Below are the chapter summaries of Rizal’s most controversial novels, the “Noli Me Tangere” and “El

Filibusterismo”. My heart is wrapped with disappointment that due to the limited time allotted to this
course and considering the length of the novels, the original and unexpurgated versions will not be
introduced. Instead, the summary of events for each chapter will be discussed below.

NOLI ME TANGERE

Chapter 1: A Social Gathering

Capitan Santiago de los Santos, or Capitan Tiago, hosts a dinner in his house at Calle Anloague.
While waiting for the meals to be served, the guests converse with one another.  In these
conversations, the readers are introduced to some of the novel’s characters, such as Padre Damaso,
Padre Sibyla, Lieutenant Guevara, Laruja, Doña Victorina de Espadaña, and Don Tiburcio de
Espadaña.

Chapter 2: Crisostomo Ibarra

Capitan Tiago enters the sala and introduces Juan Crisostomo Ibarra y Magsalin to the guests.
Crisostomo, he informs them, is the only son of the late Don Rafael Ibarra, and he has recently
arrived from his studies in Europe.  Crisostomo is puzzled when Padre Damaso, whom he thought
was a friend of his father, arrogantly denies that he was ever a friend of Don Rafael Ibarra.

Chapter 3: The Dinner

At dinner over Tinola, the conversation of the guests centers on Crisostomo’s travels to several
countries.  Padre Damaso belittles Ibarra’s trips, saying that what he has learned from them can be
learned even without leaving the country.  Embarrassed, Ibarra excuses himself from the guests and
leaves, even after Capitan Tiago informs him that Maria Clara is coming to dinner.

Chapter 4: Heretic and Filibuster

While walking towards Plaza Binondo, Crisostomo is approached by Lieutenant Guevara, to whom
Ibarra expresses lament that he himself does not know how his father died.  The Lieutenant narrates
the event to him, saying that Don Rafael Ibarra was imprisoned for killing a Spanish tax collector, for
not going to confession, and for subscribing to the newspaper El Correo Ultramar.  He also mentions
that Don Rafael was branded as a heretic, a filibuster, and a subversive.  Because of these
accusations, he dies while in prison.

Chapter 5: A Star in the Dark Night

Ibarra goes to the Fonde de Lala hotel.  He is troubled by the visions of his father being unjustly
imprisoned and dying without seeing him.  He imagines the anguish and grief suffered by his father
while he is studying and traveling in Europe.  In the house of Capitan Tiago, meanwhile, Maria Clara
arrives, and is admired by all guests, especially Padre Damaso.

Chapter 6: Capitan Tiago

Capitan Tiago is one of the richest landowners in Binondo, Pampanga and Laguna.  Aside from
owning large tracts of lands, he also provides zacate, monopolizes the opium business, and holds a
contract for feeding the prisoners in the Bilibid prison.  Since he has had no child with his wife, Doña
Pia, Padre Damaso advises the Doña to attend the mass at Obando.  She eventually conceives a
child, whom they name Maria Clara, in honor of the Virgin of Salambao and Sta. Clara. Capitan Tiago
and the late Don Rafael later agree to arrange the marriage of their children.

Chapter 7: An Idyl on an Azotea

Crisostomo Ibarra visits Maria Clara at Calle Anloague.  They speak privately at the azotea, about the
years that they have not seen each other.  Ibarra strives to prove his love for Maria Clara by showing
her the old leaves that had been given by the girl seven years earlier, while they had gone swimming
with his mother.  Maria Clara, in return, reads an old letter written by Ibarra before leaving for
abroad.

Chapter 8: Recollections
Ibarra’s carriage passes through the busiest district of Manila, and what he sees disturbs him.  He
observes that the country’s condition remains unchanged from when he left it seven years ago.  He
finds no progress achieved and reforms implemented by the government.  He sees that the roads
have not been paved and that the Puente de Barcas has been destroyed by neglect.  Afterwards,
seeing the Arroceros Cigar factory, the Botanical Garden, and the Bagumbayan bring back fond
memories.

Chapter 9: Local Affairs

This chapter features the three conversations between Padre Damaso and Capitan Tiago, between
Padre Sibyla and an unmanned priest, and between the the Governor-General and his men.  Angry at
not being informed of the arranged marriage between Crisostomo and Maria Clara, Padre Damaso
now wants to stop the marriage planned for the lovers.  Capitan Tiago obeys the priest, and
extinguishes the candles that were lit for Ibarra’s journey to San Diego.  Padre Sibyla and an
unnamed priest discuss the dangerous implication to the country of Crisostomo Ibarra’s foreign
education.  The Governor-General reveals to his men that he is unhappy with the situation in the
Philippines but that he is helpless in changing the conditions of the country.

Chapter 10: The Town

San Diego, a town along the Laguna Lake, produces sugar, rice, coffee, and fruit, which are sold to
Chinese merchants.  Aside from its meadows and paddy fields, the town has a forest with old trees
and tropical vegetation that had been purchased by a Spaniard who was the great grandfather of
Juan Crisostomo Ibarra.

Chapter 11: The Rulers

Two persons virtually rule the town of San Diego: Padre Bernardo Salvi and the Alferez of the Guardia
Civil, Padre Salvi is described as a thin, sickly, and silent friar and, unlike Padre Damaso, he is more
inclined to impose fines on his subordinates.  The Alferez has a wife named Doña Consolacion.
Because of his bad marriage to the Doña, he is frequently drunk and compels his soldiers to drill
under the hot sun.

Chapter 12: All Saints

Two gravediggers converse in the San Diego cemetery.  One of them mentions that he was ordered
by a fat curate to dig up the body of a person buried in the cemetery, and to rebury it in the Chinese
cemetery.  But since it was raining, he just dumped the body into the river.  Tasio the sage arrives at
the cemetery, unsuccessfully searching for the skull of his dead wife.

Chapter 13: Signs of Storm

Crisostomo Ibarra and a servant arrive at the San Diego cemetery to look for the grave of his father,
Don Rafael Ibarra.  After failing to locate the grave, his servant asks the gravedigger for help.  The
gravedigger replies that he had dug up the body of the don and planned to bury it in the Chinese
cemetery, as instructed by Padre Damaso.  Since it was raining, however, he says, he threw the body
into the river.  Angered upon hearing the account, Crisostomo leaves.  At the cemetery gate, he
meets Padre Salvi and attacks the Curate, whom he mistakes for Father Damaso.

Chapter 14: Tasio: Lunatic or Sage

After leaving the cemetery, Tasio the sage wanders about the street aimlessly.  He sees two boys
aged ten and seven, and tells them that their mother has prepared a meal for them to be taken when
they get home.  Don Filipo invites Tasio to his house, and a discussion on the existence of purgatory
follows.  Tasio thinks that the place called purgatory does not exist since neither the bible nor Jesus
Christ mentions it.

