MAKAMISA: THIRD NOVEL OF JOSE P.

RIZAL

I: Introduction

Jose Rizal is a person who strongly support and fight for his country. He would
write novels that could make the blind caught sight. He helps to motivate his reader to
fight for the freedom of the country that Filipinos may be free from the colonizers in
which they are the reasons of the suffering of the Filipinos.

The novel Makamisa which in English literally means After Mass is an

unfinished novel written by Jose Rizal. It is a sequel of El Filibusterismo, he wrote it
while having a trip from Marseilles to Hongkong on Melbourne ship in 1892. Rizals
third novel seems to be the most anti-clerical among his works. The novel was written in
two languages, Tagalog and Spanish. The original Tagalog manuscript of Rizal's Third
novel is now preserved in the National Library of the Philippines. The medium used in
writing the novel are black ink and commercial paper. It was written in one sided part of
the paper, it contains deletions and corrections. Only two chapters have been written in
ten pages and whose size is 34 cm by 22 cm. No specific date nor is the place indicated
where it was written. Ambeth Ocampo stumbled on the Spanish drafts of the novel while
he was working at the National Library. This draft found by Ocampo was hidden among a
245-page stack of writings entitled Borrador del Noli Me Tangere.

Although the novel is still puzzle pieces, people are still wondering what does the
novel conveys. This has brought the enigma of Rizals third, unfinished novel.

Makamisa: Third Novel of Jose P. Rizal

Page 1 of 7
 II. Discussion

What moved Jose Rizal to write Makamisa?

The success of the two previous novels (Noli Me Tangere and El Filibusterismo),
made the people anticipate for a third novel. Also, he was urged to write the third novel
due to the opinion given by his rival, Marcelo H. Del Pilar saying that he was not
impressed with the El Filibusterismo.

Reasons of Rizal on writing Makamisa:

His first reason was to write a novel in Tagalog Language that is definitely
dedicated to Tagalog readers so that it will be easy for them to convey the message and
not to please the Europeans. Another reason, to escape criticism, he decided to resolved it
by writing a novel in a more artistic and literary manner. And to write a novel that
would focus on the ethics of the Tagalog to impart virtues, defects and custom of the
Tagalogs. Also, he aims to change the national language by that time which is Spanish
into our very own Tagalog language.

Tagalog Nobility vs. Makamisa

A manuscript entitled Maligaya y Maria Sinagtala, popularly known as Tagalog
Nobility is the counterpart of Makamisa as candidate for the title of Rizals third novel.
However, Makamisa has higher possibility among the two to be referred as Rizals third
novel because it was written in Tagalog and Spanish depicting the manner of the third
novel of Rizal was written unlike Tagalog Nobility which was written in Spanish only.
Also, the characters along with the fact that the work dealt with Tagalog customs proves
that Makamisa is definitely what Rizal referred to in his letter to Blumentritt as the sequel
of El Filibusterismo.

Makamisa: Title of the Novel or Title of a Chapter?

Mariano M. Ponce said that Makamisa is not the title of the unfinished novel
but is simply the title of a single chapter of the novel. Since the third novel of Rizal, aside
from being unfinished, it is also an untitled work. Researches only entitled this as
Makamisa which in English literally means After Mass based from the finished
chapters which represents a scenario in the church after the mass.

Makamisa: Anti-clerical Novel

Jose Rizal tends to use vulgar words due to the experiences that his family had
during the land squabbles in Laguna. It began when he lacks faith to the church especially
when his mother unjustly arrested by only writing her name as Teodora Alonso instead of
Teodora Realonda. Through his writing he satirizes the church. More particularly in his
Makamisa: Third Novel of Jose P. Rizal
Page 2 of 7
novel there are parts wherein he compared San Sebastian to a bailarin and San Miguel as
shown as dancing and executing a difficult past around the head of the devil which really
displays an act of secularity.

Makamisa: Unfinished Novel of Rizal

Rizal's forte was to write his novels with the use of the language Spanish. He was
having a hard time to write in Tagalog, more specifically during that time, the dominating
language is the Spanish and also, he was taking his studies in Europe. The writing style
challenged Jose Rizal of representing something that did not quite exist in a form
amenable for a change as a realist novel. As perhaps all writers do, he left a lot of
unfinished business. Since he is every way aware of what's happening around him, and he
wants to progressively do and write something quickly, considering he has a hard time
writing Makamisa in Tagalog the progress is slow. He has thought that it was a novel to
be written in another time and perhaps by writers other than him. He always tends to shift
quickly in writing new works pertaining to his ideas even if he's still working a piece.

