Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Dissent and Counter- methods and disclaim all part in it, pitying from
Consciousness (Quezon City: Malaya Books, the bottom of my heart the unwary that have
Inc., 1970). been deceived into taking part in it. [1]
4
These non-Spanish houses practically affluence opening for themselves and their class.
monopolized the import-export trade. The They attained a new consciousness and hence, a
opening of the ports of Sual, Cebu, Zamboanga, new goal - that of equality with the peninsulares
Legaspi and Tacloban, all during the second half - not in the abstract, but in practical economic
of the 19th century, enabled these non-Spanish and political terms. Hispanization became the
interests to establish branches beyond the capital conscious manifestation of economic struggle, of
city, thus further increasing cosmopolitan the desire to realize the potentialities offered by
penetration. [5] the period of expansion and progress.
Hispanization and assimilation constituted the
European and American financing were ideological expression of the economic
vital agents in the emerging export economy. motivations of affluent indios and mestizos.
Merchants gave crop advances to indio and Equality with the Spaniard meant equality of
Chinese-mestizo cultivators, resulting in opportunity. But they did not realize as yet that
increased surpluses of agricultural export real equality must be based on national freedom
products. The Chinese received loans for the and independence. The were still in the initial
distribution of European goods and the collection phases of nationalist consciousness - a
of Philippine produce for shipment abroad. Abaca consciousness made possible by the market
and sugar became prime exports during this situation of the time. The lordly friar who had
period as a result of these European and been partly responsible for the isolation of the
American entrepreneurial activities. The islands became the target of attacks. Anti-
Transformation of the sugar industry due to clericalism became the ideological style of the
financing and the in- [p.133] troduction of period. [p. 134]
steam-powered milling equipment increased
sugar production from 3,000 piculs in mid-19th These then were the salient economic and
century to nearly 2,000,000 piculs in four ideological features of Rizal's time. A true
decades. [6] historical review would prove that great men are
those who read the time and have a deeper
These economic developments inevitably understanding of reality. It is their insights that
led to improvement in communications. The make them conversant with their periods and
infra-structure program of the Spanish which enable them to articulate the needs of the
government resulted in a moderately functional people. To a large extent, Rizal, the ilustrado,
road system. The third quarter of the century fulfilled this function, for in voicing the goals of
saw the opening of railroad lines. The steamship his class he had to include the aspirations of the
effected both internal and external linkages, entire people. Though the aims of this class were
postal services improved, the telegraph was limited to reformist measures, he expressed its
inaugurated in 1873, and by 1880, we were demands in terms of human liberty and human
connected with the world by a submarine cable to dignity and thus encompassed the wider
Hong Kong. Manila's water system was aspirations of all the people. This is not to say
modernized in 1870; we had street cars in 1881 that he was conscious that these were class
and telephone and electric lights in the goals; rather, that typical of his class, he equated
metropolitan region during the same period. class interest with people's welfare. He did this in
Material progress set the stage for cultural and good faith, unaware of any basic contradictions
social changes, among them the cultivation of between the two. He was the product of his
cosmopolitan attitudes and heightened opposition society and as such could be expected to voice
to clerical control. Liberalism had invaded the only those aims that were within the competence
country as a result of the reduction of the Spain- of his class. Moreover, social contradictions had
Manila voyage to thirty days after the opening of not ripened sufficiently in his time to reveal
the Suez canal. The mestizo that developed clearly the essential disparateness between class
became the crude ideological framework of the and national goals. Neither could he have
ferment among the affluent indios and mestizos. transcended his class limitations, for his cultural
[7] upbringing was such that affection for Spain and
Spanish civilization precluded the idea of
breaking the chains of colonialism. He had to
The Ideological Framework become a Spaniard first before becoming a
Filipino. [8]
Economic prosperity spawned discontent
when the native beneficiaries saw a new world of
5
As a social commentator, as the exposer term Filipino not just as a matter of historical
of oppression, he performed a remarkable task. information but so that we may realize the
His writings were part of the tradition of protest importance of Rizal's contribution in this regard.
which blossomed into revolution, into a separatist Even more valuable are the insights we may gain
movement. His original aim of elevating the indio into the inter-dependence between material
to the level of Hispanization of the peninsular so conditions and consciousness as manifested in
that the country could be assimilated, could the evolution of the word Filipino in terms of its
become a province of Spain, was transformed widening applicability and deeper significance
into its opposite. Instead of making the Filipinos through succeeding periods of our history.
