MODULE Packet SSci7 (Jose Rizal, Life, Work and Writings)

Course Orientation

Dear Students:

Welcome to SSci7 course orientation! I look forward to virtually meeting and working with you
all, and helping you prepare for this course.

The module packets in this course have every lesson and assignment you will see in a module.
Module packets can be used for those who experience issues with internet access and/or
connectivity. This means that with this module packet, you can review all course materials
offline. However, you will still need to complete assignments and activities, such as discussion
posts, online.

Course Description: As mandated by Republic Act 1425, this course covers the life and
works of the country's national hero, Jose Rizal. Among the topics covered are Rizal's biography
and his works and writings, particularly the novels Noli Me Tangere and EI Filibusterismo,
essays and various correspondences.

Course Outline:

I. Introduction
1. Concepts: Heroism, Martyr, Patriotism,
Nationalism 2. RA 1425
3. Supplementary Laws and Directives to RA 1425: RA 229, CHED
Memorandum Order No. 247, CHED Memorandum No. 3, s. 1995,
Proclamation No. 3, The Chairman of the Executive Commission:
Malacañang Palace
4. Rizal as a hero

II. The Philippines in the 19th Century

1. Political Structure
2. Social Structure
3. Economic Activities
4. The Educational System
5. Birth of A Filipino National Consciousness

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 III. The Development of Rizal’s Nationalism

1. The Ascendance of the Chinese Mestizo

2. The Birth of Rizal and His Ancestry, Childhood and Education
3. Travel, Homecoming and Love Affairs
4. Propaganda Movement and Rizal
5. Exile, Trial and Execution

IV. Literary Works

1. The Novels
A. Noli Me Tangere
B. El Filibusterismo
2. Poetry
3. Prose

V. Rizal’s Concepts in Nation Building

1. Rizal’s Blueprint for Nation Building
2. Rizal’s Program of Reforms
3. Moral Principles and Teachings

VI. The Relevance and Validity of Rizal’s Concept in the 21st Century
VII. Jose Rizal and Philippine Nationalism- National Symbol

References/Course Materials:

A. Books

1. Zaide, Gregorio et al. 2014. Jose Rizal, Life, Work and Writings:2nd Edition Quezon City.
All Nations Public Co Inc.
2. Romero, Ma. Corona et al..1977. Rizal and the Development of National Consciousness
Quezon City : JMC Press
3. Camiloza, Loreto. 2012. Dr. Jose Rizal’s Religious Thoughts : Revisited. Mandaluyong
City : National Bookstore
4. Clemente, Janet Espina, Cruz, Geoffrey. 2019. The Life and Works of Jose
Rizal:Outcome-Based Module.Quezon City : C and E Publishing , Inc.

B. Internet Sources:

1. THE GATES TO HEROISM: DEFINING A FILIPINO HERO by Diana A.

Galang, http://nhcp.gov.ph/the-gates-to-heroism-defining-a-filipino-hero/
2. RA 1425 (https://www.officialgazette.gov.ph/1956/06/12/republic-act-no-1425/)
3. “The Trials of the Rizal Bill”, Laurel, Jose Jr. Historical Bulletin vol. 4, no.2
(1960): 130-139
4. “The Rizal Bill of 1956 : Horacio de la Costa and the Bishops by Schumacher,
John”, Philippine Studies 59 no.4(20111):529-553
5. Constantino, R. (1969). The Rizal Law and the Catholic hierarchy. In The
Making of a Filipino. A story of Philippine colonial polictics (pp.244-47). Quezon
City, Philippines: Malaya Books.
6. Hau, C. (2000). Introduction. Necessary Fictions, 1946-1980 (pp1-14). Quezon
City, Philippines: Ateneo de Manila University Press.

