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Life and Works of Rizal Week 2
Rizal'S Life & Works (Adamson University)
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Module 2
The 19 Century: Rizal’s Context
th
“Man is partly the product of his time. His life and his message are
affected by his environment and the event that take place in the world he
lives in.”
The conditions and culture of man’s environment contributes
significantly to the development of his character and principles. Indeed,
no man is an island for an individual co-exist with the society he/she lives
in. A society shapes an individual and, in turn, man contributes to the
society.
‘Politics,’ Aristotle’s (384-322 BCE) work, explained how the virtuous
life of human people is supported by the community itself. He believed
that the achievement of virtue and a sense of self-identity will require
social contact and cooperation with others. Being a citizen of society
(using the term "city") is man's natural state. Humans are, by their very
existence, social creatures that live in communities, and living in a society
(city) is important for a fulfilled human existence. Notice that "the city" for
Aristotle reflects the apex of the system of society; it begins with families,
families form communities, and communities develop to become cities,
the centers of culture. The society then precedes the individual is true,
and if the individual is not in itself sufficient to comprise the nation, it is to
Course Outcome No.2: the society as the other pieces are to the whole.
Discuss Jose Rizal’s
Life within the context To understand and appreciate his life, it is prerogative to know and
of the 19th Century evaluate the history of the world and Philippines during the time of Dr.
Philippines Jose Rizal. The 19th century when he lived was a century of turmoil
Learning Objectives: caused by the changes in culture. In Asia, Europe and the Americas,
events eventually arose like tidal tides that have a major effect on human
• Appraise the link
between individual lives and fortunes.
and the society
Reference:: https://courses.lumenlearning.com/atd-pima-
• Analyze the various
social, political, philosophy/chapter/6-1-the-individual-and-society/
economic, and
cultural changes
that occurred in the
Additional Readings:
19th century
To supplement comprehension on the link between individual and the
Guide Questions: society read the following article:
1. What were the
Hosain, F. and Ali, M. (2014). Relation between Individual and Society.
events in Europe
Open Journal of Social Scences,2, 130-137
that significantly
affected the Retrieved through https://file.scirp.org/Html/8-1760197_49227.htm
Philippines?
2. How can we
describe the world
THE WORLD DURING RIZAL’S TIME
and the Philippines
during the 19th In this section, we will be exploring the important events that took place
century? during Rizal’s time. This will give us a comprehensive picture of his
context which will facilitate our understanding of his life and works.
Two European countries succeeded in unifying their countries during
Rizal’s time namely Italy and Greece. Under the leadership of Camillo
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Benso, count di Cavour and Giuseppe Garibaldi and his "Red Shirts" army, the Italians drove the
Austrians and French armies out of Italy and declared the Kingdom of Italy under King Victor
Emmanuel, with Rome becoming the capital. The 'Iron Chancellor' Otto von Bismarck led the
Prussians to victory against France in the Franco-Prussian War and created the German Empire on
18 January 1871, with King Wilhelm of Prussia as the first Kaiser of the German Empire. The Second
French Empire of Emperor Napoleon III dissolved with his defeat in the Franco-Prussian War, and
the Third French Republic emerged from its ashes, with Adolph Thiers as the first ruler.
The time of Rizal saw the bloom of Western Imperialism. England became the world’s leading
imperialist power. She was able to conquer many countries all over the world thanks to her invincible
navy and glorious army. The British citizens boldly declared during Queen Victoria's triumphant reign
(1837-1860): "Britannia rules the waves." By winning the First Opium War (1840-18420) over the
turbulent Chinese Empire under the Manchu dynasty, England gained the island of Hong Kong
(Fragrant Harbor). She prevailed again in the Second Opium War (1856-1860) and coerced the weak
Manchu dynasty into surrendering the Kowloon Peninsula. The successful suppression of the Indian
Revolt and the collapse of the Mogul Empire contributed to the declaration of its sovereignty over the
subcontinent of India (now made up of India , Pakistan and Bangladesh). England also overcame
Burma by winning the Three Anglo-Burmese Wars (1824-1826, 1852 and 1885). Moreover, much of
Asia's lands have been a colony, namely Ceylon, the Maldives, Aden, Malaya, Singapore and Egypt.