closer to Spain, the propaganda gave root to
separation. The drive for Hispanization was It is important to bear in mind that the
transformed into the development of a distinct term Filipino originally referred to the creoles -
national consciousness. the Spaniards born in the Philippines - the
Españoles-Filipinos or Filipinos, for short. The
Rizal contributed much to the growth of natives were called indios. Spanish mestizos who
this national consciousness. It was a contribution could pass off for white claimed to be creoles and
not only in terms of propaganda but in something therefore Filipinos. Towards the last quarter of
positive that the present generation of Filipinos the 19th century, Hispanized and urbanized
will owe to him and for which they will honor him indios along with Spanish mestizos and sangley
by completing the task which he so nobly began. [Chinese - rly] mestizos began to call themselves
He may have had a different and limited goal at Filipinos, especially after the abolition of the
the time, a goal that for us is already passe, tribute lists in the 1880s and the economic [p.
something we take for granted. However, for 136] growth of the period.
[p.135] his time this limited goal was already a
big step in the right direction. This contribution We must also correct the common
was in the realm of Filipino nationhood - the impression that the Filipinos who were in Spain
winning of our name as a race, the recognition of during the Propaganda Period were all indios. In
our people as one, and the elevation of the indio fact, the original Circulo Hispano-Filipino was
into Filipino. dominated by creoles and peninsulares. The
Filipino community in Spain during the 1880's
was a conglomerate of creoles, Spanish mestizos
The Concept of Filipino Nationhood and sons of urbanized indios and Chinese
mestizos. [9]
This was a victory in the realm of
consciousness, a victory in a racial sense. This community came out with an organ
However, it was only a partial gain, for Rizal called España en Filipinas which sought to take
repudiated real de-colonization. Beguiled by the the place of th earlier Revista Circulo Hispano
new colonizer, most Filipinos followed the Filipino founded by another creole Juan Atayde.
example of Rizal. As a consequence, the España en Filipinas was mainly an undertaking of
development of the concept of national Spanish and Spanish mestizos. The only non-
consciousness stopped short of real de- Spaniard in the staff was Baldomero Roxas. Its
colonization and we have not yet distinguished first issue came out in 1887. It was "moderate" in
the true Filipino from the incipient Filipino. tone and failed to win the sympathy of the native
elements. In a letter to Rizal, Lopez-Jaena
The concept of Filipino nationhood is an criticized it in these words:
important tool of analysis as well as a conceptual
weapon of struggle. There are many Filipinos who From day to day I am becoming
do not realize they are Fiipinos only in the old convinced that our countrymen, the mestizos,
cultural, racial sense. They are not aware of the far from working for the common welfare, follow
term Filipino as a developing concept. Much less the policy of their predecessors, the Azcarragas.
are they aware that today social conditions [10]
demand that the true Filipino be one who is
consciously striving for de-colonization and Lopez-Jaena was referring to the
independence. Azcarraga brothers who had held important
positions in the Philippines and in Spain, but who,
Perhaps it would be useful at this point to though they had been born here, showed more
discuss in some detail the metamorphosis of the sympathy for the peninsulares. It is fortunate
6
that a street wich was once named for one of the users of the term were themselves limited
them has become Claro M. Recto today. Filipinos based on education and property. Since
this term was applied to those who spoke in the
Differences between the creoles and the name of the people but were not really of the
"genuine" Filipinos as they called themselves, people, the next stage for this growing concept
soon set in. It was at this time that Rizal and should be the recognition of the masses as the
other indios in Paris began to use the term indios real nation and their transformation into real
bravos, thus "transforming an epithet into a Filipinos. However, the Filipino of today must
badge of honor." The cleavage in the Filipino undergo a process of de-colonization before he
colony abroad ushered in a new period of the can become a true Filipino. The de-colonized
Propaganda which may be said to have had its Filipino is the real goal for our time just as the
formal beginning with the birth of La Solidaridad. Hispanized Filipino was once the goal of the
Its leaders were indios. The editor was not a reformists.
creole like Lete or a Spanish mestizo like Llorente
but Lopez-Jaena and later Marcelo H. del Pilar. La Though Rizal was able to win for his
Solidaridad espoused the cause of liberalism and countrymen the name Filipino, it was still as
fought for democratic solutions to the problems ilustrado that he conceived of this term. As
that beset the Spanish colonies. ilustrado he was speaking in behalf of all the
indios though he was separated by culture and
From the declaration of aims and policies even by property from the masses. His ilustrado
the class basis of the Propaganda is quite orientation manifests itself in his novels. [p. 138]
obvious. The reformists could not [p. 137] shake Though they are supposed to represent 19th
off their Spanish orientation. They wanted century Philippine society in microcosm, all the
accommodation within the ruling system. Rizal's principal characters belonged to the principalia.
