CHAPTER VI

RIZAL’S CHANGING VIEWS ON SPANISH

RULE IN EL FILIBUSTERISMO

INTRODUCTION
Jose Rizal‘s ideals were a product and composite of the teachings of what is
known as the philosophy of Enlightenment. That stage of philosophy marked the
dawn of the eighteenth century in Europe and continued to the 19th century. Friar
injustices and Spanish misrule. Jose Rizal‘s writings transformed his stature from a
writer and propagandist against social and religious injustices of Spanish rule in the
Philippines that made him into a national hero. This chapter discusses the one of the
writings of Rizal which had a huge impact to the society, El Filibusterismo.

LEARNING OUTCOMES

At the end of this chapter, students are expected to:

1. Recognize the major themes, plot, characters, and ideas in the novel El
Filibusterismo.
2. Show the continuities and/or changes in Rizal‘s views and ideas expressed
in El Filibusterismo.
3. Assess Rizal‘s changing views on Spanish rule as reflected in El
Filibusterismo and other writings in the context of present Philippine Society.

MAIN IDEA

Rizal had far more writings of note and importance. But his two novels – Noli
Me Tangere and El Filibusterismo – are his most prominent achievements. In these
works, his main mouthpieces of change were fictional characters: Crisostomo Ibarra
(as Ibarra in Noli; alias Simoun, in Fili), Elias, Father Tolentino, and Tacio (the
philosopher). All other characters (Sisa and her sons, Maria Clara, Father Damaso,
Father Salvi, etc.) were exhibits of the cruelties of his times on the lives and fortunes
of Filipinos.
Along with other Filipino expatriates of the time, Rizal would be vocal in
making the case for the reform of Spain‘s colonial policies. The ideas of
Enlightenment had breezed through Europe the century before, but Spain remained
largely less affected by these strong winds of thought. Rizal‘s work comes from the
influences of the philosophy of Enlightenment. The political and social reforms that
he espoused embody general ideas of tolerance, more liberty and the need for civil
government.
In his writings, he was sparse in revealing such heritage either. He has a
great facility in absorbing and retelling contemporary events of his times. He was
quick and direct and cutting in his political writings. And his arguments in his more
thoughtful pieces tell us how he absorbed and learned from others.

José Rizal wrote El Filibusterismo after he experienced the negative

repercussions of his first book, Noli Me Tángere. His initial account of the injustices
within the Philippines angered those who held political power — specifically the friars.

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This led to an increase in oppression towards his family, who faced a lot of
unnecessary persecutions and legal attacks, and eventually, exile from the
Philippines.
This second novel is a little bit more analytical, diving into the political powers
at play in the Philippines, while still continuing the story of Crisóstomo Ibarra from the
Noli. The idea of revolt and a militant uprising is played with throughout the book,
with the above excerpt at the end of the novel.
It‘s interesting to note that during the time of publication, there was a lot of
talk within the Philippines about independence from Spain and the possibility of a
revolution. I believe that this book was Rizal‘s thesis and point of view on what
should be done in terms of an uprising. Up to his death, he never formally endorsed a
militant uprising, and even denied deep involvement with the Katipunan, though he
did support the pursuit of independence for the Philippines — the method of
attainment just varied.

INDOLENCE OF FILIPINOS AND SPANISH COLONIAL

RULE

SOBRE LA INDOLENCIA DE LOS FILIPINOS

Sobre la Indolencia de los Filipinos ("On the Indolence of the Filipinos" in
Spanish) is a socio-political essay published in La solidaridad in Madrid in 1890. It
was written by José Rizal as a response to the accusation of Indio or Malay
indolence. He admits the existence of indolence among the Filipinos, but it could be
attributed to a number of reasons. He traces its causes to factors such as the climate
and social disorders. He defends the Filipinos by saying that they are by nature not
indolent, because in fact, even before the arrival of Spaniards, Filipinos have been
engaged in economic activities such as agriculture and trade. Indolence therefore
has more deeply rooted causes such as abuse and discrimination.

SUMMARY
Chapter 1 – Rizal acknowledges the prior work of [[Gregorio Del Pilar] and
admits that indolence does exist among the Filipinos, but it cannot be attributed to
the troubles and backwardness of the country; rather it is the effect of the
backwardness and troubles experienced by the country. Past writings on indolence
revolve only on either denying or affirming, and never studying its causes in depth.
One must study the causes of indolence, Rizal says, before curing it. He therefore
enumerates the causes of indolence and elaborates on the circumstances that have
led to it. The hot climate, he points out, is a reasonable predisposition for indolence.
Filipinos cannot be compared to Europeans, who live in cold countries and who must
exert much more effort at work. An hour's work under the Philippine sun, he says, is
equivalent to a day's work in temperate regions.

