LESSON 9

RIZAL
AS A REFORMIST
AND A REVOLUTIONARY

LESSON OBJECTIVES
AT THE END OF THIS LESSON, THE
STUDENTS SHALL BE ABLE TO:
A. DISCUSS THE IDEALS AND ADVOCACIES
OF RIZAL FOR THE PHILIPPINES AND THE
FILIPINO
B. ASSESS IF RIZAL WAS A REFORMIST OR
A REVOLUTIONARY
 WHAT DOES BEING REFORMIST MEAN?

REFORMIST DEFINITION

SPECIFICALLY, ONE WHO ADVOCATES REFORM OF SOCIETY AND THE

GRADUAL ACCUMULATION OF SMALL CHANGES, AS OPPOSED TO
REVOLUTIONARY ACTION.

WHAT DOES BEING A REVOLUTIONARY MEAN?

A REVOLUTIONARY PERSON FEARLESSLY ADVOCATES RADICAL CHANGE.

REVOLUTIONARY PEOPLE AND IDEAS CHALLENGE THE STATUS QUO AND
MIGHT BE VIOLENT OR WILLING TO UPSET THE NATURAL ORDER TO
ACHIEVE THEIR GOALS. LIKE THE WORD REVOLVE, IT'S ALL ABOUT
TURNING THINGS AROUND.

