Chapter 5: Assignment

Spain and the Philippines in the 19th Century

Sr. Erica Noreen U. Tinio, FdCC
BSED IV-E

1. How was Rizal influence by the panoramic beauty of Calamba? (15pts)

Jose Rizal had many memories of childhood in his native town. He grew up in a happy
home, ruled by good parents bubbling with joy and sanctified by God’s blessings. Calamba, the
Hero’s town. Calamba was a hacienda town which belonged to the Dominican order, which also
owned all the lands around it. It is a picturesque town nestling on a verdant plain covered with
irrigated ricefields and Sugar land. A few kilometers to the south looms the legendary Mount
Makiling in somnolent grandeur and beyond this mountain is the province of the Batangas

Hereditary Influence: From his Malayan ancestors, Rizal inherited his love for freedom,
his innate desire to travel, and his indomitable courage. From his Chinese ancestors, he derived
his serious nature, frugality, patience, and love for children. From his Spanish ancestors, he got
his elegance of bearing, sensitivity to insult, and gallantry to ladies. From his father, he inherited
a profound sense of self-respect, the love for work, and the habit of independent thinking. And
from his mother, he inherited his religious nature, the spirit of self-sacrifice, and the passion for
arts and literature.

Environmental Influence: The scenic beauties of Calamba and the beautiful garden of the
Rizal family stimulated the inborn artistic and literary talents of Jose Rizal. The religious
atmosphere at his home fortified his religious nature. His brother, Paciano, instilled in his mind
the love for freedom and justice. From his sisters, he learned to be courteous and kind to women.
His three uncles, inspired him to develop his artistic ability, to develop his frail body and
intensified his voracious reading of good books.

2. Describe the political, economic and social condition in Calamba in the 19th century? (15pts)

Rizal was already well aware about the worsening land conflict in the town of Calamba,
Laguna between the hacienda management and the group of tenants before he returned home ,
after many years of his stay in Europe in 1887. These tenants, including his family and some
relatives, leased tracts of agricultural lands from the Dominican Order, owner of the vast
productive hacienda in the province of Laguna. The conflict rose from the continued unreasonable
increased of rentals, land confiscation and other exploitative practices of the hacienda
management. These caused financial hardships to the tenants, and worsened by other factors
such as poor harvests, crops destroyed by unfavorable weather and pestilence. Upon his arrival
from Europe, the beleaguered tenants of Calamba asked him to conduct an investigation
regarding the controversial fertile lands owned by the Dominican friars in relation to the
agricultural problem that pitted the tenants against the wealthy powerful owners. The findings of
his investigation, which he formally submitted to the colonial government, were the following:
 • The hacienda of the Dominican Order comprised not only the lands around Calamba, but
also the town of Calamba.
• The profits of the Dominican Order continually increased because of the arbitrary increase
of the rentals paid by the tenants.
• The hacienda owner never contributed a single centavo for the celebration of the town
fiesta, for the education of the children, and for the improvement of agriculture.
• Tenants, who had spent much labor in clearing the lands, were dispossessed of said lands
for flimsy reasons.
• High rates of interests were charged the tenants for delayed payment of rentals, and
when the rentals could not be paid, the hacienda management confiscated their
carabaos, tools, and homes.

As Rizal already got the ire of the friars (Spanish priests from religious congregations) after
the publication of his first novel, Noli me Tangere, became known to the latter, their hatred to
him intensified further, particularly to the Dominicans, because of his involvement in the
investigation on the land problem in Calamba. On that same year, 1887, Rizal left for Europe again
to conduct historical research, write the second novel – El Filibusterismo – and undoubtedly, to
stay away from his enemies. His exposure to the problem in Calamba gained him important
materials which he used as source that enriched the sequel of the famous 1887 novel.

In 1890 while in Brussels (Belgium), Rizal learned that his family, relatives and some
tenants who were in conflict with the hacienda management in Calamba were dispossessed of
their lands after the court in Madrid issued its conclusion in favor of the Dominican Order. The
suit filed by the landowning friars against the tenants was a response to the refusal of Don
Francisco Mercado, father of Dr. Rizal, to pay the land rents because the hacienda management
continually raised the cost of the rental. More tenants also refused to pay the rentals which they
also viewed as unreasonable. Thereafter, some family members of Rizal and other tenants faced
persecution from the authorities in relation to the agrarian conflict in Calamba. Paciano (Rizal’s
older brother) and his brothers-in-law Antonio Lopez and Silvestre Ubaldo were deported to
Mindoro, while Manuel T. Hidalgo, another brother-in-law, was banished, for the second time, to
the island of Bohol.

The agrarian problem in Calamba that worsened in 1887 until it caused the dispossession
of the tenants of their land in 1890 had encouraged Rizal to establish a Filipino settlement in the
island of Borneo, which was at the time under the British protectorate. Rizal wanted to move
landless Filipinos including his families and friends to North Borneo (Sabah) to occupy assigned
lands for them offered by the British North Borneo Company, engaged in lucrative agriculture and
rebuild their lives. Rizal successfully obtained an agreement with the British authorities of Borneo
that allowed the potential Filipino colonists to occupy around 100,000 acres, a beautiful harbor,
and would provide them a good government for 999 years, free of all charges. This is known as
the Borneo Colonization Project which was enthusiastically endorsed or supported by many
friends of Rizal including prominent figures in our history like the Luna brothers (Juan and
Antonio), Graciano Lopez-Jaena, and his Austrian friend, Ferdinand Blumentritt. Unfortunately,
Governor-General Eulogio Despujol rejected the project because he argued that the Filipino
 immigration to Borneo was contrary to the interest of Spanish colonial rule.

3. In what particular ways did the following shape Rizal's character and personality as a young boy?
(4pts@)

3.1. Stories told by the personal servant

• The imagery tales narrated to Rizal by his personal servant aroused in him an enduring
interest in legends and folklores

3.2. Frequent play session with Concha

• At the age of four, Rizal experienced his first sorrow. This was when his younger sister
Conception, whom he fondly called Concha, died. It was the first time he cried as a
young boy, since it was from her that Rizal learned the importance of sisterly love.

3.3. Family prayers during Angelus

• He grew up a pious Catholic owing to the training provided him by his mother. At
three years old, he learned how to pray and even read the Bible.

3.4. Frequent visits to Father Leoncio Lopez

• His frequent visit to Father Leoncio Lopez, the parish priest of Calamba, who made
the young Rizal the need to develop a sound philosophy of life. It was also from him
that Rizal learned the value of scholarship and intellectual honesty.

3.5. Regular reveries at Laguna de Bay

• From the foregoing usual activity of Rizal at the lakeshore, it can be noted that he was
a good observer, noting every detail of what he actually saw. These observations of
Rizal had an impact on the shaping of his political and social ideas later.