Chapter 2 – Rizal says that an illness will worsen if the wrong treatment is
given. The same applies to indolence. People, however, should not lose hope in
fighting indolence. Even before the Spaniards arrived, Rizal argues, the early
Filipinos were already carrying out trade within provinces and with other neighboring
countries; they were also engaged in agriculture and mining; some natives even
spoke Spanish. All this disproves the notion that Filipinos are by nature indolent.
Rizal ends by asking what then would have caused Filipinos to forget their past.

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 Chapter 3 – Rizal enumerates several reasons that may have caused the
Filipinos' cultural and economic decadence. The frequent wars, insurrections, and
invasions have brought disorder to the communities. Chaos has been widespread,
and destruction rampant. Many Filipinos have also been sent abroad to fight wars for
Spain or for expeditions. Thus, the population has decreased in number. Due to
forced labor, many men have been sent to shipyards to construct vessels.
Meanwhile, natives who have had enough of abuse have gone to the mountains. As
a result, the farms have been neglected. The so-called indolence of Filipinos
definitely has deeply rooted causes.

Chapter 4 – Filipinos, according to Rizal, are not responsible for their

misfortunes, as they are not their own masters. The Spanish government has not
encouraged labor and trade, which ceased after the government treated the country's
neighboring trade partners with great suspicion. Trade has declined, furthermore,
because of pirate attacks and the many restrictions imposed by the government,
which gives no aid for crops and farmers. This and the abuse suffered under
encomenderos have caused many to abandon the fields. Businesses are
monopolized by many government officials, red tape and bribery operate on a wide
scale, rampant gambling is tolerated by the government. This situation is
compounded by the Church's wrong doctrine which holds that the rich will not go to
heaven, thus engendering a wrong attitude toward work. There has also been
discrimination in education against natives. These are some of the main reasons that
Rizal cites as causing the deterioration of values among the Filipinos.

Chapter 5 – According to Rizal, all the causes of indolence can be reduced to

two factors. The first factor is the limited training and education Filipino natives
receive. Segregated from Spaniards, Filipinos do not receive the same opportunities
that are available to the foreigners. They are taught to be inferior. The second factor
is the lack of a national sentiment of unity among them. Because Filipinos think they
are inferior, they submit to the foreign culture and do everything to imitate it. The
solution, according to Rizal, would be education and liberty.

Rizal’s Views in Sobre La Indolencia de los Filipinos

―Sobre la indolencia de los Filipinos (On the indolence of the Filipinos)‖ is a
very long, and at times angry, essay by Rizal that saw print in La Solidaridad in
March 1890. From abroad and across time, Rizal reacted to the charge, from the
Spanish colonial masters, that Filipinos were indolent or lazy. Rizal did not condemn
it, rather he explained it: ―We must confess that indolence does actually and
positively exist there; only that, instead of holding it to be the cause of the
backwardness and the trouble, we regard it as the effect of the trouble and the
backwardness, by fostering the development of a lamentable predisposition.‖
Tropical climate is a major factor, Rizal explained: ―Nature knows this and like
a just mother has therefore made the earth more fertile, more productive, as a
compensation. 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 work in a temperate
climate.‖
Using his notes gathered from the British Library from 1888 to 1889 while at
work on his annotated edition of Antonio de Morga‘s 1609 ―Sucesos de las islas
Filipinas (Events of the Philippine Islands),‖ Rizal presented early accounts like the

