Republic Act No. 1425 (Rizal Law) PDF

GE1804 REPUBLIC ACT NO. 1425 AN ACT TO INCLUDE IN THE CURRICULA OF ALL PUBLIC AND PRIVATE SCHOOLS, COLLEGES AND UNIVERSITIES COURSES ON THE LIFE, WORK...

GE1804 REPUBLIC ACT NO. 1425 AN ACT TO INCLUDE IN THE CURRICULA OF ALL PUBLIC AND PRIVATE SCHOOLS, COLLEGES AND UNIVERSITIES COURSES ON THE LIFE, WORKS AND WRITINGS OF JOSE RIZAL, PARTICULARLY HIS NOVELS NOLI ME TANGERE AND EL FILIBUSTERISMO, AUTHORIZING THE PRINTING AND DISTRIBUTION THEREOF, AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES WHEREAS, today, more than any other period of our history, there is a need for a re-dedication to the ideals of freedom and nationalism for which our heroes lived and died; WHEREAS, it is meet that in honoring them, particularly the national hero and patriot, Jose Rizal, we remember with special fondness and devotion their lives and works that have shaped the national character; WHEREAS, the life, works and writing of Jose Rizal, particularly his novels Noli Me Tangere and El Filibusterismo, are a constant and inspiring source of patriotism with which the minds of the youth, especially during their formative and decisive years in school, should be suffused; WHEREAS, all educational institutions are under the supervision of, and subject to regulation by the State, and all schools are enjoined to develop moral character, personal discipline, civic conscience and to teach the duties of citizenship; Now, therefore, SECTION 1. Courses on the life, works and writings of Jose Rizal, particularly his novel Noli Me Tangere and El Filibusterismo, shall be included in the curricula of all schools, colleges and universities, public or private: Provided, That in the collegiate courses, the original or unexpurgated editions of the Noli Me Tangere and El Filibusterismo or their English translation shall be used as basic texts. The Board of National Education is hereby authorized and directed to adopt forthwith measures to implement and carry out the provisions of this Section, including the writing and printing of appropriate primers, readers, and textbooks. The Board shall, within sixty (60) days from the effectivity of this Act, promulgate rules and regulations, including those of a disciplinary nature, to carry out and enforce the provisions of this Act. The Board shall promulgate rules and regulations providing for the exemption of students for reasons of religious belief stated in a sworn written statement, from the requirement of the provision contained in the second part of the first paragraph of this section; but not from taking the course provided for in the first part of said paragraph. Said rules and regulations shall take effect thirty (30) days after their publication in the Official Gazette. SECTION 2. It shall be obligatory on all schools, colleges, and universities to keep in their libraries an adequate number of copies of the original and unexpurgated editions of the Noli Me Tangere and El Filibusterismo, as well as of Rizal’s other works and biography. The said unexpurgated editions of the Noli Me Tangere and El Filibusterismo or their translations in English as well as other writings of Rizal shall be included in the list of approved books for required reading in all public or private schools, colleges and universities. 01 Handout 1 *Property of STI  [email protected] Page 1 of 5  GE1804 The Board of National Education shall determine the adequacy of the number of books, depending upon the enrollment of the school, college, or university. SECTION 3. The Board of National Education shall cause the translation of the Noli Me Tangere and El Filibusterismo, as well as other writings of Jose Rizal into English, Tagalog and the principal Philippine dialects; cause them to be printed in cheap, popular editions; and cause them to be distributed, free of charge, to persons desiring to read them, through the Purok organizations and Barrio Councils throughout the country. SECTION 4. Nothing in this Act shall be construed as amendment or repealing section nine hundred twenty- seven of the Administrative Code, prohibiting the discussion of religious doctrines by public school teachers and other person engaged in any public school. SECTION 5. The sum of three hundred thousand pesos is hereby authorized to be appropriated out of any fund not otherwise appropriated in the National Treasury to carry out the purposes of this Act. SECTION 6. This Act shall take effect upon its approval. Approved: June 12, 1956 Published in the Official Gazette, Vol. 52, No. 6, p. 2971 in June 1956. THE TRIALS OF THE RIZAL BILL A Summary By Dr. Jose B. Laurel, Jr. The Republic Act No. 1425, also known as the Rizal Law, has been in much controversy because of the dichotomy it has wrought. It sparked debates and feelings of bitterness and recrimination in the Congress during its inception. When it was filed on April 3, 1956 by the Committee on Education, a former committee in the Legislation, under the name Senate Bill No. 438, only three (3) lawmakers earned its support, such as Senators Jose P. Laurel and Claro M. Recto, seeing it as a non-controversial measure. As told by Senator Laurel, the aim of the bill was to disseminate the ideas and ideals of Jose Rizal, known to be a great patriot, by reading his works, especially the two (2) famous novels, in their original and uncensored versions, translated in English, Filipino, and native dialects. The Catholic church members inside and out of the Congress completely disagree, however. They deemed that the novels contain elements that discredit the religion and its tenets. They challenged its compulsive nature to be a violation of religious freedom. The principal basis of this opposition stemmed from an alleged Pastoral Letter which branded the novels as heretical and impious, despite praising Rizal. The letter's authenticity was questioned, but it was certain that it has sown discord among the people. This led to its first debate on April 23, 1956, headed by Sen. Laurel and supported by Senator Claro M. Recto, with Senators Mariano J. Cuenco, Francisco Rodrigo, and Decoroso Rosales leading the opposition. Recto noted that the bill' objective was to foster appreciation of Rizal's times and of the role he played in the eventual combat against Spanish tyranny. He noted that the novels did not pretend to teach religion or theology upon their conception, that Rizal aimed to have Filipinos become aware of their society and instill in them the national dignity, personal pride, and patriotism. And, if references to the misdeeds of the church and its ministers had been shown in the novels, it was then to shed light on what the country was back then -- Rizal simply narrated what had been. 01 Handout 1 *Property of STI  [email protected] Page 2 of 5  GE1804 Meanwhile, Senators Cuenco, Rodrigo, and Rosales, with the support of the Catholic church and its members, spearheaded the argument that by compelling someone to read that is against their religious convictions is no different from requiring someone to salute the flag, which, based from the US Supreme Court back then, was an impairment both of freedom of speech and freedom of religion. Also, they invoked the need for unity, which would be upended by the signing of the bill. Noting that them being Catholics do no mean they were recalcitrant to the country, Sen. Rodrigo remarked that the majority of Filipinos, "… have two (2) great loves: their country and their faith. These two loves are not conflicting loves. They are harmonious affections, like the love of a child for his father and for his mother." Sen. Rodrigo also implored that nationalism and religion, government and church, must not be in conflict with one another. This conflict, however, reached the House of Representatives as early as April 19, 1956 when Congressman Jacobo Z. Gonzales introduced another bill, House Bill No. 5561, which was an identical copy of Senate Bill No. 438. It also had