 Solving Cebu Traffic: BRT or LRT?
concrete surface to handle the weight of all those
Advantages of Bus Rapid Transit (BRT)
Francisco Ouano, operations head of
CCTO, said the BRT system – which is pushed by
the Cebu City government – will play a key role in
addressing the traffic congestion in the city and
will pave the way for a smooth transportation
system here.
Lawyer Rafael Yap, BRT project manager,
however, said yesterday that the BRT is almost
similar with the LRT in terms of comfort, level of
service, and economy but the BRT he said is more
cost effective. Yap said the cost of 1 kilometer of
LRT is equal to the cost of 10 kilometers of BRT
system.
Runs on dedicated lanes that are physically
separated from automobile lanes; Has passenger
boarding stations rather than bus stops; Makes less
frequent stops than normal bus service (usually
every 800 metres); and Runs at a high frequency
so passengers do not need to consult a schedule.
Flexibility. Bus routes can change and expand
when needed, for example, if a roadway is closed
or if destinations or demand changes.
Several routes can converge onto one busway
thereby reducing the need for transfers. BRT
therefore is more suitable for dispersed land use,
such as suburban locations. Can serve a larger
geographical area.
Is used more by people who are transit-dependent,
so bus service improvements provide greater
equity benefits.
Disadvantages of Bus Rapid Transit (BRT)
However, stakeholders expressed
reservations on the BRT since Cebu City’s existing
narrow roads may render the project a failure.
The roadbed needs to be rebuilt for BRT, with a
Greater travel speed and reliability where rail
buses.
Flexibility and decentralization have downsides.
These result in a lack of system visibility and
permanence that drives public perceptions of
unreliability and disorganization.
Can cause traffic disruption. BRTs with signal
priority systems (changes signal lights to green
when a bus approaches) cause severe traffic
disruptions to traffic flow on major cross streets.
This doesn’t alleviate traffic it just redistributes
traffic congestion problems.
A temporary solution. Many BRTs are temporary
solutions until an LRT system is built.
Advantages of Light Rail Transit (LRT)
Greater demand. LRT attracts more discretionary
riders—those who leave cars at home—than BRT.
Greater maximum capacity. Rail requires less
space and is more cost effective on high-volume
routes.
Lower operating costs per passenger-mile where
transit demand is high.
More positive land-use impacts. Rail tends to be a
catalyst for more accessible development patterns.
Developers are more likely to locate new business,
residential or retail development along a LRT line
than a BRT. This positive economic impact offsets
on average higher capital costs.
Increases property values near transit stations.
Less air and noise pollution, particularly when
electric-powered.
Higher ridership. BRTs average 15,600 riders per
day across the country while LRTs average 29,000
daily riders. Rail stations tend to be more pleasant
than bus stations, so rail is preferred where many
transit vehicles congregate.
transit is grade separated. Improves community
image. Provides superior service quality (e.g.,
speed, comfort and convenience). Less
environmental impact, especially if electric trains
are used.
Disadvantages of Light Rail Transit (LRT)
Higher initial costs. LRTs have higher
infrastructure investment costs than BRT.
Skewed Benefits. Rail investments are inequitable
because they primarily benefit higher-income
people and drain funding from basic bus service
used by lower-income, transit-dependent people.
More stops=Longer trips. LRTs with more stations
and more-frequent stops have lower overall speed.
 Best Business Model: Jollibee or McDonalds?
First for me is their fried chickens — Jollibee’s
chicken joy is more tastier and juicier than
McDonald’s.
When it comes to fries. I prefer McDonald’s
because Jollibee’s fries is somehow tasteless. (but
if you want less salt go to Jollibee).
Burgers - I prefer Jollibee because of their fresh
bun feeling. The buns are fluffier than McDonald’s
Both food chains serves Filipino style spaghetti
well..
At 253, the number of Jollibee branches in the
National Capital Region's 17 cities easily
overwhelms McDonald's 164 stores. The figures
were compiled from the two fast-food chain's
websites and mobile apps as of January 5, 2017.
 Financing: Debt or Equity?
