CHAPTER 9

JOSE RIZAL’S ESSAY

THE PHILIPPINES A CENTURY HENCE
And
LETTER TO THE WOMAN OF MALOLOS
By: Jefferson R. Mendez

The Philippines a Century Hence

https://www.thoughtco.com/jose-
rizal-hero-of-the-philippines-195677

http://www.gutenberg.org/file
s/14839/14839-h/14839-
h.htm

“In order to read the destiny of a people, it is necessary to open the book of its past.”
-Jose Rizal, (Filipinas Dentro De cien Anos)

One of the greatest things that Dr. Jose Rizal ever wrote was his essay, ‘The Philippines a Century
Hence’. He made a lasting impression on the Philippines, on how our country was at the time he
wrote it, and how he sees it will become in the future. Well, the future is now, and some of his
predictions actually came true.

The Philippines a Century Hence formed a series of articles which Rizal started on September 30,
1889 up to January 1890, and in which he revealed an historical erudition and a profound realization
of what would happen if the status quo were not changed. To scholars the conclusion of this article
are highly prophetic. Rizal demonstrated in full the vicious process used by the colonizers in
subjugating the people by corrupting them and manipulating their virtues. It supplements Rizal's great
novel "Noli Me Tangere" and its sequel "El Filibusterismo". Furthermore, he indicated the direction
that events will take in favor of the Filipinos if they would achieve national consciousness and national
unity. Rizal felt that it was time to remind Spain that the circumstances that ushered in the French

1
 Revolution could have a telling effect for her in the Philippines. The same with his two novels, Rizal
shares us discernments into our culture and why we must focus on strengthening the most important
backbone of the country – our values, mindsets, and all the beliefs that had shaped our sense of
national identity.

The general mood of this essay by Dr. Jose Rizal is the picture of how it was during those years of
colonization. There was rampant poverty which he attributed to the implementation of military
policies which resulted in yearly decrease in the population as farmlands were left to wither and the
people continued to suffer from hunger and disease. Another feature was the deterioration and
disappearance of our indigenous culture. The people started forgetting who they are under the sun,
what their cherished beliefs, songs, poetry, religion, and other forms of their cultural heritage were.
Impoverished and retarded, they lost their sense of self-worth. Their spirits were broken and they
began to lose hope and became disgusted with themselves. In this work as well as his novels, Rizal
attributes the passivity and submissiveness of our people to the manner of governance by the
colonizers. These, he noted, developed a “culture of silence” and lethargy. Eventually, the people
realized that such oppression by foreign colonizers must no longer be tolerated.

http://themanilareview.com/issues/view/the-nationalist-sell-
out

http://www.bne.es/es/Micrositios/Exposiciones/Rizal/E
xposicion/Seccion5/Obra10.html?origen=galeria

This essay, published in La Solidaridad starts by analyzing the various causes of the agonies suffered
by the Filipino people:

1. Spain’s implementation of her military policies – because of such laws, the Philippine
population decreased dramatically. Poverty became more rampant than ever, and farmlands

2
 were left to wither. The family as a unit of society was neglected, and overall, every aspect of
the life of the Filipino was retarded.
2. Worsening and desertion of Filipino indigenous culture – when Spain came with the sword
and the cross, it began the gradual annihilation of the indigenous Philippine culture. Because
of this, the Filipinos started losing confidence in their past and their heritage, became doubtful
of their present lifestyle, and eventually lost hope in the future and the preservation of their
identity.
3. Inactiveness and obedience to the colonizers – one of the most powerful forces that influenced
a culture of silence among the natives were the Spanish friars. Because of the use of force,
the Filipinos learned to submit themselves to the will of the foreigners.

Another important content of this essay of Rizal is his definition of the concept “historical necessity”
in relation to Spain’s colonization to the Philippines. Necessity, according to Rizal, is the most powerful
divinity the world knows, and necessity is the result of physical laws set in motion by moral forces. As
discussed by Ramon “Bomen” Guillermo in his article entitled Moral Forces, Philosophy of History,
and War in Jose Rizal, “Necessity” (necesidad) in history is therefore the result of “physical laws”
(leyes fisicas) set in motion by “moral forces” (fuerzas morales). “Material forces” are explicitly
opposed to “moral forces” as the two major factors within the historical process. However, since what
he called the “moral forces” are said to be transcendental and much more powerful, these actually
determine the outcome, over and above any “material forces,” of the historical process. He then goes
to assert, “It is not good to rely on contingency, there is an imperceptible and incomprehensible logic
sometimes in the workings of History”. Historical necessity therefore follows a certain logic, although
this may be “imperceptible” and “incomprehensible.” This is because non-empirical, invisible, and
transcendental moral forces are posited to determine the mechanism of historical necessity.

