Amores, Patricia 8-5 HIST17 12:00-1:30 MW

Po, Stewart Herbie 6-5

Quisaot, Jeseraire Noc 7-5
Rockwell, Richmond John 9-5 January 18, 2017

The Philippines of Rizals Times

The 11 Evils What About Today?
of Rizals
Times
Unstable Government Although the transition from the Aquino to the Duterte
administration greatly provided some significant changes which was similar in the
time of Rizal, this was not the main reason why the government is still unstable
until now. For us, the Philippine government remains unstable because it still
Instability of captures no support from the Filipinos. The current administration is dealing with
Colonial constant protests and rallies from various citizens all over the country. Government
Administration officials cannot really do their job if the recipients of their services do not want their
services at all. The Philippine government still lacks support from the Filipino
people, which can ultimately affect the operations of the administrations.
Corrupt Officials and Drug Protectors Government corruption still lies as a
significant issue today. Back in the Aquino administration, the Pork Barrel
controversy was the biggest form of corruption at that time. The Senate and
Congress were able to steal money from the Filipinos by creating false projects
Corrupt through agencies that did not exist. Currently, Duterte administration is focusing on
Colonial drug protectors who accept bribes from various drug syndicates. Many government
Officials officials were already publicly announced to be involved. These examples show us
that money can be evil depending on how people use them. Money really produces
corruption and officials who wanted to become powerful and rich are the
beneficiaries of this awful mentality. Instead of giving service to the Filipinos,
corrupt officials offer sickness, poverty, and hunger to the nation.
No Philippine The Spanish Cortes has now changed through time. Before, Filipinos were not
Representatio allowed to join the Spanish Cortes, but then it gradually changed and allowed
n in the Filipinos to participate. It is now known as the Senate or the Congress, consisting of
Spanish 24 powerful Filipino senators. The personalities of the senators have not changed
Cortes since the start of the Spanish Cortes. Some remained stubborn and corrupt while
the others stayed good and honest men and women. The Senate is currently
having problems related to the drug problem in which two senators are involved,
namely Senator de Lima and Senator Trillanes.
Extrajudicial Killings With the Duterte administration today, human rights are
constantly violated because of extrajudicial killings. The Filipinos enjoy freedom of
speech, freedom of religion, and other human rights but the right to life and due
Human Rights process is not one of them. Yes, it is good for the administration to fight off drugs
Denied to but they should also consider the law that governs the land. Using Self Defense
Filipinos as a reason to kill a drug pusher is tolerable but there were already obvious
instances where the suspect didnt really fight back. Most victims of extrajudicial
killings are also the poor and not from the rich and powerful. This is really a sign of
deficiency on how the administration works.
No Equality Income gap- The income gap in the Philippines is goddamn huge. The government
Before the mostly favors the oligarchs or the richest families that have a relaxing lifestyle,
Law rather than those who really need the necessities to survive. There are a lot of big
companies that can produce income worth hundreds of millions. If these
organizations could set aside a bit of their wealth to those who need it, then it
could really make a difference in our society.
Maladministra The administration of justice in the Philippines is still one of the worst in the world
tion of Justice and we should be ashamed. Just to cite an example, in the case of the Marcos
dictatorship, how many billions of peso did they steal from the Philippines and until
now you still see Imelda Marcos out of prison and living as if she is still the queen.
Another example is the rampant massacres in Mindanao especially the
Maguindanao massacre which claimed the lives of our fellow Filipinos and until now
7 years in trial no one has been convicted yet. Recently, things have change due to
the recent shift in the Duterte administration which is now starting to take away
human rights and the right to be heard in the cases of those engaged in illegal
drugs. The administration has now become the judge, jury, and executioner in the
Philippines which I believe is their effort to administer justice in the Philippines.
Racial Discrimination is still very common in todays society and there are various types of
Discrimination discrimination here in the Philippines. First, its what I call the internal
discrimination which is when Filipinos discriminate another Filipino based on where
he/she was born or what province he/she came from like when people in Manila
think they are more privileged than people in the Visayas or when people think that
those who are born in Mindanao are Muslims whom are equated as terrorists or
 murders. These common thoughts still flow across our country. Next is the external
discrimination which is when Filipinos think that foreigners are more superior
compared to us. The meaning of foreigners to us is not the dictionary meaning but
it is when an alien is white and it does not matter whether he is an American,
European, or Australian because they are foreigners to our eyes which most of the
time we see as rich and handsome/beautiful. The Chinese, although they are
foreigners, the are often viewed as super thrifty or the source of fake stuff while the
Blacks/Negro is viewed as ugly criminals and potentially violent. Racial
discrimination still thrives in our country because we Filipino view other nations
based on the cultural output they give to society and we are heavily influenced
with the American media that we unconsciously make them seem more superior to
us.
Frailocracy The church and the government are now separated unlike in Rizals time that the
church was so influential up to the point where the governor-general had power
over the church and the friars played important roles in the government. Today,
there are laws which limits the relationship between the government and the
church like tax exemptions granted to religious organization like in the selling of
bibles. We can also see that the 1987 Constitution of the Philippines declares that
the separation of Church and State shall be inviolable and the free exercise and
enjoyment of religious profession and worship, without discrimination or
preference, shall forever be allowed. It also says that no law shall be made
respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.
Forced Labor Forced Labor During Rizals time, compulsory labor was imposed by Spanish
authorities on adult Filipino males in the construction of churches, schools,
hospitals and a lot more. Today, forced labor comes in different forms and not only
include adult male but also female and children. Cases of human trafficking, sex
workers and child workers are concrete examples of what forced labor is now. This
is so because forced labor occurs whenever the work or service is demanded by
one who has control and has the will to threaten workers with deprivation. They
restrict the workers movements and even lock them up.
Haciendas During Rizals times the Spanish friars were the richest landlords, for they owned
Owned by the the best haciendas. Today, these haciendas are now in the ownership of rich people
Friars whose ancestral roots connect to those friars. They may be great grandchildren or
next to the friars themselves. We all know that friars are not allowed to marry and
have children. However, there are many cases. So the haciendas they own before
may be with their relative today or the relative of someone close to the friars
before.
The Civil The civil guard exists for the purpose of maintaining internal peace and order in the
Guard Philippines. Right now, they are the CITOM, TANOD or CAFGU in our daily lives.
They are the equivalent of the civil guards in Rizals time because they still
maintain internal peace and order. Another common thing is that some of them still
continue to be abusive especially to the poor and marginalized.

