IN DEFENSE OF THE NOVEL

 Amongst the people who helped Jose Rizal, it was Reverend Vicente Garcia who had the
best defense
 July 18, 1888, he denied Fr. Jose Rodriguez’s allegation, to wit
 Jose Rizal cannot be an ignorant man because he was a graduate of Spanish Universities
and was a recipient of scholastic honors
 Jose Rizal does not attack the Church in Spain instead what he attacked in the novel was
the bad Spanish officials and the bad corrupt friars, not Spain
 According to the friars, those people who have read the novel committed a mortal sin,
therefore; Fr. Rodriguez also committed a mortal sin
 Jose Rizal’s life became in danger that is why Governor General Terrero assigned him a
body guard named, Lt. Jose Taviel de Andrade who eventually became his good friend
because of their common interest in hunting, fencing, shooting, and painting.

Lt. Jose Taviel de Andrade

Governor General Terrero

Rizal’s happy days was marred by death of his older sister Olimpia, and the baseless rumor circulated by
his enemies that he was “a German spy, an agent of Bismarck, a Protestant, a Mason. A Witch and a soul
beyond salvation”.

OLIMPIA

 Because Governor General Terrero was influenced by some facts in Noli Me Tangere, he
ordered the investigation of the tenant’s relatives in connection with the friar estates.The
findings reported in the government for action were the following:
 The hacienda of the Dominican Order comprised not only the lands around Calamba, but
also the town of Calamba
 The profits of the Dominican Order continually increased because of arbitrary increased
of the rentals paid by the tenants
 The hacienda owner never contributed a single centavo for the celebration of the town
fiesta, for the education of the children, and for the improvement of agriculture
 Tenants who had spent much labor in tilling their lands were dispossessed of said lands
for flimsy reason
 High rates of interest were charged to the tenants for delayed payment of rentals, and
when tenants could not pay, the haciendas management will confiscate their carabao's,
tools and even their homes
The friars asked the Governor General to eliminate Jose Rizal but instead advised him to leave
the country for his life was in danger.
Consequently, realizing how much the Noli had awakened his countrymen, to the point of
defending his novel, Rizal said: "Now I die content."