To the Young Women of

Malolos: Summary and

Analysis
Jose Rizal’s legacy to Filipino women is embodied in his
famous essay entitled, “To the Young Women of Malolos,”
where he addresses all kinds of women – mothers, wives,
the unmarried, etc. and expresses everything that he wishes
them to keep in mind. 

SUMMARY

“To the Women of Malolos” was originally written in

Tagalog.  Rizal penned this writing when he was in London,
in response to the request of Marcelo H. del Pilar.  The
salient points contained in this letter are as follows:

1. The rejection of the spiritual authority of the friars – not

all of the priests in the country that time embodied the true
spirit of Christ and His Church.  Most of them were
corrupted by worldly desires and used worldly methods to
effect change and force discipline among the people.
2. The defense of private judgment
3. Qualities Filipino mothers need to possess – as
evidenced by this portion of his letter, Rizal is greatly
concerned of the welfare of the Filipino children and the
homes they grow up in.
4. Duties and responsibilities of Filipino mothers to their
children
5. Duties and responsibilities of a wife to her husband –
Filipino women are known to be submissive, tender, and
loving.  Rizal states in this portion of his letter how Filipino
women ought to be as wives, in order to preserve the
identity of the race.
6. Counsel to young women on their choice of a lifetime
partner

RIZAL’S MESSAGE TO FILIPINO WOMEN

Jose Rizal was greatly impressed by the fighting spirit that

the young women of Malolos had shown.  In his letter, he
expresses great joy and satisfaction over the battle they had
fought.  In this portion of Rizal’s letter, it is obvious that his
ultimate desire was for women to be offered the same
opportunities as those received by men in terms of
education.  During those days young girls were not sent to
school because of the universal notion that they would soon
only be taken as wives and stay at home with the children. 
Rizal, however, emphasizes on freedom of thought and the
right to education, which must be granted to both boys and
girls alike.

THE RESPONSIBILITIES OF FILIPINO MOTHERS TO THEIR

CHILDREN

Rizal stipulates a number of important points in this portion

of his letter to the young women of Malolos.  The central
idea here, however, is that whatever a mother shows to her
children is what the children will become also.  If the mother
is always kissing the hand of the friars in submission, then
her children will grow up to be sycophants and mindless
fools who do nothing but do as they are told, even if the very
nature of the task would violate their rights as individuals.

QUALITIES MOTHERS HAVE TO POSSESS

Rizal enumerates the qualities Filipino mothers have to

possess:
1. Be a noble wife.
2. Rear her children in the service of the state – here Rizal
gives reference to the women of Sparta who embody this
quality
3. Set standards of behavior for men around her.

RIZAL’S ADVICE TO UNMARRIED MEN AND WOMEN

Jose Rizal points out to unmarried women that they should

not be easily taken by appearances and looks, because
these can be very deceiving.  Instead, they should take
heed of men’s firmness of character and lofty ideas.  Rizal
further adds that there are three things that a young woman
must look for a man she intends to be her husband:
1. A noble and honored name
2. A manly heart
3. A high spirit incapable of being satisfied with
engendering slaves.

ANALYSIS

“To the Women of Malolos” centers around five salient

points (Zaide &Zaide, 1999):
1. Filipino mothers should teach their children love of God,
country and fellowmen.
2. Filipino mothers should be glad and honored, like
Spartan mothers, to offer their sons in defense of their
country.
3. Filipino women should know how to protect their dignity
and honor.
4. Filipino women should educate themselves aside from
retaining their good racial values.
5. Faith is not merely reciting prayers and wearing
religious pictures. It is living the real Christian way with good
morals and manners.
In recent times, it seems that these qualities are gradually lost in the way Filipino
women conduct themselves.  There are oftentimes moments where mothers forget their
roles in rearing their children because of the overriding idea of having to earn for the
family to supplement their husband’s income.  Although there is nothing negative about
working hard for the welfare of the family, there must always be balance in the way
people go through life.  Failure in the home cannot be compensated for by any amount
of wealth or fame.

To the Young Women of Malolos

by José Rizal

When I wrote Noli Me Tangere, I asked myself whether bravery was a common thing in the
young women of our people. I brought back to my recollection and reviewed those I had
known since my infancy, but there were only few who seem to come up to my ideal. There
was, it is true, an abundance of girls with agreeable manners, beautiful ways, and modest
demeanor, but there was in all an admixture of servitude and deference to the words or whims
of their so-called "spiritual fathers" (as if the spirit or soul had any father other than God), due
to excessive kindness, modesty, or perhaps ignorance. They seemed faced plants sown and
reared in darkness, having flowers without perfume and fruits without sap.

However, when the news of what happened at Malolos reached us, I saw my error, and great
was my rejoicing. After all, who is to blame me? I did not know Malolos nor its young women,
except one called Emila [Emilia Tiongson, whom Rizal met in 1887], and her I knew by name
only.

Now that you have responded to our first appeal in the interest of the welfare of the people;
now that you have set an example to those who, like you, long to have their eyes opened and
be delivered from servitude, new hopes are awakened in us and we now even dare to face
adversity, because we have you for our allies and are confident of victory. No longer does the
Filipina stand with her head bowed nor does she spend her time on her knees, because she is
quickened by hope in the future; no longer will the mother contribute to keeping her daughter
in darkness and bring her up in contempt and moral annihilation. And no longer will the
science of all sciences consist in blind submission to any unjust order, or in extreme
complacency, nor will a courteous smile be deemed the only weapon against insult or humble
tears the ineffable panacea for all tribulations. You know that the will of God is different from
that of the priest; that religiousness does not consist of long periods spent on your knees, nor in
endless prayers, big rosarios, and grimy scapularies [religious garment showing devotion], but
in a spotless conduct, firm intention and upright judgment. You also know that prudence does
not consist in blindly obeying any whim of the little tin god, but in obeying only that which is
reasonable and just, because blind obedience is itself the cause and origin of those whims, and
those guilty of it are really to be blamed. The official or friar can no longer assert that they
alone are responsible for their unjust orders, because God gave each individual reason and a
will of his or her own to distinguish the just from the unjust; all were born without shackles and
free, and nobody has a right to subjugate the will and the spirit of another your thoughts. And,
why should you submit to another your thoughts, seeing that thought is noble and free?

It is cowardice and erroneous to believe that saintliness consists in blind obedience and that
prudence and the habit of thinking are presumptuous. Ignorance has ever been ignorance, and
never prudence and honor. God, the primal source of all wisdom, does not demand that man,
created in his image and likeness, allow himself to be deceived and hoodwinked, but wants us
to use and let shine the light of reason with which He has so mercifully endowed us. He may be
compared to the father who gave each of his sons a torch to light their way in the darkness
bidding them keep its light bright and take care of it, and not put it out and trust to the light of
the others, but to help and advise each other to fiind the right path. They would be madman
were they to follow the light of another, only to come to a fall, and the father could unbraid
them and say to them: "Did I not give each of you his own torch," but he cold not say so if the
fall were due to the light of the torch of him who fell, as the light might have been dim and the
road very bad.

