LESSON 10 (PART 1)

• Around 1881, when Rizal decided to continue his studies in Europe.

This decision was only known between him and his brother Paciano.
Rizal parents was unaware of his decision. At that time the family was
at its most prosperous. It was in good terms with the Spanish
administrators of the Calamba estate.
• Under the agreement with the Dominican administrators, no rent was
to be paid for the next five years. From the time the lands were placed
under the supervision of the Rizals in 1881 up to 1887, the farms
yielded very good harvests. It provided the income to send the young
Jose Rizal abroad to pursue his students.
• Jose Rizal left for Europe because his family had the means and
since Europe was the center of the world in scientific research
and education, the educational institutions in that continent
attracted the scions of elite all over the world.
• Europe was also the perfect place for intellectual development of
science and scientific research. The universities, museums and
libraries contain knowledge compiled through the ages.
• There is a great democratic space in Europe where one’s political
views can be respected without fear of retaliation.
• There would be no friars to challenge those advocating change in
society as well as the deputies of the reactionary Spaniards- the
native Guardia Civil and the local officials who would do the
bidding of their Spanish masters.
• Since Europe has a great democratic space, it would give Rizal and
his companions an opportunity to compare the Philippine
situation with that of Spain. They can make public what was
happening in the Philippines and work for reforms. Certainly, in
Spain there would be Spaniards who would sympathize with their
cause.
• As soon as Rizal set his foot in a foreign land, he began to note the
difference in the conditions of the Philippines and of other countries.
He even noted the condition of the vessels he was sailing: on the
Djemnah, the vessel was larger and cleaner. Its interiors were carpeted
and its toilets were excellent.
• When he arrived in Spain he compared it with France where he landed
at the port of Marseilles.
• At Barcelona, he lodged in the poor part of the city, probably to
conserve his meager funds. Comparing it to the other European cities,
his first impression Barcelona was dark, dingy and ugly.
 Rizal’s exposure to the heady European atmosphere
widened with this trip to Madrid where he enrolled at
the Universidad Central de Madrid. The University was
very much like the University of Santo Tomas. The
students and faculty members were a people of various
beliefs. There were liberals, conservatives, monarchists
and republicans as well as revolutionists.
• Rizal was drawn to the side of the liberals who consisted of
Spaniards and Filipinos.
• The group started as a social gathering and they gathered at the
house of Don Pablo Ortiga y Rey who was a former alcalde of
Manila.
• The social group joined in by Rizal eventually had a name at it
became known as Circulo Hispano Filipino. And later on Rizal
compose a poem entitled Me Piden Versos.
• Seeing the big differences between the conditions in Europe and
the Philippines, Rizal advocated changes for the Philippines. This
were the reforms he and his companions would work to attain.
• These reforms were human rights; freedom of speech, freedom of
religion and freedom of association.
• They would also clamor for equality before the law and the
expulsion of the friars who have dominated the Philippines for so
long.
• Propaganda is a term derived from the latin “propagare”, which means to spread
or to propagate.
• Propaganda spreads information that is not objectives and this information is used
to influence the opinion of an intended audience.
• This is done to fulfill the objectives of the one creating the propaganda. It may use
truths, lies, fiction and opinions to achieve its items.
• To achieve his aims Rizal used essays, poetry and novels as forms of propaganda.
Propaganda material was dished out by writers but magnified with the use of the
printing press to reach a greater readership.
The pen and the printing press were therefore the
weapons of the propagandists.
• Rizal was attracted to the ideals of freemasonry.
• Freemasonry is a brotherhood that espoused equality among men.
• The masons attacked established religious who hid the truth behind the
veil of religion. For this reason, the Catholic Church declared
freemasonry an evil organization.
• Rizal entered the Freemasonry in 1883 through the Lodge Acacia in
Madrid and later moved up to become a master mason at the Lodge
Solidaridad on November 15, 1890.
• Freemasonry changed the life of Rizal as well as his fellow
Filipinos.
• He began to challenge Church teachings such as forgiveness of
sins, the resurrection and even the sinlessness of the Virgin Mary.
• He began to manifest deist beliefs - that God is not the monopoly
of any religion. He also a rationalist preferring to accept revelation
only by light of reason.
Rizal’s sojourn in Europe also allowed him to collect books
many of which appealed to his romantic mind. While Rizal
saved food, clothes and lived in the most Spartan
accommodations, he spared no amount in buying books
even from second hand book stores.
• The first group was the Circulo-Hispano Filipino which existed around 1883.
Filipinos also organized other groups. Rizal himself formed two groups;
✓The first was the “Kidlat Club” was formed out of impulse in 1887 and just like a
lightning it was named after, the group immediately flashed out of existence. Kidlat
Club members were Juan Luna, Julio Llorente, Gregorio Pautu, Baldomero Roxas,
Gregorio Aguilera.
✓The second group was Indios Bravos “I.B” was formed in 1887 in Paris. Rizal intended
the Indios Bravos to inspire not only the brown natives of the Philippines but the
entire Malay Race.
• For this reason he had subgroup within the Indios called the RDLM- Redencion de los Malayos
(Redemption of the Malays).
• On June 14, 1884- Rizal was invited to attend a banquet
honoring Juan Luna and Felix Resurrection Hidalgo who won
top prizes in the National Exposition of Fine Arts.
• Luna won with his Spoliarium which depicted the corpses of
slain Roman gladiators being dragged into the bowels of the
Coliseum while Hidalgo won the second prize with his Virgenes
Cristianas Expuestas al Populacho (Christian Virgins Exposed to
the Populace).
• In congratulating Luna, Rizal said that genius is not the monopoly
of any race or any nation.
• The two painters who are titans of their art, are both products of
Spain and the Philippines. Their works united the peoples of both
countries.
• Towards the end of his speech Rizal mentioned with refined
sarcasm that the Filipinos were emerging as an intellectual force.
He also said that he hoped that Spain will someday grant reforms
needed by the Philippines.
• While in Europe, Rizal and his companions were thinking to write a book
about the Philippines. Rizal wrote Noli Me Tangere and published it in the
year 1887.
• Rizal continued his propaganda work with the writing of his second novel
El Filibusterismo and various essays appeared in the SOL- La Solidaridad,
the newspaper of the Filipino Propagandists based in Spain.
• As a writer of La Solidaridad, Rizal wrote under a pseudonym Dimasalang
and Laon- Laan.
• Symbolic Dimasalang- ungraspable or untouchable and Laon- Laan- long
committed to the redemption of the motherland.
• When Rizal endeavored to write the Noli Me Tangere, he
promised to write the truth about the Philippines. He wrote
things that other people would not write about, comparing
his work to the biblical practice of exposing a sick person on
the steps of a temple waiting for someone to suggest a cure.
• The friar order held political power and they owned lands
that were required by donation, purchase or outright land
grabbing.
• As a propagandist, Rizal only showed the bad side of the Spanish
Rule.
• In his time, there was unprecedented peace in the Philippines. The
Moros who used to raid Manila as late as 1825 were no more. Their
threat was neutralized with the capture of Jolo in 1876 and the
deportation of the most notorious Moro pirate group to Isabela
province in Northern Luzon. The monopolies Rizal mentioned in his
essays such as the About the Indolence of the Filipinos were all gone
by 1882. The galleon trade which prevented Filipinos from trading
with other countries was abolished as early as 1815. Rizal’s family was
actually one of the beneficiaries of free trade and the abolition of
monopolies.
Source
• De Viana, Agusto (2019). Laon- Laan, A guide for study and
understanding of the life and contributions of Jose Rizal to Philippine
nationhood and society. Books Atbp. Publishing Corp.