Makamisa: Third Novel of Jose P. Rizal

Page 3 of 7
 III. Proofs of Makamisa: Third Novel of Jose Rizal

Letters of Rizal to Blumentritt found by Ambeth Ocampo:

(Letter dated September 22, 1891)

"I want to be witty, satirical and candid. I want to cudgel and laugh..."

- This portion of the letter emphasizes Rizal's strong desire to write a novel in a new
style. He wants to change his very formal and dull manner in writing which he had used
in Noli Me Tangere and El Filibusterismo. This time, he wants to set aside political issues
for the sake of art.

(Letter dated January 31, 1892)

I write the third part of my book in Tagalog. I want to write a novel... an artistic and
literary novel. The book gives me much difficulty.

- He informed Blumentritt about his third book which highlights Filipino attitudes. He is
having difficulty in writing the book because he has insufficient knowledge and practice
of the Tagalog language.

(Letter dated April 20, 1892)

"I have already given up the idea of writing the third part of the novel in Tagalog for
it would not be appropriate to write a book in two languages. So, I am writing it now in
Spanish."

- He thought that writing the novel in Spanish would make it realistic. And it would be
similar to the sermons of the friars if written in two languages. So he wrote the Spanish
version of the novel after two months. Thus, Makamisa has 2 manuscripts.

The search for Rizal's third novel:

The Spanish portion of the Makamisa was mistaken by a certain librarian as

"Borrador Del Noli me Tangere" but this was opposed by Dr. Angel Hidalgo,
granddaughter of Rizal's sister, Saturnina Rizal. She insisted that the draft found by
Ambeth Ocampo is the Spanish version of Rizal's third novel. But then again, she was
also opposed by Leoncio Lopez Rizal who is more favored by that time for he is Rizal's
nephew. However, although the Jose Rizal National Centennial Commission ignored
Hidalgo's proposition, Ambeth Ocampo supported her idea when he found out that there
are no characters from the Noli me Tangere after he read the unfinished novel. Thus,
proved that it can't be Borrador del Noli me Tangere. Ambeth Ocampo then concluded

Makamisa: Third Novel of Jose P. Rizal

Page 4 of 7
that it was Makamisa because it has both Tagalog and Spanish parts, which resembles the
only unfinished work of Rizal written in two languages. And as stated from the letters of
Rizal to Blumentritt, it depicts the third, unfinished of Rizal.

Makamisa: Third Novel of Jose P. Rizal

Page 5 of 7
 IV. Conclusion

According to the evidences gathered by Ambeth Ocampo, the Makamisa is

acknowledge as the third novel of Rizal and not, as what others mistaken, the unfinished
work known as Tagalog Nobility. This was supported by the fact that Tagalog Nobility
although an unfinished work of Rizal like Makamisa, It was written wholly in Spanish
which is a factor to lessen its chance to be referred as Rizals third novel considering this
third novel was written in two language. Makamisa outshone among all the unfinished
works of Rizal because of the language used in writing it which are Spanish and Tagalog.

In terms of the title of the novel, originally, the third novel of Rizal is an untitled
work. Historians were the reason behind the title Makamisa. They have coined this title
based from the first chapters of the novel describing the happenings in the church after
the mass.

Lastly, regarding the accountability of Rizal as the writer of the novel, a closer
analyzing on how the novel was found by Ambeth Ocampo, he found the texts between
the pages of a book entitled Borrador Del Noli Me Tangere or the first drafts of Rizals
first novel. In line with this, it seems impossible that someone or Rizal himself will put
someone elses work between the pages of the said manuscript. Thus, proves Jose Rizal
as the author of the unfinished novel.

Makamisa: Third Novel of Jose P. Rizal

Page 6 of 7
 V. References

https://ww.scribd.com/doc/35653574/REPORT-in-Rizal

www.thelifeandworksofrizal.blogspot.com/2012/01/makamisa-rizals-

third-novel-full-text.html

www.thelifesandworksofrizal.blogspot.com/2012/01/facts-about-

makamisa-rizals-unfinished.html

www.thelifeandworksofrizal.blogspot.com/2012/01/enigma-of-jose-

rizals-third-novel.html

Ocampo, Ambeth R. Rizal: Without the Overcoat. Pasig City:

Anvil Publishing, Inc., 2000

Makamisa: Third Novel of Jose P. Rizal

Page 7 of 7