The essay asserts that if Spain does not grant the reforms demanded by those who work through legal
and peaceful means, it will have to face the prospect of armed rebellion. Rizal was certain, despite the
superior material forces arrayed on the side of the Spaniards, that the “natives” would eventually
triumph. He wrote, “the terrible lessons and hard teachings which these struggles will give to the
Filipinos will serve to improve their moral condition and strengthen them” Through struggle, the
Filipinos who have reached the depths of “moral abasement” will raise or “improve” their “moral
condition.” And Rizal surmised that these “new men” (hombres nuevos) will “perhaps dedicate
themselves to go upon the wide road of progress”.

Rizal's reference to America as a possible factor in the Philippines' future is based upon the prediction
of the German traveler Feodor Jagor, who about 1860 spent a number of months in the Islands and
later published his observations, supplemented by ten years of further study in European libraries and
museums, as "Travels in the Philippines". Rizal read a better Spanish version while a student in the
Ateneo Municipal de Manila, from a copy supplied by Paciano Rizal Mercado who directed his
younger brother's political education and transferred to José the hopes which had been devastated for
himself by the execution of his beloved teacher, Father Burgos, in the Cavite mutiny.

3
Conclusion

The essay “The Philippines a Century Hence” was published in the periodical La Solidaridad in four
installments from 30 September 1889 to 31 January 1890. In it Rizal proposes the most basic question,
“Will the Philippines continue to be a colony of Spain?” Pondering on this difficult problem, he
concludes that predicting events in history is much more difficult than in nature, “If there is no eternal
state in nature, how much less can there be in the life of people, given its mobility and motion.”
Considering it necessary to “open the book of the past” in order to see into the future, Rizal recounted
the great difficulties encountered by the Spaniards during the first centuries of their colonization of
the Philippine islands. Compared to these, he writes, the contemporary situation promises a rosy future
for the Spaniards.

There is, however, some questioning on whether we are truly independent. The continuing control of
our economy by an elite oligarchy is an example of such dependency. They have expressed cynicism
about the wide social and income disparities between a small favored economic and political elite and
the rest of the population. And the failure of the family, our educational system and political leaders
to instill national discipline and love of country. A number of analysts have pointed out some flaws in
our national character that can get into the way of achieving desired visions such as competitiveness.
These include mindsets like lack of appreciation of importance of adhering to the rule of law and
maintaining high standards of excellence. Prevailing attitudes like “puwede na” or “bahala na” only
foster mediocrity in a global setting where attributes of precision and critical thinking are needed.

The creeping autocracy and our inability to exercise full control over our national sovereignty require
public awareness, courage, and a strong sense of national identity. But being a people divided and
fragmented, a great challenge to governance is being able to help citizens connect with their
communities. There are opportunities lost such as using available communication technologies –
Internet and mobile technology to connect groups, to inform and educate, to enable all of us citizens
to discover the common ties we share. The delays we have faced in our peace talks are indicators of
our lack of resoluteness in taking risks and meeting challenges of establishing a more peaceful and
stable social order. The growing social and income gaps are symptoms of our inability to forge a
common bond with our brothers and sisters in marginalized communities. How some of us can
possibly endure living in a most unequal community befuddles neighbors who live in more egalitarian
societies. We have failed to utilize available communication technologies in creating innovations that
would improve dialogue and close gaps between our fellow citizens and the world outside. Instead,
they have been used to create chaos and spread fake news. If these statements appear to be indictments
of the status quo, it is because we wish help establish a fairer, kinder society by reminding fellow
citizens that our hope for survival depends on each of us taking responsibility.

It can be argued that the whole structure of discussion in this essay would be inarticulate if removed
from these considerations, which place “moral forces” at the center of his historical understanding.
Indeed, one cannot avoid noticing the language of philosophical “vitalism” and of “regeneration” in
Rizal’s The Philippines a century hence. However, one should be cautious about a number of things.
Firstly, that perceiving the structure of such a “philosophy of history” in this particular essay, no
matter how important it may be, does not mean that Rizal had no other “philosophies” or
“understandings” of the historical process, whether taken in a synchronic sense of simultaneously
being subscribed to at a single point in time, or diachronically in the sense of conceptions evolving
and changing through time even to the point of indicating breaks or turning points in his intellectual

4
development. Secondly, it is evident that the argument in “The Philippines a Century Hence” should
not be taken in isolation from its companion essay, “The Indolence of the Filipinos” (Sobre la
indolencia de los Filipinos, 1890), and from the annotated Morga edition (Rizal, 1890). It so happens
that the concept of “moral forces” also occurs in a crucial passage in the study on indolence (Rizal,
1890). Finally, the current interpretation necessarily cannot exhaust the rich intellectual and literary
texture of the essay in itself. Rizal’s discussions of “historical laws,” “racial traits,” and his frequent
use of biologistic metaphors, among others, demand a closer and much finer level of analysis than can
be undertaken here.

