Chapter

10
¥ The publication of Noli Me Tangere caused an uproar
among the friars.
¥ Rizal was warned by Paciano (his brother), Silvestre Ubaldo
(brother-in-law), Chengoy (Jose M. Cecilio), and other
friends not to come home. But he did not heed their
warning.

Rizal’s reasons
1. To operate on his mother’s eyes
2. To serve his people who had long been oppressed by
Spanish tyrants
1. To find out for himself how the Noli and his other writings
were affecting Filipinos and Spaniards alike in the
Philippines.
1. To inquire why Leonor Rivera remained silent.
◆ From Rome he left by train for Marseilles, a
French Port
◆ July 3, 1887
∙ Rizal boarded the steamer Djemnah
◆ July 30, 1887
∙ At Saigon, Rizal transferred to another steamer
Haiphong which was Manila bound.
◆ August 2, 1887
∙ Haiphong left for Manila
◆ August 5, 1887
∙ Near Midnight, Rizal arrived in Manila
◆ Rizal arrived in Calamba on August 8,
1882.
◆ Established a medical clinic and his first
patient was his mother.
◆ Came to be known as “Doctor Uliman”
◆ He earned P900 within a few months as a
physician. By February 1888, he earned a
total P5,000 as medical fees.
◆ Opened a gymnasium where he taught
European (fencing, gymnastics, shooting)
sports to his town mates to discourage
them from gambling and cockfighting.
◆ Failed to see Leonor Rivera.
◆ Invitation from Malacanang Palace by
Governor General Emilio Terrero.
- because somebody had whispered to
the Governor General that the Noli
contains subversive ideas.

◆ When Rizal was informed by Governor

General Terrero of the charge, he
denied it, explaining that he merely
exposed the truth, but he did not
advocate subversive ideas.
◆ Pleased by his explanation and
curious about the controversial book,
the governor general asked the
author for a copy of the Noli so that
he could read it.

◆ Fortunately, he was able to get a

copy of the Noli and hand it to the
Governor General.
Fr. Federico Faura

“Everything in it (Noli) was the

truth.”.

“But you may Lose your head for

it”.
◆ The governor
general knew that
Rizal’s life was in
jeopardy because
the friars were
powerful

◆He assigned a
young spanish
lieutenant,Don
Jose Taviel De
Andrade, a s
bodyguard of Rizal.
🕆 Governor General Terrero read the Noli and found
nothing wrong with it. But Rizal’s enemies were
powerful.

The Archbishop of Manila,

Msgr. Pedro Payo
◆ sent a copy of the Noli to Father
Rector Gregorio Echevarria of the
University of Santo Tomas for
examination by a committee of the
faculty.
◆ Stated that the Noli was
“heretical, impious, and
scandalous in the religious order,
and anti-patriotic, subversive of
public order, injurious to the
government of Spain and it’s
function in the Philippine Islands in
the political order”.
◆ The banning of the Noli only served
to make it popular and everybody
wanted to read it.

◆ Thanks to Governor General

Terrero, there were no mass
imprisonment or mass execution
of Filipinos.
 1. Porque no los he de leer?
◆ Cuestiones de (Why should I not read
Sumo Interes them?)
2. Guardaos de ellos. Porque?
◆ (Questions of Supreme (Beware of them. Why?)
Interest) 3. Y que me dice usted de la
peste? (And what can you
tell me of the plague?)
∙ published by Father
4. Porque triunfan los impios?
Jose Rodriguez, Prior (Why do the impious
of Guadalupe triumph?)
∙ to blast Noli and other 5. Cree usted que de veras no
anti-Spanish writings hay purgatorio? (Do you
∙ He published a series of really think there is no
purgatory?)
8 pamphlets under this
6. Hay o no hay infierno? (Is
heading there? or Is there no hell?)
7. Que le parece a usted de
esos libelos? (What do you
think of these libels?)
◆ General Jose Salamanca
◆ General Luis M. de Pando
◆ Sr. Fernando Vida
◆ Vicente Barrantes, a Spanish academician of
Madrid
• bitterly criticized Noli in an article published in La
Espana Moderna (a newspaper in Madrid) in January,
1890
◆ Marcelo H. Del Pilar
◆ Graciano Lopez Jaena
◆ Dr. Antonio Ma. Regidor
◆ Mariano Ponce
◆ Father Sanchez
◆ Don Seguismundo Moret, former Minister of the
Crown
◆ Dr. Miguel Morayta, historian and statesman
◆ Professor Blumentritt, scholar and educator
MARIAM°
PONCE
Rev. Vicente Garcia
∙ A Filipino Catholic priest scholar
∙ He used the penname Justo Desiderio Magalang
1. Rizal cannot be an “ignorant man”, as Fr.
Rodriguez alleged, because he was a graduate
of Spanish universities and was a recipient of
scholastic honors.
1. RIZAL DOES NOT ATTACK THE Church and
Spain, as Fr Rodriguez claimed, because what
Rizal attacked in Noli were the bad Spanish
officials and not Spain, and the bad and
corrupt affairs and not the church
1. Father Rodriguez said that those who read the
Noli commit a mortal sin; since he (Rodriguez)
had read the novel, therefore he also commits
a mortal sin
⦿ Beautiful friendship bloomed between the
two

⦿ What marred Rizal’s happy days in

Calamba

1. The death of her older sister, Olimpia.

2. The groundless tales circulated by his

enemies that he was a German spy, an agent
of Bismarck, a Protestant, a Mason, a witch, a
soul beyond salvation, etc.
◆ Governor General Terrero, influenced by certain
facts in Noli Me Tangere, ordered a government
investigation of the friar estates to remedy
whatever iniquities might have been present in
connection with land taxes and tenant relations.
◆ Calamba folks asked for Rizal’s help in gathering
facts and listing their grievances against the
hacienda management.
◆ Rizal wrote down his findings which the tenants
and three of the official of the hacienda signed
on January 8, 1888.
Rizal’s Findings

1. The hacienda of the Dominican Order comprised not

only the lands around Calamba, but also the town of
Calamba
1. The profits of the Dominican Order continually
increased because of the arbitrary increase of the
rentals paid by the tenants
1. 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
1. Tenants who had spent much labor in clearing the lands
were dispossessed of said lands for flimsy reasons
1. High rates of interest 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
⦿ One day, Gov. Gen summoned Rizal and
advised him to leave the Philippines for his
own good.

Rizal’s reasons for leaving Calamba

⦿ His presence in Calamba was jeopardizing
the safety and happiness of his family and
friends
⦿ He could fight better his enemies and
serve his country’s cause with greater
efficacy by writing in foreign countries
◆ Shortly before Rizal left Calamba in 1888 his
friend from Lipa requested him to write a
poem in commemoration of the town’s
elevation to a villa by virtue of the Becerra
Law of 1888

◆ He wrote a poem dedicated to the

industrious folks of Lipa. This was the
“Himno Al Trabajo”(Hymn to Labor)