BroGRApHy wRrrINGS, AND LEGACIES oF ouR BAYANI
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THT, PUILIPPINES A CENTURY
HENCE (..FILIPINAS DENTRO
DE CTT,N AI\OS")
lose Rizol's "Filipinos Dentro De Cien Afios" (trqnsloted os "The Philippines
within
One Hundred eor s" or "The Philippines A Century Hence") wos seriolized on
September 30, October 31, December 15, 1889. crnd Februory 15, 1890 in the
fortnightly review Lq Solidaridad of Modrid. In the qrticles, Rizol estimqted the
future of the Philippines in the spon of q hundred yeors crnd foretold the cotostrophic
end of Spclnish rule in Asiq.
Forecosting the futune of the Philippines
within q hundred yeqrs, the essoy reflected Rizol's
feeling thot it wos time to remind Spoin thot the
conditions thot ushered in the French Revolution
could huve q telling effect for her on the Philippine
islonds. Collectively, the orticles in mony senses,
supplemented Rizql's greot novel Noli Me Tangere
ond i
essqy olso tolked obout the gloriout egt
6i- the Philippines, recountea tfr6Teterior6i6n
of the economy, ond exposed the couses of the
notives' sufferings under the cruel Sponish rule.
In the essqy, he cqutioned Spoin os regords the
imminent downfoll of its dominqtion. Pqrt of the
purpose in'writing the essoy wqs to qwoken the
minds ond the hecrrts of the Filipinos concerning
the oppression of the Sponiords ond encouroging
them to fight for their right.
e newspaper
serialized Rizal's"Filipinas Dentro De
Cien Anos" (wikiped ia.org)
!32 n
THE LrFE AND woRKS oF JOSE RIZAL
Ccruses of
Sufferi
s crnd
Deteriorcrtion
Rizol's qnnototion of Antonio Morgo's Sucesos de las Islas Filipinas (olso penned
in 1889 to 1890), ournqtionol hero through greot efforts proved qnd discussed the
glorious post of the Philippines. In "The Philippines o Century Hence." he onolyzed
the detenionotion of its economy ond identified the couses of locqls'sufferings under
the cruel Sponish nule.
The essoy. thus, gove the following qs the vonious couses of the sorrows
suffered by the Philippine nqtives (<rs enumenqted in "The Phitippines a Century Hence:
Summary and Analysie" n.d.):
(1.) Spoin's implementqtion of its
militory policies
Becouse of such decrees, the Philippine populotion decreqsed intensely.
Poverty becqme more widespreod thqn ever os formlqnds were left to
withen The people continued to suffer from hunger qnd diseqse. The fomily
qs q unit of society wqs deserted, ond genenolly, qll fqcets of the life of the
notives beccrme retarded.
(2.) Deteniorqtion ond disoppeqrqnce of Filipino indigenous
culture
The locqls begon forgetting who they were, whqt their vqlued beliefs,
neligion, songs. poetry, ond the other forms of their cultunol heritoge were.
\Mhen Spoin come with the swond qnd the cross, it stqrted this slow but
continuing domoge of the nqtive Philippine culture. Impoverished qnd
netorded, the people begon losing thein sense of self-worth qnd their
confidence in their post qnd their heritoge. Spirit-broken, they become
confused qnd hesitqnt in thein current lifestyle, disgusted with themselves,
qnd ultimqtely lost hope in the future qnd the preservotion of their rqce.
(3.) Possivity ond submissiveness to the Sponish colonizers
The essoy qttributed the possivity ond submissiveness of our people to
the mqnner of govennonce by the colonists. The Sponish friors were one of
the most powerful fonces thqt influenced q cultune of silence ond lethorgy
among the locols. Through their use of force qnd intimidqtion (unfoirly
using God's nqme), the nqtives leonned to fqnqticcrlly submit themselves to
the whims ond coprices of the strqngens.
