Module 9

El Filibusterismo

“Justice is the foremost virtue of the civilizing races. It subdues the barbarous nations, while
injustice arouses the weakest.” – Jose Rizal
 Learning Outcomes

At the end of the lesson, the students will be able to:

1. Explain the historical context in which El Filibusterismo was written;
2. Identify the main characters and role they portray; and,
3. Cite situations or instances where the roles of characters in El Filibusterismo
is being depicted at present situation.

Vocabulary

filibustero – translated as “subversive”; a patriot who was usually associated with revolutionary
activities

guardia civil – police/military force assigned by the colonial government to maintain peace and
order

cabeza de barangay – head of the barangay; tax collector whose main responsibility was to
collect taxes and tributes from the families

reform – improvement or change to a better state (social, economic, and political institutions)

revolution – a violent attempt to overthrow the government

principalia class – the ruling and usually educated upper class in the nineteenth century
Philippines

subversive – in opposition to a civil authority or government

Introduction

Rizal’s second novel, El Filibusterismo, is a story set in twilight years of the Spanish
colonial government in the Philippines. It was translated into English by Charles Derbyshire in
1912 under title, The Reign of Greed. The book according to the translator “represents Rizal’s more
mature judgement on political and social conditions in the islands, and in its graver and less
hopeful tone reflects the disappointments and discouragements which he had encountered in his
efforts to lead the way to reform.”

This module will narrate how Rizal was able to write and publish his second novel despite
threats from the Spanish colonial government that regarded in his first book, Noli Me tangere, as
subversive. A brief synopsis of his novel will also be presented for discussion and analysis.
History and Context
Rizal started writing El Filibusterismo as a sequel to the Noli Me Tangere after he returned
to Europe on February 1888 (Lacson – Locsin, 2004). The novel, therefore, was written in the midst
of threats and oppression he and his family were experiencing because of the Noli and Calamba
incident.

Rizal continued working on his novel and made some revisions while he was in London in
1888. He was able to complete the novel after three years when he was in Biarritz, France on
March 29, 1891. However, because of financial constraints, it was not until September of the same
year that the book was published with the help of his friend, Valentin Ventura.

In March 1887, after reading the Noli Me Tangere. Blumentritt asked Rizal the meaning of
the word “filibustero" which he did not find in the Spanish language (Aguilar, 2011). Rizal replied:

The word filibustero is still very little known in the Philippnes; the common
people as yet do not know it. I heard it for the first time in 1872 when the tragic
executions took place. I still remember the terror it aroused. Our father forbade us
never to utter it, as well as the words Cavite, Burgos etc. The Manila newspapers and
the Spaniards apply this word to one whom they want to render want to render
suspect of revolutionary activities. The educated fear the reach of the word. It does
not have the meaning of freebooter; it rather means a dangerous patriot who will soon
be hanged, or a presumptuous fellow.

In 1890, Wenceslao Retana wrote about the "filibustero" and described the term as "the one
who, eager for the independence of the country, resorts to various extralegal proceedings in order
to reach the objective that he pursues" (Aguilar, 2011). By the end of the nineteenth century, the
Spanish colonial government defined "filibuster" as "someone who works for the separation of our
overseas provinces." With these definitions, one will have an idea about the plot of Rizal's second
novel. It deals with subversion. It pictures the lives of people under an oppressive regime. It
narrates the struggles of every Filipino in fighting for independence.

El Fili is dedicated to Gomburza, the three priests who were accused of being filibusters in
1872. In his dedication, Rizal expressed his high regard for the priests who became victims of "the
evil that I am trying to fight."

To the Memory of the priests:

Don Mariano Gomez (85 years old)
Don Jose Burgos (30 years old)
and Don Jacinto Zamora (35 years old)

Executed on the scaffold at Bagumbayan

on February 28, 1872
 The Church, in refusing to degrade you, has placed in doubt the crime imputed to
you; the Government, in shrouding your cause with mystery and obscurities, creates
belief in moments some error committed in critical moments, and the whole
Philippines, in venerating your memory and calling you martyrs, in no way
acknowledges your guilt.

As long therefore as your Participation in the Cavite uprising is not clearly shown,
whether or not you were patriots, whether or not you nourished sentiments of justice
and liberty, I have the right to dedicate my work to you, as to victims of the evil that I
am trying to fight. And while we wait for Spain to reinstate you and make herself
jointly culpable for your death, let these pages serve as belated wreath of dried leaves
laid on your unknown graves; and may your blood be upon the hands of those who,
without sufficient proof, assail your memory!