Advantages of Equity Financing
- You can use your cash and that of your investors
when you start up your business for all the start-up
costs, instead of making large loan payments to
banks or other organizations or individuals. You
can get underway without the burden of debt on
your back.
- If you have prepared a prospectus for your
investors and explained to them that their money is
at risk in your brand new start-up business, they
will understand that if your business fails, they will
not get their money back.
- The funding is committed to your business and
your intended projects. Investors only realise their
investment if the business is doing well, eg
through stock market flotation or a sale to new
investors.
- You will not have to keep up with costs of
servicing bank loans or debt finance, allowing you
to use the capital for business activities.
- Outside investors expect the business to deliver
value, helping you explore and execute growth
ideas.
- Some business angels and venture capitalists can
bring valuable skills, contacts and experience to
your business. They can also assist with strategy
and key decision making.
- Like you, investors have a vested interest in the
business' success, ie its growth, profitability and
increase in value.
- Investors are often prepared to provide follow-up
funding as the business grows.
Disadvantages of Equity Financing
Remember that your investors will actually own a
piece of your business; how large that piece
depends on how much money they invest. You
probably will not want to give up control of your
business, so you have to be aware of that when you
agree to take on investors. Investors do expect a
share of the profits where, if you obtain debt
financing, banks or individuals only expect their
loans repaid. If you do not make a profit during the
first years of your business, then investors don't
expect to be paid and you don't have the monkey
on your back of paying back loans. Since your
investors own a piece of your business, you are
expected to act in their best interests as well as
your own, or you could open yourself up to a
lawsuit. In some cases, if you make your firm's
securities available to just a few investors, you
may not have to get into a lot of paperwork, but if
you open yourself up to wide public trading, the
paperwork may overwhelm you. You will need to
check with the Securities and Exchange
Commission to see the requirements before you
make decisions on how widely you want to open
up your business for investment.
Advantages of Debt Financing
- Debt financing allows you to have control of
your own destiny regarding your business. You do
not have investors or partners to answer to and you
can make all the decisions. You own all the profit
you make.
- If you finance your business using debt, the
interest you repay on your loan is tax-deductible.
This means that it shields part of your business
income from taxes and lowers your tax liability
every year. Your interest is usually based on the
prime interest rate.
- The lender(s) from whom you borrow money do
not share in your profits. All you have to do is
make your loan payments in a timely manner.
- You can apply for a Small Business
Administration loan that has more favorable terms
for small businesses than traditional commercial
bank loans.
Disadvantages of Debt Financing
- The disadvantages of borrowing money for a
small business may be great. You may have large
loan payments at precisely the time you need funds
for start-up costs. If you don't make loan payments
on time to credit cards or commercial banks, you
can ruin your credit rating and make borrowing in
the future difficult or impossible. If you don't make
your loan payments on time to family and friends,
you can strain those relationships.
- For a new business, commercial banks may
require you to pledge your personal assets before
they will give you a loan. If your business goes
under, you will lose your personal assets.
- Any time you use debt financing, you are running
the risk of bankruptcy. The more debt financing
you use, the higher the risk of bankruptcy.
Calculate the debt to equity ratio to determine how
much debt your firm is in compared to its equity.
 Technology: More Harmful or Useful?
Advantages of Technology
First, the evolution of technology is beneficial to
humans for several reasons. At the medical level,
technology can help treat more sick people and
consequently save many lives and combat very
harmful viruses and bacteria.
The invention of the computer was a very
important point. Communication is thus enhanced,
and companies can communicate more easily with
foreign countries. Research is also simplified.
For companies, progress is saving in time and
therefore in money. Exchanges are faster
especially with the internet. Sales and purchases
are now facilitated and possible worldwide. This
allows businesses to buy raw materials with
discounts or at reduced prices. Similarly, global
tourism has grown.
Globalization. When schools in different parts of
the state, country or world connect, students can
"meet" their counterparts through video
conferencing without leaving the classroom. Some
sites, such as Glovico, are used to help students
learn foreign languages online by pairing a group
of students with a teacher from another country.
Saves Time: Technology can be used to automate
various tasks at work, this automation will
guarantee efficiency and will also increase on
production at work. The use of computers to
accomplish specific tasks at work creates room of
making corrections on instant and it also reduces
on human errors.
