rizal’s socio, political and economic thought: thought of change - reform or revolution?

8/18/2019 Rizal’s Socio, Political and Economic Thought: Thought of Change - Reform or Revolution?

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Rizal’s Socio, Political and Economic Thought:

Thought of Change

A term paper to be submitted in

partial ful lment of the

re uirements for the sub!ect

Socio"Political and Economic Thought

Submitted #$:

%&'(), *+RT 'E+S -

.A Political Science /

Submitted To:

.r- 0erdinand a1an

Social Studies 2/3

April 45/6

&- &ntroduction


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Rizal is one of the leaning and important gures in our Philippine history. He wasindeed recognizing as our national hero, a renowned propagandist, and a symbolism of Filipino nationalism. He was a key member of the Filipino Propaganda Mo ement whichis composed by intellect Filipinos that ad ocates political reforms of the Philippinecolony under !panish rule. He wrote two important no els, the "oli Me #angere and $lFilibusterisimo to open the eyes of the Filipino People to the grim truth of !panishtyranny. %ue to his writings and the propaganda mo ement, he was e&ecuted by the!panish go ernment for the conspiring of rebellion moti ated in his writings. His deathsparks the Philippine Re olution against !pain and the 'uest of the Filipino people forself(determination.

&&- Prelude and (b!ecti7es

His political thought was in)uence by such critical *unctures in our history. #heopening of Manila to the world trade was one. +ith the wide acceptance of laissez(faire doctrines in the later part of the -th century, !pain rela&ed its mercantilistpolicies /aide 0. F., 1234. #his leads to opening and admission of foreign rms andindi iduals aside from !pain to enter the Philippines. #he opening of the !uez 5analalso made the tra el between Philippines and !pain shorter. $&change between tradesof goods e&pands and become faster, the e&change of ideas also spread. #he in)u& of ideas due to the world trade and the opening of the !uez 5anal especially on politicalthought in)uence Filipinos who were e&posed to the academe. !pain e&perience idealsof 6iberalism during the period of $nlightenment in $urope. 7asically the di ine rightsof kings were challenged. 8n -9-, a re olution o erthrew the autocratic monarchy of :ueen 8sabella 88 of !pain, which was replaced by a ci il and liberal go ernment withRepublican principles led by Francisco !errano.

Howe er the monarchy was restored at the -3; restoration Foreman, 1 basically the mutineers are either imprisonedor e&ecuted. #he mutiny was an instrument used by the !panish colonial go ernmentand friars to accuse three secular priests, Mariano 0omez, ?ose 7urgos, and ?acinto/amora > the 0@M7AR/B and all were e&ecuted through the garrote. @ne of thepriests, ?ose 7urgos reputation caused him to be accused to the mutiny Foreman,

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+ith such reforms cannot be achie ed and the growing ideological diCerences amongthe members, the Propaganda mo ement soon dissol e. 7ut with the happeningsespecially to the political arena, Rizal was baDe to what prescription should be done tothe ill(sicken Philippines. #his was re)ected in his two no els, the "oli Me #angere and$l Filibusterismo. Bside from illustrating the Philippines situation from !panish rule, italso narrates and proposes a two(pronged remedy or solution, that is, thru reform andre olution. #his was his main political thought, his ob*ecti e for the Philippines > thepolitics of change, a thought of change. His literature would be lead to theindependence of the Philippines from !panish colonial rule. His whole works woulddetermine his political thought yet there is still comple&ity whether he supportsreforms or re olution. #his now would assess his political beliefs and to what certaindegree is his position towards the political spectrum. His political thought betweenreform and re olution will also determine his thought regarding the society andeconomy.

&&&- Political thoughts: Reform or Re7olution

His two no els basically re)ect political ideas of reform and re olution > twopolitical alternati e strategies. His ob*ecti e focuses on the application between reformand re olution due to the on growing crisis in the Philippines #he no elEs maincharacter and protagonist, 5risostomo 8barra during the "oli and later own change hisidentity as !imoun in $l Fili shows RizalEs duality mo ing to and from assimilation andsuccession, a personality torn between pen and sword, sees RizalEs inspiration of Philippine Re olution > between reform and re olution 7albin, =< 4. !ome historianswould agree that Rizal was indeed a reformist as his main ob*ecti e towards thePhilippine 8slands under !panish colonial rule. #he popular uprising against !pain in

-19 and his lack of support and endorsement for a re olution armed struggle would

complicate our opinion regarding his political thought.