HELENE GOUJAT, IN HER 800-PAGE BOOK,

CONCLUDES THAT HE WAS MORE THAN A HERO. HE
WILL ALWAYS BE RELEVANT NOT ONLY TO FILIPINOS
BUT TO ALL MANKIND. RIZAL STOOD FOR PRINCIPLES
THAT DO NOT CHANGE – JUSTICE AND FREEDOM. I
THINK THAT MORE THAN EVER RIZAL, AS
INTELLECTUAL, SHOULD BE THE MODEL FOR
GENERATIONS OF FILIPINOS TO COME.
EDUCATION IS MORE ENDURING, REVOLUTIONS (AS IN
ARMED REBELLION) COME AND GO. BUT RIZAL WAS
NOT A MERE REFORMIST HE WAS ALSO
REVOLUTIONARY IN THE SENSE THAT WHEN HE SAW
THAT NOTHING WOULD COME OUT OF THE
ADVOCACY FOR REFORM, HE DID TURN TO MORE
REVOLUTIONARY (RADICAL) IDEAS. SO THE COMMON
VIEW THAT HE WAS A MERE REFORMIST IS WRONG
ACCORDING TO GOUJAT.
IT IS WELL KNOWN THAT RIZAL IMBIBED HIS
PROGRESSIVE POLITICAL IDEAS WHILE STUDYING IN
SPAIN. LEON MA. GUERRERO SAID THAT THE
PHILIPPINE REVOLUTION WAS MADE IN SPAIN. SPAIN
HERSELF WAS AN OLDER BATTLEFIELD FOR THE SAME
IDEAS.
“IT WAS IN SPAIN THAT MY PERDITION CAME,” RIZAL
SAID. NOT ENOUGH HAS BEEN DONE TO BRING THIS
IDEA TO THE PUBLIC MIND IN THE PHILIPPINES. WE
THINK ONLY OF ONE SPAIN – THE SPAIN IN THE
PHILIPPINES CAPTURED IN HIS BOOKS NOLI ME
TANGERE AND EL FILIBUSTERISMO.
GOUJAT RESEARCHED FOR 12 YEARS TO WRITE HER
BOOK AND USES PRIMARY DOCUMENTS TO PROVE
HER POINT.
NOLI ME TANGERE AND EL FILIBUSTERISMO SERVED
AS RIZAL’S MEANS FOR ASKING REFORMS. HE USED
THESE NOVELS TO PORTRAY WHAT WAS HAPPENING
IN THE PHILIPPINES DURING THE SPANISH
COLONIZATION. HIS GOAL WAS TO AWAKEN THE
FILIPINOS AND THE SPANIARDS(SPAIN) WITH WHAT
IS HAPPENING IN THE PHILIPPINES AND HE THOUGHT
THAT THROUGH THESE NOVELS THE FILIPINOS AND
THE SPANIARDS WOULD BELIEVE THAT ASSIMILATION
IS THE JUST ACTION FOR THE FILIPINOS. THE
FILIPINOS WHO WERE STUDYING IN EUROPE DURING
THOSE TIMES USE THIS MOVEMENT TO ASK FOR
REFORMS TO THE SPANISH GOVERNMENT. THEY
ORGANIZED THE PROPAGANDA MOVEMENT TO
SERVE AS A WAY OF GETTING THOSE REFORMS.
JOSE RIZAL WAS AN OUTSTANDING PROPAGANDIST
OF THE PROPAGANDA MOVEMENT. RIZAL DID NOT
SUPPORT THE REVOLUTION FOR HE BELIEVED THAT
THIS WILL NOT MAKE THE PHILIPPINES A BETTER
COUNTRY. THE PHILIPPINE REVOLUTION FREED THE
FILIPINOS FROM THE HANDS OF THE SPANIARDS.
ALTHOUGH RIZAL DID NOT ACTUALLY SUPPORT IT
HE HAD CONTRIBUTED MUCH TO THIS REVOLUTION.
HIS WORKS AND WRITINGS WERE THE CORNER
STONE OF THE REVOLUTION AND HE WAS INDEED AN
INSPIRATION FOR THE KATIPUNEROS DURING THOSE
TIMES. RIZAL’S LIFE WAS DEVOTED TO HIS COUNTRY
(PHILIPPINES). HIS WORKS AND WRITINGS WERE
EVIDENCE FOR HIS NOBLE ACT AS A REFORMIST.
The ideals of Jose Rizal for the Philippines and
the Filipino
 Rizal valued the pursuit of knowledge. He
believed that a nation must be enlightened and
united to allow it to emerge from a dark period
in its history. This fierce love for country, as
manifested in his brilliant and enduring works,
continues to inspire and move our people to
action centuries hence, he added.
 THE ADVOCACY OF RIZAL
FOR THE PHILIPPINES AND
THE FILIPINO ?
His advocacy for reforms in the Philippines under the hands of Spanish
colonial authorities led to his early death at the age of 36. He was
executed in Bagumbayan, now called Luneta, in Manila on December
30, 1896
But his death meant much more for the Filipinos. It sparked the
revolution in the country against the Spanish government, which ruled
Las Islas Filipinas (now the Philippines) from 1565 to 1898. Rizal
inspired the nation to be born.
THIS IS ONE OF THE QUESTIONS THAT
COMES INTO MIND WHEN RIZAL’S NAME IS
MENTIONED. WAS RIZAL A REFORMIST? OR
REVOLUTIONARY?
THE CONCEPT OF TRUTH, JUSTICE, FREEDOM, LOVE, EQUALITY AND
PEACE ARE ENSHRINED IN THE PHILIPPINE
CONSTITUTION. THE CONCEPTS ARE CONSIDERED UNIVERSAL
PRINCIPLES, SO THAT ALL GROUPS OF PEOPLE OF
DIFFERENT NATIONS, HAVE WAYS TO GIVE THEM EFFECT AND GIVE
THEIR CONSTITUENTS OPPORTUNITIES TO ENJOY
THEM.
RIZAL CHOOSE TO SEEK FOR REFORMS THAN
TO START A REVOLUTION BECAUSE HE KNEW
THAT PHILIPPINES WAS NOT YET READY TO
STAND ON ITS OWN (DURING HIS TIME). RIZAL
USED HIS LIBERAL IDEAS IN ASKING FOR
REFORMS.
THE PHILIPPINE REVOLUTION FREED THE FILIPINOS
FROM THE HANDS OF THE SPANIARDS. RIZAL HAD
REVOLUTIONARY IDEAS, HE WAS NOT FOR ARMED
REVOLUTION PER SEE. HE WAS MORE FOR THE
GRADUAL AND PEACEFUL ONE.
CIVIL AND POLITICAL RIGHTS

