Second LE Notes

Monday, April 6, 2020 2:32 PM

MGA TULA AT TALUMPATI

Sa aking mga Kabata
• About one's love of his native language written in Tagalog (Focus: Tagalog language)
• Tagalog language akin to Latin, Spanish, English and language of Angels
• "Ang hindi magmahal sa sariling wika ay higit pa sa malansang isa"
• Development of Tagalog language was aborted due to the advent of Spanish colonization
• Controversy: no evidence that Rizal wrote it in 1869
○ Historians suspect the authors are Gabriel Beato Francisco or Herminigildo Cruz
○ The poem uses the "Kalayaan", a word he first encountered when he was 25 years
old -- 17 years after he supposedly wrote the poem
○ Fluency and sophistication of the Tagalog used in the poem do not match Rizal's gr
of the language, early education was all in Spanish
○ 8 year old Rizal's familiarity with Latin and English is questionable (only had little
knowledge of Latin from lessons by a friend of his father)
• Key points:
○ Language is a key to freedom
○ Filipino language is a gift from God and must be treated as such
○ The Filipino language is equal to the other languages in the world
Sa Kabataang Pilipino
• Won 1st place in the Liceo Artistico-Literario de Manila and published in 1879; originally
written in spanish when he was studying in UST
• Used as evidence against Rizal in his trial for rebellion
• Spain introduced arts and sciences to the youth of the colony
• Poem coaxing the youth to show their talent
• Mentioned: Music, Painting, Poetry/Literature, Sculpture
• Pro-Spain:
○ Filipino youth should be grateful to Spain for bringing arts and sciences
○ Implies that the colonized owe their education to the Spanish
• Anti-Spain:
○ Filipina - radical word that purports to the formation of a Filipino youth vis-a-vis Span
○ Implies separation of colonized from Imperial Spain
• Key points:
○ Rizal believed the youth is the hope of our country and they should harness the tale
and knowledge bestowed to them
Sa mga bulaklak ng Heidelberg
• Composed during springtime in Germany when flowers were in bloom
• Inspired by panoramic vide of the Koneigshtul snow-capped mountain at the Neckar river
• His message of not forgetting his native land
• Poem of a homesick alien in a foreign land
• Patriotic poem:
○ Love of country expressed through nostalgia, romance, sentimentalism
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Sa mga bulaklak ng Heidelberg
• Composed during springtime in Germany when flowers were in bloom
• Inspired by panoramic vide of the Koneigshtul snow-capped mountain at the Neckar river
• His message of not forgetting his native land
• Poem of a homesick alien in a foreign land
• Patriotic poem:
○ Love of country expressed through nostalgia, romance, sentimentalism
• Nationalist poem:
○ Nationalist sentiment with the interest of the nation as paramount over the individua
• Flowers symbolize his love for his homeland
• Amazed by the flowers which reminded him of his family's garden back in Calamba
• Key points:
○ Flowers may be beautiful but he needs to see the flowers that sprout from his
homeland
○ Useless for Rizal to remain patriotic about his ideals for the country if he remains in
foreign lands
○ No matter where he is, his heart will always be with the homeland
Brindis
• Speech delivered in the banquet in Madrid in honor of Juan Luna (Spolarium) and Felix
Resureccion Hidalgo (Christian Virgins Exposed)
• During the time he made the speech, the Spanish still weren't aware of the demands of th
in the PH because Filipinos were afraid to speak about it in public
• Speech caught the attention of reformists, sympathizers, as well as profriars and
conservatives who would become his enemies
• "Genius knows no country" elevated the native Filipino as equal of Spaniards or European
• Key Points:
○ Call to action, disguised as a toast to the painters
○ He emphasized injustices that Filipinos experienced which the paintings reflect
○ Praised Spain, then asking for equality, brotherhood, and reforms
Mi Ultimo Adios
• Left untitled, undated, and unsigned
• Considered by literary critics as perfect literary piece
• First title = Mi Ultimo Pensamiento (Mariano Ponce); final title = Mi Ultimo Adios (Fr. Maria
Dacanay)
• Controversial date of writing (night before execution, during arrest, and trial)
• Hidden in an alcohol stove and revealed to Trinidad in english
• 1st translation in tagalog by Andres Bonifacio, Pahimakas
• Considered as Rizal's last will and testament
• Historical evidence of the following:
○ Rizal did not repudiate the revolution
§ "Sa pakikidigma at pamimiyapis ang alay ng iba'y ang buhay na kipkip.."
○ Rizal and Josephine Bracken were not given marital rites
§ "Paalam estranherang kasuyo ko't aliw.."