The deceiver is fond of using the saying that "It is presumptuous to rely on one's own
judgment," but, in my opinion, it is more presumptuous for a person to put his judgment above
that of the others and try to make it prevail over theirs. It is more presumptuous for a man to
constitute himself into an idol and pretend to be in communication of thought with God; and it
is more than presumptuous and even blasphemous for a person to attribute every movement
of his lips to God, to represent every whim of his as the will of God, and to brand his own
enemy as an enemy of God. Of course, we should not consult our own judgment alone, but
hear the opinion of others before doing what may seem most reasonable to us. The wild man
from the hills, if clad in a priest's robe, remains a hillman and can only deceive the weak and
ignorant. And, to make my argument more conclusive, just buy a priest's robe as the
Franciscans wear it and put it on a carabao [domestic water buffalo], and you will be lucky if the
carabao does not become lazy on account of the robe. But I will leave this subject to speak of
something else.

Youth is a flower-bed that is to bear rich fruit and must accumulate wealth for its descendants.
What offspring will be that of a woman whose kindness of character is expressed by mumbled
prayers; who knows nothing by heart but awits [hymns], novenas, and the alleged miracles;
whose amusement consists in playingpanguingue [a card game] or in the frequentconfession of
the same sins? What sons will she have but acolytes, priest's servants, or cockfighters? It is the
mothers who are responsible for the present servitude of our compatriots, owing to the
unlimited trustfulness of their loving hearts, to their ardent desire to elevate their sons
Maturity is the fruit of infancy and the infant is formed on the lap of its mother. The mother
who can only teach her child how to kneel and kiss hands must not expect sons with blood
other than that of vile slaves. A tree that grows in the mud is unsubstantial and good only for
firewood. If her son should have a bold mind, his boldness will be deceitful and will be like the
bat that cannot show itself until the ringing of vespers. They say that prudence is sanctity. But,
what sanctity have they shown us? To pray and kneel a lot, kiss the hand of the priests, throw
money away on churches, and believe all the friar sees fit to tell us; gossip, callous rubbing of
noses. . . .

As to the mites and gifts of God, is there anything in the world that does not belong to God?
What would you say of a servant making his master a present of a cloth borrowed from that
very master? Who is so vain, so insane that he will give alms to God and believe that the
miserable thing he has given will serve to clothe the Creator of all things? Blessed be they who
succor their fellow men, aid the poor and feed the hungry; but cursed be they who turn a dead
ear to supplications of the poor, who only give to him who has plenty and spend their money
lavishly on silver altar hangings for the thanksgiving, or in serenades and fireworks. The money
ground out of the poor is bequeathed to the master so that he can provide for chains to
subjugate, and hire thugs and executioners. Oh, what blindness, what lack of understanding.

Saintliness consists in the first place in obeying the dictates of reason, happen what may. "It is
acts and not words that I want of you," said Christ. "Not everyone that sayeth unto me, Lord,
Lord shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in
Heaven." Saintliness does not consist in abjectness, nor is the successor of Christ to be
recognized by the fact that he gives his hand to be kissed. Christ did not give the kiss of peace
to the Pharisees and never gave his hand to be kissed. He did not cater to the rich and vain; He
did not mention scapularies, nor did He make rosaries, or solicit offerings for the sacrifice of the
Mass or exact payments for His prayers. Saint John did not demand a fee on the River Jordan,
nor did Christ teach for gain. Why, then, do the friars now refuse to stir a foot unless paid in
advance? And, as if they were starving, they sell scapularies, rosaries, bits, and other things
which are nothing but schemes for making money and a detriment to the soul; because even if
all the rags on earth were converted into scapularies and all the trees in the forest into rosaries,
and if the skins of all the beasts were made into belts, and if all the priests of the earth
mumbled prayers over all this and sprinkled oceans of holy water over it, this would not purify a
rogue or condone sin where there is no repentance. Thus, also, through cupidity and love of
money, they will, for a price, revoke the numerous prohibitions such as those against eating
meat, marrying close relatives, etc. You can do almost anything if you but grease their palms.
Why that? Can God be bribed and bought off, and blinded by money, nothing more nor less
than a friar? The brigand who has obtained a bull of compromise can live calmly on the
proceeds of his robbery, because he will be forgiven. God, then, will sit at a table where theft
provides the viands? Has the Omnipotent become a pauper that He must assume the role of
the excise man or gendarme? If that is the God whom the friar adores, then I turn my back
upon that God.

Let us be reasonable and open our eyes, especially you women, because you are the first to
influence the consciousness of man. Remember that a good mother does not resemble the
mother that the friar has created; she must bring up her child to be the image of the true God,
not of a blackmailing, a grasping God, but of a God who is the father of us all, who is just; who
does not suck the life-blood of the poor like a vampire, nor scoffs at the agony of the sorely
beset, nor makes a crooked path of the path of justice. Awaken and prepare the will of our
children towards all that is honorable, judged by proper standards, to all that is sincere and firm
of purpose, clear judgment, clear procedure, honesty in act and deed, love for the fellowman
and respect for God; this is what you must teach your children. And, seeing that life is full of
thorns and thistles, you must fortify their minds against any stroke of adversity and accustom
them to danger. The people cannot expect honor nor prosperity so long as they will educate
their children in a wrong way, so long as the woman who guides the child in his steps is slavish
and ignorant. No good water comes from a turbid, bitter spring; no savory fruit comes from
acrid seed.

The duties that woman has to perform in order to deliver the people from suffering are of no
little importance, but be they as they may, they will not be beyond the strength and stamina of
the Filipino people. The power and good judgment of the women of the Philippines are well
known, and it is because of this that she has been hoodwinked, and tied, and rendered
pusillanimous, and now her enslavers rest at ease, because so long as they can keep the Filipina
mother a slave, so long will they be able to make slaves of her children. The cause of the
backwardness of Asia lies in the fact that there the women are ignorant, are slaves; while
Europe and America are powerful because there the women are free and well-educated and
endowed with lucid intellect and a strong will.

We know that you lack instructive books; we know that nothing is added to your intellect, day
by day, save that which is intended to dim its natural brightness; all this we know, hence our
desire to bring you the light that illuminates your equals here in Europe. If that which I tell you
does not provoke your anger, and if you will pay a little attention to it then, however dense the
mist may be that befogs our people, I will make the utmost efforts to have it dissipated by the
bright rays of the sun, which will give light, thought they be dimmed. We shall not feel any
fatigue if you help us: God, too, will help to scatter the mist, because He is the God of truth: He
will restore to its pristine condition the fame of the Filipina in whom we now miss only a
criterion of her own, because good qualities she has enough and to spare. This is our dream;
this is the desire we cherish in our hearts; to restore the honor of woman, who is half of our
heart, our companion in the joys and tribulations of life. If she is a maiden, the young man
should love her not only because of her beauty and her amiable character, but also on account
of her fortitude of mind and loftiness of purpose, which quicken and elevate the feeble and
timid and ward off all vain thoughts. Let the maiden be the pride of her country and command
respect, because it is a common practice on the part of Spaniards and friars here who have
returned from the Islands to speak of the Filipina as complaisant and ignorant, as if all should
be thrown into the same class because of the missteps of a few, and as if women of weak
character did not exist in other lands. As to purity what could the Filipina not hold up to others!