Rizal, however, made mistakes in indicating the age of the three priests and the date they
were executed. The Gomburza were publicly executed by garrote on the early morning of February
17, 1872. Gomez was then 73, Burgos was 35, and Zamora was 37.

Synopsis

The story of El Filibusterismo revolved around the main character, Simoun, who was a rich
jeweler. Simoun was actually Crisostomo Ibarra of the Noli whom everyone thought was killed by
the guardia civil at the Laguna de Bay thirteen years ago. He was able to escape and fled to Cuba.
He became wealthy and was able to establish connections with prominent Spanish Officials. Upon
his return to the Philippines, Simoun became very influential being the consultant of the governor-
general.

Simoun came back with his grand plan to exact revenge on Spanish officials and to rescue
Maria Clara who entered the convent after learning the news of Ibarra's death. He planned to
launch a revolution which he started by smuggling arms and recruiting followers, mainly from the
exploited and abused natives. One of his recruits was Basilio, the son of Sisa. With the help of
Capitan Tiago, Basilio was able to study medicine in Manila. Simoun also began to establish an
alliance with Kabesang Tales and his revolutionary group. Kabesang Tales was a former cabeza
de barangay who was maltreated by the friars. Using his position, Simoun encouraged corruption
and more oppressive government policies to enrage the people and thus, provoke them to revolt.

Simoun's plans of revolution failed twice. In his first attempt, he decided not to give the
signal for the outbreak of the uprising upon hearing the news of Maria Clara's death. Basilio and
other students were then arrested for allegedly forming a seditious organization. Simoun arranged
the release of Basilio who became bitter and vengeful. However, he was very grateful to Simoun
and offered his full support for the revolution. The second attempt at starting a revolution entailed
the planting of a bomb at the wedding reception of Paulita Gomez and Juanito Pelaez. Illustrious
guests at the mansion (formerly the house of Capitan Tiago) included Padre Salvi and the
governor-general. In Simoun's plan, the revolution would be triggered by his gift to the couple—a
kerosene lamp with an explosive. When the lamp starts flickering and someone turns the wick,
there would be an explosion, signaling the revolutionaries to attack all government buildings in
Manila.
As planned, Simoun gave the lamp during the reception. Before leaving the venue, he left
a note with a message: "You Will die tonight," signed by Crisostomo Ibarra. Meanwhile, when
Basilio saw all the people at the venue/ his conscience bothered him. He saw his friend, Isagani,
who was secretly watching his love, he Paulita celebrating her wedding. Basilic told Isagani about
the explosive and asked him to leave the place.
When Padre Salvi confirmed Ibarra's handwriting, the guests had began to panic. The lamp
flickered and Padre Irene tried to turn the wick. But Isagani, wanting to save Paulita, ran into the
house, grabbed the lamp, and threw it into the river where it exploded. Simoun took refuge in the
house of a kind Filipino priest, Padre Florentino. The guardias civiles, however, learned about the
whereabouts of the fugitive, and informed the priest that they would come in the evening to arrest
Simoun. Instead of surrendering to the authorities, Simoun poisoned himself. As the poison started
to take effect on his body, he confessed to Padre Florentino his true identity and his plans for
revenge. After the long and tedious confession, the priest told Simoun that his plans might have
failed because of the unjust means that were used. He assured Simoun that there was still hope
for the freedom of the country.
The story ended with Padre Florentino throwing Simoun's jewels into the sea so that they
would not be used by the greedy. He also prayed that when the right time comes, the treasure
would be recovered and used for a noble purpose.

Activity 1: Create Your Own Ending

Direction: After reading the novel, complete the table by creating your own ending of the story of
each character.

Character End Story

Simoun

Basilio

Maria Clara

Padre Salvi

Kabesang Tales
El Filibusterismo: Continuing Relevance

After tracing the historical background of Rizal’s El Filibusterismo in the previous chapter,
it is now the time to look into its content and review its social significance as a novel. Rizal clearly
stated that he wrote the novel to describe the Philippine society and expose the injustices that he
and his fellow Filipinos were experiencing. The novel may be written more than a hundred years
ago, but it cannot be denied that the social ills that Rizal depicted in his novel are still present
today.

