LIGAO COMMUNITY COLLEGE

Ligao City
 LIGAO COMMUNITY COLLEGE
Ligao City
EDUCATION DEPARTMENT

WEEK 11

Student’s Contact No.

Name:
Section: Date Date
Received: Retrieved:

TOPIC: El Filibusterismo

I. Overview
Hi everyone! How are you doing with the previous module? I hope you are doing great. Last
week, we have discussed about Rizal’s decision of going back to his beloved fatherland. But before we
tackle this week’s topic, let me ask you something if you still remember the topic last meeting. Do you
still remember the reason why Rizal opted to return home? If you can still remember that, you are
prepared for our new topic. Our topic for this week will be another famous novel of Rizal – the El
Filibusterismo.

II. Learning Outcome

At the end of the course, you will be able to:

 Appraise the importance of the novel El Filibusterismo as much as the Noli Me Tangere.

III. Discussion and Self

- Assessment Activities

Days flew fast like fleeting arrows in Brussels. Rizal, unmindful of Suzanne Jacoby’s enticing
affection, was busy correcting and polishing the manuscript of his second novel – El Filibusterismo. He
had begun writing it in October 1887 in Calamba. The following year in London he made some changes in
the plot and revised the chapter already written. He wrote more chapters in Paris, Madrid, and Biarritz.
He finished the manuscript in Biarritz on March 29, 1891, after toiling on it for three years. From
Brussels, Rizal moved to Ghent, where printing was cheaper. At long last, El Filibusterismo, the sequel of
the Noli, came off the press on September 18, 1891.

The Printing of the El Filibusterismo. A few days after establishing himself in Ghent, Rizal searched for a
printing shop that could give him the lowest quotation for the publication of his novel. At last, he did
find a publisher – F. MEYER-VAN LOO PRESS, No. 66 Viaanderen Street – who was willing to print his
books on small partial payments. He pawned his jewels in order to pay the down payment and early
partial payments during the printing of the novel. On August 6, the printing has to be suspended, as Rizal
feared, because he could no longer give the necessary funds to the printer.

El Filibusterismo comes off the Press. When everything seemed lost, help came from an unexpected
source. Valentin Ventura, who was residing in Paris, heard of Rizal’s predicament. Immediately, he sent
Rizal the amount needed to finish the publication of the book. On September 18, 1891, El Filibusterismo
came off the press. Filipino patriots in foreign lands and in the Philippines praised the novel to the skies.
Practically, all copies of the first edition (Ghent edition) of El Filibusterismo were placed in wooden
boxes and shipped to Hong Kong but almost all the boxes were confiscated and the books were lost. So
it came to pass that the book immediately became rare, and few available Ghent copies were sold at a
very high prices, reaching as high as 400 pesetas per copy.

Dedicated to GomBurZa. Evidently, Rizal, in all the years of his travels, and labours in foreign lands, had
not forgotten the martyrdom of Fathers Gomez, Burgos, and Zamora, which Paciano related to him
when he was a mere lad in Calamba. He dedicated El Filibusterismo to them.

The Manuscript and the book. The original manuscript of El Filibusterismo in Rizal’s own handwriting is
now preserved in the Filipiniana Division of the Bureau of Public Libraries, Manila. It had been acquired
by the Philippine Government from Valentin Ventura for Php 10,000. It consists of 279 pages of long
sheet of paper. The author’s corrections are seen throughout the manuscript. Only a few pages have not
been revised by Rizal. Two features in the manuscript do not appear in the printed book, namely: the
Foreword and the Warning. These were not put into print, evidently, to save printing cost.

“Noli” and “Fili” Compared. The two novels of Rizal – Noli Me Tangere and El Filibusterismo – are
different in many respects, although they are written by the same author and are supposed to be
dealing with the same story and have the same characters. The Noli is a romantic novel; it is a “work of
the heart” – a “book of feeling”; it has freshness, colour, humour, lightness, and wit. On the other hand,
the Fili is a political novel; it is a “work of head” – a “book of the thought”; it contains bitterness, hatred,
pain, violence and sorrow.

The friends of Rizal and our Rizalists today differ in opinion as to which is the superior novel – the Noli or
the Fili. Rizal himself considered the Noli as superior to the Fili as a novel, thereby agreeing with M. H.
del Pilar who had the same opinion. Retana, Rizal’s first Spanish biographer, also believes that Noli is
superior to the Fili.

Synopsis of the El Filibusterismo https://www.tagaloglang.com/el-filibusterismo-english-

summary  Just like Rizal’s Noli, the El Filibusterismo has faced a predicament on its publication
 IV. Summary/Key Points

because of his limited funds. Rizal also has to transfer from places to places to find for a printing

shop that could offer him the lowest quotation.

V. End of Module Assessment

In not less than 100 words, write what you think is the significance of the novel El Fili is in today’s
modern society.

V. End of Module Assessment

Read bout Rizal in Hong Kong

VII. Self
Self-Evaluation (Write your response below)
and
4 - I learned a lot from this module

3 - I learned just right.

2 - I still need guidance on certain topics.

1 - I don’t understand anything discussed.

Your Answer -

Module Evaluation
How was your experience? Tell me about it.

VIII. Reference

 Zaide, G. F. (1970). Jose Rizal Life, Works and Writings. Manila, Philippines: Villanueva Book
Store