Bitanga, Princess

1. How did Rizal manage to escape the fury of the friar’s wrath (receiving anonymous
threats against his life)?
The governor general knew that Rizal’s life was in jeopardy because the friars were
powerful. He then assigned a young Spanish lieutenant as a bodyguard of
Rizal.Farewell AgainRizal’s novel caused uproar among the friars. Anonymous threats
against Rizal’s life were received by his parents. Feeling uneasy with the situation,
they advised him to go away for his life was in danger.Governor General Terrero
summoned Rizal and advised him to leave the Philippines for his own good. He was
giving Rizal a change to escape the fury of the friar’s wrath.Rizal really needs to go
because he could not disobey the governor general’s orders. Rizal left Calamba in
1888.Hong KongHaunted by enemies and threatened by friars, Rizal was forced to
leave Philippines for the second time. It was February 1888 then. Rizal at 27 was an
embittered victim of human iniquities, a disillusioned dreamer, and a frustrated
reformer. This was the start of Rizal’s second travel.On February 3, 1888, after six
months of stay in Calamba, Rizal left Manila for Hong Kong on board the Zafiro. He
was sad and sick during the crossing of the choppy China Sea. He did not get off the
ship when it made a stopover at Amoy, because he was sick,it was raining and the
city was dirty. He arrived in Hong Kong on February 8.In Hong Kong, Rizal stayed at
Victoria Hotel. He was welcomed by the Filipino community in Hong Kong. During this
time, a Spaniard, Jose Varanda, was shadowing Rizal’s movements in Hong Kong. It is
believed that he was ordered to spy on Rizal.MacaoOn February 18, Rizal
accompanied by Basa, boarded the ferry steamer Kiu-Kiang for Macao. He was
surprised to see a familiar figure among the passengers—Sainz de Varanda.Rizal
described Macao as a small, low and gloomy. There are many junks, sampans, but
few steamers, it looks sad and is almost dead-like.The two stayed in at the home of
Don Juan Francisco Lecaros who was married to a Portuguese lady.During his two day
stay in Macao, he visited the theater, casino, cathedral and churches, pagodas and
botanical gardens and the bazaars. He also saw the famous Grotto of Camoens.In the
evening of February 19, he witnessed a Catholic procession wherein the devotees
were dressed in blue and purple dresses and were carrying unlighted candles.
On February 20, Rizal and Basa returned to Hong Kong on board the ferry steamer
Kiu-Kiang.
2. If you were Rizal that time (Feb 1888) are you going to follow the order of the
governor general? Why?
By any standard, our national hero, Jose Rizal, is one of the most interesting, brilliant,
enigmatic, charismatic, and controversial figures in history. There seems to be always
something new to discover about him and debates around him prevail to this day.
almost every columnist, every commentator, every radio and television station, has
had something to say about some special “little known” facts about our national
hero. During the past year, there had been numerous reports in all forms of media
about Rizal as sportsman and excellent student, as someone who had prophetic
dreams, as a world traveler, a romantic, an artist, a political activist, as polyglot who
spoke 22 languages and dialects, and of course, as a writer and martyr. Even topics as
mundane as where he tied his horse when he visited his childhood sweetheart have
generated interest. The list goes on and on.

Amidst all this hoopla, one aspect of Rizal barely explored or discussed in much
detail, is that of him as an ophthalmologist. Questions like “was Rizal really an
ophthalmologist?” or “did his mother go blind because he experimented with her
eyes?” still get asked too often, even by fellow physicians. This is sad, and rather
unfair to Dr. Jose Rizal. For truth be told, not only was Jose Rizal an ophthalmologist,
he was a pretty good one. Furthermore, Rizal the ophthalmologist and Rizal the hero
are inextricably linked. Ophthalmology was not his real passion. But like his political
writings for which he is most famous, and which sparked the first revolution for
freedom in Asia and led him to a destiny he did not plan for himself, his becoming an
ophthalmologist was also driven primarily by love. He wrote what he wrote because
of a deep love for country. He became an ophthalmologist because of a deep love for
his mother. His suffering Motherland was under an abusive and oppressive foreign
power and through his written work he hoped to open the eyes of both his
countrymen and the Spanish authorities. He longed to give his mother sight just as he
longed to bring vision to his “blind” countrymen. He wanted to heal them both.