BIOORAPHY WRITINGS, AND LEGACIES OF OUR BAYANI C€
].33
The Inevitcrble
One of the mqin topics tockled by Rizol in the essoy
wos whether Spoin could indeed prevent the looming
progress of the Philippines. Despite the corruption
qnd deteriorqtion brought obout by the colonizers to
Philippines, he wos hopeful thqt the country's eventuql
improvement could not be hindered. For this, he mqde
the following points:
(1-.)
i;nl .1l'lH;\5
Keeping the people uneducoted <rnd ignoront
foiled. Nqtionol consciousness hqd still
qwqkened, ond greot Filipino minds still
emerged from the nubble.
1
1l r:: I +1,i i
:,:s.ii
,.d:
(2.) Keeping the people impoverished olso come to
no qvqil. On the contrqry, living q life of eterncrl
destitution ollowed the Filipinos to qct on the
Dentro De
desire for o chqnge in their woy of life. They
Anos"as published as a booklet
begon to explore some other honizons through
(Wikipedia.org)
towqrd
progress.
which they could move
(3.) Exterminoting the people os qn olternqtive to hindering progress did
not work either. The Filipino rqce wqs qble to survive omidst wors qnd
fomine, qnd become even more numerous qfter such cotostrophes. To
wipe out the notion oltogether would require the socrifice of thousonds
of Sponish soldiers, qnd this wqs something Spoin would not qllow ("The
Philippines o Century Hence: Summory ond Anolysis," n.d.)
Rizol, thus, concluded thot Spoin hod no meqns to stop the progress of the
Philippines. Whqt the colonist hod to do wqs to chonge its coloniql policies so thot
they would be suitoble for the needs of the Philippine society ond to the increosing
nqtionqlism of its people.
Rizol's "P
hecies"
Rizol expressed in the essoy his confident prediction thot something would
qwoken the heorts ond open the minds of the Filipino people os regords their
plight. He "prophesied" the Philippine people's revolution ogoinst Spoin, winning
their independence, but lqter the Americons would come cs the new colonizer.
Eventuolly, the notives did recognize thqt the horossment ond cruelty in their
society by foreign colonizers must no longer be tolerqted. The notives, thus, though
,
,:"
:, .
134
,r
, , locking orms
:
,
', ,
THE LrFE AND woRKs oF JOSE RIZAL
troining. voliontly woged wor ogoinst the colonizers.
. Even the not-so-predictqble element of Rizql's "prophecy" true-the Americqns in
,1898 wrestled with Spoin to win the Philippines, qnd in due course took over the
country. Relotively, theirs wcrs o neign of liberty ond democrocy.
. Some yeq.rs qfter Rizcrls decrth, the Phltippines crttqined its lonEqwqr\ed
, liberotion ond independence. Agoin, this oppeored to be the fulfillment of whot
he hod written in the essoy: "History does not recond in its qnnols ony losting
dominotion by one people over onother, of different roces, of diverse usoges ond
customs. of opposite ond divergent ideos. One of the two hod to yield ond succumb."
crnd enough
I
Feodor
or's Influence
Rizol's refenence to Americo os o proboble fqctor
in the Phillppines' future is sqid to be bqsed upon the
forecost of the Germqn trqveler Feodor logor. In 1860,
logor spent some months oh the Islonds ond lqter
published his observqtions, supplemented by ten yeors
of further study in Europeon museums qnd librories,
os Travels in the Philippines.
Rizql hqd reqd the Sponish version of logor's book
while q student qt the Ateneo de Mqnilo from o copy
supplied by his brother Pociono. logor's prophecy is
sqid to funnish the explonqtion to Rizql's public life. His
policy of preporing his countrymen for commerciql
ethnologist who influenced Rizal
in his predictions of Philippine's ond industricrl competition seemed to hove hqd its
future' (wikipedia'org)
inspirdtion in this reoding done when he wqs <r youth.
while in Berlin, Rizol met Professor logor, ond so the renowned geogropher
qnd his youthful but bright qdminer become fost friends, often discoursing on
how the development of events \Mcrs bringing true the fontune for the Philippines.
