SUMMARY OF EL FILIBUSTERISMO

A. BRIEF BACKGROUND OF THE STORY

El Filibusterismo, also known by its English title “The Reign of Greed”, is the second
novel written by Jose Rizal and the sequel to Noli Me Tangere. Published in 1891, it
continues the Noli's criticisms of the abuses and corruption perpetrated by the Spanish
government.

B. BRIEF BACKGROUND ON THE LIFE AND WORKS OF THE AUTHOR

José Protasio Rizal Mercado y Alonso Realonda was born on June 19, 1861 – December
30, 1896) was a Filipino nationalist and polymath during the tail end of the Spanish colonial
period of the Philippines. He is tagged as the national hero (pambansang bayani) of the Filipino
people. An ophthalmologist by profession, Rizal became a writer and a key member of the
Filipino Propaganda Movement, which advocated political reforms for the colony under Spain.

He was executed by the Spanish colonial government for the crime of rebellion after
the Philippine Revolution, inspired in part by his writings, broke out. Though he was not actively
involved in its planning or conduct, he ultimately approved of its goals which eventually led
to Philippine independence.

Rizal entitled this novel as such drawing inspiration from John 20:13-17 of the Bible, the
technical name of a particularly painful type of cancer (back in his time, it was unknown what
the modern name of said disease was). He proposed to probe all the cancers of Filipino
society that everyone else felt too painful to touch.

C. SUMMARY OF THE STORY

The protagonist of El Filibusterismo is a jeweler named Simoun. He is the new identity

of Crisostomo Ibarra who, in the prequel Noli, escaped from pursuing soldiers. It is revealed that
Crisostomo dug up his buried treasure and fled to Cuba, becoming richer and befriending
Spanish officials.

After many years, the newly fashioned Simoun returns to the Philippines, where he is
able to freely move around. He is a powerful figure not only because of his wealth but also
because he is a good friend and adviser of the governor general.

Outwardly, Simoun is a friend of Spain; however, in secret, he is plotting a terrible

revenge against the Spanish authorities. His two obsessions are to rescue his paramour Maria
Clara from the nunnery of Santa Clara and to foment a Philippine revolution against Spain.

The story of El Filibusterismo begins on board a steamer ship sailing up the Pasig river
from Manila to Laguna de Bay. Among the passengers are Simoun; Doña Victorina, a pro-
Spanish native woman who is going to Laguna in search of her henpecked husband, Tiburcio de
Espadaña, who has deserted her; Paulita Gomez, her beautiful niece; Ben-Zayb (anagram of
Ibañez), a Spanish journalist who writes silly articles about the Filipinos; Padre Sibyla, vice-
rector of the University of Santo Tomas; Padre Camorra, the parish priest of the town of
Tiani; Don Custodio, a pro-Spanish Filipino holding a position in the government; Padre Salvi,
thin Franciscan friar and former cura of San Diego; Padre Irene, a kind friar who was a friend of
the Filipino students; Padre Florentino, a retired scholarly and patriotic Filipino priest; Isagani, a
poet-nephew of Padre Florentino and a lover of Paulita; and Basilio, son of Sisa and promising
medical student, whose medical education is financed by his patron, Capitan Tiago.

A man of wealth and mystery, Simoun is a very close friend and confidante of the
Spanish governor general. Because of his great influence in Malacañang, he was called the
“Brown Cardinal” or the “Black Eminence”. By using his wealth and political influence, he
encourages corruption in the government, promotes the oppression of the masses, and hastens the
moral degradation of the country so that the people may become desperate and fight. He
smuggles arms into the country with the help of a rich Chinese merchant, Quiroga, who aspires
to be Chinese consul of Manila. His first attempt to begin the armed uprising did not materialize
because at the last hour he hears the sad news that Maria Clara died in the nunnery. In his
agonizing moment of bereavement, he did not give the signal for the outbreak of hostilities.

After a long time of illness brought about by the bitter loss of Maria Clara, Simoun
perfects his plan to overthrow the government. On the occasion of the wedding of Paulita Gomez
and Juanito Pelaez, he gives a wedding gift to them a beautiful lamp. Only he and his
confidential associates, Basilio (Sisa’s son who joined his revolutionary cause), know that when
the wick of his lamp burns lower the nitroglycerine, hidden in its secret compartment, will
explode, destroying the house where the wedding feast is going to be held killing all the guests,
including the governor general, the friars, and the government officials. Simultaneously, all the
government buildings in Manila will be blown by Simoun’s followers.