Nevertheless, the returning Spaniards and friars, talkative and fond of gossip, can hardly find
time enough to brag and bawl, amidst guffaws and insulting remarks, that a certain woman was
thus; that she behaved thus at the convent and conducted herself thus with the Spaniards who
on the occasion was her guest, and other things that set your teeth on edge when you think of
them which, in the majority of cases, were faults due to candor, excessive kindness, meekness,
or perhaps ignorance and were all the work of the defamer himself. There is a Spaniard now in
high office, who has set at our table and enjoyed our hospitality in his wanderings through the
Philippines and who, upon his return to Spain, rushed forthwith into print and related that on
one occasion in Pampanga he demanded hospitality and ate, and slept at a house and the lady
of the house conducted herself in such and such a manner with him; this is how he repaid the
lady for her supreme hospitality! Similar insinuations are made by the friars to the chance
visitor from Spain concerning their very obedientconfesandas, hand-kissers, etc., accompanied
by smiles and very significant winkings of the eye. In a book published by D. Sinibaldo de Mas
and in other friar sketches sins are related of which women accused themselves in the
confessional and of which the friars made no secret in talking to their Spanish visitors seasoning
them, at the best, with idiotic and shameless tales not worthy of credence. I cannot repeat
here the shameless stories that a friar told Mas and to which Mas attributed no value whatever.
Every time we hear or read anything of this kind, we ask each other: Are the Spanish women all
cut after the pattern of the Holy Virgin Mary and the Filipinas all reprobates? I believe that if
we are to balance accounts in this delicate question, perhaps, . . . But I must drop the subject
because I am neither a confessor nor a Spanish traveler and have no business to take away
anybody's good name. I shall let this go and speak of the duties of women instead.

A people that respect women, like the Filipino people, must know the truth of the situation in
order to be able to do what is expected of it. It seems an established fact that when a young
student falls in love, he throws everything to the dogs -- knowledge, honor, and money, as if a
girl could not do anything but sow misfortune. The bravest youth becomes a coward when he
married, and the born coward becomes shameless, as if he had been waiting to get married in
order to show his cowardice. The son, in order to hide his pusillanimity, remembers his
mother, swallows his wrath, suffers his ears to be boxed, obeys the most foolish order, and and
becomes an accomplice to his own dishonor. It should be remembered that where nobody
flees there is no pursuer; when there is no little fish, there can not be a big one. Why does the
girl not require of her lover a noble and honored name, a manly heart offering protection to her
weakness, and a high spirit incapable of being satisfied with engendering slaves? Let her
discard all fear, let her behave nobly and not deliver her youth to the weak and faint-hearted.
When she is married, she must aid her husband, inspire him with courage, share his perils,
refrain from causing him worry and sweeten his moments of affection, always remembering
that there is no grief that a brave heart can not bear and there is no bitterer inheritance than
that of infamy and slavery. Open your children's eyes so that they may jealously guard their
honor, love their fellowmen and their native land, and do their duty. Always impress upon
them they must prefer dying with honor to living in dishonor. The women of Sparta should
serve you as an example should serve you as an example in this; I shall give some of their
characteristics.

When a mother handed the shield to her son as he was marching to battle, she said nothing to
him but this: "Return with it, or on it," which mean, come back victorious or dead, because it
was customary with the routed warrior to throw away his shield, while the dead warrior was
carried home on his shield. A mother received word that her son had been killed in battle and
the army routed. She did not say a word, but expressed her thankfulness that her son had been
saved from disgrace. However, when her son returned alive, the mother put on mourning.
One of the mothers who went out to meet the warriors returning from battle was told by one
that her three sons had fallen. I do not ask you that, said the mother, but whether we have
been victorious or not. We have been victorious -- answered the warrior. If that is so, then let
us thank God, and she went to the temple.

Once upon a time a king of theirs, who had been defeated, hid in the temple, because he feared
their popular wrath. The Spartans resolved to shut him up there and starve him to death.
When they were blocking the door, the mother was the first to bring stones. These things were
in accordance with the custom there, and all Greece admired the Spartan woman. Of all
women -- a woman said jestingly -- only your Spartans have power over the men. Quite natural
-- they replied -- of all women only we give birth to men. Man, the Spartan women said, was
not born to life for himself alone but for his native land. So long as this way of thinking
prevailed and they had that kind of women in Sparta, no enemy was able to put his foot upon
her soil, nor was there a woman in Sparta who ever saw a hostile army.

I do not expect to be believed simply because it is I who am saying this; there are many people
who do not listen to reason, but will listen only to those who wear the cassock or have gray hair
or no teeth; but while it is true that the aged should be venerated, because of their travails and
experience, yet the life I have lived, consecrated to the happiness of the people, adds some
years, though not many of my age. I do not pretend to be looked upon as an idol or fetish and
to be believed and listened to with the eyes closed, the head bowed, and the arms crossed over
the breast; what I ask of all is to reflect on what I tell him, think it over and shift it carefully
through the sieve of reasons.

First of all. That the tyranny of some is possible only through cowardice and negligence on the
part of others.

Second. What makes one contemptible is lack of dignity and abject fear of him who holds one
in contempt.

Third. Ignorance is servitude, because as a man thinks, so he is; a man who does not think for
himself and allowed himself to be guided by the thought of another is like the beast led by a
halter.

Fourth. He who loves his independence must first aid his fellowman, because he who refuses
protection to others will find himself without it; the isolated rib in the buri is easily broken, but
not so the broom made of the ribs of the palm bound together.

Fifth. If the Filipina will not change her mode of being, let her rear no more children, let her
merely give birth to them. She must cease to be the mistress of the home, otherwise she will
unconsciously betray husband, child, native land, and all.

Sixth. All men are born equal, naked, without bonds. God did not create man to be a slave; nor
did he endow him with intelligence to have him hoodwinked, or adorn him with reason to have
him deceived by others. It is not fatuous to refuse to worship one's equal, to cultivate one's
intellect, and to make use of reason in all things. Fatuous is he who makes a god of him, who
makes brutes of others, and who strives to submit to his whims all that is reasonable and just.

Seventh. Consider well what kind of religion they are teaching you. See whether it is the will of
God or according to the teachings of Christ that the poor be succored and those who suffer
alleviated. Consider what they preaching to you, the object of the sermon, what is behind the
masses, novenas, rosaries, scapularies, images, miracles, candles, belts, etc. etc; which they
daily keep before your minds; ears and eyes; jostling, shouting, and coaxing; investigate whence
they came and whiter they go and then compare that religion with the pure religion of Christ
and see whether the pretended observance of the life of Christ does not remind you of the fat
milch cow or the fattened pig, which is encouraged to grow fat nor through love of the animal,
but for grossly mercenary motives.

Let us, therefore, reflect; let us consider our situation and see how we stand. May these poorly
written lines aid you in your good purpose and help you to pursue the plan you have initiated.
"May your profit be greater than the capital invested;" and I shall gladly accept the usual
reward of all who dare tell your people the truth. May your desire to educate yourself be
crowned with success; may you in the garden of learning gather not bitter, but choice fruit,
looking well before you eat because on the surface of the globe all is deceit, and the enemy
sows weeds in your seedling plot.

All this is the ardent desire of your compatriot.

JOSÉ RIZAL

GIRL POWER: THE WOMEN OF MALOLOS

By:  Quennie Ann J. Palafox
 
       When the Spaniards came into the
Philippines, they brought with them their
patriarchal values about women which eventually
diffused into Philippine culture. The women
during the Spanish period were tied to the house
and their roles were confined exclusively to
housekeeping and child rearing. On the other
hand, there was the chivalrous idea that men
should be the provider of the family and protector
of the women. Women were also taught to be
compliant to elders and always submissive to
males. They were oriented to remain incorruptible
until marriage and to focus on building skills that
would make them good daughters, housewives,
mothers and servants of God. Women were even
barred from participating in political undertakings
because it was considered a man’s work. Filipinos
were familiarized to a religious and patriarchal
system of education which emphasized the
domestic value that women were the property of
men. This infiltration of Spanish culture into
Philippine norms and behavior is an evidence of
feudal social relations. 
 
