Chapter 19 El Filibusterismo Published in Ghent (1891)
Days flew swiftly for Rizal in Brusseld like flying arrows. Day in and day out, he was busy revising and polishing the manuscript of El Filibusterismo so that it could be ready for the press. He had begun writing it in October; 1887, while practising medicine in Calamba. The following year (1888), in London, he made some changes in the plot and corrected some chapters already written. He wrote more chapters in Paris and Madrid, and finished the manuscript in Biarritz on March 29, 1891. It took him, therefore, three years to write his second novel. Privations in Ghent. On July 5, 1891, Rizal left Brussels for Ghent, a famous university city in Belgium.
His reasons for moving to Ghent were (1) the cost of printing in Ghent was cheaper than in Brussels and (2) to escape from the enticing attraction of Petite Suzzane. In Ghent, he met two compatriots, Jose Alejandro (from Pampanga) and Edilberto Evangelista (from Manila), both studying engineerimg in the world-famed University of Ghent. Owing to his limited funds, Rizal lived in a cheap boarding house, with Jose Alejandro as room-mate. Theirs was a very frugal life, subsisting on the barest necessities.To economize further, they prepared thier own daily breakfast in their room. Years later Alejandro, who became a general during Filipino-American War of 1899-1902 and an engineer, recounted in his memoirs their hard life in Ghent, as follows: In Ghent we lived in a room paying so much for our lodging and breakfast rizal asked me: "How much would the room cost us without the breakfast?" I talked to the landlady and she told me that she would reduce the rent so much if without breakfast. Rizal Rizal made his calculations and and concluded that if we made made our own breakfast breakfast we could could save something. He bought tea, sugar, alcohol, and a box of biscuits. Upon arriving at the house he opened the biscuits and counted and divided them equally between us. He told me that we owned so many biscuits each and that, by dividing the number of biscuits by 30 days, we would have so many biscuits for each breakfast. The first day, because of my personal pride, I contented myself with my ration. And so with the t he following day. day. But on the third day, I told him that t hat my ration was not enough for me. Then he answered: "You may borrow from your ration for tomorrow". Thru frequent borrowing I ate up all my shares in 15 days, while he rigorously limited himself to his daily ration.
The Printing of El Filibusterismo. Filibusterismo. Shortly after his arrival in Ghent, Rizal searched for a printing shop that
could give him the lowest quotation for the publication of his novel. At last, he did find a publisher - F. MEYER-VAN LOO PRESS, No. 66 Viaanderen Street - who was willing to print his book on installment basis. He pawned his jewels in order to pay the downpayment and the early partial payments during the printing of the novel. Meanwhile, as the printing is going on, Rizal became desperate because his fumds were running low and the money he expected from his friends did not arrive. He had received some money from Basa and P200 from Rodriguez Arias for the copies of Morga's Sucesos sold in Manila. But these funds were also
used up, and much more were needed to pay the printer. Writing to Basa from Ghent on July 1891, Rizal said: "I have already pawned all my jewels, I live in a small room, I eat in the cheapest restaurant in order economize and be able to publish my book; soon I will have to stop its publication if no money comes... On August 6, the printing had to be suspended, as Rizal feared, because hecould no longer give the necessary funds to thw printer. On this datw, he wrote to Basa in Hongkong: "As you will see in the enclosed clipping, the printing on the second part (sequel to the Noli - Z.) 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". Ventura, Savior of the Fili. Rizal's Calvary in connection with printing of the Noli was repeated in the Fili's
printing. His funds run out from Ghent, a similar calamity that he experienced in Berlin in the winter in 1886. Once more he felt the dolorous grip of despair. In a moment of bitter disillusionment, he almst hurled the manuscript of the Fili into the flames, just as he almost did in Noli in Berlin. “I don’t know,” Rizal told Basa in woeful mood, “if the money I expect does not arrive in the next mail, I will give up the book and all, and I will embark to live and work for myself… At times I feel like burninf my manuscript. But then I think of you, and I know that there are many good men like you, good men who truly love their country” When everything seemed lost, help came from an unexpected source. Valentin Ventura in Paris learned of Rizal’s predicament and immediately sent him the necessary funds. With his financial aid, the printing of the Fili waa resumed. The Fili Comes Off the Press. At last, on September 18, 1891, el Filibusterismo came off the