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―Zhu Fan Zhi,‖ published by Chau Ju-kua in 1225, which described the industry and
honesty of the Filipinos before the Spanish conquest; and Antonio Pigafetta‘s
chronicle of the Magellan expedition, regarding the capture and ransom of the Chief
of Paragua. Wielding history as a weapon, Rizal asked sarcastically: ―How did the
industrious infidel become indolent centuries later when he was Christianized? Why
did they forget their proud past and become indolent?‖
Rizal also blamed the sorry state of the colony. The galleon trade had cut off
existing trade between the Philippines and China and Southeast Asia, the trade
monopoly running Filipino traders and artisans out of business. Furthermore, the lure
of the galleon trade led to the neglect of commerce and agriculture. People were
conscripted to work in the shipyards, forced to build roads and buildings with little or
no pay, decimating the population and killing their natural love for work. Their goods
and services were taken by force, such that they simply refused to work more only to
have their products taken for free, paid cheaply, or so heavily taxed that these ended
up not worth the trouble.
Gambling was another factor, because it bred ―dislike for steady and difficult
toil by its promise of sudden wealth and its appeal to the emotions, with the lotteries,‖
said Rizal. Finally, he pointed out the failure of education, which was more focused
on religion than on the secular and useful, with the exception of the Jesuits and the
Dominican Benavides. ―From his birth until he sinks into his grave, the training of the
native is brutalizing, depressive and antihuman (the word ‗inhuman‘ is not sufficiently
explanatory: whether or not the Academy admits it, let it go).‖
Rizal did not just rant, he provided a solution: education and the formation of
what he called a ―national sentiment.‖ Rizal left us with 25 volumes of writings to
instruct and inspire, but alas, he wrote a lot for a nation that does not read him. It
took a foreigner, Syed Hussein Alatas, to build on Rizal‘s essay and publish ―The
Myth of the Lazy Native‖ (1977), disproving as myth the laziness of the Malays,
Filipinos and Javanese in colonial times.

RIZAL’S ABANDONMENT OF ASSIMILATION

Rizal did not want separation because maybe he knew the Philippines and
the Indios at that time were not just ready. He wanted equal opportunity because it's
the best chance that we can prove our worth to the Spaniards.
Even though Rizal did not actually support the revolution, he we can say that
he also contributed in this revolution. His works and writings were the corner stone of
the revolution and he was indeed an inspiration for the Katipuneros during those
times. Rizal‘s life was devoted to his country (Philippines). His works and writings
were evidence for his noble act as a reformist.

RIZAL AS A REFORMIST
Jose Rizal, our national hero, was one of the Filipinos who asked for
reforms. These reforms will grant the ultimate dream of the reformists; assimilation.
Filipinos will be given the rights that they deserve. Rizal choose to seek for reforms
than to start a revolution because he knew that Philippines was not yet ready to
stand on its own (during his time). Rizal used his liberal ideas in asking for reforms.

RIZAL AS A SEPARATIST
The last of the three well known articles in the La Solidaridad is the
Philippines a Century Hence, where in Rizal tried to predict the future of the

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Philippines. He noted that eventually, the Philippines would separate itself from
Spain, an event that will become inevitable if the Philippines were not assimilated
and made as a Spanish province.

RIZAL’S CHANGING VIEWS ON ASSIMILATION

While he was active in the Propaganda Movement, Rizal had private doubts
about the objectives of the Propaganda Movement and he expressed them to his
Austrian confidante Ferdinand Blumentritt through private correspondence. Jose
Rizal figured that, regardless of what Filipino expatriates will peacefully do, the
Spanish Crown and government will not adopt the reforms necessary for the colony‘s
development. He further shared that he would not want to involve himself in any
secret and dangerous plot against the colonial government but if it continues to
oppress the Filipino people then he would have to side with violence.
It was not just Blumentritt who got his message but Filipino expatriates as well
like Galicano Apacible, Edilberto Evangelista and Antonio Luna. In fact, there was a
sizeable faction in the Filipino expatriate community that sided with Rizal because of
his sentiments. Luna himself thought that there should not just be a propaganda
movement in Spain but also one at home; the former arguing for assimilation while
the latter advocating for separation. Amazingly, even if Filipino assimilation into the
Spanish nation was achieved he would still be willing to return home as a separatist
agent. Apacible was insightful enough to think that propaganda for reform in Spain
would prove that Filipinos were willing to use peaceful channels to make their case
for their people and that its failure would serve as a justification for the separation
movement. He also took the talk of separation up a notch by advising Rizal to setup a
headquarters for the revolution in Hong Kong or someplace else to centrally muster
support for the cause of independence. At this time, many Filipino ilustrados
(enlightened ones) supported Rizal on the understanding that he ―was a separatist
and the more radical one,‖ Apacible claimed.
Unsurprisingly, this talk of independence from Spain, peaceful or violent, was
clashing with the program of del Pilar and his reformist faction of La Solidaridad
especially after the tragedy of Hacienda Calamba. Hundreds of tenants, including
Rizal‘s family, of a land-owning religious organization were evicted with support from
the colonial government after the supreme court in Madrid sided with the friars in a
land dispute. For Rizal, who guided the community and his family through the
litigation, this made a lasting impact on his political beliefs. It is safe to say that this
critical juncture ensured his sure transition into separatism and radicalism.
Rizal clarified his political position with del Pilar. He wanted to end his
association with La Solidaridad‘s political goal of assimilation but he was still willing
to contribute to the paper just not as frequent as before to give way for more Filipino
voices to be heard and he preferred that del Pilar lead the newspaper. Over time,
Rizal had his excuses if he stopped writing for La Solidaridad: he wanted to write his
books and he thought it imprudent if his published dissenting views be contradicted
by other contributors on the same publication but La Solidaridad could not get its
paws off him.
Rizal was indirectly mocked by an article in the publication and he was not the
only one who sensed this. Many readers of the newspaper hated del Pilar for
allowing such a controversial piece to be published and slowly but surely support for
the paper‘s editor and his cause was running out especially after the tragedy at
Hacienda Calamba. Ilustrados back in the Philippines financing the newspaper