Chapter 15: The Sacristans

Crispin and Basilio are sacristans of the church at San Diego.  The two are worried since the Sacristan
Mayor and the Curate has accused Crispin of stealing two gold pieces and he was to remain in the
church until the money is returned.  Crispin also complains about the frequent beating and whipping
that he receives.  After ringing the church bells, the Sacristan Mayor beats Crispin to make him
confess his crime.
Chapter 16: Sisa
Sisa waits for her two sons, Crispin and Basilio.  Knowing that they are hungry, she prepares a meal
consisting of duck leg, wild boar’s meat, tomatoes and five pieces of fish.  Her husband arrives, and
eats all the food, leaving only three pieces of fish.  She patiently waits for Crispin and Basilio and is
surprised when, during the night, only Basilio arrives.

Chapter 17: Basilio

Basilio arrives home, wounded from a gunshot fired at him by the Guardia Civil. Basilio tells his
mother that Crispin has stayed behind in the convent because the curate accused him of stealing two
gold pieces. In his dream, Basilio sees Crispin being beaten up and killed by the Curate and the
Sacristan Mayor.

Chapter 18: Souls in Torment

In the convent, some women converse about purgatory and the number of plenary indulgences that
they have acquired. Sisa arrives, bringing with her vegetables to appease the Curate into forgiving
her son Crispin. A sacristan tells her that Crispin is not in the church, and that the Guardia Civil are
now searching for her two sons, after the Curate reported them to the authorities for stealing.

Chapter 19: A Schoolmaster’s Difficulties

Ibarra converses with a schoolmaster who was helped by his father. The schoolmaster narrates the
obstacles that he encountered in teaching the children. He informs Ibarra that the town lacks
facilities such as a school building and necessary equipment. His work is also hindered by the
stubbornness of the former town Curate, Padre Damaso.

Chapter 20: The Meeting in the Townhall

The town officials meet in the town hall to discuss the fiesta celebration. The council approves the
proposal of Don Filipo, but the Gobernadorcillo tells them that the curate’s alternate proposal must be
followed instead. Although the council objects to the Curate’s proposal, they are powerless to stop
implementation of the plan. Don Filipo and Tasio the sage go home dejected.

Chapter 21: The Story of a Mother

Sisa arrives at her house and finds the Guardia Civil looking for her sons. After vainly searching for
Crispin and Basilio, the Guardia Civil decide to arrest Sisa in order to compel her sons to surrender
and return the money they have stolen. Due to the anguish and public humiliation Sisa suffers, she
becomes insane.

Chapter 22: Lights and Shadows

Maria Clara converses with Ibarra near a window overlooking the lake. Ibarra invites Maria Clara, her
friends, and Padre Salvi to a picnic in the woods. Maria Clara is delighted, and Padre Salvi accepts
the invitation to prove that he has no ill feelings towards Ibarra.

Chapter 23: Fishing

Ibarra and Maria Clara, together with their friends go fishing at the lake. To entertain them, Andeng
plays the harp, while Maria Clara sings a sad love song. In one of the fish cages, the men discover
that the fishing nets have entangled a crocodile. Elias, followed by Ibarra, jumps into the lake,
successfully killing the crocodile.

Chapter 24: In the Wood

Padre Salvi passes near a stream, while going to the picnic organized by Ibarra. He hears some
voices, hides behind a tree, and spies on Maria Clara and her friends while they bathe. After the
Alferez leaves the picnic, the guardia civil arrives at the picnic, looking for Elias, the boatman who had
thrown the Alferez into a mudhole and who had assaulted Padre Damaso.

Chapter 25: In the House of the Sage

Ibarra consults Tasio the sage about the school building that he plans to build. The sage advises
Ibarra not to pursue his project, else he incur the ire of the friars and other government officials, who
would do everything in their power to ruin him.

Chapter 26: The Eve of the Fiesta

It is the eve of the fiesta, and people are busy preparing food, while Ñor Juan supervises the
workmen laying the cornerstone and building the foundation of the proposed school building. Some
individuals volunteer to contribute toward the construction of the school, some promise to pay the
teacher, while others offer their services for free. Ibarra remains optimistic that his endeavor will
succeed, while Tasio advises him to be cautious.

Chapter 27: In the Twilight

Maria Clara and Ibarra, together with their friends, go for a walk. They meet a leper. In an act of
compassion, Maria Clara gives her locket to the sick man.

Chapter 28: Correspondence

This chapter features the three letters between a correspondent and his friend, between Capitan
Martin and Luis Chiquito, and between Ibarra and Maria Clara. The correspondent vividly describes to
his friend the fiesta and the many events that have taken place in San Diego. Capitan Martin
narrates to Luis Chiquito the good fortune of Capitan Tiago in winning a game of cards. Maria Clara
reveals that she is worried that Ibarra is sick, and sends Andeng to make some tea for her
sweetheart.

Chapter 29: The Morning

A procession is held during the last day of the fiesta, where the people parade the images of San
Diego de Alcala, St. Francis, and the Virgin. The people in the procession are greeted by the sound
of firecrackers, songs, and religious prayers.

Chapter 30: In the Church

The noisy and disorderly parishioners try to push one another while dipping their hands in the holy
water. The people are waiting for the sermon of Padre Damaso, when they notice that the Alcalde’s
uniform looks similar to the costume worn by one of the actors in a play.

Chapter 31: The Sermon

In his sermon, Padre Damaso reprimands some natives who, after receiving education in Manila and
in Europe, are now contented in not kissing the hands of a friar and not offering him the honor due
his rank. Padre Damaso declares that these individuals would get what they deserve and that God
would punish them for their wicked acts. At the end of the sermon, Elias approaches Ibarra, and
warns him that his life is in danger.

Chapter 32: The Derrick

Ibarra, the Alcalde, and other individuals, go to the site of the proposed school to lay the cornerstone
of the building. The Alcalde throws some mortar on the stone, followed by the curate and Alferez.
When it is Ibarra’s turn, the derrick suddenly falls apart, dropping the heavy block of stone.
Fortunately Ibarra is unhurt, the only casualty being the yellowish man who operates the machine.

Chapter 33: Free Thoughts

Elias visits Ibarra at his house and informs him that many enemies are out to ruin him, as confirmed
by the incident with the derrick. Because of Ibarra’s education and beliefs, Elias says, many people
would want him dead. Elias affirms that he is only paying his debt, since Ibarra saved him from
being killed by the crocodile.

Chapter 33: Free Thoughts

Elias visits Ibarra at his house and informs him that many enemies are out to ruin him, as confirmed
by the incident with the derrick. Because of Ibarra’s education and beliefs, Elias says, many people
would want him dead. Elias affirms that he is only paying his debt, since Ibarra saved him from
being killed by the crocodile.
Chapter 34: The Dinner
At dinner, Padre Damaso belittles Ibarra for building a school. Ibarra remains silent, but when Padre
Damaso insults his father’s honor, Ibarra lunges at the curate with a knife in hand, threatening to kill
him. Fortunately Maria Clara intervenes.