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7. Laureal, J. (1960). The trials of the Rizal bill. Historical Bulletin, 4(2), 130-39.
8. Schumacher, J (2011). The Rizal Bill of 1956. Horacio de la Costa and the
bishops. Philippine Studies 59(4), 529-53.
9. https://opinion.inquirer.net/118510/rizal-the-hero
10. The making of a Philippine national hero, The Manila Times, 2015.
https://www.manilatimes.net/2015/08/29/weekly/the-sunday-times/the-making-of-a-
philippine-national-hero/213977/
11. Reading, understanding, and appreciating Rizal,
https://rappler.com/voices/imho/reading-understanding-appreciating-jose-rizal
12. https://mebylyqyfamicy.michaelferrisjr.com/social-structure-of-the-philippines-
28775oi.html
13. Philippines in the 19th Century
https://dimasalanglaonglaan.wordpress.com/philippines-in-the-19th-century/
14. 19th Century Philippines: A Blast From the Past
https://pjacintoblog.wordpress.com/portfolio/19th-century-philippines-a-blast-
from-the-past/
15. https://www.coursehero.com/file/40563744/Module-in-GEC-9-Part-1docx/
16. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P-I4Bay5SXo)
17. The Chinese Mestizos and the Formation of the Filipino Nationality” by Tan
Antonio S. In: Archipel, volume 32, 1986. pp. 141-162.DOI :
https://doi.org/10.3406/arch.1986.2316
18.The Chinese Mestizo in Philippine History by E. Wickberg. International
Studies Center for East Asian Studies, Universityof Kansas, Lawrence,
Kansas.
https://kuscholarworks.ku.edu/bitstream/handle/1808/1129/CEAS.1964.n10.pdf?sequen
ce=1
19.Jose, R.T. 2011. The truth about Rizal’s poor grades in UST. Philippine Daily
Inquirer. https://lifestyle.inquirer.net/3292/the-truth-about-rizal%E2%80%99s-
%E2%80%98poor%E2%80%99-grades-in-ust/
20. Wenceslao, Paul. Jose Rizal and his Secret Mission.2019
21.https://www.mantlemagazine.com/index.php/2019/03/31/jose-rizal-and-his-secret-
mission/
22. All the girls Rizal loved before by Bam Abellon
23.twitterhttps://news.abs-cbn.com/ancx/culture/spotlight/12/30/18/all-the-girls-rizal-
loved-before
24.Reyno, Ma. Cielito Timeless Lessons From Rizal.2012.National Historical
Commission of the Philippines. http://nhcp.gov.ph/timeless-lessons-from-rizal/
25. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HD97bfpB20U
26.https://archive.org/stream/philippinescentu00riza/philippinescentu00riza_djvu.txt
27.http://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/6885/pg6885-images.html
28. http://writingsofrizal.weebly.com/women-in-malolos.html)
29. http://kwentongebabuhayrizal.blogspot.com/2013/07/to-young-women-of-
malolos-full-copy.html
30.http://kwentongebabuhayrizal.blogspot.com/2013/07/to-young-women-of-malolos-
full-copy.html
31. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jos%C3%A9_Rizal
32. https://www.persee.fr/doc/arch_0044-8613_1986_num_32_1_2316

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Grading System:

Midterm (Module 1-4)

(Midterm Exam + Class Standing)

Finals (Module 1-7)

(Finals Exam + Class Standing)

TOTAL Percentage

50% + 50% = 100%

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Course Policies:

Communicating with the Teacher

It is your responsibility to communicate with your teacher about questions or issues that
prevent you from completing assignments or completing this course.
Inactive Students
Students who have been inactive as of the end of the 3rd week of the course and who
have not communicated with the teacher will be given an INC grade.
Plagiarism
Plagiarism is using someone else’s words instead of your own. In this course, you are
expected to use your own words and ideas, and to acknowledge any sources you use to
gather ideas. Plagiarism is not allowed in this course.
Time: 6 hours per week for 9 weeks
Virtual Meeting through Google Meet (Please refer to the schedule in every module)
Contact Information:
Email Address:
Mobile Number:
Consultation Hours: TBA
Virtual Availability: TBA

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Basic Guidelines for A Synchronous Session: (For both the teacher and students)
1. Observe courtesy and good manners in entering or leaving the chat room by
posting a note.
2. During the Roll Call, please state your name and course and section.
3. For the class to start, majority of the students must be present.
4. Teacher-student socialization takes place while waiting for others to enter the chat
room.
5. Posting of answers should be done after being asked.
6. Students are encouraged to reflect on the questions raised by the teacher or on the
answers of their classmates while waiting for their turn to discuss.
7. Students are encouraged to post their reactions within the context of the lesson.
No slang or vulgar language or remarks are allowed against anybody.
8. The teacher and student should use the message button to address specific
concerns.
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the entire section to facilitate information dissemination and sending of video class
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10. Nothing of this video classes should be uploaded in any social media accounts.

