RIZAL’S 9 POINTS FOR PHILIPPINE PROGRESS

By Sir Edwin D. Bael, KGOR

Studying Rizal means being swamped with the huge mass of his many works. Perhaps we can – from time to time – take from this mountain some bite-size morsels for our modern-day use. Here are what might be called Dr. Rizal’s 9 Points for Philippine Progress with supporting quotes. I believe that these could be of help in our strivings to also work “ad majorem Fil gloriam” or for the greater glory of the Philippines (Letter to Mariano Ponce, Ep. Rizalino II, No.191, p.46) and only “For the Welfare of Native Land” (Letter to Mariano Ponce, 27 July 1888): 

1. Conduct in Associations – being courteous and considerate.

“In young associations the spirit of tolerance ought to prevail when it concerns trifles that do not affect the essential part of a thing; in the discussions, the conciliatory tendency ought to dominate before the tendency to oppose. No one should resent defeat. When any opinion is rejected, its author, instead of despairing and withdrawing, should on the contrary wait for another occasion in which justice may be done him. The individual should give way to the welfare of society. And so that the very delicate self-esteem of the Filipino – who is besides an unconscious individualist – may come out least hurt in the discussion, and discontent may be avoided, it would be advisable that to all propositions, proposals, projects, etc. should always be added the ending: We think thus, if the other members have no objection, or any other similar phrase that you may deem more appropriate. I have heard many discussions arising from questions of self-esteem. Laying this aside, the decisions of the majority, after a sufficient discussion, are sacred and unquestionable.”  “A great deal of integrity and much good will. No one should expect rewards or honors for what he does. He who does his duty in the expectation of rewards, is usually disappointed, because almost no one believes himself sufficiently rewarded. And so that there may not be discontented or ill-rewarded members, it is advisable for eachone to do his duty just for its own sake and at best to expect to be later treated unjustly, because in anomalous countries, injustice is the prize for those who fulfill their duties.” “Thrift, thrift, thrift. Seriousness and equal justice for all. These are my admonitions, if the members of La Solidaridad have no objection.” (Letter to the Members of La Solidaridad, Barcelona, 28 Jan 1889)

2. Dignity.

“The duty of modern man to my way of thinking is to work for the redemption of humanity, because once man is dignified there would be less unfortunate and more happy men that is possible in this life”. (Science, Virtue, and Labor, a paper read at Solidaridad Lodge, Madrid, 1883)

“Lack of self-respect and excessive timidity invite scorn”. xxxxx “Men are born equal, naked, and without chains. They were not created by God to be enslaved, neither were they endowed with intelligence in order to be misled, nor adorned with reason to be fooled by others. It is not pride to refuse to worship a fellow man, to enlighten the mind, and to reason out everything. The arrogant one is he who wants to be worshipped, who misleads others and who wants his will to prevail over reason and justice.” (Liham sa Mga Kababayang Kadalagahan sa Malolos, Feb1889). 

“A nation wins respect not by covering up abuses, but by punishing them and condemning them”. (The Philippines a Century Hence, La Solidaridad, 15 Dec 1889). 

“To fall with the head high and a serene brow is not to fall, it is to triumph. The sad thing is to fall with the stain of dishonor.” (Letter to his sister Soledad, Brussels, 6 June 1890).

“Man is not a brute, he is not a   machine… His object is to seek happiness for himself and his fellow men by following the road towards progress and perfection.” (The Indolence of the Filipino, La Solidaridad, 15 July 1890)

“Thus while they try to make of the Filipino a kind of animal, they expect from him divine actions. And we say divine actions because he must be a God who does not become indolent under the climate and the circumstances already mentioned. Deprive a man then of his dignity, and you not only deprive him of his moral stamina but also you render him useless even to those who want to make use of him. Every being in creation has his spur, his mainspring; man’s is his self-respect; take it away from him and he becomes a corpse; and he who seeks activity in a corpse will only find worms.” (The Indolence of the Filipinos, La Solidaridad, 31 Aug 1890)

“…I wish to show those who deny us patriotism that we know how to die for our duty and our convictions. What matters death if one dies for what one loves, for native land and adored beings?” (Letter to Countrymen, Hongkong, 20 June 1892)

“They have proposed to me to escape; but as I have nothing to reproach myself, I don’t want to be called later a runaway”. (Letter to Dr. Lorenzo Marquez, Dapitan, 15 Mar 1895).