own reformism is evident in this excerpt from his His hero, Ibarra, was a Spanish mestizo. The
letter to Blumentritt: Spaniards, the creole, the mestizo, and the
wealthy Chinese - these were characters he could
….under the present circumstances, we portray with mastery because they were within
do not want separation from Spain. All that we his milieu and class. But there are only very hazy
ask is greater attention, better education, description of characters who belonged to the
better government employees, one or two masses. His class position, his upbringing, and
representatives and greater security for our his foreign education were profound influences
persons and property. Spain could always win which constituted a limitation on his
the appreciation of the Filipinos if she were only understanding of his countrymen.
reasonable! [11]
Rizal, therefore, was an ilustrado hero
The indios led by Rizal gained whose life's mission corresponded in a general
acceptability as Filipinos because the proved their way to the wishes and aspirations of the people.
equality with the Spaniards in terms of both He died for his people, yet his repudiation of the
culture and property. This was an important Revolution was an act against the people. There
stage in our appropriation of the term Filipino. seems to be a contradiction between the two
Rizal's intellectual excellence paved the way for acts; there is actually none. Both acts were in
the winning of the name for the natives of the character; Rizal was acting from patriotic motives
land. It was an unconscious struggle which led to in both instances.
a conscious recognition of the pejorative meaning
of indio. Thus, the winning of the term Filipino He condemned the Revolution because as
was an anti-colonial victory for it signified the an ilustrado he instinctively underestimated the
recognition of racial equality between Spaniards power and the talents of the people. He believed
and Filipinos. in freedom not so much as a national right but as
something to be deserved, like a medal for good
behavior. Moreover, he did not equate liberty with
The "Limited" Filipinos independence. Since his idea of liberty was
essentially the demand for those rights which the
elite needed in order to prosper economically.
But the appropriation of this term was not
Rizal did not consider political independence as a
the end of the historic struggle for national
prerequisite to freedom. Fearful of the violence of
identity. While for Rizal's time this was a signal
people's action, he did not want us to fight for
victory, it was in truth a limited victory for us. For
7
our independence. Rather, he wanted us to wait of Rizal's manifesto of December 15, 1896 which
for the time when Spain, acting in her own best states:
interests, would abandon us. He expressed
himself clearly on these points in the following …..I am one most anxious for liberties in
passage from a letter which he wrote in his cell our country and I am still desirous of them. But
on December 12, 1896, for the use of his defense I placed as a prior condition the education of
counsel. the people that by means of instruction and
industry our country may have an individuality
….. many have have interpreted my of its own and make itself worthy of these
phrase to have liberties as to have liberties. [14]
independence, which are two different things.
A people can be free without being The authors of this book then make the
independent, and a people can be independent following comment:
without being free. I have always desired
liberties for the Philippines and I have said so. Rizal intentionally avoided the use of the
Others who testify that I said independence term independence, perhaps because he
either have put the cart before the horse or honestly believed that independence in its true,
they lie. [12] real, and strict sense should not be granted us
until we were educated enough to appreciate its
He had expressed much the same opinion importance, and its blessings, and until we were
earlier in his El Fili- [p.139] busterismo when economically self-reliant. [15] [p. 140]
Father Florentino said:
This statement not only supports the
I do not mean to say that our liberty will American line but is also an example of how our
be secured at the sword's point, for the sword admiration for Rizal may be used to beguile us
plays but little part in modern affairs, but that into accepting reactionary beliefs, the products of
we must secure it by making ourselves worthy colonial mentality.
of it, by exalting the intelligence and the dignity
of the individual, by loving justice, right and A people have every right to be free.
greatness, even to the extent of dying for them Tutelage in the art of government as an excuse
- and when a people reaches that height God for colonialism is a discredited alibi. People learn
will provide a weapon, the idols will be and educate themselves in the process of
shattered, the tyranny will crumble like a house struggling for freedom and liberty. They attain
of cards and liberty will shine out like the first their highest potential only when they are
dawn. 13 masters of their own destiny. Colonialism is the
only agency still trying to sell the idea that
Yet the people revered him because, freedom is a diploma to be granted by a superior
though he was not with them, he died for certain people to an inferior one after years of
principles which they believed in. He was their apprenticeship.