One hundred twenty years after Rizal's execution, his writings remain socially relevant.
The ills that he rallied against—inept leadership, corruption, abuse of women, and the influence of
the Catholic Church over political and social affairs—are still Persisting in the Philippine society
today. A thorough understanding of the historicity of his novels is important as it serves as the
background of the story. In reading historical novels like El Filibusterismo, one must be
knowledgeable about the social milieu of the period when it was written. In this way, history can
be used as a tool for interpreting a literary work like El Fili (Nuncio, 2014).

As with Noli Me Tangere, Rizal's main objective in writing El Filibusterismo is to expose the
Philippine situation as he witnessed during his time. In reading this novel, one can see the nation's
past and present situations which make this literary work enduringly significant. Renato
Constantino (1971, p. 137) wrote about the relevance of Rizal's teachings where he said:

The importance of Rizal's ideas for our generation has a twofold basis—first, the
applicability to present-day problems, and second, their inspirational value. Rizal holds a
mirror to our faces and we see ourselves, our vices, our defects, our meanness. Because
the conditions he describes are the very conditions we see around us, and the characters
he portrays are people we continue to meet, we readily respond to his earnest desire for
basic changes in our society and in ourselves. One hand holds a mirror to shame us and
the other points the way to our regeneration. Yet, the truth is that the mirror was not meant
to reveal our image, but the image of the people and the society of Rizal's time.

By going back to the themes that Rizal tackled in El Fili, one can see the importance of the
novel at present. Themes are the main ideas that flow through the narrative which can be used to
evaluate Rizal's views and ideas on different social issues.

Revolution as a Means of Social Change

In the novel, Simoun is the filibustero who encourages the principalia class to abuse the poor so
that the latter would be driven to revolt against the government. His character may be interpreted as
someone who represents the Filipino revolutionaries that supported the idea of a bloody revolution against
the Spanish colonial government. Simoun's death in the story made some readers conclude that Rizal was
against the idea of a revolution. Simoun's failed uprisings in the narrative, were interpreted as Rizal's
abhorrence of violence and bloodshed. They failed to see that Rizal, together with other reformists like
Marcelo H. del Pilar, regarded reform and assimilation as a first step towards Philippine independence. In
his letter to Blumentritt on June 19, 1887, he said:
"I assure you that I have no desire to take part in conspiracies which seem to me very
premature and risky. But if the government drives us to the brink, that is to say when no other
hope remains but seek our destruction in war, when the Filipinos would prefer to die rather than
endure their misery any longer, then I will also become a partisan of violent means. The choice of
peace or destruction is in the hands of Spain, because it is a clear fact, known to all, that we are
Patient and peaceful, mild, unfeeling, etc. But everything ends in this life, there is nothing eternal
in the world and that refers also to our patience" (Ocampo, 2012).

Rizal's words in the aforementioned letter are significant because they proved that he was not
against the idea of violence if necessary. Historian Ambeth Ocampo (2012) wrote: "Simoun failed—not
because Rizal was against the revolution, but because he reflected on the anger and bitterness in his heart
following the agrarian dispute in Calamba, and realized that one must start with a good intention to
succeed."

On Leadership and Governance

El Fili's message is very clear—the inept leaders, corrupt officials, and system of
government in the Philippines could lead to Spain's downfall. When Simoun said: "What is a man
to do when he is denied justice? Take the law into his own hands or wait for Spain to give him
rights...?" he stressed that if the demands of the people would not be granted, they would be driven
to oppose the system and organize movements to fight for their rights.

Rizal himself was admired as a good leader. His colleagues in the Propaganda Movement
respected him because he showed a kind of leadership that was not motivated by personal
interest. The call for a good leadership could be gleaned from El Fili when he stressed the
importance of national sentiment to guard the society against all kinds of injustices and
oppression.

Rizal condemned the friar-led officials for their greed, corruption, and exploitation of the
natives. On the other hand, he also criticized his fellow Filipinos who did not respond to the
challenges under the abusive leadership of the Spaniards. who, despite the extreme The character
of Basilic, for example, sufferings that he and his family experienced, did not support Simoun's
plan of overthrowing the government. He only joined the revolutionary group after being arrested
and imprisoned, followed by the death of his sweetheart, Juli. There was also one character, Serior
Pasta, who abandoned his noble ideas to serve only the interest of those who hired him.