3. Economic Nationalism.

“The smallness of the advancement that the Filipinos have made in three centuries of Hispanism is all due, in my opinion, to the fact that our talented men have died without bequeathing to us nothing more than the fame of their name. We have had very great intellects; we have had a Pinpin, a Dr. Pilapil, a Father Pelaez, a Father Mariano Garcia, a Dr. Joson, and others. We have still a Benedicto Luna, a Lorenzo Francisco, and more. Nevertheless, all that these men have studied, learned and discovered will die with them and end in them, and we shall go back to recommence the study of life. There is then individual progress or improvement in the Philippines, but there is no national, general progress. Here you have the individual as the only one who improves and not the species.” (Letter to Fr Vicente Garcia, Madrid, 7 Jan 1891).

Writing against certain monopolistic practices that restrain trade and prevent free market competition: “Here I have become half physician, half businessman. I have established a commercial company here. I have taught the poor Mindanao folk to unite for trading so that they may become independent and free themselves from the Chinese and thus be less exploited. But I have to talk a great deal with the local governor, who, despite being a good man, is a supporter of the Chinese and prefers the Mongols to the Mindanao people. Fortunately the company is prospering; we make a little profit; and the poor Dapitan folks are becoming active and satisfied”. (Letter to Blumentritt, Dapitan, 29 Aug 1894).

“The purposes of the Association of Dapitan Farmers, are to: improve farm products, obtain better markets for them; collect funds for their purchase; and help the producers and workers by establishing a store wherein they can buy prime commodities at moderate prices. (Dapitan, 1 Jan 1895).

“I vowed not to buy any more from them (Chinese), so that sometimes I find myself very hard up. Now we have almost neither dishes nor tumblers”. (Letter to his mother, Dapitan, 22 Oct 1895).

4. Education.

“All our efforts tend to educate our people – education, education, education, education of our people – education and enlightenment. (Letter to Blumentritt, The Rizal-Blumentritt Correspondence, p. 306)

“I will never be the one to lead the multitude to get by force what the government does not think proper to grant. No! I desire the country’s welfare, therefore I will build a schoolhouse. I seek it by means of instruction, by progressive advancement; without light there is no road.” (Ibarra’s response to Elias who urged rebellion, Noli Me Tangere, Berlin, 1887).

“A school is being founded and the school is the basis of society. The school is the book on which is written the future of the nations. Show us the schools of the people and we will show you what that people is.” (Remarks by the Alcalde of San Diego at the opening of the school funded by Crisostomo Ibarra, Noli Me Tangere, Berlin, 1887).

“Ignorance is bondage, because like mind, like man. A man without a will of his own is a man without personality. The blind who follows other’s opinion is a like a beast led by a halter.” xxxxx “God gave each one his own mind and his own conscience so that he can distinguish between right and wrong. All are born without chains, free, and no one can subject the will and spirit of another. Why would you submit to another your noble and free thought?” xxxxx “Ignorance is ignorance, and not goodness and honor. God fountain of wisdom, does not expect man, created in his image, to allow himself to be fooled and blinded. The gift of reason with which we are endowed must be brightened and utilized.”(Liham sa Mga Kababayang Kadalagahan sa Malolos, Feb 1889). 

