CHAPTER 8

El Filibusterismo
By: Jefferson R. Mendez

[Link] [Link]
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Learning Goals:

1. To compare and contrast the characters, plot, and the theme of Rizal’s two novels.
2. To understand the symbolism and philosophy put forward by Rizal in Noli and El Fili.
3. To examine the value of the role being played by the youth in the development and future of
the society.

Guide Questions

1. By scrutinizing Rizal’s El Fili, Is their a resonance between the society described by Rizal in
El Fili and the Philippines’ present condition? Explain your answer.
2. By reading Rizal’s El Fili, what are the laments or sentiments of Rizal on national social issues
and political crisis as well as armed revolution?
3. Having read Rizal’s two novels, do you think Rizal is anti or pro revolution? From your own
perspective, does the general message of these two novels contradict Andres Bonifacio’s
notions of freedom and revolution?
4. In your own views, do you think Rizal’s two eternal novels sparked the revolution? yes or no?
and why?
5. What is the main role of Rizal’s novels in awakening the Filipino people’s consciousness
during his time and the present?

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Introduction

“Do not mean to say that our liberty will be secured at the sword’s point, for the sword plays but little part in modern affairs, but that we must
secure it by making ourselves worthy of it, by exalting the intelligence and the dignity of the individual, by loving justice, right, and greatness,
even to the extent of dying for them”
- Jose Rizal, El Filibusterismo

In this chapter, I’m going to offer a brief but significant discussion of Rizal’s second novel. It is so
obvious that today’s generation are apathetic about the contributions of Filipino writers in the past,
particularly Jose Rizal’s writings. With the age of the 4th Industrial revolution and rise of a tech-savvy
generation, everyone seems to be bored with the lessons coming from the past and wondered a lot
with the significant benefit of history to their own lives. In this case, I would like to compare and
contrast the characters, plot, and theme of the Noli and El Fili to see the real value of the youth
towards nation-building and offer a valid role of the youth in the development and future of the
society.

El Filibusterismo was written about four years after Noli. In this novel, Rizal discloses a more mature
and less hopeful outlook regarding the political and social situation in the Philippines. The frustrations
he had experienced in his efforts toward social reform in those years’ account for the book's grayer
tone. Rizal himself considered Fili to be a better, more profound novel than Noli. His biographer
Wenceslao P. Retana concurs that as a political novel, it is superior to any other novels of Rizal. Upon
the completion of El Filibusterismo Rizal wrote to Blumentritt:

"I have not written in it any idea of vengeance against my enemies, but only for the good of those who
suffer, for the rights of Tagalogs...."

Given the reaction to his first book, Rizal tried to avoid allowing the second one to fall into the hands
of the Spaniards. He had after all written El Filibusterismo not for the Spaniards but for the Filipino
people to read. After distributing copies of the first edition to his friends in Europe, Rizal designated
most of the remainder to be sent to the Philippines. The books were first sent to his residence in Hong
Kong, and to be smuggled to the Philippines by his friends. Upon shipment to the Philippines the
copies were immediately confiscated by the authorities, making El Filibusterismo a rare book
overnight. The few copies that were circulated were greatly in demand among the Filipinos. The
content of the novel and its dedication were used as proof of Rizal's subversion when he was tried.
Against Rizal's intentions, along with Noli Me Tangere the book inspired Andres Bonifacio and other
revolutionaries in their cause.

The introduction of El Filibusterismo into the Philippines met serious difficulties. The book received
warm eyes from different authorities in the islands. An entire shipment was confiscated and destroyed
in the customhouse of Iloilo, which explains why there are fewer copies of the first edition of the
book than Noli Me Tangere. Rizal dedicated his Fili to the three martyr priest. The deep respect and
veneration of Rizal for the three Filipino priests found expression in the dedication part of the book.
The original manuscript of the El Filibusterismo in Rizal’s handwriting was acquired by the Philippine
government from Valentin Ventura for 10,000 pesos only. It consists of 279 pages of long sheets of
paper.

