Re p u b lic o f the Ph ilip p in e s

CAVITE STATE UNIVERSITY

Ca vite City Ca m p us
Pu lo II, Da la h ic a n, C a vite C ity, Ph ilip p in e s

CRITIQUE PAPER

Name: Nazareno, Danielle Joei R.

Section: SE3AE

Subject Code: BSEE34

 MAY BAGYO MA’T MAY RILIM

The poem “May Bagyo Ma’t May Rilim”, though an unknown tagalog song, retells the
story of a person who did not lost his hope despite all the hardships and problems that
came his way. The persona in the poem used the bible to be his weapon in times of
despair because he knows that God is the only one who can help him fight to all of the
battle he faces. As humans, it is our duty to praise and worship God who are our creator
and not lose faith to Him no matter what happens.

As we analyze the poem more, we get the idea that it was told in the first person point of
view because the speaker of the poem used the personal pronoun “I” or “me”, as seen
in this first stanza:

Aco’y, magpipilit din:

Acquing paglalacbayin

Toloyin cong hanapin

Dios na ama namin.

The persona is not literally on journey while he seeks God, instead, the persona is
seeking God as he continues living his life as a human who encounters and suffers
problems.

Aside from this, the poem not only talks about adoring God but it brings the emotion of
hope as seen in the last stanza wherein the speaker mentioned that even if he cannot
walk anymore, his faith to God will remain as He is the only one that can lead him
towards the right way. The poem exhibits that hope, pure joy and freedom can only be
found through God.

Furthermore, the poem also has a lot of symbolism that is related to religion. First, the
first stanza talks about man’s faith to God, in which the problems takes the form of
bagyo. It completely tells us that no matter how strong the storm gets, we should not let
the storm beat us. The second stanza talks about the important of reading the bible
wherein the the book mentioned in this stanza was the bible itself, the third stanza
shows that one should not be afraid to accept religion, rather we should be glad that we
were born again as we accept that Jesus Christ is our Lord and Savior. While the fourth
stanza indicates the as children of God it is our duty to remain loyal to Him as God is
always there for us, both in times of joy and despair. And last, the fifth stanza, the
speaker is telling to its readers that there will always be hope and it can be found
through God because he is the only one who can give this to us.

In conclusion, May Bagyo Ma’t May Rilim addresses all Filipino Christians to never lose
faith to God no matter what happens. As Filipino, we are known for being really religious
and faithful servants and children of God by other nations. This faithfulness can be seen
even today, as we continue to fight against this pandemic, instead of sulking in a corner,
we pray and still visit the church which shows a Filipino’s unending faith and love for his
creator.
 TO THE YOUNG WOMEN OF MALOLOS

To The Young Women of Malolos is one of the great legacy Jose Rizal left to Filipinos.
And Rizal has great influence to the hearts and minds of Filipinos during Spanish
colonization. According to an article I’ve read upon searching for this piece, the young
women Rizal mentioned came from prominent families who asked the governor-general
to open up a night school where they could teach Spanish, however they were rejected.
Although rejected they still continued and established the school. This essay of Rizal
does not pertain to the women of Malolos alone but he gives his regards and
amazement to all Filipino women who continue to fight every battle.

In Rizal’s essay we can see that during the Spanish colonization and over the past few
years, women are seen as inferior being to men. Women are seen as bearer only of
offsprings – a wife – and does not require proper education. Filipina women are seen as
submissive, caring and loving towards their husband but Rizal believed it the other way
around. He sees women as beings to have a great fighting spirit.

In fact, the main point of this essay of Rizal is for the all the Filipino women to be given
the equal education that is being provided to Filipino men. During this time, women do
not have much opportunities in terms of education, they do not know a lot in terms of
academics but rather they could only excel in house chores. That the reason they do
not need education is because they will get married and be a wife soon.

If we would relate this essay to the time of today, I could say times might have change
though there are still circumstances that women are being abused and oppressed, men
can recognize now the power and ability of women. They come to recognize the
beautiful nature of being a woman, that a woman’s race is not simply a child bearer, a
wife nor a mother who simply teaches her sons how to behave rather, a being that is
way more superior to the race of man.

In conclusion, although Rizal praises the greatness of a woman, the main idea of this
essay is that, education is a right. Therefore, both men and women should have it
equally. No race should be left behind, thus education must remain equal for all. This
essay also eliminates stereotyping because as we can in today, women can also do
manly work. The whole essay may symbolize feminism but on the contrary it only
portrays to its readers the fighting spirit every Filipina has.
FLORANTE AT LAURA (excerpt from Kabanata 2: Ang Binatang Nakagapos, ika-8
hanggang 24 na saknong)

The chapter 2 of Francisco Baltazar’s Florante at Laura tells about the situation of
Florante while he was tied on a tree in a forest outside the kingdom of Albanya. Florante
assumes that he will soon die because he is thinking about the wild animals lurking
within the forest, and if ever these wild animals attack him Florante would not stand a
chance against them as he is all tied up. Meanwhile, in the kingdom of Albanya, Adolfo
who is Florante’s rival is scheming an evil plan to steal the throne from King Linseo –
Laura’s father.

Florante at Laura is an example of awit, a long narrative poem meant to be slowly sung.
Though we can say that the settings of the story is somewhere that’s outside the islands
of Philippines, the fact that the whole story of Florante at Laura depicts the lives of
Filipinos during Spanish colonization. Aside from this, Florante at Laura is also similar to
William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet however the only difference is that in Romeo
and Juliet, the ill-fated couple died which is in contrast with Florante at Laura where the
couple lived, got married to each other and soon became the king and queen of their
country.

Nevertheless, Florante at Laura showed a lots of values to which we can relate to some
Filipino values. First, the value of love for one’s own country. Florante did not tolerate
the evil plans of Adolfo, so he went to war against Persian soldiers. This is similar
during the time when our heroes waged war against the Spaniards who are oppressing
and abusing us Filipinos. Second, acceptance of one’s religion. At the final chapter of
Florante at Laura, the kingdom of Albanya finally had a peaceful relationship with the
kingdom of Persia. This can be seen in the stanze where Florante was saved by Aladin,
a moro-prince who also suffered the same fate as him. In other words, religion should
not be discriminated because even though our religion differs from one another the fact
that we are worshipping and praising one God is enough reason for us to unite as
followers of our God.
In addition, we can also relate Florante’s situation in chapter 2 to Dr. Rizal’s exile in
Dapitan. While Rizal was being held in Dapitan, the Spaniards continue with their evil
schemes and plans to the Filipinos. Being exiled and tied both symbolizes oppression
and to take away someone’s freedom. Though both men were being oppressed, they
did not fail to save their country, Florante had a weapon to protect his country against
the colonizers, on contrary Rizal used a pen to awaken the patriotism and nationalism of
Filipinos which resulted to revolutionary.

To sum it up, the main theme of Florante at Laura is that religious differences should not
be the cause of to discriminate one another. Instead, it should be a tool for every people
to possess respect and build harmonious relationship with others who have a different
religion from others, just as how Florante and Aladin became close friends despite their
differences most especially in terms of religion.