Rizal

• The Rizal Bill was as controversial as Jose Rizal himself
• Transition from Rizal Bill to Republic Act 1425


  1. Proposal met with intense opposition, particularly from the Catholic Church

  2. Claro M. Recto dubbed as communist and anti-Catholic

  3. Bill eventually passed with clause allowing exemptions for students
• Republic Act 1425


  An Act to Include in the Curricula of All Public and Private Schools, Colleges and Universities Courses on the Life, Works and Writings of Jose Rizal, Particularly His Novels Noli Me Tangere and El Filibusterismo. Authorizing the Printing and Distribution Thereof, and for Other Purposes
• No student has yet officially applied for exemption from reading Rizal's novels
• Republic Act No. 229 prohibits cockfighting, horse racing, and jai-alai on Rizal Day
• Importance of studying Rizal

  • Provides insights into how to deal with current problems
  • Helps us understand ourselves as Filipinos
  • Teaches nationalism and patriotism
  • Provides essential life lessons
  • Helps develop logical and critical thinking
  • Rizal can serve as a worthwhile model and inspiration
  • Rich source of entertaining narratives
• Contextualization aids comprehension of Rizal's life, thoughts, and works
• Aspects of 19th century Philippines as Rizal's context

  • Economic
  • Social
  • Political
• Galleon Trade


  Ship trade going back and forth between Manila and Acapulco, Mexico from 1565 to 1815
• Galleon Trade allowed modern, liberal ideas to enter the Philippines and gradually inspired the movement for independence from Spain
• Suez Canal


  Artificial sea-level waterway in Egypt that connects the Mediterranean Sea to the Red Sea, opened in 1869
• Opening of the Suez Canal


  Considerably shortened the distance of travel between Europe and the Philippines, bringing the country closer to Spain
• The Suez Canal expedited the import of liberal ideas and enabled the growth of nationalistic desires of Jose Rizal and other Filipino ilustrados
• de Lesseps


  Person who officially opened the Suez Canal on November 17, 1869
• Countries bordering the Suez Canal

  • ITALY
  • GREECE
  • TURKEY
  • EGYPT
  • SAUDI ARABIA
  • SUDAN
  • YEMEN
• Bodies of water related to the Suez Canal

  • MEDITERRANEAN SEA
  • SUEZ CANAL
  • RED SEA
  • INDIAN OCEAN
• When completed in 1869, the Suez Canal measured 100 miles long, 30 feet deep, and 100 feet wide
• Before the opening of the Suez Canal


  A steamer from Barcelona had to sail around the Cape of Good Hope to reach Manila after a menacing journey of more than three months
• With the Suez Canal


  The voyage from Barcelona to Manila was lessened to only 32 to 40 days
• The opening of the Suez Canal became a huge advantage in commercial enterprises especially between Europe and East Asia
• The Suez Canal enabled the growth of nationalistic desires of Jose Rizal and other Filipino ilustrados
• The Suez Canal expedited the importation of books, magazines, and newspapers with liberal ideas from America and Europe, which ultimately affected the minds of Rizal and other Filipino reformists
• The reduced route stimulated more and more Spaniards and Europeans with liberal ideas to come to the Philippines and interact with local reformists
• The availability of the Suez Canal encouraged the ilustrados, especially Jose Rizal, to pursue education abroad and learn scientific and liberal ideas in European academic institutions
• Their social dealings with liberals in the West have influenced the ilustrados' thoughts on nationhood, politics, and government
• During the Galleon Trade, most of the Spaniards in the Philippines were engrossed in maritime trading undertakings between Manila and Mexico
• The exploitation of the Philippines' natural resources and the progress of an export crop economy were phenomena of the nineteenth century, not of the Spanish rule's early period
• Between 1820 and 1870, the Philippines was well on its way of developing an export crop economy with products such as sugar, Manila hemp, and coffee produced for foreign markets
• The development of the export crop industry in the Philippines was motivated by the commercial undertakings of North European and North American merchants, who provided capital, organization, and access to foreign markets and sources of imports
• After 1850, government monopoly contracts for the collection of different revenues were opened to foreigners for the first time, and the Chinese instantly took advantage of this commercial opportunity
• The opium monopoly was specifically a profitable one, as the Spanish government had legalized the use of opium (provided it was limited to Chinese) and a government monopoly of opium importation and sales was created, with the majority of contracts held by the Chinese
• Even before 1850, there were monopolies on some products that were basically controlled by the colonial government, such as spirituous liquors, betel nut, tobacco, and explosives
• The tobacco monopoly, established in 1782, aimed to increase government revenue and forced local farmers to sell their tobacco produce only to the government at a pre-designated price, leaving little or no profit for them
• The tobacco monopoly was finally abolished in 1882, after a century of hardship and social injustice caused by it, which prompted Filipinos to seek freedom from colonial bondage
• With the coming of Spanish colonizers, the European system of education was somewhat introduced to the Philippines, with schools established and run by Catholic missionaries
• King Philip II's Leyes de Indias (Laws of the Indies) mandated Spanish authorities in the Philippines to educate the locals, but the Spanish missionaries did not seriously teach them the Spanish language, fearing that the Indios would become so knowledgeable and turn out to be their co-equal
• The first formal schools in the land were the parochial schools opened by the missionaries, where native children were taught reading, writing, arithmetic, and some vocational and practical arts subjects, as well as Latin instead of Spanish
• University education was opened in the country during the early part of the 17th century, initially only for Spaniards and those with Spanish blood, and it was only in the 19th century that these universities started accepting native Filipinos
• In 1863, a royal decree called for the establishment of a public school system in the Philippines, though the church still controlled its curriculum
• The opening of the Suez Canal made travel to Europe faster, easier, and more affordable, allowing many locals to pursue higher and better education in that continent, where nationalism and the thirst for reform bloomed in the liberal atmosphere