press. Rizal, now a very happy man, immediately sent on this date two printed copies to Hongkong – one for BAsa and the other for Sixto Lopez. To his friend in Paris, Valentin Ventura, who generously loaned him the funds needed to finish the printing of the novel, Rizal gratefully donated the original manuscript and an autographed printed copy. He sent other complimentary copies to Blumentrit, Mariano Ponce, G. Lopez Jaena, T.H. Pardo de Tavera, Antonio and Juan Luna, and other friends. Filipino patriots in foreign lands and in the Philippines praised the novel to the skies. The members of the Filipino colony of Barcelona published a tribute in La Publicidad, a Barcelona newspaper, eulogizing the novel’s original style which “is comparable only to the sublime Alexander dumas” and may well be offered as “as model and a precious jewel in the now decadent literature of Spain” The liberal Madrid newspaper, El Nuevo Regimen, serialized the nove in its issues of October, 1891. Practically, all copies of the first edition (Ghent edition) of el Filibusterismo were placed in wooden boxes and shipped to Hongkong, but almost all the boxes were confiscated and the books were lost. So it came to pass that the book immediately became rare, anfd the few available Ghent copies were sold at
very high prices, reaching as high as 400 persetas per copy. Dedicated to Gom-Bur-Za. Evidently, Rizal in all the years of his studies, travels, and labors in
foreign lands, had not forgotten the martyrdom of Fathers Gomez, Burgos, Zamora, which Paciano related to him when he was a mere lad in Calamba. He dedicated El Filibusterismo to them. His dedication reads as follows: To the memory of the priests, Don Mariano Gomez (85 years old), Don Jose Burgos (30 years old), and Don Jacinto Zamora (35 years old). Executed in Bagumbayan Field on the 28 th of february, 1872. The Church, by refusing to degrade you, has placed in doubt the crime that has been imputed to you; the Government, by surrounding your trials with mystery and shadows, causes the belief that there was some error, committed in fatal moments; and all the Philippines, by worshipping your memory and calling you martyrs, in no sense recognizes your culpability. In so far, therefore, as your complicity in the Cavite mutiny is not clearly proved, as you may or may not have cherished sentiments for justice and for liberty, I have the right to dedicate my work to you as victims of the evil which I undertake to combat. And while we wait expectantly upon Spain some day to restore your good name and cease to be answerable for your death, let these pages serve as a tardy wreath of dried leaves over your unknown tombs, and let it be understood that every onw who without clear proofs attacks your memory stains his hands in your blood!
Never in the annals of mankind has a hero written such a sublime and touching tribute to other heroes as Rizal. To straighten historical records, however, we must rectify Rizal’s historical inaccuracies in his dedicatory note. First of all, the martyrdom of Gomez, Burgos, and Zamora occurred on February 17, 1872 – not on the 28 th . Secondly, Father Gomez was 73 years old – not 85, Father Burgos was 35 years old – not 30, and Father Zamora wa 37 years old – not 35. The Manuscript and the Book. The original manuscript of El Filibusterismo in Rizal’s own
handwriting is now preserved in the Filipiana Division of the Bureau of Public Libraries, Manila. It had been acquired by the Philippine Government from Valentin Ventura for P10,000. It consists of 279 pages of long sheets of paper. The author’s corrections are seen throuhjout the manuscript. Only a few pages have not been revised by Rizal. Two features in the manuscript do not appear in the printed book, namely: the FOREWORD and the WARNING. These were not put into print, evidently, to save printing cost. The FOREWORD appears just before the dedicatory page in the manuscript. It turns as follows: We have so often been frightened by the phantom of filibusterism that from only a nurse’s narration it has become a positive and real being whose name alone (in depriving us of our serenity) makes us commit the greatest myths in order not to meet the feared reality. Instead of fleeing, we shall look at i ts face, and with determined, if inexpert, hand we shall raise the veil to uncover before the multitude the mechanism of its skeleton. If, upon seeing it, our coountry and its government reflect, we shall consider ourselves happy no
matter whether they censure us for the audacity, no matter whether we pay for it like the young student of Sais who wished to penetrate the secret of the priestly imposure. (On the other hand, if in the face of reality, instead of being soothed, one’s fear is increased and the trepidation of another is aggravated, then they will have to be left in the hands of time which educates the living, in the hands of fatality which weaves the destinies of peoples and their governments which the faults and errors that they are committing everyday.)