“Let us be reasonable and open our eyes, especially you women, because you are the ones who open the minds of men. Consider that a good mother is different from the one created by the friars. Raise your children close to the image of the true God – the God who cannot be bribed, the God who is not avaricious, the God who is the father of all, who is not partial, the God who does not fatten on the blood of the poor, who does not rejoice at the plaints of the afflicted, and does not obfuscate the intelligent mind. Awaken and prepare the mind of the child for every good and desirable idea – love for honor, sincere and firm character, clear mind, clean conduct, noble action, love for one’s fellow men, respect for God – teach this to your children. And because life is full of sorrows and perils, fortify their character against any difficulty, strengthen their hearts against any danger.” (Liham sa Mga Kababayang Kadalagahan sa Malolos, Feb 1889). 

“I am assiduously studying the happenings in our country. I believe that nothing can redeem us except our brains.” (Letter to Marcelo H. del Pilar, Brussles, 4 April 1890)

“We cannot all be doctors; it is necessary that there be some who would cultivate the land.” (Letter to his sister Lucia about the education of his nephews, Ep. Rizalino IV, No. 681, p.274).

“By cultivating poetry and rhetoric [classical education], my sentiments were further elevated, and Virgil, Horace, Cicero, and other authors showed me another road through which I could walk to attain my aspirations”. (Reminiscences of a Manila Student, 1st Ed., pp. 24-25)

“We must confess that there (Philippines) indolence actually and positively exists; but instead of regarding it as the cause of the backwardness and disorder, we should regard it as the effect of the disorder and backwardness, which fosters the growth of a disastrous predisposition.” (The Indolence of Filipinos, La Solidaridad, 15 July 1890)

“Nurtured with the stories of anchorites who lead a contemplative and lazy life, the Filipinos spend theirs giving their money to the Church in the hope of miracles and other wonderful things. Their will is hypnotized. Since childhood they have learned to act mechanically, without knowing the purpose, thanks to the exercise imposed upon them very early of praying for whole hours in an unknown language, of worshipping without questioning, of imposing upon themselves absurdities, while protests of reason are repressed.    Is it any wonder that the Filipino, with this vicious dressing of his intelligence and will – who was formerly logical and consistent as proven by the analysis of his past and his language – should now be a monstrosity of disastrous contradictions? This incessant struggle between reason and duty, between his organism and his new ideals, this civil war which disturbs the peace of his conscience all his life, will in the end paralyze all his energies; and with the aid of the severe climate, makes his eternal vacillation, his doubts, the origin of his indolent disposition. --- “You can’t do more than old So and So! --- Don’t aspire to be greater than the curate! You belong to an inferior race! You haven’t any energy.” They say this to the child; and as it is repeated so often, it has perforce become engraved in his mind and thence it seals and shapes all his actions. The child or the youth who tries to be anything else is charged of being vain and presumptuous; the curate ridicules him with cruel sarcasm, his relatives look upon him with fear, and strangers pity him greatly. No going forward! Get in line and follow the crowd!” (The Indolence of the Filipinos, La Solidaridad, 15 Sept 1890)

“Teach, educate, and enlighten the Indio, rather teach us, educate us, and enlighten us, and indifference, apathy, and indolence will disappear. The blind man who has seen light cannot help but love it. He who has heard once the harmonies of Meyerbeer or the melodies of Rossini cannot help but love music. How who has seen the advantages of a better life will fight to get out of the moral ergastula in which he lives and will always tend towards and look for that object that men desire and dream, of which is the relief of their wretchedness if not the assurance of their happiness, a deity exiled from the earth by men.” (Town Schools in the Philippines, M.S.)

