CHAPTER 6

Rizal’s Return to Europe

And the Novel El Filibusterismo

Objectives

At the end of the chapter, the student should be able to:

 Decide well on a situation in relation to one’s safety or one’s principle/belief;

 Compare the two novels in many aspects but to find out the purpose why they were
written;
 Discuss Rizal as a traveler representing the Filipino through his works and achievements;
and
 Study Rizal’s views in religion, family and rights of the people.

CHAPTER 6

Jose P. Rizal’s Return to Europe and the Novel El Filibusterismo

Realizing that Rizal’s family and friends were at risk; and that his fight against the Spaniards had
better chance of winning if he had to go abroad, he finally decided to sail back to Europe. Before
his departure, he gave the poem dedicated to the industrious workers of Lipa City which was the
Himno Al Trabajo (Hymn to Labor).

East Asia

On February 3, 1888, for the second time, Rizal sailed to Hong Kong as a frustrated
being who wanted the utmost reform in his native land. Terrero’s former secretary, Jose Sainz de
Varranda, followed Rizal in the said British colony, and was believed to be commissioned by the
Spanish authorities to spy on the hero. After almost three weeks, on board the American steamer,
Oceanic, he left Hong Kong and sailed to Japan where he was invited by Secretary Juan Perez
Caballero to live at the Spanish Legation. His instinct told him that it was a bait – a way for the
Spanish officials to keep track of his activities. Since it was economical to stay at the legation
and he believed that he had nothing to hide, he accepted it. Rizal was impressed by the scenic
Japan and had keenly observed the life, customs and culture of the people. He had fallen in love
not only with the view but more to its women, particularly with the 23 year old O-Sei-San (a.k.a
Usui Seiko).

Sail to the West

Rizal was almost tempted to settle in Japan with O-Sei-San, but on April 13, 1888, Rizal
boarded the English steamer, Belgic bound for the United States, reaching the land on April 28.
He visited San Francisco, left it on the second day for Oklahoma, then to Sacramento, then to
Reno, and finally to New York. On May 16, 1888 the ship, City of Rome sailed for Liverpool and
where he decided to stay in London until March 1899. Rizal chose to stay in London so that he
could improve his English skills, study and do an annotation of Antonio Morga’s Sucesos de las
Islas Filipinas and because he believed that the said English city was a safe place for him to
carry on the reforms he wanted for the Philippines. He stayed at Dr. Antonio Ma. Regidor’s
home and boarded at the Beckett family where he fell in love with Gertrude.

In Great Britain

In London, Rizal received both good news and bad news from home. The good news was
that Rev. Vicente Garcia was defending his Noli from the attacks of the friars. On the other hand,
the bad news was that the Filipino signatories of the “Petition of 1888” and the tenants of
Calamba agrarian trouble were facing persecution; that his brother-in-law, Manuel T. Hidalgo
and Mariano Herbosa, were exiled to Bohol and was denied Christian burial, respectively; and
his friend, Laureano Viado, a UST medical student, was imprisoned for possessing a copy of his
Noli. During his stay in this country, Rizal also made used of his time in writing essays and
articles for the La Solidaridad. On June 12, 1889, with Filipino and Spanish friends, they
founded the Asociacion Hispano-Filipino which aimed for unionism and reforms. After ten
months, Rizal left London departed for Paris.

In France

In Paris, Rizal continued is study on various languages and practiced his artistic skills,
and finished two statues – “The Beggar” and “The Maid With A Basket”. He organized a social
club called Kidlat Club which brought together young Filipinos residing in France. Soon, the
members of the said club founded a new Filipino society – the Indios Bravos, an organization
which envisioned Filipinos being recognized by Spain for being excellent in various fields if
knowledge.

By January 1890, Rizal’s annotation of the Sucesos was finally printed and published by
the Garnier Freres.