Chapter 35: Comments

The town discusses the incident between Padre Damaso and Ibarra. The town captain criticizes
Ibarra for his lack of self-control, while others opine that Ibarra will be branded as a filibuster and will
be excommunicated by the Church. Don Filipo and Capitana Maria, however, both agree that Ibarra
did the right thing in protecting his father’s honor and memory.

Chapter 36: The First Cloud

Arriving from the convent, Capitan Tiago tells Maria Clara and Tia Isabel that he has agreed to break
his daughter’s wedding engagement to Ibarra. Capitan Tiago adds that Maria Clara must forget
Ibarra, since she would now marry a relative of Padre Damaso.

Chapter 37: His Excellency

The Governor-General converses with Ibarra about the dinner incident. He assures Ibarra that he will
be protected by the government from the evil intentions of the friars and religious corporations. The
Governor-General promises that he would talk to the archbishop regarding Ibarra’s excommunication,
while advising Capitan Tiago not to break his daughter’s engagement to Ibarra.

Chapter 38: The Procession

Another procession is held, where the town displays the images of St. John, St. Francis, San Diego,
and the Virgin. Tasio sees the ragged and poor clothing of the saints and sarcastically remarks that
the saints would be ashamed if they would see the lifestyle of their fellow servants of God.

Chapter 39: Doña Consolacion

Doña Consolacion, the Alferez’s wife, calls Sisa to sing, but proceeds to maltreat her by whipping her
when she refuses to dance. The Alferez arrives, stops the whipping and calls his servant to feed and
clothe the insane woman,who is to be treated by a doctor hired by Ibarra.

Chapter 40: Right and Might

Maria Clara, her friends, Don Filipo, and Padre Salvi are watching a play when Ibarra arrives to joins
them. Padre Salvi orders Don Filipo to prohibit Ibarra from watching the play, since he has been
excommunicated, and his presence would corrupt the people. Padre Salvi walks out when Don Filipo
refuses to prevent Ibarra from watching the play.

Chapter 41: Two Visits

Elias informs him that Maria Clara is sick with fever. A man named Lucas then arrives, asking for
money for his brother who was killed in the derrick. Ibarra tells him to come back that afternoon
since he is meeting with a sick person.

Chapter 42: The Espadañas

Don Tiburcio de Espadaña and his wife Victorina, together with Linares, a distant relative of Padre
Damaso, arrive at the house of Capitan Tiago to treat Maria Clara. Doña Victorina speaks highly of
Linares, telling Capitan Tiago that he has come to the Philippines to seek work and to find a wife.
The fake doctor Espadaña prescribes some medicines for Maria Clara, as they wait for Padre Damaso
to arrive.

Chapter 43: Plans

Linares introduces himself to Padre Damaso as the godson of his brother-in-law. Linares says that he
graduated with a law degree from a university and that he has come to the Philippines to find work
and to look for a wife. Upon hearing this, Padre Damaso calls Capitan Tiago. Lucas, meanwhile,
approaches Padre Salvi to ask for help, being the brother of the yellowish man killed when the derrick
collapsed.

Chapter 44: An Examination of Conscience

Padre Salvi mentions that Padre Damaso will be transferred to a town in Tayabas. Since Maria Clara
is still sick, the Curate suggests that Maria Clara makes her confession. Tia Isabel agrees with the
Curate, and prepares Maria Clara for her confession. After hearing Maria Clara’s confession, Padre
Salvi exits the room looking gloomy, with his forehead covered with perspiration.

Chapter 45: The Hunted

Elias goes to Tanauan, Batangas, to converse with Capitan Pablo, the leader of some bandits. Elias
asks Capitan Pablo to stop committing violent acts against the government, since they can get the
help of Ibarra in obtaining justice and implementing some reforms for the country.

Chapter 46: The Cockpit

At the cockpit arena, Lucas approaches Bruno and Tarsilo, recruiting them to attack the town
barracks. Lucas declares that aside from joining the attack organized by Ibarra against the barracks,
they can exact their revenge on the members of the guardia civil who killed their father.

Chapter 47: The Two Señoras

Doña Victorina and Don Tiburcio pass by the house of the Alferez, as Doña Consolacion mocks and
ridicules Doña Espadaña and her crippled husband. The two women start exchanging insults and
almost get into a fight that is averted by the arrival of the Alferez and Padre Salvi. To defend her
honor, Doña Victorina asks Linares to challenge the Alferez to a duel.

Chapter 48: The Enigma

Ibarra wishes to inform Maria Clara that his excommunication is lifted, but upon arriving at her house,
he sees Maria Clara with Linares. He is invited to come into the house, but he visits instead the site
of the school building, asking the supervisor, Ñor Juan about its progress.

Chapter 49: The Voice of the Hunted

Elias meets Ibarra at the lakeside. He narrates the conversation he has had with Capitan Pablo. Elias
says that, Ibarra, because of his education and position in society, can ask the Spanish government
to implement radical reforms such as fewer privileges for religious corporations, security for a citizen
and more respect for a man’s dignity. Ibarra objects, saying that such institutions as the priesthood,
religious corporations, and the Guardia Civil, are necessary evils that must be tolerated by the society.

Chapter 50: The Voice of the Hunted

Elias narrates his story and the misfortunes of his ancestors. His great grandfather, he recounts,
woks as a bookkeeper for a Spaniard, when he is accused of arson, and is flogged and paraded in the
streets of Manila. Shamed and disgraced, his wife becomes a prostitute, while one of the sons
becomes a notorious bandit. The other son travels from town to town until he is hired as a laborer,
and marries a rich woman. Elias and his sister are born of this marriage, and both are educated in
Manila. But when their family’s past surfaces, they lose everything. Elias’s sister commits suicide,
while he roams the provinces as a hunted and lonely man.

Chapter 51: Exchanges

Padre Salvi informs Linares, Maria Clara, and Capitan Tiago that Ibarra’s excommunication has been
lifted, and the last obstacle to be hurdled is for Ibarra to ask for forgiveness from Padre Damaso.
Ibarra asks Sinang if Maria Clara is angry with him and insists that he wants to speak to Maria Clara.

Chapter 52: The Cards of the Dead and the Shadows

Three men are in the cemetery waiting for Lucas. They discuss their impending attack on the
barracks and the church, which they believe is organized by Ibarra. Lucas arrives and instructs them
to attack the church and the barracks, shouting Viva Don Crisostomo. Elias, after following Lucas,
learns about the attack that will implicate Ibarra.
Chapter 53: Il Buon Dí Si Conosce Da Mattina
Don Filipo visits Tasio the sage, who’s ill. He tells Tasio that he has resigned from his position
because he is fed up with the Gobernadorcillo’s ineptitude. Tasio praises the don’s action, saying that
resistance must be used not only against the Gobernadorcillo but against all persons who abuse their
authority.

