Gec 19 - Jose Rizal (Midterm)
Gec 19 - Jose Rizal (Midterm)
Gec 19 - Jose Rizal (Midterm)
L1: UNDERSTANDING THE RIZAL LAW It belongs to the past and harmful to read because
it presented a false picture of the conditions in
How a Bill Becomes a Law: The Legislative Process the country at the time
Attack on the clergy
Endanger the youth’s salvation, “the young are too
apt to take as literally true whatever they see in print”
The postwar period saw a Philippines rife with challenges Rizal’s novels were considered as “a constant and
and problems. With a country torn and tired from the inspiring source of patriotism”
stresses of World War II, getting up on their feet was a
paramount concern of the people and the government. Enable the Filipino to grasp the ideals of freedom and
nationalism
THE TRIALS OF THE REPUBLIC ACT No. 1425 OR
THE “RIZAL LAW” To develop “moral character, personal discipline,
civic consciousness and…teaching the duties of
Claro M. Recto citizenship.”
Senator Claro M. Recto was the main proponent His writings will serve as a document of the
of the Rizal Bill. achievements, development, and transformation of
He sought to sponsor the bill at Congress. Philippine society, culture, and nation.
However, this was met with stiff opposition from the
SOCIAL CHANGE/TRANSFORMATION is its core
Catholic Church.
principle – the need for transforming consciousness and
He was charged with being a communist and an society; and the truthful, realistic depiction of Philippine
anti-Catholic for mandating the reading of Rizal’s society.
novel
Noli Me Tangere and El Filibusterismo must be read
JOSE P. LAUREL, SR. by all Filipinos. They must be taken to heart, for in their
pages we see ourselves as in mirror, our defects as well
He co-authored in the Philippine Senate together
as our strength, our virtues as well as our vices. Only
with Claro M. Recto the Rizal bill in 1956.
then would we become conscious as a people and so
He was the Chairman of the Committee on learn to prepare ourselves for painful sacrifices that
Education who sponsored the bill in the Senate. ultimately lead to self-reliance, self-respect, and
He vigorously fought for that Act, braving the wrath of freedom.
the entire Catholic Church and incurring the intense
animosity of his very wife Paciencia. ~Senator Jose P. Laurel
SENATE BILL 438 Rizal did not pretend to teach religion when he wrote
those books. He aimed at inculcating civic
AN ACT TO MAKE NOLI ME TANGERE AND EL consciousness in the Filipinos, national dignity,
FILIBUSTERISMO COMPULSORY READING MATTER personal pride, and patriotism and if references were
IN PUBLIC AND PRIVATE COLLEGES AND made by him in the course of his narration to certain
UNIVERSITIES AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES. religious practices in the Philippines in those days,
and to the conduct and behavior of erring ministers
REPUBLIC ACT 1425
of the church, it was because he portrayed faithfully
AN ACT TO INCLUDE IN THE CURRICULA OF ALL the general situation in the Philippines as it then
PUBLIC AND PRIVATE SCHOOLS, COLLEGES, AND existed.
UNIVERSITIES COURSES ON THE LIFE, WORKS AND
~Senator Claro M. Recto
WRITINGS OF JOSE RIZAL, PARTICULARLY HIS
NOVELS NOLI ME TANGERE AND EL Rizal Law: An act to include in the curricular of all
FILIBUSTERISMO…. public and private schools, colleges and universities
courses on the life, works and writings of Jose Rizal,
OPPOSITION
particularly his novels, Noli Me Tangere and El
Filibusterismo, authorizing the printing and distribution
An attempt to discredit Catholic religion
thereof and other purposes.
The two novels contained views inimical to the
tenets of Catholic faith Whereas today, more than any other period of our
The compulsory nature of the bill is a violation of history, there is a need for a rededication of the ideals of
religious freedom freedom and nationalism for which our heroes lived and
Novels were heretical and impious. died;
Violate freedom of conscience and religion
GEC 19 [JOSE RIZAL]
Whereas, it is meet that in honoring them, particularly the A group of people that shares a common culture, history,
national hero and patriot, Jose Rizal; we remember with language, and other practices like religion, affinity to
special fondness and devotion their lives and works that place, etc.
have shaped the national character;
Whereas, all educational institutions are under the A political entity that wields sovereignty over a defined
supervision of and subject to regulation by the state and territory.
all schools are enjoined to develop moral character,
personal discipline, civic conscience and to teach the The development of nation-states started in Europe
duties of citizenship. during the period coinciding with the Enlightenment. The
“classical” nation-states of Europe began with the Peace
Now, therefore, be it enacted by the Senate and House of Westphalia in the seventeenth century.
of Representatives of the Philippines in Congress
assembled: In the “classical” nation-states, the process was an
evolution from being a state into a nation-state…
Section 1: Courses on the life, works and writings of
Jose Rizal, particularly his novels Noli Me Tangere and A second path was taken by subsequent nation-states
El Filibusterismo, shall be included in the curricula of all which were formed from nations.
school, colleges and universities, public or private;
A third path involved breaking off from a colonial
Provided that in collegiate course, the original or
relationship…
unexpurgated editions of the Noli Me Tangere and El
Filibusterismo or their English translations shall be used By way of secessions by people already part of an
as basis texts. existing state.