References

Anderson, Benedict. 2005. Under three flags: Anarchism and the anti-colonial imagination. London: Verso.

Blanco, John D. 2011. Race as praxis in the Philippines at the turn of the twentieth century. Southeast
Asian Studies 48(3): 356–94.

Bloch, Marc. 1969. A contribution towards a comparative history of European societies. In Land and
work in medieval Europe: Selected papers by Marc Bloch, 44–81. Berkeley: University of California Press.

De Ocampo, Esteban. 1960. Rizal as a bibliophile. Manila: UNESCO National Commission of the
Philippines.

Guillermo, Ramon. 2002. Enabling truths on the verge of pedagogy. Philippine Studies 50:279–89.

Pascual, Ricardo. 1961/1991. Rizal’s philosophy of history. In Himalay: Kalipunan ng mga pag-aaral kay
José Rizal, ed. Patricia Melendrez-Cruz and Apolonio Bayani Chua, 300–319. Reprint, Manila: Sentrong
Pangkultura ng Pilipinas.

Quibuyen, Floro C. 1999. Rizal, American hegemony, and Philippine nationalism: A nation aborted. Quezon
City: Ateneo de Manila University Press.

Rizal, José. 1889–1890/1961a. Filipinas dentro de Cien Años. In Escritos politicos e historicos por José Rizal,
136–65. Tomo VII. Manila: Comision Nacional del Centenario de José Rizal.

Salazar, Zeus A. 1983. A legacy of the propaganda: The tripartite view of Philippine history. In The
ethnic dimension: Papers on Philippine culture, history and psychology, ed. Zeus A. Salazar, 107– 26. Cologne:
Counselling Center for Filipinos, Caritas Association for the City of Cologne.

San Juan, Epifanio Jr. 1971. The radical tradition in Philippine literature. Quezon City: Manlapaz Publishing
Co.

———. 1997. History and revolution: Power, knowledge, agency in Rizal’s discourse. In Rizal in our
time: Essays in interpretation, Epifanio San Juan, 59–87. Pasig: Anvil.

———. 2011. Understanding Rizal without veneration: Quarantined prophet and carnival impresario.
Online, http://bulatlat.com/news/5-19/5-19-SANJUANrizal.htm, accessed 15 July. 2018.

5
6
Letter to the Woman of Malolos

https://www.fma.ph/2017/11/29/today-herstory-women-malolos/

Jose Rizal’s legacy to Filipino women is embodied in his famous essay entitled, “Letter to the Young
Women of Malolos1,” where he addresses all kinds of women – mothers, wives, the unmarried, etc.
and expresses everything that he wishes them to keep in mind. He also mentioned so many wonderful
things about the real beauty and identity of a real Filipina. In this section, a critical discussion of the
content as well as the words of Jose Rizal will be presented for us to critically analyzed the general
content of this important document.

In brief, the story begins with the arrival of Teodoro Sandiko (aka Teodoro Sandico, 1860-1939, who
served in the Aguinaldo government and was elected governor of Bulacan and served as senator from
1919 to 1939) in Malolos in 1888. He was a law school dropout and attempted to open a grammar
school in the town but was disenchanted by the friar curate of Malolos, Felipe Garcia. On Dec. 12,
1888, Governor-General Valeriano Weyler made a day trip to Malolos and was surprised to be
presented with a sealed letter, drafted by Sandico and signed by 20 young and prominent women of
the town (not 21, as stated in other sources). The women were seeking permission to open and operate
a night school where they could learn Spanish, in defiance of the friar curate who insisted that a woman
did not need much of an education because her rightful place was in the home. Two days after
Graciano Lopez Jaena commented on the incident in La Solidaridad on Feb. 15, 1889, Marcelo H. del