“Go ahead then; study, study, and meditate well what you study. Life is a very serious thing and only those with intelligence and courage go through it worthily. To live is to be among men and to be among men is to struggle. But this struggle is not just a brutal and material struggle with men alone; it is a struggle with them, with one’s self, with their passions and one’s own, with errors and preoccupations. It is an eternal struggle with a smile on the lips and tears in the heart. On this battlefield man has no better weapon than his intelligence, no other force but his heart. Sharpen, perfect, polish then your mind; and fortify and educate your heart.” (Letter to his nephew Alfredo T. Hidalgo, Dapitan, 20Dec 1893)

“My countrymen, I have given proofs that I am one most anxious for liberties for our country, and I am still desirous of them. But I place as a prior condition the education of the people, that by means of instruction and industry our country may have an individuality of its own and make itself worthy of these liberties. I have recommended in my writings the study of the civic virtues, without which there is no redemption. I have written likewise (and I repeat my words) that reforms, to be beneficial, must come from above, that those which come from below are irregularly gained and uncertain.” (Manifesto, 15 Dec 1896, Fort Santiago)

5. Filipino Solidarity and National Unity.

“In my heart I have suppressed all loves, except that of my native land; in my mind I have erased all ideas which do not signify her progress; and my lips have forgotten the names of the native races in the Philippines in order not to say more than Filipinos.” (Speech, ‘Farewell to 1883’, MS)

“Let this be our only motto: for the welfare of the Native Land. On the day when all Filipinos should think like him (M H del Pilar) and like us, on that day we shall have fulfilled our arduous mission, which is the formation of the Filipino nation.” (Letter to Mariano Ponce, 27 July 1888).

“He who wants to help himself should help others, because if he neglects others, he too will be neglected by them. One midrib is easy to break, but not a bundle of many midribs tied together”. (Liham sa Mga Kababayang Kadalagahan sa Malolos, Feb1889).

“Union, goodwill, and good feelings – these are all that we need” (Letter to Graciano Lopez Jaena, Paris, Mar 1889).

“Now the Filipino colony is getting to understand the advantages of unity; now we all know that iron is strong and air is compressible because the molecules of the latter have little cohesion while the other form a most compact mass, scarcely leaving any vacuum between them. I understand Gentlemen, that in this situation, the prerogatives of individual liberty suffer, but fate wills it so. The molecules of the most solid and compact body by are most compressed, and the most powerful armies are the most disciplined. What does it matter to us, Gentlemen, to sacrifice part of our liberties if we lay them down on the altar of the mother country, if those particles that we give up are in the grains that are saved to be planted and later we reap an abundant harvest? Gentlemen, let us maintain firmly union and solidarity among us; let the good of the mother country be our only cause; and let us prove to everyone and let us make it clear, that if a Filipino wills, he can.” (Speech at the Café Habanero, Madrid, 31 Dec 1891)

“The Aims of the Liga Filipina are: (a) To unite the whole archipelago into one compact, vigorous, and homogenous body; (b) Mutual protection in every case of difficulty and need; (c) Defense against every violence and injustice; (d) Development of education, agriculture, and commerce; (d) Study and application of reforms.” (Constitution of La Liga Filipina, 3 July 1892, Ilaya Street, Tondo, Manila) 

6. Good Citizenship.

“The principal thing that should be demanded from a Filipino of our generation is not to be a literary man but to be a good man, a good citizen who would help his country to progress with his head, his heart, and if need be, with his arms. With the head and the heart we ought to work always; with the arms when the time comes.” (Letter to Mariano Ponce, London, 27June1888).

“To serve our country, there is nothing like staying in it. It is there (Philippines) that we have to educate the people; it is there that we have to work. It is all right for young men to come here (Europe) to study, but those who have already finished their studies ought to return and live there.” (Letter to Jose M. Basa, Primrose Hill, N.W., Jan 1889)

“If our countrymen are counting on us here in Europe, they are very much mistaken. I do not want to deceive anyone. If there is no money, we cannot do much. But we can help them with our life in our country. That general error that we can help here in this distant country is very, very wrong. Medicine should be brought near to the patient. xxxxx The battlefield is the Philippines: There is where we should meet. God will that my parents may not die yet and you will see me then again in our native land. There we will help one another; there together we will suffer or triumph perhaps. (Fragment of a Tagalog letter of Rizal, Europe, Oct 1891)

