The

Philippines
a century
hence
 What is it all about?

✣ The Philippines a Century Hence” is an essay

written by Philippine national hero Jose Rizal to
forecast the future of the country within a hundred
years. Rizal felt that it was time to remind Spain that
the circumstances that ushered in the French
Revolution could have a telling effect for her in the
Philippines

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 Originally entitled, Filipinas dentro de Cien Años.

✣ This essay, published in La Solidaridad in

Madrid between September 30, 1889 and
February 1, 1890 starts by analyzing the
various causes of the miseries suffered by the
Filipino people.

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 This essay presents a radical
prophesy of Rizal of how the
Philippines would be through the
century. Rizal presented a clear idea of
how our Motherland will end up
centuries later proposing that our
country will end up in either of the
three ways:

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✣ That the Philippines will remain to be
a colony of Spain but will be in good
terms with it’s captors
✣ That the Philippines will try to cut the
ties of our Motherland from it’s
captors through violent means.
✣ Lastly that we will be colonized by
another country

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✣ CHAPTER I

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Spain’s Implementation of
new policies

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 Deterioration and
disappearance of Filipino
indigenous culture

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Passivity and submissiveness
to the Spanish colonizers

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Heroic Remedy

Eventually, the natives

realized that such oppression in
their society by foreign
colonizers must no longer be
tolerated.

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✣ Serve and fought the wars of Spain

✣ Philippines was depopulated, impoverished

and retarded.

✣ Defeatism attitude

✣ Forgot their own culture to learn doctrines

they can’t understand, ethics, and tastes
unnatural to them. 12
 EMBARASSMENT
FORGETTING OF INTRODUCTION OF
OF ONE’S
CUSTOMS, FOREIGN DOCTRINES,
HISTORY AND
CULTURE, + ETHICS AND TASTES = IDENTITY USEFUL
RELIGION TO COLONIZERS.

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 Present

✣ Continuous maltreatment of Filipinos

✣ Denial of “every virtue, every human

characteristic”

✣ Denial of capacity for virtue and vice

to natives promoted by priests and
writers.
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✣ CHAPTER II

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✣ Malayan Filipinos after Miguel Lopez de Legazpi, Kagayanes
with the spirit of Magalats, descendants of Gat Pulintang and
Gat Salakab of Batangas – independence was unquestionable.

✣ But to those who witness the hardships of the lower classes, and
disorganized upper class, what can be assured was only defeat.

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 “Now then, are the Philippines in the
same condition they were three
centuries ago?”
✣ For the liberal Spaniards, the ethics of people remains
the same, instigating that native Filipinos have not
advanced.

✣ For the friars and their followers, the people have

been redeemed from savagery.

✣ For many Filipinos, ethics, spirit and customs have

decayed because of slavery.
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 Parallelism of the Political Landscape of the
past and present.
PAST
Land: PRESENT
a. Low manpower (300-500 soldiers);
⨳ Stable colonies
b. Local (internal tribes) and international
(Mohammedans in the south, against ⨳ Improved fleet
the British and Dutch, or harassed by
Japanese, Chinese) wars;
⨳ More organized civil and
c. Slow communication with Mexico and military affairs
Spain
d. Frequent and violent disturbances
⨳ Better communication
among the ruling powers in the Islands with the sovereign
e. Bankrupt treasury ⨳ No enemies abroad
f. One ship that handles Chinese trade
Sea:
⨳ Desensitized colonies
a. Pirates
b. Weak defense by impoverished fleet
c. Unfaithful crews (rude adventurers,
foreigners, enemies)
d. Mutiny of Chinese rowers to Gomez
Peres Dasmariñas. 19
 ✣ The true reason why Spain
reigned over the Philippines
for 300 years: the
sentimentality of Filipinos.
According to Rizal, the people
remained faithful during three
centuries dazzled by the
promised Paradise (religious
aspect), friendship of the noble,
superiority of arms, and
peacemaking of Spaniards.

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 Parallelism of the Ethical Landscape of the
past and present.
PAST PRESENT
⨳ Filipinos gained high ranks in the
military;
⨳ Establishment of Encomenderos and
generals;
⨳ No insulting and ridiculous epithets;
⨳ No racial discrimination in public or in
the written works (discriminatory works
by Augustinian Gaspar de San Agustin
and the Jesuit Velarde remain as secret
and unpublished as they were bribed
with miters and high ranks); and
⨳ Priests hear out the people, wrote their
complaints to the Throne, and done
journeys as representatives of the
country.
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⨳ Racial discrimination through jest
and banter;
⨳ Holy residencia has disappeared;
⨳ Jealousy of the successor of
Governor-General lie La Torre;
⨳ Abusive officers;
⨳ Increase of obligations and taxes
without the increase of rights;
⨳ The country becomes poor without
holding the higher offices
accountable; and
⨳ Establishment of faulty Penal Code.
 And to reach this stage, what kind of
sacrifices will have to be made?