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7|Page
 MODULE 2. The Philippines in the 19th Century (Panoramic Survey)
Section 1. Political Structure and System
Section 2. Social structure
Section 3. Economic activities
Section 4. Educational system
Section 5. The Birth of A Filipino National Consciousness

Below is a schedule for Module 2:

Description Time to Complete
Activity Section

1 Overview 20 minutes
2 1- 5 Assigned Readings and illustrations 60 minutes

Watch a video
60 minutes
3 Picture Representation: Interactive Class
Discussion
60 minutes
4 Optional Discussion 10 minutes

Total 210 minutes

Intended Learning Outcomes:

At the end of this module, the student is expected to :

1. Identify the social context within which Rizal was situated;

2. Analyze various social, political, economic and cultural changes that occurred in the 19th
century; and

3. Explain how these changes affected and influenced Jose Rizal; and

4. Critically analyze how these societal conditions led to the Development of a National
Consciousness

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 The Philippines in the 19th Century

The life of a person is shaped by the society that he or she is a part of. Thus, in studying and
understanding the life of Jose Rizal, it is necessary to look into the social context where he was
situated in- the 19th century Philippines.

Jose Rizal was born in the 19th century. During this time, Spain’s glory and rule as a colonial
power was already waning. The natives of the Philippines were slowly realizing the need to
awaken their national consciousness. This was sparked by the movements against the
oppression of the Spanish colonizers.

The events around the world also contributed to the formation of the national consciousness led
by Rizal and other noted ilustrados during the 19th century. Different events contributed to how
Rizal’s own national consciousness was shaped. The Industrial Revolution had its effect on the
Philippine economy.

Section 1 : Political Structure

Spanish Government Hierarchy in the Philippines

Spain governed the Philippines through the Ministro de Ultramar established in Madrid in 1863.
This body helped the Spanish monarchs manage the affairs of the colonies and governed the
Philippines through centralized machinery exercising executive, legislative, judicial, and religious
powers. The Governor General appointed by the Spanish monarch headed the central
administration in Manila. He was the Kin’s representative in all state and religious matters and
as such exercised extensive powers. He is assisted by the Lieutenant Governor and advisory
bodies. The provincial governments is led by alcaldes mayors; and the city governments called
Cabildo or Ayuntamiento administered by two alcaldes en ordinario (mayor and vice mayor).
The gobernadorcillo was the chief execuitive and judge of the town. He was elected every year
by a board composed of members of the town principalia, a body of citizens of high standing,
usually made up of incumbent or ex-cabeza de barangay. The smallest uniy of a government
was the arangay or barrio.

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The guardia civil and cuadrilleros performed police duties. The alferes headed the corps of
guardia civil in each town. The sytem of court was centralized in the mid-19 th century. It was a
pyramidical organization headed by the Royal Audiencia, the highest judicial body (the highest
court). This serve also as the high council to which important government affairs were referred.

Political System and the Sources of Abuses in the Administrative System

The Spaniards ruled the Filipinos in the 19th century. The Filipinos became the Spaniard’s
slave. The Spaniards claimed their taxes and they worked under the power of the Spaniards.
The sources of abuses in the Administrative System: (1) Appointment of officials with inferior
qualifications, without dedication of duty and moral strength to resist corruption for material
advancement; (2) complicating functions and union of the church and the state; (3) there was no
effective effort to check these abuses and the people despaired knowing there would be no
hope for change; (4) participation of the natives were confined to lowest offices in the
administrative hierarchy; (5) arbitrary collection of taxes; (6) the judicial system was not properly
implemented because many of the judges are corrupt and incompetent, and all are Spaniards;
and (7) the natural and constitutional rights and liberties of the indios were curtailed.

Manner of obtaining the position.

The principal officials of the administrative system obtained their position by royal appointment,
while the rest of the position were either filled by the Governor General himself or were sold to
the highest bidder.

Term of office

The term of office or term in office defined as the length of time a person (usually a politician)
serves in a particular office is dependent on the whims of the King of the country.

Personal interest over the welfare of the State

They were corrupt during the 19th century and the Alcaldias/Alcalde is considered as the most
corrupt over the other corrupts. The Alcaldias/Alcalde includes the administrators, judges and
military commandants. They usually have P25/mo liberal allowances and privileges to take a
certain percentage of money from the total amount of taxes. They bought the goods from the
natives at a cheap rate and sold these goods back to the natives in times of scarcity at much
higher price. There were also monopoly trades or business practices known as indulto para
comerciar. The government position was much coveted because of the lucrative monetary gains
for the officials.