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ended their contributions but del Pilar still held on. In the end, the newspaper was
terminated anyway as Filipinos back home surely lost faith in it.
This was the political void that Jose Rizal eventually filled. He argued that
Filipinos sent abroad to be educated must come back to the Philippines in order to
enlighten the people and bring them up from their manipulation, victimhood, and
misery. There was no hope in Europe for change given the stubbornness of the
Spanish government and the only hope of change lied in working in the Philippines.
This he not only preached but also tried to practice.
EL FILIBUSTERISMO
El Filibusterismo (transl. The filibusterism; The Subversive or The Subversion,
as in the Locsín English translation, are also possible translations), also known by its
alternative English title The Reign of Greed, is the second novel written by Philippine
national hero José Rizal. It is the sequel to Noli Me Tángere and, like the first book,
was written in Spanish. It was first published in 1891 in Ghent.
The novel centers on the Noli-El fili duology's main character Crisóstomo
Ibarra, now returning for vengeance as "Simoun". The novel's dark theme departs
dramatically from the previous novel's hopeful and romantic atmosphere, signifying
Ibarra's resort to solving his country's issues through violent means, after his
previous attempt in reforming the country's system made no effect and seemed
impossible with the corrupt attitude of the Spaniards toward the Filipinos.
The novel, along with its predecessor, was banned in some parts of the
Philippines as a result of their portrayals of the Spanish government's abuses and
corruption. These novels, along with Rizal's involvement in organizations that aimed
to address and reform the Spanish system and its issues, led to Rizal's exile to
Dapitan and eventual execution. Both the novel and its predecessor, along with
Rizal's last poem, are now considered Rizal's literary masterpieces.
Both of Rizal's novels had a profound effect on Philippine society in terms of
views about national identity, the Catholic faith and its influence on the Filipino's
choice, and the government's issues in corruption, abuse of power, and
discrimination, and on a larger scale, the issues related to the effect of colonization
on people's lives and the cause for independence. These novels later on indirectly
became the inspiration to start the Philippine Revolution.
Throughout the Philippines, the reading of both the novel and its predecessor
is now mandatory for high school students throughout the archipelago, although it is
now read using English, Filipino, and the Philippines' regional languages.

PLOT
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

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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.
At the Quiapo Fair in Manila, a talking head 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, attends one of the
performances. The exhibit is set in Ptolemaic Egypt but features a tale that closely
resembled that of Crisóstomo Ibarra, María Clara, their fate under Salví, and ends
with an ominous vow of revenge. Deeply overcome with fear and guilt, Salví has the
show banned, but not before Mr. Leeds has already sailed for Hong Kong.
Simoun meets with Quiroga, 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 obliges.
Months have passed and the night of Simoun's revolution arrives. Simoun
visits Basilio in Tiago's house and gives him one last offer 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 government troops guarding them are
conveniently in one location, the theater where a controversial and much-hyped
performance of Les Cloches de Corneville 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.
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, is distracted and crestfallen throughout the night. It will be
reported later on that he suffered an "accident" that night, leaving him confined to his
bed. His revolution is aborted.
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 nothing (but
Tiago's last will was actually altered 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 to approach him on Basilio's

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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. He will use the wedding of Juanito Peláez and
Paulita Gomez 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
that German ships are at the bay to finish what the revolution fails to destroy, 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 the young man 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.
Isagani is temporarily, rather belatedly unnerved by Basilio's revelation.
Isagani runs into the house, seizes the lamp leaving the hall in darkness, and throws
it into the river. With the house not exploding and the church and government
authorities having been spared, Simoun's second revolution is aborted 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. His friend, the
Captain-General, having left for Spain, Simoun, without his protector, 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 in his treasure chest. Before