its struggles similar to the senate bill. However, due to Senator Laurel creating a substitute bill in place of the original senate bill, more debates and amendments were made. This led to the condition imposed that if a student's beliefs were to be compromised while taking the subject, then they can be granted an exemption by the university. Since then, the bill was to be adjourned sine die (i.e. in indefinite time) since it has to be printed and disseminated to the entire Congress within three days. The opponents sought to use this technicality to deter the bill further, forcing Cong. Gonzales to have the Bureau of Printing reprint the Laurel substitute bill and give out as many copies as possible, changing only the bill's number and the Chamber of origin -- all the while the actual Senate bill was in its third reading. This was done to ensure that both Laurel and Gonzales bills would not be tampered in any way. Both Senate Bill No. 438 and House Bill 5561 were approved upon third reading on May 17. When the bill has been finalized and signed, it was agreed upon that the Board of National Education (now called the Commission on Higher Education) shall be responsible in implementing this Act to the public and private universities and colleges. THE RIZAL LAW AND THE CATHOLIC HIERARCHY By Renato Constantino Recto's next big fight was over the Rizal bill. Though this did not directly, affect our colonial relations with America, his championship this measure was an integral part of his nationalism. It was his belief that the reading of Rizal's novels would strengthen the Filipinism of the youth and foster patriotism. Recto was the original author of the bill which would make Rizal's Noli Me Tangere and El Filibusterismo compulsory reading in all universities and colleges. Reported out by the committee on education, it was sponsored by Senator Laurel, committee chairman. The measure immediately ran into determined opposition from the Catholic hierarchy spearheaded in the Senate by Senators Decoroso Rosales, brother of Archbishop, now Cardinal Cuenco; and Francisco Rodrigo, former president of Catholic Action. Their argument was that the bill would violate freedom of conscience and religion. The Catholic hierarchy even issued a pastoral letter detailing its objections to the bill and enjoining Catholics to oppose it. Despite the fact that public hearings had already been conducted, Rodrigo proposed that the education committee hold a closed-door conference with the Catholic hierarchy to search for a solution to the dispute. Laurel and the other supporters bill rejected the proposal inasmuch as the public hearing had already afforded the church the opportunity to be heard fully. Recto said that Father Jesus Cavanna of the Paulist Fathers, who had written the pastoral letter, had himself testified against the bill during the public hearing. 01 Handout 1 *Property of STI  [email protected] Page 3 of 5  GE1804 A closed-door conference was obviously one of the means by which the hierarchy hoped to exert pressure against the bill/ Lobbies from various Catholic organizations as well as the clerics themselves were very active in the Senate throughout the discussion of the Rizal bill. These clerics, many of them foreigners were seeking conferences with the senators to convince them to oppose the Rizal bill. A more organized campaign against the bill was launched under the auspices of the Catholic Action of Manila. Its first activity was a symposium and open forum in which two announcements were made: first, that the Sentinel, official organ of Philippine Catholic Action would henceforth be published daily instead of weekly, and second, that Filipino Catholics would be urged to write their congressman and senators asking them to "kill" the Rizal bill. Speakers at the symposium offered a variety of objections to the measure. Fr. Jesus Cavanna, introduced as an authority on Rizal, said that the novels "belong to the past" and it would be "harmful" to read them because they presented a "false picture" of the condition in the country at that time. He described the Noli Me Tangere as an "attack on the clergy" and said its object was to put to ridicule the Catholic Faith." He alleged that the novel was not really patriotic because out of 333 pages only 25 contained patriotic passages while 120 were devoted to anti-Catholic attacks. Jesus Paredes, a radio commentator, declared that since some parts of the novels had been declared "objectionable matter" by the hierarchy, Catholics had the right to refuse to read them so as not to "endanger their salvation." Narciso Pimentel, Jr„ another radio commentator, offered the interesting speculation that the bill was Recto's revenge against the Catholic voters who, together with Magsaysay, were responsible for his poor showing in the 1955 senatorial elections. Against this background of bitter opposition, one can more fully appreciate the integrity and courage of Recto in championing the bill. He stubbornly persisted in his defense, unmindful of the fact that he was antagonizing a vital electoral element. In a three-hour speech on the Senate floor, he attacked the hierarchy of the Catholic church for its pastoral letter. He declared that the pastoral letter had been "more severe" in its condemnation of the novels than a committee of Spanish Dominican priests whose findings had resulted in Rizal's execution. In support of his contention, he brought up the fact that the pastoral letter had cited 170 passages from the Noli and 50 from the Fili which it regarded as attacks on the doctrines and dogmas of the Catholic church. He said he could understand the foreign clergy taking such a position but he found it difficult to understand how Filipino bishops "who will not be bishops now were it not for Rizal" could adopt such a stand when Rizal exalted the Filipino clergy in his novels. Rodrigo interpellated the speaker and in the process found himself the butt of Recto' sailies, to the delight of the gallery. Rodrigo said he had read the books at twenty after securing special dispensation from church authorities. Having taken advanced scholastic philosophy and religion, he declared his faith was then firm enough. "But I cannot allow my son who is now 16 to read the Noli Me Tangere and the El Filibusterismo lest he lose his faith," Rodrigo said. He proposed instead compulsory reading of footnoted editions of the novels. Commenting on the opening paragraph of the pastoral letter which praised Rizal as our greatest hero, Recto charged that these laudatory phrases were being used "to hide the real intentions of the pastoral which is to separate the people from Rizal." When Rodrigo agreed to his appeal to the people to scrutinize the pastoral letter, Rodrigo said this would arouse the people to oppose the measure. Recto retorted that on the contrary the reading of the hierarchy's letter "should open the eyes of the people to the real enemies of Rizal and true nationalism. While others were beginning to yield to pressure, no threats could frighten Recto. In reply to a threat that Catholic schools would close should the Rizal bill pass, Recto went on record in favor of the nationalization of all schools. He contended that nationalization might be just the step needed to foster a more vibrant nationalism among Filipinos. He did not really believe the threat. "They are making too much profit which they can ill-afford to give up," he said. 01 Handout 1 *Property of STI  [email protected] Page 4 of 5  GE1804 Tempers flared during the continuous debates and opponents attacked each other with greater virulence. Recto was in the thick of the fight, his tirades against the church growing ever more bitter. On May 3, in a privilege speech, he recalled that during the days of Rizal, religious orders dominated the government. "Is this a new attempt to deliver the State to the Church?" he asked. Reacting to a Philippine News Service report that Bishop