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 Section2. Social Structure

Term Definition

Indio person of pure Austronesian (Malay/Malayo-Polynesian) ancestry

Negrito person of pure Aeta ancestry

Sangley person of pure Chinese ancestry

Mestizo person of mixed Chinese, and Austronesian (Malay/Malayo-Polynesian) ancestry;
de also called chino mestizo
Sangley
Mestizo de
Español person of mixed Spanish, and Austronesian (Malay/Malayo-Polynesian) ancestry
person of mixed Spanish, Austronesian (Malay/Malayo-Polynesian), and Chinese
Tornatrás
ancestry
person of pure Spanish descent born in the Philippines ("from Las Filipinas");
Filipino
also called Insulares ("from the islands") or Criollos (Creoles)
person of Criollo, Castizo, or Mestizo descent born in Spanish America ("from the
Americano
Americas")
Peninsulares person of pure Spanish descent born in Spain ("from the peninsula")

A Society will always give way to the existence of social classes. What we want is equality
among people, however, reality dictates that as long as social structures thrives, inequality
continues. Looking at the bright side, we see a vast diversity of opportunities to co-exist in
peace and order. Laws must make sure of that. Meanwhile, let’s find out the kind of social
structure in the 19th century Philippines. The history of racial mixture in the Philippines occurred
mostly during the Spanish colonial period from the 16th to 19th century.

The Filipinos in the 19th century had suffered from feudalistic and master slave relationship by
the Spaniards. Their social structure is ranked into three groups:

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1. Highest class

The people that belong in this class include the Spaniards, peninsulares, insulares and the
friars. They have the power and authority to rule over the Filipinos. They enjoyed their positions
and do what they want.

The Peninsulares (Spaniards who were born in Spain). They held the most important
government jobs, and made up the smallest number of the population. The Friars are members
of any of certain religious orders of men, especially the four mendicant orders (Augustinians,
Carmelites, Dominicans, and Franciscans).

Middle Class
The people that belongs into this class includes the natives,
mestizos and the criollos. The Mestizos are the Filipinos of
mixed indigenous Filipino or European or Chinese ancestry.

Filipinos of Spanish descent currently constitute the great

majority of both the upper and middle classes. Many are either in
politics or are high-ranking executives of commerce and
industry, entertainment and sporting ranks. Most elite Filipino
family dynasties, political families and the elite clans are of
Spanish origin. A number of Filipinos of Spanish descent are
also found in the lower classes.

Lowest class
This class includes the Filipinos only. The Indios, the natives are the poor people ruled by the
Spaniards.

Further Readings: https://mebylyqyfamicy.michaelferrisjr.com/social-structure-of-the-philippines-

28775oi.html

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 Section 3. Educational System
The pre-Spanish system of education underwent major changes during the Spanish
colonization. The tribal tutors were replaced by the Spanish Missionaries. Education was
religion-oriented. It was for the elite, especially in the early years of Spanish colonization.
Access to education by the Filipinos was later liberalized through the enactment of the
Educational Decree of 1863 which provided for the establishment of at least one primary school
for boys and girls in each town under the responsibility of the municipal government; and the
establishment of a normal school for male teachers under the supervision of the Jesuits.
Primary instruction was free and the teaching of Spanish was compulsory. Education during that
period was inadequate, suppressed, and controlled. There are several criticisms received in the
educational system of the Philippines in the late 19th century. Below are the following:

Overemphasis on religious matters

The power of religious orders remained one of the great constants, over the centuries, of
Spanish colonial rule. The friars of the Augustinian, Dominican, and Franciscan orders
conducted many of the executive and control functions of government on the local level. They
were responsible for education and health measures. These missionaries emphasized the
teachings of the Catholic religion starting from the primary level to the tertiary level of education:
Obsolete teaching methods and their methods are outdated.

Limited curriculum

The students in the primary level were taught the Christian Doctrines, the reading of Spanish
books and a little of the natives’ language. Science and Mathematics were not very much taught
to the students even in the universities. Aside from the Christian Doctrines taught, Latin was
also taught to the students instead of Spanish.
Poor classroom facilities are evident. In addition, there is absence of teaching materials.
Primary education was neglected and absence of academic freedom is exercised.

