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 “To me El Filibusterismo as a novel is inferior to

the Noli, so I receive with a grain of salt the
opinion of those who tell me that the Fili is
superior to the Noli.”
- Jose Rizal
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Introduction

 Rizal began writing it in October 1887, in Calamba

 The following year, in London, he made some changes in the plot and
revised the chapter already written
 He wrote more chapter in Paris, Madrid, and Biarritz
 He finished the manuscript in Biarritz on March 29, 1891 after toiling on it
fro three years
 From Brussels, Rizal moved to Ghent, where printing was cheaper
 El Filibusterismo, the sequel to the Noli, came off the press on September
18, 1891
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Privations in Ghent

 July 5, 1891, Rizal and Jose Alejandrino left Brussels for Ghent
 The cost of living here was lower and the of printing was much cheaper
than in Brussels
 Rizal and Alejandrino stayed at the cheapest boarding house and lived
frugally in Ghent for three months, from July to September 1891
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The Printing of “El Filibusterismo”

 A few days after establishing himself in Ghent, Rizal searched for a

printing shop that could give him the lowest quotation for the publication of
his novel
 He found F.MEYER-VAN LOO PRESS, who was willing to print his book
on small partial payments
 He pawned his jewels in order to pay the down payment and early partial
payments during the printing of the novel
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The Printing of “El Filibusterismo”

 On August 6, the printing had to be suspended, as Rizal feared, because

he could no longer give the necessary funds to the printer
 Rizal to Basa in Hongkong wrote:
 “As you will see in the enclosed clipping, the printing of the second part (sequel
to the Noli) is advanced, and I am now on page 112. Because no money is
forthcoming and I owe everybody and I am broke. I will have to suspend the
publication and leave the work half-finished.”
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“El Filibusterismo” Comes Off the Press
 Rizal almost burned the manuscript of El Filibusterismo
 Several times he wrote to Basa, “I am tempted to burn my manuscript; but then
I think of you. And I know there are many good people, many who truly love
their country.”
 Valentin Ventura – he sent Rizal the amount needed to finish the publication of
the book
 September 18, 1891 – El Filibusterismo came off the press
 Rizal immediately sent two copies to Hongkong, one for Basa and one for Sixto
Lopez
 He gratefully gave the original manuscript of El Filibusterismo and a printed
copy with his autograph to Ventura
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“El Filibusterismo” Comes Off the Press

 All copies of the first edition (Ghent edition) of El Filibusterismo were

placed in wooden boxes and shipped to Hongkong
 However, almost all the boxes were confiscated and the books were lost
 The book immediately became rare, and the few available Ghent copies
were sold at very high prices, reaching as high as 400 pesetas per copy
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Dedicated to Gom-Bur-Za

 Rizal had not forgotten the martyrdom of Fathers Gomez, Burgos, and
Zamora
 He dedicated El Filibusterismo to them
 There were some inaccuracies in Rizal’s writings in his dedication (such
as ages of the priests, date of martyrdom)
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The Manuscript and the Book

 The original manuscript was now preserved in the Filipiniana Division of

the Bureau of Public Libraries, Manila
 It had been acquired by the Philippine Government from Valentin Ventura
for P10, 000.
 Consists of 279 pages of long sheets of paper
 The author’s corrections are seen throughout the manuscript
 Only a few pages have not been revised by Rizal
 Two features in the manuscript do not appear in the printed book:
FOREWORD and WARNING
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Inscription on Title Page

 Written by Ferdinand Blumentritt

 It can easily be supposed that a rebel (filibustero) has secretly bewitched the
league of friar-zealots and retrogrades so that, unwittingly following his
incitements, they should favor and foment that policy which pursues one sole
end; to spread ideas of rebellion throughout the length and breadth of the land,
and to convince every Filipino that there is no salvation except through
separation from the Mother Country
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Synopsis of “El Filibusterismo”

 A bitter cry of a suffering soul

 Has little humor, less idealism, less romance as what we find in Noli Me
Tangere
 More revolutionary, more tragic than the first novel
 The hero of El Filibusterismo is a rich jeweler named Simoun
 He was Crisostomo Ibarra of the Noli, who with Elias’ help escaped from
the pursuing soldiers at Laguna De Bay, dug up his buried treasure, and
fled to Cuba where he became rich and befriended many Spanish
officials
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Synopsis of “El Filibusterismo”

 After many years, he returns to the Philippines, where he freely moves

around.
 He is a powerful figure, not only because he is a rich jeweler, but also
because he is a good friend and adviser of the governor-general
 Outwardly, Simoun is a friend of Spain
 Deep in his heart, he is bitter and ruthless, secretly cherishing a terrible
revenge against the Spanish authorities
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Synopsis of “El Filibusterismo”

 His two magnificent obsessions are:

 To rescue Maria Clara from the nunnery of Santa Clara
 To foment a revolution against the hated Spanish masters

 Tabo – clumsy, roundish shaped steamer

 Sailing upstream the Pasig from Manila to Laguna de Bay
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Synopsis of “El Filibusterismo”
 Passengers:
 Simoun – the rich jeweler
 Doña Victorina – the ridiculously pro-Spanish native woman who is going to Laguna in search of her
henpecked husband, Tiburcio de Espadaña, who deserted her
 Paulita Gomez – her beautiful niece
 Ben-Zayb – a Spanish journalist who writes silly articles about the Filipinos
 Padre Sibyla - Vice-Rector of the University of Santo Tomas
 Padre Camorra – the parish priest of the town of Tiani
 Don Custodio – a pro-Spanish Filipino holding a high position in the government
 Padre Salvi – thin Franciscan friar who was a friend of the Filipino students
 Padre Florentino – a retired scholarly and patriotic Filipino priest
 Isagani – a poet nephew of Padre Florentino and a lover of Paulita
 Basilio – son of Sisa and promising medical student, whose medical education is financed by his patron,
Capitan Tiago
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Synopsis of “El Filibusterismo”