martyr; they recognized his labors although they
knew that he was already behind them in their
forward march. The Precursors of Mendicancy
The ilustrados were the Hispanized sector The role and the contribution of Rizal, like
of our population, hence they tried to prove that that of the ilus- [p.142] trado class, must be
they were as Spanish as the peninsulares. They evaluated in the context of his particular reality
wanted to be called Filipinos in the creole sense: within the general reality of his time. Rizal was a
Filipino-Spaniards as Rizal called Ibarra. They are necessary moment in our evolution. But he was
no different from the modern-day mendicants only a moment, and while his validity for his time
who try to prove that they are Americanized, amounted to a heroism that is valid for all time,
meaning that they are Filipino-Americans. As a we cannot say that Rizal himself will be valid for
matter of fact, the ilustrados of the first all time and that Rizal's ideas should be the
propaganda movement utilized the same yardstick for all our aspirations. He provided the
techniques and adopted the same general model of a form of heroism that culminated in
attitude as the modern-day mendicants and martyrdom. He was a Filipino we can be proud of,
pseudo-nationalists, in so far as the colonizing a monument to the race despite all his
power was concerned. limitations. But we cannot make him out to be
the infallible determinant of our national goals, as
his blind idolators have been trying to do.
Ilustrados And Indios
We must see Rizal historically. Rizal
The contrast to the ilustrado approach should occupy his proper place in our pantheon of
was the Katipunan of Bonifacio. Bonifacio, not as great Filipinos. Though he is secure to be in our
Hispanized as the ilustrados, saw in people's hearts and memories as a hero, we must now
action the only road to liberation. The Katipunan, realize that he has no monopoly of patriotism; he
though of masonic and of European inspiration, is not the zenith of our greatness; neither are all
was people's movement based on confidence in his teachings of universal and contemporary
the people's capacity to act in its own behalf. The relevance and application. Just as a given social
early rebellions, spontaneous and sporadic, could system inevitably yields to new and higher forms
be termed movements, without consciousness. of social organization, so the individual hero in
Rizal and the propagandists were the history gives way to new and higher forms of
embodiment of a consciousness without a heroism. Each hero's contribution, however, are
movement. It was Bonifacio and the Katipunan not nullified thereby but assume their correct
that embodied the unity of revolutionary place in a particular stage of the people's
consciousness and revolutionary practice. development. Every nation is always discovering
or rediscovering heroes in the past or its present.
The indio as Filipino rose in arms while
the ilustrado was still waiting for Spain to
9
understand the means of our times. But it is
Blind Adoration useless speculation to try to divine what he would
now advocate.
Hero-worship, therefore, must be both
historical and critical. We must always be Unless we have an ulterior motive, there
conscious of the historical conditions and is really no need to extend Rizal's meaning so
circumstances that made an individual a hero, that he may have contemporary value. Many of
and we must always be ready to admit at what his social criticisms are still valid today because
point that hero's applicability ceases to be of certain aspects of our life are still carry-overs of
current value. To allow hero-worship to be the feudal and colonial society of his time. A true
uncritical and unhistorical is to distort the appreciation of Rizal would require that we study
meaning of the heroic individual's life, and to these social criticisms and take steps to eradicate
encourage a cult bereft of historical meaning - a the evils he decried.
cult of the individual shorn of his historical
significance. It is form without content, a fad that Part and parcel of the attempt to use Rizal
can be used for almost anything, because it is as an authority to defend the status quo is the
really nothing. We must view Rizal as an evolving desire of some quarters to expunge from the
personality within an evolving historical period. Rizalist legacy the so-called controversial aspects
That his martyrdom was tainted by his attacks on of his writings, particularly his views on the friars
our independist struggle is not a ground for and on religion. We have but to recall the
condemning him entirely. We must determine the resistance to the Rizal bill, [p. 144] the use of
factors - economic and cul- [p. 143] tural - that expurgated versions of the Noli Me Tangere and
made Rizal what he was. We must see in his life the El Filibusterismo, and objections to the
and in his works the evolution of the Filipino and readings of his other writings to realize that while
must realize that the period crowned by his death many would have us venerate Rizal, they would
is only a moment in the totality of our history. want us to venerate a homogenized version.
It is a reflection of our lack of creative In his time, the reformist Rizal was
thinking that we continue to invoke Rizal when undoubtedly a progressive force. In many areas
we discuss specific problems and present-day of our life today, his ideas could still be a force for
society. This is also a reflection of our intellectual salutary change. Yet the nature of the Rizal cult is
timidity, our reluctance to espouse new causes such that he is being transformed into an
unless we can find sanctions, however remote, in authority to sanction the status quo by a
Rizal. This tendency is fraught with dangers. confluence of blind adoration and widespread
ignorance of his most telling ideas.
4 Ibid. p. 53
6 Ibid, p. 125