Australia and New Zealand have also been British colonies in the South Pacific.
Inspired by the British example, other imperialists colonize the weak countries in Southeast
Asia. In 1858-1863, France, aided by Filipino troops under Spanish officers, conquered Vietnam;
annexed Cambodia (1863); and Laos (1893); and merged all these countries into a federated colony
named French Indochina. After pushing the Portuguese and Spanish away from East Indies in the
17th century, the Dutch colonized this large and rich archipelago and called it the Netherlands East
Indies (now Indonesia).
An American troop commanded by Commodore Matthew C. Perry re-opened Japan to the
world on July 8, 1853. This event ended Japan’s 214-year old isolation from 1639 to 1853. The
Emperor Meiji (Mutsuhito) eventually modernized the country by opening its doors to Western
influence including imperialism. It was not until Japan reinforced its navy and army along Western
lines, joining the Western colonial forces, that it began its colonial career by battling weak China in
the Sino-Japanese War (1894-1895) and capturing Formosa and Pescadores. Later, she annexed
Korea in 1910.
At the time of Rizal’s birth, Philippines is still a colony of Spain. However, during that time,
most of Spain’s colony in Central and South America like Mexico, Chile, Argentina, Venezuela,
Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Nicaragua, El Salvador, Honduras and others have already gained their
independence from Spain through revolution. The Philippines was one of Spain’s remaining Spanish
colonies alongside Cuba, Puerto Rico, and the Spanish Sahara. With the exception of the last colony,
the Philippines was the largest. In terms of natural resources and trade potential, the Philippines was
the richest.
The 19th century was also a time of radical transformations. The Age of Enlightenment reached
its zenith in France culminating the Revolution of 1789. In this age, ideas and freedom, liberty and
equality and the belief in the sovereignty of people in determining government spread all across
Europe. The monarchy of King Louis XVI was toppled by the French Revolution which led to the
creation of the French Republic. Though France was to slide back to monarchy following the
establishment of Napoleon Bonaparte’s French Empire in 1804 and the restoration of Bourbon
dynasty in 1814, the ideas of French Philosophes such as Jean Jacques Rosseau, Baron de
Montesquieu, Jean Marie Arouet (Voltaire), as well as, the Englishman John Locke would spread
around the world like a conflagration. After this, the world will never be the same again.
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THE PHILIPPINES OF RIZAL’S TIME
During the Rizal’s time, the eerie rays of Spain's decadence overshadowed the Philippine
sky. The Filipino people were agonizing under the yoke of Spanish misrule because they were
helpless victims of the horrors of an unequal, bigoted, and deteriorating imperialist hegemony.
Instability of colonial administration
During Napoleon’s time (1804-1814), Spain was part of France’s alliance against Britain in
the Continental System. Nations in alliance with France tried to starve out Great Britain through a
trade embargo. When this alliance weakened, Napoleon invaded Spain in 1808 and forced King
Charles VI to abdicate in favor of his son who became Ferdinand VII. When Ferdinand proved to be
unsatisfactory to his demand, Napoleon replaced him with his own brother Joseph. The Spanish
people refused to accept Joseph and rallied around Ferdinand VII as their legitimate king. The
Spaniards resisted the French forces which triggered the first guerilla war. This event is the origin of
the word “guerilla” which means “little war.”
The Spanish patriots retreated and formed a government in southern Spain in the city of
Cadiz. Many of these patriots were liberals who believed in the sharing of political power. In order to
gain support from the liberals, King Ferdinand VII, who was a believer in the divine right of the king,
agreed to share political power by establishing a parliament called Cortes. The Cortes originated from
the Junta Central established by the Spanish liberals. They believed in the concepts of Natural Rights
of Man, Constitutionalism and Rights to Personal Property. A constitution was drafted to define
powers of the government called the Constitution of Cadiz.
