ancestral mansion of Padre Florentino, Isagani's
uncle.
One day, the lieutenant of the local Guardia Civil informs Florentino that he received an order to arrest Simoun that night. In
response, Simoun drinks the slow-acting poison which he always kept in a compartment on his treasure chest. Simoun then makes his
final confession to Florentino, first revealing his true name, to Florentino's shock. He goes on to narrate how thirteen years before, as
Crisóstomo Ibarra, he lost everything in the Philippines despite his good intentions. Crisóstomo swore vengeance. Retrieving some of
his family's treasure Elias buried in the Ibarra mausoleum in the forest, Crisóstomo fled to foreign lands and engaged in trade. He took
part in the war in Cuba, aiding first one side and then another, but always profiting. There Crisóstomo met the Captain-General who
was then a major, whose goodwill he won first by loans of money, and afterwards by covering for his criminal activity. Crisóstomo
bribed his way to secure the major's promotion to Captain-General and his assignment to the Philippines. Once in the country,
Crisóstomo then used him as a blind tool and incited him to all kinds of injustice, availing himself of the Captain-General's insatiable
lust for gold.
The confession is long and arduous, and night has fallen when Crisóstomo finished. In the end, Florentino assures the dying
man of God's mercy, but explains that his revolution failed because he has chosen means that God cannot sanction. Crisóstomo
bitterly accepts the explanation and dies.
Realizing that the arresting officers will confiscate Crisóstomo's possessions, Florentino divests him of his jewels and casts them into
the Pacific, proclaiming that God will provide means to draw them out if they should be needed for righteous causes, God will provide
the means to draw them out and that they will not be used to either distort justice or incite greed.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/El_filibusterismo#Plot

Symbolical Interpretation of the Fili

On the more abstract or philosophical level, following the thesis that the Fili is a study in revolution, the more important characters can
be interpreted symbolically. Turned cynical an revolutionary as a result of past failures and disappointments, SIMOUN could be made
to represent the portion of Filipino society which, tired of the oppressor’s rule wanted that rule to be overthrown at all cost, but had no
systematic plan for the new society, if the old one is overthrown.
Maria Clara, who after suffering from untold physical and spiritual abuse for at least 13 years, at last dies, can still be made to
symbolize in the Fili, the friar-dominated culture, which is now ripe for revolution. That there is no eventual union between
Simoun and Maria Clara, not even meeting between the two since they parted 13 years ago is significant. Although Simoun
wanted very much to see and possess her, he was not permitted to do so. This is indicative, symbolically speaking, of Rizal’s
refusal to recognize that the friar-dominated Filipino culture could still be reinvigorated through the infusion of new elements
into its anemic bloodstream.
9
Señor Pasta, the idealist turned mercenary, could be made to represent that portion of Filipino society who have abandoned
their noble social ideals and have become thoroughly self-seeking opportunist, serving only the interest of those who have
hired them.
Isagani, a young student, who is inspired by high ideals for his country but at critical moment apparently and unwittingly
forgets those ideals for selfish reasons, could be made to symbolize the untested and unreliable idealism of a segment of the
educated Filipino youths of the time.
Paulita Gomez, the hapless object of Isagani’s affection, a girl who is more free from the fetters of convention than Maria
Clara, can be made to represent that portion of Filipino womanhood –still half breed like Maria Clara –which is relatively
enlightened but which is itself almost thoroughly bereft of love of country and of a desire for the social good.
Basilio, the medical student who, despite the extreme sufferings undergone by his family as a result of clerical perfidy and
cruelty, refuses to entertain any revolution through even in the face of rampant social injustices, could be made to symbolize
that segment of the educated Filipino society which has been so brutalized that it has become insensible to the social welfare.
Placido Penitnente, is another young man who has been so disillusioned by the state of affairs he finds himself in as a
students, entertains the desire to go abroad. When shown by Simoun some signs of a possible uprising, he becomes so
frightened that he could not make up his mind whether to join or not join. He persuasively could be made to symbolize those
elements of Philippine society, which had not yet been infused with a national sentiment or social conscience.
Don Custodio, a typical Spanish official in the country, who occupies several positions despite the absence of qualification,
believes that any idea that does not come from him deserves no consideration. As a character in the Fili, Rizal portrayed him
as one who finds pleasure in developing a feeling of inferiority among the people.
The pattern of suffering in the El Filibusterismo is depicted in the story of Cabesang Tales, Juli, and the school master (Capino
et al, 1978; Schamacher,1977)
Cabesang Tales, a victim of land grabbing by the friars, became desperate and joined the outlaws for personal revenge. He
died of fever and found no justice in the courts.
Juli, innocent-looking and unaffected daughter of Cabesang Tales and sweetheart of Basilio, took her own life because of her
love for honor and chastity rather than surrender her womanhood to mundane desire of Fr.Camorra.
The School Master, rusticated as a rebel for having experimented teaching the Spanish language to young children against
the wishes of the Spanish friars was pardoned due to the influence wielded by Simoun. Later on, he became Simoun’s
gunpowder expert.
Garcia, et al (2015) Rizal and the Development of Filipino Nationalism: A textbook on the Life, Works, and Writings of our National
Hero. Books Atbp. Publishing Corp., Mandaluyong)

