Module 6
Topic 2: The Controversies
A. Balba
The Life and Works of Jose Rizal (LifeRiz)
Introduction
In this topic we are going to
explore on the different
controversies in Rizal life and
writings. Take note that most of
them are still controversial since
they are still unsolved cases.
Makamisa, the third novel of Rizal
In Hong Kong in 1892, Rizal began a novel
in Tagalog but gave up and started again in
Spanish. These drafts were inaccessible in
the vault of the National Library. Worse, the
papers were mislabeled as the borrador (or
drafts) of the “Noli.” Correcting a simple
cataloguing error led to the revision of the
Rizal canon that now accepts “Makamisa”
as his third, albeit unfinished, novel.
-Ambeth Ocampo
https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/16114/things-you-won%e2%80%99t-ever-
know-about-rizal
Marriage to Bracken
In one of the last letters to his family, Rizal left specific
instructions on where and how he wanted to be buried.
He closed this letter with an appeal: “Tened
compassion a la pobre Josefina [Have pity on poor
Josephine].”
Two hours before he calmly walked to Bagumbayan for
his appointment with destiny, Rizal left a small
souvenir, a book dedicated to his “dear and unhappy
wife Josephine.”
-Ambeth Ocampo
https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/857823/unhappy-wife-of-jose-rizal
Sa Aking kabata
Raselis is alleged to have received a copy of this poem from Rizal himself, a token of
their close friendship.
Unfortunately, Raselis’ name does not appear in Rizal’s voluminous correspondence,
diaries or writings. When Jaime C. de Veyra established the definitive canon of
Rizal’s poetry in 1946 with a compilation published in the series “Documentos de la
Biblioteca Nacional de Filipinas” (Documents from the National Library of the
Philippines) “Sa Aking Mga Kabata” was not published in the original Tagalog but in a
free Spanish translation of the Tagalog by Epifanio de los Santos as “A mis
compañeros de niñez.”
-Ambeth Ocampo
https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/45479/did-young-rizal-really-write-poem-for-children
Rizal was in favor of the Revolution?
We presume Rizal chose reform over revolution in 1887, by killing
off Elias rather than Ibarra. To make up for this twist in the “Noli,”
we have Simoun in “El Filibusterismo” (1891). Simoun incited
violence and the persecution of his people to move them to revolt.
He failed—not because Rizal was against the revolution, but
because he reflected on the anger and bitterness in his heart
following the agrarian dispute in Calamba, and realized that one
must start with a good intention to succeed. A poisoned tree
cannot produce good fruit. Rizal demanded a pure heart.
Purity of intention is the challenge because it is so hard to find
both in Rizal’s time and ours.
-Ambeth Ocampo
https://opinion.inquirer.net/21451/reform-and-revolution
Rizal or Bonifacio?
This situation has led some people to ask: Who is greater then, Rizal or Bonifacio? It
is an ideological rather than historical question that finds no resolution, which is why I
have always maintained that we should stop comparing and measuring heroes
against each other because it is not a boxing match where one emerges the victor,
leaving a nation divided. Instead of choosing between Rizal or Bonifacio, we should
embrace both as National Heroes for they both figured in the emergence of the
nation.
The memorial service in Maragondon makes us look into the way the two heroes
lived and died: Rizal was executed by the enemy while Bonifacio was executed by
fellow Filipinos. Bonifacio was killed by the very revolution he started.
-Ambeth Ocampo
https://opinion.inquirer.net/74290/controversies-over-bonifacios-death
Weakness
Rizal’s weakness, in Constantino’s view, lay in his failure to fully understand his
people. He failed to empathize with the true sentiments of the people in launching the
armed rebellion that made him repudiate it, perhaps due to his belief that violence
should not prevail and that reforms must come from above. Following this thought,
Rizal in a way unconsciously underestimated the capacity of those from below to
compel changes and reforms.
https://ph.asiatatler.com/society/a-closer-look-on-the-more-human-side-of-national-hero-dr-jose-rizal
Rizal, a womanizer?
In an1883 letter to his brother Paciano;
“Women abound even more (here in Madrid) and it is, indeed, shocking that in many places
they intercept men and they are not the ugly ones either... With respect to morality there are
some who are models of virtue and innocence and others who have nothing womanly about
them, except their dress or at most their sex. Rightly it has been said that the women in the
South of Europe have fire in their veins. However, here prostitution is a little more concealed
than at Barcelona, though not less unrestrained."
https://www.esquiremag.ph/long-reads/features/jose-rizal-girlfriends-and-amusements-a00293-20200305