After the withdrawal of the French from Spain, Ferdinand VII reassumed absolute political
power and abolished the Cortes. He believed that the body encroached on the powers that solely
belong to him. The decision was an unpopular one as Spanish American colonies, which already
started their fight for freedom, now wanted independence. By 1824, Latin America was freed from
Spanish rule with the battle of Ayacucho which means the loss of all its colonies from Mexico to
Argentina.
Instead of leaving for America to fight the rebels, a small group of soldiers revolted against
the monarchy in January 1820. This forced Ferdinand to restore the Cadiz Constitution of 1812 on
March 9, 1820. The Cortes was reconvened but the brief period of the liberals was short-lived as the
King appealed to his Bourbon cousins in France to invade Spain and defeat the liberals. A French
army invaded Spain and restored King Ferdinand’s power in 1823 after executing Rafael de Riego
and other leader of the liberals.
Ferdinand ruled with an iron fist until he died in 1833. His wife Maria Cristina rules as regent
for her daughter who would become Isabella II. The rule of Queen Isabella II was characterized by
decadence and mismanagement.
These events resulted to instability of Spanish politics. The tumultuous reign of Ferdinand VII
marked the start of political instability in Spain. Owing to the conflicting powers of despotism and
democracy and the outbreak of Carlist Conflicts, the Spanish constitution has experienced numerous
reforms. From 1834 to 1862, Spain enacted four constitutions, elected 28 parliaments and named no
fewer than 529 ministers with portfolios, followed in subsequent years by faction conflicts, revolutions
and other political upheavals.
This political turmoil in Spain adversely influenced the affairs of the Philippines because it
caused regular periodic changes in colonial policy and a periodic rigodon of colonial officers. From
1835 to 1897, the Philippines was governed by 50 governors general, each serving an average term
of just one year and three months. In one case, from December 1853 to November 1854, there were
four governors-general in a time span of less than a year.
An anecdote was given as follows to explain the confounding volatility of Spanish politics and
its inimical influence.: In the year 1850, a Spanish jurist, who was appointed oidor (magistrate) of the
Royal Audiencia of Manila, left Madrid with his whole family and took the longer route via Cape Good
Hope, arriving in Manila after a leisurely trip of about six months. Much to his surprise and
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discomfiture, he found out that another jurist was already occupying his position. During the six
months that he was leisurely cruising the sea, the ministry which appointed him fell in Madrid, and
the succeeding ministry named his successor. And this new jurist travelled faster, taking the shorter
route via the Isthmus of Suez Canal and reached Manila earlier.
The constant changing of colonial officials has slowed the political and economic growth of
the Philippines. A governor-general had barely begun his administration before his replacement
immediately succeeded him. Of course, no chief executive, no matter how competent and ambitious,
could do anything for the colony.
Philippine Representation in the Spanish Cortes
During the Napoleonic invasion, Spain granted representation to her overseas colonies in the
parliament called Cortes in order to win their support. The Cadiz Constitution of 1812 had a novel
feature of allowing Spanish colonies to be represented in the Cortes. By doing this, Filipinos as well
as other people of the colonies were considered as ‘citizens’ of Spain who has the same rights with
those people from the Peninsula. From 1810 to 1813 the Philippines experienced its first period of
representation at the Cortes. Ventura de los Reyes, a rich merchant from Manila, was chosen to
represent the Philippines. History shows that Ventura de los Reyes, upon his arrival in Cadiz, took an
active part in the drafting Spain's first democratic constitution, the Cadiz Constitution, , and became
one of its 184 signatories. The reforms include in the said constitutions were the abolition of forced
labor, equality of all citizens, abolition of all monopolies including the galleon trade and the
establishment of free trade. It also guaranteed freedom of expression, press and religion.
