VILLONA, JOSELITO 13/12/2020

BSAR 3C

The Noli Me Tangere Controversy

The Noli me Tangere was a book so controversial, anyone who owns a book or anyone who had
possession of it in the mid-1890s could be arrested. And it could also land you on death row. It was
banned in other major parts of the Philippine islands. There were numerous reasons why thy had
been subjected to such a harsh judgement. Primarily, it was because of their explosive contents
which had brutally exposed the deliberate abuses of the Spaniards and the clergy respectively.
Many unexpected turn of events had transpired, after Noli had been in full swing.
The book influenced the best minds of the revolution, but it also inspired ordinary townsfolk to rise
up against a common enemy. Lisa Guerrero-Nakpil, Leon Gallery’s resident historian, asserts as
much. “It’s the most important book in the history of the Philippines as far as the Philippine
revolution is concerned,” she says. “You have to imagine that in those times, there was no social
media—right now any little problem is spoken about by all people, but at that point nobody talked
about the abuses [of the church], and therefore the hardship experienced [by such a big amount of
Filipinos], for fear they’d be killed, or their houses would be burned, and their holding would be
lost or confiscated.” it absolutely was an act of courage for Rizal to own written the book and he
consequently served as an idea for a whole generation to stand up and take hold of the country.
Noli Me Tangere is a novel that was an advisory for the Filipinos to fight against the colonizers and
today’s reminder of our history. The characters and the events in the story resemble our life,
culture, and beliefs of Filipino people. This literary piece will mark in our hearts the values that the
novel tells us to be a good role model that will benefit our country. Reading this literary piece will
make us realize the true meaning of nationalism and be a catalyst for change.