1 The 20 women of Malolos are the following: Elisea Tantoco Reyes (1873-1969), Juana Tantoco
Reyes (1874-1900), Leoncia Santos Reyes (1864-1948), Olympia San Agustin Reyes (1876-1910),
Rufina T. Reyes (1869-1909), Eugenia Mendoza Tanchangco (1871-1969), Aurea Mendoza
Tanchangco (1872-1958), Basilia Villariño Tantoco (1865-1925), Teresa Tiongson Tantoco (1867-
1942), Maria Tiongson Tantoco (1869-1912), Anastacia Maclang Tiongson (1874-1940), Basilia Reyes
Tiongson (ca 1860-ca 1900), Paz Reyes Tiongson (ca 1862-ca 1889), Aleja Reyes Tiongson (ca 1864-
ca 1900), Mercedes Reyes Tiongson (1870-1928), Agapita Reyes Tiongson (1872-1937), Filomena
Oliveros Tiongson (ca 1867-1934), Cecilia Oliveros Tiongson (ca 1867-1934), Feliciana Oliveros
Tiongson (1869-1938) and Alberta Santos Uitangcoy (1865-1953).

7
Pilar requested Rizal to write an encouraging letter to the young women of Malolos, resulting in the
famous “Sa mga kababayang dalaga sa Malolos.” This letter is significant because it is one of the few
that Rizal wrote in Tagalog instead of his usual Spanish, leading the late historian Teodoro A.
Agoncillo to doubt its authorship. Agoncillo was of the opinion that the letter was written by Del
Pilar, not Rizal. Fortunately, the evidence points to Rizal as author, with Del Pilar merely editing the
letter for publication in La Solidaridad.

The school was allowed to operate in February 1889 on the following conditions: It was to be financed
by the women, classes would be held in the mornings, and the teacher would be Guadalupe Reyes,
not Sandico. Unfortunately, the school closed after three months, but a point about Filipino women’s
rights and education had been made.

BRIEF SUMMARY

“To the Women of Malolos” was originally written in Tagalog. Rizal penned this writing when he was
in London, in response to the request of Marcelo H. del Pilar. Some of the noticeable points contained
in this letter are as follows:

1. The rejection of the spiritual authority of the friars – not all of the priests in the country that
time embodied the true spirit of Christ and His Church. Most of them were corrupted by
worldly desires and used worldly methods to effect change and force discipline among the
people.
2. The defense of private judgment
3. Qualities Filipino mothers need to possess – as evidenced by this portion of his letter, Rizal is
greatly concerned of the welfare of the Filipino children and the homes they grow up in.
4. Duties and responsibilities of Filipino mothers to their children
5. Duties and responsibilities of a wife to her husband – Filipino women are known to be
submissive, tender, and loving. Rizal states in this portion of his letter how Filipino women
ought to be as wives, in order to preserve the identity of the race.
6. Counsel to young women on their choice of a lifetime partner

Rizal’s views on the role of women as wives and mothers are intertwined with his views on women’s
duty to country and people. His thesis is reflected in this sentence: Huag mag antay ang bayan ng puri at
ginhawa, samantalang lugami at mangmang ang babaying magpapalaki ng anak [The people cannot expect
honor or prosperity so long as the woman who guides the child in his first steps is slavish and
ignorant]. For Rizal, the character of motherhood defines the character of the motherland. This is the
moral Rizal sees when recounting the story of the mothers of Sparta. Rizal’s valuation of women, as
expressed in this letter, is contingent on their relations with others and this relationship’s consequent
contribution to the welfare of country and people. While this view supports the first part of the
capability for connection, it might fail in the second part particularly as regards treatment with dignity
whose worth is equal to others. The failure is due to the contingent nature of a woman’s value.

Rizal recognizes women’s influence on others, particularly as she performs the role of mother,
declaring kayo ang nagbubukas ng loob ng tao [you are the first to influence the consciousness of man].
The strength of a mother’s influence is such that Rizal recognizes her method of upbringing as the

8
reason behind the fawning nature of the Filipino character: Gawa ng mga ina ang kalugamian ngayon ng
ating mga kababayan [It is the mothers who are responsible for the present servitude of our compatriots].