       In the second half of the nineteenth century, a
group of young women in Malolos, Bulacan
participated in a peaceful movement for
educational reforms. This remarkable event
showed the aptitude of these women for political
and social reforms. The authorities came up with
educational policies that were discriminatory
against women who wanted to pursue higher
education. The women of Malolos struggled to
disprove the principle that women are destined to
be homemakers and demonstrate that women are
at par with men in other fields of endeavors. 
 
        The effort of the Women of Malolos is
recognized as one of the most important events
that contributed to the development of feminist
movement in the country. This group of young
women personally handed their letter of petition
addressed to Governor-General Valeriano Weyler
to allow them to put up a night school where they
can study the Spanish language under Teodoro
Sandiko.  Their action received diverse reactions
from the pro-friar sectors and the reformists
because it was viewed as protest against the
political power of the friars.  The twenty young
women, majority of whom were related to each
other by blood or affinity, were members of the
four major-Sangley clans of Malolos: the
Tiongsons, the Tantocos, the Reyeses, and the
Santoses. Although these women were raised by
well-to-do families and enjoyed a life of luxury,
they opted to be educated rather than to be
contented with what society expected from them. 
 
       Prior to the education reform of 1863,
education was left entirely in the hands of priests
or curates of the parish. Since the responsibility of
educating the natives belonged to the friars, its
thrust was more of religious education. Students
were taught to read the alphabet and syllables;
and study sacred songs and music, and basic
arithmetic. Education for females was not the
same with males. Education was more of a
privilege than a right, daughters of well-to-do
families were taught reading, writing, arithmetic,
religion and needlecraft, a benefit not enjoyed by
daughters of Indios. Formal training beyond the
primary grades was generally a male privilege. For
the most part of the Spanish period, the majority
of secondary and vocational schools as well as
colleges were exclusively for males.
 
       The Royal Decree of 1863 made primary
instruction compulsory to all native and Chinese
children between the ages of seven and twelve. It
ordered that opening of a primary school for boys
and another for girls for each town. One
important aim of the decree was to teach Spanish
to the populace. Although this move was to
improve the poor state of education in the
country, it failed due to the meddling of the friars
in the state affairs. Lack of school buildings and
teachers were also pointed as major hindrances
for this program to be successful. There were only
few teachers who knew Spanish but they received
only modest salaries. 
 
         The Women of Malolos desired to learn the
Spanish language because it was the language of
politics and society. They found an ally in the
person of Teodoro Sandiko who arrived in
Malolos in 1888. Sandiko supported the
aspirations of the women and offered to teach
them the language but it would be done secretly.
For the friars prohibited the teaching of Spanish
to the natives and to the mestizos as it would
lessen their influence. The government
communicated directly with the friars who knew
both the Spanish and the native language.  To the
friars, it would be better off the leave the natives
and mestizos ignorant of the Spanish language so
that their minds will not be penetrated by the
liberal ideas since most books were written in
Spanish. Gaining knowledge would make them
crave for freedom and demand to human rights
which were deemed a threat to Spanish rule and
the power of the Church. 
 
         Sandiko by that time was secretly teaching
Spanish language to adults but he wanted to make
it legal. He requested to the provincial governor of
Bulacan sometime to grant the opening of night
schools without the expense of the government.
However, it was disapproved because Felipe
Garcia, the friar curate of Malolos prepared a
report that Sandiko’s proposal would pose a threat
to the government. Although their proposal was
rejected, Sandiko and the Women of Malolos
remained positive that their desire to put up a
night school would be approved anytime soon. 
 
        After learning that the highest official of the
land would visit Malolos on December 12, 1888,
Sandico prepared a letter in Spanish, and
requested the women to sign and present the
letter to Weyler. Twenty of these women affixed
their signatures to the letter. The women went to
the church and presented the letter to the
governor-general. 
 
       The request of the women did not get the
approval of the governor-general because the
parish priest Fray Garcia went up against it.
Although disheartened, the women did not give
up. With the support of the reformist Doroteo
Cortes and the Maestra Guadalupe Reyes, the
women continued to lobby for the school,
traveling between Malolos and Manila to convince
the governor-general to allow their request.
Luckily, these young women triumphed in the end
in February 1889 on the conditions that the
women would finance their schooling, the teacher
would be Guadalupe Reyes, and, the classes held
in the daytime, not at night.
 
        Although they did not get everything they
asked for, the women proceeded to open their
school at the house of one of their group, Rufina
T. Reyes, first cousin of Elisea and Juana. The
schooling however, was cut short when Sandico,
was accused in late April 1889 by the Church
authorities of spreading teachings against
morality and of eating meat on days of abstinence
during the Holy Week of 1889. On May 13, 1889,
the Gobernadorcillo Castro and the Alferez Carlos
Peñuelos closed down Sandico’s school of primary
and secondary instruction.  When Sandico left for
Spain, the school where the Women of Malolos
were attending had to close because of the
pressure from the authorities. The school
operated for only three months. 
 
       The establishment of a school out of the
enduring efforts of the women to be educated in
Spanish was commended by several newspapers.
Graciano Lopez Jaena in the column Ecos de
Ultramar, praised the women because of their
courage to present themselves to the governor-
general, an action considered bold that time. 
 
       Right after the article of Lopez Jaena was
published in La Solidaridad, Marcelo H. del Pilar
wrote from Barcelona to Jose Rizal in Madrid, on
February 17, 1889, requesting Rizal to write them
a letter in Tagalog commending the bravery of the
women and with hopes that this valiant struggle
against friar hegemony in the affairs of the
Filipinos will enthuse all compatriots. Hence,
Rizal sent del Pilar on February 22, 1889 the letter
written in Tagalog for transmittal to the 20 young
women of Malolos.
 
        The message conveyed to the young women of
Malolos centered on salient points such as the
denunciation of the abuse of the friars in
exercising their spiritual authority bestowed upon
them by the church, traits Filipino mothers must
have; duties and obligations of Filipino mothers to
their children, functions and errands of a wife to
her husband, and guidance to young women on
their choice of a lifetime partner. Rizal also
expressed his philosophy of freedom and
independence that he believed was the key to the
emancipation of humankind from slavery, and the
necessity for education as the fundamental source
of liberation. In the letter, Rizal enunciated his
great desire for Filipino women to enjoy the
privileges in education along with men. Moreover,
he appealed to women to be heedful of their rights
and not to be docile towards many injustices
forced upon them. Men and women are born
equal. God did not create men and women to be
slaves, nor did he embellish them with reason only
to be blinded by others.
 
       Perhaps having experienced firsthand the
warmth of his mother’s love, he defined in his
letter the obligations and roles of the Filipino
mothers to their children. For Rizal, the youth is a
flower-bed that is to bear fruit and must
accumulate wealth for its descendants. The
mother must raise her children according to the
image of God and orient the mind towards
pleasant ideas. A mother must teach her children
to prefer death with honor to life with dishonor.
Mothers should inculcate the following values to
their children: love of honor; sincere and firm
character; clear mind; clear conduct; noble action;
love for one’s fellowmen; and respect for God.
Ever patriotic in his views, he warned that the
country will never be free and flourishing as long
as the children and the women remain ignorant.
With this, the education of the children should not
be limited to religious activities. He stressed
obedience and reason as the highest virtues that
one must possess.
 