Section 2: it shall be obligatory on all schools, colleges The roots of nation…
and universities to keep in their libraries an adequate
number of copies of the original and unexpurgated Primordialism – it traces the root of nation and national
editions of the Noli Me Tangere and El Filibusterismo, as identity to existing and deep-rooted features of a group of
well as Rizal’s other works and biography. The said people…
unexpurgated editions of the Noli Me Tangere and El
Filibusterismo of their translation in English as well as Modernism – states that nation, national identity, and
other writings of Rizal shall be included in the list of nationalism are products of modern condition and are
approved books for required readings in all public or shaped by modernity…
private schools, colleges and universities.
Constructivist Approach – maintains that nation and
Section 3: The Board of National Education shall cause nationalism are discursive… this states that nationalism
the translation of the Noli Me Tangere and El is socially constructed and imagined by people who
Filibusterismo as well as other writing of Rizal into identify with a group.
English, Tagalog, and principal dialects; cause them to
be printed in cheap, popular editions; and cause them to …is an imagined community—and imagined as both
be distributed free of charge, to persons desiring to read inherently limited and sovereign…
them through the Purok organizations and Barrio
Councils throughout the country.atholi ~Benedict Anderson
Section 4: Nothing in this Act shall be construed as Anderson argues that it is imagined as a community
amending or repealing section nine hundred twenty- since the nation is always conceived as a “deep,
seven of the Administrative Code, prohibiting the horizontal comradeship.”
discussion of religious doctrines by public school
teachers and other persons engaged in any public Nationalism is a set of systems—political, social, and
school. economic—characterized by the promotion of the
interests of one nation anchored on the aim to achieve
Section 5: The sum of three hundred thousand pesos is and maintain self-governance or total sovereignty. Its
hereby authorized to be appropriated out of any fund not basic elements include: culture, history, language,
otherwise appropriated in the National Treasury to carry religion and territory.
out the purposes of this Act.
We need to understand that nationalism is not just a term
Section 6: This Act shall take effect upon its approval. for “love of country.” More than that, it is also power and
a philosophy of power.
APPROVED, June 12, 1956
Rizal’s Works and Nationalism
Through his novels, Rizal emphasized the values of Separation of Church and State
nationalism and loving one’s country. The scathing
national narrative Rizal presented became the inspiration “I may not agree with a word you say, but I will defend to
for strengthening the anti-colonial movement. the death your right to say it.”
This political movement focused mainly on politics and Under the Spanish rule:
society and involved ideas that challenged the concept
of absolute monarchy. Filipino – peninsulares, insulares, mestizo
Indio – native inhabitants
DIVINE RIGHT – Theory that stated that Kings had God
given right to rule their nation as they wished. It was Jose Rizal who first used the word Filipino to refer
to the inhabitants of the country, whether they are
John Locke Spanish or Filipino blood.
Executive (enforces laws) As the Spanish civil officials in the country became
more corrupt and immoral, the Spanish friars became
Legislative (makes the laws) the refuge of the Filipinos for moral and political
Judicial (interprets laws) guidance.
This resulted into frailocracy—the rule of the friars.
Having a separation of powers would prevent any one
branch from gaining too much power over the other two The growing power of the friars in the 19 th century urged
the reformists and nationalists, such as Rizal, to work
“In order to have…liberty, it is necessary that government harder to let people know who the real enemies were.
be set up so that one man need not be afraid of another.”
Significant events in the 19th century that contributed to
Voltaire the formation of and the Propagandists’ consciousness:
Fought for civil liberties- rights/freedoms of citizens Opening of the Suez Canal
The democratic leadership of Governor General
Freedom of Speech Dela Torre
Freedom of Religion
GEC 19 [JOSE RIZAL]
Paved the way for the importation of books, Chinese History in the Philippines
magazines and newspapers with liberal ideas from
• As early as 16th century, the Chinese were already
Europe and America
in the Philippine archipelago. Although there is an
Instrumental to the political awakening of Rizal,
assertion from other historians that the Chinese first
shaping his nationalist sensibilities
arrived in the country during the pre-colonial period, it
The leadership of Gov. Gen. Carlos Ma. Dela Torre was only during the Spanish colonial period that the
Chinese immigrants became prominent in Philippine
(1869-1871)
society.