Manuel Yap had warned that legislators who voted for the Rizal bill would be "punished" in the next election, Recto took the floor for the seventh time to warn against church interference in state affairs. He branded Yap as "the moderately Torquemada." Finally, on May 12, the month-old controversy ended with unanimous approval of a substitute measure authored by Senator Laurel and based on the proposals Senators Roseller T. Lim and Emmanuel Pelaez. The bill as passed was clearly an accommodation to the objections of the Catholic hierarchy and Laurel said as much. Though it still provided that the basic texts in the collegiate courses should be the unexpurgated editions of the two novels, it was now possible for students to be exempted from using the unexpurgated editions on grounds of religious belief. Opponents of the original Recto version jubilantly claimed a "complete victory." Proponents felt they had at least gained something. After the entire debacle, it was July of 1956 when Recto eyed American president Richard M. Nixon and criticized him due to their intentions of owning operating military bases in the country. REFERENCES: Constantino, R. (1969). The Rizal law and the Catholic hierarchy. The Making of a Filipino: A Story of Philippine Colonial Politics Laurel, J.B. Jr. (1960). The trials of the Rizal bill. Historical Bulletin Official Gazette of the Republic of the Philippines (n.d.). Republic act no. 1425. https://www.officialgazette.gov.ph/1956/06/12/republic-act-no-1425/ 01 Handout 1 *Property of STI  [email protected] Page 5 of 5  GE1804 Jose Rizal and the Invention of a National Literature A Summary By Resil B. Mojares Jose Rizal, as a nineteen-year old student, won first prize in an essay-writing contest in Manila. His alleged winning piece, entitled El Consejo de los Dioses (i.e. The Council of the Gods), entails Homer, Virgil, and Cervantes' reputations being cross-examined by the Greek gods in Mt. Olympus. They were arguing who among the three (3) literary figures was the best in terms of art and virtue, whose musings led to them declaring Cervantes as a winner, whose works were centered around social reform and the rule of reason. Rizal, as Minerva, narrated that Cervantes' work, Don Quixote, was chosen as the winning piece because it is "… the magic hand that strongly guides human passions," and "the whip which punishes and corrects without bloodshed." With Cervantes, Rizal noted that, "Truth came back to occupy its place, announcing a new era to the world, then corrupted." Perhaps it was viewed as pro-Spain at first glance because it was written to reflect Rizal's classical learning during his time. However, a closer introspection can imply that he was subversive as well -- Rizal could be implying that the Philippines needed its Cervantes when he [Cervantes] praised the Spaniard for what he did in a society ruled by "the obscurity of intelligence", "… afflicted by a kind of madness, made more dismal and frantic when stupid authors with feverish imaginations write about it; bad taste was propagated everywhere and time was uselessly spent in pernicious reading …" This essay, composed and submitted in 1880, was composed by Rizal during the early days of the Propaganda. This movement was the response of the Filipinos for the tragic 1872 events, particularly the Cavite Mutiny and the GomBurZa Execution. It waned for a while, but later resurged after 1880 when Marcelo Hilario del Pilar relaunched it. Rizal himself was affected by these events. During the 1880s, the Propaganda was then an "assimilationist" movement that aimed for the reformation, autonomy, and equity among Filipinos and Spaniards -- a recurring theme among concerned peninsular and creole authors in Manila. Rizal attempted in his essay to stand on equal grounds with Spaniards: writing in Spanish, using a Spanish classic, and applying European discourse in his work. However, his attempts were rebuffed -- the Spanish jurors instead chose to deface it by referring it as a work by a Spaniard, not by an indio. What sets Rizal -- and the ilustrados -- from the other critics was their use of literary works as media for their propaganda. Dominated in the scene by a handful of notable peninsulares and Creoles such as Jose felipe del Pan, Francisco de Paula Entrala, and Antonio Vasquez de Aldana, their open-minded and self-conscious views were often lauded due to their racial privilege. Their objectives being pro-Spain, they imagined themselves as the forerunners of unity and enlightenment in the metropolis. However, their influence ever extended only beyond their local Spanish community. They have acquired "disciples", such as Isabelo de los Reyes and Pascual Poblete, who initially shared their ideas of modernity, but eventually pushed them in the other direction. Literature as a medium for propaganda did not guarantee safe scrutiny: it is a medium full of struggles, innovation, and challenges to authority. Thus, the dichotomous works about Philippine nationalism had always been evident. Views such as assimilationism and separatism were noted -- reflecting the complex and dynamic continuum of ideas inextricably existing, as well as the views of reformation and revolution and pre-nationalism and nationalism. Rizal, in 1880, stood at the forefront where the perspective change from pre-nationalism into true nationalism, forging a path to a "national" literature. Rizal tried different things that would incorporate and highlight the Filipino culture: from researching and writing his own version of national history to composing and creating a lexicon of all known dialects in the country, starting from T'boli up to the well-known ones such as Tagalog and Cebuano -- all in the name of 01 Handout 2 *Property of STI  [email protected] Page 1 of 4  GE1804 asserting difference in culture. He knew that local languages are cultural resources for national unity. He and the early nationalists knew that their propaganda mission was an ambivalent one. They were claiming that the Filipinos can stand equally with Spaniards, the benefactors, whose myriad of local languages can be utilized as an autonomous state, much like Galicia and Catalonia in the main peninsula. However, they also noted that the Filipinos weren't also welcoming to the steady encroachment of said benefactors, as the Spanish literary space could spell the erasure of cultural autonomy in the country -- one of the vital components to become a separate nation-state. They knew of the importance of being "internationalized", and how it could help natives step up and join the "world-system", allowing them to engage with other external power because their way of life has been contaminated and vitalized by foreign elements. Because of this, Rizal noted that people's literature should be grounded in their history, acting as a store of social, psychological, and linguistic resources. He added that, in literature, writing is an exercise in authority -- and that Filipinos must be active participants in literature-writing and must exercise command over it. However, he also pointed out that literature can only grow through a vital conversation with the rest of the world. In this perspective, he treated Noli Me Tangere as a window to his "present time", while El Filibusterismo is a glimpse of the "future" that Noli Me Tangere might head towards. The Rizal Bill of 1956: Horacio de la Costa and the Bishops An Abridged Summary By John N. Schumacher, SJ Several drafts of a pastoral letter, written by Horacio de la Costa for the bishops in 1952, survive. De la Costa's Rizal emerges as an outstanding moral figure whose devotion to the truth made his novels a source of moral as well as social and political wisdom for Filipinos. Although subsequent drafts show he was forced by an unknown interlocutor to temper this view, he retained an essentially positive reading of the novels. In the face of Recto's 1956 bill imposing the novels, however, Archbishop (Abp.) Rufino J. Santos commissioned Father (Fr.) Jesus Cavanna to draft a new "Statement." Beginning with a few positive paragraphs from De la Costa, the "Statement" then absolutely condemned the novels and forbade their reading, a prohibition that proved quite ineffective. The drafts of De la Costa show that there was within the Catholic Church a totally different attitude toward Rizal, whose legacy the church could embrace. There are five (5) known versions of Horacio de la Costa's pastoral letter: the original draft (Draft A), the carbon copies of their predecessors (Draft B), the first revision (Draft C), the abridged version (Draft D), and the copy of the "Statement", where De la Costa underlined everything that was omitted by the Catholic church (Draft E). Draft A painted Jose Rizal as a true patriot and a compassionate Filipino who devoted his time to "dispel the ignorance of his people, raise their moral standards, and combat the injustices and inequality under which they labored." However, he also noted that Rizal was also a flawed individual, calling out how the national hero criticized the defects from his countrymen, because he noted that Rizal was only driven to tell the truth. De la Costa noted several propositions in Draft A, which were as follows: 1. Rizal, by universal consent, is first among Filipinos who have distinguished themselves for service to their country. 2. For he possessed to an eminent degree those moral virtues that make up true patriotism. 3. He devoted himself to dispelling the ignorance of his people, raising their moral standards, and combating the injustices and inequality under which they labored. 01 Handout 2 *Property of STI  [email protected] Page 2 of 4  GE1804 4. His love for his country did not blame all ills on strangers, but proclaimed that the Filipino people were also victims of their own vices and defects. 5. That is why he could say of the Noli that "no one can dispute the objectivity of my narrative." 6. His devotion to the truth gave him a clear vision. No Filipino before or after him has understood so well or so memorably expressed the moral, political, and social principles upon which the peace and prosperity of our country must be based. 7. We must applaud in principle that the writings of Rizal be more read and even introduced into our schools. 8. Apart from the formal teaching of religion, there is no more effective means to develop in our youth a sane and constructive nationalism; the moral qualities of justice, responsibility, and integrity; and the civic virtue of subordinating individual ambitions to the common good. 9. Rizal declared he did not intend to attack the Catholic Church itself, but the abuses in it. 10. We must not allow the enemies of the Catholic Church to tear texts from their context to imply the opposite. 11. Rizal's statement is borne out by a critical examination of the novels, according to their nature as fiction. 12. He wrote about fictional crimes of fictional characters, which had a basis in fact. 13. In doing this, Rizal did not attack the Catholic Church itself; rather he did it a service. 14. As to the facts, the church awaits the judgment of history. 15. But since the history of the nineteenth century is imperfectly known, this induces many to take a fictional narrative like Rizal's novels as a substitute for the facts. 16. This is the main danger we foresee in their indiscriminate and undirected reading, especially by the young, who are apt to take as literally true whatever they see in print. 17. Young people cannot be expected to make the distinctions between what the persons in a novel say in accordance with their character, nor between what is said ironically and seriously stated, between the condemnation of an individual and the condemnation of the organization to which he belongs. 18. Therefore, it is our judgment that, while Rizal's novels should be made familiar to our students, the editions should be accurate translations from the Spanish text, properly annotated by a scholar familiar with the ecclesiastical and civil history of Rizal's period, and should ordinarily be commented on and explained by the teacher in charge. 19. There is nothing in the novels that constitutes a danger to the faith and morals of a mature, well-instructed Catholic. 20. Rather, they contain much that is in conformity with the Gospel and right reason, and will serve to develop in our people a wise and generous love of their native land. From these propositions it is obvious that for De la Costa, as shown in Draft A, Rizal is the national hero not just because he was executed by the Spaniards, nor because he analyzed the problems of the nation with perspicacity, nor because he enunciated political and social principles for the good of the nation. He did all these, but he was also a moral teacher and even a moral example (nos. 2, 3, 6, 8). In Draft C, there is a conscious effort to deny to Rizal the moral role, so prominent in Draft A, and which played so important a part in his life. He was no longer said to have devoted himself "to raising the moral standards" of his people. His novels were said to develop in the youth "a sane and constructive nationalism" but not "the moral qualities of justice, responsibility, and integrity." The whole long passage on Rizal's "unswerving devotion to the truth" is omitted. So too is the quotation from Rizal that had been adduced in support of that characterization, where he insisted on the objectivity of his narrative with regard to the Noli. Since he submitted the third draft, Fr. Cavanna utilized the first six paragraphs of Draft C as his opening in his official "Statement" before making significant changes to it, to De la Costa's disappointment. He then received a copy of this "Statement" and highlighted everything that has been changed. Over the course of the translation process from Draft C to the "Statement", Rafael Palma's Epistolario Rizalino was used. 01 Handout 2 *Property of STI  [email protected] Page 3 of 4  GE1804 There, he deliberately added in the translation the phrase "rituals and superstitions" in the passage from Rizal's correspondence with Ferdinand Blumentritt, where it originally stated, "I wanted to hit the friars, but since the friars use religion not only as a shield, but also as a weapon, protection, citadel, fortress, armor, etc., I as therefore forced to attack their false and superstitious religion in order to combat the enemy who hid behind this religion.... Why should I not attack this religion with all my strength, if it is the prime cause of our sufferings and our tears? The responsibility lies on those who misuse its name. Christ did the same with the religion of his country, which the Pharisees had so misused." REFERENCES: Mojares, R.B. (n.d.). Jose Rizal and the invention of a national literature. National Library of Spain. http://www.bne.es/es/Micrositios/Exposiciones/Rizal/resources/documentos/rizal_estudio_03.pdf Schumacher, J.N. (n.d.). The Rizal bill of 1956: Horacio de la Costa and the bishops. Ateneo de Manila University - Philippine Studies 01 Handout 2 *Property of STI  [email protected] Page 4 of 4  GE1804 Hard to Imagine An Abridged Version By Benedict Anderson Rizal had always been regarded as a national hero, his works worthy of scrutiny and analysis. His two (2) greatest novels (i.e. his chefs d'oeuvre) were Noli Me Tangere and El Filibusterismo -- instrumental in awakening the Filipino nationalism and patriotism. However, he has written them in Spanish. So, when the American occupation took place, only a handful knew how to speak creole and fluent Spanish since American slowly replaced the former as the lingua franca of the country. Thus, when needed to be translated, the known translators at that time, such as Leon Ma. Guerrero, only had to work with what they had because both novels became inaccessible (this was also noted by Doreen Fernandez in a different article). With it, came