       The school of the Women of Malolos was
closed down in May 1889 but their aspirations did
not end. These women served their countrymen
by supporting the cause of the Revolution against
Spain. Some of them became members of the
National Red Cross, while others became
founding members of the Malolos Committee of
the Asociacion Feminista de Filipinas in 1906, a
national women’s organization aimed improving
the welfare of women in all classes. It can be said
that the women of Malolos were the forerunners
of the feminist movement in the country for
championing the cause of women’s right to
education and equal rights regardless of gender.
References:
Tiongson, Nicanor. The Women of Malolos.
Quezon City: Ateneo de Manila Unibersity Press,
2004
Women’s Role in Philippine History: Selected
Essays Second Edition. Quezon City: University
Center for Women’s Studies University of the
Philippines, 2001
The Indolence of the
Filipinos: Summary and
Analysis
La Indolencia de los Filipinos, more popularly known in its
English version, "The Indolence of the Filipinos," is a
exploratory essay written by Philippine national hero Dr.
Jose Rizal, to explain the alleged idleness of his people
during the Spanish colonization.
SUMMARY
            The Indolence of the Filipinos is a study of the
causes why the people did not, as was said, work hard
during the Spanish regime.  Rizal pointed out that long
before the coming of the Spaniards, the Filipinos were
industrious and hardworking.  The Spanish reign brought
about a decline in economic activities because of certain
causes:
            First, the establishment of the Galleon Trade cut off
all previous associations of thePhilippines with other
countries in Asia and the Middle East.  As a
result, business was only conducted with Spain through
Mexico.  Because of this, the small businesses and
handicraft industries that flourished during the pre-Spanish
period gradually disappeared.
            Second, Spain also extinguished the natives’ love of
work because of the implementation of forced labor. 
Because of the wars between Spain and other countries in
Europe as well as the Muslims in Mindanao, the Filipinos
were compelled to work in shipyards, roads, and other
public works, abandoning agriculture, industry, and
commerce.
            Third, Spain did not protect the people against
foreign invaders and pirates.  With no arms to defend
themselves, the natives were killed, their houses burned,
and their lands destroyed.  As a result of this, the Filipinos
were forced to become nomads, lost interest in cultivating
their lands or in rebuilding the industries that were shut
down, and simply became submissive to the mercy of God.
            Fourth, there was a crooked system of education, if
it was to be considered aneducation.  What was
being taught in the schools were repetitive prayers and
other things that could not be used by the students to lead
the country to progress.  There were no courses in
Agriculture, Industry, etc., which were badly needed by
the Philippines during those times.
            Fifth, the Spanish rulers were a bad example to
despise manual labor.  The officials reported to work at
noon and left early, all the while doing nothing in line with
their duties.  The women were seen constantly followed by
servants who dressed them and fanned them – personal
things which they ought to have done for themselves.
            Sixth, gambling was established and widely
propagated during those times.  Almost everyday there were
cockfights, and during feast days, the government officials
and friars were the first to engange in all sorts of bets and
gambles.
            Seventh, there was a crooked system of religion. 
The friars taught the naïve Filipinos that it was easier for a
poor man to enter heaven, and so they preferred not to
work  and remain poor so that they could easily enter
heaven after they died.
            Lastly, the taxes were extremely high, so much so
that a huge portion of what they earned went to the
government or to the friars.  When the object of their labor
was removed and they were exploited, they were reduced to
inaction.
            Rizal admitted that the Filipinos did not work so hard
because they were wise enough to adjust themselves to the
warm, tropical climate.  “An hour’s work under that burning
sun, in the midst of pernicious influences springing from
nature in activity, is equal to a day’s labor in a temperate
climate.”

ANALYSIS
It is important to note that indolence in the Philippines is a
chronic malady, but not a hereditary one.  Truth is, before
the Spaniards arrived on these lands, the natives were
industriously conducting business with China, Japan,
Arabia, Malaysia, and other countries in the Middle East. 
The reasons for this said indolence were clearly stated in
the essay, and were not based only on presumptions, but
were grounded on fact taken from history. 
Another thing that we might add that had caused this
indolence, is the lack of unity among the Filipino people.  In
the absence of unity and oneness, the people did not have
the power to fight the hostile attacks of the government and
of the other forces of society.  There would also be no voice,
no leader, to sow progress and to cultivate it, so that it may
be reaped in due time.  In such a condition,
the Philippines remained a country that was lifeless, dead,
simply existing and not living.  As Rizal stated in conclusion,
“a man in the Philippines is an individual; he is not merely a
citizen of a country.”
It can clearly be deduced from the writing that the cause of
the indolence attributed to our race is Spain: When the
Filipinos wanted to study and learn, there were no schools,
and if there were any, they lacked sufficient resources and
did not present more useful knowledge; when the Filipinos
wanted to establish their businesses, there wasn’t enough
capital nor protection from the government; when the
Filipinos tried to cultivate their lands and establish various
industries, they were made to pay enormous taxes and were
exploited by the foreign rulers. 
It is not only the Philippines, but also other countries, that
may be called indolent, depending on the criteria upon
which such a label is based.  Man cannot work without
resting, and if in doing so he is considered lazy, they we
could say that all men are indolent.  One cannot blame a
country that was deprived of its dignity, to have lost its will to
continue building its foundation upon the backs of its people,
especially when the fruits of their labor do not so much as
reach their lips.  When we spend our entire lives
worshipping such a cruel and inhumane society, forced
upon us by aliens who do not even know our motherland,
we are destined to tire after a while.  We are not fools, we
are not puppets who simply do as we are commanded – we
are human beings, who are motivated by our will towards
the accomplishment of our objectives, and who strive for the
preservation of our race.  When this fundamental aspect of
our existence is denied of us, who can blame us if we turn
idle?
INDOLENCE OF THE FILIPINOS
By Jose Rizal

• Indolence 
o sa Tagalog ang ibig sabihin ay katamaran; walang silbi; ayaw
gumawa.
o sa Ingles naman ay dislike of work; laziness, idleness
o or disposition to be idle, the lack of inclination to work.

