Buhay at Mga Sinulat ni Rizal – Polytechnic University of the Philippines, Manila
Unit 4 – Lesson 5: Assessment
1. Construct a timeline of reforms implemented by the Spanish colonial
government in the 19th century. Identify important events in the life of Jose Rizal and locate these events in the timeline you constructed. How did the reforms implemented by the Spanish colonial regime in the 19th century relate to the experiences of Rizal and his family? Attached to the module is a template where you can put your answers.
DATE EVENTS 1863 There was a public education in the Philippines, and even then, the church controlled the curriculum. Less than one-fifth of those who went to school could read and write Spanish, and far fewer could speak it properly. 1872 Jose left Biñan to study in the Jesuit-run Ateneo Municipal. It was during this time, that he began using Rizal as his primary surname. While in Ateneo, Rizal belonged to a class composed of both Spaniards and mestizos. Despite these, he became a campus leader and member of the Academy of Spanish Literature and Academy of Natural Sciences. He also took private lessons in the nearby Colegio de Santa Isabel to improve his Spanish (The Spanish Period, n.d.). 1880 The limited higher education in the colony was entirely under clerical direction, but by the 1880s many sons of the wealthy were sent to Europe to study. May 3, 1882 Rizal left the Philippines to go to Spain. He boarded the steamship Salvadora bounded to Singapore. His departure to Spain was kept secret from his family, Leonor Rivera, and the Spanish authorities. To hide his identity, Rizal used the name Jose Mercado. May 9, 1882 Rizal had a stopover in Singapore, then a British crown colony. He then boarded the French steamboat Djemnah to continue his trip to Spain. May 18, 1882 Djemnah anchored in the British occupied city of Colombo. Rizal used the time he had in this stop over to improve his French while on board the ship. June 11, 1882 Rizal entered Europe through the Italian city of Naples. He will return to Italy to visit Rome and the Papal State of Vatican on June 27, 1887. Rizal arrived in the Kingdom at the height of anarchist movement, something that he will also witness in Spain. Anarchists were well-known for assassinating political personalities in Europe. Benedict Anderson argued that anarchist activities probably inspired the bomb plot of Simoun in El Filibusterismo. Italy was also Rizal’s last stopover in his first sojourn to Europe. December 30, 1887 The government wanted to check on taxes by asking the Calamba tenants about rental paid to the Dominican hacienda. A month later, they replied with a petition drafted by Rizal and signed by the principales of the town challenging the legitimacy of the land titles supposedly held by the Dominicans. 1887 José Rizal, Propaganda Movement’s most brilliant figure, produced political novel—Noli me tangere (Touch Me Not). February 15, 1889 Rizal left Britain for Belgium. He arrived at the Belgian capital of Brussels on February 12,1890 and worked on El Filibusterismo. Seven months later, Rizal went to the city of Ghent at the behest of Valentin Ventura to acquire funding for his new novel. February 11, 1891 Rizal returned to France where he finished El Fili. He produced El Filibusterismo (The Reign of Greed)—which had a wide impact in the Philippines. His second will be published in Belgium the same year. 1892 Rizal returned home and formed the Liga Filipina, a modest reform-minded society, loyal to Spain, that breathed no word of independence. 1896 Rizal was quickly arrested by the overly fearful Spanish, exiled to a remote island in the south, and finally executed.
It is no longer new to us that Jose Rizal fought for freedom in an exceedingly silent but powerful way. He expressed his love for the Philippines through his novels, essays, and articles instead of through the utilization of force or aggression. He was an awfully amazing person at his time. There, nationalism, and a passion for reform blossomed in the liberal atmosphere. Out of the talented group of overseas Filipino students arose what came to be known as the Propaganda Movement. Magazines, poetry, and pamphleteering flourished.
His first novel, Noli Me Tangere, literally Touch Me Not, from the Latin version of the words spoken (according to John 20:17) by Jesus to Mary Magdalene when she recognizes him after his resurrection, was published in 1887, the year Rizal returned to the Philippines. The Noli, as it is affectionately known among Filipinos, portrayed the oppressive conditions of Spanish colonial rule and can be read to this day as an analysis of the problems of Filipino society. This condemned the Catholic Church in the Philippines for its promotion of Spanish colonialism. Immediately upon its publication, he became a target for the police who even shadowed him when he returned to the Philippines in 1887.
Rizal's second novel, El Filibusterismo (The Revolution), was published in 1891.
The Fili speculates on the likelihood and outcome of a revolution against the Spaniards. Rizal's views enraged the Spanish friars and colonial authorities. His parents' property was confiscated, and male members of the family were deported to the island of Mindoro, and Rizal himself was exiled to Dapitan, Mindanao, from 1892 to 1896. Accused of inciting Filipinos to revolt in 1896, Rizal was found guilty of sedition and executed by firing squad on December 30, 1896. He was just 35 (The World of 1898: The Spanish-American War, 2011).
References:
The Spanish Period. (n.d.). Britannica. Retrieved March 16, 2022, from https://www.britannica.com/place/Philippines/The-19th-century
The World of 1898: The Spanish-American War. (2011, August 1). Loc.Gov. Retrieved March 16, 2022, from https://loc.gov/rr/hispanic/1898/rizal.html
