BICOL UNIVERSITY POLANGUI CAMPUS

Polangui, Albay
MID-TERM EXAMINATION
(THE LIFE AND WORKS OF RIZAL)

Name: JESSA R. RESAYAGA Course/Year: BSED 3 MATH Date: 12-12-2020

Part I:

A. Was Jose Rizal very much against the very idea of revolution? Why or why not?

Not really. It didn’t seem like he was very much against the idea of revolution.
Considering the historical context he was in that time, we can picture him as an ineffectual
reformist unable to bring himself to accept the revolution envisaged by Bonifacio, not because
he was against it but he just couldn’t stand violence. He deemed for a peaceful revolution called
reform which can be attained through education. He believed that it is possible to coexist with
the Spaniards with the right government and system but realized that modernization cannot be
achieved under the Spanish rule. He wanted to prove that Filipinos are capable too if given the
chance to look to themselves and evolve. Evolution in this sense is revolution.

B. Do you agree that Jose Rizal is being dubbed as an “ambivalent” hero?

No, I don’t. He had a clear goal. He knew what he wanted and that is freedom from
colonization of Spain. As human as he was, it can be ascertained that he have had indecisive
moments just like us. Maybe his doubted ambivalence is due to him favoring the American
colonial system as fulfillment of his aspirations. Yes, it is possible for him to portray aspirations
which seemingly favorable to America but that was because it is obvious that during those times,
theirs was way much better that Spain’s. If there was something contradictory to what Rizal did
to be called ambivalent, perhaps it was his mixed and opposing feelings spiritually, maybe about
his rumored masonry, retraction, and the like, something that is inward. I believe that he was
able to consistently uplift his noble qualities, ideals, values and virtues as a hero since the start.

C. Is the idea of Rizal still significant today? If yes, what ideas and how you will apply it today. If
none, why?

Of course, it is. Rizal’s ideas such as human honor and dignity, freedom and
independence, desire for mutual respect and material well-being encompassing the very values
and virtues of the spirit of Rizalism formed the core of humanity’s aspirations despite the
adjustments to many challenges of that era. Same with today, virtues of honesty, personal
integrity, civic responsibility, social values of peace, justice, family, solidarity, patriotism, and
national identity likewise still apply for us to survive and endure this new millennium. Without
them, yet again we will be filled with dread of the social cancer as malignant as it was before.
 Faith in God (freedom of religion); love of country (patriotism); preservation of Asian
heritage (culture and tourism); adoption of native language (Filipino as official language);
dignity of an individual, inviolability of human rights, rights of women (protecting human
rights); equality of races (racial discrimination); education of the masses (education for all, free
education); republican form of government (exercising democracy), rule of law (justice system);
enlightened citizenship for good government (active participation of the masses in politics);
world unity and brotherhood of nations (United Nations etc.). All these nationalist ideas of Rizal
still apply even today.

D. How the changes in Europe in the 19th century affected the Asian colony? (Philippines as a
colony of Spain)
The growing export economy which brought increasing prosperity to the Filipinos as
part of the world trade with the opening of Suez Canal resulted to profits of Filipino hacienderos
and inquilinos. This was the steppingstone to the spread of education, thus, the rise of ilustrados.
Experiences of Filipino students in Spain caused them to question and criticize the Spanish rule
to their colonies from all over the world. Seeing the apparent liberties enjoyed there, they became
more conscious of the servitude which their people suffered. They saw the backwardness of
Spain in comparison with other European countries, the corruption and futility of the Spanish
political system, its inability to promote even their own welfare, much less that of her colonies.
This paved the way for nationalism to develop, with the hope of reform and modernization,
which they realized could never be achieved under the Spanish rule. Inspired by the western
countries, the Filipinos saw the importance of looking to their own heritage and had become
interested in its own past, history and ethnology, emphasizing the need for national
consciousness.

