The Trials of the

Rizal Bill
The original version of Senate Bill No. 438
read as follows:

AN ACT TO MAKE NOLI ME TANGERE AND EL

FILIBUSTERISMO COMPULSORY READING MATTER
IN PUBLIC AND PRIVATE COLLEGES AND
UNIVERSITIES AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES.
Amendment: (RA 1425)
AN ACT TO INCLUDE IN THE CURRICULA
OF ALL PUBLIC AND PRIVATE SCHOOLS, COLLEGES,
AND UNIVERSITIES COURSES ON THE LIFE, WORKS
AND WRITINGS OF JOSE RIZAL, PARTICULARLY HIS
NOVELS NOLI ME TANGERE AND EL
FILIBUSTERIMO….
 • An attempt to discredit Catholic religion
• The two novels contained views inimical to the tenets
of Catholic faith
• The compulsory nature of the bill is a violation of
religious freedom
OPPOSITION • Novels were heretical and impious.
• Violate freedom of conscience and religion
• It belong to the past and harmful to read because it
presented a false picture of the conditions in the
country at the time
• Attack on the clergy
• Endanger the youth’s salvation, “the young are too
apt to take as literally true whatever they see in print”
• Senator Francisco Rodrigo remarked:

“A vast majority of our people are at the same

time Catholics and Filipino citizens. As such, they
have two great loves: their country and their faith.
These two loves are not conflicting loves.”

“This is the basis of my stand. Let us not

create a conflict between nationalism and religion;
between the government and the church.”
 • The bill was an important example
of the state’s effort (attempt) to
decolonize the “culture” of
the Philippines
RATIONALE
• To use literature to foster national
consciousness among the Filipino
people and make “good” citizens of
the Filipino youth.
• The Philippines has lived through
333 years of Spanish rule
50 years of American “tutelage”
5 years of Japanese occupation
What is “Filipino” culture?

And how do we go about

preserving it or reshaping it?
PROPONENTS/SUPPORTERS:
• Rizal’s novels were considered as “a constant and inspiring source of
patriotism”
• Enable the Filipino to grasp the ideals of freedom and nationalism
• To develop “moral character, personal discipline, civic consciousness
and…teaching the duties of citizenship.”
• His writings will serve as a document of the achievements, development, and
transformation of Philippine society, culture, and nation.
• SOCIAL CHANGE/TRANSFORMATION is its core principle – the need for
transforming consciousness and society; and the truthful, realistic depiction
of Philippine society.
 Transformation will only be possible
when a people have knowledge of
his/her country’s “true” history,
condition and course of development.
 How, precisely,
does one move from
knowledge to action?
“Open your children’s eyes so that they may
jealously guard their honor, love their
fellowmen and their native land, and do their
duty. Always impress upon them that it is
better to die with honor than live in dishonor.”
– J. Rizal
References • Republic of the Philippines. 1956.
Republic Act 1425. Available online,
http://www.gov.ph/1956/06/12/repu
blic-act-no-1425/

• Laurel, Jose B. Jr. 1960. The trials of

the Rizal Bill. Historical Bulletin
4(2):130-39.