Abad, Ruwilyn C.

BSMA-4 Row 3 – Seat 6

February 8, 2011

The Indolence of the Filipino

I. Summary
The Indolence of the Filipino was published in La Solidaridad in Madrid
in 1890. This was written by Jose Rizal as a response to the accusation of
Filipino indolence. Rizal admits that indolence among the Filipinos exists,
but there could be numbers of reasons behind it. He traces its causes to
factors such as the climate and social disorders. He defends the Filipinos
by saying that they are by nature not indolent, because in fact, Filipinos
have been engaged in economic activities such as agriculture and trade
even before the arrival of Spaniards. In the end, Rizal summarizes the
main causes of indolence to the limited training and education Filipino
natives receive and to the lack of national sentiment and unity among
them. According to Rizal, education and liberty would be the cure to
Filipino indolence.
II. Salient Points
 “Indolence, instead of holding it to be the cause of the backwardness
and the trouble, we regard it as the effect of the trouble and the
backwardness, by fostering the development of a lamentable
predisposition.”
 “Man's object is not to satisfy tile passions of another man; his object is
to seek happiness for himself and his kind by traveling along the road of
progress and perfection.”
 “Man works for an object. Remove the object and you reduce him to
inaction.”
 “Man’s is his self-esteem. Take it away from him and he is a corpse, and
he who seeks activity in a corpse will encounter only worms.”
III. Reaction
Jose Rizal’s The Indolence of the Philippines is a self-defense against
the hatred and calumnies of the oppressors who condemn the Filipinos as
inert, unresponsive and useless. I disagree on what those people say that
Filipino workers are unskilled, untrained, misguided, irresponsibly
haughty, intoxicated with show, romp and glory, and unconcerned with
the intrinsic value of work. It’s not a concrete reasons or basis for them to
conclude that Filipinos are indolent. Filipinos were in fact hardworking
people who are very dedicated with their works. It is more right to say
that indolence of Filipinos is he effect, not the cause, of Philippine
backwardness. They way Spaniards treated the Filipinos made them
indolent. They snatched the land of Filipinos and work for their own soil
without benefiting from it. They made Filipinos believe that rich people
have no place in heaven and poor’s have, making them give more
offerings, because of wrong doctrines of the church, to the extent of
leaving nothing for them. They introduce miracles that made Filipinos
very dependent to it. Abuses and corruptions ultimately faded the true
Filipino values.
If Filipinos had only retained their rights over their properties, their
own land, they would be more determined to improve their ways of living.
If they were free to learn, they would know better. If they were not being
fooled by the wrong doctrines, they would still have their own ways. If
they were just taught the best, they would not be worsening. But it’s
never too late to correct the wrong impression. We Filipinos should also
do our part for this. Be educated and learn from the past. It is true that
education and liberty would be the cure for Filipino indolence.