R2
R2
R2
§ Rizal and his peers was influenced by the influx of liberal ideas
into the country during his student days that they desired to
reap scientific and artistic achievements.
§ Rizal’s outstanding literary works produce during his time in UST
1. A La Juventud Filipina – Rizal’s first testimony of his nationalism wherein he referred to
the Philippines as Mi Patria or his motherland. It was the first expression of nationalistic
concept that the Filipinos were the fair hope of the motherland. Calling the youth the Fair
Hope of the Motherland (La Bella Esperanza de la Patria Mia) and challenges them to:
i. Cultivate their relent in the arts
ii. Develop their knowledge of the sciences
iii. Look forward and break their chain of bondage
2. El Consejo delos Dioses – Rizal was able to disprove the alleged superiority of the
Spaniards over the Filipinos and to prove that the Filipinos can compete with other races
in a fair play.
3. Junto at Pasig – This play can be interpreted in several ways:
i. As a prophecy of 50 years of revolution, invasion after invasion, defeat, subjugation and civil
tumult.
ii. Rizal’s appeal for the Filipino youth to chide alien people for causing them misery
iii. As a purely religious allegory, as the play depicted Leonido, together with a choir of angels
successfully driving Satan and his devils out of the land.
4. A Filipinas – it was written by Rizal in 1880 to praise the beauty of the Philippines and
encourage Filipino artists to glorify the country through their art works.
§ The poem A La Juventud Filipina is considered Rizal’s first true expression
of his nationalistic sentiment because the poem can be considered Rizal’s
first testimony of his nationalism.
§ The poem was considered as a classic Philippine Literature for two (2)
reasons:
a) It was the first great poem in Spanish written by a Filipino, recognized by the
Spanish authorities.
b) It was the first expression of the nationalistic concept that the Filipinos were the
fair hope of the motherland.
§ Rizal manifested his leadership in student activism at UST when He
organized a secret society of Filipino students. This society came to be
called Compañerismo and the members call themselves as Companions
of Jehu, the patriot general of the Jews, in which became the president of
this secret society.
§ An incident in UST led to Rizal’s manifestation of his leadership in activism
in UST when he espoused the cause of brown-skinned Filipino students
against the Spanish and mestizo students. As both the Spanish and mestizo
students labeled the Filipinos Indio or change, Rizal and his peers
retaliated by calling them Kastila or bangus.
§ An incident that led to Rizal’s first taste of Spanish brutality is when He failed to salute a
lieutenant of the Guardia Civil and greeted Buenas Noches, which slashed his back. Rizal
sent a written complaint to Governor-General Primo de Rivera about the incident but
nothing positive came out of it since he was an indio.
§ This incident left Rizal that as an Indio, he was not accorded equality with a Spaniard
before the bar of justice.
§ Rizal was given the title the “First Filipino” because he is the first to call the country
(Philippines) the motherland through his poem A La Juventud Filipina yet the Spanish
critics thought he meant Spain when he presented it in a contest.
§ Rizal decided to leave the country after completing his fourth year and will complete the
medical course in Barcelona, Spain due to his disappointment with his schooling at UST.
However, Rizal was not going to Europe not just to complete his medical studies there
but the hidden purposes are:
a. To make a name for himself in the realm of journalism;
b. To observe and study European society; and
c. To prepare himself for the task of liberating the Filipinos from Spanish tyranny.