The El Filibusterismo
‘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’.
Synopsis of El Fili
The story in El Filibusterismo revolves around its main character Simoun who is an affluent jeweler. Simoun
is actually Crisostomo Ibarra of the Noli whom everyone thought had been killed by the Guardia Civil at
Laguna de Bay.
He had in fact escaped, fled to Cuba, become wealthy, and made connections with influential Spanish
officials. Upon his return to the Philippines after many years, he becomes very influential as the governor
general, who owes so much to him, consults him in making decisions.
In reality however, everything Simoun does is just part of his grand plan to take revenge against the
Spanish officials and rescue Maria Clara from the convent. Planning to stage a revolution, he smuggles
arms and looks for followers, mainly from the exploited and abused natives.
One of his recruits is Basilio, the son of Sisa, who with Capitan Tiago’s help was able to study in Manila.
Simoun also makes an alliance with the revolutionary group of Kabesang Tales, a former ‘cabeza de
barangay’ who suffered maltreatments from the hands of the friars.
Using his influence, Simoun encourages corruption, decadence, and more oppressive government policies
so that the citizens may become more infuriated.
However, the planned revolt one night was not carried out because Simoun, upon hearing that Maria Clara
died in the nunnery, decided not to give the signal for the outbreak of the uprising.
Another plan was made some months later. At the venue of the wedding reception of Juanito Pelaez and
Paulita Gomez, Simoun planted many explosives—enough to kill the invited guests, primarily the friars and
government officials.
According to the plot, the big explosion shall be started by the gift he would give to the newlyweds at the
reception—a kerosene lamp with an explosive. When the lamp flickers and someone turns the wick, it will
result into a big explosion that will become a signal to the revolutionary troops to simultaneously attack
all the government buildings in Manila.
During the reception, Simoun gives his gift to the newly-weds. Before hurriedly leaving the venue, he leaves
a piece of mysterious paper bearing the message “You will die tonight” signed by Juan Crisostomo Ibarra.
Meanwhile, Isagani, the rejected lover of Paulita, is standing outside the reception. His friend Basilio tells
him to leave the place because the lamp will soon blow up.
When Father Salvi identifies the handwriting in the note and confirms that it was indeed Ibarra’s, the
guests begin to panic. When the lamp flickers, Father Irene tries to turn the wick up. But Isagani, wanting
to save Paulita’s life, rushes into the house, grabs the lamp, and throws it into the river where it explodes.
Simoun’s revolutionary plot was thus known and he is thus hunted by the law enforcers. He managed to
escape but was seriously wounded. Carrying his jewelry chest, he finds shelter in the home of Padre
Florentino by the sea. Learning of his presence in the house of the priest, the lieutenant of the Guardia C ivil
informs Padre Florentino that he will come in the evening to arrest Simoun.
Simoun then takes poison that he would not be caught alive. As the poison’s effects start to take toll on
his body, he confesses to Florentino his true identity and his plan of revenge through bloody revolution.
After the emotional and agonizing confession of the dying man, the priest absolves the dying man from
his sins, saying:
“God will forgive you Señor Simoun. He knows that we are fallible. He has seen that you have suffered …
He has frustrated your plans one by one … first by the death of Maria Clara, then by a lack of preparation,
then in some mysterious way. Let us bow to His will and render Him thanks!”
The story ends with the priest throwing Simoun’s treasures into the sea so that they would not be used by
the greedy. The priest hopes that when the right time comes, they would be recovered and used only for
the good.
The writing and printing of Fili
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.
Jose Alejandrino, Rizal’s roommate in Belgium related that he was the one who canvassed printing press
for El Fili. He delivered proofs and revisions to F. Meyer van Loo in Ghent. For his assistance, Rizal gave him
the El Fili’s corrected proofs and the pen used in doing the corrections. Unluckily, these historical souvenirs
were either lost or destroyed during the revolution (Ocampo, p. 111).
Alejandrino, who later became a general in the Philippine revolution, may have been the first person to
read the novel aside from the author. However, the honor of being called ‘the savior of the Fili’ had gone
to Valentin Ventura—Rizal’s friend who partially financed the novel’s publication. (Ventura’s steal of the
title, one may argue, is another classic elucidation of the expression, “That’s what money can do.”)
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 27 9-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.