the bitter rivalry between factions in the national government. On the early run of the Rizal bill, opposition was fierce. With it came the competition for translating the novels, where Guerrero enters the scene. Leon Ma. Guerrero was then an ambassador to the court of St. James, whose translations were prized among many. But he did not submit his work later due to the low cash prize, instead giving it to The Manila Times for publication. Since then, as Doreen Fernandez noted, Guerrero's translation became "the only translation anybody reads now." By analyzing Guerrero's translations, word-for-word with the original manuscripts, it is clear that it has been distorted in interesting ways. These perceived "distortions" were, in his own words, an "attempt" to make the novel "palatable to a new generation of English-speaking Filipinos, and give it, beyond them, a wider audience among other English-speaking peoples on the centenary of Rizal's book. In his own new version, he tried to give "the reader 'the ease of original composition,' the Noli as Rizal might have written it if he had been writing in English for the present generation of Filipinos." Guerrero observed that Rizal's writing style might be unappealing to the modern ear, as Spanish is a language that can be more sentimental and florid (i.e. complicated) than modern English. The Introduction By Caroline Hau In the mid-1950s, Jose Rizal was still a hot topic sixty years after his execution regarding the inclusion of the study of his life and works in the curricula of all public and private schools, colleges, and universities. Despite that the hero was well-known, his life was largely unread. The Rizal bill's aim was to give appreciation to the life of the national hero and analyze his works, particularly his well-known novels of Noli Me Tangere and El Filibusterismo. However, the lawmakers had to confront the dangers in reading Rizal. First, to be read means that these will be read in different ways; and second, different ways of reading are ideological in nature, thus it can be political. His writings can be interpreted in different ways, depending on the context being picked up as it was being read. This debate stemmed from the Catholic church's insistence that Rizal's harsh criticisms at friar abuses, simony (i.e. the act of paying the church to do sacred roles and/or things, such as sacraments), and other practices were the rants of a heretic. As they defended, Rizal's actions and novels must stay in the past because it talks about the past. As written by Teodoro Locsin, Sr., "Many of the passages in Rizal's novels which the Catholic hierarchy finds so shocking, so objectionable, would take on a new, a more comfortable meaning if read in the context of 01 Handout 3 *Property of STI  [email protected] Page 1 of 2  GE1804 the novels, against the background of the life of the hero. "These are the conditions that estranged Rizal from the church," a Catholic instructor might begin a course on the writer. "These conditions no longer exist. The abuses are gone. In his place you might have felt as he did, written what he wrote." REFERENCES: Anderson, B. (2004). 11 Hard to imagine. In Spectre of comparisons: Nationalisms, Southeast Asia, and the world, 253-47. Ateneo de Manila University Press. Hau, C. (2000). Introduction. In Necessary fictions: Philippine literature and the nation. https://archive.org/details/necessaryfictions 01 Handout 3 *Property of STI  [email protected] Page 2 of 2  GE1804 Imagined Communities An Abridged Version By Benedict Anderson INTRODUCTION Ever since the Second World War ended, there has been a significant rise of national revolutions all over the world, particularly in countries in resistance to the idea of Marxism. As Eric Hobsbawm stated, Marxist movements and states have pushed to become national, in both form and substance -- that is, to be a nationalist -- that nothing suggests that this trend shall not continue. Nor is the tendency confined to the socialists. Simply put, it is a nationalistic idea that has its intentions steeped in truth but has flaws that can be exploited to lead them to ruin. Like what happened with 'old' nations, the idea of nationalism within its territories became their undoing as, one by one, these territories become nations on their own, separate from their 'old' nation. This leads to the boundaries on the definitions of what a nation, nationality, and nationalism blurring with each other. Three (3) paradoxes often challenge the theory of nationalism: 1. The objective modernity of nations to the historian's perspective versus (vs.) their subjective antiquity in the nationalist's perspective; 2. The formal universality of nationality as a socio-cultural concept (i.e., everyone can have a nationality) vs. the irremediable particularity of its concrete manifestations (i.e., nationality is sui generis or uniquely one's own, where others can't just become a part of it); and 3. The perceived 'political' power of nationalism vs. the philosophical poverty, even the incoherence of it. This makes the study of this concept difficult because one tends to unconsciously tell it concretely that nationalism exists as an ideology, alongside 'fascism' and 'liberalism.' Thus, Anderson defines nationalism as an 'imagined' political community, having its limitations and sovereignty. It is 'imagined' because the constituents of a given locality may have the idea that they are all connected despite never hearing, meeting, nor knowing each other well -- but it is not inherently made up. A nation is imagined as limited because every nation, whatever the size, always has its borders limiting their scope; it is also imagined as sovereign because this marks the end of dynastic rule, and the masses took upon themselves to destroy this royal right via revolutions, as spearheaded by enlightenment. Finally, it is imagined as a community because everyone has a deep sense of comradeship -- so deep that they are willing to die for the other members, regardless of inequalities and exploitations that can prevail in each of them. This poses a question about the idea of nationalism: "What makes the shrunken imaginings of recent history (of at least more than two centuries) generate such colossal sacrifices?" The answers may lie in the cultural roots of nationalism. CULTURAL ROOTS Humans lead a life of necessity and chance, aware of the inescapability and uncertainty it brings -- genetic heritage, gender, physical capacities, and language, among other things. Religion, when not used for domination and exploitation, has been merited with existential questions. Their imaginative responses can 02 Handout 1 *Property of STI  [email protected] Page 1 of 3  GE1804 attest to the enduring existence of various religions to the overwhelming bulk of human suffering. Each existentialist question is met with an attempt from the religious, sometimes with silence. At the same time, religion also explains why fatalities are transformed into continuity to provide an obscure connection to immortality. These seemingly unconnected ideas are brought because they provide a vague connotation to nationalism -- which began when man started to question religion with secular thinking and rationality. The quest to know why suffering exists provided two (2) points: 1. Nothing makes fatality more arbitrary; thus, the idea of paradise disintegrates. 