Creates Mobility: The use of internet and
computers to work has eliminated space and time
boundaries. Employees can work from anywhere
at any time, this mobility makes employees stay in
control of their jobs.
Disadvantages of Technology
Technology can have a large impact on users'
mental and physical health. Being overly
connected can cause psychological issues such as
distraction, narcissism, expectation of instant
gratification, and even depression. Beside affecting
users' mental health, use of technology can also
have negative repercussions on physical health
causing vision problems, hearing loss, and neck
strain.
Isolation. Social isolation is characterized by a
lack of contact with other people in normal daily
living, such as, the workplace, with friends and in
social activities. We isolate ourselves by walking
around in our own little world, listening to our
iPods or staring at the screen of the latest mobile
device even when we are around other people.
Studies have shown that people who are socially
isolated will live shorter lives.
Lack of Social Skills. The use of online social
media outlets causes us to meet face-to-face with
much less frequency resulting in a lack of much
needed social skills. We lose the ability to read
body language and social cues in other people.
Depression. Technology creates the perfect recipe
for depression with the lack of human contact,
overeating and lack of exercise. There is a reason
the use of antidepressants are on the rise and the
blame can’t be completely dumped on the
pharmaceutical companies. They aren’t carting
people into the doctor’s office and force feeding
them the pills. This isn’t to say that depression
isn’t a real problem, but some people could cure
their depression by living a healthier lifestyle.
Poor Sleep Habits. Some of the negative effects of
technology can be linked to the effect it has on
sleep habits. We get sucked into online activities
that keep us up too late and the constant stream of
information can make it difficult to turn off our
brains. Also, the ambient glow from screens can
affect the release of melatonin, the sleep chemical.
Keeping technology out of the bedroom would be
a very healthy habit to acquire.
Increased Bullying. The use of technology has
caused an increase in bullying and escalated the
degree of severity. Kids are no longer able to
escape their tormentors once they reach the safety
of their own homes. Bullies infiltrate the security
of their victims’ homes through online avenues.
Lack of Social Bonds. Creating a lasting bond with
other people requires face-to-face interaction. The
more we isolate ourselves with technology the
fewer bonds we will form. People are expected to
do more work at home which takes away time they
would be spending with their families. Also,
younger people prefer communicating online
versus face-to-face.
 Political Votes: will matter or not?
MATTERS
There comes this saying that every vote counts. In
a country where every voice can be heard, those
who vote ensure that in at least this one way, their
voices are heard. Our government is supposed to
represent us; if we don't express our wises about
who we want representing us and about the
proposed laws and changes to laws, we will not be
represented as intended. A vote is a powerful form
of expression and power. It is important to vote
because it activates the democratic process. Voting
is power, and those who believe it is trivial or
inconsequential I say... to sustain freedom is to
engage in it as well as those who would seek to
restrict it. Voting is one way of expressing our
right to put someone in the government deserving
and qualified.
DOES NOT MATTER
Your vote absolutely counts, but it doesn’t matter.
Yes, you’ll change the total number of people who
voted for one candidate, but you won’t change the
outcome. To not vote DOES NOT mean one
relinquishes the right to then comment on,
complain about, or protest the actions of the
government, it is completely the other way round.
When one votes one effectively makes a
contractual agreement (the voter is officially
recorded doing so), which hands over the right for
someone else to speak and act in their name, and
as such, assents to whatever the government does
thereafter. A non-voter however, has not done so,
and therefore retains the right to complain, object
and protest all they want.
6. Participation in the system (i.e., voting)
reinforces the idea that people can’t live together
without violent control.
7. Participation in the system (i.e., voting) implies
that the majority knows what’s best for everyone.
8. Participation in the system (i.e., voting) implies
that the majority knows what’s best for the
individual.
9. Voting is effectively participating in mob rule,
and the mob then enforces it’s views on the rest of
society with the threat of violence.
Our vote will not matter even though they said that
every vote counts because what if the one you vote
and that person you vote is don't have competent to
face the challenges in the country or they don't just
doing anything for the development of the country.