As the wedding feast begins, the poet Isagani, who has been rejected by Paulita because
of his liberal ideas, is standing outside the house, sorrowfully watching the merriment inside.
Basilio, his friend, warns him to go away because the lightened lamp will soon explode.

Upon hearing the horrible secret of the lamp, Isagani realizes that his beloved Paulita is in
grave danger. To save her life, he rushes into the house, seizes the lightened lamp, and hurls it
into the river, where it explodes.

The revolutionary plot is thus discovered. Simoun is cornered by the soldiers, but he
escapes. Mortally wounded, and carrying his treasure chest, he seeks refuge in the home of Padre
Florentino by the sea.

The Spanish authorities, however, learns of his presence in the house of Padre
Florentino. Lieutenant Perez of the Guardia Civil informs the priest by letter that he will come at
eight o’clock that night to arrest Simoun.

Simoun eludes arrest by taking poison. As he is dying, he confesses to Padre Florentino,

revealing his true identity, his dastardly plan to use his wealth to avenge himself, and his sinister
aim to destroy his friends and enemies.
 The confession of the dying Simoun is long and painful. It is already night when Padre
Florentino, wiping the sweat from his wrinkled brow, rises and begins to meditate. He consoles
the dying man saying: “God will forgive you Señor Simoun. He knows that we are fallible. He
has seen that you have suffered, and in ordaining that the chastisement for your faults should
come as death from the very ones you have instigated to crime, we can see His infinite mercy.
He has frustrated your plans one by one, the best conceived, first by the death of Maria Clara,
then by a lack of preparation, then in some mysterious way. Let us bow to His will and render
Him thanks!”

Watching Simoun die peacefully with a clear conscience and at peace with God, Padre
Florentino falls upon his knees and prays for the dead jeweler. The priest then takes the treasure
chest and throws it into the sea.

D. ANALYSIS OF THE STORY

The message of the novel is clear: the present system of governing the Philippines
through corrupt and self-seeking officials, dominated by the friars and being submissive to their
interests in one fashion or another, can only lead to disaster for Spain. By its nature and
operation the system without doubt drives all intelligent, generous, hard-working, courageous,
and loyal citizens, even those most devoted to Spain, into opposition, crime, and subversion. The
government is subjective, cruel, completely lacking in a sense of justice or of responsibility, and
without interest or trust in the people it governs. The friars are painted in even harsher colors
than in the Noli: they abuse their power to satisfy vile lusts; to rob men of their lands; to preserve
their monopoly of education; always seeking their own interests rather than those of the country,
or even of Spain.

Yet in this harsh picture there are bright spots: the high official who opposes the
governor-general over his subjective proceedings, and who sympathizes with and defends the
Filipino people; and the open-minded Dominican, Father Fernandez, who favors the petition of
the students for a Spanish academy, and is willing to discuss with the student Isagani on equal
terms what the students expect from the friars.
Rizal sees little hope that Spain will rule on the basis of justice rather than prestige, and though
he must record the rays of hope that still remain, he is essentially pessimistic.

Along with his warning to Spain, Rizal conveys to his countrymen the action to be taken
if Spain does not heed his warning. If Rizal is ruthless in denouncing Spanish corruption, greed,
exploitation, and injustice, he is no less hard in condemning Filipino corruption, greed, self-
righteousness, hypocrisy, and cowardice, which share in, or permit Spanish abuses. The Filipina,
Doña Victorina, ashamed of her race; the cowardly, time-serving Filipino lawyer, Señor Pasta;
the brutalized civil guard, cruelest of all of their own countrymen; the corrupt municipal officials
--- to name a few.

Moreover, he criticized weak-willed students who lack self-respect and courage to fight a
dampening system of education; the silliness of Paulita, who chooses the cowardly but wealthy
braggart Pelaez over Isagani whose bravery and patriotism have gotten him into trouble with the
authorities; the superstition and fanaticism of the women of San Diego.

He proclaims the unstable and presumably irreversible status of Spanish sovereignty in

the Philippines. Yet he never urges revolution. Not only does he condemn an independence won
by immoral means, like Simoun's; he does not even want immediate independence, which could
only mean a new slavery. The task for the Filipinos is to prepare themselves, to make themselves
worthy of freedom, and then God will grant the means, be it revolution or peaceful separation
from Spain.

Education, decent lives, and willingness to sacrifice for one's convictions, even to suffer
martyrdom - this is the road to freedom that Rizal would have his countrymen travel.