Indeed, the first phase of the Philippine participation in the Cortes (1810-1813) was
successful, bearing beneficial results to the wellbeing of the colony. However, the second period
(1820-1823) and the third period (1834-1837) of representation were less effective because the
Philippine delegates were not as active and dedicated in parliament as De los Reyes.
The Cortes was dissolved when Ferdinand VII reclaimed absolute power. He died in 1833 and
his wife Maria Cristina ruled as regent for her daughter Isabella II. Maria Cristina was forced to come
to terms with liberal elements by agreeing to reconvene the Cortes. During this time, the body held a
secret session in which it was decided that the Philippines should not be accorded representation
Instead, it was placed under the Overseas Ministry. The representation of overseas colonies was
unfortunately abolished in 1837. The situation in the Philippines since then has deteriorated because
there was no way Filipinos could reveal the irregularities perpetuated by the colonial officials. Many
Filipino patriots have valiantly lobbied for the return of the Filipino voice in the Cortes. On the occasion
of the 391st anniversary of the discovery of America by Columbus, the silver-tongue Graciano Lopez
Jaena pleaded in sonorous Castilian on October 12, 1883, in Madrid.: “We want representation in the
legislative chamber so that our aspirations may be known to the mother country and its government.”
Unfortunately, Spain ignored the fervent plea of Lopez Jaena and his compatriots. Their grievance
was embittered by the fact that Cuba and Puerto Rico were granted representation in the Cortes by
the Spanish Constitution of 1876.
Corrupt Colonial Officials
With few exceptions, colonial administrators (general governors, judges, provincial leaders,
etc.) were far from their counterparts in the 16th, 17th and 18th centuries. They were either highly
corrupt, incompetent, cruel or venal. Apparently, they symbolized the decadent Spain of the 19th
century- not the Spain of Siglo de Oro which produced Miguel de Cervantes, Lope de Vega, Calderon
de la Barca, El Greco (Domenico Theotocopuli), Velasquez, St. Theresa de Avila and other glories of
the Hispanic nation.
To name some we have the following officials:
A. General Rafael de Izquierdo (1871-1873)- executed the “Martyrs of 1872,” the innocent
GomBurZa, Fathers Mariano Gomez, Jose Burgos, and Jacinto Zamora,
B. Admiral Jose Malcampo (1874-1877)- Izquierdo’s replacement who was a Moro fighter but was
incompetent and frail administrator
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C. General Fernando Primo de Rivera (1880-1883 and 1897-1898)- enriched himself by tolerating
bribery from gambling Casinos in Manila which he scandalously allowed to operate
D. General Valeriano Weyler (1888-1891)- accepted enormous bribes and gifts of diamonds for his
wife from well-to-do Chinese who evaded the anti-Chinese law
-cruelly persecuted the tenants of Calamba, particularly the family of Dr. Jose Rizal
Countless job-seekers and penniless Spanish sycophants came to the Philippines after the
fall of Latin American colonies, where they became lawyers, provincial officials, army officers and
empleados (government employees). They were either relatives or proteges of civil servants and
friars. They became rich by illicit means or through marrying the heiress of affluent Philippine families.
Believing in the strength of their strange white skin and tall noses, they behaved arrogantly.
Human Rights Denied to the Filipinos
After the ratification of the Spanish Constitution of 1812, Spaniards have enjoyed freedom of
expression, freedom of the press, freedom of association and other civil rights (except freedom of
religion). They diligently guarded these rights so that no monarch tried to eradicate them.
However, the Spanish officials who respected these civil rights have denied this to the
Filipinos. This clear inequality and inconsistency was lamented by Sinibaldo de Mas, a Spanish
economist and diplomat, in his writings in 1843: “Why do we fall into an anomaly, such as combining
our claim for liberty for ourselves, and our wish to impose our law on remote peoples? Why do we
deny to others the benefit which we desire for our Fatherland?”