E. How the idea of “Secularization” in the Catholic Church affected/contributed in the quest for
total independence from Spain?
The ilustrados were increasingly antifriar, at times even anti-clerical or anti-Catholic,
attributing this hostility to the abuses of the friars or to the influence of Spanish anticlericalism.
This attitude is to be sought in the intermingling of the political and the religious characteristic
of the Spanish Patronato Real. The Spanish colonial government leaned more heavily on the
devotion of Filipinos to their Catholic faith, taking advantage of that obstacle by using it as a
means of government, justifying the necessity of religious orders. Though religious orders had
their defects, vices, and difficulties, they preserved it because of their influence on the natives.
Verging on fanaticism, they made the Indios believe that only in loving the Spaniards can he
save his soul in the next life.
This explains why the friars inevitably became the main target of the Filipino
nationalists, same with the friar haciendas. To show that the Filipino was the equal of the
Spaniard, even the friars, eventually meant to nullify their influence which meant to control the
indios. Secularization was the opportunity for Filipinos to run their own affairs and eventually
throw the yoke of Spain completely. Burgos passed to Rizal such a heritage, transformed the
century-old dispute between the Spanish friars and Filipino secular clergy from an intramural
ecclesiastical controversy into a clear assertion of Filipino equality with the Spaniard, into a
demand for justice to the Filipino.

Part II:

A. Write an open letter to Rizal asking him to continue playing his past historic role of inspiring
people and an advice to face well the challenges of our own period (Present) to attain collective
and individual upliftment and empowerment.
Dear Dr. Jose Rizal,

You were and still are the embodiment of the noblest aspirations every Filipino who loves his country
and his people could ever become. By your social and civic virtues, you shouldered political burdens
solely in the cause of duty. You, a revolutionary without hatred, a leader without worldly ambition, have
inspired your fellowmen and the world, playing your historic role in building the foundation of today.
Without you, our motherland could not have faced the challenges of the new millennia, much more attain
both individual and collective upliftment and empowerment. The generations after you survived thanks
to the values and virtues you exemplified.
But now we have a new reality, which is evident in the fast-paced evolution of technology as well
as scientific advances far superior to the knowledge of the previous millennium. Hence, we call you once
again in this generation, where we desperately need your truly exceptional ideas, work, and decisions
more than ever.
You envisioned a self-reliant, self-respecting government, and a people’s government, made for the
people, by the people and answerable to the people. It is such a shame that the current one our country
have is not like what you sought. The idea of oneness by the Filipino people who supposed to possess
common traditions, shared history, set of goals, and belief in the future, just where on earth can it be
found today? For sure you would criticize today’s society – unstable economic and political situation,
graft and corruption, strife in the separation of the church and state, the war on drugs, extrajudicial
killings, maladministration in the justice system and more. It is as if your moral, political, spiritual, and
economic legacies are now long forgotten.
Does the Philippines need another revolution, reform perhaps? Is there a need for another Liga or
Katipunan, just to remind the Filipinos of the patriotic ideals and nationalistic courage the people at your
time fought with for freedom and for the sake of greater good?
Once again, we beg you to rekindle the flame. Help us be free from the shackles not against colonial
rule this time but from the slavery of losing our national identity. Help us trace our roots and rediscover
national consciousness. Help us become one people with a common destiny of our own. You have been
coined as the prime mover of Asian nationalism, we call to you, awake your people from slumber. Show
us what you believed in – nationalism, that it is freedom itself. You fought for the Filipino people through
peaceful means which led you to your execution. Some might think how foolish you were. But that just
proves how courageous you are in facing the enemies, accepting fate without regret, and we admire you
for that.
Now we plea, rouse the Filipinos from the sleep, from indolence, where they remained passive and
apathetic. Give us the strength and the courage to accept the inevitable – change, which can still be
directed towards the right path. It is not too late, is it? It is still possible to make the right choice, please
guide us. You already forethought this plight that we have today and even more dilemma yet to come to
future generations. You warned the young people of yesterday, and they are the old ones of today, but
still they are waiting for the youth of tomorrow to take the action.
We implore you to influence a new generation of revolutionaries which will follow your footsteps
and will consistently work for the betterment of the nation, with self-surrender and sacrifice. Inspire us
with your heroism for us to respond with the challenges of a developing country. Again, join us in
remaking the Filipino nation.

Your compatriot,

Jessa Resayaga y Repolles