CHAPTER 10 – NOLI ME TANGERE, CONTINUING RELEVANCE

After publication, Noli me Tangere was considered to be one of the instruments that
initiated Filipino nationalism leading to the 1917 Philippine Revolution. The novel did not only
awaken sleeping Filipino awareness, but also established the grounds for aspiring to
independence. Noli was originally written in Spanish, so the likelihood that Spanish authorities
would read it first was very high which is what Rizal wanted to happen. Copies of books were
redirected to churches, many were destroyed, and many anti-Noli writers came into the picture.
Catholic leaders in the Philippines at the time regarded the book as heretical, while Spanish
colonial authorities declared it as subversive and against the government. Underground copies
were distributed, so Rizal decided to increase the price, even the demand was so low.

So in this chapter, the “afterlife” of Noli Me Tangere was discussed, highlighting its
impact to Philippines society as well as on disciplines such as literature, history, and the social
science. As already discussed in the previous chapter, the theme of the novel revolved around
societal issues experienced in the Philippines under the Spanish colonial rule. Scholar Resil
Mojares even went to the extent of naming Rizal as the father of Filipino novel.

One sector that espoused utmost disdain for the novel was the Spanish clergy as well as
some Spanish colonial officials. It is thus understandable that Spanish friar Vehemently
prohibited the circulation of the novel in 1887 when Fray Salvador Font, chair of the censorship
commission, outlawed the reading and possession of Rizal’s novel.

When Rizal returned to the Philippines after completing medical studies, he quickly ran
afoul of the local government. A few days after his arrival, Rizal was summoned to Malacañan
Palace by Governor-General Emilio Terrero, who told him of the charge that Noli me tangere
contained subversive elements. After a discussion, Terrero was appeased but still unable to offer
resistance to pressure from the Church against the book. The persecution can be discerned from
Rizal's letter to Leitmeritz:

“ My book made a lot of noise; everywhere, I am asked about it. They wanted to
anathematize me ['to excommunicate me'] because of it... I am considered a German
spy, an agent of Bismarck, they say I am a Protestant, a freemason, a sorcerer, a
damned soul and evil. It is whispered that I want to draw plans, that I have a foreign
passport and that I wander through the streets by night... ”

Rizal was exiled to Dapitan in Mindanao, and then later arrested for "inciting rebellion" based
largely on his writings. Rizal was executed by firing squad at the Luneta outside Manila's walls
on December 30, 1896 at the age of thirty-five, at the park that now bears his name.