Rizal’s references to motherhood in his letter indicate that he viewed it as involving a process of
cultural transmission. Here, we can see that as mothers, woman were seen to be bearers not only of
culture in the anthropological sense (meaning a set of values and beliefs) but also as cultural
transmitters to children and adults as well.”

http://brooksidebaby.blogspot.com/2015/06/pro https://morrighansmuse.com/2014/04/24/u-is-
paganda-for-ynangbayan.html for-urbana-and-felisa-or-how-filipinos-were-
exhorted-to-behave-in-the-19th-century/

She refers to a widely read book in the 19th century entitled Ang Pagsusulatan Nang Dalauang Binibini
na si Urbana at Feliza (The Correspondence of Two Young Women Named Urbana and Feliza;
henceforth, Urbana at Feliza) written by the secular priest Modesto de Castro as representative of how
Filipino society during that period also regarded women as “moral guardians” with the corresponding
role of moral educators. In his letter, however, Rizal believed the values transmitted by mothers were
those that weakened character and he sought to change this. Rizal’s letter debated the qualitative
content of moral guardianship provided by the women of that time, who were, heavily influenced by
the teaching of the friars; instead he encouraged women to use reason for themselves and to raise their
children to make use of reason.

Women were not only responsible for the children as moral guardians. Women also needed to exercise
this role with their lovers and husbands by requiring them to be honorable men, a point Rizal made
as if he wanted to remind the women that they had power and must learn to wield it. He also offers
the view that women as cultural transmitters can be agents of change. Women are agents of change,
because it is through them as mothers that modern values can be introduced. The question of modern
values came into focus even during the time owing to the discussion in Urbana at Feliza regarding
appropriate behavior considering the changes brought on by urbanization. The book stressed the value
of “pakikipag kapwa tao”—generally, relating with others as equals—as a matter of duty for the ilustrados
who typically occupied a privileged position in their hometowns. The examples of fellowship,
however, tended to revolve around charitable acts instead of viewing others as equals in the sense of
the capability for affiliation. Nick Tiongson, the author of the Woman of Malolos, however, has a

9
different reading, especially accounting for how the Maloleñas might have interpreted the lessons from
Urbana at Feliza. The practice of “Pakikipag kapwa tao” by the Maloleñas was based on a type of
humanism that meant putting an emphasis on tao (human or person).The demand for education was
motivated by the Maloleñas’ desire to learn the Spanish language used to express progressive ideas
that influenced their male relatives and compatriots.

while Urbana emphasized smooth relations between people of different stations in the social hierarchy
to maintain the colonial status quo, the Women of Malolos underscored the importance of the
individual and his/her rights, which should be protected even if it means upsetting the dominant order
of things.

RIZAL’S MESSAGE TO FILIPINO WOMEN

1. Women of Reason, Women with Responsibility

Rizal, in his letter to the women of Malolos, valued education for women so that they and their
children could engage in reasoning. He might not have been the ultimate feminist, for he tended to
emphasize not their inherent rights and value but their instrumental contribution to national
development. He nonetheless accorded women respect and urged them to see themselves as thinking
beings, for this would reflect upon Filipino pride and honor. In his insistence on reason, Rizal saw the
pursuit of the meaning of life as being far from blind acceptance of dogmatic interpretations that
define religiosity. Without negating faith, he preferred reflection and discernment to uphold that which
is reasonable and just. Rizal employed a form of the social version of the moral constraint on religion
when he asked rhetorically what kind of god would insist on payment for religious rituals and on
subservience and obedience.

He was greatly impressed by the fighting spirit that the young women of Malolos had paraded. In his
letter, he expresses great joy and satisfaction over the battle they had fought. In this portion of Rizal’s
letter, it is obvious that his ultimate desire was for women to be offered the same opportunities as
those received by men in terms of education. During those days’ young girls were not sent to school
because of the universal notion that they would soon only be taken as wives and stay at home with
the children. Rizal, however, emphasizes on freedom of thought and the right to education, which
must be granted to both boys and girls alike.

2. The Responsibilities of Filipino Mothers to their Children

Rizal specifies important points in this portion of his letter to the young women of Malolos. The
central idea here, however, is that whatever a mother shows to her children is what the children will
become also. If the mother is always kissing the hand of the friars in submission, then her children
will grow up to be sycophants and mindless fools who do nothing but do as they are told, even if the
very nature of the task would violate their rights as individuals.

10
 A. Qualities Mothers have to possess

Rizal enumerates the qualities Filipino mothers have to possess in order to be a good mother and wife
as well:
1. Be a noble wife.
2. Rear her children in the service of the state – here Rizal gives reference to the women of Sparta
who embody this quality
3. Set standards of behavior for men around her.

RIZAL’S ADVICE TO UNMARRIED MEN AND WOMEN

Jose Rizal points out to unmarried women that they should not be easily taken by appearances and
looks, because these can be very deceiving. Instead, they should take heed of men’s firmness of
character and lofty ideas. Rizal further adds that there are three things that a young woman must look
for a man she intends to be her husband:
1. A noble and honored name
2. A manly heart full of love
3. A high temperament vulnerable of being contented with engendering slaves.