So what is the use of your vote?
Our vote will not matter even though they said that
every vote counts because what if the one you vote
and that person you vote is don't have competent to
face the challenges in the country or they don't just
doing anything for the development of the country.
So what is the use of your vote?
 MERGER or ACQUISITION
PROS ACQUSITION
PROS
1. Speed. Acquisition is one of the most time-
efficient growth strategies. It offers the opportunity
to quickly acquire resources and core
competencies not currently held by your company.
There is near-instantaneous entry into new product
lines and markets, usually with a recognized brand
or positive reputation, and existing client base. In
addition, the risks and costs typically associated
with new product development can drop
dramatically.
2. Market power. An acquisition will quickly build
market presence for your company, increasing
market share while reducing the competition’s
stronghold. Where competition has been
particularly challenging, growth through
acquisition can reduce competitor capacity and
level the playing field. Market synergies are
achieved.
3. New resources and competencies. Businesses
may choose acquisition as a route for gaining
resources and competencies currently not held.
These can have multiple advantages, ranging from
immediate increases in revenues to improving long
term financial outlook to making it easier to raise
capital for other growth strategies. Diversity and
expansion can also help a company to weather
periods of economic or market slump.
4. Meeting stakeholder expectations. In some
cases, stakeholders may have expectations of
growth through acquisition. While not all
stakeholders will insist on acquisition in particular
as a growth strategy, under nearly all
circumstances, stakeholders are looking for returns
on any investment or other advantages for non-
investing stakeholders. When there is pressure to
perform and meet expectations for returns, an
acquisition can often yield results more quickly
than other means for growth.
5. Financial gain. Acquiring organizations with
low share value or low price earning ratio can
bring short-term gains due to assets stripping.
Synergy between the surviving and acquired
organizations can mean substantial cost savings as
well as more efficient use of resources for soft
financial gains.
6. Reduced entry barriers. Acquiring an existing
entity can often overcome formerly challenging
market entry barriers while reducing risks of
adverse competitive reactions. Market entry can
otherwise be a costly proposition, involving
market research among other upfront expenses,
and take years to build a significant client base.
CONS
1. Financial fallout. Returns may not benefit
stakeholders to the extent anticipated, and the
expected cost savings may never materialize or
may take far too much time to materialize due to a
number of developing factors. These might include
a higher-than-anticipated price of acquisition, an
unusually long timeframe for the acquisition
process, lost of key management personnel, lost of
key customers, fewer synergies than projected and
other unforeseen circumstances.
2. Hefty costs. Under some circumstances, the cost
of acquisition can climb steeply, well beyond
earlier projections. This is particularly true in
situations of hostile takeover bids. In some
situations of runaway costs, the added value may
not be enough to justify the cost in dollars and
resources that went into making the acquisition
happen.
3. Integration issues. Integration of the acquired
organization can bring a number of challenges.
Company cultural clash can erupt and activities of
the old organizations may not mesh as well as
anticipated when forming the newly combined
entity. Employees may resent the acquisition, and
undercurrents of anxiety and anger may make
integration challenging.
4. Unrelated diversification. When an acquisition
brings together diverse product or service lines,
there can be difficulties in managing resources and
competencies. Management of employees and
departments can face extreme hurdles and the time
necessary to address such issues may deplete much
of the value otherwise brought about by the
acquisition.
5. Poorly matched partner. Unless he or she has
extensive firsthand experience in implementing
acquisition as a growth strategy, a business owner
who does not seek professional advice in
identifying a potential company for acquisition
may target a business that brings too many
challenges to the equation. A failed acquisition can
rob an otherwise healthy organization of
6. Distraction from operations. When the
acquisition faces too many challenges or the
timeline for completion stretches out longer than
anticipated, too much of the managerial focus is
diverted away from internal development and daily
operations. The post-acquisition organization can
be harmed due to lack of managerial resources,
resulting in fewer synergies or at the least, delays
in savings realized from synergies.
PROS MERGER
Penetrate a New Market
Successful businesses have identified a need in a
market and they need to fulfill that need. A similar
business that wants to build its market share
benefit in a merger. Penetrating a new market
includes gaining a new geographical area or a
specific niche in an industry. For example, a
successful European technology company might
merge with a similar North American company so
that they may gain access to the American market.