Proper knowledge of Philippine's history qnd keen ocquointonce with its then
situotion hod enobled lcrgor qnd Rizql, both trqined observers, to somewhqt foretell
the country's future.
The Esscr s Relevqnce Todcl v
One woy to properly interpret mqny of Rizol's writings is to consider the hint
he provided in his Noli Me Tangere:"1 do not wnite for this generotion. I qm writing
for other crges. If this could reod me, they would burn my books, the work of my
.:.'
BrocRApHy. wRrriNcs AND LEGACTES oF ouR BAv.{NI
cs l-35
,'',
:
whole life. On the other hond, the genenotion which interprets these writings will , ,,
be crn educqted genercrtion; they wiil understcrnd me crnd soy: Not qll were osleep,.
in the night-time of our grcndpcrrents (by the Philosopher Tqsio)."
Indeed, his essoys like "The Philippines cr Century Hence" qre qs relevqnt todoy
:
tkrey were when they were written over o century ogo. As if tolking to us
through the essoy, Rizol oppeored to be counseling us to focus on strengthening
the most importont bcrckbone of our country: our volues, outlooks, ond clll the views
that hove shclped our sense of nctionol identity.
crs
The esscry, moreover, serves to remind us thcrt we, Filipinos, ore historicolly
resolute qnd determined. In foct, crii those efforts }:y the colonizers to keep us
uneducoted ond impoverished hcld feliled. Notionolism eventuolly thrived qnd the
country becqme independent ofter fou:'centuries of tyrcrnniccrl Spclnish rule qnd
five deccldes under the Americqns.
Chcrllen
estot EF ilipinos
However, there <rre questions on .arhether we Gre reolly independent todoy.
Are we recllly free when our economy is dominontly controlied by on eiite
oligclrchy. ond there ore huge sociol crnd income disporities between o smcrll
fcrvored economic clnd politiccrl eiite clnd the rest of the Filipino populotion? In fqct,
Rizol himself olso foreworned obcut this when he wrote in the EI Filibusterismo,
"Why independence if the sisves todoy become the tyronts of tomorrow?"
Moreover, there ore some flqws in our cheirncter thcrt con get into the wcry of
nttoining whot Rizol envisioned okrout our country- These include crttitudes, iike the
lock of oppreciotion of the significonce of qdhering to the ruie of low crnd upholding
high stondords of excelience. Advoccrtiag mediocirity, os signnosted by puwede na
o.nd bahala ns ottitudes, is very unbecoming of whnt Rizol visuolized in his essoy.
The choilenges posed hy the essoy to the present Filipino fcrmilies, crnd especiolly
to the government, include instilling notionoi discipline crnd true love of country;
exercising fuli control of our ncrtionui sovereignty; ossisting citizens connect with
their communities; employing ovoiloble communiccrtion meqns (the Intennet qnd
mobile technologies) to connect groups, to inform crnd educote, to enoble Filipinos
to discover the common ties we shore; r'neeting chollenges of founding q more
peclceful ond stoble sociql order; forming o comm{)n bond with our brothers ond
sisters in mcrrgincllized communities; ond developing innovotions thcrt would
impnove dioiogue ond ctrose gcrps between our feilow citizens the world outside;
ond preventing choos qnd the spreod of mqlicious ond destructive propcrgondos.
Ultimotely, Rizol's "The Philippines ,: Century Hence" iegocy is its timeless
ncrtionnl messoge thot estoblishing s fnirer., better society requires reminding the
Filipino people thqt our hope for survivol relies on eoch of us toking responsibility.