‘Tomorrow we shall be citizens of the Philippines whose destiny will be beautiful because it will be in loving hands. Oh, yes! The future is ours, it is rosy. I see life stirring in these regions, so long dead and lethargic… I see towns rising along the railways and factories everywhere and buildings like that at Mandaluyong. I hear the ships’ whistle, the concussion of trains, the clatter of machineries… xxxxx We shall move rapidly in comfortable coaches to seek in the interior other airs, other panoramas on other beaches, cooler temperature on the slopes of the mountains… Our armed ships will guard the coasts. xxxxx Freed from the system of exploitation, without displeasures or mistrust, the people will work, because then work will cease to be opprobrious, will cease to be servile, as an imposition on the slave… xxxxx and commerce, industry, agriculture, the sciences will develop under the protection of freedom and wise and equitable laws….” (El Filibusterismo, Ghent, 1891)

“Where are the youth who will consecrate their budding years, their idealism and enthusiasm to the welfare of their country? 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 hearts? We await you, O youth! Come, for we await you!” (Final Soliloquy of Fr. Florentino, El Filibusterismo, Ghent, 1891)

7. Human Rights.

“We are struggling for our rights, for human rights.” (Letter to Blumentritt, Ep. Rizalino V, Part I, No. 47, p. 284)

“Liberty is a woman who grants her favors only to the brave. Enslaved peoples have to suffer much to win her and those who abuse her lose her. Liberty is not obtained bobilis bobilis (without pain or merit), nor is it granted gratis et amore. (Letter to members of La Solidaridad, Ep. Rizalino II, No 250, p.158).

“This entry [of Jesus into Jerusalem] decided the fate of the jealous priests, the Pharisees, of all those who believed themselves the only ones who had the right to speak in the name of God, of those who would not admit the truths said by others because they have not been said by them. That triumph, those hosannas, all those flowers, those olive branches, were not for Jesus alone; they were the songs of the victory of the new law, they were the canticles celebrating the dignification of man, the liberty of man, the first mortal blow directed against despotism and slavery…" (Dimanche des Rameaux, [Palm Sunday] a socio-political essay written in French, published in Berlin, 30 Nov 1886). 

“…there is no sufficient gunpowder in the world that can justify the attacks against the liberty of the individual, against the sanctity of the home, against the laws, against peace and honor…” (The Philippines A Century Hence, La Solidaridad, 15 Dec 1889)

8. Patriotism and Love of Country.

“At the sight of … injustices and cruelties, while still a child, my imagination was awakened and I swore to devote myself to avenge one day so many victims, and with this idea in mind I have been studying and this can be read in all my works and writings. God will someday give me an opportunity to carry out my promise.  xxxxx  Some will say: ‘these imprisonments and these deaths frighten and intimidate the others!’ If the people are really courageous, after the terror, they will return to the fight with more ardor and avenge the fallen, as it happens in the cauterization of a wound – it seems that the burnt part has died, but the next day it is seen that a new and more healthy element replaces the crust. If the people are not brave, if they are cowardly, like a diseased organism, infected, and close to disintegration, then fire is precisely the most recommendable. Fire awakens vitality, irritates the cellule, makes the fluid vibrate, etc. and the body dies only if no vitality exists in it. What for should we dedicate ourselves to labor for a people without a soul, without sentiments? Suppose we liberate them now from the tyranny of the friar, good; tomorrow they will fall into the tyranny of the government employees.” xxxxx “If these ideas seem to you acceptable, communicate them to our countrymen there, so that they may show more valor, more abnegation, less fear of death and torture, so as to make our enemies respect us.” xxxxx  “The first words that I had said to my family upon arriving in the Philippines, when they manifested to me their fear, were that they should not take the smallest step for my sake if I would be imprisoned nor interpose or spend anything for me, but to educate my nephews and let them avenge me. xxxxx Comfort then and encourage our countrymen over there that they may know that jail is not death and even if it were so, what is death? Don’t they believe in God? I suppose that in the other life there are not many friars to deal with and if there were, they would be reformed. And besides now the Indio is not killed thus.” (Letter to Mariano Ponce and Companions of La Solidaridad, Paris, 18 Apr 1889)