• Instrumental in the passage of the 1st Philippine Organic Act, providing for the creation of
Philippine Assembly and later the Tydings-McDuffie Law
• Henry A. Cooper defended the colony the Filipinos: "a despised race proved itself entitled
their respect and respect of mankind when it furnished to the world the mind and characte
Jose Rizal"
• Key points:
○ He does not regret dying for his country
○ Bidding farewell to his beloved country, countrymen, and loved ones
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 Philippine Assembly and later the Tydings-McDuffie Law
• Henry A. Cooper defended the colony the Filipinos: "a despised race proved itself entitled
their respect and respect of mankind when it furnished to the world the mind and characte
Jose Rizal"
• Key points:
○ He does not regret dying for his country
○ Bidding farewell to his beloved country, countrymen, and loved ones
○ Thankful for all the martyrs who have also committed their lives for the love of the
country
○ Asking the country to pray for their loved ones
MGA SANAYSAY
El Amor Patrio
• Rizal's first published essay written in Barcelona as a publication for Diariong Tagalog
• Written shortly after his arrival in Spain even before being subjected to liberal thought
• Oratorical and employs the rhetorical style and technique of latin authors he studied in Ate
• Spain = Tierra Extranjera; Patria = Philippines
• Flowery metaphors and imagery, reflective of latin authors he studied
• Noli characters like sisa and tasyo were referenced
• Historical figures like Napoleon, Ovid, Brutus, etc were cited and given as examples of tho
who showed extraordinary love of ountry
• Essay is a political discourse but has a religious dimension which cannot be missed
• Love for country has been a universal sentiment, remains the unchangeable constant in th
human heart
Filipinas Dentro De Cien Años
• Essay based on the predictions and conversations that he had with German Ethnologist,
Feodor Jagor
○ Other European countries may not take interest in the PH because they saw how Sp
failed, and would rather focus on Africa
○ Great American Republic which has interest in the Pacific and has the appetite for
foreign possession
• Presents Rizal's understanding of historical process
• In the essay, he may sound desperate and threatening but calm, his arguments well inform
and updated in current world events
• Main points
○ Before one can look into the future, one must first look at the past
§ Filipinos lost their traditions replaced by that of the colonizers'
§ Filipinos were made passive and submissive, creating a culture of silence
○ One should understand the present circumstances based on the past
§ Rizal points to circumstances of the French revolution and its repercussions o
European empires and their colonies
§ Culture of ignorance and silence failed
• 3 scenarios for the future:
○ Spain would grant reforms and the PH becomes best colony
○ Spain would deny clamor for reforms, violent upheaval takes place
○ Whether Spain grants reforms or not, there will be other powerful countries intereste
PH
• Tripartite view of History
○ Bipartite:
§ Before Colonialism: dark, pagans, barbaric, poor and ignorant brutes
§ After: Light brought by christianism and hispanization
○ Tripartite:
 • Presents Rizal's understanding of historical process
• In the essay, he may sound desperate and threatening but calm, his arguments
well informed and updated in current world events
• Main points
○ Before one can look into the future, one must first look at the past
§ Filipinos lost their traditions replaced by that of the colonizers'
§ Filipinos were made passive and submissive, creating a culture of
silence
○ One should understand the present circumstances based on the past
§ Rizal points to circumstances of the French revolution and its
repercussions on European empires and their colonies
§ Culture of ignorance and silence failed
• 3 scenarios for the future:
○ Spain would grant reforms and the PH becomes best colony
○ Spain would deny clamor for reforms, violent upheaval takes place
○ Whether Spain grants reforms or not, there will be other powerful countries
interested in PH
• Tripartite view of History
○ Bipartite:
§ Before Colonialism: dark, pagans, barbaric, poor and ignorant brutes
§ After: Light brought by christianism and hispanization
○ Tripartite:
§ Pre-Colonial: PH had a civilization of her own and was progressing
§ Colonial: Decay and retrogression under Spanish rule, civic virtues
lost, vices taken over
§ Post-colonial: Release of creative forces of the race with attainment
of freedom probably through revolution, and tactically through
reforms
• Rizal recognized the need for a free press and filipino delegates
Sobre la Indolencia de los Filipinos
• Response to the accusation that the colony's backwardness is caused by the
indios' indolence
• Indolence is not the cause but the effect of backwardness
• Absence of progress in the colony is because of the inefficiency and
mismanagement of the Spanish colonial govt
• Indolence can be attributed to:
○ Hot climate, wars and pirate attacks, forced labor, abuse of encomenderos,