Chapter 54: Revelations

Padre Salvi warns the Alferez about an impending attack on the town. He informs the Alferez to
ready his men and to send four soldiers to guard the church. Elias alerts Ibarra on the imminent
attack on the town that will be blamed on him. He helps Ibarra dispose of some letters that could
implicate him. In one of these letters, Elias discovers that Ibarra’s great grandfather was the
Spaniard who had accused his great grandfather of arson.

Chapter 55: The Catastrophe

Padre Salvi warns the Alferez about an impending attack on the town. He informs the Alferez to
ready his men and to send four soldiers to guard the church. Elias alerts Ibarra on the imminent
attack on the town that will be blamed on him. He helps Ibarra dispose of some letters that could
implicate him. In one of these letters, Elias discovers that Ibarra’s great grandfather was the
Spaniard who had accused his great grandfather of arson.

Chapter 56: Rumors and Beliefs

umors circulate in the terrified town, after the eventful night. Some people assume that Don Filipo
and Crisostomo Ibarra have been arrested by the Guardia Civil, while others think that some bandits
were caught in the night.

Chapter 57: Vae Victis!

The Guardia Civil imprison the individuals implicated in the failed attack. They torture Tarsilo to
obtain a confession from him and to make him disclose the mastermind of the failed attack. But
Tarsilo remains silent up to his death.

Chapter 58: The Accursed

The crying relatives of those arrested wait outside the barracks of the Guardia Civil. Ibarra, together
with the other prisoners, are led out of their cells to be transported to the provincial capital. Along
the way, Ibarra is cursed, stoned, and ridiculed by the people, blaming him for their misfortunes and
hardships.

Chapter 59: Patriotism and Private Interests

The people of Manila discuss the failed rebellion falsely blamed on Ibarra. The friars praise Padre
Salvi for alerting the authorities about the rebellion, while others criticize the Jesuits, who declare that
Ibarra had been educated at the Ateneo.

Chapter 60: Maria Clara Weds

Capitan Tiago invites guests and visitors to celebrate the impending marriage of Maria Calara and
Linares. Maria Clara goes to the azotea, where she sees Crisostomo leaping out from a boat. She
asks Crisostomo for forgiveness since she is about to be married to someone else, but declares that
she would never forget her vow of faithfulness to him.

Chapter 61: The Chase on the Lake

Two boatloads of Guardia Civil pursue Elias and Ibarra on the lake. Elias jumps into the river to
mislead the pursuers, thus saving Ibarra.

Chapter 62: Padre Damaso Explains

Maria is distraught when she learns that Ibarra has been killed, while trying to escape. Out of
desperation, Maria Clara asks Padre Damaso to break her marriage engagement and to permit her to
enter the nunnery. After vainly arguing with Maria Clara, Padre Damaso gives his permission.

Chapter 63: Christmas Eve

Basilio returns to San Diego to look for his insane mother. Upon seeing her in the town, he runs after
her until they enter the forest owned by the Ibarras. Sisa dies, after eventually recognizing her son.
When Basilio regains consciousness, Elias orders him to cremate his him and his mother.

Chapter 64: Epilogue

Padre Damaso is reassigned as parish priest to a distant province but is found dead the day after.
Maria Clara enters the Sta. Clara nunnery, where Padre Salvi regularly preaches and holds an
important office. Capitan Tiago stops going to church, and is now addicted to opium and gambling.
The Alferez who has been promoted as a 2nd lieutenant, goes back to Spain, leaving his wife, Doña
Consolacion, behind. Doña Victorina still tries to live the life of a Spanish woman, while her cousin
Linares dies of dysentery. Two Spanish guards see an insane nun standing at the top of the Sta.
Clara convent during a raging storm. When the authorities try to investigate the nun’s case, the
abbess prohibits the inquiry, invoking the name of Religion and the Holy Statutes.
Two Spanish guards saw an insane nun standing at the top of the Sta. Clara convent during a raging
storm. When the authorities tried to investigate, the abbess prohibited the inquiry invoking the name
of Religion and the Holy Statutes.

EL FILIBUSTERISMO

Chapter 1: On the Upper Deck

The novel begins with the steamship Tabo sailing on the Pasig River on its way to Laguna. While the
passengers on the upper deck discuss subjects regarding the lake and the slow pace of ship travel,
readers are gradually introduced to some characters of the novel such as the jeweler Simoun, Doña
Victorina, Ben Zayb, Don Custodio, Padre Irene, Sibyla, Camorra, and Salvi.

Chapter 2: On the Lower Deck

On the lower deck of the steamship Tabo, Basilio and Isagani converse with Don Basilio. The two
students tell the Don the plan of the students to establish a Spanish academy. Although the two
students are hopeful that the academy would be approved by the Governor-General, Don Basilio
expresses his pessimism.

Chapter 3: Legends
The wealthy passengers of the steamship amuse themselves by telling stories and legends of
interesting places and spots along the river. Padre Florentino recounts the legend of Doña Jeronima,
while Padre Salvi narrates the story of a Chinese infidel who was saved from the caymans by asking
St. Nicholas for help. Ben Zayb then asks the captain the exact spot where a man named Ibarra was
killed. While pointing to the exact spot, Ben Zayb observes that Simoun is silent and thoughtful.

Chapter 4: Cabesang Tales

Cabesang Tales with his family and father cultivate a piece of land. From the hardship the experience
and sickness they experience, Tales's wife and eldest daughter die. When he is about to harvest his
crops, a religious order lays claim to the land and demands an annual rent. Tales eventually agrees
to the arrangement, but every year the rent keeps going up until he has had enough. He goes to the
courts and demands that the religious order present some proof of their ownership of the land. After
a long and expensive litigation, Tales loses the case. He is unfortunately abducted by bandits
demanding ransom. Not enough money is raised for the ransom, so Juli, the daughter of Cabesang
Tales, borrows money from Hermana Penchang. To pay the debt, Juli agrees to work for the
Hermana as a servant.
Chapter 5: A Cochero’s Christmas Eve
On the way to the town of San Diego, a cochero endures abuse and maltreatment from the Guardia
Civil. He is hit with a rifle butt when he tells them he has forgotten to bring his cedula with him. He
is detained and beaten up again when the light of his carromata goes out. Basilio arrives at San
Diego and, after making his way to Capitan Tiago's house, he receives the news that Cabesang Tales
has been abducted by bandits.

Chapter 6: Basilio
At Christmas Eve, Basilio enters the forest previously owned by the Ibarra family but has been sold to
Capitan Tiago. In the middle of the forest stands a Balete tree, where he visits the grave of his
mother Sisa and a stranger (Elias). He remembers that thirteen years ago, a second stranger
(Ibarra) had helped him cremate and bury his mother and the stranger. Through Capitan Tiago’s
help, he is now studying to be a doctor and plans to marry his sweetheart, Juli.