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Brief Summary of El Fili

The second and last novel completed by José Rizal (though he left behind the unfinished manuscript
of a third one), El Filibusterismo is a sequel to Noli Me Tangere. A dark, brooding, at times satirical
novel of revenge, unfulfilled love, and tragedy, the drama continues in El Fili. Thirteen years have
elapse since the close of the action in Noli. Ibarra, who had survived the chase in the lake and had left
the country with the family fortune, had built up a fabulous wealth in the course of the Cuban wars
and in Cuba had won the confidence of the man who was to be assigned as Governor-General in the
Philippines. When the novel opens, Ibarra is back in the Philippines as the sinister jeweler, Simoun,
who becomes known as the “Grey Eminence” because of his influence on the Governor. With his
wealth and influence, Simoun goes about executing his hidden program of action: to encourage
oppression and corruption, to hasten the putrefaction of a various system by abetting injustices and
sowing hatred. Abandoning his idealism, he becomes a cynical saboteur, seeking revenge against the
Spanish Philippine system responsible for his misfortunes by plotting a revolution. Simoun insinuates
himself into Manila high society and influences every decision of the Captain-General to mismanage
the country’s affairs so that a revolution will break out. He cynically sides with the upper classes,
encouraging them to commit abuses against the masses to encourage the latter to revolt against the
oppressive Spanish colonial regime. This time, he does not attempt to fight the authorities through
legal means, but through violent revolution using the masses. Simoun has reasons for instigating a
revolution. First is to rescue María Clara from the convent and second, to get rid of ills and evils of
Philippine society. His true identity is discovered by a now grown-up Basilio while visiting the grave
of his mother, Sisa, as Simoun was digging near the grave site for his buried treasures. Simoun spares
Basilio’s life and asks him to join in his planned revolution against the government, egging him on by
bringing up the tragic misfortunes of the latter's family. Basilio declines the offer as he still hopes that
the country’s condition will improve. Basilio, at this point, is a graduating student of medicine at the
Ateneo Municipal de Manila. After the death of his mother, Sisa, and the disappearance of his younger
brother, Crispin, Basilio heeded the advice of the dying boatman, Elias, and traveled to Manila to
study. Basilio was adopted by Captain Tiago after Maria Clara entered the convent. With Captain
Tiago’s help, Basilio was able to go to Colegio de San Juan de Letran where, at first, he is frowned
upon by his peers and teachers not only because of the color of his skin but also because of his shabby
appearance. Captain Tiago’s confessor, Father Irene is making Captain Tiago’s health worse by giving
him opium even as Basilio tries hard to prevent Captain Tiago from smoking it. He and other students
want to establish a Spanish language academy so that they can learn to speak and write Spanish despite
the opposition from the Dominican friars of the Universidad de Santo Tomas. With the help of a
reluctant Father Irene as their mediator and Don Custodio’s decision, the academy is founded;
however, they will only serve as caretakers of the school not as the teachers.

Disappointed about this news, they hold a mock celebration at a panciteria while a spy for the friars
reported the said celebration. Simoun, for his part, keeps in close contact with the bandit group of
Kabesang Tales, a former cabeza de barangay who suffered misfortunes at the hands of the friars. Once
a farmer owning a prosperous sugarcane plantation and a cabeza de barangay (barangay head), he was
forced to give everything to the greedy and corrupt Spanish friars. His son, Tano, who became a civil
guard was captured by bandits; his daughter Huli had to work as a maid to get enough money for her
freedom; and his father, Tandang Selo, suffered a stroke and became mute. Before joining the bandits,
Tales took Simoun’s revolver while Simoun was staying at his house for the night. As a recompense,
Tales leaves a locket that once belonged to Maria Clara. To further strengthen the revolution, Simoun
has Quiroga, a Chinese man hoping to be appointed as consul to the Philippines, smuggle weapons
into the country using Quiroga’s bazaar as a front. Simoun wishes to attack during a stage play with