• Gave Rizal, the reformists, and the Filipinos a • In 1594, the Spanish Governor Luis Perez
foretaste of democratic rule Dasmariñas created Binondo as a permanent
• Media censorship became relaxed settlement for Chinese mestizos who converted to
• Limited secularization of education began Catholicism.
• Gave amnesty to rebels including Casimiro
• Binondo became a place for intermarriages between
Camerino, the leader of the bandits in Cavite
Chinese immigrants and Filipino natives, thus the
• Establishment of Guardia Civil emergence of Chinese mestizos.
Under Gov. Gen. Rafael Izquierdo (1871-1873) • This growing community of Chinese posed a threat to
the Spaniards and their rule. They feared that the
• Indios should not be given the same rights and Chinese would be far less loyal to the Spanish
freedom enjoyed by the Spaniards in the Philippines regime than the Indios.
• Imposition of harsh policies and laws
Nevertheless, one fact that the Spaniards could not
• Removal of the long-standing personal benefits discount then was that the Chinese became pivotal to
of the workers under the encomienda system and their colonial rule because they provide valuable capital
forced labor exemptions among soldiers to Manila. Thus, despite orders of expelling all Chinese
from the Philippines, Governor Dasmariñas realized
that Manila needed the Chinese for economic reason.
Cavite Mutiny
Other Chinese mestizo communities emerged in many
• Resulting in disarmed, imprisoned, and dead other parts of the archipelago.
Filipino soldiers
• In Manila, notable communities were
• Arrestant of the suspected people involved in the Santa Cruz and Tondo.
mutiny
• Used by the Spanish authorities and the friars to • In the early 17th century, more than 100
implicate the three secular priests—Mariano Gomez, Chinese individuals were married to native Filipinos
Jose Burgos, Jacinto Zamora, known as in Iloilo, Pampanga, and Cebu.
“Gomburza”—and proclaimed that they instigated the • In northern Luzon, Chinese mestizos
said mutiny which was resulted in their execution by could be found in Pangasinan, Benguet, and
garote at Bagumbayan on February 15, 1872. Mountain Province.
More so, a policy that limited the number of Chinese Gregorio Sancianco, who were both Chinese
individuals who could reside in the Philippines and that mestizos.
restricted their area of settlement was implemented.
• They wrote about the essence of being a Filipino,
At the end of 19th century, there were almost 500,000 defended the dignity of Filipinos, and explained the
Chinese mestizos in the Philippines with 46,000 living in supposed indolence of the Indios. Rizal nurtured their
Manila. writings, also Chinese mestizo.
Who were considered Chinese mestizos: • The significant role of the Chinese mestizos in
the making of the nation was highly evident. Their
• Any person born of a Chinese father and involvement showed that they regard Spain as the
Indio mother enemy.
• A Spanish mestiza who married a • The Philippine Revolution of 1896-98 was the
Chinese mestizo act of determination on the part of Filipinos—
Indios and Chinese mestizos alike—to claim for
• A child of a Spanish mestiza and a themselves and for future generations the
Chinese mestizo incomparable birthright of nationhood.
• A Chinese mestiza and an Indio were Rizal and the Chinese Mestizos
listed as Indios.
• Rizal is a fifth generation Chinese mestizo.
Significance of the Chinese Mestizo However, he and his father were considered as
Indios.
• The expulsion of the Chinese immigrants in the
Philippines enabled the Chinese mestizos to take • Some documents and scholarly papers noted
over the markets that the former previously that Rizal disliked being called a Chinese mestizo
controlled. Chinese became prominent and influential and dissociated himself from any Chinese relations.
figures in the industry, commerce, and business
during the Spanish colonial period. • As most of us are familiar with, his novels, Noli
Me Tangere and El Filibusterismo, exposed the
• They carried a lucrative commerce by collecting abuses and corruption of the Spanish authorities,
goods from the north and selling them to Manila and condemned oppression, ridiculed hypocrisy; but it
nearby provinces. was, at the same time, a sign of his contempt
towards Chinese immigrants in the Philippines. His
• They monopolize the internal trading in the novels brimmed with insults and scorn for them.
Philippines while the Spanish mestizos were
concerned with foreign trade. • Rizal clearly manifested his anti-Chinese feelings
in his writings, as well as in his correspondence with
• The entrepreneurial power of the Chinese family and friends.
mestizos gave way to the emergence of the
Philippine middle class described as “more active
and enterprising, more prudent and pioneering, more
oriented to trade and commerce than the Indios”
(Bowring, 1963).