For Ventura’s salvific act, Rizal gave him the novel’s original manuscript, a pen, and an autographed
printed copy. In 1925, the Philippine government bought the El Fili manuscript from Ventura for a large
sum of 10, 000 pesos (Zaide, p. 194). It is now being kept in the National Library.
Filibustero and Gomburza
The ‘Filibusterismo’ in the novel’s title is derived from the simpler term ‘filibustero’. Rizal defined the word
(‘filibustero’) to his friend Ferdinand Blumentritt who encountered but did not fully comprehend the word
in the ‘Noli’. Rizal thus explained in a letter:
“The word filibustero is little known in the Philippines …I heard it for the first time in 1872 when the tragic
executions [of the Gomburza] took place. I still remember the panic that this word created. Our father
forbade us to utter it, as well as the words Cavite, Burgos (one of the executed priests), etc …
"The Manila newspapers and the Spaniards apply this word to one whom they want to make a
revolutionary suspect. The Filipinos belonging to the educated class fear the reach of the word. It … means
a dangerous patriot who will soon be hanged or well, a presumptuous man.”
The word ‘filibustero’ thus contextually means subversive, dissident, revolutionary, seditious,
insurrectionary, and treasonous. Fittingly, Rizal dedicated the book to the memory of the Gomburza, the
three Filipino patriotic priests who were accused of being ‘filibustero’ and thus executed.
In his dedication, Rizal fearlessly declared his conviction that the Spanish officials’ treatment of the priests’
case was unjust “as [their] complicity in the Cavite Mutiny is not clearly proved”.
The dedication partly reads: “To the memory of the priests, Don Mariano Gomez (85 years old), Don Jose
Burgos (30 years old), and Don Jacinto Zamora (35 years old). Executed in the Bagumbayan Field on the
28th of February, 1872 … I have the right to dedicate my work to you as victims of the evil which I
undertake to combat…”
Rizal however made mistakes in indicating the ages of the priests and the date of their execution. During
their martyrdom on the 17th (not 28th) of February, 1872, Gomez was then 73 (not 85), Burgos was 35
(not 30) and Zamora was 37 (not 35). Like many other students today (especially men), Rizal was perhaps
not that good in memorizing historical details like dates and ages
The foreword of the Fili was nonetheless addressed “To The Filipino People and Their Government”. The
original manuscript also includes a “warning” and an “inscription” on the title page written by the author’s
friend, Ferdinand Blumentritt.
Themes of El Fili
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, see ms 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.
Noli vs. Fili
Rizalwrote the El Filibusterismo about four years after the Noli. The experiences he had in those four years
spelled a lot of differences in the way he treated his two novels
In depicting the social conditions in the country, both novels employ satires and caricatures. El Fili however
is more serious as there is less humor and more bitterness in the treatment of situations
In the Noli, the author reveals the cruelty and exploitation suffered by the natives at the hands of
colonizers. In El Fili, Rizal depicts a society at the brink of re bellion as the natives’ minds have been
awakened and revolutionary forces have been formed.
Generally, El Fili presents a gloomier depiction of the country under the Spanish regime. More radical and
revolutionary, the novel has less idealism and romance than the Noli.
The El Fili manifests Rizal’s more mature and less hopeful attitude toward the socio-political situation in
the country. The grimmer outlook and more tragic mood can be attributed to the persecutions and
sufferings the author and his family experienced from the Spanish friars and officials in the years he was
writing the novel.
Notwithstanding the sufferings caused by the Spaniards to the Rizal family, the Fili, its author claimed, is
not a matter of revenge. Jose wrote to Blumentritt: “I have not written in it [Fili] any idea of vengeance
against my enemies, but only for the good of those who suffer, for the rights of Tagalogs …”
Some of Rizal’s friends like Blumentritt and Graciano Lopez Jaena expressed that Fili was more superior
than Noli. Rizal himself apparently once believed in the superiority of the Fili. When its printing had to be
stopped for lack of funds, he wrote to Basa: “It is a pity because it seems to me that this second part [the
Fili] is more important than the first [the Noli].”
After the Fili was published nonetheless, Rizal appeared to have a change of heart. In his October 13, 1891
letter to Marcelo Del Pilar, he said:
“I appreciate what you say about my work and I value your opinion highly that considered my
Filibusterismo inferior to the Noli. I, too frankly, without irony or words with a double meaning, share your
opinion. For me, the Filibusterismo as a novel is inferior to the Noli… You are the first one to tell me the
truth and I agree with you. This flatters me as it proves that I still know how to judge myself. “
As regards his friends who told him that Fili was better, Rizal explained in the same letter: “Blumentritt, all
those in Paris and Barcelona, for their benevolence towards me say it [the Fili] is superior. I attribute it only
to their benevolence.”