This strategy works on a large international scale
and also on a small community scale. A sandwich
shop might merge with another sandwich shop in a
neighboring town to establish a chain and to build
a larger brand.
Better Fulfill Consumer Needs
Business leaders always need to consider the
consumer's experience with the company and its
products or services. A merger should function to
better serve the existing customer base of the
companies. Many banks have merged with
investment services companies to broaden the
financial services available to customers. An
example of this is Bank of America merging with
Merrill Lynch. This type of merger takes
companies that target the same clients but offer
non-competing services, giving customers a one-
stop-shopping experience with credible services.
Product Development
Product development is expensive and risky. In a
merger scenario, the larger company should have a
higher valuation and be better positioned to
develop new products. This is common in the
pharmaceutical industry where small start-ups
developing one or two new products are unable to
fund research, testing and regulatory compliance
over extended time frames. By merging, the
smaller company benefits from the research and
finances of the larger company to continue to
develop new items. The larger company benefits
from getting developed products that have already
met the desired level of success.
Key Personnel and Talent
Two companies might merge so that they get the
benefit of leadership of key individuals in the
company. A small smartphone game-development
company might find itself wildly successful
beyond expectations and it might feel unprepared
to continue to serve such a large market. Merging
with another company that understands how to
capitalize on growing success gives the smaller
company the ability to grow successfully and to
continue to deliver products without problems.
Some mergers, such as the one between AOL and
Time-Warner, sought to obtain industry insight
from key people within each of the companies so
that it could develop a larger company capable of
succeeding in a new digital entertainment
marketplace.
Financial Power
When companies grow, they are able to benefit
from economies of scale, meaning the cost to
produce and distribute the same item reduces as
the market share increases. Additionally, as
companies merge, overall revenues increase,
making the end company much stronger
financially to obtain credit, investors and strategic
alliances. A major requirement for business loans
is revenue thus the higher revenue resulting from
the merger creates a positive cash flow and credit
scenario for companies. This allows the merged
company to grow faster with capital investment for
development, marketing and talent.
 Better Business Model: Jollibee
McDonalds?
JOLLIBEE
"We were surprised customers ranked us higher in
courtesy and service style. Maybe they felt we
were warmer? And then they liked our marketing,
promotion and advertising better. And then
customers kept just coming back," he said.
Forbes Asia said Jollibee now controls 18% of the
market in Metro Manila, handily beating
McDonald's which is said to only have 10% share
of the market.
At 253, the number of Jollibee branches in the
National Capital Region's 17 cities easily
overwhelms McDonald's 164 stores. The figures
were compiled from the two fast-food chain's
websites and mobile apps as of January 5, 2017
Jollibee account for 61% of all branches combined
in Metro Manila
Jollibee Foods Corporation’s (“JFC” or the
“Company”) core business is the development,
operation and franchising of its quick-service McDonald’s distributes its products through the
restaurant brands. It offers a wide variety of restaurants.
affordable and delicious dishes and great tasting
food prepared to satisfy customers of all ages and The cost structure consists of employee salaries,
from all walks of life. facility construction costs, raw materials
procurement and marketing costs.
Food quality, service, price-value relationship,
store location and ambience, and efficient McDonald’s revenues are generated at the
operations continue to be critical elements of the restaurants owned by the company itself and those
Company’s success in the quick-service restaurant owned by its franchise holders.
industry.
MCDONALDS
The Business Model Canvas of McDonald’s can
or
be described as follows:
McDonald’s is famous for its value proposition:
food of a constant quality that is served quickly
and consistently across the globe.
The main customer segments are families,
youngsters, the elderly and business people.
McDonald’s main strategic partners are its
franchise holders. At year end 2013, more than
80% of McDonald’s restaurants were franchised.
Together with its suppliers the company's model is
based on a three-legged stool: suppliers,
franchisees and McDonald’s. Each leg must thrive
for the business to be profitable.
The key activities McDonald’s engages in is the
marketing and selling food and beverages.