Themes
Indeed a continuation of the Noli, the El Filibusterismo exposes the real picture of Filipino society at the hands of the Spanish
authorities. Socio-political issues mentioned in the Noli are also dealt with in its sequel: the abuses and hypocrisy of the members of
the Spanish Catholic clergy, superstitions disguising as religious faith, the need for reform in educational system, the exploitation and
corruption of government officials, and the pretenses of some social-climbing Filipinos and Spaniards.
What makes El Fili essentially different from its prequel is that it offers various means of attaining social reform and somewhat
hinted what the author believed was ideal. Some dialogues and incidents seem to suggest the apparent improbability of any radical
socio-political change. The main character’s persistence to push through with the rebellion, on the other hand, seems to suggest that
independence is attainable through revolution. However, the closing chapters rather insinuate that freedom must be attained without
bloodshed as the story ends with the failure of Simoun’s planned uprising.
The novel’s ending, some scholars explain however, should not be interpreted as Rizal’s categorical stand against revolution. At best,
Rizal can be said to be against unprepared and disorganized rebellion of an uneducated people which could have slim chance of
victory. It is important to note that Rizal once commented that an upright, patriotic, and selfless individual like Noli’s Elias would be a
viable revolutionary leader. In fact, Rizal was said to have confessed that he seriously regretted having killed Elias instead of Ibarra.
These seem to prove that Rizal, though practically promoting the attainment of reforms peacefully, also advocated the idea of armed
revolution under some conditions. Intelligent as he is, what Rizal would never subscribe to is the “useless spilling of blood,” but not the
uprising per se. https://ourhappyschool.com/journalism/el-filibusterism

Module 11
The Indolence of the Filipinos
Introduction
The essay represents Rizal’s defense of the Filipinos from the charge that they were inherently lazy or indolent. Indolence, as
for Rizal, is defined as inactiveness, little love for work, or complete disregard for work – Filipinos were not born lazy but had a
predisposition to become lazy. According to Garcia et al (2015), there are factors that fostered indolence attributable to the Spaniards
and to the Filipinos themselves.
Attributable to Spanish colonizers:
1. Wars and Internal Disorders That Followed Spanish Conquest
2. Piratical Attacks on Coastal Towns and Villages By Muslim Pirates
3. Forced Labor in Shipbuilding
4. Government’s Neglect and Apathy to Agriculture, Industry and Commerce
5. Absence of Material and Moral Incentives To Work Harder
6. The Teaching of the Spanish Missionaries That Heaven is for the Poor
7. Too Much Government Restriction and Red Tape In The Approval of Permit To Transact Business
8. Encouragement And Propagation Of Gambling
9. Ownership of the Big Estate by the Friars
10. Example Set By the Spaniards in Disdaining Manual Labor
11. Deprivation of Human Dignity