No Equality Before the Law
As early as 16th century, the Spanish missionaries introduced Christianity in the Philippines
as well as its teachings on the equality among all men irrespective of race and skin color-that we are
all brothers as children of God. Captivated by these noble teachings of good human relations,
Filipinos converted to Christianity (except from the people of the hinterlands in Luzon and the Visayas
and Mindanao).
However, the Spanish colonial authorities did not practice Christ’s teachings of brotherhood
among people especially during the last decades of Hispanic rule. They arrogantly considered their
white race as superiors and the brown-skinned Filipinos as inferiors. As imperialists, Filipinos and
Spaniards s may be in equal footing in the eyes of God but definitely not before the constitution.
The legal inequality expressed in the Spanish Penal Code, which imposed heavier
punishment on native Filipinos or mestizos than the white-complexioned Spaniards, was naturally
hated by the Filipinos. Ferdinand Blumentritt once wrote to Rizal in 1887: “The provision of the Penal
Code that a heavier penalty will be imposed on the Indio or mestizo irritates me exceedingly, because
it signifies that every person not born white is in fact a latent criminal. This is a very great injustice
that seems enormous and unjust for being embodied in law.”
Maladministration of Justice
During Rizal's term, the Philippine courts of justice were 'injustice courts' because they're
famously corrupt. The Spanish judges, fiscals and other court officials were incompetent, venal and
often ignorant of law.
The process of gaining justice is definitely costly and slow. Most of the time, the amount spent
in a simple lawsuit exceeds the value of the property at issue, thus, litigants found themselves
impoverished in the end of a long tussle. Determinants of achieving victory in cases include wealth,
social prestige and skin color. A rich man or Spaniard can easily win a case even if the heavy
evidences are presented.
John Foreman, a British eyewitness of the last years of Spanish reign in the Philippines,
related:
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It was hard to get the judgment executed as it was to win a case. Even when the
question at issue was supposed to be settled, a defect in the sentence could always be
concocted to reopen the whole affair. If the case had been tried and judgment given,
under the Civil Code, a way was found to convert it into a Criminal Code, a flaw could be
discovered under the Laws of the Indies, or the Siete Partidas, or the Roman Law, or the
Novisima Recopilacion, or the Antigo Fueros, Decrees, Royal Orders, Ordenanzas del
Buen Gobierno, and so forth, by which the case could be reopened.
The infamous case of Juan de la Cruz (1886-1898) is one of the occurrences of
maladministration of justice. Two men were brutally killed in their sleep at the waterfront of Cavite on
the night of June 7, 1886. The next day, Juan de la Cruz, a coxswain of motor launch, was arrested
on the mere suspicion of executing the murder. He suffered for twelve years as a prisoner in Cavite
without proper trial and investigation. When the Americans landed in Cavite after the Battle of Manila
Bay on May 1, 1898, they found him still in jail anticipating for a trial.
Racial Discrimination
As we have discussed earlier, the Spaniards did not practice the Christian doctrine of equality
among all men. Spaniards and their mestizos mockingly called the brown-skinned and flat-nosed
Filipinos “indios.” As a response, Filipinos resentfully dubbed their pale-complexioned detractors with
the disparaging term “bangus.” During this time, a white skin and high nose is a symbol of superiority
in the society. Therefore, no matter how imprudent these people are, they still enjoyed political and
social prestige. Racist stereotypes were widespread everywhere — in political departments, in the
courts of justice, in social circles, and also in educational establishments and in the ecclesiastical
hierarchy.
Father Jose Burgos, one of the bright stars of the Filipino priesthood, grieved the Spanish
fallacy that man 's importance depends on the color of his eyes, the height of his nose, the color of
his hair and the form of his skull. He complained on the lack of opportunities for educated young
Filipinos to serve God and the country. He lamented: “Why for instance shall a young man strive to
rise in the profession of law or theology, when he can vision no future for himself save that of obscurity
and jaunty unconcern? What Filipino will aspire to the seat of the wise and will devote sleepless nights
to such an ideal, when he clearly sees that his noblest feelings are crushed down in the unwelcome
atmosphere of contumely and oblivion, and when he knows that among the privileged few only are
dispensed the sinecures of honor and profit.”
