Independence Day Special: Noli me Tangere and the Pinoy Society

 That is how this book stared at me for the first time I saw it in the bookstore.

Last time, I wrote an Independence Day article about the facts about Philippine Independence. This time, I will write an article about Noli me Tangere and the Philippine Society.

When Rizal wrote Noli me Tangere back then, it was meant to attack the Philippine society as a whole. But the effects were rather… different. And lo, it ushered the hearts and minds of the Filipinos to wage war against the Spaniards. Well, part of the message of the novel was meant to depict the lives of Filipinos being oppressed by the Spaniards but this part was just an icing of the cake.

Years later, Noli and its sequel, El Filibusterismo, were now part of our educational curriculum forcing students to memorize lines coming from the novel and reading abridged versions of the novel, or worse, summaries of every chapter. Because of this, Rizal’s sarcastic style in writing Noli was severely lost due to abridging. Because of this, I decided to save money (Well, I failed the saving part) and buy the Penguin Classics Edition of Noli me Tangere which is unabridged.

After finishing the novel, I was amazed on Rizal’s writing style and his true intention of Noli me Tangere. Here are the things that I observed while reading the unabridged copy of Noli.

+ Dona Victorina

You can still observe this on the abridged version. Dona Victorina wants to be a European thus, he wears the same known European fashion and wants to have the same European skin tone. In short, gusto niyang pumuti. Fast forward to the present, there are many ways on how to have that fair and rosy skin tone and every Filipina wants to have that smooth silky white skin tone.

+ The Balimbing Factor

Balimbing is a political term about a certain politician who always switches sides once he/she notices the greater influence of a said politician (Example: Former members of LAKAS-KAMPI-CMD now on LP). In Noli, Ibarra was very much supported by everyone on his project in building a school for San Diego. But after someone framed him up on a crime that he is not involved, this is where his supporters started to switch sides and started ranting about him. Wow, parang pamilyar ang eksena na ito… which leads to this.

+ Pulling Someone Down Who is On Top

This is what happened to Ibarra. He was one of the most influential personalities in San Diego. This also happened to his father when someone accused him of killing a Civil Guard. After this incident, the number of his enemies grew and started pulling him down. Modern example, it starts with a V. Yes, I am serious. Manny Villar.

+ The Influence of the Church and State

The most dominant factor that I noticed in Noli, sure the friars are the ones who are dominating the state back then and everything they say is like the “Rule of God”. There is one scene of the novel which the heads of the town are having a meeting of the upcoming town fiesta. After finishing their plans, one person said what the friars wanted, since the friars want that, they have no choice but to abide on their wishes.

Same goes on what’s happening today. Everything must be consulted first to the Church. Sure, they are not Europeans but still, the influence of Filipino Bishops still lingers.

The question is, when we will be free from these factors? Time will only tell. Hope that the future generation will not see this scene again.

On Analysis: Independence Day

Facts
We are freed from the Spanish rule at June 12, 1898. A months later, Spain and America had an agreement. The Philippines is now a colony of America. Since, we the sovereign Filipino, refuse to believe that we are "sold" and now a colony of America, we revolt. Rebellion failed. A few years later, thanks to the Tydings-McDuffie Act, we are given ten years to prove that we worthy to be independent. Commonwealth government started. Year 1941, The Japanese occupied the Philippines. Since these guys think we need a leader, a sort of leader was presented to the masses. The so-called "government" is under the puppet control of the Japanese. September 2, 1945, The Japenese surrendered thus ending their reign. At July 4, 1946, we are recognized by the whole world as an Independent nation, our country is officially free. But there's something strange, we are celebrating our independence on June 12, even the day of our independence is July 4. Weird...

The Main Thing
When we are kids, we use to think that we are independent for more than 90 years (to those who kids who watched the 100 Centennial Independence Day Celebration on TV), and we used to think that the brave Katipuneros did it... until we reach Elementary and learned Philippine History. Haha! I feel like I am a parent hiding the sacred truth about Santa Claus while typing the previous sentence! Anyways, in our journey in Elementary, we learn that we are once under the Americans later the Japanese in which the money is given a nickname, "Mickey Mouse Money" (Thus, children learned that their grandparents had watched black and white Disney films). After that, MacArthur returned then Hiroshima and Nagasaki are bombed. A few years later, we are independent. The day of our Independence is on July 4. But the day we celebrate it is, June 12.

Thanks to my teacher, Mrs. Q, I learned the current president's father, Diosdado Macapagal, did the Harry Potter thing-a-majigerry of the date of our independence. My teacher said that Macapagal had a conflict with the Americans thus changing the date of our independence. In my own opinion, the reason is too shallow.

Is changing the day of the celebration of our independence the right decision? I say, no. If I were President Macapagal, I will retain the day of our independence as it is. What's wrong with the 4th of July as the day of our independence? I find nothing irrelevant with July 4. Because of this decision, the number of years that we are independent changed. From 63, it becomes 111 thanks to June 12. A difference of 48 years. What's more, everytime we celebrate Independence Day, we don't commemorate much of our independence from the Americans, more on the Spaniards. It felt like, we find the Katipuneros bravery is better compared to a recognized sheet of paper signed by both parties that recognized our independence.

After you read this post, hope you find more meaning on the day of our independence.