FEIZHEN MAE B.

RODELAS
BSACC 1-Y1-3

1. EXPLAIN THE IMPORTANCE OF RIZAL'S TRAVEL ON THE FF:

• EDUCATION
THE TRAVEL AND ADVENTURE OF JOSE RIZAL ARE AN IMPORTANT SURFACE OF HIS
EDUCATION AND MISSION FOR THE PHILIPPINES. RIZAL REALIZED THAT THE IMPORTANCE
OF EDUCATION IS TO ELEVATE THE COUNTRY TO THE HIGHEST SEAT OF GLORY AND TO
DEVELOP THE PEOPLE'S MENTALITY. SINCE EDUCATION IS THE FOUNDATION OF SOCIETY
AND A REQUIREMENT FOR SOCIAL PROGRESS, HE CLAIMED THAT ONLY THROUGH
EDUCATION COULD THE COUNTRY BE SAVED FROM DOMINATION. BECAUSE OF HIS BROAD
KNOWLEDGE OF DIFFERENT CULTURE THAT HE LEARNED FROM HIS JOURNEY, IT BECAME
HIS INSPIRATION FOR REFORM.

• GOVERNMENT OR POLITICS
IN HIS TRAVELS ACROSS EUROPE, JOSE RIZAL, OUR FOREMOST HERO, VEHEMENTLY
CONDEMNED AND EXPOSED ABUSES AND CRUELTIES BY THE SPANISH FRIARS AND
OFFICIALS WITH THE ONSET OF THE COLONIAL RULE IN HIS TWO NOVELS; THE NOLI ME
TANGERE AND EL FILIBUSTERISMO. RIZAL BELIEVED THAT THE ADOPTION OF A
COMPETITIVE GOVERNMENT EXAMINATION WILL ENSURE THAT ONLY QUALIFIED
INDIVIDUALS REGARDLESS OF RACE COULD SERVE IN THE GOVERNMENT.

• RELIGION
JOSE RIZAL DEVELOPED A RELIGIOUS PHILOSOPHY NOT TOTALLY IN ACCORD WITH THE
CATHOLIC RELIGION. IN SPAIN HE FOUND THE ACTIVE ATMOSPHERE OF FREEDOM: WHERE
CONSERVATIVES AND LIBERALS, SOCIALISTS AND ANARCHISTS, PROTESTANTS AND
CATHOLICS, ATHEISTS AND AGNOSTICS, DEBATED AND DISCUSSED AT MEETINGS, IN CAFES,
ON STREET CORNERS, IN THE TAVERNS AND MORE ESPECIALLY IN THE PRESS, - WITHOUT
THE FEAR OF BEING APPREHENDED. RIZAL WAS AMAZED AND PONDERED AN OBVIOUS
QUESTION: WHY DID SPAIN FORBID SUCH FREEDOM IN THE PHILIPPINES?

2. WHAT WAS THE EFFECT OF THE BIRTH OF THE PHILIPPINE NATIONALISM

ON RIZAL'S WRITINGS?
MOST OF HIS WRITINGS, BOTH IN HIS ESSAYS AND EDITORIALS, CENTERED ON
INDIVIDUAL RIGHTS AND FREEDOM, SPECIFICALLY FOR THE FILIPINO PEOPLE. AMONG HIS
BEST WORKS, TWO NOVELS STOOD OUT FROM THE REST – NOLI ME TÁNGERE (TOUCH ME
NOT) AND El FILIBUSTERISMO (THE REIGN OF THE GREED). IN BOTH NOVELS, RIZAL
HARSHLY CRITICIZED THE SPANISH COLONIAL RULE IN THE COUNTRY AND EXPOSED THE
ILLS OF PHILIPPINE SOCIETY AT THE TIME. AND BECAUSE HE WROTE ABOUT THE
INJUSTICES AND BRUTALITIES of THE SPANIARDS IN THE COUNTRY, THE AUTHORITIES
BANNED FILIPINOS FROM READING THE CONTROVERSIAL BOOKS. YET THEY WERE NOT
ABLE TO BAN IT COMPLETELY. AS MORE FILIPINOS READ THE BOOKS, THEIR EYES OPENED
TO THE TRUTH THAT THEY WERE SUFFERING UNSPEAKABLE ABUSES AT THE HANDS OF THE
FRIARS. THESE TWO NOVELS BY RIZAL, NOW CONSIDERED HIS LITERARY MASTERPIECES,
ARE SAID TO HAVE INDIRECTLY SPARKED THE PHILIPPINE REVOLUTION.