The absence of academic freedom in Spain’s educational system was extended to the schools
that Spaniards established in the Philippines. Learning in every level was largely by rote.
Students memorized and repeated the contents of book which they did not understand. In most
cases knowledge was measured in the ability of the students to memorize, largely hampering
intellectual progress.

Prejudice against Filipinos in the schools of higher learning

In entirety, education during the Spanish regime was privileged only to Spanish students. The
supposed Philippine education was only a means to remain in the Philippines as colonizers. For
this reason, the Filipinos became followers to the Spaniards in their own country. Even
auspicious Filipinos became cronies, to the extent that even their life styles were patterned from
the Spaniards.

Friar control over the system

The friars controlled the educational system during the Spanish times. They owned different
schools, ranging from the primary level to the tertiary levels of education. The missionaries took
charge in teaching, controlling and maintaining the rules and regulations imposed to the
students.

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 Section 4. Economic Activities

The Spanish had initially hoped to turn the Philippines into another Spice Island but they soon
found that the island’s soil, terrain and climate were not suited for growing spices. Mining
opportunities did not present themselves as they did in Latin America. Trade was stubbled upon
sort of by accident.

In 1571, the Spaniards rescued some Chinese sailors whose sampans sunk off the Philippines
and helped them get back to China. The next year the grateful Chinese returned the favor in the
form of a trading vessel filled with gifts of silk, porcelain and other Chinese goods. This ship was
sent eastward and arrived in Mexico in 1573, and its cargo ultimately made it to Spain, where
people liked what they saw and a demand for Chinese goods was born.

Manila became the center of a major trade network that funneled goods from Southeast Asia,
Japan, Indonesia, India and especially China to Europe. Spain developed and maintained a
monopoly over the transpacific trade route. The trade became the primary reason for the
existence of the Philippines. Development of the archipelago was largely neglected.

The most important source of goods for the Spanish in the Philippines was China. For a while
the Spaniards maintained a trading post on China but for the most part they relied on Chinese
intermediaries to bring goods to Manila. About 30 or 40 junks, laden with goods arrived in the
Philippines from China a year. Over time the Chinese not only dominated trade but also
dominated many of the trades, such as shipbuilding, on which trade was based, and
outnumbered the Spanish.
The Chinese were very enterprising, sometimes too much for their own good. A Spanish trader
named Diego de Bobadilla wrote: “A Spaniard who lost his nose through a certain illness, sent
for a Chinaman to make him one wood, in order to hide the deformity. The workman made him
so good a nose that the Spaniard in great delight paid him munificently, giving him 20 escudos.
The Chinaman, attracted by the ease with which he made that gain, loaded a fine boatload of
wooden noses the next year and returned to Manila.”

Manila Galleon Trade Between the Philippines and Mexico

The Manila Galleons (Spanish: Galeón

de Manila; Filipino: Galyon ng Maynila at
Acapulco) were Spanish trading ships
which for two and a half centuries linked
the Philippines with Mexico across the
Pacific Ocean, making one or two round-
trip voyages per year between the ports
of Acapulco and Manila, which were both
part of New Spain. The name of the
galleon changed to reflect the city that
the ship sailed from.[1] The term Manila
Galleons is also used to refer to the trade
route itself between Acapulco and
Manila, which lasted from 1565 to 1815.

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The Manila Galleons were also known in New Spain as "La Nao de la China" (The China Ship)
on their return voyage from the Philippines because they carried mostly Chinese goods, shipped
from Manila.

The Manila Galleon trade route was inaugurated in 1565 after Augustinian friar and navigator
Andrés de Urdaneta discovered the tornaviaje or return route from the Philippines to Mexico.
The first successful round trips were made by Urdaneta and by Alonso de Arellano that year.
The route lasted until 1815 when the Mexican War of Independence broke out. The Manila
galleons sailed the Pacific for 250 years, bringing to the Americas cargoes of luxury goods such
as spices and porcelain, in exchange for silver. The route also created a cultural exchange that
shaped the identities and culture of the countries involved.

