CHAPTER XIII: BASIC

IDEAS REGARDING
NATION BUILDING
KYNA B. DAVID
CYRILLE AGNES A. TARROJA

Rizal was born at a time in

which his people and race
were submerged in the thenexisting world policy. The
Philippines was not only a
colony of Spain then; the
Filipinos
were
also
exploited, tyrannized over,
and maltreated. For the
development of his country,
Rizal fought for reforms
thereinsocial,
political,
educational, and economic.
This chapter focuses on
Rizals concepts of how to
build a better country.

POLITICAL REFORMS
Rizals political concepts were indeed the result of various
influences: those of his uncles and grandparents, who
were as interested in politics as they were in education;
his education and travels in Asia, America, and Europe;
his excellent command of four languagesEnglish,
Spanish, French, and German; his extensive studies and
researches in the libraries of London, Leipzig, Paris,
and Madrid; his eminent tutors, foremost of whom was
Dr. Ferdinand Blumentritt; and his burning desire to
promote the welfare of his people and to advance the
civilization of his country, all these factors contributed
immensely to making Rizal and effective politician
(Romero, et. al., 1978).

POLITICAL REFORMS
Rizals political views were aimed at securing a selfreliant and self-respecting self-government, which
meant a peoples government, made for and by the
people and answerable to the people. A
conscientious study of his writings would determine
the proper procedure for setting up a new nation that
shall endure.

POLITICAL REFORMS
According to Rizal, Peoples and governments are
correlated and complementary: a fatuous government
would be an anomaly among righteous people just as
a corrupt people cannot exist under just rulers and
laws. For those who would propose reforms, Rizal
has this to say; If those who guide the destinies of
the Philippines remain obstinate and instead of
introducing reforms try to make the country
retrograde to push their severity and repression to
extremes against the classes that suffer and think,
they are going to force the latter to hazard, as a
gambling stake, the wretchedness of an unquiet life.

POLITICAL REFORMS
Reform, to be effective, must come from above.
Those that come from below will be irregular and
unstable. Reforms that have a palliative character are
not only ineffectual but even prejudicial when the
government is confronted with evils that must be
answered radically. Without education and liberty,
that soil and that sun of mankind, no reform is
possible, and no measure can give the result desired.
Without light there can be no way.

POLITICAL REFORMS
On politics and politicians, Rizal wrote philosophically:
In the arena of politics, stern necessity and interest
prevail The opposition of purblind and paretic
politicians will only not be futile but even prejudicial
because it will convert motives of love and gratitude
into resentment and hatred Hatred and resentment
on one side, and mistrust and anger on the other, will
finally result in a violent and terrible collision.

POLITICAL REFORMS
The planners in the government should bear the
following Rizalian concept in mind: In order to read
the destiny of a people, it is necessary to open the
book of its past. We need to understand the past in
order to plan intelligently for the future. It is better to
keep pace with the desires of a people than to give
way for them. The people need to know all that our
ancestors knew and then add our studies to them.
Thus, we shall progress the faster because we can go
on from where they left off.

POLITICAL REFORMS
Rizal stressed further that man works for an object,
and if you remove that object, you reduce him to
inaction. Finally, he maintained that if you deprive
a man of his dignity, you not only deprive him of his
moral strength but you also render him useless.

EDUCATIONAL REFORMS
Rizal gave top priority to the importance of education in
the pursuit of liberty. As mentioned earlier, he argued
that without education and liberty, that soil and that
sun of mankind, no reform is possible, and no
measure can give the result desired. In other words,
Rizal emphasized the importance of education in a
free society. He claimed that through education, the
people can obtain better physical and intellectual
training that would enable them to achieve greater
dignity and progress. (Romero, et al 1978)

EDUCATIONAL REFORMS
Rizal advocated mass education for his people in his
writings. Rizal expressed this idea in Noli Me Tangere
when he said that the school is the basis of the
society; the school is the book in which is written the
future of the nation! Show us the schools of the
people and we shall show you what people are. Rizal
believed that the government should finance the
construction, maintenance, and administration of
schools.

EDUCATIONAL REFORMS
Rizal maintained, however, that mass education would
not be possible during the Spanish times if the friars
were not divested of their political powers and of
their control over education of the people, for
intolerant priests who adhered to the medieval system
of education hampered the development of
independent thought and the teaching of scientific
advancement.

MORAL PRINCIPLES
Rizal expressed his views regarding morality through
his writings and correspondence. The virtue he
admired most were love forgiveness, integrity, honor,
purpose, truthfulness, faithfulness to ones word,
compassion, self-control, temperance, and tolerance.
He also urged the women of Malolos, in his letter to
them, to develop the virtues of sincerity, honesty,
purity, and love. Rizal taught morality to his people
through the example of his own conduct. Never idle,
he amazed his friends with his many
accomplishments while he was in Europe.

MORAL PRINCIPLES
His secrets were hard work and strict adherence to a
schedule and routine that he always prepared as he
commenced his work. He also deplored gambling and
drinking and was strict, frugal, punctual, thoughtful,
and kindhearted. (Romero, et al 1978)

MORAL PRINCIPLES
A firm believer in God, Rizal dedicated his life to a
noble purpose: service to the motherland. He
subordinated all his personal interests to those of his
country, fighting for and upholding the dignity of the
individual through an expertise he wielded so well
writing. He urged the Filipino people and the Spanish
government to work together peacefully, and for this
he was condemned.

MORAL PRINCIPLES
Next to God and his country, he loved and honored his
parents and his family. He also respected
womanhood. Women to him play an important role in
shaping the destiny of a nation. Lamenting the
timidity, passivity, and prejudice of the Filipinas of
his times, he advised them to develop love for
learning, independent convictions, strength of
character, industry, courage, and patriotism. He lived
as he wanted every Filipino to liveusing their reason
and conscience in upholding the ideals of the
Filipinos.

SOCIOECONOMIC STATUS
Notwithstanding Rizals high regard for education, he
believed that enlightenment through education is not
enough to improve the countrys plight; he held that
there is an imperative need to implement
socioeconomic reforms. Since the Philippines is
basically an agricultural country, Rizal stressed that
its economic development would lie largely on
concentration on agricultural improvement.

SOCIOECONOMIC STATUS
Indispensable to the development of agriculture was
the improvement of trade and industry, and Rizal
believed that economic development would be
furthered by the education of the people as well as by
moral, material, and administrative support of the
government.

SOCIOECONOMIC STATUS
In analyzing the socioeconomic problems of the
Philippines during the Spanish colonial period, Rizal
considered the three basic factors of productionland,
labor, and capital. Rizal stressed that the government
should give incentives to the Filipinos who work
efficiently. Rizal proposed several incentives, such as
educating the people to become skilled farmers,
providing them with security, encouraging reasonable
taxes, minimizing the red tape in the government, and
giving laborers their rightful share in the fruits of
production.

SOCIOECONOMIC STATUS
Another solution that Rizal stressed was to reorient the
characters of the Filipinos towards the values of work
and dignity of labor because they are the ones who
will mold the society.

THANK YOU