In this quest, he also achieved one of the major driving forces in his life. In 1858,
three years before Rizal was born, Sir John Bowring, Governor of Hong Kong, visited
Rizal’s Uncle Alberto in Binan. Sir John imparted a lot of knowledge to Alberto Alonzo,
and most significant among them was information about a book by the Spaniard
Morga, written in 1609, that documented the situation in the Philippines when the
Spaniards first arrived in the 1500s. These stories were passed on to Rizal and were
engraved in his heart. This knowledge in the face of the injustice he and his family
experienced under the Spaniards inspired him to look for and copy this book one day
if only to prove that, contrary to what the Spanish imperialists of his time claimed,
the Philippines had a rich culture and advanced civilization before the Spaniards
came.1 He carried this dream with him throughout adulthood and fulfilled it more
than 20 years later. He wanted to spread the word to his own countrymen and to
foreigners alike, that we had an identity distinct from that of our conquerors, an
identity we could be proud of, an identity we had to rediscover and nurture, because
that would be our ticket to real freedom. His quest to become an ophthalmologist
afforded him the opportunity to acquire the tools to do just this. His quest to become
an ophthalmologist also provided him with the stage to be the best poster boy the
Philippines and the Filipinos could have.
3. Explain the bad impression of RizaL to America “The valuing of money over human
life”
Lack of racial equality , most Americans say, as a country, we have yet to achieve
racial equality. Roughly six-in-ten (61%) say that our country needs to continue
making changes for blacks to have equal rights with whites, while 30% say we have
made the changes needed to bring about equality. Blacks and Hispanics are
particularly likely to say more work is needed to achieve racial equality, although
more whites also say this is the case than say enough changes have been made.

Looking ahead, about four-in-ten (43%) blacks are skeptical that the country will ever
make the changes needed for blacks to achieve equal rights with whites. Far lower
shares among whites (11%) and Hispanics (17%) are doubtful that these changes will
eventually take place.

Blacks and whites also offer different perspectives about the challenges black people
face in the U.S. For example, whites are more likely to point to individual prejudice
rather than institutional racism as the bigger problem when it comes to
discrimination against black people today (70% citing individual prejudice vs. 19%
saying institutional racism). Blacks are more evenly divided: 48% say individual
prejudice is the bigger problem, while 40% point to discrimination that is built into
the country’s laws and institutions.

Whites are also far less likely than blacks to say black people in the country as a
whole and in their communities are treated less fairly than whites in dealing with the
police, in the courts, when voting, in the workplace, when applying for a loan or
mortgage, and in stores or restaurants. And while majorities of blacks say racial
discrimination, lower quality schools and lack of jobs are major reasons blacks in the
U.S. may have a harder time getting ahead than whites, far smaller shares of whites
hold those views.

4. Why does Rizal’s impression of freedom to America are only for the whites?
AMERICA IS THE LAND PAR EXCELLENCE OF FREEDOM BUT ONLY FOR THE WHITES.
5. Are there any possibilities that Rizal’s envision (Philippines would have more
contact and relations to Japan) will happen nowadays? Why or Why not?
Contact with the Philippine islands began when Japanese traders/merchants first
settled in the archipelago during the 12th century AD. Notable settlements of the
period include Bolinao and Agoo along Lingayen Gulf.[6][7] The Japanese were
trading with Philippine kingdoms well before the Spanish period, mainly in pottery
and gold.[8] Historical records show that Japanese traders, especially those from
Nagasaki, frequently visited the Philippine shores and bartered Japanese goods for
such Filipino products as gold and pearls. In the course of time, shipwrecked
 Japanese sailors, pirate traders, and immigrants settled in the Philippines and
intermarried with the

early Filipinos. When the Spaniards reached the island of Luzon in 1571, they found
Japanese colonies and settlements in Manila and in some parts of the Cagayan Valley,
the Cordillera region, Lingayen, Bataan, and Catanduanes Island. The relatively light
complexion of the natives of Bontoc and Banaue is probably a result of the early
contacts between the Japanese and other islanders from south of Japan and the
natives of the Cordillera.
6. Describe the similarities of Rizal and Tetcho Suehiro

ROZAL TOLD TETCHI THE STORY OF HIS LIFE'S MISSION TO EMMANCIPATE HIS
OPPRESSED PEOPLE FROM SPANISH TYRANNY AND OF THE PERSECUTIONS WHICH HE
AND H IS FAMILY SUFFERED FROM THE VINDICATIVE SPANISH OFFICIALS AND BAD
FRIARS, CAUSING HIM TO FLEE FROM FOREIGN COUNTRIES.