Reading the Past from the Viewpoint of the Present

When Jose Rizal lauded the success of the letter of appeal for educational opportunities sent by the
young women of Malolos to the Spanish governor-general Valeriano Weyler in 1888, he was
celebrating the Maloleñas’ agency and their process of empowerment. In his original letter, “Sa mga
kababayang dalaga sa Malolos” (“To my country women, the young women of Malolos”) written in
1889, Rizal began by saying that he had not conceived of bravery as a characteristic possessed by
women of the Philippines until he heard of this news. Rizal saw these women as katulong [allies] in the
demand for the betterment of the Filipino nation, thus inspiring hope and fostering confidence in
victory over suffering.

Immediately notable in Rizal’s letter is its connection with a political project—namely, a deliverance
from suffering (originally, mahango sa pagkalugami), especially for women, and the betterment of the
people (originally, ikagagaling ng bayan). A second point to be noted is Rizal’s argument that deliverance
requires reflection and reasoning, which he asks of his readers in his first paragraph to his final words
in the letter. Rizal’s letter had political value. At the time Rizal wrote the letter he was already a
recognized figure of the Propaganda Movement. His Noli me tangere was already widely read and he
was in the middle of writing El libusterismo when Rizal sent the letter off to Malolos. It was Marcelo H.
del Pilar, editor of La Solidaridad to which Rizal contributed regularly, who requested Rizal to write the
letter. Tiongson (2004) tells of how the letter’s recipients were eventually able to read and discuss his
handwritten letter and moreover reproduce it for others to read in the school for which the women
had petitioned. Rizal’s letter arrived about a month after the women’s appeal to open a school was
granted, subject to several conditions and only after much lobbying involving travel between Malolos
and Manila.

Rizal’s letter identified complicity as being equally responsible for the maintenance of unjust orders
(originally, di masasabi ng puno o pari na sila lamang ang mananagot ng maling utos), implying weakness in the
agency for social change. In Rizal’s letter, there is an appeal to overcome this weakness through the
exercise of one’s own mind and will. In a recent study, Dr. Ma. Luisa Camagay of UP, included in her
discussion the shift in focus of the women’s movement from women’s well-being to women’s agency,

11
in a bid for social transformation that has the potential to improve the well- being of both women and
men which is a bit similar to the knowledge being forwarded by Rizal in His Letter.

A key message that runs through Rizal’s letter is the use of reason, especially in relating with of cultural
and religious authorities. His thesis is that the friars and their version of religiosity have fooled people,
turned them into ignoramuses, and kept them in blind subservience. Rizal’s letter laments how women
are taught servitude and deference to the friars and ritual practice as the full expression of kabanalan
(religiousness). He further debates the meaning and practice of religiosity without denouncing the
value of religion itself or denying the existence of God. Rather, Rizal uses the morals found in the
scriptures to encourage the use of reason and finds an ally in the “God of truth,” particularly for
enlightening the feeble mind. When religion can place barriers to the enjoyment of other liberties.
Indeed, this dilemma was present in the 19th century when religious authorities obstructed the
development of the capabilities for practical reason. Tiongson (2004) discusses how proposed
improvements in education, especially the teaching of Spanish, under the Decree of 1863 were not
supported by the frailocracy—referring to the Spanish friar-government— for fear that this would
destabilize their position as interlocutors between the Spanish government and the indio and mestizo.
The frailocracy also feared that the improvements to education bringing in the physical and natural
sciences could undermine the Catholic religion. The demand of the women of Malolos for a night
school was met with hostility by Fray Felipe Garcia and the other parish priests of Malolos.

Applying these arguments to Rizal’s letter, it would appear that Rizal indeed respects the belief in God
and recognizes the good within it. In preserving the capability for practical reason, Rizal calls upon
scripture to remind readers of a person’s capability for reason: Di hiling ng Dios, puno ng karunungan, na
ang taong larawan niya’y paulol at pabulag; ang hias ng isip, na ipinalamuti sa atin, paningningin at gamitin [God,
the primal source of all wisdom, does not demand that man, created in his image and likeness, allow
himself to be deceived and hoodwinked, but wants us to use and let shine the light of reason].In this
way, Rizal subjects religious authority to a moral constraint, at least the constraint to ensure the use of
reason even in the practice of religion. Further, Rizal in his letter threatened to turn away from God
if ritual practice, particularly of the economic kind, continued without change, unable to accept what
he saw to be an inconsistency in the pursuit of the good: Kung ito ang Dios na sinasamba ng frayle, ay
tumatalikod ako sa ganiyang Dios [If that is the God whom the friar adores (worships), then I turn my
back upon that God]. Rizal’s letter sees a causal relationship between women’s ignorance and the
suffering of Asia, and further said that European and American power can be attributed to their
women’s intellectual development and strong will. (Originally: Ito ang dahilan ng pagkalugami ng Asya; ang
babayi sa Asia’y mangmang at alipin. Makapangyarihan ang Europa at America, dahil at doo’y ang babayi maaya’t
marunong, dilat ang isip at malakas ang loob.).