'
L36 ,f) TFrr, LjFE AND WORKS or: }OSE RIZAL
Other Reloted Writings
lose Rizotr composed severcrl other brilliont writings, which olso helped to
owqken the Filipino potrictism ond pcrved the way for Phiiippine Revolution. The
following one his two other tjmeless writings:
"Sobre
(
X,a
Indolencia De Los Filipinos"
Th-S- l,n*d-pf e {r ce -9-f
th
e_
Flt ip in o s )
This logicol essoy is cr proof of the notionol hero's historiccrl scholorship. The
essoy rotionolly countered the occusotiens hy Spclniords thot Philippine nqtives
were indolent (luzy) during the Sponish reign. It wos published in La Solidaridad in
five consecutive issues on luly (15 qnd 31), August (l- crnd 31)ond September 1, 1890.
In the crrticles, Riznl argued thot Filipinos were innotely hordwonking prior to
the rule of the Sponicrds" Whot brought the decreqse in the productive octivities
of the nqtives rvcs Gctuuily the Spanish colonizqtion. Rizql exploined the olleged
Filipino indolence by pointing to these foctors:
the previous links of the Philippines with
the other countries in Asio ond the Middle Eqst, thereby erodicoting
smcrll locul businesses crnd hondicrqft industries;
(1.) The Gcrlleon Tr:qCe destroyed
t2.) The Spcnish forced lcrbor compelled the Filipinos to work in shipyords.
roods. and some other pubiic works, thus qbondoning their cgriculturol
farms qnd industries;
(3.)
Mony Filipinos beccrme londless ond wqnderers becquse Spoin did not
defend thern ogoinst pirotes clnd foreign invoders;
(4.)
The system of educcrtion offered by the colonizers wos imprqcticol
cs it wcls moiniy obout repetitive prqyers ond hod nothing to do with
crgricuituroi snd industricll technology;
were cr bqd. excrmple os negligent officiols would come
in lote ond leuve their offices eorly ond Sponish women were alwoys
(5.) The Sponicrrds
foliowed by servonts;
(6.) Gcmbling,
like cockfights, wos
est<lblished, promoted,
Spanish government officiqls qnd
especioily drrring feast duys;
procticed
by
ond explicitly
friors
themselves,
of religion discouroged the nqtives from working
hord by teclching thern thst it wos eqsier for o poor mqn to enter heqven;
(7.) The crooked sy$tern
und
BIOGRAPHY WRITINGS, AND LECACIES OF OUR BAYANI
very hig h tqxes were discouroging
would only go to the officiols qnd friors
(8.) The
os o big
G( 137
port of nqtives'earn
of
Moreover, Rizol exPloined thot Filipinos were iust wise in their level
in tropicol
under o tropicol climcrte. He exploined, "violent work is not cr good thing
Rizoi, thus,
countries crs it is would be porollel to deoth, destruction, onnihilotion."
of the Sponish
concluded thot notives' supposed indolence wcts Ctn end-product
colonizotion.
"Letter To The
Women of Malolos"
this fomous letter directly <rddressing to the
(r
H' Del
women of Mololos, Bulocon wos written by Rizol ss response to Morcelo
originolly written in
Togcrlog,
Pil<rr's request.
greotly impressed by the bravery of the 20 young women of Mqlolos
the
who plonned to estqblish q school where they could leqrn Sponish despite
letter expressed
opposition of Felipe Gqrcio. Sponish porish priest of Mololos. The
given to men in terms
Rizcll,s yecrning thot women be gronted the sqme chcrnces
of the
of educcrtion. In the olden dcrys, young women were not educqted becouse
would be to
principle thot they would soon be wives clnd their primory coreer
right to
toke ccrre of the home ond children. Rizql, however, odvocoted women's
Rizol wqs
educotion.
the young
Below qre some of the points mentioned by Rizol in his letter to
u/omen of Mololos:
(1.) The priests in the country thqt time did not embody the true spirit of
ChristionitY;
(2.) Privote judgment should be used;
be on epitome of crn ideol woman who tesches her
children to love God, country, crnd fellowmeu
(4.) Mothers should reqr children in the service of the stote ond set standnrds
(3.) Mothens should
of behovior fon men oround them;
(5.) Filipino women must be noble, decent, ond dignified, ond
they should be
submissive, tender, ond loving to their respective husbqnd; ond,
women must edify themselves, Iive the reql christiqn woy with
of q
good morols ond monners, (}nd shouid be intelligent in their choice
lifetime Portner.
qre ovqilqble in the
Discussions on Rizol's crll-known essqys ond orticles
Appendices of this book (ApPendix I:"lose Rizol's Essoys")'
(6") Young
,
+
138 n
THE L]FE AND WORKS oF IOSE RrZAL
Suggested Clcrss Activities
1.