Chapter 7: Simoun
Basilio is about to leave the forest when he sees someone approach and starts digging near the
Balete tree. He announces his presence and is surprised that the man turns out to be Simoun the
jeweler, who is none other than Crisostomo Ibarra. Simoun convinces Basilio to cooperate in his
plans of avenging the death of his mother (Sisa) and his younger brother (Crispin) but Basilio remains
steadfast saying that revenge would never bring back his brother and mother.

Chapter 8: Merry Christmas!

It is Christmas day and Juli wakes up early to pack her things to go to Hermana Penchang. She
forgets to greet his grandfather Tata Selo a Merry Christmas. After Juli leaves, Tata Selo is
preoccupied with thoughts of his pretty granddaughter with her delicate hands working as a servant,
of his son Cabesang Tales still held by bandits, and of being alone on Christmas Day. Dwelling on all
these misfortunes, he discovers that he has become dumb.

Chapter 9: Pilates
The gossip about the misfortunes of Tata Selo and his family spreads around town, and a number of
people are claiming that they are not to blame for these misfortunes. The Alferez of the Guardia Civil
says that he was just following a government order to collect all firearms in town. The friar who has
taken over Cabesang Tales's comments that if Tales had remained at home, he would never have
been abducted by the bandits. Hermana Penchang merely says that God brought down hardships on
Tata Selo’s family because they had not taught Juli to pray properly.

Chapter 10: Wealth and Want

Simoun visits Cabesang Tales's house to sell his jewelry to the rich inhabitants of San Diego and
Tiani. Cabesang Tales is convinced to sell his daughter’s locket but decides to get his daughter's
permission first. The following day Simoun discovers that his revolver has been stolen by Tales.
News circulates in the town that three persons have been murdered: the friar administrator, as well
as the new tenant and his wife. A piece of paper with the word Tales written in blood is found near
the dead tenant’s wife.

Chapter 11: Los Baños

On the last day of December, the Governor-General and his advisers, together with some friars, are
taking a rest in Los Baños. After the game of cards, the Governor-General asks his advisers' opinion
about the students' proposal to put up a self-sufficient Spanish academy. There is a disagreement of
opinions, so no decision is made. Afterwards, the Governor-General orders the release of Tata Selo,
who has been arrested by the Guardia Civil in place of his son, Cabesang Tales.

Chapter 12: Placido Penitente

Placido enters the class in physics conducted by Padre Millon. The class has no laboratory
equipment, while the instruments bought by the university are never used. At a class recitation,
Placido argues with the professor when he gets a bad mark even if he had been marked as being
absent. From disgust and frustration, Placido Penitente walks out of the class.
Chapter 13: The Class in Physics
Placido enters the class in physics conducted by Padre Millon. The class has no laboratory
equipment, while the instruments bought by the university are never used. At a class recitation,
Placido argues with the professor when he gets a bad mark even if he had been marked as being
absent. From disgust and frustration, Placido Penitente walks out of the class.

Chapter 14: In the House of the Students

Arriving at the school dormitory, Makaraig announces that the decision to issue the permit for
building the academy has been passed to a commission headed by Don Custodio. The students then
devise schemes to influence Don Custodio or Señor Pasta, a lawyer, to give a favorable decision.
Isagani volunteers to persuade Señor Pasta to support and to endorse their project.

Chapter 15: Señor Pasta

Isagani approaches Señor Pasta to persuade him to support and endorse the students' project. Not
wishing to provoke the friars who are against the project, Señor Pasta decides to oppose it and to
convince Isagani instead to focus on his studies.

Chapter 16: The Tribulations of a Chinese

Quiroga, a Chinese businessman, gives a dinner in his house. Friars, government officials, soldiers,
and merchants attend the dinner. Simoun asks Quiroga to store some rifles in his warehouse as
exchange for the portion of the debt that the Chinese merchant owes him.

Chapter 17: The Quiapo Fair

Twelve people leave Quiroga's house to watch Mr. Leeds' show. Padre Camorra ogles the young
women at the fair, and gets more excited when he sees Paulita Gomez, Isagani's rich and beautiful
sweetheart.

Chapter 18: Legerdemain

Ben Zayb, Padre Camorra, Padre Salvi, and others enter the tent of Mr. Leeds to watch his show. Mr.
Leeds presents to them a box containing some ashes that had been found in one of the pyramids of
Egypt. Upon shouting a magic word, the ashes come to life and the Sphinx named Imuthis narrates
his sad story. A priest, he says, was in love with his sweetheart and in order to eliminate him, he was
implicated in a rebellion. Imuthis was then arrested but was killed in a lake while trying to escape.
Seeing the parallelism between Imuthis' story and that of Crisostomo Ibarra, Padre Salvi faints when
the Sphinx starts calling him murderer, slanderer, and hypocrite.

Chapter 19: The Fuse

Placido Penitente meets and joins Simoun in his trip around the city. Placido learns that Simoun is
organizing a revolution in order to rescue Maria Clara from the convent.

Chapter 20: The Arbiter

Don Custodio studies his decision regarding the proposal of the university students. He is undecided,
since he wants to please the friars who are against the proposal while at the same time desires to
give the students a chance to study the Spanish language. Señor Pasta and Pepay the dancer have
been consulted, but they they do not not give him a concrete answer. After much contemplation, he
arrives at a decision.

Chapter 21: Manila Types

The people of Manila gather in the Teatro de Variadades to watch Les Cloches de Corneville.
Camarrocido, who is from a prominent family in Spain, is poorly dressed and is employed in putting
up posters of upcoming shows of the Teatro. While walking near the Teatro he sees some men
suspiciously loitering around. He finds out that Simoun is ordering the men to stop a civil unrest.

Chapter 22: Manila Types

Humorous incidents happen at the show. Juanito Pelaez pretends to understand French in order to
impress Paulita Gomez but is embarrassed when he mistranslates some French words. Padre Irene,
in a disguise, watches the show and applauds one of the French actresses. Don Custodio is also
present at the show, falsely claiming that he watching the show to judge if it is indecent or not.
During the show, the students led by Makaraig learn about Don Custodio' s decision.

Chapter 23: A Corpse

Basilio reads some medical books when Simoun arrives at Capitan Tiago's house. Simoun convinces
Basilio in vain to assist in the revolution initiated by the jeweler. Simoun adds that a revolution is
necessary to rescue Maria Clara at the Sta. Clara nunnery. Basilio informs Simoun that Maria Clara is
dead. Simoun leaves the house weeping, tormented and bereaved.

Chapter 24: Dreams

Isagani meets Paulita at Malecon. In their conversation, Isagani is revealed to be an idealist who
envisions progress and economic development of his country. He converses with Paulita about
railway expansion, cooperation between Spaniards and Filipinos, and the imminent commercial trade.
Paulita dismisses these thoughts saying they are unattainable dreams.

