Rizal’s vision in his unknown writings
ON Rizal’s birth anniversary which the nation quietly observed yesterday, I thought of sharing some of our hero’s thoughts expressed in five “unknown” writings translated by Juan Collas in a special edition published in 1953.
I found this tattered volume among the books I retained after giving away most of my book and research collection after my recent move. After living in our old residence for 44 years, I discovered that I had accumulated so much stuff that I had to downsize, declutter. In other words, to gradually adopt some features of a growing movement described as “minimalism.” It will take time before I get there since there is still a large amount of assorted material things which I have decided to keep and store.
I am citing from the translator’s comments in his Foreword – that according to the dissertation, “Rizal the Satirist,” written by Federico Calero, there exists an “unusually rich and unexplored vein of literary treasure in the martyr’s writings. The writer thought that its not in Noli me Tangere and El Fiibusterismo where Rizal through his characters expressed the “most satirical, humorous, and sarcastic passages or poured out the dregs of bitterness that had accumulated in his heart and prepared the way to his calvary.” Rather, it is in his hardly known and seldom-read La Vision de Fr. Rodriguez and Por Telefono, both of which he published in Barcelona, Spain, in 1889. The publication was shrouded in anonymity and secrecy as the author felt that acknowledgement of their authorship could be disastrous to his friends and family. Collas noted that only a limited number of copies every reached the country as they were either confiscated or destroyed.
Rizal’s biographer Wenceslao Retana described “Vision” as a rare and interesting piece of literature and ranked it among the hero’s most notable works. Today, neither the Spanish originals nor their English translations are available. Thus, I prize my copy even if it is partly termite-eaten. The other writings are To My Young Countrywomen of Malolos, Laughter and Tears, and Lyanto y Risas.
Rizal’s letter to the women in Malolos who, it will be remembered, led a peaceful movement towards reforms in policies on higher education that were discriminatory to women. Rizal responded to the courage of this group of 20 young women who approached the then governor-general protesting against these practices. These women, according to scholar Nick Tiongson, who struggled to disprove the principle that women are not at par with men in various fields of endeavor, are the forerunners of the feminist movement in the Philippines.
In his letter written in Tagalog which was translated in Spanish by Epifanio de los Santos and now translated in English by Collas. Rizal said: “No longer do Filipino women have to stand with their heads bowed or appear on bended knees. Hope for the future now quickens their heart-beats. No longer is there any mother who will contribute to the blindness of her daughter and raise her in self-contempt and utter moral debasement.”
And he asks all to reflect on these seven points:
“First of all: The tyranny of some is possible only through the cowardice and negligence of others. Second, what makes a man contemptible is his lack of dignity and his abject fear of the condemner. Third, Ignorance is servitude, because as a man thinks, so is he. A man who does not think for himself lacks personality. The blind man who allows himself to be guided by the thought of another is like the beast led by a halter. Fourth, He who loves his independence must first aid his fellowmen. He who refuses to give protection to others will find himself abandoned. Fifth, if the Filipino woman will not change her way of life, let her not rear children, but just bear them. Sixth, all men are born equal, naked without bonds. God did not create man to be a slave. He did not endow him with intelligence so that he may be imposed upon, nor did he bless him with reason so that he may be deceived by others. It is not fatuous to refuse to worship one’s equal to sharpen one’s intellect. Fatuous is he who makes a god of himself, who brutifies others and strives to subject to his whims all that is reasonable and just. Seventh, Consider well what kind of religion is being taught you. See whether it is the will of God or it follows the teachings of Christ that the poor be succored and that those who suffer be alleviated. Reflect on what is being preached to you, the object of the sermon – what is behind the masses, novenas, rosaries, scapularies, images, miracles, candles, belts, etc. May success crown your desires to educate yourselves: may you gather in the garden of learning not bitter, but choice fruits, and may look before you eat them, because on the face the globe all is deceit, and not infrequently, the enemy puts weeds in the seed plot. All this is the ardent wish of your countryman. (Sgd.) Jose Rizal, Europe, 1889.
Satire and sarcasm likewise characterized the Por Telefono (By Telephone) and Llanto u Risas (Laughter and Tears) In the former, he gave thanks to the perfection of the instrument for allowing Madrid to hear the mystical sighs of the friars in Manila and in Laughter and Tears, Rizal wrote about how he would laugh when he thinks of the misery and sufferings, when he listens to the complaints and grievances of his brothers, and when he sees his countrymen brutified and deluded with grand theories and dazzling words.
The author and translator ends his Foreword with the hope that the “public will accord these writings the attention they deserve, particularly because they reflect in a way a sad if decisive part of Philippine history, a part which, with its spirit of hypocrisy and intolerance born largely of ignorance and fanaticism, may insidiously be re-enacted with far more tragic consequences.”
I undercore the above because a large majority of our people, because of ignorance, may still be vulnerable to false promises, fake news, and disinformation. The past has taught us many lessons, primarily, to be fully aware and critical and to act with courage and determination.