• Ito ay isang sanaysay na sinulat ni Rizal bilang depensa para

sa mga Indio na kung saan tinawag na tamad ang mga Pilipino
ng mga kolonyal na Espanyol.
• Ipinakita dito ni Rizal ang madaming katwiran at halimbawa
upang ihayag ang sinasabing indolence ay isang epekto lamang
ng dehumanizing conditions na kung saan ang mga Indio ay
sapilitang mabuhay.
• Dinagdagan ni Rizal ang kahulugan ng indolence. Ito ay “the
inclination to live off the labor of others”.
• Inamin ni Rizal na tamad ang mga Pilipino. Pero ito ay dahil
sa init ng klima sa ating bansa.
• Lubhang nakapagpapapawis at nakapanghihina ang init at
madalas silang “sumilong sa lilim”.
• Ang init ay nakapagpapalusog sa lupa, kaya ang mga
pananim ay hindi kailangang lagging alagaan. 
• Sinabi ni Rizal na hindi mana o likas ang katamaran sa mga
Pilipino noong panahon ng Kastila. Ang totoo, bago dumating
ang mga Kastila, ang mga Pilipino ay may masiglang
pakikipagkalakalan sa mga Instik, Hapon, Arabe at Malay.
• Naging laganap lamang ang katamaran ng mga Pilipino noong
panahon ng mga Kastila. 
• Dahil sa masasamang palakad ng pamahalaan, tiwaling
pagtuturo ng relihiyon at dahil sa ugali na rin ng mga Kastila. 
• Bago pa man dumating sa Pilipinas ang mga Kastila ay
nakikipagkalakalan na tayo sa ibang bansang Asyano at
Gitnang Silangan. Ngunit ito ay naputol ng monopolya ng
Galleon Trade. Sa Espanya lamang via Mehiko maaaring
makipagkalakalan ang mga Pilipino. Dahil dito ay natigil ang
mga mumunting industriya at mga gawaing kamay. Kaya sinira
ng mga Kastila ang kasipagan at pagkukusa ng mga Pilipino. 
• Kinitil din ng mga Kastila ang pagmamahal ng mga Pilipino sa
paggawa dahil sa tinatawag na “forced labor”. Dahil sa
pakikidigma ng Espanya laban sa ibang bansang Europeo at sa
mga Muslim sa Mindanao, ang mga Pilipino ay pilit na pinagawa
sa paggawa ng barko, pagpuputol ng mga kahoy at paggawa
ng mga kuta. Sinabi nga ni Morga na nalimutan ng mga Pilipino
ang kaalaman sa pagsasaka, pagmamanukan at paghahayupan
at pagtatanim at pag-aalaga ng bulak, gayon din ang paghabi
ng damit pagkaraan ng 320 taon.
• Kung meron mang edukasyon ay tiwali ang sistema nito. Ang
itinuturo noon ay puros dasal at ibang karunungang hindi
magagamit ng nagsisipag-aral. Walang kursong pang-
agrikultura, pang-industriya at iba pa, na lalong kailangan noon
ng Pilipinas.
• Hindi tama ang ipinakikita ng mga namumunong Kastila.
Tanghali na kung pumasok sa opisina at maaga kung umalis,
gayong wala namang nagagawa kundi magbasa ng dyaryo at
pumirma ang mga opisyal. Ang mga babae ay sinusundan ng
mga alila at pati ang pagbibihis at pagpaypay ay ang mga ito
pa ang gumagawa. 
• Hinayaang lumaganap ang sugal. Halos araw-araw ay may
sabong at kung pista, ang mga pinunong-bayan at mga prayle
ang nagpapasimuno ng kung anu-anong sugal.
• Mali ang pagtuturo ng relihiyon. Itinuro ng mga prayle sa
mga mangmang na Pilipino na “ang mga dukha ay
makararating sa langit” at ang mga mayayaman ay matutungo
sa impiyerno. 
• Mataas ang buwis na ipinapataw sa mga Pilipino. Sa
pamahalaan o sa mga prayle napupunta ang kalakhan ng
bahagi ng kanilang inaani.
• Ayon kay Rizal, ang kawalan ng diwa ng pagkakaisa ay sanhi
ng katamaran ng mga Pilipino. Dahil kung walang pagkakaisa
ang mga mamamayan, wala silang lakas na hadlangan ang
mapaminsalang hakbang ng pamahalaan at iba pang puwersa
ng lipunan. Wala ring pagsusumigasig upang maisagawa ang
mga bagay na makapagpapaunlad sa nakararami. Ang lahat
kung gayon ay hindi kikilos, parang isang baying patay. Kaya
sa konklusyon ay sinabi ni Rizal, “ang tao sa Pilipinas ay isang
indibidwal; hindi siya mamamayan ng isang bansa.”
• Kung titingnan ay ang mga Kastila ang may sala sa pagiging
tamad ng mga Pilipino. 
• Kung tutuusin ay gustong mag-aral ng mga Pilipino subalit
walang paaralan o kung mayroon man ay kulang sa gamit at
tamang salalayan ng karunungan. Gusto ding magnegosyo
ngunit walang perang pangpuhunan at kawalan ng proteksiyon
mula sa pamahalaan. Gusto ding magbungkal ng lupa at
magtayo ng industriya subalit mataas naman ang buwis at
nagsasamantala pa ang mga namumuno.
• Maaaring magkaisa ang mga Pilipino subalit pinagkaisa na ito
ng mga Kastila bilang isang kolonya at bilang isang komunidad
na Kristiyano. 
• Ganoon din malamang ay hahadlangan ng mga Kastila ang
iba pang uri ng pagkakaisa, para sa ikakaayos ng
mamamayan. 
• Sinabi ni Rizal na ang indolent o ang tamad ay ang mga
Kastila hindi ang mga Indio dahil ang Peninsulares ay ninais
ang magandang buhay ng walang paghihirap o pagtratrabaho. 
 Indolence of the Filipinos (“La Indolencia de los
Filipinos”)

The essay itself originally appeared in the Filipino

forthrightly review, La Solidaridad, of Madrid, in five
installments, running from July 15 to September 15,
1890. It was a continuation of Rizal's campaign of
education in which he sought by blunt truths to awaken
his countrymen to their own faults at the same time that
he was arousing the Spaniards to the defects in Spain's
colonial system that caused and continued such
shortcomings. (Craig, 1913)

PART 1   
  indolence – misused in the sense of little love for work
and lack of energy
  indolence does exist among the Filipinos
  examine the causes based on facts before proposing a
remedy
  climate – factor for being indolent
o    “A hot, climate requires of the individual quiet and
rest, just as cold incites to labor and action.”
o    “A man can live in any climate, if he will only adapt
himself to its requirements and conditions.”
  Working hours of Filipinos (tenants) vs. Spanish Official
and Landlords
  Tendency to indolence is very natural
  Effect of misgovernment

PART 2   
  analogy of physician( friars, Spanish government) ,
patient(Philippines), illness (indolence)
  indolence as a chronic illness
o    “Indolence in the Philippines is a chronic malady, but
not a hereditary one”
   
      Before the arrival of Spaniards, Malayan Filipinos
raised on an active trade, not only among        themselves
but also with other neighboring countries (evidence that
Filipinos were not indolent)
  an illness will worsen if the wrong treatment is given
  “How is it that the Filipino people, so fond of its customs
as to border on routine, has given up its ancient habits
of work, of trade, of navigation, etc., even to the extent
of completely forgetting its past?”

PART 3   
  enumerates several reasons that may have caused the
Filipinos cultural and economic corruption
  wars: conflict among Spaniards, natives and Moros
  invasion of Pirates
o    Results: diminished number of native Filipinos
  forced labor : Filipinos were sent abroad to fight for
Spain or shipyards to construct vessels
  Some Filipinos hide in the forest and mountains and
abandoned their farm lands (because of fear)
  “Still they struggled a long time against indolence, yes:
but their enemies were so numerous that at last they
gave up!