Chapter 25: Smiles and Tears

The students organize a banquet at a panciteria to honor Don Custodio and his decision about the
Spanish academy. In his decision, the academy must come under the supervision of the Dominican
order and the students would simply collect contributions for the proposed school.

Chapter 26: Pasquinades

Basilio goes to the hospital but sees students acting as if classes are suspended. A student informs
him that seditious and revolutionary posters are found at the university implicating the student
organization. The government has also issued the arrest of all its members and students who
participated in the banquet at the panciteria. Basilio then goes to the house of Makaraig to ask for a
loan, but he and Makaraig are arrested by soldiers.

Chapter 27: The Friar and the Filipino

Padre Fernandez calls Isagani to discuss his involvement at the banquet in the panciteria. Their
discussion centers on the policy of the friars in educating students. Isagani argues that the friars are
deliberately teaching antiquated education in order to inhibit the aspiration of the people to be free.
He argues that people who aspire to be educated are branded as filibusters. Padre Fernandez replies
that he has done what he could and that not all friars are backward and against the idea of educating
the people. He says that education can only be bestowed to a deserving and ready people.

Chapter 29: Exit Capitan Tiago

Capitan Tiago dies, and Padre Irene becomes the executor of his will. Capitan Tiago has willed his
properties to Sta. Clara, to the pope, to the archbishop, and to religious corporations.

Chapter 30: Juli

The news of Basilio’s imprisonment deeply troubles Juli. The town clerk, Hermana Pechang, and
Hermana Bali convince Juli to ask Padre Camorra to intercede for Basilio. She is hesitant to approach
the friar since he is known to be frolicsome and fond of women. When news reaches Tiani that
Basilio is about to be shot, Juli is compelled to ask the friar’s help.

Chapter 31: The High Official

A high official convinces the Governor-General in vain to release Basilio who he believes is innocent.
The Governor-General insists that innocent individuals must suffer in order to restore order and to
cow the people into submission. Because of this disagreement, the high official resigns and goes
back to Spain.

Chapter 32: Effect of the Pasquinades

Because of the revolutionary and seditious posters, Pecson, Tadeo, and Juanito Pelaez are suspended
from their classes. Tadeo burns his books, while Juanito gets engaged in his father’s business. In
jail, Basilio learns the sad news of Juli’s death. Simoun befriends Don Timoteo Pelaez, who is now
busy preparing for the wedding of his son to Paulita Gomez.
Chapter 33: La Ultima Razón
Basilio is released from prison and immediately approaches Simoun in order to help him initiate a
revolution. Simoun is pleased that Basilio will join his cause. He directs Basilio to meet Cabesang
Tales at a designated time to acquire the rifles that are hidden in Quiroga’s warehouse. Simoun is to
place at an important gathering a dynamite-laden lamp that would then explode to signal the attack.

Chapter 34: The Wedding

Basilio walks aimlessly in the streets of Manila to wait for the agreed signal for the revolution. He
passes Calle Anloague where the wedding fiesta of Juanito Pelaez and Paulita Gomez is being held.
After seeing the rich decorations, the number of guards, and the important visitors that would be
coming, he assumes that this is the crucial gathering mentioned by Simoun.

Chapter 35: The Fiesta

Basilio sees Simoun placing the lamp at the center of the house. Basilio is about to leave the place
when he sees Isagani. He tries to convince Isagani to stay away from the house and explains that
the lamp from Simoun would explode killing everybody in the house. In a rare act of love and loyalty
to Paulita, he boldly rushes to the house, quickly throwing the lamp into the river to prevent it from
exploding.

Chapter 36: Ben-Zayb’s Afflictions

The Governor-General prohibits any mention of the events that have taken place at the wedding
fiesta of Juanito Pelaez and Paulita Gomez. News circulates that a band of tulisanes have attacked a
friar country house. The robbers who are caught describe a Spanish mestizo as the one who ordered
them to attack the city at a designated signal. The description given by the robbers perfectly fits
Simoun.

Chapter 37: The Mystery

The events of the previous night are discussed by Isagani, Capitana Loleng, Capitan Toringoy, Sensia,
and Chichoy. Chichoy divulges that Simoun is the mastermind behind storing the sacks of gunpowder
in order to kill all the people at the wedding feast. He also adds that the lamp was to start the fire
and ignite the gunpowder.

Chapter 38: Fatality

A group of prisoners are being escorted by the soldiers when they are ambushed. Carolino, one of
the members of the Guardia Civil and the son of Cabesang Tales, bravely fight the bandits, killing
with a spear the bandits' leader and an old man. Upon approaching the dead, he recognizes that the
old man that he has shot is none other that his grandfather, Tata Selo.

Chapter 39: Conclusion

A wounded and exhausted Simoun goes to Padre Florentino's house to hide from the Guardia Civil
that are out to arrest him. After taking a poison, he informs Padre Florentino of his true identity. He
says that he is the fugitive Juan Crisostomo Ibarra and that his was the unsuccessful attempt to
corrupt the government in order to start a revolution that would free the country. Padre Florentino
reprimands Simoun, saying that freedom cannot be won through violence and bloodshed but by
education, constant work, and suffering.

RIZAL’S ANNOTATION OF MORGA’S SUCESOS DE LAS ISLAS FILIPINAS

As a child José Rizal heard from his uncle, José Alberto, about an ancient history of the Philippines
written by a Spaniard named Antonio de Morga. The knowledge of this book came from the English
Governor of Hong Kong, Sir John Browning, who had once paid his uncle a visit. While in London,
Rizal immediately acquainted himself with the British Museum where he found one of the few
remaining copies of that work. At his own expense, he had the work republished with annotations
that showed the Philippines was an advanced civilization prior to the Spanish conquest. Austin Craig,
an early biographer of Rizal, translated into English some of the more important of these annotations.
To the Filipinos: In Noli Me Tangere I started to sketch the present state of our native land. But
the effect which my effort produced made me realize that, before attempting to unroll before your
eyes the other pictures which were to follow, it was necessary first to post you on the past. So only
can you fairly judge the present and estimate how much progress has been made during the three
centuries (of Spanish rule).

Like almost all of you, I was born and brought up in ignorance of our country's past and so, without
knowledge or authority to speak of what I neither saw nor have studied, I deem it necessary to
quote the testimony of an illustrious Spaniard who in the beginning of the new era controlled the
destinies of the Philippines and had personal knowledge of our ancient nationality in its last days.

It is then the shade of our ancestor's civilization which the author will call before you... If the work
serves to awaken in you a consciousness of our past, and to blot from your memory or to rectify what
has been falsified or is calumny, then I shall not have labored in vain. With this preparation, slight
though it be, we can all pass to the study of the future.