While Rizal exposed the injustices done by the colonial government, he also challenged
the Filipinos to guard their rights as one of their main responsibilities. Good leadership and
governance bring about social, economic, and political reforms in the country. All this can be
achieved if the leaders have moral fiber, and are ready to give up their personal interests for the
welfare of their constituents.
On Education and Language
At the time that Simoun was planning to launch the revolution, students including Basilio
were also fighting for the establishment of a school that would allow natives to learn the Spanish
language. Simoun strongly reacted against the project advocated by the students. For him, it would
mean the death of national identity and the institutionalization of tyranny. In Chapters 6 (Basilio)
and 7 (Simoun), Simoun expressed his disapproval of the students' program, convincing Basilio to
join him in his plan of revolution instead. He questioned the students' advocacy and said:

What will you be in the future? A people without character, a nation without liberty.
Everything in you will be borrowed, even your very defects. You are asking to be Hispanized
and you do not blanch with shame when it is denied you! Even if it is conceded, what would
you want? What would you gain? At best, to become a country of pronouncements, a country
of civil wars, a republic of the rapacious and the discontented, like some republics of South
America. Why do you now come with your teaching of Spanish, a pretension that would be
ridiculous were it not its deplorable consequences? Do you wish to add another idiom to the
more than forty already spoken in the islands so that you may understand each other, each
time, less…?

Still about the language issue, Simoun added:

You allow yourselves to be misled by big words and you never get to the bottom of the things
to examine the effects in their ultimate manifestations. Spanish will never be the common
language in the country; the people will never speak it because for the ideas of its mind and
the sentiments of its heart there are no words in that idiom. Each country has its own, as it
has its manner of feeling. What will you gain with Spanish? The few who speak it? To stamp
your originality, subordinate your thoughts to other minds and instead of making yourselves
free, make yourselves truly slaves! Nine out of ten of those among you who presume to be
enlightened, are renegades to your motherland. Those among you who speak that language
are indifferent to their own tongue, so much so that they neither write nor understand it.
How many have I seen who pretend now to know a single word of it!

Basilio, on the other hand, believed that through education, he would be able to alleviate
the lives of his fellow Filipinos. He did not believe that revolution could be and effective means to
achieve freedom. For him, education and science would save the country from its present situation.

On the Filipino Youth

Where are the youth who will consecrate their golden hours, their illusions, and their
enthusiasm for the welfare of their country? Where are they who would generously shed their
blood to wash away so much shame, so much crime, so much abomination? Pure and spotless
the victim has to be for the holocaust to be acceptable!... Where are you, youth who will
incarnate in yourselves the vigor of life that has fled from our veins, the purity of ideas that
 have been soiled in our minds, and the fire of enthusiasm that has been extinguished in our
hearts?... We wait for you, O youth! Come, for we await you!

Such were the words of Jose Rizal through the character of Padre Florentino, a patriotic
Filipino priest in El Fili. Rizal saw the youth as the future of the country because this generation
would one day lead the nation. Their actions today would shape the path of tomorrow.

Rizal stressed the important role of the youth in challenging the government as seen in
the efforts of students like Basilio and Isagani to organize themselves and unite to call for reforms.
For Simoun, it was a way of embracing the Hispanization of the country. On the other hand, it could
also be seen as Rizal's way of showing what the youth could do if they wanted reforms from the
government.

Activity 2: More About the Characters

Direction: relate the following characters to current social issues they represent and justify your
answer.

Character Character Traits Current social issues he/she

represents
Kabesang Tales

Placido Penitente

Padre Camora

Hermana
Penchang

Juli
 Activity 3. Essay Questions
Direction: Briefly answer the following:

1. Why did Rizal dedicate El Filibusterismo to Gomburza?

___________________________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________________________

2. What were the struggles that Rizal went through to publish El Fili?
___________________________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________________________

3. Choose a character in the novel. What does he/she symbolize in relation to Philippine
society today?
___________________________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________________________

References

Anderson, B. (2008). Why Counting Counts: A study of forms of consciousness and problems of
language in Noli me Tangere and El FIlibusterismo, pp. 38-87. Quezon City: Ateneo de Manila
University Press.

Obias, R., Mallari, A., A., & Estella, J. (2018). The Life and Works of Jose Rizal. Manila: C & E
Publishing, Inc.

Rizal, J. (1996). El Filibusterismo, trans. Ma. Soledad Lacson-Locsin. Makati: Bookmak.

Schumacher, J. (1997). Rizal’s break with Del Pilar. The propaganda movement:1880-1895; The
Creators of a Filipino Consciousness, the makers of the revolution,260-80. Quezon City:
Ateneo de Manila Unversity Press.