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dying, Simoun makes his final confession to Florentino. Simoun reveals his true
name, to Florentino's shock. He then 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 the treasure buried beneath 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 before Crisóstomo
has finished. In the end, Florentino assures Crisóstomo of God's mercy, but explains
that his revolution failed because he has chosen means that God cannot sanction.
Crisóstomo bitterly accepts the explanation. After a while, he dies in silence.
Realizing that the arresting officers will confiscate Crisóstomo's possessions,
Florentino divests him of his jewels and casts them into the Pacific, proclaiming that if
they should be needed for some righteous cause, God will provide the means to
draw them out. For the time being, hidden under the sea, they will not be used to
distort justice or to incite greed.

MAJOR CHARACTERS

1. Simoun – Crisóstomo Ibarra in disguise, presumed dead at the end of Noli

Me Tángere. Ibarra has returned as the wealthy jeweler Simoun. His
appearance is described as being tanned, having a sparse beard, long white
hair, and large blue-tinted glasses. He was sometimes crude and
confrontational. He was derisively described by Custodio and Ben-Zayb as an
American mulatto or a British Indian. While presenting as the arrogant elitist
on the outside, he secretly plans a violent revolution in order to avenge
himself for his misfortunes as Crisóstomo Ibarra, as well as hasten Elias'
reformist goals.
2. Basilio – son of Sisa and another character from Noli Me Tángere. In the
events of El fili, he is an aspiring and so far successful physician on his last
year at university and was waiting for his license to be released upon his
graduation. After his mother's death in the Noli, he applied as a servant in
Kapitán Tiago's household in exchange for food, lodging, and being allowed
to study. Eventually he took up medicine, and with Tiago having retired from
society, he also became the manager of Tiago's vast estate. He is a quiet,
contemplative man who is more aware of his immediate duties as a servant,
doctor, and member of the student association than he is of politics or
patriotic endeavors. His sweetheart is Juli, the daughter of Kabesang Tales
whose family took him in when he was a young boy fleeing the Guardia Civil
and his deranged mother.
3. Isagani – Basilio's friend. He is described as a poet, taller and more robust
than Basilio although younger. He is the nephew of Padre Florentino, but is
also rumored to be Florentino's son with his old sweetheart before he was
ordained as a priest. During the events of the novel, Isagani is finishing his

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 studies at the Ateneo Municipal and is planning to take medicine. A member
of the student association, Isagani is proud and naive, and tends to put
himself on the spot when his ideals are affronted. His unrestrained idealism
and poeticism clash with the more practical and mundane concerns of his
girlfriend, Paulita Gomez. When Isagani allows himself to be arrested after
their association is outlawed, Paulita leaves him for Juanito Peláez. In his
final mention in the novel, he was bidding goodbye to his landlords, the
Orenda family, to stay with Florentino permanently.
4. Father Florentino – Isagani's uncle and a retired priest. Florentino was the
son of a wealthy and influential Manila family. He entered the priesthood at
the insistence of his mother. As a result he had to break an affair with a
woman he loved, and in despair devoted himself instead to his parish. When
the 1872 Cavite mutiny broke out, he promptly resigned from the priesthood,
fearful of drawing unwanted attention. He was an indio and a secular, or a
priest that was unaffiliated with the orders, and yet his parish drew in a huge
income. He retired to his family's large estate along the shores of the Pacific.
He is described as white-haired, with a quiet, serene personality and a strong
build. He did not smoke or drink. He was well respected by his peers, even by
Spanish friars and officials.
5. Father Fernández – a Dominican who was a friend of Isagani. Following the
incident with the posters, he invited Isagani to a dialogue, not so much as a
teacher with his student but as a friar with a Filipino. Although they failed to
resolve their differences, they each promised to approach their colleagues
with the opposing views from the other party – although both feared that given
the animosity that existed between their sides, their own compatriots may not
believe in the other party's existence.
6. Kapitán Tiago – Don Santiago de los Santos. María Clara's stepfather.
Having several landholdings in Pampanga, Binondo, and Laguna, as well as
taking ownership of the Ibarras' vast estate, Tiago still fell into depression
following María's entry into the convent. He alleviated this by smoking opium,
which quickly became an uncontrolled vice, exacerbated by his association
with Padre Írene who regularly supplied him with the substance. Tiago hired
Basilio as a capista, a servant who given the opportunity to study as part of
his wages; Basilio eventually pursued medicine and became his caregiver
and the manager of his estate. Tiago died of shock upon hearing of Basilio's
arrest and Padre Írene's embellished stories of violent revolt.
7. Captain-General – the highest-ranking official in the Philippines during the
Spanish colonial period. The Captain-General in El fili is Simoun's friend and
confidant, and is described as having an insatiable lust for gold. Simoun met
him when he was still a major during the Ten Years' War in Cuba. He secured
the major's friendship and promotion to Captain-General through bribes.
When he was posted in the Philippines, Simoun used him as a pawn in his
own power plays to drive the country into revolution. The Captain-General
was shamed into not extending his tenure after being rebuked by a high
official in the aftermath of Basilio's imprisonment. This decision to retire would
later on prove to be a crucial element to Simoun's schemes.
8. Father Bernardo Salví – the former parish priest of San Diego in Noli Me
Tángere, and now the director and chaplain of the Santa Clara convent. The