PART 4   
Cut-off of trading
            Monopoly
            Abuse of land lords (ecnomenderos)
o    Permission to labor (KASAMA System)
            Absence of encouragement from the government
o    no aid for poor crops
o    does not seek market for its products
  Wrong teaching:
o    Why work? If the rich man will not go to heaven.
o    False teaching of church
o    Gambling – promise of sudden wealth
  Discrimination on education
  Spaniards insisted to Filipinos:
o    “The Filipino is convinced that to get happiness it is
necessary for him to lay aside his dignity as a rational
creature, to attend mass, to believe what is told him, to
pay what is demanded of him, to pay and forever to
pay; to work, suffer and be silent, without aspiring to
anything, without aspiring to know or even to
understand Spanish,without separating himself from
his carabao, as the priests shamelessly say, without
protesting against any injustice, against any arbitrary
action, against an assault, against an insult; that is, not
to have heart, brain or spirit: a creature with arms and
a purse full of gold ............ there's the ideal native!”
  Yet Filipinos still have inspirations, he thinks and strive
to rise

PART 5
  causes of indolence can be reduced to two
factors(emerged from the people)
o    limited training and education of Filipino native
         developed inferiority
o    lack of a national sentiment of unity among them
        “A man in the Philippines is only an individual; he is
not a member of a nation.”
  education and liberty is the key to solve this issue
 Scent of Apples
Bienvenido N. Santos