Growth of Plantation Agriculture in the Philippines

By the late nineteenth century, three crops--tobacco, abaca, and sugar--dominated Philippine
exports. The government monopoly on tobacco had been abolished in 1880, but Philippine
cigars maintained their high reputation, popular throughout Victorian parlors in Britain, the
European continent, and North America. Because of the growth of worldwide shipping,
Philippine abaca, which was considered the best material for ropes and cordage, grew in
importance and after 1850 alternated with sugar as the islands' most important export.
Americans dominated the abaca trade; raw material was made into rope, first at plants in New
England and then in the Philippines. Principal regions for the growing of abaca were the Bicol
areas of southeastern Luzon and the eastern portions of the Visayan Islands. [Source: Library of
Congress *]

Sugarcane had been produced and refined using crude methods at least as early as the
beginning of the eighteenth century. The opening of the port of Iloilo on Panay in 1855 and the
encouragement of the British vice consul in that town, Nicholas Loney (described by a modern
writer as "a one-man whirlwind of entrepreneurial and technical innovation"), led to the
development of the previously unsettled island of Negros as the center of the Philippine sugar
industry, exporting its product to Britain and Australia. Loney arranged liberal credit terms for
local landlords to invest in the new crop, encouraged the migration of labor from the neighboring
and overpopulated island of Panay, and introduced stream-driven sugar refineries that replaced
the traditional method of producing low-grade sugar in loaves. The population of Negros tripled.
Local "sugar barons"--- the owners of the sugar plantations--became a potent political and
economic force by the end of the nineteenth century.

Economic Development and the Rise of Filipino Nationalism

The country was opened to foreign trade at the end of the 18th century which resulted in the
rapid rise of foreign firms in Manila. This stimulated agricultural production and export of sugar,
rice hemp and tobacco. The number of families which prospered from foreign commerce and
trade were able to send their sons for an education in Europe. Filipinos who were educated
abroad were able to absorb the intellectual development in Europe.

Factors Contributed to the Development of Filipino Nationalism: (1) Opening of the Philippines
to International Trade and the Rise of the Middle Class . Manila was opened to foreign trade
which brought prosperity to the Filipinos and Chinese mestizo resulting to the existence of
middle class.
(2) Influx of European Liberalism. Ideas of the enlightened philosophers like John Locke and
Jean Jacques Rosseau, masonry and the French Revolution reached the Philippines. Liberty,
religious freedom, democracy, human rights such as suffrage, freedom of speech, press and
form associations and assemblies. (3) Opening of the Suez Canal on November 17, 1869.
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Connects Mediterranean and red sea; shortened distance between Europe and Orient.
Results: (a)

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Philippines became closer to Europe and Spain (b) encouraged European travelers to come to
our country (c) exodus of literal ideas from Europe to the Philippines (d) more educated and
young Filipinos were able to study abroad. (4) Spanish Revolution of 1868 and the Liberal
Regime of Carlos Maria Dela Torre(1869-1871). Glorious September Revolution of 1868:
Queen Isabela II was overthrown resulting to the rise of liberalism in Spain. Generals Juan Prim
and Francisco Serrano appointed dela Torre as the governor-general in the Philippines (true
democrat). Most liberal governor-general walked the streets in civilian clothes and dismissed his
alabaderos (halberdiers) – the governor’s security guards – and went unescorted.

The Birth of a Filipino National Consciousness

Religious movements such as the cofradía and colorums expressed an inchoate desire of their
members to be rid of the Spanish and discover a promised land that would reflect memories of a
world that existed before the coming of the colonists. Nationalism in the modern sense
developed in an urban context, in Manila and the major towns and, perhaps more significantly,
in Spain and other parts of Europe where Filipino students and exiles were exposed to modern
intellectual currents. Folk religion, for all its power, did not form the basis of the national
ideology. Yet the millenarian tradition of rural revolt would merge with the Europeanized
nationalism of the ilustrados to spur a truly national resistance, first against Spain in 1896 and
then against the Americans in 1899.