2.
3.
Group Discussion on Rizql's essoy ond the orguments he presented.
Recitotion:
cr.
Assess Rizol,s essoy qnd his other
b.
c.
Approise the volue of understonding the post.
Identify ond frcrme his vorious orguments bosed on evidence.
Assessment
o.
Essoy writing:write o response to lose Rizol
q century qfter Rizol,s time.
b.
\Mrite ond give o speech thqt wirl senve os q response to Rizar.
E-Leclrni
Assi nment
Taking Exci
E-
1.
writings.
Fun
with your situoting yourself
Game:
online to www.ourHoppyschoor.com. Through its seorch engine (upper
right section). iook for the entry "lose Rizol's Colloborcrtion with Cthen Heroes:A
Go
Fun Quiz Gqme."
/..
5.
Toke the exciting electronic fun quiz gome. shore the poge on
your
Twitter/ Focebook crccount (using hosh-togs #FiripinoHeroes #NATReviewer
#UPCATR ev iewe r f lensenismo).
Print screen your score. print the file, ond submit it to your tecrcher.
Hove fun!
Evcllucltion
I. Identificotion
Identify the term/s bei ng referred
_1.
v
\_r.
-:--r-'1.-*-
to.
This orgumentqtive essqy sensibly
countered
sponiords'qccusotions thot rocors were indorent during
the Sponish reign.
1'his wqs sericrlized on September 30, October 3j.,
December 15, 1"889, ond Februory 15, 1g90 in the
fortnightly review Lq Sohdaridad of Mqdrid.
The ploce where Rizoi met the Germon trcrveler
Professor Feodor ]ogor
crnci
BIOGRAPHY, WRITINGS, AND LEGACIES OF OUR BAYANI CS
4.
f
5.
139
This is Rizql's fomous letter directly qddressed
women of Mololos, Bulqcon os o nesponse to
Del Pilor's request
According to Rizql, this destroyed the previous links
of the Philippines with other countries in Asiq ond the
Middle Eqst, thereby erodicoting smoll locql businesses
ond hondicroft industries.
6.
The Sponish priest in Mqlolos who opposed the
estoblishment of cl school where young women could
leorn Sponish
7
It is the yeor when the Americqns wrestled with Spoin
,ffl to win the PhiliPPines.
.gt The writing of the nqtionol hero, which proved ond
discussed the glorious pqst of the Philippines
70
This is the sequel to Rizql's greqt novel, Noli Me Tangere'
10. Rizol sqid thot they should be on epitome of on ideql
womon who teqches her children to love God. country'
'1
crnd
fellowmen.
II. Enumerqtion/Discussion
Enumercrte crnd discuss three brilliont writings of lose Rizql which ore living
proofs thot "The pen is mightier thcrn the sword"'
1.
2,
3.
L40 n
THE LrFE AND woRKS oF JOSE RIzAL
Essoy
1.'
Discuss some of Rizol's prophecies
2.
Exploin why Rizol concluded thqt "nqtives' supposed indolence wqs qn
end-product of the Sponish colonizqtion.,.
regording the future of the philippines.
qctuqlly
yuhich hqve
been fulfilled.
3. In youn own words,
exploin the relevonce of Rizql,s "The philippines o
Century Hence" t0 oun country todoy.
4.
believe thqt the writings of Rizql wene qble to owoken the Filipino
pqtniotism?
Do you
Suppont you qnswer.
5.
In whqt other wqys con the Filipino youth of todoy show their potniotism
to their country?