Attributable to Filipinos
1. Feeling of Inferiority
2. Placing Hopes on Miracles
10
3. Lack of Spirit To Pursue Lofty Purposes
4. Lack of National Sentiment

Summary
http://thelifeandworksofrizal.blogspot.com/2011/08/indolence-of-filipinos-summary-and.html
The Indolence of the Filipinos is a study of the causes why the people did not, as was said, work hard during the Spanish
regime. Rizal pointed out that long before the coming of the Spaniards, the Filipinos were industrious and hardworking. The Spanish
reign brought about a decline in economic activities because of certain causes:
First, the establishment of the Galleon Trade cut off all previous associations of the Philippines with other countries in Asia and
the Middle East. As a result, business was only conducted with Spain through Mexico. Because of this, the small businesses and
handicraft industries that flourished during the pre-Spanish period gradually disappeared.
Second, Spain also extinguished the natives’ love of work because of the implementation of forced labor. Because of the wars
between Spain and other countries in Europe as well as the Muslims in Mindanao, the Filipinos were compelled to work in shipyards,
roads, and other public works, abandoning agriculture, industry, and commerce.
Third, Spain did not protect the people against foreign invaders and pirates. With no arms to defend themselves, the natives
were killed, their houses burned, and their lands destroyed. As a result of this, the Filipinos were forced to become nomads, lost
interest in cultivating their lands or in rebuilding the industries that were shut down, and simply became submissive to the mercy of
God.
Fourth, there was a crooked system of education, if it was to be considered an education. What was being taught in the
schools were repetitive prayers and other things that could not be used by the students to lead the country to progress. There were no
courses in Agriculture, Industry, etc., which were badly needed by the Philippines during those times.
Fifth, the Spanish rulers were a bad example to despise manual labor. The officials reported to work at noon and left early, all
the while doing nothing in line with their duties. The women were seen constantly followed by servants who dressed them and fanned
them – personal things which they ought to have done for themselves.
Sixth, gambling was established and widely propagated during those times. Almost every day there were cockfights, and
during feast days, the government officials and friars were the first to engage in all sorts of bets and gambles.
Seventh, there was a crooked system of religion. The friars taught the naïve Filipinos that it was easier for a poor man to enter
heaven, and so they preferred not to work and remain poor so that they could easily enter heaven after they died.
Lastly, the taxes were extremely high, so much so that a huge portion of what they earned went to the government or to the
friars. When the object of their labor was removed and they were exploited, they were reduced to inaction.
Rizal admitted that the Filipinos did not work so hard because they were wise enough to adjust themselves to the warm, tropical
climate. “An hour’s work under that burning sun, in the midst of pernicious influences springing from nature in activity, is equal to a
day’s labor in a temperate climate.”

Module 12
Jose Rizal and the Philippine Nationalism
At the end of the module, students will be able to;
1. Interpret views and opinions about bayani and kabayanihan in the context of Philippine history and society
2. Assess the concepts of bayani and kabayanihan in the context of Philippine society

The concepts of bayani and kabayanihan

In the old times, a bayani is a person who fights with the ‘bayan’ or the community. The definition changes as a bayani today
is a person who sacrifices even the little things for the good of other.
Examples;
Old notion - Gregorio del Pilar, Andres Bonifacio
Modern Notion - A young man who helped a very old woman
crossing the pedestrian

