BIARES, Dayanne A.

Review on El Filibusterismo

Man responds to pain most frequently with a development to fear. It is sometimes in the
frequency of pain that humans learn to conquer fear and use it as a foundation resistance to that
said pain in the hopes of eventually abolishing it. In the novel El Filibusterismo of Jose Rizal, he
described how pain, in the eyes of the Filipinos, was changed to a greater feeling for nation
building and independence.

The novel is a sequel to Noli Me Tangere, where in this case Crisostomo Ibarra returned
as Simoun. But both with the same want for his fellow Filipinos to see beyond what the
Spaniards are doing in front of them. El Filibustersimo is dedicated to the execution of the three
Filipino Catholic priests Gomez, Burgos, and Zamora. The three are charged for being
subversive or wanting to overthrow the spanish authorities. Rizal wanted the Filipinos to respond
to this pain being felt by their country not by doing nothing but to eventually start a concrete
action for revolution. But he believes that the revolution that needs to take place must be founded
on intelligence and not the severity of the wound that could be inflicted by a weapon. To the
words of Rizal, on this battlefield man has no better weapon than his intelligence, no other force
but his heart. The pain Filipinos felt needed to turn from wanting sympathy to having empathy
for their nation and once for all, defying it for the sake of their motherland. I have also realized
that the novel is not merely imparting revenge, but the continuous development of the character
of Filipinos to fight for their identity and what is truly their own. The novel also suggests the
idea of independence as something to be earned from themselves, not from Spaniards or whoever
stands in their way to give them that. Their independence should be coming from within when
they are already worthy of it. Rizal using the GomBurZa priests as an inspiration suggests that
Filipinos respond to injustice. It should not be that they be blinded with the fear of injustice
itself. I have realized how it is not enough that we acknowledge that injustice takes place. We
have to create a plan of action to stop the said injustices.
 In the present day, I could say that the novel of Rizal is still highly relevant. Our current
situation may not be of Spaniards wanting to colonize our nation, it may not be that there are
executions of priests, but if you take time to observe, in this generation we are battling a different
form of colonization, a different form of execution. It is somehow ironic that as children, we are
thought to defend ourselves in times of being bullied, but as we grow and speak our own voices
and opinions from those who take advantage of power and control, we are more often than not
red tagged and denied the freedom of expression.

We as Filipino people, with our rights and the constitution are still being denied and
oppressed from those who are seated in the government. An example would be the National
Bureau of Investigation going after an ordinary citizen for posting on social media their
sentiments with how the government is responding with the COVID-19 crisis. This is only one of
many citizens allegedly receiving subpoenas after expressing negative comments and criticizing
the current administration. Some other instances are a university student allegedly forced by
barangay officials to publicly apologize after also expressing criticism. More often than not,
these types of instances are found to be common by most people and for a student like me, I find
it unacceptable. People should not be silenced to give criticism and express their thoughts.
According to existing jurisprudence, criticism is permitted even to the foundations of
Government. Criticism, no matter how severe, on the Executive, the Legislature, and the
Judiciary, is within the range of liberty of speech, unless the intention and effect are seditious.
These can even be applied in our homes and even the academe. We should not be held as
prisoners in our own homes and disregarded by the administration of an academic institution. We
are important as we are in our homes, schools, as we are important as Filipinos in our own
country. It may not be that we are being oppressed by another country, but it is harder to accept
that we are being oppressed by our fellow Filipinos. Our forefathers have not fought for their
lives for independence just to, as Rizal would describe it, the slaves of today be the tyrants of
tomorrow.
 In El Filibusterismo, Rizal suggests that the Filipinos then were still not ready for a
revolution because of the lack of intelligence and critical thinking as a foundation. Today, a
physical battle would still be very brutal. But it is the lessons from Rizal that we still carry til
today --- to love our country and our fellow Filipinos. But for me, to truly love is to not tolerate
wrongdoings. As Filipinos it is our duty to be observant, vigilant, and critical of the things going
on as corruption in any form can be done in the most inexplicable ways.

To the words of Rizal, ​the glory of saving the country doesn’t mean having to use measures that
contributed to its ruin.