The Relevance of Rizal

(Here's something a littler deeper and heavier than my usual posts.)

Jose Rizal's first novel, Noli Me Tangere (1887)

Remembering a previous class discussion on Rizal and nineteenth century Philippines, one movie titled Idiocracy (2006) came to mind. It’s about a man named Joe Bauers, an average American, who was selected by the Pentagon to be the guinea pig for a top-secret hibernation program, which went awry. Due to mishaps, Bauers was forgotten and 500 years later, he awakened to find that society has been incredibly dumbed down, making him the most intelligent person alive (Internet Movie Database, n.d.).  It may seem a bit extreme, but I find the movie somehow related to the evolution (or perhaps, regression is a better word) of Filipinos from Rizal’s time, the nineteenth century, to the present.  Just as the society in the movie was dumbed down, the present-day Filipino society has been reduced to a way of seeing that is superficial or of surface value only and has developed an indifferent attitude towards the muddled state of affairs, unlike Rizal and his contemporaries who were able to not only come up with two novels which (unintentionally) marked the onset of the Revolution, but also the mere fact that they were able to decipher its message for what it is speaks volumes about their intellectual capacity to understand and their emotional propensity to care enough about the social situation to act upon it at the risk of bloodshed. One might say that the “why bother” attitude is because the times have changed and that what we are experiencing now is entirely different from the situation a hundred years back. I believe this is true, but only to a certain extent. We may no longer be under the Spanish colonial regime, but we are still unknowingly under another “colonial empire” that is more benevolent, and therefore infinitely more dangerous. One might say that the relevance of Rizal to contemporary times have died with him. I beg to differ. A closer look at his two novels, Noli Me Tangere and El Filibusterismo reveals a lot of similarities regarding the social situation then and now. Perhaps, the times haven’t changed that much.

            Noli and Fili were written by Rizal as a reaction to the Spanish oppressors and as a critique of the society then. Both novels can be seen as (1) an answer to Spain’s oppression; (2) a portrayal of the socio-political situation in the nineteenth century Philippines, including the power struggle between the elite and the masses, social and gender discrimination, lack of (proper) education, etc.; and (3) a depiction of the negative effects of Catholicism, specifically the prayles’abuse of power. These three issues that have been addressed in Rizal’s novels are still relevant to us today because they never really ended, but are like malignant tumors embedded in our system, continually accumulating and are never really given the kind of attention they deserve. 

          The similarities between the issues then, as seen/tackled in Rizal’s novels, and now is frightening because it goes to show that after hundreds of years, we haven’t been able to come up with a solution to solve these problems, if at all we are looking for ways to deal with them. On the contrary, things are looking much worse. First, in Rizal’s time, the oppressing forces, the Spaniards, are very visible, which is why it was much easier for the people to unite and fight against it. Today, the “enemy” is invisible. We are against forces that are intangible and exhibit a benevolent façade, making it difficult for us to fight against it, much less recognize it. We are talking about ‘colonial mentality’ or the thinking that other nations are superior to us, in every way. Because of this attitude and way of thinking, our culture has almost been completely engulfed in the culture of foreign countries. We are now gradually shedding our own identity in exchange for the identity of other nations, almost as if we are ashamed to be Filipinos. We are like Doña Victorina who tries hard, but fails, to be ‘European.’ A common example of this is the “Korean domination.” Our media is seized by the popularity of K-Pop or Korean Pop artists such as the Wonder Girls and Super Junior. We see K-Pop fans, especially young girls scream their lungs out when they see their Korean idols perform on TV, as if they could understand the words to the songs. Furthermore, Filipinos,   especially the adolescents, are now imitating the hairstyle and style of clothing made popular by these Korean artists. Not only that, even their food has penetrated our culture. Just last week, we saw a booth at the Session in Bloom bazaar named Korean Noodles. Anything with the word ‘Korean’ in it is a total hit among the masses. This just shows how much we value foreign cultures almost more than our own.

            A second similar issue is the socio-political situation of nineteenth century Philippines and today. In Noli, we see the power struggle between the elite and the proletariat, gender discrimination and lack of proper and equal education, among other things. At present, it’s obvious that there is still struggle between the rich and the poor. The working class are still fighting for their rights and are still continually being ignored by the elite (government). On the other hand, the elite are given the upper hand, especially when it comes to issues of judicial or legal matters. An example of this kind of discrimination is that news on TV about the comparison of the crimes committed by a retired general and a construction worker. The former, who stole from the AFP funds, went through a long trial, “invoking [his] right against self-incrimination” and had gotten 6 years instead of life imprisonment. The latter, on the other hand, who stole P2, 800 worth of facial products, never went under trial and was sent directly to jail. Of course, both had their faults but the discrimination and injustice is clear. The rich has the government feeding off the palm of their hands while the poor is stepped upon. At the moment, the idea that there will be equality between the elite and the masses is laughable.  We’re not expecting to see it happen in the foreseeable future, but there’s still hope. Aside from this, gender discrimination and lack of proper education, issues that were exhibited in Rizal’s novels, is still prevalent today. Although women have achieved, to a certain extent, power, male dominance still reasserts itself most of the time. The debate on whether or not the MMDA (Metropolitan Manila Development Authority) should hire female bus drivers is an example of this discrimination. The fact that there has to be a debate over it is reason enough. Women are still seen as the weaker sex and therefore, much less “productive.” Meanwhile, the thousands of out-of-school youths due to poverty show the lack of proper education for all.

            Third, the Philippines being the only “Catholic country” in Asia shows how religion still has a powerful grip on society. Just as the prayles in Rizal’s time took advantage of their power and threw their weight around, even in matters of the government, so are the priests and bishops of modern-day Philippines continually influencing and concerning themselves with issues of the state. An example of this is their vehement opposition against the RH Bill (Reproductive Health Bill), which is a law that supports family planning methods and the dissemination of proper birth control and maternal care. Their reason for their disagreement with the bill is because it is against the “natural” way of abstaining from intercourse and that it only promotes pre-marital sex among adolescents. However, in my opinion, their narrow sightedness prevents them from seeing the greater good that will result from this bill, that is, the prevention of the “population explosion” and complications resulting from unwanted pregnancies and abortions.

            In summation, despite the huge time difference, Noli and Fili are still very relevant in today’s society. The issues of 19^th century Philippines addressed by the two novels have not been properly solved but are still propagating, and what’s worse, they’re being relatively ignored. Present-day Filipino society has become numb to the issues at hand and has developed an apathetic attitude, in terms of dealing with these problems. However, all is not lost. It’s not too late to educate ourselves about the problems our country is facing and be, someday, part of the solutions. We can follow in Rizal’s footsteps and write about our advocacies. Or, we can read and maybe, one of these days, come across another Noli and/or Fili, which may spark another revolution.