2. Nothing makes another style of continuity more necessary; thus, the absurdity of salvation is observed. This pushed people to provide a secular transformation of fatality into continuity, of uncertainty into meaning. As Anderson stated, "… few things were (are) better suited to this end than an idea of a nation. If nation-states are widely conceded to be 'new' and 'historical,' the nations to which they give political expression always loom out of an immemorial past, and, still more important, glide into a limitless future." Therefore, the idea of nationalism does not actually bear from the erosion of religion, nor that this erosion requires complex thought processes to give meaning. Even still, it also does not, historically speaking, 'supersedes' religion. It can be assumed that the idea of nationality can be best explained by somehow aligning it, not with political ideologies, but with large cultural systems that preceded it. Thus, the two relevant cultural systems present are religious communities and dynastic realms. In religion, no matter what language used in conversing it to others, the idea of a sacred and language and written script is vital for it to be understood. As an example, if a Maguindanaon Muslim met a Berber in Mecca, oblivious to their spoken languages, they still understand each other through their use of their ideographs, because the sacred texts of their religion exist in classical Arabic. With this, written Arabic functions like Chinese logograms to create a community based on signs -- creating a link that is considered cosmically central to these communities. However, the idea of having a sacred language alienates those who do not understand it. Thus, to those outsiders who want to "join" in this new community, they have to be indoctrinated to their language, at least to become less of an outsider and to become halfway "acceptable." As stated by the 19th-century Colombian liberal Pedro Fermin de Vargas, "To expand our agriculture, it would be necessary to hispanize our Indians. Their idleness, stupidity, and indifference towards normal endeavors cause one to think that they come from a degenerate race which deteriorates in proportion to the distance from its origin... it would be very desirable that the Indians be extinguished, by miscegenation with the whites, declaring them free of tribute and other charges, and giving them private property in land." As clear as it is spoken, indoctrinating outsiders into a new way of living "eradicates" the already-established national identity of the colonized people, and they were better off being transgressed and manipulated by the colonizers to "progress" their civilization than to outright kill them. After all, an indoctrinated outsider will do anything to be a part of this new circle. CREOLE PIONEERS The term "creole" has two (2) working definitions: (1) it refers to a person with mixed European and black descent -- by black, it means non-Europeans; and (2) it refers to the formation of a mother tongue based from the combination of two languages from its early pidgin (i.e., crude) state. For a place to become truly creole, there must be an inherent intermingling of European and native influences, such as in the case of Cuba, Puerto Rico, the United States, Mexico, and the Philippines, to name a few. To these mentioned countries, all of them have been influenced by Spain. 02 Handout 1 *Property of STI  [email protected] Page 2 of 3  GE1804 Creole communities had experienced strife among their foreign settlers, partly because they fear of being classified in the lower classes in their communities and strive to be in the middle class. This "inequality" seen by the "indoctrinated" people drove them to fight for their rights to live on their land, particularly in Spain-controlled colonies. This is in part of the two reasons that was happening on the main peninsula: 1. Madrid tightened its control to its colonies; and 2. Liberal ideas began to spread during the period of Enlightenment in Europe. REFERENCES: Anderson, B. (1991). Creole pioneers. In Imagined communities: Reflections on the origins and spread of nationalism, 47-65. Anvil Publishing, Inc. Anderson, B. (1991). Cultural roots. In Imagined communities: Reflections on the origins and spread of nationalism, 9-36. Anvil Publishing, Inc. Anderson, B. (1991). Introduction. In Imagined communities: Reflections on the origins and spread of nationalism, 1-7. Anvil Publishing, Inc. 02 Handout 1 *Property of STI  [email protected] Page 3 of 3  GE1804 Filipinos and their Revolution: Events, Discourse, and Historiography An Abridged Version By Reynaldo Ileto BERNARDO CARPIO: AWIT AND REVOLUTION The Philippine Revolution, despite being one of the most famous events in national history, is still muddled with questions due to some problems regarding its conception. One such problem is the relationship between the educated ilustrados and the inarticulate "masses." The ilustrados were the ones who left most documents behind while the "masses" were the grunts and pawns in this revolution. In the pre-colonial Philippine society, the principalia (i.e., gentry) has a patron-client relationship with their people, which allowed them to draw and mobilize war troops. But that is not the case in the revolution, where the common folk offered both body and soul not just to the individual personalities behind the revolution, but of their conceptions of the meaning of the "times." As written by John Schumacher, the ilustrados created the basis for a Filipino history that would undermine and overthrow the Spanish narrative that mandated Filipino loyalty to Spain under moral sanctions. It seemed powerful enough to drive them to establish a nation, but it is unclear how it could impulsively break the ties provided of utang-na-loob (i.e., debt of gratitude) to Spain -- spanning three centuries of rule over the indios. After all, utang-na-loob is based on remembering the past. And the revolution changed all that. Spain has imposed censorship and other forms of intellectual repression during their rule. Because of these, the "indoctrinated" turned to reading religious tracts, such as the pasyon, corridos, and the awit, a form of metrical romances. One (1) famous awit, aside from Francisco Balagtas' more popular Florante at Laura, is the story of Bernardo Carpio, written in the Historia Famosa ni Bernardo Carpio, which is based on the legend of the Spanish hero of the same name. This tale reveals a popular perception of the past where Filipino nationalists attached their separatist views. Famously known for its unknown authorship, it has the same formula of being based in a European protagonist (which, in this case, is Spanish) fighting some Moorish enemies. It was greenlit by the friars after being filtered out from Mexico, whose negative views on the Muslim populace earned them certain control over the "indoctrinated," patronizing Spain and Catholicism further. These forms of literary work slowly replaced the indigenous literature that these Spanish priests destroyed soon after. Soon, the native priests and laymen quickly drew to them and instantly became a "blockbuster" of sorts. So powerful and popular was the impact of this awit that it was said the average indio have dreamt of emulating chivalrous knights fighting in the Crusade or saving damsels in distress, knew more about Charlemagne, the Seven Peers of France, and the destruction of Troy rather than the Philippine rajahs and the destruction of Manila caused by these colonizers. However, despite the popularity of the awit, the revolution still occurred. Contrary to some ilustrados' belief that these so-called pobres y ignorantes were enamored in fairy tales, these same clueless masses formed the bulk of the revolution, fighting both Spain and the United States. To understand this a bit, it is time to analyze what this awit is about. The original author of the Historia Famosa narrated that he cherry-picked some details in the Spanish story of Bernardo Carpio and proceeded in this manner: The king and queen of Spain have died, leaving their young son Alfonso and daughter Jimena behind. Don Sancho, the count of Cerdeña, served as an acting ruler until Alfonso comes of age. When Alfonso became king, he remained unmarried, while Don Sancho became the royal adviser and commanding general. His friend, Don Rubio, was the captain of the army. 02 Handout 2 *Property of STI  [email protected] Page 1 of 5  GE1804 Jimena, upon reaching adulthood, had smitten both