✣ By which he answers that the natives has almost nothing to lose

as they would prefer death instead of the discontent that they
get from their lives.

✣ Rizal predicts a future according to a certain present, and that is

if the system continues to alienate the goodwill of the natives,
the Filipinos would rise in occasion to modify the present state
of affairs.

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✣ In predicting the future, Rizal also
reflects from the current state of
informed and educated Filipinos, the
very circumstance that he was in.

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 In defense of the progress of Filipinos, Rizal
enumerated various ways that Spain had at its disposal:

✣ Brutalization of the masses through a caste addicted to the

government;

✣ Impoverishment of the country;

✣ Gradual extermination of the inhabitants; and

✣ Fostering feuds among races.

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To which Filipinos have various ways to combat
them:

✣ Enlightenment is spreading and the persecution it suffers

quickens it;
✣ Poverty inspires the desire to change things and a poor
colony would be a disadvantage to its mother country;
✣ Philippine races, like all the Malays lives and thrives in
every clime;
✣ Better communication from innovations create mutual
understanding within provinces.

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“Will the Philippine Islands continue to be a Spanish
colony, and if so, what kind of colony?”

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✣ CHAPTER III

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 According to Rizal, the Philippines would
remain under Spanish domination only if the
following conditions were met:

✣ Declaring the press in the Philippines free;

and

✣ Instituting Filipino delegates.

 The severity of needing a free press depends on
the position of the government relative to its
governed country:

✣ Rules a country from a great distance: need for a free

press more so than the government of the home
country;
✣ Governs in a country: may even dispense with the
press (if it can);
✣ Governs from afar: absolutely needs free press for the
truth and facts reach its knowledge by every possible
channel. This is especially notable to Rizal as the
natives have different language from the authorities.
 Possible Reservations of Spain

In instituting Filipino delegates,

government has three cases against
them: Either that they will prove unruly,
become political trimmers, or act
properly.

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 Possible Reservations of Spain

The Spanish majority can oppose

separatist intentions by the representatives
and confinement of issues within
representatives of the government within
itself is far better than bloodbath in revolts
and battles.

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 Possible Reservations of Spain

Racial discrimination such as odor and

appearance as parameters to object to
Filipino representatives to the Cortes of
the nation were also addressed by Rizal
with which conclude his arguments with:
“Law has no skin nor reason nostrils.”

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✣ In the pursuit of a good relationship
with Spain, we would be yielding to the
most absurd pessimism and admit the
insult, great for the Philippines but still
greater for Spain.

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✣ CHAPTER IV

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✣ This chapter expounds on the fate of the
Philippines when it would resolve to revolts and
revolutions within the colony.

✣ It also answers Rizal’s fifth question, will they be

separated from the mother country to live
independently, to fall into the hands of other
nations, or to ally themselves with neighboring
powers?

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 The "foreign body" is Spain. The "within another" is
Filipinas (Philippines)

✣ The assimilation of Filipinas into Espanya

(become a province of Spain with Filipinos
having full rights and privileges as accorded
Peninsulares Spaniards or Spaniards born on the
Iberian Peninsula in Europe.

✣ The elimination of Spain (the foreign body) from

Filipinas. Dr. Jose Rizal then discusses the
likelihood of each option in the Philippines and
of course the last seems to be the most likely
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 Potential colonizers and reasons
why they would leave the
Philippines alone:
✣ England, Germany, Frances, and Holland will not take up a colony that Spain failed
to hold.
✣ England – has enough colonies of the orient, have Indian Empire, and holds
Singapore, Hongkong and Shanghai
✣ Germany – will not risk to scatter its forces in the presence of war in other
countries. Germany avoids foreign complications.
✣ France – sees future in Tongking and Chona and does not shine in zeal for
colonization
✣ Holland – will be content to keep Moluccas and Java, also, Sumatra offers a greater
future for Dutch expeditions.
✣ China – already vulnerable to European powers colonizing the continent of Asia
✣ Japan – watched by Russia in the north, and by England in the South
✣ American Republic – possible colonization but there might be complications that
the Panama is closed and colonization is contrary to her traditions.
“Nevertheless, it is not well to trust to
accident, for there is sometimes an
imperceptible and incomprehensible
logic in the workings of history.
Fortunately, people are well as
governments are subject to it. “
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 Possible reasons of Rizal
upon writing this Essay

✣ Installing fear on the current regime of

Spanish tyranny for them to fly away from
other country
✣ Expressing sadness and failure , that even if
Spain let loose hold of the Philippines , there
will be other countries in the world that are
ready to take hold of our country
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 Possible reasons of Rizal
upon writing this Essay

✣ Rizal was giving a hint of hope to the

Filipinos that sooner or later, a great nation
will save their country from the oppressive
rule of Spain.

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Key points in the essay or several issues that
concern our country: Abuse of human
rights Lack of freedom of speech Lack of
representation in the Spanish Cortes

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 end Baltazar, Bill
Gundayao, Jolyssa
Kilala, Elaine
Ladringan, Merwin Jansen