Key resources are the company’s employees and
its restaurants on a-locations.
The customer relationship takes place online on
the device preferred by the customer.
NOLI ME TANGERE "SUMMARY"
Juan Crisostomo Ibarra is a young Filipino who,
after studying for seven years in Europe, returns to
his native land to find that his father, a wealthy
landowner, has died in prison as the result of a
quarrel with the parish curate, a Franciscan friar
named Padre Damaso. Ibarra is engaged to a
beautiful and accomplished girl, Maria Clara, the
supposed daughter and only child of the rich Don
Santiago de los Santos, commonly known as
“Capitan Tiago.”
Ibarra resolves to forego all quarrels and to work
for the betterment of his people. To show his good
intentions, he seeks to establish, at his own
expense, a public school in his native town. He
meets with ostensible support from all, especially
Padre Damaso’s successor, a young and gloomy
Franciscan named Padre Salvi, for whom Maria
Clara confesses to an instinctive dread.
At the laying of the cornerstone for the new
schoolhouse, a suspicious accident, apparently
aimed at Ibarra’s life, occurs, but the festivities
proceed until the dinner, where Ibarra is grossly
and wantonly insulted over the memory of his
father by Fray Damaso. The young man loses
control of himself and is about to kill the friar, who
is saved by the intervention of Maria Clara.
Ibarra is excommunicated, and Capitan Tiago,
through his fear of the friars, is forced to break the
engagement and agree to the marriage of Maria
Clara with a young and inoffensive Spaniard
provided by Padre Damaso. Obedient to her
reputed father’s command and influenced by her
mysterious dread of Padre Salvi, Maria Clara
consents to this arrangement, but becomes
seriously ill, only to be saved by medicines sent
secretly by Ibarra and clandestinely administered
by a girl friend.
Ibarra succeeds in having the excommunication
removed, but before he can explain matters, an
uprising against the Civil Guard is secretly brought
about through agents of Padre Salvi, and the
leadership is ascribed to Ibarra to ruin him. He is
warned by a mysterious friend, an outlaw called
Elias, whose life he had accidentally saved; but
desiring first to see Maria Clara, he refuses to
make his escape, and when the outbreak page
occurs, he is arrested as the instigator of it and
thrown into prison in Manila.
On the evening when Capitan Tiago gives a ball in
his Manila house to celebrate his supposed
daughter’s engagement, Ibarra makes his escape
from prison and succeeds in seeing Maria Clara
alone. He begins to reproach her because it is a
letter written to her before he went to Europe
which forms the basis of the charge against him,
but she clears herself of treachery to him. The
letter had been secured from her by false
representations and in exchange for two others
written by her mother just before her birth, which
prove that Padre Damaso is her real father. These
letters had been accidentally discovered in the
convento by Padre Salvi, who made use of them to
intimidate the girl and get possession of Ibarra’s
letter, from which he forged others to incriminate
the young man. She tells him that she will marry
the young Spaniard, sacrificing herself thus to save
her mother’s name and Capitan Tiago’s honor and
to prevent a public scandal, but that she will
always remain true to him.
Ibarra’s escape had been effected by Elias, who
conveys him in a banka up the Pasig to the Lake,
where they are so closely beset by the Civil Guard
that Elias leaps into the water and draws the
pursuers away from the boat, in which Ibarra lies
concealed.
On Christmas Eve, at the tomb of the Ibarras in a
gloomy wood, Elias appears, wounded and dying,
to find there a boy named Basilio beside the corpse
of his mother, a poor woman who had been driven
to insanity by her husband’s neglect and abuses on
the part of the Civil Guard, her younger son having
page disappeared some time before in the
convento, where he was a sacristan. Basilio, who is
ignorant of Elias’s identity, helps him to build a
funeral pyre, on which his corpse and the
madwoman’s are to be burned.
Upon learning of the reported death of Ibarra in the
chase on the Lake, Maria Clara becomes
disconsolate and begs her supposed godfather,
Fray Damaso, to put her in a nunnery.