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all of his enemies in attendance. He, however, suddenly aborts the attack when he learns from Basilio
that Maria Clara had died earlier that day in the convent. A few days after the mock celebration by the
students, the people are disturbed when ominous posters are found displayed around the city. The
authorities accuse the students present at the panciteria of demonstration and bothering peace and
has them arrested. Basilio, although not present at the mock celebration, is also obstructed. Captain
Tiago dies after learning of the incident and as stated in his will—forged by Irene, all his properties
are given to the Church, leaving nothing for Basilio. Basilio is left in prison as the other students are
discharged. A high official tries to intercede for the discharge of Basilio but the Captain-General,
coerces him to tender his resignation. Juli, Basilio’s girlfriend and the daughter of Kabesang Tales,
tries to ask Father Camorra’s help upon the advice of an elder woman. Instead of helping Juli,
however, the priest tries to rape her as he has long-hidden desires to the girl. Juli, rather than submit
to the will of the friar, jumps over the balcony to her death. Basilio is soon released with the help of
Simoun. Basilio, now a different man, and after hearing about Juli's suicide, finally joins Simoun’s
revolution. Simoun then tells Basilio his plan at the wedding of Paulita Gomez and Juanito, Basilio’s
hunch-backed classmate. His plan was to conceal an explosive inside a pomegranate-styled
Nitroglycerine powered lamp that Simoun will give to the newlyweds as a gift during the wedding
reception. The reception will take place at the former home of the late Captain Tiago, which was now
filled with explosives planted by Simoun. According to Simoun, the lamp will stay lighted for only 20
minutes before it flickers; if someone attempts to turn the wick, it will explode and kill everyone—
important members of civil society and the Church hierarchy—inside the house. Basilio has a change
of heart and attempts to warn Isagani, his friend and the former boyfriend of Paulita. Simoun leaves
the reception early as planned and leaves a note behind: “Mene Thecel Phares”. —Juan Crisostomo Ibarra
Initially thinking that it was simply a bad joke, Father Salví recognizes the handwriting and confirms
that it was indeed Ibarra’s. As people begin to panic, the lamp flickers. Father Irene tries to turn the
wick up when Isagani, due to his undying love for Paulita, bursts in the room and throws the lamp
into the river, sabotaging Simoun's plans. He escapes by diving into the river as guards’ chase after
him. He later regrets his impulsive action because he had contradicted his own belief that he loved his
nation more than Paulita and that the explosion and revolution could have fulfilled his ideals for
Filipino society. Simoun, now unmasked as the perpetrator of the attempted arson and failed
revolution, becomes a fugitive. Wounded and exhausted after he was shot by the pursuing Guardia
Civil, he seeks shelter at the home of Father Florentino, Isagani’s uncle, and comes under the care of
doctor Tiburcio de Espadaña, Doña Victorina's husband, who was also hiding at the house. Simoun
takes poison in order for him not to be captured alive. Before he dies, he reveals his real identity to
Florentino while they exchange thoughts about the failure of his revolution and why God deserted
him. Florentino opines that God did not forsake him and that his plans were not for the greater good
but for personal gain. Simoun, finally accepting Florentino’s explanation, squeezes his hand and dies.
Florentino then takes Simoun’s remaining jewels and throws them into the Pacific Ocean with the
corals hoping that they would not be used by the greedy, and that when the time came that it would
be used for the greater good, when the nation would be finally deserving liberty for themselves, the
sea would reveal the treasures.

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Institutional Interpretation of Rizal’s two novels

[Link] [Link]
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reflection/

Briefly, the institutional interpretation of Rizal’s Noli and Fili holds that each of the dramatis
personae represents a cultural institution or social movement at play in Philippine society at the time of
Rizal, the reason why Rizal could claim that in it, Noli at least, “Filipinos would find the earlier history
of the Philippines last ten years.” The proponent of this technic of interpretation holds that such a
claim of Rizal would not hold true were he simply writing a novel, which is usually taken as the
interpretations of several lives of individual, particular persons, whether actually living individuals, or
fictionalized from several living persons. Indeed, the claim could only be made if each of such
characters in the novel would symbolize a cultural institution or a social movement in order to portray
the interpenetration of such social currents that funneled into social situations that concretized into
the stage of development of the society within the historical period under consideration. Below are
some samples of symbolic interpretation in order to illustrate the thesis of this technique.