and wrong doctrine of the church, belief in miracles, lack of incentive and
motivation to work, lack of education and national sentiment
• Education and liberty are solutions to Filipino natives' indolence based on their
inferiority complex and lack of national sentiment
• Filipinos are already engaging on active trade even before the arrival of the
Europeans (active and enterprising native converted into lazy and indolent
christian) => gave up its customs and ancient habits of work, trade, and
navigation
• Gambling was widespread, more chance to survive with risky games than
against the challenges by the rulers
• Filipinos were convinced that they are inferior, end up giving their gold to the
church in hope of miracles
• Efforts of the government to combat indolence are not working, main proposal is
to remove the obstacles hindering the growth of Filipinos
Sandakan Project Draft Agreement
 • Gambling was widespread, more chance to survive with risky games than
against the challenges by the rulers
• Filipinos were convinced that they are inferior, end up giving their gold to the
church in hope of miracles
• Efforts of the government to combat indolence are not working, main proposal is
to remove the obstacles hindering the growth of Filipinos
Sandakan Project Draft Agreement
• Panukala ng Paninirahan ng mga Pilipino sa Hilagang Borneo
• Outcome of Calamba Hacienda case made rizal see the possibility of an exodus
to Sandakan in North Borneo (Nueva Calamba)
• Englishman Mr. Pryor and his wife were on their way to Sabah, Rizal desired to
establish a Filipino community
• North Borneo Company needed manpower
• Main provisions
○ 999 year lease
○ Autonomous - own laws and culture
○ No forced labor and military conscription unless territory is under threat
• Project was disapproved citing reasons of lack of workers and anti-patriotism to
cultivate foreign soil
• Sabah Claim
○ Owner of the territory is the Sultan of Jolo who leased the property to the
North Borneo Company, duly recognized on the condition that Spanish
sovereignty over the island of Jolo be honored
○ Peace treaty with strongest sultanates of sulu and magindanao,
recognizing their de facto independence
○ Sultan of Sulu became sovereign ruler of most of North Borneo
○ Nur Misuari called for revival of North Borneo claim in Second Mindanao
Leadership Summit attended by MNLF
○ Followers of Jamalul Kiram landed in Sabah, due to the instigation of
Misuari since he and MNLF were not part of initial BangsaMoro talks
○ Zamboanga Siege
MGA LIHAM
Liham sa mga Kababaihan ng Malolos
• Letter of encouragement to the 21 women of malolos who wrote a petition letter
for a night school
• Realized his mistake that not all Filipina are servile and submissive
• Initialy disapproved by parish priest Fr. Felipe Garcia
• Later approved by Gov-Gen Weyler on condition that it be in the morning and
taught by Senora Guadalupe Reyes instead of Teodoro Sandico
• Main points:
○ A Filipino mother should teach her children love of God, fatherland and
mankind
○ Filipino mother should be glad (Spartan mother) to offer her sons in the
defense of the fatherland
○ A filipino woman should know hot to preserve her dignity and honor
○ A filipino woman should educate herself, aside from retaining her good
racial virtues
○ Faith is not merely reciting long prayers and wearing religious pictures, but
rather it is living the real christian way, with good morals and manners
• Women are instrumental in the development of Philippine nationalism, given their
concern for public welfare
 ○
○ A filipino woman should educate herself, aside from retaining her good
racial virtues
○ Faith is not merely reciting long prayers and wearing religious pictures, but
rather it is living the real christian way, with good morals and manners
• Women are instrumental in the development of Philippine nationalism, given their
concern for public welfare
• If a woman is enslaved by the ideas of the friars, children will be stupid or
oppressed slaves
• Women open the minds of men; the filipino woman lacks nothing but a free mind,
for she has an excess of goodness
• Frame: all spanish women are holy marys, while all filipino women are sinners
• Quotes:
○ Ignorance is servitude
○ No tyrants if there are no slaves
○ Cowardice to believe that saintliness consists in blind obedience; it is in
obeying the dictates of reason
Mga Liham kay Vicente Barrantes
• Barrantes: academic and member of the royal academy
○ Wrote disparagingly against Filipinos, specifically about our lack of
traditions in the arts and Rizal's Noli as anti-indio
○ Pinoy-basher in the 19th century
○ Rizal used sarcasm in his letter pointed to Barrantes' ignorance about our
history and his authorial intent in Noli
○ Barrantes would refer to Rizal as a storehouse of contradiction
• B: Wala sa posisyon si rizal para humingi ng reporma dahil isa pa lang ang
nakausap niyang Pilipino
○ R: Ang kaisipan ng may akda ay hindi isa sa kanyang mga tauhin
• B: Tinawag na Karpinero ang mga manlililok sa Santa Crus at Paete
○ R: Hindi niya minamaliit ang mga ito at pinahmamali kagaya ng mga