In Belgium

With his roommate, Jose Rizal celebrated Christmas in Paris. Shortly after New Year, he
visited London for the last time on January 28, 1890, left Paris for Brussels. With Albert, they
left the extravagant and gay social life in Paris and stayed in a boarding house owned by the
Jacoby sisters in Brussels. Rizal continued contributing for La Solidaridad under the
pseudonyms Dimas Alang and Laong Laan. From Calamba, Rizal received letters telling that the
agrarian trouble in the province was getting worse. And as such, he decided to go home. But
instead of going home, a letter from Paciano told him that they already lost the case against the
Dominicans and they were in need of a lawyer who would defend their family and the families in
Calamba from Madrid. Rizal traveled to Madrid to seek justice but in vain – he could not find the
right person and he heard that his family was already evicted from their land in Calamba and
other family members were banished to Mindoro and Manila.

In Spain

Rizal had many misadventures in Madrid. For one, he challenged Antonio Luna and
Wenceslao Retana in a duel. With Luna, it was about the latter’s frustration with his unsuccessful
“love affair” with Nellie Boustead, and so gave negative remarks on the lady which Rizal did not
tolerate. The other encounter was with Retana who had insulted Rizal and his family by writing
in La Epoca, an anti-Filipino newspaper, that the Rizal family in Calamba was evicted from their
lands because they did not pay their rents. It is also from this city where Rizal heard the news of
Leonor Rivera’s marriage with Henry Kipping, an Englishman which terribly broke his heart.

Another marked event in Madrid was the Marcelo H. del Pilar - Jose Rizal rivalry for
leadership in the Asociacion Hispano Filipino. A faction emerged from the Filipinos in Madrid,
the Rizalistas and Pilaristas, Rizal and del Pilar’s compatriots, respectively, during the
organization’s election. Losing the election, Rizal decided to go back home, fearing that his
presence may result to bigger and stronger faction among the Filipinos in Madrid. But instead of
going straight to Hong Kong, he went back to Brussels to finish his second novel El
Filibusterismo.

EL FELIBUSTERISMO

Jose Rizal wrote his second novel which was a continuation of the Noli Me Tangere in
Brussels and he finish it in Biarritz, Madrid, inspired by the magnificent place and his romance
with Nellie Boustead.

On March 29, 1891, the eve of his departure from Biarritz to Paris, he finish the manuscript
of El Felibusterismo and he completed the revision on May 30, 1891, ready for printing. He
searched for a cheaper printing shop and he did find a publisher F. MEYER-VAN LOO PRESS,
No. 66 Viaanderen Street that published his books in an installment basis. He pawned his jewels
in order to pay the downpayment and early partial payments during the printing of the novel. He
had receive some funds from Basa and Rodriguez Arias. But printing was suspended because of
insufficient funds and then Valentin Ventura in Paris helped him because he learned about Rizal’s
predicament. He immediately sent the necessary funds for printing.

On September 18, 1891, the novel came off the press in Ghent. He immediately sent copies
to Basa, to Sixto Lopez in Hong Kong, to his friends Valentin S. Ventura in Paris and to his friends
in the Philippines.

The novel was praised to the skies by the Filipino patriots in foreign lands and in the
Philippines. The members of the Filipino colony of Barcelona published a tribute in La Publicidad,
a Barcelona newspaper, eulogizing the novel’s original style which is comparable only to sublime
Alexander Dumas and may well be offered as ‘‘a model, a precious jewel in the decadent literature
of Spain’’.

The liberal Madrid newspaper, El Nuevo Regimen, serialized the novel in its issues of
October, 1891.
 Rizal dedicated El Felibusterismo to the martyrs, Father Gomez, Burgos and Zamora. Their
martyrdom, which Paciano related to him when he was a boy in Calamba was never forgotten.

SUMMARY OF EL FELIBUSTERISMO

Thirteen year after Jose Rizal left the Philippines, Juan Crisostomo Ibarra (the main
character from Noli Me Tangere) returned as Simoun, a rich jeweller sporting a beard and blue-
tinted glasses, and confidant of the Governor-General of the Philippines Captain-General.
Abandoning his idealism, he became a cynical saboteur, the titular filibuster, seeking revenge
against the Spanish Philippines system responsible for his misfortunes by plotting a revolution.
Simoun mingled himself into Manila high society and influenced every decision of the Captain-
General to mismanage the country’s affairs so that a revolution will break out. He cynically sided
with the upper classes, encouraging them to commit abuses against the masses so that the latter
would be encouraged to revolt against the oppressive Spanish colonial regime. This time, he did
not attempt to fight the authorities through legal means, but trough violent revolution using the
masses. Simoun had reasons for instigating revolution. First is to rescue Maria Clara from the
convent and second, to get rid of ills and evils of Philippine society. His true identity is discovered
by a now grown-up Basillio while visiting the grave of his mother, Sisa, as Simoun was digging
near the grave site for his buried treasures. Simoun spared Basillio’s life and ask him to join in his
planned revolution against the government, at the tragic misfortunes of the letter’s family. Basillio
declined the offer as he still hopes that the country’s conditional will improve.