Frailocracy
Because of the Spanish political theory of the unity of the Church and the State, a peculiar
government was created in the Hispanic Philippines called the "frailocracy" (frailocracia), so-called
because it was the "rule of the friars." From the days of the Spanish conquest, the friars (Augustinians,
Dominicans and Franciscans) took over religious and educational life in the Philippines and gradually,
in the 19th century, acquired significant political control, prestige and prosperity.
The friars ruled the Philippines through its heavy influence in the civil government. From the
governor-general to the alcaldes mayor, friars governed the colonial authority. Nearly every city in the
Philippines, except in the unpacified Islamic Mindanao and the pagan hinterlands, was governed by
a curate friar. Apart from his priestly roles, the friar was the controller of municipal elections, the
school and tax auditor, the justice arbiter, the editor of books and comedias, the director of public
works and the keeper of law and order. His political power is so great that he may take a loyal Filipino
to prison or accuse him as a filibustero (traitor) to be banished to a distant location, or worse to be
hanged as a foe of God and Spain.
Frailocracy was both a boon and a bane. Rizal and his followers darkly depicted their
pessimistic side in revenge against those evil-hearted friars who persecuted them. Nevertheless,
frailocracy is no just about the bad face. Its positive contributions should also be known. Dr. Jose P.
Laurel gave his felicitous opinion on this: “It would be a gross ingratitude on the part of the Filipinos
to be conscious only of the abuses of the friars, and close their eyes to the beneficent influences of
the ecclesiastical element on the life of the Filipinos.”
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Haciendas owned by the friars
During Rizal 's time the richest landowners were the Spanish friars who belonged to various
religious orders because they owned the best haciendas. The rural people have been resentful of the
loss of their ancestral land owned by their families since the pre-Spanish era. Sadly they became
tenants who, generation after generation, cultivated these fields. These friar lands became the
centers of agrarian insurrections, in the same way that the Filipino tenants saw the friar owners as
usurpers of ancestral lands. However, in the eyes of law, the friars became legitimate owners because
they had received royal titles from the Spanish monarch.
As early as 1768, realizing the harm that friar-owned haciendas may cause to Filipino-Spanish
relations, Governor Anda suggested to the Madrid government the sale of the friar lands.
Unfortunately, this excellent solution was not heeded.
Rizal believed that one of the causes of economic stagnation in the Hispanic Philippines is
the friar ownership of the productive lands. In his famous essay “Sobre la Indolencia de los Filipinos”
(Indolence of the Filipinos), he wrote:
The fact that the best plantations, the best tracts of lands in some provinces… are in the land of
religious corporations… is one of the reasons why many towns do not progress inspite of the efforts
of their inhabitants. We will be met with the objection, as an argument on the other side, that those
which do not belong to them. They surely are! Just as their brethren in Europe, in founding their
convents, knew how to select the best valley, the best uplands for the cultivation of the vine or the
production of beer, so also the Philippine monks have known how to select the best towns, the
beautiful plains, the well-watered fields, to make of them rich plantations. For some time the friars
have deceived many by making them believe that if these plantations were prospering, it was
because they were under their care, and the indolence of the natives was thus emphasized; but
they forgot that in some provinces where they have not been able to get possession of the best
tracts of land, their plantations, like Bauan and Liang, are inferior to Taal, Balayan and Lipa, regions
cultivated entirely by the natives without any monkish interference whatsoever.
Forced Labor
Polo y servicio o polo was the forced labor levied on adult Filipino males by the Spaniards in
the building of public works such as schools, hospitals, the building and maintenance of roads and
bridges, the building of ships in the shipyard and others.