#he grie ous conse'uence in dichotomizing the reform and re olutionalternati e aCected the national mo ement was pictured by Rizal and the 6a 6igaFilipina against 7onifacio and the Gatipunan. #he dichotomization leads to be counter(producti e and instill doubt of antoginismI. #his was purely re)ected when theBmerican attacks the 8ndependent mo ement as anti(Rizal @campo, =


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reality world in his rst no el. Bs he incorporates his ndings, he lets the targetreaders, the Filipinos to wake up to the reality of tyranny. #he young 5risostomo 8barrasymbolizes the opening of the eyes of the intellects *ust like Rizal which was spark byFr. ?ose 7urgos. 8barra itself was a re)ection of Rizal, a $uropean educated man whoreturns for the hope of change. "oli becomes a catalyst of re olution and charter of nationalism for Filipinos !chumacher, =


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speak of a re olution. otherwise 8 would ha e preser ed the life of $lias,who was a noble character, patriotic, self(denying and disinterested >necessary 'ualities in a man who leads a re olution > whereas 5ristomo8barra was an egotist who only decided to pro oke the rebellion when hewas hurt in his interestsQ with men like him, success cannot be e&pectedin their undertakingsI Ble*andro, 1;14.

Reform was ne er inclusi e, but it was a tactic that is needed to bedistinguished for the longer strategy of separatism. :uibuyen, 1114. Rizal maybepositioned himself to reforms but as he incorporates to his no el > the reform seemsuseless and the presence of in*ustice will still be there. Re olution was the nal key,the way to prepare and e&ecute will now depend to the re olutionaries. #he re olutionshould be ripe before e&ecuting it, since it is too risky. Meaningless to say, the end of the se'uel tides towards the conte&t of re olution.

RizalEs cousin 0allicano Bpacible also e&pressed his misgi ing about the iewthat Rizal was anti(re olution. He argues for the contrary, nding that Rizal was acomplete and unwa ering separatist who belie ed that only thru separating from!pain could Filipino achie e their social, ci il and political aspiration :uibuyen, 1114.Rizal continued that Filipinos could not and ought not to e&pect anything good to the!paniards. Blso recalling the election that lasted days to elect a responsibleI > onewho would direct the Philippine Policy in $urope, Bplicable recalled

#here were two candidates Rizal and Marcelo %el Pilar. Many of uswho supported RizalEs candidacy did so on the con iction that Rizal was aseparatist and the more radical one :uibuyen, 111, p. 94.I

?ose Ble*andro, Bntonio 6una and $ldiberto $ angelist, all who are for separationagainst !pain e&pressed that Rizal was a supporter of the re olution. #hey consideredthe peaceful campaign for reforms as one tactic within the broad strategy of seperatism :uibuyen, 1114. Rizal precluded the use of force if became necessary, ashis ?une 1, --3 letter to 7lumentritt re eals

8 can assure you that 8 ha e no desire to take part in conspiracieswhich seem to me premature and risky. 7ut if the go ernment dri es us tosay, when there remains to us no other hope than to seek our ruin in war,when Filipinos shall prefer to die rather than to endure their miseries anylonger, then 8 shall ad ocate iolent means 0uerrero, =


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is in my mind that we must work for independence, organizing oursel es,con erting oursel es into apostles in order to gain men and money. For allthis much study is necessary, a great deal of tact, prudence and noboasting of our strengthQ 8 oCer therefore my ser ices, in this sense, butwith the sole condition that 8 shall be allowed to disengage myself fromthe acti e campaign if 8 see it will only be an armed riot. 8t is not that 8dream of success, rather 8 dream of a resistance for which you understandme well enoughO if they triumph o er us let it be at the cost of muchblood. 8 shall go then to Manila and in all my acts always keep in mind myduty as a separatist. ?ose, 13=4I

His colleagues in the inner circle knew that this is their ultimate ob*ecti e.Realizing that the reforms that is the wish list of the Propaganda Mo ement cannot beachie e the such as Philippine as a pro ince of !pain, reform was seen as a tactic > acampaign of enlightenment and later on de eloping the national consciousness of theFilipinos :uibuyen, 1114. +ith the reformist pushing for such reforms while !pain

took less action and attention, people gain more awareness about the tyrannical ruleand began supporting for separation as what the Gatipunan mo ement started. Bshistory is uncertain whether or not Rizal refuses a re olutionary mo ement, the turn of e ents escalated to what resulted to the Philippine Re olution and the 'uest of self(determination.