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 epilogue of the Noli implies that Salví regularly rapes María Clara when he is
present at the convent. In El fili, he is described as her confessor. In spite of
reports of Ibarra's death, Salví believes that he is still alive and lives in
constant fear of his revenge.
9. Father Millon – a Dominican who serves as a physics professor in the
University of Santo Tomas.
10. Quiroga – a Chinese businessman who aspired to be a consul for China in
the Philippines. Simoun coerced Quiroga into hiding weapons inside the
latter's warehouses in preparation for the revolution.
11. Don Custodio – Custodio de Salazar y Sánchez de Monteredondo, a famous
"contractor" who was tasked by the Captain-General to develop the students
association's proposal for an academy for the teaching of Spanish, but was
then also under pressure from the priests not to compromise their
prerogatives as monopolizers of instruction. Some of the novel's most
scathing criticism is reserved for Custodio, who is portrayed as an opportunist
who married his way into high society, who regularly criticized favored ideas
that did not come from him, but was ultimately, laughably incompetent in spite
of his scruples.
12. Ben-Zayb – A columnist for the Manila Spanish newspaper El Grito de la
Integridad. Ben-Zayb is his pen name and is an anagram of Ybanez, an
alternate spelling of his last name Ibañez. His first name is not mentioned.
Ben-Zayb is said to have the looks of a friar, who believes that in Manila they
think because he thinks. He is deeply patriotic, sometimes to the point of
jingoism. As a journalist he has no qualms embellishing a story, conflating
and butchering details, turning phrases over and over, making a mundane
story sound better than it actually is. Father Camorra derisively calls him an
ink-slinger.
13. Father Camorra – the parish priest of Tiani. Ben-Zayb's regular foil, he is
said to look like an artilleryman in counterpoint to Ben-Zayb's friar looks. He
stops at nothing to mock and humiliate Ben-Zayb's liberal pretensions. In his
own parish, Camorra has a reputation for unrestrained lustfulness. He drives
Juli into suicide after attempting to rape her inside the convent. For his
misbehavior he was "detained" in a luxurious riverside villa just outside
Manila.
14. Father Írene – Kapitán Tiago's spiritual adviser. Along with Custodio, Írene is
severely criticized as a representative of priests who allied themselves with
temporal authority for the sake of power and monetary gain. Known to many
as the final authority who Don Custodio consults, the student association
sought his support and gifted him with two chestnut-colored horses, yet he
betrayed the students by counseling Custodio into making them fee collectors
in their own school, which was then to be administered by the Dominicans
instead of being a secular and privately managed institution as the students
envisioned. Írene secretly but regularly supplies Kapitán Tiago with opium
while exhorting Basilio to do his duty. Írene embellished stories of panic
following the outlawing of the student association Basilio was part of,
hastening Kapitán Tiago's death. With Basilio in prison, he then struck Basilio
out of Tiago's last will and testament, ensuring he inherited nothing.

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 15. Placido Penitente – a student of the University of Santo Tomas who had a
distaste for study and would have left school if it were not for his mother's
pleas for him to stay. He clashes with his physics professor, who then
accuses him of being a member of the student association, whom the friars
despise. Following the confrontation, he meets Simoun at the Quiapo Fair.
Seeing potential in Placido, Simoun takes him along to survey his
preparations for the upcoming revolution. The following morning Placido has
become one of Simoun's committed followers. He is later seen with the former
schoolmaster of San Diego, who was now Simoun's bomb-maker.
16. Paulita Gómez – the girlfriend of Isagani and the niece of Doña Victorina, the
old Indio who passes herself off as a Peninsular, who is the wife of the quack
doctor Tiburcio de Espadaña. In the end, she and Isagani part ways, Paulita
believing she will have no future if she marries him. She eventually marries
Juanito Peláez.