- Jose Rizal, 1889

Governor Antonio de Morga was not only the first to write but also the first to publish a
Philippine history. This statement has regard to the concise and concrete form in which our author
has treated the matter. Father Chirino's work, printed at Rome in 1604, is rather a chronicle of the
Missions than a history of the Philippines; still it contains a great deal of valuable material on
usages and customs. The worthy Jesuit in fact admits that he abandoned writing a political history
because Morga had already done so, so one must infer that he had seen the work in manuscript
before leaving the Islands.

 By the Christian religion, Doctor Morga appears to mean the Roman Catholic which by fire
and sword he would preserve in its purity in the Philippines. Nevertheless in other lands,
notably in Flanders, these means were ineffective to keep the church unchanged, or to
maintain its supremacy, or even to hold its subjects.
 Great kingdoms were indeed discovered and conquered in the remote and unknown parts
of the world by Spanish ships but to the Spaniards who sailed in them we may add
Portuguese, Italians, French, Greeks, and even Africans and Polynesians. The expeditions
captained by Columbus and Magellan, one a Genoese Italian and the other a Portuguese,
as well as those that came after them, although Spanish fleets, still were manned by many
nationalities and in them went negroes, Moluccans, and even men from the Philippines and
the Marianes Islands.
 Three centuries ago it was the custom to write as intolerantly as Morga does, but nowadays
it would be called a bit presumptuous. No one has a monopoly of the true God nor is there
any nation or religion that can claim, or at any rate prove, that to it has been given the
exclusive right to the Creator of all things or sole knowledge of His real being.
 The conversions by the Spaniards were not as general as their historians claim. The
missionaries only succeeded in converting a part of the people of the Philippines. Still there
are Mahometans, the Moros, in the southern islands, and negritos, igorots and other
heathens yet occupy the greater part territorially of the archipelago. Then the islands which
the Spaniards early held but soon lost are non-Christian-Formosa, Borneo, and the
Moluccas. And if there are Christians in the Carolines, that is due to Protestants, whom
neither the Roman Catholics of Morga's day nor many Catholics in our own day consider
Christians.
 It is not the fact that the Filipinos were unprotected before the coming of the Spaniards.
Morga himself says, further on in telling of the pirate raids from the south, that previous to
the Spanish domination the islands had arms and defended themselves. But after the
natives were disarmed the pirates pillaged them with impunity, coming at times when they
were unprotected by the government, which was the reason for many of the insurrections.
 The civilization of the Pre-Spanish Filipinos in regard to the duties of life for that age was
well advanced, as the Morga history shows in its eighth chapter.
 The islands came under Spanish sovereignty and control through compacts, treaties of
friendship and alliances for reciprocity. By virtue of the last arrangement, according to
some historians, Magellan lost his life on Mactan and the soldiers of Legaspi fought under
the banner of King Tupas of Cebu.
 The term "conquest" is admissible but for a part of the islands and then only in its broadest
sense. Cebu, Panay, Luzon Mindoro and some others cannot be said to have been
conquered.
 The discovery, conquest and conversion cost Spanish blood but still more Filipino blood. It
will be seen later on in Morga that with the Spaniards and on behalf of Spain there were
always more Filipinos fighting than Spaniards.
 Morga shows that the ancient Filipinos had army and navy with artillery and other
implements of warfare. Their prized krises and kampilans for their magnificent temper are
worthy of admiration and some of them are richly damascened. Their coats of mail and
helmets, of which there are specimens in various European museums, attest their great
advancement in this industry.
 Morga's expression that the Spaniards "brought war to the gates of the Filipinos" is in
marked contrast with the word used by subsequent historians whenever recording Spain's
possessing herself of a province, that she pacified it. Perhaps "to make peace" then meant
the same as "to stir up war." (This is a veiled allusion to the old Latin saying of Romans,
often quoted by Spaniard's, that they made a desert, calling it making peace.-C.)
 Magellan's transferring from the service of his own king to employment under the King of
Spain, according to historic documents, was because the Portuguese King had refused to
grant him the raise in salary which he asked.
 Now it is known that Magellan was mistaken when he represented to the King of Spain that
the Molucca Islands were within the limits assigned by the Pope to the Spaniards. But
through this error and the inaccuracy of the nautical instruments of that time, the
Philippines did not fall into the hands of the Portuguese.
 Cebu, which Morga calls "The City of the Most Holy Name of Jesus," was at first called "The
village of San Miguel."
 The image of the Holy Child of Cebu, which many religious writers believed was brought to
Cebu by the angels, was in fact given by the worthy Italian chronicler of Magellan's
expedition, the Chevalier Pigafetta, to the Cebuan queen.
 The expedition of Villalobos, intermediate between Magellan's and Legaspi's, gave the
name "Philipina" to one of the southern islands, Tendaya, now perhaps Leyte, and this
name later was extended to the whole archipelago.

 Of the native Manila rulers at the coming of the Spaniards, Raja Soliman was called
"Rahang mura", or young king, in distinction from the old king, "Rahang matanda".
Historians have confused these personages. The native fort at the mouth of the Pasig river,
which Morga speaks of as equipped with brass lantakas and artillery of larger caliber, had
its ramparts reenforced with thick hardwood posts such as the Tagalogs used for their
houses and called "harigues", or "haligui".

 Morga has evidently confused the pacific coming of Legaspi with the attack of Goiti and
Salcedo, as to date. According to other historians it was in 1570 that Manila was burned,
and with it a great plant for manufacturing artillery. Goiti did not take posession of the city
but withdrew to Cavite and afterwards to Panay, which makes one suspicious of his alleged
victory. As to the day of the date, the Spaniards then, having come following the course of
the sun, were some sixteen hours later than Europe. This condition continued till the end of
the year 1844, when the 31st of December was by special arrangement among the
authorities dropped from the calendar for that year. Accordingly Legaspi did not arrive in
Manila on the 19th but on the 20th of May and consequently it was not on the festival of
Santa Potenciana but on San Baudelio's day. The same mistake was made with reference to
the other early events still wrongly commemorated, like San Andres' day for the repulse of
the Chinese corsair Li Ma-hong.

 Though not mentioned by Morga, the Cebuans aided the Spaniards in their expedition
against Manila, for which reason they were long exempted from tribute.

 The southern islands, the Bisayas, were also called "The land of the Painted People (or
Pintados, in Spanish)" because the natives had their bodies decorated with tracings made
with fire, somewhat like tattooing.

 The Spaniards retained the native name for the new capital of the archipelago, a little
changed, however, for the Tagalogs had called their city "Maynila."

 When Morga says that the lands were "entrusted" (given as encomiendas) to those who
had "pacified" them, he means "divided up among." The word "en trust," like "pacify," later
came to have a sort of ironical signification. To entrust a province was then as if it were
said that it was turned over to sack, abandoned to the cruelty and covetousness of the
encomendero, to judge from the way these gentry misbehaved.

