Republic of the Philippines

CENTRAL BICOL STATE UNIVERSITY OF AGRICULTURE

ISO 9001:2015 San Jose, Pili, Camarines Sur 4418
TÜV-R 01 100 1934918 www.cbsua.edu.ph

Name: Jochebed C. Miranda Year and Section: BSED 2B

Week 13 | Reflection Essay

Letter to the Women of Malolos

"To the women of Malolos" as written by Dr. Jose Rizal is an essay of hope in
restoring the dignity and worth of all Filipino's specially women-mothers, wives,
unmarried etc. and wrote everything he wishes for them.

Dr. Rizal's letter pointed out, the unholiness of the friars, the ignorance of the
Filipino, qualities of Filipino mothers must have, duties and responsibilities of mothers to
their children and husband, counsel the young women to choose the right man for them.

As what I've read, Rizal tells how man and woman are unequal before. Man, who
can take education and woman that should be in the house and take care for the family
only. A mother who is responsible for raising her child, taught her child to be noble like
what the women of Spartan did. For whatever a mother shows to her children is what
children will become also, as stated by Rizal "If the mother is always kissing the hand of
the friars in submission, then her children will grow up to be sycophant and mindless,
fools who do nothing but do as they are told". But if a mother taught her child to be
noble then maybe her child will rise with dignity and not ignorant.

Another thing Dr. Rizal point out is to women that they should not be easily taken
by man physical looks instead they should know the man attitudes or characters-a noble
and real man.

In these recent times it seems that these qualities are gradually lost in the way
Filipino conduct themselves. There are mothers who forget their role because of work
and young women, whom didn't mind the qualities of their man. But the good thing is
Filipino’s now know how to stand and live on their own.
The Indolence of the Filipinos

In Jose Rizal's essay "The Indolence of the Filipino or Sobre La Indolencia De

Los Filipino” Rizal published and defended the Filipinos whom the Spaniard colonizer
called them indolence. Rizal also cited the reasons and examples of such indolence of
the Filipinos.

I do not believe that indolence is an inherent trait among the Filipinos. In fact,
Jose Rizal explained in his essay that Filipinos are not inherently lazy. If we go back to
the history of the Philippines before Spanish colonization, every Filipino lived well. They
are industrious and hard-working; they cultivate their land and they trade their products
in other countries like Asia and the Middle East. But since the Spaniards came to our
country and we have been conquered, Filipinos changed their way of living. Nor can we
blame Filipinos for why they have made such changes in their lives and state.

The indolence of the Filipinos was because of the mismanagement of the

Spanish government. Since then, the Filipinos have lost their appetite because they are
not able to get what they deserve because of the so-called “forced labor”, the Filipinos
seem to have become enslaved by the Spaniards during that period. Due to improper
display of Spanish leadership in the aspects of work and morals, gambling, the
alienation of women is lies perpetrated by the Spaniards; Friars taught the Filipinos that
"the poor will get to heaven" and "the rich will go away into hell". Another reason is the
unjust work of the Spaniards imposed high taxes on the Filipino; and most of their
harvest goes to the government or the friars. It indeed loses your willingness to do work
if your freedom of action is curtailed and what you see in your surroundings contradicts
your beliefs. Moreover, it’s a result of not being united by the Filipinos at that time
because of the mismanagement of their beliefs made by the Spanish. According to
Rizal, “the lack of unity was caused by the laziness of Filipinos”. Because if the people
are not united, they have no power to thwart the disastrous measures of the
government and other social forces. So the Filipinos are accustomed to this task.
However, the current misdeeds originating in Spanish and acquired by Filipinos reflect
the current situation of the Filipino today.

Filipinos are not born indolence but have a reason for being indolence. In a good
town, there is good work. Jose Rizal's published reasons are certainly credible for why
we came to this situation because if we read his famous novel El Filibusterismo and Noli
Me tangere it tells the story of what happened in the Philippines. In this essay, Rizal
said, "the indolent or the lazy were the Spaniards, not the Indios because the
Peninsulares wanted a good life without suffering". Therefore, Rizal to into account the
social status and conditions and practices of the Spanish, to prove that the indolence of
Filipinos is rooted in Spanish which until now is still the problem of our country.