The Philippine National Hero

Jose Rizal is the national hero of the Philippines, the country proclaimed to be the only Christian (Catholic) country in Asia.  Though also inhabited by Moslems and other denominations, Roman Catholicism is the country’s primary religion.  What, then, are Rizal’s views regarding his country’s faith?First of all, it must be established that Rizal did not agree with all...

It is of great importance that students understand the rationale behind having to take up a Rizal course in college.  For high school students, the Noli Me Tangere and the El Filibusterismo are injected into the Filipino subject as part of the overall curriculum.  In tertiary education, however, Rizal is a subject required of any course, in any...

Jose Rizal’s legacy to Filipino women is embodied in his famous essay entitled, “To the Young Women of Malolos,” where he addresses all kinds of women – mothers, wives, the unmarried, etc. and expresses everything that he wishes them to keep in mind.  SUMMARY“To the Women of Malolos” was originally written in Tagalog.  Rizal penned this writing when...

La Indolencia de los Filipinos, more popularly known in its English version, "The Indolence of the Filipinos," is a exploratory essay written by Philippine national hero Dr. Jose Rizal, to explain the alleged idleness of his people during the Spanish colonization.SUMMARY            The Indolence of the Filipinos is a study of the causes why the people did not, as...

“The Philippines a Century Hence” is an essay written by Philippine national hero Jose Rizal to forecast the future of the country within a hundred years.  Rizal felt that it was time to remind Spain that the circumstances that ushered in the French Revolution could have a telling effect for her in the Philippines.This essay, published in La...

Normal 0 Summary:Simoun, wounded and exhausted, goes to the house of Padre Florentino to hide from the civil guards who are sent to arrest him and take him into custody.  Simoun drinks a poison, then reveals his true identity to Padre Florentino – that he, Simoun the jeweler, is in fact Juan Crisostomo Ibarra, the fugitive believed to...

Normal 0 Summary:The soldiers escort a group of prisoners.  Suddenly, they are ambushed.  Carolino, one of the civil guards, is the long-lost son of Cabesang Tales.  He fights the bandits bravely and fiercely, finishing off the leader of the thieves with a spear, and killing an old man who is part of the group.  He surveys the dead,...

Normal 0 Summary:Isagani, Sensia, Capitana Loleng, Capitan Toringoy, and Chichoy discuss the events of the previous night.  Chichoy says that Simoun the jeweler is the mastermind behind all that had transpired, and that he was responsible for plotting to kill all the guests at the wedding feast.  Chichoy also adds that the lamp was supposed to start the...

Normal 0 Summary:From Capitan Tiago’s house, Ben Zayb runs to his abode to write about the shocking events that have transpired.  In his writing, he makes the governor-general, Padre Irene, Don Custodio, and Padre Salvi look like heroes.  He also wishes the governor-general a safe journey.  Meanwhile, the governor-general prohibits anyone from talking about the events that have...

Normal 0 Summary:Simoun discreetly yet nonchalantly places the lamp at the center of the house where the guests are gathered.  Basilio watches him from a distance.  As the youth is about to leave the place, he sees Isagani and tries to convince his friend to leave.  Basilio tells him to get as far away from the house as...

Normal 0 In his solitary retreat on the shore of the sea, whose mobile surface was visible through the open, windows, extending outward until it mingled with the horizon, Padre Florentino was relieving the monotony by playing on his harmonium sad and melancholy tunes, to which the sonorous roar of the surf and the sighing of the treetops...

Normal 0 Matanglawin was the terror of Luzon. His band had as lief appear in one province where it was least expected as make a descent upon another that was preparing to resist it. It burned a sugar-mill in Batangas and destroyed the crops, on the following day it murdered the Justice of the Peace of Tiani, and...

Normal 0 Todo se sabeNotwithstanding so many precautions, rumors reached the public, even though quite changed and mutilated. On the following night they were the theme of comment in the house of Orenda, a rich jewel merchant in the industrious district of Santa Cruz, and the numerous friends of the family gave attention to nothing else. They were...