Unconscious of her knowledge of their true
relationship, the friar breaks down and confesses
that all the trouble he has stirred up with the
Ibarras has been to prevent her from marrying a
native, which would condemn her and her children
to the oppressed and enslaved class. He finally
yields to her entreaties and she enters the nunnery
of St. Clara, to which Padre Salvi is soon assigned
in a ministerial capacity.
EL FILIBUSTERISMO "SUMMARY"
El Filibusterismo Summary Crisostomo Ibarra is
back and as Simoun. During the period in between
the story line of Noli Me Tangere and El
Filibusterismo which is 13 years, Ibarra left the
Philippines and became a wealthy jeweler. He
came back to the Philippines as Senor Simoun,
disguised with a beard. He seems to have long
abandoned his once vision of ending the despotism
of Spain with words and peace. He becomes
hungry for vengeance for all the misfortune our
country has suffered under the tyranny of the
Spaniards . And near the end of the novel, when he
discovers that his lover, Maria Clara, died in the
convent, he becomes all the more furious. Simoun
is a confidant of the Captain-General. He
encourages the government to make bad decisions
and to abuse their power so that it would spark a
revolution among the masses. Basilio, now all
grown up, is at first reluctant to join in on
Simoun’s idea but ends up being part of the plan.
Simoun started planning uprisings and stashed
guns in the shop of an ally. At the wedding
reception of newlyweds (the bride being the ex-
girlfriend of one of the friends of Basillo—
Isagani), Simoun tells Basilio that his plan was to
conceal an explosive which contains nitroglycerin
inside a pomegranate-styled Kerosene lamp that
Simoun will give to the newlyweds as a gift during
the wedding reception. The reception will take
place at the former home of the late Captain Tiago,
which was now filled with explosives planted by
Simoun. According to Simoun, the lamp will stay
lighted for only 20 minutes before it flickers; if
someone attempts to turn the wick, it will explode
and kill everyone—important members of civil
society and the Church hierarchy—inside the
house. Simoun leaves the reception early and
leaves a note with the words: “Mene Thecel remaining jewels of Ibarra in the hopes that they
Phares” which means “the future is predetermined” may always be used for good.
and is generally implied that a bad event is going
to happen. Simoun signed it with his real name REFLECTION
“Juan Crisostomo Ibarra”. The people at the
El Filibusterismo is far more dark and brutal. This
reception were shocked because Ibarra is
novel can really make me a better person because
supposedly dead. One of the priests who knew
the novel’s message is violence is never the
Ibarra before the ending of Noli Me Tangere
answer. The novel’s plot shows that. At first,
confirmed to the people that it was the writing of
Simoun is planning to rescue Maria Clara by all
Ibarra. The lamp started to dim… Outside the
means necessary. That means even if he has to use
house, Basilio was about to walk away because he
force, he will do it just to achieve his goal,
knew the lamp was going to explode anytime soon
contrary to what Ibarra believed in. At the end,
when he saw Isagani, the still heart-broken ex-
Jose Rizal showed that violence is never the
boyfriend of the bride whose reception was still
answer in Simoun’s death and Father Florentino’s
going on in the house of Capitan Tiago. Isagani
lamentations. The final event really showed that
said that he just wanted to congratulate the newly-
violence is never the answer to anything. It is just a
weds. Basilio who then feared for the safety of his
way to create and replace the old problem with a
friend told him about the plan of Simoun. Isagani
new one.
ran to the house. A priest was about to fix the lamp
but once Isagani got in, he found the lamp and
threw it out the window into the river outside the
residence. Since the guards were chasing Isagani,
he himself jumped out of the window into the river
as well. There was an uprising planned by Simoun
during the time of the reception. The band got
caught and confessed that Simoun lead them.
Ibarra was now wanted both as himself and as
Simoun. Days passed and a good priest found
Simoun walking along the shore, wounded and
weak. The noble priest tended to Simoun while the
latter explained that he is Ibarra and that he was
greatly saddened and angry due to the failure of
the revolution and that he was questioning God as
to why he was the one who is suffering and not the
ones who have forsaken the people of the
Philippines. The priest explains that all
punishments will come in due time. Ibarra died as
he weakly held the hand of the priest. The latter
blessed the former and threw away all the