Let us take the principal characters of Noli Me Tangere, such as Maria Clara, Crisostomo
Ibarra, Friars Damaso and Salvi, Elias and Tasio. As the novel had it, Maria Clara was the beautiful
daughter of Captain Tiago and Doña Pia Alba but the author later revealed the secret that she was the
offspring of Friar Damaso, a Spanish priest, and Doña Pia, the wife of Captain Tiago. It was known
that for a long time, that the couple, captain Tiago and Doña Pia, did not have any heir but after had
gone to pay homage for the patron Saint of Obando, the wife conceived and delivered the mestiza
Maria Clara. Institutionally interpreted such narrative would symbolize the historical situation that the
culture represented by the married couple’s experience was that of pre-Spanish Philippines, which
from anthropological observations and judgments therefrom, would be without the promising future
represented by a successor. This was a typical Pacific islands culture which was the natural product of
islanders’ struggle with the nature, possessing only enough momentum to carry it through the struggle
of survival but not promising enough to bring about a better future. Consequently, the conception
and birth of an offspring, in this case Maria Clara, through the intimate relation of Friar Damaso and
Doña Pia, brought about the promise of a better culture characterized by the dominant qualities
inherited from both of the parents. Here we have the priest, Friar Damaso, as the father, and Doña
Pia, a native woman married to a native, as the mother, each parent passing on to the offspring the
dominant characteristics transmissible in the process of procreation. This situation would necessarily
entail that the child, Maria Clara, would be a hybrid offspring, since the father is a Spaniard, more

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particularly a priest, while the mother, a native. Institutionally interpreted Maria Clara would represent
the prevailing culture in the Philippines at the time of Rizal’s writing, a hybrid culture which was priest-
dominated but displaying strong characteristics inherited from the mother. This Maria Clara culture
exhibited, as the novel portrayed, a strong religious leaning being fathered by a dominant religious
institution –the Catholic church –and the noticeable underpinnings of perseverance and modesty,
buttressed by faithfulness to a decision made –characteristics contributed by the native parentage.
Since plot of the novel requires the interaction between Maria Clara and Ibarra, this interpretation
would now lead us to that of Ibarra.

The principle of this interpretation assumes the plot, characterization and interactions exactly
as the novel had them. Therefore, if Maria Clara, the heroine, was interpreted as the prevailing culture
in the Philippines then, Ibarra, the hero, who was supposed to be the sweetheart of the heroine, must
be so interpreted as to permit the kind of interaction narrated in the novel. At this point we should
recall the important role conceived by Rizal for the intellectuals in the national movement forming
the national community. Obviously, Ibarra would represent the Filipino culture which was being
forged in Europe among the young students whom Rizal endeavored to get involved in the national
movement which he spearheaded. This young culture was being formed by the impact of the modern
culture of Europe, which Madrid shared, upon the minds of the Filipino students who were equipped
with the mentality they brought with them from the Philippines. Certainly, the emphasis of this culture
was on science and social preeminence of the political rights of the people. When the writer of the
Noli impressed upon the reader impression the expectation of the union between Maria Clara and
Ibarra, in this interpretation this would be a statement of preference of the author respecting the union
of the two cultures –the prevailing culture in the Philippines (Maria Clara culture) and the Filipino
being developed in Europe (Ibarra culture). The strange fact that the hero Ibarra was coming home
from Europe was not merely a gratuitous elaboration to make the movement of the story impressive
but one of faithful observation of historical movements, since there were such groups of Filipinos
studying abroad at the time of the writing of the novel. And Rizal was one of them. The plot of the
novel developed around this prospect of union between the heroine and the hero, just as the historical
development aimed at could be expected to develop around the amalgamation of the two cultures.
Just as the novel portrayed the story of how other parties interplayed with this prospect, the
development of the life of the Philippine social community would be the object of the interpretation
by bringing in the other cultural institutions and social movements that will interfere with the prospect
of union of the two cultures. This brings us to the introduction of the pertinent characters which
joined the prospect of life for the first two characters.