Sancho and Rubio, their inner being (called loob) confused with their feelings. Jimena rebuked Rubio's advances, "hardening" his loob, and became treacherous and selfish. Sancho, a man capable of love, won Jimena's heart by professing his life for her. This heartfelt confession resembles the kundiman of the Tagalogs. Typical in the 19th-century awit, a Moro envoy appeared to challenge Alfonso and his throne. The king entrusted Sancho to win the war but warned him to never meet Jimena. Defying this order, he sneaked into her room and professed his farewell. Jimena, with her confused loob overpowered with his words, surrendered herself to him. Sancho indeed won the war in a gruesome manner, but Rubio was already aware that both lovers met. He plotted his revenge to Sancho by manipulating Alfonso into having his sister be married to the Count of Barcelona and cement an alliance. Sancho heard this and furiously cornered his friend. Fearing for his life, his loob filled with fear and shame, Rubio backed down -- but not until he heard Jimena giving birth. Reporting it to Alfonso, the king swore to ruin the lives of his sister and his adviser. The event forced Sancho to take the infant Bernardo and flee to Cerdeña. The author took this to narrate Jimena's grief: Alin cayang loob na sacdal nang tigas What loob however hard alin namang puso ang hindi mabagbag, what heart would not be overcome by this na 'di malunusan at magdalang sindac and be saddened and struck with pain sa dalauang sintang ang loob ay tapat? for the two lovers with a pure loob? As they fled from Jimena's quarters, Sancho was attacked by Alfonso's men. When the infant cried, the king joined in the fray and accused Sancho of treachery. The former adviser knelt and begged for mercy, asking for his hand to wed Jimena. Alfonso, manipulative as he was, gave his word, but not before luring Sancho to visit the castle of Luna. Upon reaching the grounds, Sancho was chained and tortured him until he went blind. Lamenting at his pain and blindness, Sancho poured out his heart and soul in his monologue of being separated from Jimena and Bernardo. He ended it with an appeal to God to have pity on young Bernardo: At maquilala rin ang tunay na ina And may he eventually recognize at aco'i, gayon din na caniyang ama, his true mother and true father na cun siya Poon nama'i lumaqui na and when, Lord, he comes of age aco po, Dios co, nama'i maquilala. may he, Lord God, recognize me. Meanwhile, Rubio was entrusted to care for Bernardo and ordered him to withhold information on the child's parentage. Alfonso then threw his sister to a cloister, scolded her for the "sins" she committed, and forgot all the love and care he gave to her and told her that she had failed to show her utang-na-loob for things past. Much like Sancho, Alfonso left her fate to God's will. As Bernardo grew up, everybody noted upon his strength and stamina, always on the move: Na lalacad-lacad ualang pinupunta He walks and walks, but goes nowhere, ang loob at puso'i, parating balisa … his loob and heart always perturbed … With Bernardo's powers unstable, killing every animal he came across, people began to complain to Rubio. Bernardo asked his "father" to let him serve King Alfonso as a knight, but he was rebuffed by Rubio, telling him that he can't serve as a knight without his past. Realizing he was adopted, he broke down in tears, until Alfonso came along to see them. Showing pity to the young man, Bernardo was knighted and adopted by Alfonso. Killing Rubio in a duel, he was granted an army and became a general -- avenging his true father. Being adopted by Alfonso let Bernardo "refine" his powers through endless battles, with his rival being Emperor Carpio, whose territories were impenetrable even by the Twelve Peers of France. One day, Carpio's envoy, Veromilla, arrived at Spain and demanded vassalage from the king or else face invasion. Bernardo, in his usual antics, attacked the envoy: 02 Handout 2 *Property of STI  [email protected] Page 2 of 5  GE1804 At tuloy tinampal and upuang silla He struck the chair upon which the envoy sat ay agad natapon sampong embajada, causing him to fall over nagcadurog-durog nabaling lahat na everything was crushed, broken to pieces nangusap ang hari Bernardo'i sucat na. the king tried to calm Bernardo: Anac co, aniya, icao ay maglibang My so, he said, just take it easy at iya'i 'di utos sa leing alin man, to attack an envoy as you did na ang embajada ay malalabanan is against all the rules caya ang loob mo ay magpacahusay. so straighten out your loob. As Veromilla returned to his camp, Bernardo implored to Alfonso to give his blessing and let him singlehandedly fight the enemy. As he was given his blessing, Bernardo wasted no time and laid waste to Veromilla's camp, with the envoy fleeing in panic. Upon his return, he dedicated his victory to the king, attributing it to God's mercy (awa) and to fate. He asked for a single request in return: to tell him the identity of his true parents. Alfonso tried to deceive Bernardo by making a deal: defeat Emperor Carpio for the information. Knowing Caprio's reputation, he was sure that Bernardo would die. However, he miscalculated Bernardo's powers. Conquering Carpio's nineteen castles until the emperor himself surrendered, Bernardo now owned Carpio's territories. Upon returning to Spain once more, Bernardo Carpio, as his new name, was shocked to find a French prince ruling the kingdom, also named Bernardo. Alfonso, while on a hunting trip, explained that he temporarily relinquished the throne to the French to honor the "traditional ties" between the two kingdoms. Furious with this, Bernardo Carpio scorned Alfonso's response and despised him for not honoring their bargain. He angrily declared that he would find parents by force. And by force, he did -- killing the king's horses to prevent pursuit. On his way, he knelt in prayer to both God and the Virgin Mary when, in the act of deus ex machina, a letter floated down from the heavens, revealing his parents' whereabouts and additional instructions to do before finding them. He was told to cut the ties between Spain and France, then headed by Emperor Ludovico. The French cut ties with Spain, for fear of Bernardo Carpio's powers, which prompted Bernardo to visit the castle in Luna. Shifting the narrative to Sancho, lamenting in his own darkness and Alfonso's cruelty: Icao naman cay ana sintang anac co And you my beloved son na nababalitang Don Bernardo Carpio, who, I hear, is now called Don Bernardo Carpio tanang villa't reino ay nasasapit mo have passed through a multitude of towns and 'di mo na narrating ama mong si Sancho. kingdoms and yet have not found your father, Sancho. Ano baga bunso na giulio co't sinta 'di na siniyasat ang poon mo't ama, Why, my beloved child ang puso't loob mo'i 'di na nabalisa have you not searched for your lord, your father? sa nagdaralita't dito'i nagdurusa? Haven't your heart and loob been moved by my sufferings and laments? By some act of miracle, Bernardo found Sancho's prison cell, killed the guards, and freed his father. However, their reunion was bittersweet because Sancho succumbed to his injuries. Finally, legitimizing his parentage, he brought Sancho's corpse back to Alfonso's palace, where Jimena was to be wed. Only after the father, mother, and son reunited did Bernardo pretended to discover that Sancho died -- a fitting end to a tragic tale. However, the awit provided more. Declining the Spanish throne, Bernardo Carpio roamed the lands and punished idolaters. In his exile, he found a churchlike structure with two lion statues guarding the entrance. Kneeling in prayer outside the building, a lightning bolt struck and destroyed one of the lions. Angered with this, he threw the other statue away and vowed to destroy the lightning. Not far away from the church, he saw two (2) mountains slamming 02 Handout 2 *Property of STI  [email protected] Page 3 of 5  GE1804 against