“It is necessary that you study the questions that concern our country. Knowledge of a thing prepares for its control: knowledge is power. We are the only ones who can acquire a perfect knowledge of our country, because we know both languages and besides we are informed of the secrets of the people among whom we had been raised.” (Letter to friends in Barcelona, Ep. Rizalino V, No. 219, p. 99)

“We die only once and if we do not die well, we lose a good opportunity which will never come up again… If one has to die, at least one must die in his own country, by his country, and for his country.” (Letter to Mariano Ponce, Brussels, 9 July 1890)

“I would rather give up my life for my people than remain here (Europe) to enjoy a life of leisure.” (Letter to Blumentritt, Brussels, 20 July 1890).

“…love of country is never effaced once it has penetrated the heart, because it carries with it a divine stamp which renders it eternal and imperishable.  It has been said that love is the most powerful force behind most sublime actions; well then, among all loves, that of country is the greatest, the most heroic, and the most disinterested.” (Love of Country, La Solidaridad, 31 Oct 1890)

“Some centuries hence when mankind shall become enlightened and redeemed, when there shall be no races, when all peoples shall become free, when there shall be neither tyrants nor slaves, nor colonies nor metropolis, when justice shall rule, and man shall become a citizen of the world, the cult of science alone shall remain, the word patriotism shall smack of fanaticism, and he who would boast of patriotic virtues will undoubtedly be confined as a dangerous sick man, as a perturber of social harmony.” (El Filibusterismo, Ghent, 1891, p.84)

“Patriotism can only be a crime among oppressors, for then it will be plunder baptized with a beautiful name, but however perfect humanity may be, patriotism shall always be a virtue among the oppressed, because at all times it will signify love for justice, liberty, and dignity itself…” (El Filibusterismo, Ghent, 1891, p. 51)

“I have to return to the Philippines… I have to give an example not to fear death even if this may be terrible.” (Letter to Blumentritt, Ghent, 22 Sept 1891).

“…the thought of my whole life has always been love of my country and her moral and material development.” (Letter to Governor and Captain General, Hongkong, 21 Mar 1892)

9. Perseverance.

“Whether the sacrifice be big or small, whether man be ungrateful and forgetful, whether malice be opposed, or whether sterile and barren egos mock, we ought not to be dismayed before an insignificant failure nor go backward at the least obstacle that is discerned in the horizon. In order that the work of one single individual be crowned with the most brilliant success, necessary are all the favors of Fortune, all the assistance of happy circumstances, a prepared ground, a propitious predisposition; otherwise the voice is lost in the void, like hopes and efforts. Let us work then together and instead of useless lamentations, of disconsolate complaints, of accusations and excuses, let us apply the remedy, let us build,  no matter if we begin with the simplest, for later we shall have time to erect new edifices on that foundation. Step by step one reaches the Temple of Progress whose numerous and fitful steps are not climbed without having faith and conviction in the soul, courage in the heart necessary to facing disillusions, and the gaze fixed on the future. Let us do for the generation that must follow us, which will be either our reward or our reproach, all that we would like to have been done for us by our ancestors, perhaps placed by fate in very fatal circumstances, though full of generous aspirations. The road is ours as the present is ours, and if it is not given to us to reach the end, we may be sure that by fulfilling our duties, the future will be ours also – the future of blessings.” (Town Schools in the Philippines, M.S)

“God has made man free and has promised victory to one who perseveres, to one who struggles, to one who acts justly.” (A Hope, La Solidaridad, 15 July 1890)

Main Reference: Quotations from Rizal’s Writings, National Historical Institute, 4^th printing, 1999