Two priest were playing important roles in the novel, namely Friar Damaso and Friar Salvi.
Fray Damaso turned out to be the real father of Maria Clara while Fray Salvi was the priest wo
succeeded Fray Damaso in the parish of San Diego. Here we have two classes of priest, the early
missionaries and the succeeding missionaries who become heirs to all achievements of the former.
The early missionaries were brusque, crude, and actual participants in the building of and struggles in
the life of the people, while the later missionaries were preoccupied with the preservation of the gains
already attained by the former. This is what Jose Rizal has exposed in his novel, hence he made Fray
Damaso actually the physical father of Maria Clara while Fray Salvi was very much concerned in
capturing the attention and in dominating through his influence the activity of Maria Clara. For this
purpose, Fray Salvi fake a plot of revolution in the name of Ibarra in order to nullify the latter’s
attraction in the prospect of marriage. The story had it that priest was the one who designed and
affected the plan of frustrating the union. When interpreted in the light of cultures, we may now
venture to say that the prospect of union between the Maria Clara and Ibarra cultures would ultimately

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yield the fading away of the influenced priest-dominated culture, hence the latter would be expected
to do whatever it could to prevent this ominous possibility. The persecution activities instigated by
the priest against Ibarra would here be interpreted as the persecution of the modern scientific culture
by the traditional religious culture represented by the priests and functionaries of the church. Even
more basic than this, as Rizal depicted in the novel, was the reluctance, or the frustrating method, of
teaching science in the institution of higher learning administered by religious order. On many
occasions, Rizal put in the mouth of young students, e.g., Placido Penitente and Isagani, the complaints
that the students did not learn what they should during their stay in the college or university. Viewed
in the light of historical development of the Philippine social life where the prospect of cultural
advancement through the introduction of modern scientific culture into the prevailing culture in the
Philippines at the end of of the 19th Century was opposed by the religious institutions whose efforts
were very effective not only because they were in charge of the educational processes but also because
of their holds on the thoughts and beliefs of the general masses.

Two very interesting characters who played no insignificant roles in the novel were introduced.
Reference here is from Elias and Tasio; the former was a rustic, a persecuted individual who stood for
indigenous ideas without benefit of foreign indoctrination and who came from a long time of
persecuted ancestors while the latter was a former student in priesthood who by circumstances, had
to stop his studies and become a diligent student of philosophy on his own endeavor, going beyond
the bounds of limited, religious philosophy to which he was exposed in the seminary. Reflecting on
the roles played by these characters, one cannot help but enquire on the relevance of their introduction
into the flux of interwoven lives that the novel was about. If the writer were selecting the interesting
incidents in the lives of the principal characters, there must have been a plan which would indicate the
events which the novel should be about. The theme of his plan, conscientiously conceived by the
author beforehand, in a priori manner that is, must have determined, in all instance, the choice of the
events and necessarily the introduction of the other with whom this interrelation must be undertaken.
Aside from the underlying motivation, admitted by Rizal, that in Elias and Tasio, he was demonstrating
the good elements existing in the Philippines, what could have been the pertinence of such characters
of the lives of the principal protagonists? What plan could have compelled the introduction of such
characters unless it was that which would bring forth what the author wanted to portray as signifying
the unfolding social phenomena? Elias served the purpose of bringing into the life of Ibarra a
contrasting life story which was to effect a major change in the otherwise ordinary course of
happenings for the latter. Tasio was held in high esteem by Ibarra who recognized the sterling value
of a life not subservient to vested selfish interest but pursuing the life of reason attainable by observing
principles transcending the narrowness of a particular group interest. In fact, the life of Tasio was a
demonstration of a course of behavior oriented to the whole of humanity and seeking the welfare of
mankind. An intriguing point worth noting is the fact that, while Elias and Tasio separately had
separately influenced the life of Ibarra there was no occasion in the novel were these two came across
each other.

