Introduction To The Rizal Course PDF

INTRODUCTION TO THE RIZAL COURSE Republic Act 1425 Rizal Bill was sponsored by Sen. Claro M. Recto and passed into a law in 1956. Its passage was opposed by the Catholic hierarchy who claimed that there are 170 “offensive passages” to the Catholic faith in Noli Me Tangere and El Fil...

INTRODUCTION TO THE RIZAL COURSE Republic Act 1425 Rizal Bill was sponsored by Sen. Claro M. Recto and passed into a law in 1956. Its passage was opposed by the Catholic hierarchy who claimed that there are 170 “offensive passages” to the Catholic faith in Noli Me Tangere and El Filibusterismo (Ocampo, 2008:8). Why is he considered a national hero? There was an assertion that Rizal was chosen as the country’s national hero due to the American preference to his “reformist” credentials. Rizal is a conscious hero. He is aware of his place in Philippine history – “I know that, at present, the future of my country gravitates in part around me..” (Ocampo, 2008:10-11)  The Philippines during the late 18th Century and 19th Century Dramatic changes occurred in the Philippine colony due to the Industrial Revolution, economic reforms introduced by the Spanish colonial government, and the spread of Enlightenment ideas, etc. Administrative Organization The governor-general is the chief executive, captain-general of the armed forces, and vice royal patron of the church (Schumacher, 1997:10). Alcalde mayor exercised executive and judicial functions in the provinces. These functions were divided between the civil governor and judge of first instance in 1886. Administrative Organization Each town was headed by a gobernadorcillo whose mandate was derived from his election by the members of the principalia (a group composed of ex- gobernadorcillos and cabezas de barangay). Administrative Organization The parish priest is a key figure in the local administrative body. His responsibilities are as follows: local school inspection, health inspection, prison inspection, inspection of the accounts of the gobernadorcillos and cabezas de barangays. Census lists, tax list, register of births, deaths and marriages also require his approval. Reform of the Philippine colonial economy Spain experienced a gradual decline of her power and prestige as centuries passed by. After the British invasion of the Philippines in the 1760s, Spain decided to diversify the sources of income (away from overreliance on the galleon trade). Reform of the Philippine colonial economy Large scale production of cash crops for exports (silk, cotton, indigo, hemp, sugarcane, cacao, coconut, and fruit trees) were encouraged when Jose Basco y Vargas became the governor-general in 1778. Reform of the Philippine colonial economy Changes in the Philippine economy became more rapid when the galleon trade ended in 1815 due to the loss of Spain’s colonial possessions in the Americas. The Philippine colony opened to international trade by 1834. In the 1840s, 90% of the total export revenue came from sugar, abaca (hemp) fiber, indigo, coffee, and cotton Effects of the growing prosperity in the Philippine colony: Increased contact with the foreigners and the prosperity of achieved by small families enabled their children to study in Europe. ordinary people’s condition did not change or even worsened (Schumacher, 1997:17). The Rise of the Clase Media The Philippines’ economic boom in the 19th century produced a middle class who derived their wealth from expanded agricultural activities and commerce. Indicators of social status in the Philippine colony among the local elite: education, personal possessions (location of one’s house, ownership of sugarmills, imported furniture, use of honorary titles like Don and Dona, etc.) The Rise of the Clase Media Ilustrados are the “enlightened” ones. They achieved a high degree of Hispanization compared to other native inhabitants of the Philippines. Some Formative Events Conflict within the Church. - In the 1770s, a royal decree ordered the secularization of Philippine parishes which meant the transfer of parishes from the friars of the religious orders to (e.g. Dominicans, Franciscans) to secular clergy. Some Formative Events Arrival of the liberal Governor General Carlos Maria de la Torre after the “Glorious September Revolution” of 1868. A mutiny in the Cavite naval arsenal became the pretext for the arrest, conviction, and execution of Fr. Mariano Gomez, Jose Burgos, and Jacinto Zamora in 1872. Reference Abinales & Amoroso (2005) State and Society in the Philippines. Pasig City: Anvil Publishing, Inc. Ocampo, Ambeth (2008) Rizal without the Overcoat. Pasig City: Anvil Publishing, Inc. Schumacher, John (1997) The Propaganda Movement. Quezon City: Ateneo de Manila University Press