Basillio, at this point, is a graduating student of medicine at the Ateneo Municipal de

Manila. After the death of his mother, Sisa, and the disappearance of his younger brother, Crispin,
Basilio heeded the advice of the dying boatman, Elias, and travelled to manila to study. Basilio
was adopted by Captain Tiago after Maria Clara entered the convent. With Captain Tiago’s help,
Basilio was able to go to Colegio de San Juan de Letran where, at first, he is frowned upon by his
peers and teachers not only because of the color of his skin but also because of his shabby
appearance which he also experienced at Ateneo. Captain Tiago’s confessor, Father Irene was
making Captain Tiago’s health worse by giving him opium even as Basilio tried to prevent Captain
Tiago from smoking it. He and other student wanted to establish a Spanish Language Academy so
that they can learn to speak and write Spanish Language in the Philippines despite the opposition
from the Dominican friars of the University of Santo Tomas. With the help of a reluctant Father
Irene as their mediator and Don Custodio’s decision, the academy was established; however, they
will only serve as caretakers of the school not as the teachers. Dejected and defeated, they hold a
mock celebration at panciteria while a spy for the friars witnesses the proceedings.

Simoun, for his part, kept in close contact with the bandit group of Kabesang Tales, a
former cabeza de barangay who suffered misfortunes at the hands of friars. Once a farmer owning
a prosperous sugarcane plantation and a cabeza de barangay (barangay head), he was forced to
give everything to the greedy and unscrupulous Spanish friars. His son, Tano, who became a civil
guard was captured by bandits; and his daughter Juli had to work as a maid to get enough ransom
money for his freedom; and his Father Selo, suffered a stroke and became mute. Before joining
the bandits, Tales took Simoun’s revolver while Simoun was staying at his house for the night. As
payment, Tales left a locket that once belonged to Maria Clara. To further strengthen the
revolution, Simoun has Quiroga, a Chinese man hoping to be appointed consul to the Philippines,
smuggled weapons into the country using Quiroga’s bazaar as a front. Simoun wished to attack
during a stage play with all of his enemies in attendance. He, however, abruptly aborted the attack
when he learned from Basilio that Maria Clara had died earlier that day in the convent.

A few days after the mock celebration by the student, the people power were agitated when
disturbing posters were found displayed around the city. The authorities accused the students
present at the panciteria of agitation and disturbing peace and had them arrested. Basilio, although
not present at the mock celebration, was also arrested. Captain Tiago died after learning of the
incident and as stated in his will—forged by Father Irene, all his possessions were given to the
church, leaving nothing for Basilio. Basilio was left in prison as the other students were released.
A high official tried to intervene for the release of Basilio but the Captain-General, bearing grudges
against the high official, coerced him to tender his resignation. Juli, Basilio’s girlfriend and the
daughter of Kabesang Tales, tried to ask Father Camorra’s help upon the advice of an elder woman.
Instead of helping Juli, however, Father Camorra tried to rape her as he had long- hidden desires
for Juli. Juli, rather than submits to the will of the friar, jumped over the balcony to her death.

Basilio was soon released with the help of Simoun. Basilio, now a changed man, and after
hearing about Juli’s suicide, finally joined Simoun’s revolution. Simoun then told Basilio his plan
at the wedding of Paulita Gomez and Juanito, Basilio’s hunched-backed classmate. His plan was
to conceal an explosive inside a pomegranate-styled Kerosene lamp that Simoun will give to the
newlyweds as a gift during the wedding reception. The reception will take place at the former
home of the late Captain Tiago, which was now filled with explosives planted by Simoun.
According to Simoun, the lamp will stay lighted for only 20 minutes before it flickers; if someone
attempts to turn the wick, it will explode and kill everyone- important members of civil society
and the Roman Catholic Church in the Philippines Church hierarchy-inside the house. Basilio had
a change of heart and attempts to warn the people inside, including Isagani, his friend and the
former boyfriend of Paulita. Simoun left the reception early as planned and left a note behind.