Initially, Filipino males aged 16 to 60 years were expected to conduct forced labor for 40 days
a year. Subsequently, the Royal Decree of 12 July 1883, followed by the Revised Legislation
promulgated by the Council of State of 3 February 1885, raised the minimum age of police officers
from 16 to 18 years and shortened the working days from 40 to 15 days. The Royal Decree also
required all male Spanish citizens between the ages of 18 and 60 to do so, but this clause was never
enforced in the Philippines for obvious reasons. Thus, only the brown-skinned Filipinos did the dirty
job. But the well-to-do have been able to escape by paying the falla, the fee paid to the government
for the polo exemption.
The abuses connected with this system made the Filipinos come to hate it. First, the white
Spanish residents, contrary to law, were not recruited by the authorities to do the polo. Second,
according to statute, the Filipino polistas should earn a regular stipend of two pesetas (50 centavos)
but they reportedly got just a portion of that number and worse, they did not get anything. Third,
annual forced labor has caused hardship and distress to the Filipinos, as their employment in farms
and shops is sometimes disrupted and they have often been forced to work in building projects far
from their homes.
Dr. Jose Rizal narrated a true incident suffered from the forced labor:
In the town of Los Baňos a hospital was built by laborers snatched from all the
towns of the province. Each laborer forced by authorities was paid eight cuartos
(five centavos) daily, the ordinary wage being two pesetas or four peales fuertes.
In addition, sales and charity bazaars were held to defray the cost of the buildings.
The architect was a Franciscan brother. The hospital was erected, a palace of the
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captain general was constructed, agriculture and the towns suffered for their
construction. Why are the people who pay their taxes compelled to work gratis?
Why do they pay taxes if they are not going to be allowed to live with their families?
Do they pay taxes so that they will be enslaved? Will the money of the taxpayer be
used to hire petty tyrants and not to attend the demands of society? What? Is the
Spanish flag perchance the flag of the slave trade?
The Guardia Civil
The Royal Decree of February 12, 1852, as amended by the Royal Decree of 24 March 1888,
created the Guardia Civil (Constabulary). The goal of the Guardia Civil is to maintain internal stability
and order in the Philippines. This was patterned after the well-known and well-disciplined Guardia
Civil of Spain.
Guardia Civil in the Philippines has provided commendable services in combating bandits in
the provinces. However, this authority later became a symbol of abuse. They have mistreated poor
civilians, stolen their carabaos, chickens and precious possessions, and raping vulnerable women.
Unlike the respected and admired Guardia Civil of Spain, both officers (Spaniards) and men (natives)
in the Philippines were ill-trained and undisciplined.
Rizal is a witness of the hideous acts committed by the Guardia Civil on the people of
Calamba. He himself and his mother experienced the cruelties of the lieutenant of the Guardia Civil.
It was natural for him to direct his stinging satire against the hated Guardia Civil. Through Elias in his
novel Noli Me Tangere, Rizal revealed the Guardia Civil as a bunch of vicious ruffians good only “for
disturbing the peace” and “persecuting honest men.”
References:
De Viana, A. (2012). Jose Rizal in Our Time: A Guide for the Better Understanding of the Philippines’ Foremost National
Hero. Revised Edition. Books Atbp. Publishing Corp. p.25-26
Zaide, G. and Zaide, S. (1994). Jose Rizal: Life, Works, and Writings of Genius, Writer, Scientist and National Hero. All-
Nations Publishing Co.,Inc.
Reflection:
1. What do you think is the foremost reason of the drastic changes in the 19th Century? (5pts)
2. Why did Aristole say that self-identity is acquired through social interaction? (5pts)
3. Why did Spain deny Philippine representation in the Spanish Cortes when, in fact, it has granted
that right to other colonies namely Cuba and Puerto Rico in the Spanish Constitution of 1876? (5pts)
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Learning Activity
Analyze the political, economic, social and cultural changes that occurred in the world and
the Philippines during the 19th century. Using a tabular presentation, describe the condition of life
prior to the 19th century and the changes that happened in the 19th century, then, identify the causes
of these changes. (50pts)
Prior to the 19th During the 19th
Causes
Century Century
POLITICAL
SOCIAL
CULTURAL
ECONOMIC