When I arrived in Kalamazoo it was October and the war was still
on. Gold and silver stars hung on pennants above silent windows of
white and brick-red cottages. In a backyard an old man burned
leaves and twigs while a gray-haired woman sat on the porch, her
red hands quiet on her lap, watching the smoke rising above the
elms, both of them thinking the same thought perhaps, about a tall,
grinning boy with his blue eyes and flying hair, who went out to
war: where could he be now this month when leaves were turning
into gold and the fragrance of gathered apples was in the wind?
It was a cold night when I left my room at the hotel for a usual
speaking engagement. I walked but a little way. A heavy wind
coming up from Lake Michigan was icy on the face. If felt like winter
straying early in the northern woodlands. Under the lampposts the
leaves shone like bronze. And they rolled on the pavements like the
ghost feet of a thousand autumns long dead, long before the boys
left for faraway lands without great icy winds and promise of winter
early in the air, lands without apple trees, the singing and the gold!
It was the same night I met Celestino Fabia, "just a Filipino farmer"
as he called himself, who had a farm about thirty miles east of
Kalamazoo.
"You came all that way on a night like this just to hear me talk?"
"I've seen no Filipino for so many years now," he answered quickly.
"So when I saw your name in the papers where it says you come
from the Islands and that you're going to talk, I come right away."
Earlier that night I had addressed a college crowd, mostly women.
It appeared they wanted me to talk about my country, they wanted
me to tell them things about it because my country had become a
lost country. Everywhere in the land the enemy stalked. Over it a
great silence hung, and their boys were there, unheard from, or
they were on their way to some little known island on the Pacific,
young boys all, hardly men, thinking of harvest moons and the
smell of forest fire.
It was not hard talking about our own people. I knew them well and
I loved them. And they seemed so far away during those terrible
years that I must have spoken of them with a little fervor, a little
nostalgia.
In the open forum that followed, the audience wanted to know
whether there was much difference between our women and the
American women. I tried to answer the question as best I could,
saying, among other things, that I did not know that much about
American women, except that they looked friendly, but differences
or similarities in inner qualities such as naturally belonged to the
heart or to the mind, I could only speak about with vagueness.
While I was trying to explain away the fact that it was not easy to
make comparisons, a man rose from the rear of the hall, wanting to
say something. In the distance, he looked slight and old and very
brown. Even before he spoke, I knew that he was, like me, a
Filipino.
"I'm a Filipino," he began, loud and clear, in a voice that seemed
used to wide open spaces, "I'm just a Filipino farmer out in the
country." He waved his hand toward the door. "I left the Philippines
more than twenty years ago and have never been back. Never will
perhaps. I want to find out, sir, are our Filipino women the same
like they were twenty years ago?"
As he sat down, the hall filled with voices, hushed and intrigued. I
weighed my answer carefully. I did not want to tell a lie yet I did
not want to say anything that would seem platitudinous, insincere.
But more important than these considerations, it seemed to me that
moment as I looked towards my countryman, I must give him an
answer that would not make him so unhappy. Surely, all these
years, he must have held on to certain ideals, certain beliefs, even
illusions peculiar to the exile.
"First," I said as the voices gradually died down and every eye
seemed upon me, "First, tell me what our women were like twenty
years ago."
The man stood to answer. "Yes," he said, "you're too young . . .
Twenty years ago our women were nice, they were modest, they
wore their hair long, they dressed proper and went for no monkey
business. They were natural, they went to church regular, and they
were faithful." He had spoken slowly, and now in what seemed like
an afterthought, added, "It's the men who ain't."
Now I knew what I was going to say.
"Well," I began, "it will interest you to know that our women have
changed--but definitely! The change, however, has been on the
outside only. Inside, here," pointing to the heart, "they are the
same as they were twenty years ago. God-fearing, faithful, modest,
andnice."
The man was visibly moved. "I'm very happy, sir," he said, in the
manner of one who, having stakes on the land, had found no cause
to regret one's sentimental investment.
After this, everything that was said and done in that hall that night
seemed like an anti-climax, and later, as we walked outside, he
gave me his name and told me of his farm thirty miles east of the
city.
We had stopped at the main entrance to the hotel lobby. We had
not talked very much on the way. As a matter of fact, we were
never alone. Kindly American friends talked to us, asked us
questions, said goodnight. So now I asked him whether he cared to
step into the lobby with me and talk.
"No, thank you," he said, "you are tired. And I don't want to stay
out too late."
"Yes, you live very far."
"I got a car," he said, "besides . . . "
Now he smiled, he truly smiled. All night I had been watching his
face and I wondered when he was going to smile.
"Will you do me a favor, please," he continued smiling almost
sweetly. "I want you to have dinner with my family out in the
country. I'd call for you tomorrow afternoon, then drive you back.
Will that be alright?"
"Of course," I said. "I'd love to meet your family." I was leaving
Kalamazoo for Muncie, Indiana, in two days. There was plenty of
time.
"You will make my wife very happy," he said.
"You flatter me."
"Honest. She'll be very happy. Ruth is a country girl and hasn't met
many Filipinos. I mean Filipinos younger than I, cleaner looking.
We're just poor farmer folk, you know, and we don't get to town
very often. Roger, that's my boy, he goes to school in town. A bus
takes him early in the morning and he's back in the afternoon. He's
nice boy."
"I bet he is," I agreed. "I've seen the children of some of the boys
by their American wives and the boys are tall, taller than their
father, and very good looking."
"Roger, he'd be tall. You'll like him."
Then he said goodbye and I waved to him as he disappeared in the
darkness.
The next day he came, at about three in the afternoon. There was a
mild, ineffectual sun shining, and it was not too cold. He was
wearing an old brown tweed jacket and worsted trousers to match.
His shoes were polished, and although the green of his tie seemed
faded, a colored shirt hardly accentuated it. He looked younger than
he appeared the night before now that he was clean shaven and
seemed ready to go to a party. He was grinning as we met.
"Oh, Ruth can't believe it," he kept repeating as he led me to his
car--a nondescript thing in faded black that had known better
days and many hands. "I says to her, I'm bringing you a first class
Filipino, and she says, aw, go away, quit kidding, there's no such
thing as first class Filipino. But Roger, that's my boy, he believed
me immediately. What's he like, daddy, he asks. Oh, you will see, I
says, he's first class. Like you daddy? No, no, I laugh at him, your
daddy ain't first class. Aw, but you are, daddy, he says. So you can
see what a nice boy he is, so innocent. Then Ruth starts griping
about the house, but the house is a mess, she says. True it's a
mess, it's always a mess, but you don't mind, do you? We're poor
folks, you know.
The trip seemed interminable. We passed through narrow lanes
anddisappeared into thickets, and came out on barren land
overgrown with weeds in places. All around were dead leaves and
dry earth. In the distance were apple trees.
"Aren't those apple trees?" I asked wanting to be sure.
"Yes, those are apple trees," he replied. "Do you like apples? I got
lots of 'em. I got an apple orchard, I'll show you."
All the beauty of the afternoon seemed in the distance, on the hills,
in the dull soft sky.
"Those trees are beautiful on the hills," I said.
"Autumn's a lovely season. The trees are getting ready to die, and
they show their colors, proud-like."
"No such thing in our own country," I said.
That remark seemed unkind, I realized later. It touched him off on a
long deserted tangent, but ever there perhaps. How many times did
lonely mind take unpleasant detours away from the familiar winding
lanes towards home for fear of this, the remembered hurt, the long
lost youth, the grim shadows of the years; how many times indeed,
only the exile knows.
It was a rugged road we were traveling and the car made so much
noise that I could not hear everything he said, but I understood
him. He was telling his story for the first time in many years. He
was remembering his own youth. He was thinking of home. In these
odd moments there seemed no cause for fear no cause at all, no
pain. That would come later. In the night perhaps. Or lonely on the
farm under the apple trees.
In this old Visayan town, the streets are narrow and dirty and
strewn with coral shells. You have been there? You could not have
missed our house, it was the biggest in town, one of the oldest,
ours was a big family. The house stood right on the edge of the
street. A door opened heavily and you enter a dark hall leading to
the stairs. There is the smell of chickens roosting on the low-topped
walls, there is the familiar sound they make and you grope your
way up a massive staircase, the bannisters smooth upon the
trembling hand. Such nights, they are no better than the days,
windows are closed against the sun; they close heavily.
Mother sits in her corner looking very white and sick. This was her
world, her domain. In all these years, I cannot remember the sound
of her voice. Father was different. He moved about. He shouted. He
ranted. He lived in the past and talked of honor as though it were
the only thing.
I was born in that house. I grew up there into a pampered brat. I
was mean. One day I broke their hearts. I saw mother cry
wordlessly as father heaped his curses upon me and drove me out
of the house, the gate closing heavily after me. And my brothers
and sisters took up my father's hate for me and multiplied it
numberless times in their own broken hearts. I was no good.
But sometimes, you know, I miss that house, the roosting chickens
on the low-topped walls. I miss my brothers and sisters, Mother
sitting in her chair, looking like a pale ghost in a corner of the room.
I would remember the great live posts, massive tree trunks from
the forests. Leafy plants grew on the sides, buds pointing
downwards, wilted and died before they could become flowers. As
they fell on the floor, father bent to pick them and throw them out
into the coral streets. His hands were strong. I have kissed these
hands . . . many times, many times.
Finally we rounded a deep curve and suddenly came upon a shanty,
all but ready to crumble in a heap on the ground, its plastered walls
were rotting away, the floor was hardly a foot from the ground. I
thought of the cottages of the poor colored folk in the south, the
hovels of the poor everywhere in the land. This one stood all by
itself as though by common consent all the folk that used to live
here had decided to say away, despising it, ashamed of it. Even the
lovely season could not color it with beauty.
A dog barked loudly as we approached. A fat blonde woman stood
at the door with a little boy by her side. Roger seemed newly
scrubbed. He hardly took his eyes off me. Ruth had a clean apron
around her shapeless waist. Now as she shook my hands in sincere
delight I noticed shamefacedly (that I should notice) how rough her
hands were, how coarse and red with labor, how ugly! She was no
longer young and her smile was pathetic.
As we stepped inside and the door closed behind us, immediately I
was aware of the familiar scent of apples. The room was bare
except for a few ancient pieces of second-hand furniture. In the
middle of the room stood a stove to keep the family warm in winter.
The walls were bare. Over the dining table hung a lamp yet
unlighted.
Ruth got busy with the drinks. She kept coming in and out of a rear
room that must have been the kitchen and soon the table was
heavy with food, fried chicken legs and rice, and green peas and
corn on the ear. Even as we ate, Ruth kept standing, and going to
the kitchen for more food. Roger ate like a little gentleman.
"Isn't he nice looking?" his father asked.
"You are a handsome boy, Roger," I said.
The boy smiled at me. You look like Daddy," he said.
Afterwards I noticed an old picture leaning on the top of a dresser
and stood to pick it up. It was yellow and soiled with many
fingerings. The faded figure of a woman in Philippine dress could yet
be distinguished although the face had become a blur.
"Your . . . " I began.
"I don't know who she is," Fabia hastened to say. "I picked that
picture many years ago in a room on La Salle street in Chicago. I
have often wondered who she is."
"The face wasn't a blur in the beginning?"
"Oh, no. It was a young face and good."
Ruth came with a plate full of apples.
"Ah," I cried, picking out a ripe one. "I've been thinking where all
the scent of apples came from. The room is full of it."
"I'll show you," said Fabia.
He showed me a backroom, not very big. It was half-full of apples.
"Every day," he explained, "I take some of them to town to sell to
the groceries. Prices have been low. I've been losing on the trips."
"These apples will spoil," I said.
"We'll feed them to the pigs."
Then he showed me around the farm. It was twilight now and the
apple trees stood bare against a glowing western sky. In apple
blossom time it must be lovely here. But what about wintertime?
One day, according to Fabia, a few years ago, before Roger was
born, he had an attack of acute appendicitis. It was deep winter.
The snow lay heavy everywhere. Ruth was pregnant and none too
well herself. At first she did not know what to do. She bundled him
in warm clothing and put him on a cot near the stove. She shoveled
the snow from their front door and practically carried the suffering
man on her shoulders, dragging him through the newly made path
towards the road where they waited for the U.S. Mail car to pass.
Meanwhile snowflakes poured all over them and she kept rubbing
the man's arms and legs as she herself nearly froze to death.
"Go back to the house, Ruth!" her husband cried, "you'll freeze to
death."
But she clung to him wordlessly. Even as she massaged his arms
and legs, her tears rolled down her cheeks. "I won't leave you," she
repeated.
Finally the U.S. Mail car arrived. The mailman, who knew them well,
helped them board the car, and, without stopping on his usual
route, took the sick man and his wife direct to the nearest hospital.
Ruth stayed in the hospital with Fabia. She slept in a corridor
outside the patients' ward and in the day time helped in scrubbing
the floor and washing the dishes and cleaning the men's things.
They didn't have enough money and Ruth was willing to work like a
slave.
"Ruth's a nice girl," said Fabia, "like our own Filipino women."
Before nightfall, he took me back to the hotel. Ruth and Roger stood
at the door holding hands and smiling at me. From inside the room
of the shanty, a low light flickered. I had a last glimpse of the apple
trees in the orchard under the darkened sky as Fabia backed up the
car. And soon we were on our way back to town. The dog had
started barking. We could hear it for some time, until finally, we
could not hear it anymore, and all was darkness around us, except
where the headlamps revealed a stretch of road leading somewhere.
Fabia did not talk this time. I didn't seem to have anything to say
myself. But when finally we came to the hotel and I got down, Fabia
said, "Well, I guess I won't be seeing you again."
It was dimly lighted in front of the hotel and I could hardly see
Fabia's face. Without getting off the car, he moved to where I had
sat, and I saw him extend his hand. I gripped it.
"Tell Ruth and Roger," I said, "I love them."
He dropped my hand quickly. "They'll be waiting for me now," he
said.
"Look," I said, not knowing why I said it, "one of these days, very
soon, I hope, I'll be going home. I could go to your town."
"No," he said softly, sounding very much defeated but brave,
"Thanks a lot. But, you see, nobody would remember me now."
Then he started the car, and as it moved away, he waved his hand.
"Goodbye," I said, waving back into the darkness. And suddenly the
night was cold like winter straying early in these northern
woodlands.
I hurried inside. There was a train the next morning that left for
Muncie, Indiana, at a quarter after eight.