‘‘THE WRITING ON THE WALL’’ / ‘‘MENE THECEL PHARES.’’

Juan Crisostomo Ibarra

Initially thinking that it was simply a bad joke by those left behind, Father Salve recognized
the handwriting and confirm that it was indeed Ibarra’s. As people began to panic, the lamp
flickered. Father Irene tried to turn the wick up when Isagani, due to his undying love for Paulita,
burst in the room and threw the lamp into the river, sabotaging Simoun’s plans. He escaped by
diving into the river as guards chased after him. He later regreted his impulsive action because he
had contradicted his own belief that he loved his nation more than Paulita and that the explosion
and revolution could have fulfilled his ideals for Filipino society.

Simoun, now unmasked as the perpetrator of the attempted arson and failed revolution,
became a fugitive. Wounded and exhausted after he was shot by the pursuing Guardia Civil
soldiers, he sought shelter at the home of Father Florentino, Isagani’s uncle, and came under the
care of Doctor Tiburcio de Espanada, the husband of Donia Victorina, who was also hiding at the
house. Simoun took poison in order for him not to be captured alive by the authorities. Before he
died, he revealed his real identity to Father Florentino while they exchange thoughts about the
failure of his revolution and why God forsook him. Father Florentino explained that God did not
forsake him and that his plans were not for the greater good but for personal gain. Simoun, finally
accepting Father Florentino’s explanation, squeezed his hand and died. Father Florentino then took
Simoun’s remaining jewels and threw them into the sea, hoping that they would not be used by the
greedy, and that when the time comes that it would be used for the greater good, when the nation
would be finally deserving liberty for themselves, the sea would reveal the treasures.
Characters of El Filibusterismo

Below are some of the major characters in the novel:

1. Simoun- The continuation of the character of Crisostomo Ibarra disguised as a wealthy jeweler,
bent on starting a revolution. Using his wealth, he encouraged the people who experienced
abuse to join him in his rebellion against the church and the government.

2. Basilio- Sisa’s son and was adopted by Kapitan Tiago, boyfriend of Juli and an aspiring doctor.

3. Isagani- poet and Basilio’s bestfriend; portrayed as emotional and reactive student leader;
Paulita Gomez’ boyfriend before being dumped for fellow student Juanito Pelaez.

4. Kabesang Tales- Telesforo Juan de Dios, a former cabeza de barangay(barangay head) who
resurfaced as the feared Luzon bandit Matanglawin(Tagalog for”Hawkeye”); his father, Tandang
Selo, died eventually after his own son Tano, who become a guardia civil, unknowingly shot his
grandfather in an encounter

5. Don Custodio- Custudio de Salazar y Sanchez de Monteredondo, a famous “journalist” who was
asked by the students about his decision for the Academia de Castellano. In reality, he was
quite an ordinary fellow who married a rich woman in order to be a member of Manila’s high
society.

6. Paulita Gomez- The girlfriend of Isagani and the niece of Doña Victorina, the old India who
passing (racial identity) passes herself off as a Peninsulares/Peninsular, who was the wife of the
quack doctor Tiburcio de Espadana. In the end, she and Juanito Pelaez were wed, and she
dumped Isagani, believing that she will have no future if she marries him.

7. Father Florentino- Isagani’s godfather, and a secular priest; was engaged to be married but
chose to be a priest after being pressured by his mother, the story hinting at the ambivalence of
his decision as he chose an assignment to a remote place, living in solitude near the sea.
 8. Juli- Juliana de Dios, the girlfriend of Basilio, and the youngest daughter of Kabesang Tales.

9. Ben Zayb- Abraham Ibañez is his real name. He is a journalist who thought he was the ‘only’
one thinking in the Philippines.