The WARNING is found on the other side of the dedication. It is as follows: They are going to waste their time who woould sttack this book by holding on to trifles, or whom from other motives, would try yo discover in it more or less known physiognomies. True to his purpose of exposing the disease, of the patient, and, in order not to divert himself nor divert the reader, whilst he narrates only real facts which happened recently and are absolutely authntic in substance, he has disfigured his characters so that they may not turn to be the typical pictures some readers found in his first book. Man passes; his vices remain, and to accentuate or shohw their effects, the pen of the writer aspires.
Inscription on Title Page. The title page of El Filibusterismo contains an inscription written by
Ferdinand Blumentritt. This inscription, which is not found in many published English translations, is as follows: It can easily be supposed that a rebel (filibustero) has secretly bewitshed the league of friar-zealots and retrogades so that, unwittingly following his incitements, they should favor and forment that poli cy 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 form the Mother Country. -
Ferdinand Blumentritt
Synopsis of El Filibusterismo. This novel is a sequel to the Noli. It has little humor, less idealism,
and less romance than the Noli Me tangere. It is 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. After many years, he returns to the Philippines, where he freely moved around. He is a powerful figure not only because he is rich jeweler, but also because he is a good friend and adviser of the governor general. Outwardly, Somoun is a friend of Spain. However, deep in his heart, he is secretly cherishing a terrible against the Spanish authorities. His two magnificent obsessions are (1) to rescue Maria Clara from the nunnery Santa Clara and (2) to foment a revolution against the hated Spanish masters. The story El Filibusterismo begins on board the clumsy, roundish shaped steamer Tabo, so appropriately named. This steamer is sailing upstream the Pasig form Manila to Laguna de Bay. Among the passengers are Simoun, the rich jeweler; Dona Victorina, the ridiculously pro-Spanish native woman who is going to Laguna in search of her henpecked husband, tiburcio de Espadana, who has deserted her; Paulita Gomez, her beautiful niece; Ben-Zayb (anagram of ibanez), a Spanish journalist who writes silly articles about Filipinos; Padre Sibyla, Vice-Rector of the University of Sto. Tomas; Padre Camorra, the parish priest
of the town of Tiani; Don Custodio, a pro-Spanish Filipino holding a high position in the hovernment; Padre Salvi, thin Franciscan friar and former cura of San diego; Padre Irene, a kinf friar who was a friend of the Filipino students; Padre Florentino, a retired scholarly and patriotic Filipno priest; Isagani, a poet-nephew of Padre Florentino and a lover of paulita; and basilio, son of Sisa and promising medical student, whose medical education is financed by his patron, Capitan tiago. Simoun, a man of wealth and mystery, is a very close friend and confidante of the Spanish governor general. Because of his great influence in Malacanang, he was called the “Brown Cardinal” or the “Black Eminence”. By using his wealth and his political influence, he encourages corruption in the government, promotes the oppression of the masses, and hastens the moral degradation of the country so that the people may become desperate and fight. He 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 at the last hour he hears the sad news that Maria Clara died in the nunnery. In his agonizing moment of bereavement, he did not give the signal for the outbreak of hostilities. After a long of illness brought about by the bitter loss of Maria Clara, Simoun perfects his plan to overthrow the government. On the occasion of the wedding of Paulita Gomez and Juanito Pelaez, he gives as wedding gift to them a beautiful lamp. Only he and his confidential associate; Basilio (Sisa’s son who joined his revolutionary cause), know that when the wick of his lamp burns lower the nitroglyverine, hidden in its secret compartment, will explode, destroying the house where the wedding feast is going to be held and killing all the guests, including the governor general, the friars, and the government officials. Simultaneously, all the government buildings in Manila will be blown by Simoun’s followers. As the wedding