 Simoun
 A man of wealth and mystery
 A very close friend and confidante of the Spanish Governor-General
 “Brown Cardinal” or “Black Eminence”
 Encourages corruption in the government, promotes oppression of the masses, and
hastens the moral degradation of the country so that the people may become desperate to
fight
 Smuggles arms into the country with the help of a rich Chinese merchant, Quiroga, who
wants very much to be Chinese consul of Manila
 His first attempt to begin the armed uprising did not materialize because Maria Clara died
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Synopsis of “El Filibusterismo”

 The Wedding
 Paulita Gomez and Juanito Pelaez’ wedding – Simoun gave a beautiful lamp to them as a
wedding gift
 Basilio (Sisa’s son joined his revolutionary cause) – knows that the lamp will explode
 Isagani, who has been rejected by Paulita because of his liberal ideas, was warned by
Basilio about the explosion
 On hearing the horrible secret of the lamp, Isagani thinks of the danger to his beloved
Paulita. He rushes into the house, seizes the lighted lamp, and hurls it into the river, where
it explodes
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Synopsis of “El Filibusterismo”

 Simon Was Exposed

 Simon was cornered but escaped
 Mortally wounded, and carrying his treasure-chest, he sought refuge in the home of Padre
Florentino by the sea
 His hideout was known to the authorities
 Simon eluded arrest by taking poison
 As he is dying, he confesses to Padre Florentino, revealing his true identity, his dastard
plan to use his wealth to avenge himself, and his callous aim to destroy his friends and
enemies for personal ambition
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Synopsis of “El Filibusterismo”

 Padre Florentino to Simoun said

 “God will forgive you Señor Simoun. He knows that we are fallible. He has seen that you
have suffered, and in ordaining that the chastisement for your faults should come as death
from the very ones you have instigated to crime, we can see His infinite mercy. He has
frustrated your plans one by one, the best conceived, first by the death of Maria Clara,
then by a lack of preparation, then in some mysterious way. Let us bow to His will and
render Him thanks!”
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“Noli” and “Fili” Compared

 Noli – a romantic novel, a “work of the heart”, a “book of feeling”, has

freshness, color, humor, lightness and wit
 Fili – a political novel, a “work of the head”, a “book of the thought”,
contains bitterness, hatred, pain, violence, and sorrow
 The issue of which is the superior novel , is purely academic
 Neither Noli nor the Fili is superior to one another
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Rizal’s Unfinished Third Novel

 September 22, 1891, four days after the Fili came off the press, he wrote to
Blumentritt,
 “I am thinking of writing a third novel, a novel in the modern sense of the word,
but this time politics will not find much space in it, but ethics will play the principal
role. I shall deal mainly with the habits and customs of the Filipinos, and only two
Spaniards, the friar curate and the lieutenant of the Guardia Civil will be there. I
wish to be there. I wish to be humorous, satirical and witty, to weep and to
laugh, to laugh amidst tears, that is, to cry bitterly.”
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Rizal’s Unfinished Third Novel

 October 18, 1891, Rizal boarded the steamer Melbourne in Marseilles

bound for Hongkong.
 During the voyage, he wrote the third novel in Tagalog and finished the early
chapters
 He continued it in Hongkong but did not finish it because his Tagalog was
inadequate for literary purposes
 The unfinished third novel has no title
 44 pages in Rizal’s handwriting. Still in manuscript form, it is preserved in
the Bureau of Public Libraries (formerly National Library
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Rizal’s Unfinished Third Novel

 Story
 Begins with the solemn burial of Prince Tagulima, son of Sultan Zaide to
Ternate, on Malapad-na-Bato, a big rock on the bank of the Pasig River
 Sultan Zaide, with his royal family and retainers, was taken prisoner by the
Spaniards during the wars in the Moluccas and brought to Manila
 The old sultan, his children, and followers were promised good treatment, but
the Spaniards forgot their promise and let them die one by one in misery
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Rizal’s Unfinished Third Novel

 Story
 The hero of the novel was Kamandagan, a descendant of Lakan-Dula, last
king of Tondo
 He plotted to regain the lost freedom of his fathers
 One day he saved his two beautiful granddaughters, Maligaya and Sinagtala
from the lustful Spaniards – the cura and the encomendero of Bay, Laguna

 * It is said that Rizal was fortunate not to finish this novel, because it would
have caused greater scandal and more Spanish vengeance on him
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Rizal’s Other Unfinished Novels
 Makamisa – a novel in Tagalog; it is written in light sarcastic style and is
incomplete for only two chapters are finished; consists of 20 pages
 Dapitan – unfinished, written in ironic Spanish; he wrote it during his exile in
Dapitan to depict the town life and customs; consists of 8 pages
 A novel in Spanish about the life in Pili, a town in Laguna – consists of 147
pages
 A novel about Cristobal, a youthful Filipino student who has returned from
Europe, consists of 34 pages
 Another novel in two notebooks, first one contains 31 written pages and the
second 12 written pages, the author describes the deplorable conditions fo
the Philippines; written in Spanish and the style is ironic