Noli and Fili Stolen
In Rizal’s time, the Permanent Commission of Censorship recommended the absolute prohibition on the
importation, reproduction, and circulation of the Noli. The copies of the Fili, on the other hand, was
destroyed by Customs in Manila upon shipment to the Philippines. The rare surviving copies of the novels
were secretly purchased and “according to one friend of the family, had to be read in the smallest, most
private room in the house—the toilet” (Ocampo, p. 108).
That was the fate of the first edition of Rizal’s novels. But that is nothing compared to what happened to
their original manuscripts about 70 years after their publication.
The original manuscripts of the Noli and Fili (along with that of the poem ‘Mi Ultimo Adios’) were stolen
from the National Library on the evening of December 8, 1961. After some days, the thieves who
outsmarted the building’s sleepy guards sent a ransom note “made of newspaper cutouts” to the Jose Rizal
National Centennial Commission (JRNCC) (Ocampo, p. 148). The robbers demanded 1.4 million pesos for
the return of the original texts, else Rizal’s handiworks would be burned.
To summarize the ‘historic robbery’, the then Education Secretary Alejandro ‘Anding’ Roces personally
met with the burglars and, after some various negotiations, had retrieved the documents without paying
a single centavo. The manuscripts were returned on installment basis—the ‘Ultimo Adios’ during the first
meeting, the ‘El Fili’ on the next negotiation, and lastly, the ‘Noli’. There was a time when the demanded
ransom was reduced to 100,000 pesos and then to 10,000 pesos (Ocampo, p. 148). But recognizing
perhaps that they would get nothing from the government, the robbers ultimately settled on returning
the expensive documents, free of charge.
Many still find this ‘charge-free return of the manuscripts’ strange and mind-blowing. But the following
additional details about the story could perhaps shed light on the account.
During the negotiations, one of the burglars related to Roces that on the night of the robbery, “the Rizal
manuscripts suddenly became heavy as a cavan of rice”. The thief thus exclaimed, “The manuscript must
be holy or haunted!” (Ocampo, p. 148). One robber even claimed that he read Rizal’s handwritten novels
and described the feeling, “Ang sarap basahin, kinikilabutan ako!” (Ocampo, p. 148). It’s remarkably funny
to note however that the thief did not understand Spanish! Nonetheless, these indicate that the stealers
were probably bothered by their conscience, hence the consent to just send back the national hero’s works.
Anding promised not to identify the robbers or to be a witness against them in court. Thus, the hilariously
controversial thieves were never known.
The legacy of Noli and El Fili
For fearlessly depicting the corruptions and abuses by the Spanish clergy and colonial government during
the Spanish regime in the Philippines, the two novels arehistorically very significant. Basically a social
sketch of the country then, the Noli and Fili reveal the true setting and condition of the Filipino society in
the era.
As essential source of sociological and anthropological studies, the books provide rich insights into the
culture of the 19th and 20th century Philippines. Their realistic depictions expose a conflicted colonial
society seriously split between the oppressors and the suffering local slaves. The novels’ characters mimic
the various elements and types of individuals in that society. Furthermore, they show favorable positive
traits of the natives then like the sense of gratitude, the fidelity of women to their loved ones, and the
yearning for freedom and equality.
For their explicit portrayal of what the locals really wished for their country, the books were instrumental
in forming the Filipino’s (Indios) sense of national identity. Indirectly but significantly, the novels
influenced the revolution led by the Katipunan as they inspired Andres Bonifacio and other revolutionaries
in their cause.
Rizal was arrested, exiled to Dapitan, and ultimately executed in 1896 based principally on his writings. In
1956, the Philippine Congress passed the Rizal Law (Republic Act 1425) requiring all levels of Philippine
schools to teach as part of the curriculum the hero’s two novels. (Read: Republic Act 1425 Rizal Law (Its
History and Important Provisions))
Originally written in Spanish, the Noli and the Fili had been translated into various languages like Filipino,
English, German, French, Chinese, and other Philippine languages. In 2007, an English version of Noli Me
Tangere was released to major Australian book stores. It was published by Penguin Books Classics as part
of the publication’s commitment to publish the major literary classics of the world