The word bayani is translated to a hero in English language. The original hero type of classical epics did such things for the
sake of glory and honor. On the other hand, are post-classical and modern heroes, who perform great deeds or selfless acts for the
common good instead of the classical goal of wealth, pride, and fame (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hero). Merriam-Webster dictionary
defined a hero as a mythological or legendary figure often of divine descent endowed with great strength or ability
As a literary device, a hero can be defined as the principal character of a literary work. The term hero has been applied, not
only in the classical sense, but also in modern literature, as the principal character of a story, play or novel.
Kabayanihan or heroism is defined by the Oxford English dictionary as a traditional system of mutual assistance in which the
members of a community work together to accomplish a difficult task. In later use also: a spirit of civic unity and cooperation among
Filipinos.
Heroism as a concept according to Michael Xiao Chua, came from the Greeks. Looking at Hercules as an example, a “hero”
can be a strong-willed and supernatural character who consciously directs his abilities for the good of the people. The Western-inspired
educational system taught us this definition; that is why we see heroes as larger than life characters with extraordinary strength,
extraordinary courage and extraordinary intellect. José Rizal easily fits the description.

Module 13
Philippine Nationalism and the National Symbol

1.1 National Heroes Committee

On March 28, 1993 , President Fidel V. Ramos issued Executive Order No.75 entitled “Creating the National Heroes Committee Under
the Office of the President”.
The principal duty of the Committee is to study, evaluate and recommend Filipino national personages/heroes in due recognition of
their sterling character and remarkable achievements for the country.
1.2 Findings and Recommendations of the National Heroes Committee
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In compliance with Executive Order No. 75 dated March 28, 1993 , the National Heroes Committee submitted its findings and
recommendations.
1.2.1 Criteria for National Heroes
The Technical Committee of the National Heroes Committee held a series of meetings on June 3, 1993 , August 19,1993 , September
12, 1994 and November 15, 1995 , defining, discussing and deliberating upon the merits of the various definitions and criteria of a hero.
The Committee adopted the following criteria as basis for historical researchers in determining who among the great Filipinos will be
officially proclaimed as national heroes:
Criteria for National Heroes
(Adopted by the Technical Committee of the National Heroes Committee on June 3, 1993 , Manila . Members of the Committee
included Drs. Onofre D. Corpuz, Samuel K. Tan, Marcelino Foronda, Alfredo Lagmay, Bernardita R. Churchill, Serafin D. Quiason,
Ambeth Ocampo, then known as Dom Ignacio Maria, Prof. Minerva Gonzales and Mrs. Carmen Guerrero-Nakpil)
1. Heroes are those who have a concept of nation and thereafter aspire and struggle for the nation’s freedom. Our own struggle for
freedom was begun by Bonifacio and finished by Aguinaldo, the latter formally declaring the revolution’s success. In reality, however, a
revolution has no end. Revolutions are only the beginning. One cannot aspire to be free only to sink back into bondage.
2. Heroes are those who define and contribute to a system or life of freedom and order for a nation. Freedom without order will only
lead to anarchy. Therefore, heroes are those who make the nation’s constitution and laws, such as Mabini and Recto. To the latter,
constitutions are only the beginning, for it is the people living under the constitution that truly constitute a nation.
3. Heroes are those who contribute to the quality of life and destiny of a nation. (As defined by Dr. Onofre D. Corpuz)
Additional Criteria for Heroes
(Adopted by the Technical Committee of the National Heroes Committee on November 15, 1995, Manila)
1. A hero is part of the people’s expression. But the process of a people’s internalization of a hero’s life and works takes time, with the
youth forming a part of the internalization.
2. A hero thinks of the future, especially the future generations.
3. The choice of a hero involves not only the recounting of an episode or events in history, but of the entire process that made this
particular person a hero. (As defined by Dr. Alfredo Lagmay)
1.2.2 Historical Figures Recommended as National Heroes
On November 15, 1995 , the Technical Committee after deliberation and careful study based on Dr. Onofre D. Corpuz’ and Dr.
Alfredo Lagmay’s criteria selected the following nine Filipino historical figures to be recommended as National Heroes:
a. Jose Rizal
b. Andres Bonifacio
c. Emilio Aguinaldo
d. Apolinario Mabini
e. Marcelo H. del Pilar
f. Sultan Dipatuan Kudarat
g. Juan Luna
h. Melchora Aquino
i. Gabriela Silang