CONCLUSION

There is a world of difference between the Filipinas of the 19th century and the Filipinas of the 21st
century. The most striking contrast is that they now have access to education and that more women
are highly educated. A major change on this aspect was already reflected during the American colonial
period, which, in turn, was translated into greater political participation. There remain gaps despite
this progress, however, and a fresh reading of Rizal’s letter reminds us that many issues involving
women’s freedom persist. Current public debates involving the Catholic Church as a political force
affecting women’s lives (particularly the dispute over a reproductive health law and marriage) are useful

12
tests of the extent to which Rizal’s arguments for the use of reason still resonate as a guide to women
as they relate to modern-day church authorities.

ANALYSIS

“To the Women of Malolos” centers around five significant points (Zaide & Zaide, 1999):

1. Filipino mothers should teach their children love of God, country and fellowmen.
2. Filipino mothers should be glad and honored, like Spartan mothers, to offer their sons in
defense of their country.
3. Filipino women should know how to protect their dignity and honor.
4. Filipino women should educate themselves aside from retaining their good racial values.
5. Faith is not merely reciting prayers and wearing religious pictures. It is living the real Christian
way with good morals and manners.

The abovementioned points given by G. Zaide and daughter Z. Zaide explains the key roles of
motherhood to nationhood as mentioned by Rizal. These five significant points are evidences of
woman purposes and gender roles during the colonial time.
In recent times, it seems that these qualities are gradually lost in the way Filipino women conduct
themselves. There are oftentimes moments where mothers forget their roles in rearing their children
because of the superseding idea of having to earn for the family to supplement their husband’s
income. Although there is nothing negative about working hard for the welfare of the family, there
must always be balance in the way people go through life. Failure in the home cannot be compensated
for by any amount of wealth or fame.

This desire for education by the Maloleñas was intertwined with the desire for national liberation in
much the same way that Rizal in his letter valued women for their role in the pursuit of honor for
country and people. It ultimately became apparent to the Woman of Malolos, however, that education
would not be possible without the liberation of the country from the friar curate and its colonizers, so
that they found themselves actively supporting the revolutionaries of the Katipunan.

The humanism among the 20 woman of Malolos can be understood as an attempt by the women to
be seen as partners in the struggle for independence, but it falls short of a desire for dignity based on
equal worth. Rizal’s letter, for example, referred to women as katulong in the national struggle and in
the struggle for enlightenment. Katulong, which connotes “auxiliary,” is not a signifier of equality; it
is clearly a position of lower status. When Rizal sees a linkage between motherhood and motherland,
he is extending the woman’s familial role to a national role. Women’s secondary role in the family and
household is reflected in their secondary role in reform and revolution. This role is reinforced when
it is noted that the Filipino women’s entry into the political arena depended upon their kinship ties.
Women’s membership in the Katipunan was contingent on their male relative’s membership. The
structure of power was also divided, where men held of vital power and their female family members
held unofficial power. The women of Malolos to whom Rizal’s letter was addressed were relatives of
several well-known Reformists suspected of working with Marcelo H. del Pilar, so they were certainly
exposed to political discussions among their relatives, which began to intensify the year before their
appeal was made. Respect for women and a desire to restore women’s dignity and honor are present
in Rizal’s letter. How is this fact reconciled with women’s contingent value? Exhortations for respect
and honor are found in the paragraph where Rizal writes of the gossip from Spanish travelers and
visitors to the Philippines regarding the Filipina’s behavior. Rizal was writing this letter in London,