each other at regular intervals. Then an angel from heaven appeared and told Bernardo that the lightning had entered the mountain. The angel guided him towards the center of the two mountains. Bernardo stood in the middle and stopped the mountains from colliding using his strength. God, knowing that Bernardo was a powerful champion, blessed him with eternal life and cloaked him so that none may see him doing this colossal feat. This summarized awit is vital to the study of the revolution in two respects: (1) by appropriating a Spanish tale into a native retelling, it enabled a group of people without a history of themselves, as a people, to have imagined a lost past and a yearning for freedom from Spain; and (2) the awit's crafted structure enabled nationalists to use it as their medium for their political ideas. The first point argued that Bernardo Carpio's last journey alludes that Carpio represents the Philippines in the story and that he was the indigenous king of the Tagalogs trapped inside a mountain, struggling to break free and fight off the oppressors. This ideology of Bernardo Carpio earned the interest of Jose Rizal, who used the premise of the tale in El Filibusterismo as a plot device in a conversation about the possibility of an armed revolt. In this scene, Rizal was careful to separate the "mythical" from the "national" in his writings. The second point noted that to deal with the Historia Famosa and its connection with nationalist ideas, it must juxtapose the various aspects of the awit with nationalist writings. While Rizal was in Europe studying Antonio de Morga's work in a British museum, the poem Hibik ng Filipinas sa Ynang España was being secretly circulated in the local populace. The author, a teacher by the name of Hermenegildo Flores, worked with Marcelo del Pilar to bring the anti-friar issue into the light. The key to the poem's meaning lies in the opening stanza: Ynang mapag-ampon Españang marilag, Oh, beautiful and generous Mother Spain nasaan ang iyong pagtingin sa anac? where is your loving concern for your child? Acong iyong bunson abang Filipinas. It is I, your youngest born, unfortunate Filipinas. Tingni't sa dalita'i 'di na maca-iuas! Glance at me, you cannot ignore my suffering! What follows this is a history of the country under the rule of corrupt friars, who used their authority to accumulate wealth through trickery (daya) via various taxes and "voluntary" contributions, which "granted" a swift entrance to heaven. In the middle of it, it also narrated the friar-instigated murder of the liberal Governor-General Bustamante in 1719. All these narrations are accompanied with the imagery of a mother- child perspective, which became the foundation and feature of nationalist poetry directed to the mass audience. Going back to the awit, the laments of the prominent characters draw feelings of the reader's personal relationships -- effectively utilizing empathy (damay). This poem had a sequel, entitled Sagot ng España sa Hibik nang Pilipinas, illegally circulated in the country. This poem follows the same pattern as the former, which again is directed toward the reader's empathy. This is why modern writers and film critics are dismayed in the Philippine Cinema and Television industry: this form of writing and plot is a popular piece for mass consumption. This theme was re-explored in the establishment of the Kataas-taasang, Kagalang-galangang Katipunan ng mga Anak ng Bayan (KKK). Its founder, Andres Bonifacio, used this in his writings, but this time its logic is aimed at demanding a revolution. Growing up in awit poetry, Bonifacio used his knowledge in his theater work to rewrite the Historia Famosa to his liking, using Tagalog names in place of the original. Through this, Bonifacio made King Alfonso represent Spain, Sancho, and Jimena to be the devoted parents of the Tagalogs (which can be interpreted as the entire country), Rubio representing the friars, and Bernardo Carpio himself as the youth of the land -- the lost indios who had no historical heritage. The mountains that imprisoned Bernardo was changed to Montalban. 02 Handout 2 *Property of STI  [email protected] Page 4 of 5  GE1804 RIZAL AND THE UNDERSIDE OF PHILIPPINE HISTORY In contrast with the Southeast Asian neighbors having been transformed by the great traditions of Hinduism, Buddhism, and Confucianism -- which gave them a feeling of being exotic and impenetrable, the Philippines is transparent and knowable. When John Phelan wrote his history book about the country, he never actually visited the Philippines, nor learn anything about it. He, instead, based his work on Spanish source materials and with his familiarity with Latin America. However, his work showed something regarding Filipinos and the Spanish culture: the natives were no longer passive recipients of the things Spain had. The Filipinos' responses varied from indifference and rage to simple acceptance. Because of this treatment, anything that was made by the natives was easily dismissed as either devotional or literary, except with a few personal correspondences. This had led to some degree of anxiety to Filipinos about the possibility that there was a truly Filipino history before the mid-19th century. It was until 1872, when the GomBurZa were executed, did the Filipino perspective shifted from blind acceptance of Spain's presence to an awareness that there must be something that caused them pain. The execution garnered much public sympathy and outrage that the control that Spain had begun to weaken, leading to an awakening of the nationalist spirit and the struggle for independence. However, this evolutionist view on the events depends on the assumption that the Filipinos lived in lavish innocence and wonder before being enslaved by the colonizers. Rizal himself noted to a text in a 17th-century Spanish written history book that the natives forgot their alphabet, their songs, poetry, and laws among others, to imitate other doctrines that they themselves did not know, losing their confidence in their own past, faith in the present, and hope for the future -- a dark and grim fate. Rizal labored in the British Museum to research and document the image of a flourishing pre-colonial civilization, which he awakened consciousness and self-assertion. His construction of a "usable past," in turn, privileged the other ilustrados to help educate the history-less, superstitious, manipulated masses (i.e., pobres y ignorantes -- naïve and ignorant). Given that the indios were converted into Christianity, one has to move beyond the established and familiar views of how the indios were affected by the new religion. On one hand, the Pro-Spain views that Christianity brought civilized etiquette, salvation, and unity in the archipelago. On the other hand, nationalists argued that Christianity was used as a weapon for facilitating the political and economic enslavement of the "indoctrinated". Whichever side was chosen, the indios are the passive recipient, The friars, as representatives of God on Earth, are viewed as exerting a powerful moral hold over his native wards. He interprets the rules of Christian behavior, rewarding the obedient and submissive, and punishing the evildoers. It can be implicitly stated that Christianity had an impact on the indios' resignation to their reality: resignation to forced labor and head tax, and submission to the whims of the maguinoo (i.e., native chiefs or gentry). However, it is viewed, there's always room for allowing the triumph of liberal ideas in the 19th century. REFERENCES: Ileto, R. (1998). Bernardo Carpio: Awit and revolution. In Filipinos and their revolution: Event, discourse, and historiography. Ateneo de Manila University Press Ileto, R. (1998). Rizal and the underside of Philippine history. In Filipinos and their revolution: Event, discourse, and historiography. Ateneo de Manila University Press 02 Handout 2 *Property of STI  [email protected] Page 5 of 5