1.2.3 Status of the Report/Recommendations Submitted by the National Heroes Committee.

Since the submission of the report/recommendations by the National Heroes Committee to then Secretary Ricardo T. Gloria of
the Department of Education, Culture and Sports on November 22,1995 , no action has been taken. This was probably because this
might trigger a flood of requests for proclamations. Another possibility is that the proclamations can trigger bitter debates involving
historical controversies about the heroes.
2. Laws Honoring/ Commemorating Filipino Historical Figures
2.1 Heroes

2.1.1 Jose Rizal

2.1.1.1 Decree of December 20, 1898 , issued by General Emilio Aguinaldo, declared December 30 of every year a day of national
mourning in honor of Dr. Jose Rizal and other victims of the Philippine Revolution.

2.1.1.2 Act No. 137, which organized the politico-military district of Morong into the Province of Rizal , was the first official step taken
by the Taft Commission to honor our greatest hero and martyr.

2.1.2 Andres Bonifacio

2.1.2.1 Act No. 2946, enacted by the Philippine Legislature on February 16, 1921 , made November 30 of each year a legal holiday to
commemorate the birth of Andres Bonifacio

2.1.2.2 Act No. 2760, issued on February 23, 1918 , confirmed and ratified all steps taken for the creation, maintenance, improvement
of national monuments and particularly for the erection of a monument to the memory of Andres Bonifacio

2.1.3 Other Heroes

2.1.3.1 Act No. 3827, enacted by the Philippine Legislature on October 28, 1931 , declared the last Sunday of August of every year as
National Heroes Day.

2.1.3.2 Proclamation No. 510, issued by Pres. Fidel V.Ramos on November 30, 1994 , declared the year 1996 as the year of Filipino
Heroes as a tribute to all Filipinos who, directly and indirectly, gave meaning and impetus to the cause of freedom, justice, Philippine
independence and nationhood.

2.1.3.3 R.A. No. 9070, April 8, 2001, declaring the eighteenth of December of every year as a special working public holiday
throughout the country to be known as the Graciano Lopez-Jaena Day
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2.2 Other Historical Figures

2.2.1 R.A. No. 6701, February 10, 1989, declaring September One of every year, the death anniversary of Gregorio Aglipay y Labayan,
as Gregorio L. Aglipay Day and a special non-working holiday in the Municipality of Batac, Province of Ilocos Norte
2.2.2 R.A. No. 7285, March 24, 1992, declaring February Nineteen of each year as Doña Aurora Aragon Quezon Day a special
nonworking holiday in the Province of Aurora in order to commemorate the birth anniversary of Doña Aurora Aragon Quezon, the first
President of the Philippine National Red Cross, and Foundation Day of the Province

2.2.3 R.A. No. 7805, September 1, 1994, declaring January 28 of every year as a non- working special public holiday in the City
of Cavite to be known as Julian Felipe Day
2.2.4 R.A. No. 7950, March 25, 1995, declaring December Eighteen of every year as “Araw ng Laguna” and a special working day in
the Province of Laguna and the City of San Pablo to commemorate the memory and death of the late Governor Felicisimo T. San Luis

2.2.5 R.A. No. 9067, April 8, 2001 , declaring April 15 of every year as President Manuel A. Roxas Day which shall be observed as a
special working public holiday in the Province of Capiz and the City of Roxas
*From the Reference and Research Bureau Legislative Research Service, House of Congress
References:
Blumentritt, Ferdinand, Prologue to Jose Rizal, Annotated Copy of Antonio Morga’s
Sucesos de las Islas Filipinas (Manila: National Centennial Commission, 1962)