13
where he was engaged in annotating Antonio de Morga’s Sucesos de las Islas Filipinas. Rizal’s objective
in annotating this work was to demonstrate the existence of a vibrant culture and economy among the
Filipinos before the arrival of the Spaniards. These would help lay an objective basis for pride in people
and nation. The denigration of the Filipina’s reputation was interpreted by Rizal as another way in
which the nation was undermined. A central issue therefore in supporting women’s capability for
affiliation is reconciling the commensurate duties and responsibilities involved in the maintenance of
relationships—both familial and patriotic—that she may have reason to value with her self-respect so
that she too may enjoy a fully human life. This is to say that the performance of duties for care, such
as moral guardianship, expected of a woman within the context of her family, need not become a
constraint to the development of other capabilities. Corollary to these familial and patriotic duties and
responsibilities are the loyalties attached to the various categories of social identities that a person
might have simultaneously: as nationalist, mestizo-sangley, ilustrado, woman, Catholic, and any other. A
person finds multiple occasions requiring the use of reason for the weighing of choices over how one
might wish to express one’s need for belongingness.

Rizal’s letter is silent on citizenship and rights for both women and men. Even though Rizal
acknowledged the intellectual activity of European women, Rizal in his letter does not refer to the
debates during the Enlightenment on the relative capacities of women and men, which we can describe
as part of the explosion of printed works during that period. Neither did Rizal refer to women’s claims
to their own rights at a period when Europe was witnessing the codification of rules governing
household formation (or marriage) into law, separating it from divine and royal providence, thus
signaling the construction of a society based on a rights-bearing individual protected by state
structures. It was during the mid-19th century that the early French socialist feminists—Jeanne
Deroine, Pauline Roland, and Flora Tristan (who traveled to England and published The workers’ union
in 1843), among others—laid the foundations for an alliance between the socialists and feminists
during this period and going well into the 20th century. In UK, the women’s suffrage movement began
in 1866, which turned into a mass movement also by the turn of the century. John Stuart Mill was a
prominent supporter of women’s right to vote and published On the subjection of women in 1869.Thus,
by the time Rizal arrived in London, there was already an accumulation of experience of women’s
political activity specifically directed at equality of rights.

REFERENCES

Anderson, B. [2006] Imagined communities: reflections on the origins and spread of nationalism. New York and
London: Verso.

Camagay, M.L. [1995] Working women of Manila in the 19th Century. Quezon City: University of the
Philippines Press and University Center for Women Studies.

Charlton, K. [2004] “Women and education” in: A. Pacheco, ed., A companion to early modern women’s
writing. Oxford: Blackwell Publishing.

Kent, S. [2004] “Gender rules: law and politics” in: T. Meade and M. Weisner- Hanks, eds., A companion
to gender history. Oxford: Blackwell Publishing.

14
Maritain, J. [1961] “Truth and human fellowship” in: On the uses of philosophy: three essays. Princeton:
Princeton University Press.

Mello, M., M. Powlowski, J. Nañagas, and T. Bossert [2006] “The role of law in public health: the case
of family planning in the Philippines,” Social Science and Medicine 63: 384-396.

Mellor,A. [2000] Mothers of the nation: women’s political writing in England, 1780- 1830. Bloomington:
Indiana University Press.

Reyes, H., ed. [1950] Sa mga kababayang dalaga sa Malolos: sinulat ni Dr. Jose Rizal [To the young women
of Malolos written by Dr. Jose Rizal]. Quezon City: Martinez & Sons.

Roces, M. [2001] “Re ections on gender and kinship in the Philippine Revolution, 1896-1898” in: F.
Rodríguez, ed., The Philippine Revolution of 1896: ordinary lives in extraordinary times. Quezon City: Ateneo
de Manila University Press.

Roces,M.[2002]“Women in Philippine politics and society”in:H.McFerson, ed., Mixed blessing: the

impact of the American colonial experience on politics and society in the Philippines. Westport, CT:
Greenwood Publishing Group.

San Juan, E. Jr. [2011] “Jose Rizal: re-discovering the revolutionary Filipino hero in the age of
terrorism”in:Rizal in our time.Manila:Anvil Publishing.

Sen,A. [2006] Identity and violence: the illusion of destiny. New York and London: W.W.Norton and
Company.


Tan, M. [2008] “Pinoy kasi: behind human life,” Philippine Daily Inquirer, 25 July 2008, http://opinion.
inquirer. net/inquireropinion/columns/view/20080725-150483/Behind-human-life. Accessed 02
August 2018.

Tiongson, N. [2004] The women of Malolos. Quezon City: Ateneo de Manila University Press.


15
Activity

Make a graphic organizer of your ideas about the two essays of Rizal and compare and contrast the
Philippines a century hence and Letter to the Woman of Malolos base on continuities and/or changes
in Rizal’s ideas expressed in the two essays.

16