We believe that these problems greatly deal with our government today. In order for us to be able to
lessen its effects and make a little change, the Filipinos should start supporting the government
officials with their advocacies. It will also be good if the citizens can choose the right candidates
during elections. This can really help clean the government of corrupt and unfaithful government
officials. We always blame the government for the bad things that happen but we should also consider
our respective duties and responsibilities as citizens of this nation. People should also put inequalities
to stop as this can deny human rights to some Filipinos. With equality, all people would get the same
benefits. The poor and rich can come together and be treated the same in the eyes of the law.

Government officials, specifically the Senate, should use everything in their power to gather more
evidence pertaining to the drug problem of the country. This problem is evident even with our very
own senators - Senator De Lima and Senator Trillanes. These evidences should hopefully motivate
government officials to do their jobs properly. The population of the Philippines is around 98.39 million
and most of the Filipinos are in the area of the poverty line. There are a lot of rich companies in the
country that produce excess income without putting it to good use. Knowing that our Government
cannot provide for every family that are in the poverty line, these successful companies could donate
and support those who have less by giving them stable jobs.

If we were the President of the Philippines, we would make sure that the less fortunate will be given a
chance to be heard and we will not favor the more capable because in todays society, the privileged
are given more opportunities to escape penalties by using their influence. In short, the Philippines has
a very poor foundation in their justice system. Regarding racial discrimination, we would make sure
that people will get recognized for doing good deeds whether they are Muslim or Catholic. If we were
the President, we would stop using the word Muslim or Christian and start using the word Filipino in
referring to individuals.
We cannot deny that evident forced labor is really difficult to pinpoint in our country. This is because
the problem occurs secretly and the workers are afraid to speak out because of different threats from
their bosses. There should be a work environment that is free from threats and could be freely chosen.
The government should impose laws against force labor to the extent that bosses would no longer
give threats because of the consequences it would bring. The government should also promote
different campaigns on forced labor and tell encourage workers to be strong and to tell should they be
under threat. The government should make them feel safe. With regards to the Haciendas, we think it
would really be difficult for the lands to be given to the farmers. The rich wouldnt really give up their
lands as far as we can see it. For us, it would be good if the farmers would be given not just a fair
share of what they made but more than that. The farmer should receive more than of the landowner
and this should be sufficient to him and his family. For the civil guards, we believe that they should be
given seminars on what they could do and what they couldnt. They should be well informed that they
should treat people right and not be abusive especially to the poor and marginalized. Their power
should take place in the proper place and time with the authority to do so or else they would face
consequences.