karpintero
• B: Ang kapitan heneral, ibarra, at rizal ay iisa
○ R: Hindi pwede maging ibarra dahil hindi natamasa ang katarungan sa
lahat ng masamang nangyari
Mga Liham kay Blumentritt
• Blumentritt = austrian scholar, professor and director of the Athenaeum of
Leitmeritz
○ Wrote scholarly works on the Philippines
○ Correspondence with rizal spanned 10 years (between intellectuals,
friends, mentor-mentee, and as brothers)
• 1st letter: sent an Aritmetica book noting that the tagalog part is better than the
spanish
• Last letter: farewell letter, sent another book to Blumentritt
• Evident in the letters is the development of the relationship between Rizal and
Blumentritt
Liham sa Pamilya at Kamag-anak
• Wrote long letters for he was homesick, containing observations of European
culture
• Would comfort his worried mother that he remains faithful to God, all his
statements against friars are based on truth and reason, not subversive
• Letters always had terms of endearment for his loved ones
• Always makes it a point to write about the places he's been to to let his family
Liham sa Pamilya at Kamag-anak
• Wrote long letters for he was homesick, containing observations of European
culture
• Would comfort his worried mother that he remains faithful to God, all his
statements against friars are based on truth and reason, not subversive
• Letters always had terms of endearment for his loved ones
• Always makes it a point to write about the places he's been to to let his family
know of places outside the PH
• Writes about his mother, her health condition, and to ensure and comfort her
about his being vocal about the colonial government

Liham kay Dr. Adolph B. Meyer on Tawalisi

• Dr. Meyer wrote Rizal asking his opinion on the exact location of the Kingdom of
Tawalisi
○ Ibn Batuta: moroccan and muslim, travelled in 14th century
• Among the 3 translators of Ibn Batuta, inclined to favor Sanguinetti over Lee and
Yule
○ Lee: Good writing but inaccurate compared to Sanguinetti and Yule
○ Yule: More detailed than lee yet lacking in comparison to Sanguinetti
○ Sanguinetti: favored version
• Rejects Yule's suggestion that Tawalisi could be part of Gulliver's geography
• Postulated that the kingdom is somewhere in the northwest part of the
Philippines
• Believed to be in Bolinao, Pangasinan, where artifacts have been unerathed in
Balingasay River, linking it to an ancient kindgom
• Princess Ordoudja
○ Rewarded by her father the king of Tawalisi a great city called Cailoucary
○ Could only marry the man who can defeat her in a fair fight
MGA DULA
Sa Tabi ng Pasig
• Jesuit priests commissioned Rizal to write the drama staged during the
celebration of the Feast of the Immaculate Conception
• One-act zarzuela that pays homage to our lady of peace and good voyage of
antipolo
• Characters are mostly boys and the conflict revolves around satan vs angel or
good vs evil
• 2 different interpretations
○ Palma: Rizal was young and a catholic devotee
§ Triumph of good vs evil
○ Retaña: Rizal was using the voice of Satan to convey his anti-Spain
sentiment
• Mga Tauhan
○ Leonido, Candido, Pascual, Bata 1, 2, at 3
○ Satanas
○ Mga Demonyo
• About Christianism, and not nationalism, showed how steadfast Rizal's faith is
• Main message: to remain faithful to God and be brave in fighting the devil's
temptations
Sanggunian ng mga Diyos-Diyosan
• Won 1st prize in the Liceo-Artistico Literario de Manila in 1880 commemorating
death anniversary of Miguel de Cervantes
 ○ Mga Demonyo
• About Christianism, and not nationalism, showed how steadfast Rizal's faith is
• Main message: to remain faithful to God and be brave in fighting the devil's
temptations
Sanggunian ng mga Diyos-Diyosan
• Won 1st prize in the Liceo-Artistico Literario de Manila in 1880 commemorating
death anniversary of Miguel de Cervantes
• Board of judges initially withdrew his name as winner due to his being an indo
• Awarded with a gold ring with the bust of Cervantes
• Won over many good Spanish writers because:
○ Display of erudition - knowledge of Graeco-Roman mythology
○ Spanish Cervantes elevated to the stature of Graeco-Roman epic poets
Homer and Virgil
• Interpretation:
○ Homer, Virgil, and Cervantes were not really equal based on Justice scale
○ Cervantes got the laurel (symbol of a writer or poet), Homer got the
trumpet and Virgil got the Lyre (Rizal buttering up the spaniards and
feeding their ego)
○ The play showcases literary standards and also focuses on equality
○ Epigraph: I enter the future with the memory of the past
○ Deep appreciation on Miguel de Cervantes and his magnum opus
○ Proves that equality should be exercises after Rizal won
• Don Quixote:
○ Critique of feudal Spain, age of chivalry and heroic idealism
○ Parody of chivalric romances and critique of Spanish Imperialism
○ Tragic delusional hero fighting windmills and imaginary foes
○ Sancho Panza: sidekick providing wit and humor
• Gist:
○ Jupiter wanted to organize a literary contest for the most brilliant writers
○ Candidates: Homer, Virgil, and Miguel de Cervantes
○ Prizes: Trumpet, Lyre, crown of Laurel