CHARACTERS FROM BARRIO SAGPANG

1. Kabesang Tales – Telesforo Juan de Dios, a former kabesa of Barrio

Sagpang in Tiani. He was a sugarcane planter who cleared lands he thought
belonged to no one, losing his wife and eldest daughter in the endeavor.
When the Dominicans took over his farm, he fought to his last money to have
it retained in his possession. While his suit against the Dominicans was
ongoing, he was kidnapped by bandits while he was out patrolling his fields.
Having no money to pay his captors, his daughter Juli was forced to become
a maid in exchange for her mistress paying his ransom. When his son Tano
was conscripted into the Guardia Civil, again Tales had no money to pay for
Tano's exclusion from the draft. When in spite of all Tales lost the case, he
not only lost his farm but was also dealt with a heavy fine. He later joined the
bandits and became one of their fiercest commanders. Tandang Selo, his
father, would later on join his band after the death of Juli.
2. Tandang Selo – father of Kabesang Tales and grandfather of Tano and Juli.
A deer hunter and later on a broom-maker, he and Tales took in the young,
sick Basilio who was then fleeing from the Guardia Civil. On Christmas Day,
when Juli left to be with her mistress, Selo suffered some form of stroke that
impaired his ability to speak. After Juli's suicide, Selo left town permanently,
taking with him his hunting spear. He was later seen with the bandits and was
killed in an encounter with the Guardia Civil – ironically by the gun of the
troops' sharpshooter Tano, his grandson.
3. Juli – Juliana de Dios, the girlfriend of Basilio, and the youngest daughter of
Kabesang Tales. When Tales was captured by bandits, Juli petitioned
Hermana Penchang to pay for his ransom. In exchange, she had to work as
Penchang's maid. Basilio ransomed her and bought a house for her family.
When Basilio was sent to prison, Juli approached Tiani's curate, Padre
Camorra, for help. When Camorra tried to rape her instead, Juli jumped to her
death from the church's tower.

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 4. Tano – Kabesang Tales's son, second to Lucia who died in childhood. He
was nicknamed "Carolino" after returning from Guardia Civil training in the
Carolines. His squad was escorting prisoners through a road that skirted a
mountain when they were ambushed by bandits. In the ensuing battle, Tano,
the squad's sharpshooter, killed a surrendering bandit from a distance, not
knowing it was his own grandfather Selo.
5. Hermana Penchang – the one among the "rich folks" of Tiani who lent Juli
money to ransom Kabesang Tales from the bandits. In return, Juli will serve
as her maid until the money was paid off. Penchang is described as a pious
woman who speaks Spanish; however, her piety was clouded over by the
virtues taught by the friars. While Juli was in her service, she made her work
constantly, refusing to give her time off so she can take care of her
grandfather Selo. Nevertheless, when the rich folks of Tiani shunned Juli
because to support her family in any way might earn some form of retribution
from the friars, Penchang was the only one who took pity upon her.
6. Hermana Báli – Juli's mother-figure and counselor. She accompanied Juli in
her efforts to secure Kabesang Tales' ransom and later on Basilio's release.
Báli was a panguinguera – a gambler – who once performed religious
services in a Manila convent. When Tales was captured by bandits, it was
Báli who suggested to Juli the idea to borrow money from Tiani's wealthy
citizens, payable when Tales' legal dispute over his farm was won.

