Quotations

from the

Correspondence of Rizal

 

ari.ngaseo@gmail.com wrote

While Rizal extolled the charms of the Filipina, at the time the Revolution erupted, he, his fellow reformists, as well as the Katipuneros had not quite worked out precisely what constituted a Filipino nationality. In fact, Rizal "seriously" courted a full range of Filipinas—indias Leonor Rivera, Leonor Valenzuela, and Segunda Katigbak; the Anglo-Filipina Nelly Boustead; and the Spanish, but insulare (?) Consuelo Ortiga y Rey (whose wonderful diary reads almost like a Henry James novel). What then was a Filipina? Was being Filipina a matter of race, geography, or as Ernest Renan stated in Paris in 1882, the year Rizal arrived in Europe—is being a Filipina a matter of having membership in "a large scale solidarity, constituted by the feeling of the sacrifices that one has made in the past and of those that one is prepared to make in the future"? (1)

While Rizal, in his novels, mocked, even as he presented humane portraits of, indias who married up by marrying white, he nevertheless chose the "white" (well, off-white) Crisostomo Ibarra as his protaganist. And remember, the Eurasian Josephine wasn't any more or less "white" than the Eurasian Maria Clara, whose origins were even more scandalous. The real and the fictional Eurasians may have even looked alike. There were disputes among the "Filipinos" in Madrid and Barcelona concerning who truly counted as "Filipino." But none of these disputes were ever fully resolved. Perhaps all they could agree upon was that a Filipino could not be, at the same time, Chinese, about whom Rizal wrote many unkind words. But then again, many of them (including Rizal) were Chinese mestizos and even jokingly called themselves instik. Perhaps the most poignant statement on the fluid nature of Filipino-ness in that time of Revolution was expressed in the 1902 Constitution of Makario Sakay's Republic of Katagalugan:

"No Tagalog, born in this Tagalog archipelago, shall exalt any person above the rest because of his race or the color of his skin; fair, dark, rich, poor, educated and ignorant—all are completely equal, and should be one in loob. There may be differences in education, wealth or appearance, but never in essential nature and cause"(2)

Could these open-minded Tagalogs have embraced with open arms someone who may not been their "kadugo" but who they believed served in their cause? Could they have welcomed Rizal's "dulce extranjera" as one of their own?

Here's one I read recently. It wasn't written by Rizal but by Isabelo de los Reyes
(whose works Rizal thought was too Ilocano). It was meant to be part of a Rizal Day speech that de los Reyes was scheduled to deliver in Malabon on 1902. Unfortunately, de los Reyes was jailed by the Americans on December 29 of that year for his union activities. De los Reyes did find someone else to deliver the speech in his stead and if we are to believe William Henry Scott, the speech moved the audience of "laborers and sympathizers" to tears:

"Cowardice is our greatest stumbling block. What are you afraid of if you are innocent? Ah, my brothers, Montesquieu said that the reason we are slaves is that we refuse to say “No” to unjustified and illegitimate claims and desires. I repeat, my beloved countrymen, the best wreath we can offer Dr. Rizal is our collective effort to achieve what he himself died for—the liberation, progress, and well-being of our land. My brothers, let us unite. Let us not betray one another. Let us not destroy one another. Let us not feign praise for our superiors in hope of gain. Rather, let us be lovers of peace and righteousness. Let us transform ourselves into a community of people who can offer honor, dignity, and joy to our Motherland. In other words, let us all be true followers of Dr. Rizal. And we may then rest assured that in a not too distant future, the day of freedom and happiness will break forth upon our unfortunate land." (3)

__________

1Ernest Renan, "What is a Nation?" In Homi K. Bhabha, ed. Nation and
Narration (New York: Routledge, 1990), 19.

2Quoted in Reynaldo Clemena Ileto, Pasyon and Revolution: Popular
Movements in the Philippines, 1840-1910 (Quezon City: Ateneo de
Manila University Press, 1989), 177.

3Quoted in William Henry Scott, "A Minority Reaction to American
Imperialism: Isabelo de los Reyes", Cracks in the Parchment Curtain
and Other Essays in Philippine History (Quezon City: New Day
Publishers, 1985), 298-9

valkyrie47no@yahoo.com wrote

What I find interesting, though quite enimatic, in that quotation is "Almost all of us have been educated by the Jesuits who certainly did not inculcate in us love of country, but they taught us the beautiful and the best". Did Rizal mean that the Jesuits did not have to inculcate, as in teach and develop in them love of country because it is an instinct natural to man? Obviously, Rizal was not criticizing the Jesuits for it. When he wrote "they taught us the beautiful and the best", he probably meant that love of country is counted as among the beautiful and the best of human feelings. Most interesting is that Rizal was apparently aware of how unthinking or misdirected "love of country" could only lead to bigotry and racial discrimination, which was horribly demonstrated in the American Civil War and WW II, and even today where man's inhumanity to man in civil wars and terrorism is in a gilt-edged package using terms like "patriotism", "defense of one's culture and religion, and "preserving our way of life."

 

"Our youth should not devote themselves to love or to the static speculative sciences as do the youth of fortunate nations. All of us have to sacrifice something on the altar of politics though we might not wish to do so. That is understood by our friends who publish our newspaper in Madrid. They are creole young men of Spanish descent, Chinese half-breeds, and Malayans; but we call ourselves only Filipinos. Almost all of us have been educated by the Jesuits, who certainly did not inculcate in us love of country, but they taught us the beautiful and the best! For that reason, I am not afraid of the differences in opinion that may possibly exist in our country. They can be combatted and repressed. Rizal's letter to Blumentritt, Berlin 13 April 1887

 

cdvictory21@yahoo.com wrote

On an internet visit to the Ateneo de Manila Publishing website, I found that we no longer have to go to the foreigner to learn about ourselves. There are tons of material. That is truly magnificent news! Ari himself in this group has given us excerpts from facinating Filipino sources.

But how many of our people are interested in what now our own people (not just Germans or other foreigners) have to say about ourselves? Sadly, not too many. And as a result, our concept of ourselves is weak, and our lack of drive "to do great things" reflects this weak conceptualization.

We as a people have a lot of work to do....agree?

CDV

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