&8- Social and Economic thought

Regardless of what Rizal prefers, one thing is for sureO his thought as we e&pectis beyond moderate or liberalism in the e&tent that he may show what is more radicalduring that time which is the ideologies in the far(left Mar&ism, !ocialism,

Bnarchism4.!ome would ask if Rizal was e&posed to the writings of Mar&ism or anytrend of !ocialism. Bctually he was e&posed. His mentor and friend, Miguel Moraytawho is a professor of History at Ani ersidad 5entral de MadridO and friend Francisco Piy Margall, an e&treme republican, a libertarian socialist, the president of the short(li ed First !panish Republic in -3 and an ad ocate of autonomyO both borrowedhea ily from ProudhonEs !ocial Philosophy 0uerroro, =


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his go ernmentEs ob*ecti e to pa e the way for the emancipation of the workingclasses through radical reforms. #he social 'uestion is the concern of all,I declares Piy Margall Bsiniero, =


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8nsulares, the 5reoles and the 8ndios. #his point to the concept of nationalism, wherepeople who share a common language, history, and culture should constitute a nationis also related to class. 8t signi es the con)icts between nationality and nationality,speci cally the awakening of national consciousness of the people under a colonialrule. Foreign domination or colonization in our history always depicts e&ploitation andoppression. 6and grabbing > the Regelian doctrine L encomienda system, force labour,religion as a tool for repression, une'ual rights and freedom, repressi e policiesagainst the colony would always make a distinction that this colonial go ernment andthe imperial states are the bourgeoisie in which Mar& would pertain that they could notretain their status and wealth without e&ploiting the lower class. #his lower class thenis the nati es li ing in the colonial territories. +ith or without the knowledge of Mar&,Rizal de nitely pro ided a framework that de nitely uses the Mar&ian analysis forclass struggle. #he economic system > $ncomienda system and its e&ploitationtowards Filipino workersO the social strati cation between Filipino and !paniardsO thereligious orders began retaking Philippine parishesO the colonial rule e entuallyshowed its weaknesses and e entually ga e up as it sparks the re olution. #he in)u&

of the intellectuals such as Rizal contributed to the consciousness of the people > thisconsciousness is not *ust nationalism but also class consciousness since people beganto get tired against the abuses and in*ustices of the !panish 5olonial system. #ogetherwith the awakening of nationalism and the spark of class consciousness of the Filipinopeople, re olution was ine itable due to RizalEs action of pro iding the people thetruth.

8- Conclusion

RizalEs contemporary political thought re ol es around the politics of changewhich was the conse'uence of the three(hundred years of rule under !panish Regime.

His thought can be said as the founder of Filipino "ationalism > which was resulted bythe Propaganda Mo ement and later on the Philippine Re olution. #hrough thisprocess, one of the issues is that Rizal is uncertain between reform and re olutionwhich was re)ected in his no els and his condemnation of a popular uprising against!pain in 1-9. #he common conception of his lack of support for the re olutionaryarmed struggle e en more complicated to his political thought. 8t is belie ed that hewas ne er a re olutionary but a reformist to the end. 7ut after the creation of theno els, his loss of hope and disillusion to the Propaganda Mo ement, the rising turmoilagainst the !paniards, and the turn of e ents > Rizal may ha e change his opinion. etin the end we may Rizal shifted his opinions. His last work, Mi Altimo Bdios re)ects his

strong lo e for the nation, which connotes that the Philippines deser e more a senseof nationalism that truly push for separatism. Bnd also one insight from the !panishBd ocate 0eneral in his #rial cited

Qlimits him Rizal4 to condemning the present rebellious mo ement aspremature and because he considers its success impossible in this timeQFor Rizal it is a 'uestion of opportunity, not of principles or ob*ecti esQ

0uerrero, =


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Bs Father !chumacher would point out, this is a *ustly nai e interpretation of ?ose RizalEs thoughts, but correct in spirit, for Rizal really ne er wa ered from his belief that the Filipinos must be free. #hough, he always maintained that it was the Filipinosmust work for it, and not only through force of arms or feats of strength. !chumachersummed it

7ut, consistent with his iews from the "oli onward, he maintainedto the end that the re olutionary goal was to create a nation of Filipinosconscious of their human and national dignity and ready to sacri cethemsel es to defend itQHe did not li e to see that day. 7ut he hadpointed the way for his countrymen to follow, not *ust with his books, butwith his life and with his death !chumacher, =


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Ble*andro, ?. 1;14. #he Price of Freedom 6a !enda del !acri cio4. Manila !panishorinal published in 1 .

Bsiniero, 0. =7onoan, R. ?. 11=4. !panish Grausism and Rizal. 8n Philippine Studies: Historical andEthnographic Viewpoints . Manila Bteneo de Manila Ani ersity.

5apino, 0onzales, L Pineda. 1134. RizalKs 6ife, +orks and +ritings. :uezon 5ity ?M5Press.

5raig, B. =


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!chumacher, ?. =

rizal’s socio, political and economic thought: thought of change - reform or revolution?

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