REVIEW
El Filibusterismo picks up the general narrative development from where Noli
Me Tangere left it 13 years later and in such a way that the one misses little not for
having read the first one. All we need know, and this is illustrated in the book, is that
the innocent love of Ibarra has turned into an obsessive hatred against the Spanish
colonial government. Rather than plan an outright guerilla rebellion himself, he seeks
to pit foes against one another, defrauds the colonial powers and later attempts but
fails to bomb a number of the government functionaries.
Some of the novel‘s greatest prose comes from Ibarra, who in his new guise
goes by the name of Simoun, when he describes to Basilo his rationale and plans for
attack, and the conversations amongst the priests and students. The attempt by the
students to use their own rhetoric of universal human brotherhood and various legal
proclamations against the friars is met with the sophism that devolves into naked
power games. The numerous Philippine youths that are attempt to play a positive
role in the direction of their country are one by one put in a situation that forces them
to kill themselves, be killed by the army or self-emasculate themselves to save their
lives and futures.
Rizal‘s criticisms of the colonial friarocracy are devastating. The educational
system is shown to be a not only a farce but a true barrier to the proper education of
it‘s pupils, native women are sexually preyed upon by the friars – who are constantly
trying to increase the extracted amount of forced labor or goods from the population.
The image of the populations poverty and impossibility of upward mobility or peace
due to these friars is indeed serious and Rizal shows that though there are
bureaucrats that are willing to side with justice, with the natives, they are placed in a
situation that to do so openly is conceived by the power apparatus as to be a traitor
and cause for dismissal and immediate exit from the country. The flip side of this is
the constant production of rebels, such as Cabesang Tales and the group of bandits

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that he soon turns more political, that must be continually fought against. Spanish
colonialism is constantly shown to be a cancer on the native people. Despite all of
this, Rizal manages to intersperse enough comedic phrases that it is not all moribund
and depressing for the reader.
Humorous comments alight on the peculiarities of the Chinese living the
Philipines, the intellectualism of the friars that is sizable only in this colonial provinces
and shrinks to nothing once moved to the cities of Europe, the near autocratic
powers of friars that have in many respects the same sociopathy of children and
many more.
One of the jokes that I found particularly amusing occurred when a group of
Friars decides to go visit a fair. Amongst the carved goods of people typical to the
area is a statue of a one-eyed, disheveled woman holding an iron with puffs of steam
coming out of it. What is the carving of this woman supposed to represent, the
Philippine press.
As a novel which praises suffering for a righteous cause in the face of a
greater force than oneself, in its criticisms of Spanish rule, documentation of the
immorality of the friars and call for action towards a national renewal that will
eventually lead to their expulsion by any means necessary El Filibusterismo makes a
political tract into a narrative. While to be sure it has its moments of description rather
than narration, to use a literary distinction coined by Georg Lukacs, it is as the whole
telling the story of the Fillipino, their enemies and hinting towards means to get them
out. While Rizal doesn‘t present a character in the book that it meant to substitute for
his particular beliefs, but having so many characters in there that repent then
prevalent political tendencies, ideas and showing their interrelation he is able to
present a compelling piece of historical literature.

ASSESSMENT

Name: ________________________________________________ Date: _____

Course / Section: _______________________________________ Score: _____

Instructions: Write your answer on a separate sheet of paper. Always write your
NAME, COURSE and YEAR, and STUDENT NUMBER.
1. Assess the arguments of Rizal presented in his essay entitled Indolence of
Filipinos.
2. Identify the characters in El Filibusterismo. Who are they symbolizing?

3. Create a table showing the continuities and/or changes in Rizal‘s ideas

expressed in Noli and Fili.

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REFERENCES

Bernus, G.M. & Hermoso, A. (n.d.) Rizal as Reformist and Separatist. Retrieved
November 20, 2020 from https://unveilingrizal.weebly.com/reformist-or-
separatist.html
Jose Rizal University (n.d.). El Filibusterismo. Retrieved November 21, 20202
fromhttp://www.joserizal.ph/fi01.html
Kuya Chris (2014). El Filibusterismo: Rizal’s Revolution. Retrieved November 20,
2020 from https://medium.com/@KuyaChris/el-filibusterismo-rizals-revolution-
a6fde13f2377
National Historical Commission of the Philippines. (2021). Rizal’s Cogent Leadership
Thought as a Model in Public Administration. Retrieved November 16, 2020
from http://nhcp.gov.ph/rizals-cogent-leadership-thought-as-a-model-in-
public-administration/
Rizal, J. (2002). The Indolence of the Filipino. In Project Gutenberg. Retrieved
November 20, 2020 from http://www.bohol.ph/books/Indolence/Indolence.html
Sicat, G.P. (January 2, 2019). Jose Rizal‘s Ideals and Ideas. In Philippine Star.
Retrieved November 2020 from
https://www.philstar.com/business/2019/01/02/1881538/jose-rizals-ideals-
and-ideas
The Complete Review (n.d.). El Filibusterismo by Jose Rizal. Retrieved Novemmber
22, 2020 from http://www.complete-review.com/reviews/filipino/rizalj2.htm

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