feast begins, the poet Isagani, who has been rejected by Paulita because of his liberal ideas, is standing outside the house, watching sorrowfully the merriment inside. Basilio, his friend, warns him to go away because the lighted lamp will soon explode. Upon hearing the horrible secret of the lamp, Isagani realizes that his beloved Paulita was in grave danger. To save her life, he rushes into the house, seizes the lighted lamp, and hurls it into river, where it explodes. The revolutionary plot was thus discovered. Simoun was cornered by the soldiers, but he escaped. Mortally wounded, and carrying his treasure chest, he sought refuge in the home of Padre Florentino by the sea. The Spanish authorities, however, learns of his presence in the house of Padre Florentino, revealing his true identity, his dastardly plan to use his wealth to avenge himself, and his sinister aim to destroy his friends and enemies. The confession of the dying Simoun is long and painful. It is already night when Padre Florentino, wiping the sweat from his wrinkled brow, rises and begins to meditate. He consoles the dying man, saying: “God will forgive you, Senor 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 mervy. 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!” Watching Simoun die peacefully with a clear conscience and at peace with God, Padre Florentino murmurs: “Where are the youth who will consecrate their golden hours, their illusions, and their enthusiasm to the welfare of their native land? Where are the youth who will generously pour out their blood to wash away so much shame, so much crime, so much abomination? Pure and spotless must the victim be that the sacrifice may be acceptable! Where are you, youth, who will embody in yourselves the vigor of life that has left our veins, the purity of ideas that has been contaminated in our brains, the fire of enthusiasm that has been quenched in our hearts! We await you, O youth! Come, for we await you!”
Padre Florentino falls upon his knees and prays for the dead jeweler. He takes the treasure chest and throws it into the sea. As the waves close over the sinking chest, he invokes: “May nature guard you in her deep abysses among the pearls and corals of her eternal seas. When for some holy and sublime purposes man may need you, God will in His wisdom draw you from the bosom of the waves. Meanwhile, there you will not work woe, you will not distort justice, you will not foment avarice!”
There are other characters in el Filibusterismo. There is Cabesang Tales, who is dispossessed of his land in Tiani by the friars like that of rizal’s father. In desperation, he becomes a bandit chieftain named Matanglawin. His daughter Juli, sweetheart of basilio (Sisa’s son), kills herself rather that be dis honored by Padre camorra. There is macaraig, a rich student and leader of the Filipino students in their movement to have an academy where they could learn Spanish. There is the bigoted dominican friar-professor, Padre Millon, who teaches physics in the University of Snato Tomas without scientific experiments. One of his students, Placido Penitente from batangas, becomes discontented with the poor method of instruction in the university. And there is Senor pasta, the old Filipino lawyer, who refuses to help the Filipino students in their petition to the government for educational reforms. Other characters in el Filibusterismo are Tandang Selo, grandfather of Juli and cabesang tales’ father; Mr. American impressario who owned the sideshow at the feria (fair) of quiapo exhibiting and Egyptian mummy; Sandoval, a Spaninsh student who supports the cause of the Filipino students to propagate the teaching of spanish; Pecson, one of the Filipino students who agitates for the teaching of spanish; Cabesana Andang, the mother of Placido Penitente; Pepay; the pretty dancer and mistress of Don Custodio; Padre Fernandez, a good Dominican friar and friend of Isagani; Don Timoteo, the father of Juanito Pelaez; Tano, the son of cabesang tales and brother of Juli; And chichay, the silversmith who made the bridal earrings for Paulita Gomez. As in the Noli the characters in El Filibusterismo were drawn by Rizal from real life. For instance, Padre Florentino was father Leoncio Lopez, rizal’s friend and priest of calamba; isagani, the poet was Vicente Ilustre, batagueno friend of rizal in Madrid and Paulita Gomez, thegirl who loved Isagani but
married Juanito Pelaez, was Leonor Rivera.