DURING THEIR INTIMATE ACQUAINTANCE OF ALMOST EIGHT MONTHS (APRIL TO

DECEMBER 1, 1888) TETCHO CAME TO ADMIRE RIZAL, WHOSE PATRIOATISM AND
MAGNIFICENT TALENTS GREATLY FASCINATED HIM AND INFLUENCED HIM.

RIZAL AND TETCHO WERE KINDRED SPIRITS. BOTH WERE VALIANT PATRIOTS,
IMPLACABLE FOES OF INJUSTICE AND TYRANNY. BOTH WERE MEN OF PEACE USING
THEIR TRENCHANT PENS AS FORMIDABLE WEAPONS TO FIGHT FOR THEIR PEOPLE'
WELFARE AND HAPPINESS.

RIZAL AND TETCHO

I ARRIVED AT LONDON LATE IN MAY , 1888. I TEMPORARILY STAYED AT "KING'S

HENRY ROAD" THEN MOVED TO ROOM 56 AT PARLIAMENT HILL ROAD. I INTENDED
TO STAY HERE UNTIL FEBRUARY OR MARCH, BUT UNFORTUNATELY LONDON HAD
BEEN SHROUDED BY FOG SINCE EARLY OCTOBER. I HAVE SLIGHT ILLNESS AND IT
APPEARED TO BE VERY HARD FOR ME TO SPEND THE COMING WINTER HERE. I
DECIDED TO GO HOME, AND SCHEDULED TO LEAVE LONDON ON DECEMBER THE
FIRST. ANOTHER PASSENGER WHICH RIZAL BEFRIENDED ON BOARD THE BELGIC WAS
TECHO SUEHIRO, A FIGHTING JAPANESE, JOURNALIST, NOVELIST, AND CHAMPION OF
HUMAN RIGHTS.
 TECHO WAS MISERABLY ALONE. BECAUSE HE ONLY KNEW JAPANESE LANGUAGE SO
HE COULDNT COMMUNICATE WITH SHIP OFFICERS AND OTHERS. SINCE RIZAL KNEW
FOREIGN LANGUAGES INCLUDING JAPANESE, BEFRIENDED RIZAL.
ON DECEMBER 1, 1888, AFTER A LAST WARM HANDSHAKE AND BIDDING EACH
OTHER "GOODBYE", RIZAL AND TECHO PARTED WAYS---NEVER MEET AGAIN.
AFTER THE PUBLICATION OF HIS TRAVEL DIARY, TETCHO RESIGNED HIS POSITION AS
EDITOR OF TOKYO NEWSPAPER, CHOYA, AND ENTERED POLITICS.
FIRST EMPERAL DIET (JAPANESE PARLIAMENT), WHERE HE CARRIED ON HIS FIGHT
FOR HUMAN RIGHTS. THE FOLLOWING YEAR (1891) HE PUBLISHED A POLITICAL
NOVEL TITLED NANKAI-NO-DAIHARAN (STORM OVER THE SOUTH SEA)
WHILE STILL A MEMBER OF THE IMPERIAL DIET, TETCHODIED OF HEART ATTACK IN
TOKYO IN FEBRUARY, 1896 (10 MONTHS BEFORE RIZAL'S EXECUTION) HE WAS 49
YEARS OLD.
7. What do you think Rizal said that, “On this battlefield man has no better weapon
than his intelligence, no other force but his heart”?
In essence, this letter says that on the battlefield of life man has no better weapon
than his intelligence, no other force but his heart; to be prepared, one has to
sharpen, perfect, and polish the mind [reason] and fortify and educate the heart
[passions].

It can also be added that this approach---impeccable logic under wise values---should
straighten crooked ratiocinations as well as tame unbridled emotions running helter-
skelter as knee-jerk reactions to various stimuli from changing environments.

From this understanding, it can be submitted that “proper education”, in the Rizalian
perspective, has the dual and intertwined meaning of sharpened and polished reason
(mind) as well as strengthened and educated passion (heart).

A closer look at this formulation would give us a new appreciation. It does not seem
to imply that “mind directs heart” but rather “heart directs mind”. For a strong and
wise heart propels and navigates, while a sharp and smooth mind cuts and pierces.
Heart is force; intelligence is weapon.