10. Placido Penitente- a student of the University of Santo Thomas who was very intelligent and
wise but did not want, if not only by the mother’s plea, to pursue his studies. He also controls
high temper against his Physics teacher, Father Millon.

11. Quiroga- a Chinese businessman who dreamt of being a consul of a “Consulate of China” in the
Philippines. He kept Simoun’s weapons inside his house.

12. Tandang Selo- father of Kabesang Tales. He raised the sick and young Basilio after his mother
Sisa had died.

13. Father Fernandez- the priest-friend of Isagani. He promised Isagani that he and the other
priests that he will give in to the students’ demands.

14. Attorney Pasta- one of the great lawyers of mid-Hispanic Manila.

15. Captain-General (no specific name) - the powerful highest official in the Philippines.

16. Padre Sybila- Hernando de la Sybila, a Filipino friar and now vice-rector of the University of
Santo Thomas.

Comparison of Noli Me Tangere and El Filibusterismo

Noli Me Tangere and El Filibusterismo vary in many aspects, although they are written
by the same author and are supposed to be dealing with the same story and have the same
characters.

The Noli Me Tangere is a romantic novel. It is a “work of the heart” and “a book of feeling”. It
has freshness, color, humor, lightness and wit. Whereas, El Filibusterismo is a political novel. It is “a
work of heal” and a “book of the thought”. It contains bitterness, hatred, pain, violence and sorrow.
 Jose Rizal’s original intention was to make the El Filibusterismo longer than the Noli Me
Tangere. However, El Filibusterismo is shorter than Noli. It contains 38 chapters whereas 64
chapters of Noli.

There were many opinions as to which the superior novel is – the Noli or the Fili. Rizal himself
considered the Noli as the superior to Fili as noel. Marcelo H. del Pilar and Retana, Rizal’s first Spanish
biographer, also believed that Noli is superior. However, other including Blumentritt, Graciano Lopez
Jaena and Dr. Rafael Palma against the opinion of Rizal. They believed the Fili is the more superior to the
Noli. In Lopez Jaena’s letter he said that Fili was superior because of its exquisite delicate, literary style,
its easy correct dialogue, its phraseology, vigorous and elegant and its profound ideas and sublime
thoughts. However, Jaena advised Rizal to write another novel because he was not satisfied with Fili as a
political novel.

The issue of which is the superior novel is purely academic. Noli and El Fili are good
novels from the point of view of history. Both depict with realistic colors the actual conditions of
the Philippines and Filipinos the decadent days of Spanish rule. Both are instrumental in
awakening the spirit of Filipino nationalism and are responsible in paving the ground for
Philippine revolution that brought about the downfall of Spain. Neither the Noli nor The Fili is
superior to one another, Mariano Ponce told Rizal that Fili was indeed excellent novel but it was
marvelous like all the brilliant productions of his pen. He also said that it was a true twin of the
Noli.
The matrix below shows the comparison between the Noli Me Tangere and El Filibusterismo:

THE COMPARISON OF THE TWO NOVELS OF DR. JOSE P. RIZAL

FEATURE/ASPECT NOLI ME TANGERE EL FILIBUSTERISMO

DATE & PLACE March 21,1887 September 18,1891

PUBLISHED
Berlin, Germany Ghent, Belgium

SPANISH (LANGUAGE) “Noli Me Tangere” “El Filibusterismo”

ENGLISH (LANGUAGE) “Touch Me Not”, “The Reign of Greed”

Social Cancer

FILIPINO (LANGUAGE) “Huwag mo akong salingin” “Ang paghahari ng Kasakiman”

GENRE Romantic Novel, a story Political Novel, a story of

exposing the real situation in the revenge and revolution
Philippines

CONCEPT to work pacifist, choosing to revenge the sufferings of the

peaceful reforms through family and countrymen resulting
education of the youth, colonial from resulting from bitter and
discrimination, an idealist traumatic experiences, failure of
introducing reforms revolution planned by Simoun

DEDICATION Motherland Father Gomez, Burgos and

Zamora(GOMBURZA)

LENGTH 64 chapters 38 chapters

INFLUENCE & SAVED BY Influenced by the novel entitled; Saved by Valentin Ventura
“Uncle Tom’s Cabin”