If Ibarra were interpreted as a culture, or a cultural movement, how would Elias and Tasio be
interpreted? Elias would at least represent the basic core which was persistent foundation of the pre-
Spanish Filipino culture which survived the onslaught of the invasion by the culture brought to the
Philippines by the Spaniards- the secular and the religious. On the other hand, Tasio represented the
Filipino intellectuals who never left the country and who came under the tutorship of the religious
institutions, being prepared for religious missionary work, but who, due to circumstances at work, had
to disengage from this commitment. Nevertheless, the spirit of inquiry once aroused prodded them
to continue beyond the bounds of limitation imposed by a close religious system and to search for

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wider cultural horizons in the field of speculations and intellectual activity abstracted from mundane
preoccupations –hence Tasio was vulgary called pilosopo under the same atmosphere that occasioned
the prejudice of mixing up the fool and the sage. The case of such Filipino intellectuals who were
introduced to speculations and philosophic ventures by the religious institutions but transcended the
limitation of religious commitment was similar to the case of philosophic adventure since the
renaissance –beginning from religious philosophy but progressing philosophic adventure beyond
religion.

Conclusion

“I have always loved my poor country, and I am sure that I shall love her until death, if by chance men are unjust to me; and I shall enjoy the
happy life, contented in the thought that all that I have suffered, my past, my present and my future, my love for her. Happen what may, I
shall die blessing her and desiring the dawn of her redemptions.”
-Jose Rizal

From the historical point of view, the two novels are of great importance because both vividly portray
the true condition of the Filipinos during the Spanish regime. In the Fili, long chapters ridicule the
educational system, while new stock characters walk the stage: the old and timid lawyer, the corrupt
Chinese merchant, the ambitious liberal friar. But again even the major characters are simply voices
for particular social positions. The transformation of the noble Ibarra into the vengeful huckster
Simoun is never really motivated. The tortured minds of Father Salví and Father Dámaso—the two
principal villains—are never examined. The students are the most realistic people in either novel, as
one would expect given Rizal’s own experience and position as a youth. But even they do not develop
and change as characters. In both novels, then, the story is thus purely social, an allegory of social life,
populated by social types.

All this tells us what is already automatic in the genre of fiction-as-social- analysis: Rizal’s novels are
intensely positioned. The novels become almost explicit representations of their author’s immediate
perceptions of the social process around him. They are thus doubly ethnographic—first in their own
would-be ethnography of the Philippines during those times and second in their exposition of that
ethnography from so particular a point of view.

But if we locate these novels as analyses of the social history of their time, we see that Rizal has
analyzed one of the many versions of agricultural commercialization characteristic of the late 19th and
early 20th centuries. Landlordism spread worldwide in this period. The process through which
commercial agriculture replaced subsistence throughout most of the world took several human
lifetimes and obliterated many lives. In the Philippines, the friar orders were among the chief
landholders who emerged in this transformation, and their tenants—often illustrado families like the
Mercados—bore the brunt of their attempts to maximize output as the Philippines moved away not
only from subsistence, but also from local commercial agriculture, toward an export economy based
on tobacco and sugar.

Karl Marx and Adam Smith would both have thought that this world- wide process was in some sense
grand and inevitable, although they would have differed on the reasons for the inevitability. But the
great political and moral question is really less about the process’s inevitability than about whether it
could have occurred in some way that would not have ruined millions of human lives. By presenting
his analysis of the capitalist transformation of agriculture in a pair of allegorical novels, Rizal poses

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that question much more effectively than can an abstract treatise. For whatever the abstract analyses
may tell us, history is always experienced in a particular place and time, by particular people and groups.