Following the Spanish revolution of September 1868, in which the unpopular Queen Isabella II
was deposed, the new government appointed General Carlos María de la Torre governor of the
Philippines. An outspoken liberal, de la Torre extended to Filipinos the promise of reform. In a
break with established practice, he fraternized with Filipinos, invited them to the governor's
palace, and rode with them in official processions. Filipinos in turn welcomed de la Torre
warmly, held a "liberty parade" to celebrate the adoption of the liberal 1869 Spanish constitution,
and established a reform committee to lay the foundations of a new order. Prominent among de
la Torre's supporters in Manila were professional and business leaders of the ilustrado
community and, perhaps more significantly, Filipino secular priests. These included the learned
Father José Burgos, a Spanish mestizo, who had published a pamphlet, Manifesto to the Noble
Spanish Nation, criticizing those racially prejudiced Spanish who barred Filipinos from the
priesthood and government service. For a brief time, the tide seemed to be turning against the
friars. In December 1870, the archbishop of Manila, Gregorio Melitón Martínez, wrote to the
Spanish regent advocating secularization and warning that discrimination against Filipino priests
would encourage anti-Spanish sentiments.

According to historian Austin Coates, "1869 and 1870 stand distinct and apart from the whole of
the rest of the period as a time when for a brief moment a real breath of the nineteenth century
penetrated the Islands, which till then had been living largely in the seventeenth century." De la
Torre abolished censorship of newspapers and legalized the holding of public demonstrations,
free speech, and assembly--rights guaranteed in the 1869 Spanish constitution. Students at the
University of Santo Tomás formed an association, the Liberal Young Students (Juventud
Escolar Liberal), and in October 1869 held demonstrations protesting the abuses of the
university's Dominican friar administrators and teachers.

The liberal period came to an abrupt end in 1871. Friars and other conservative Spaniards in
Manila managed to engineer the replacement of de la Torre by a more conservative figure,
Rafael de Izquierdo, who, following his installation as governor in April 1871, reimposed the
severities of the old regime. He is alleged to have boasted that he came to the islands "with a
crucifix in one
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hand and a sword in the other." Liberal laws were rescinded, and the enthusiastic Filipino supporters
of de la Torre came under political suspicion.

The heaviest blow came after a mutiny on January 20, 1872, when about 200 Filipino dockworkers
and soldiers in Cavite Province revolted and killed their Spanish officers, apparently in the mistaken
belief that a general uprising was in progress among Filipino regiments in Manila. Grievances
connected with the government's revocation of old privileges--particularly exemption from tribute
service--inspired the revolt, which was put down by January 22. The authorities, however, began
weaving a tale of conspiracy between the mutineers and prominent members of the Filipino
community, particularly diocesan priests. The governor asserted that a secret junta, with connections
to liberal parties in Spain, existed in Manila and was ready to overthrow Spanish rule.

A military court sentenced to death the three Filipino priests most closely associated with liberal
reformism--José Burgos, Mariano Gomez, and Jacinto Zamora--and exiled a number of prominent
ilustrados to Guam and the Marianas (then Spanish possessions), from which they escaped to carry
on the struggle from Hong Kong, Singapore, and Europe. Archbishop Martínez requested that the
governor commute the priests' death sentences and refused the governor's order that they be
defrocked. Martínez's efforts were in vain, however, and on February 17, 1872, they were publicly
executed with the brutal garrote on the Luneta (the broad park facing Manila Bay). The archbishop
ordered that Manila church bells toll a requiem for the victims, a requiem that turned out to be for
Spanish rule in the islands as well. Although a policy of accommodation would have won the loyalty of
peasant and ilustrado alike, intransigence--particularly on the question of the secularization of the
clergy--led increasing numbers of Filipinos to question the need for a continuing association with
Spain.

References:
 Romero, Ma Corona.(2003).Rizal & the Development of National Consciousness.JMC
Press. Quezon City, Philippines.pp1-12
 Philippines in the 19th Century
https://dimasalanglaonglaan.wordpress.com/philippines-in-the-19th-century/
 19th Century Philippines: A Blast From the Past
https://pjacintoblog.wordpress.com/portfolio/19th-century-philippines-a-blast-from-the- past/
 https://www.coursehero.com/file/40563744/Module-in-GEC-9-Part-1docx/

Activity 1: Read and study the Panoramic Survey and other reference materials : journals and
articles using the link posted in this module.

Activity 2 : Watch these Videos at home

1) The History of the Philippines (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P-I4Bay5SXo)
2) The Manila Galleon (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N5Bh8Z6ErRw)

Activity 3: Picture Representation: Instruction: With a partner, identify at least five events that took
place in the mid-19th century in the Philippines that have influenced Jose Rizal in the formation of his
ideals, mission and aspiration for the Philippines. Describe these events through pictures. Present this
in the class, as scheduled by your instructor.

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