“Noli” and “Fili” Compared. The two novels of Rizal vary in many respects, although they are
written by the same author and are supposed to be dealing with the same story and have the same characters. The Noli is a romantic novel; it is a “work of the heart” – a “book of feeling”; it has freshness, color, humor, lightness and wit. On the other hand, the Fili is a political novel; it is a “work of the head”; a “ book of the thought”; it contains bitterness, hatred, pain, violence and sorrow. The original intention of Rizal was to make the Fili longer than the Noli. As printed, however, it is shorter than the Noli. It contains 38 chapters as against the Noli’s 64. Rizal had to cut the Fili drastically owing to lack of funds. The friends of Rizal and our Rizalists today differ in opinion as to which is the superior novel – the Noli or the Fili. Rizal himself considered the Noli as superior to the Fili as a novel thereby agreeing with M.H. del Pilar who had the same opinion. Retana, Rizal’s first Spanish biographer, also believes that the Noli is superior than the Fili. However, others – including Blumentritt, Graciano Lopez Jaena, and Dr. Rafael Palma, - are of the opinion that the Fili is superior to the Noli. Lopez Jaena in a letter to Rizal dated October 2, 1891 , said: “ El Filibusterismo is a novel superior to your Noli Me Tangere, as much for its exquisite delicate, literary style, its easy and correct dialogue, its clear phraseology, vigorous and elegant, as for its profound ideas and sublime thoughts”. However, he was not satisfied fully with the Fili as political novel because its “end is not a worthy climax to a work so beautiful”. Accordingly, he advised Rizal to write another novel which would give a definite solution to mthe country’s problem so that “the coming of the beautiful day of our redemption” may be hastened. The issue of which is the superior novel – the Noli or the Fili – is purely academic. Both are good novels from the point of view of history. Both depict with realistic colors the actual conditions of the Philippines and the Filipinos during the decadent days of Spanish rule; both are instrumental in awakening the spirit of Filipino nationalism; and both are responsible in paving the ground for the Philippine Revolution that brought about the downfall of Spain. Neither the Noli or the Fili are superior to one another. As Mariano Ponce aptly told Rizal, after reading the Fili: “ It is, indeed, excellent, I can say nothing of your book, but this: It is really marvelous like all the brilliant productions of your pen. It is the true twin of the Noli”. R izal’s Unfinished Third Novel . Even before Lopez Jaena suggested the writing of another novel,
Rizal had already in mind to pen a third novel. On September 22, 1891, four days after the Fili came of 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 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. On October 18, 1891, Rizal boarded the steamer Melbourne in Merseilles bound for Hongkong. During the voyage he began writing the third novle in tagalog which he intended for Tagalog readers. In Hongkong he continued it, but for some reason or another he did not finish it. The unfinished third novel has no title. It consists of 44 pages (33 cm. x 21 cm.) in Rizal’s
handwriting, still in manuscript form, it is preserved in t he National Library, Manila. The story of this unfinished novel begins with the solemn burial of Prince Tagulima, son of Sultan Zaide of Ternate on Malapad-na-Bato, abig rock on the bank of the Pasig River. Sultan Zaide with his family and retainers, was taken prisoner by the spaniards during the wars in the Mollucas 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. 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 encomendero of Bay, Laguna. Rizal’s Other Unfinished Novel. Rizal had other unfinished novels. One of the is entitled
Makamisa, a novel in Tagalog. It is written in a light sarcastic style and is incomplete for only two chapters are finished. The manuscript consist of 20 pages, 23 cm x 16 cm. A novel in Spanish about the life in Pili, a town in Laguna, is also unfinished. The manuscript consists of 147 pages, 8” x 6.5”, without title. Among the characters are the following: Padre Agaton, a Spanish friar; Capitan Panchong and Capitana Barang; Cecilia, their pretty daughter; Isagani, lover of Cecilia; Capitan Cripin, political rival of Panchong; and Dr. Lopez, a free thinker. Another unfinished novel of Rizal, also without title, is about Cristobal, a youthful Filipino student who has returned from Europe. The manuscript consists of 34 pages, 8 ½ “ x 6 ¼ “. Among the characters are Cristobal, who had studied for 12 years in Europe; Amelia, his sweetheart; Capitan Ramon, the father of Cristobal; a Dominican friar; a Franciscan friar; and a Spanish lieutant of the Guardia Civil. The beginnings of another novel are contained in two notebooks – the first notebook contains 31 written pages, 35.5 cm x 22 cm, and the second 12 written pages, 22 cm x 17 cm. Through the mouth of the celestial characters, the author describes the deploravle condition sof the Phillipines. This unfinished nivel is written in Spanish and the style is ironic.