For Rizal, the most important force in this history is organized religion. Yet there is in his novels a
profound ambivalence about this central phenomenon in human experience. Ibarra in the Noli
continually admires real faith, and the Simoun of the Fili has become corrupted in part because he has
lost such a faith. Moreover, the Noli is clearly organized around the Christ like Ibarra, and the Fili
ends with a passionate exposition of God’s justice as understood by Catholic theology and with an
explicit warning against daring to question God’s motives or acting as God oneself. Rizal surely had
no illusions that this orthodox peroration would gainsay the incendiary quality of his books, so it is
clear that he meant this as a personal statement—perhaps a Hamlet-like confession of his own Christ
complex as mere vainglory.

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Activity 1 (Individual Activity)
Direction: Answer the following questions critically and share them to the class by means of finding
a partner and discuss it while exchanging thoughts on both of your work.

1. Simoun plans to foment civil disturbance to precipitate the fall of the Spanish colonial
government. What are his reasons? Exactly how does he intend to accomplish this? What has
brought him to this point in his life? Discuss his past and its relevance to the narrative of El
Filibusterismo.
2. From the various scenes and descriptions of the Spanish friars such as Camorra, Salví, Sibyla,
Irene et al., what can we deduce about their position in the colonial hierarchy? How do they view
the locals or indios? What can we infer about Rizal’s own views on the friars?
3. At the novel’s conclusion, after Simoun’s suicide, Father Florentino throws the jewel box into the
ocean. Why?
4. Explain the concepts of Maria Clara and Ibarra Cultures and give example each.
5. Compare and Contrast the Noli me tangere to El Filibusterismo.

Activity II (Group Activity)

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References
Anderson, Benedict. “Forms of Consciousness in El Filibusterismo.” Philippine Studies 54.3 (2006):
315-356. Web. 14 July 2018.

---. Imagined Communities: Reflections on the Origin and Spread of Nationalism. 1983. 2nd ed.
London: Verso Books, 2006. Print.

---. “Nitroglycerine in the Pomegranate: Jose Rizal: Paris, Havana, Barcelona, Berlin—1.” New Left
Review 27 (2004): 99-118. Web. August 02, 2018.

Bagulaya, Jose Duke. “The Ilustrados as Literary Critics: Philippine Literary Criticism under Spanish
Rule.” Diliman Review 54.1-4 (2007): 54-76. Print.

Ileto, Reynaldo. Pasyon and Revolution: Popular Movements in the Philippines 1840-1910. Quezon
City: Ateneo de Manila UP, 1979. Print.

---. “Rizal and the Underside of Philippine History.” Filipinos and Their Revolution: Event, Discourse,
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Lacson-Locsin, Ma. Soledad, trans. El Filibusterismo. By Jose Rizal. Makati: Bookmark, Inc., 1996.
Print.

Matibag, Eugenio. “‘El Verbo del Filibusterismo’: Narrative Ruses in the Novels of Jose Rizal.”
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Michaels, Walter Benn. “Political Science Fictions.” New Literary History 31.4 (2000): 649-664. Print.

Mojares, Resil. Origins and Rise of the Filipino Novel. Quezon City: University of the Philippines,
1998. Print.

Radaić, Ante. Jose Rizal, Romantiko Realista. Trans. Trinidad O. Regala. Quezon City: University of
the Philippines P, 1999. Print.

Rafael, Vicente. The Promise of the Foreign: Nationalism and the Technics of Translation in the
Spanish Philippines. Pasig City: Anvil Publications, 2006. Print.

Rizal, Jose. El Filibusterismo. 1891. Manila: National Historical Institute, 1990. Print.

San Juan, Epifanio Jr. “The Discourse of the Other: A Reading of Rizal’s Novels.” Toward a People’s
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Uneversity of the Philippines P, 1982. 21-68. Print.

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