CIVIL AND POLITICAL RIGHTS ARE A CLASS OF

RIGHTS THAT PROTECTS INDIVIDUAL FREEDOM FROM
INFRINGEMENT BY GOVERNMENTS, SOCIAL
ORGANIZATION AND PRIVATE INDIVIDUALS AND
WHICH ENSURE ONE'S ABILITY TO PARTICIPATE IN
CIVIL AND POLITICAL LIFE OF THE SOCIETY AND
STATE WITHOUT DISCRIMINATION AND REPRESSION.
POLITICAL RIGHTS
POLITICAL RIGHTS INCLUDE NATURAL JUSTICE
(PROCEDURAL FAIRNESS) IN LAW, SUCH AS THE
RIGHTS OF THE ACCUSED INCLUDING THE RIGHT TO A
FAIR TRIAL; DUE PROCESS; THE RIGHT TO SEEK
REDRESS OR A LEGAL REMEDY AND RIGHTS OF
PARTICIPATION IN CIVIL SOCIETY SUCH AS FREEDOM
OF ASSOCIATION, THE RIGHT TO ASSEMBLE, THE
RIGHT TO PETITION, THE RIGHT OF SELF DEFENSE AND
THE RIGHT TO VOTE.
CIVIL RIGHTS
CIVIL RIGHTS INCLUDE ENSURING OF PEOPLE'S
PHYSICAL AND MENTAL INTEGRITY LIFE AND SAFETY;
PROTECTION FROM DISCRIMINATION ON GROUND
SUCH AS RACE, GENDER, NATIONAL ORIGINS, COLOR,
SEXUAL ORIENTATION, ETHNICITY, RELIGION OR
DISABILITY; AND INDIVIDUALS RIGHTS SUCH AS
PRIVACY, THE FREEDOMS OF THOUGHT AND
CONSISTENCE, SPEECH AND EXPRESSION, RELIGION,
THE PRESS, ASSEMBLY AND MOVEMENT.
MAIN OBJECTIVES OF THE PROPAGANDA
* REPRESENTATION OF THE PHILIPPINES IN THE SPANISH CORTES

* RIGHTS FOR DIOCESAN CLERGY TO ADMINISTER PARISHES

(SECULARIZATION)
* EQUALITY OF SPANISH ANG FILIPINO AND EQUAL OPPORTUNITY TO ENTER
GOVERNMENT SERVICE
* SPANISH CITIZENSHIP TO FILIPINO'S

* RECOGNITION OF THE PHILIPPINES AS A PROVINCE OF SPAIN

(ASSIMILATION)

* ABOLITION OF THE MANDATORY POLO Y SERVICIUS AND THE

BANDALA - RECOGNITION OF THE PHILIPPINES
MAIN OBJECTIVES OF THE KATIPUNAN

* POLITICAL - INDEPENDENCE OR SEPARATION OF THE PHILIPPINES

TO SPAIN

* MORAL - GOOD MANNERS , HYGIENE, GOOD MORALS, AND

REJECTION OF RELIGIOUS FANATICISM AND WEAKNESS OF
CHARACTER
* CIVIC - SELF - HELP AND THE DEFENSE OF POOR AND OPPRESSED.
ACTIVITY
1-5. GIVE 5 EXAMPLES OF CIVIL OR
POLITICAL RIGHTS
6. IS RIZAL A REFORMIST OR A
REVOLUTIONARY?WHY
7. GIVE ONE OBJECTIVE OF THE
PROPAGANDA
8-10 WHAT ARE THE MAIN OBJECTIVES
OF THE KATIPUAN?
Thank You!
Oliverio, Anthony
Martirez, Mark Anthony
Molina, Maybellene
Pascua, Joshua Gerard