 Legaspi's grandson, Salcedo, called the Hernando Cortez of the Philippines, was the
"conqueror's" intelligent right arm and the hero of the "conquest." His honesty and fine
qualities, talent and personal bravery, all won the admiration of the Filipinos. Because of
him they yielded to their enemies, making peace and friendship with the Spaniards. He it
was who saved Manila from Li Ma-hong. He died at the early age of twenty-seven and is
the only encomendero recorded to have left the great part of his possessions to the Indians
of his encomienda. Vigan was his encomienda and the Ilokanos there were his heirs.

 The expedition which followed the Chinese corsair Li Ma-hong, after his unsuccessful attack
upon Manila, to Pangasinan province, with the Spaniards of whom Morga tells, had in it
1,500 friendly Indians from Cebu, Bohol, Leyte and Panay, besides the many others serving
as laborers and crews of the ships. Former Raja Lakandola, of Tondo, with his sons and his
kinsmen went, too, with 200 more Bisayans and they were joined by other Filipinos in
Pangasinan.

 If discovery and occupation justify annexation, then Borneo ought to belong to Spain. In
the Spanish expedition to replace on its throne a Sirela or Malaela, as he is variously called,
who had been driven out by his brother, more than fifteen hundred Filipino bowmen from
the provinces of Pangasinan, Kagayan, and the Bisayas participated.

 It is notable how strictly the earlier Spanish governors were held to account. Some stayed
in Manila as prisoners, one, Governor Corcuera, passing five years with Fort Santiago as his
prison.

 In the fruitless expedition against the Portuguese in the island of Ternate, in the Molucca
group, which was abandoned because of the prevalence of beriberi among the troops,
there went 1,500 Filipino soldiers from the more warlike provinces, principally Kagayans
and Pampangans.

 The "pacification" of Kagayan was accomplished by taking advantage of the jealousies
among its people, particularly the rivalry between two brothers who were chiefs. An early
historian asserts that without this fortunate circumstance, for the Spaniards, it would have
been impossible to subjugate them.

 Captain Gabriel de Rivera, a Spanish commander who had gained fame in a raid on Borneo
and the Malacca coast, was the first envoy from the Philippines to take up with the King of
Spain the needs of the archipelago.

 -The early conspiracy of the Manila and Pampangan former chiefs was revealed to the
Spaniards by a Filipina, the wife of a soldier, and many concerned lost their lives.

 The artillery cast for the new stone fort in Manila, says Morga, was by the hand of an
ancient Filipino. That is, he knew how to cast cannon even before the coming of the
Spaniards, hence he was distinguished as 4"ancient." In this difficult art of ironworking, as
in so many others, the modern or present-day Filipinos are not so far advanced as were
their ancestors.

 When the English freeboother Cavendish captured the Mexican galleon Santa Ana, with
122,000 gold pesos, a great quantity of rich textiles-silks, satins and damask, musk
perfume, and stores of provisions, he took 150 prisoners. All these because of their brave
defense were put ashore with ample supplies, except two Japanese lads, three Filipinos, a
Portuguese and a skilled Spanish pilot whom he kept as guides in his further voyaging.

 From the earliset Spanish days ships were built in the islands, which might be considered
evidence of native culture. Nowadays this industry is reduced to small craft, scows and
coasters.

 The Jesuit, Father Alonso Sanchez, who visited the papal court at Rome and the Spanish
King at Madrid, had a mission much like that of deputies now, but of even greater
importance since he came to be a sort of counsellor or representative to the absolute
monarch of that epoch. One wonders why the Philippines could have a representative then
but may not have one now.

 In the time of Governor Gomez Perez Dasmarinias, Manila was guarded against further
damage such as was suffered from Li Ma-hong by the construction of a massive stone wall
around it. This was accomplished "without expense to the royal treasury." The same
governor, in like manner, also fortified the point at the entrance to the river where had
been the ancient native fort of wood, and he gave it the name Fort Santiago.

 The early cathedral of wood which was burned through carelessness at the time of the
funeral of Governor Dasmarifias' predecessor, Governor Ronquillo, was made, according to
the Jesuit historian Chirino, with hardwood pillars around which two men could not reach,
and in harmony with this massiveness was all the woodwork above and below. It may be
surmised from this how hard workers were the Filipinos of that time.

 A stone house for the bishop was built before starting on the governor-general's residence.
This precedence is interesting for those who uphold the civil power. Morga's mention of the
scant output of large artillery from the Manila cannon works because of lack of master
foundrymen shows that after the death of the Filipino Panday Pira there were not Spaniards
skilled enough to take his place, nor were his sons as expert as he.

 It is worthy of note that China, Japan and Cambodia at this time maintained relations with
the Philippines. But in our day it has been more than a century since the natives of the
latter two countries have come here. The causes which ended the relationship may be
found in the interference by the religious orders with the institutions of those lands.

 For Governor Dasmarinas' expedition to conquer Ternate, in the Moluccan group, two
Jesuits there gave secret information. In his 200 ships, besides 900 Spaniards, there must
have been Filipinos for one chronicler speaks of Indians, as the Spaniards called the natives
of the Philippines, who lost their lives and others who were made captives when the
Chinese rowers mutinied. It was the custom then always to have a thousand or more native
bowmen and besides the crew were almost all Filipinos, for the most part Bisayans.

 The historian Argensola, in telling of four special galleys for Dasmarinas' expedition, says
that they were manned by an expedient which was generally considered rather harsh. It
was ordered that there be bought enough of the Indians who were slaves of the former
Indian chiefs, or principales, to form these crews, and the price, that which had been
customary in pre-Spanish times, was to be advanced by the encomenderos who later would
 be reimbursed from the royal treasury. In spite of this promised compensation, the
measures still seemed severe since those Filipinos were not correct in calling their
dependents slaves. The masters treated these, and loved them, like sons rather, for they
seated them at their own tables an gave them their own daughters in marriage.

 Morga says that the 250 Chinese oarsmen who manned Governor Dasmariias' swift galley
were under pay and had the special favor of not being chained to their benches. According
to him it was covetousness of the wealth aboard that led them to revolt and kill the
governor. But the historian Gaspar de San Agustin states that the reason for the revolt was
the governor's abusive language and his threatening the rowers. Both these authors'
allegations may have contributed, but more important was the fact that there was no law
to compel these Chinamen to row in the galleys. They had come to Manila to engage in
commerce or to work in trades or to follow professions. Still the incident contradicts the
reputation for enduring everything which they have had. The Filipinos have been much
more long-suffering than the Chinese since, in spite of having been obliged to row on more
than one occasion, they never mutinied.
 It is difficult to excuse the missionaries' disregard of the laws of nations and the usages of
honorable politics in their interference in Cambodia on the ground that it was to spread the
Faith. Religion had a broad field awaiting it then in the Philippines where more than nine-
tenths of the natives were infidels. That even now there are to be found here so many
tribes and settlements of non-Christians takes away much of the prestige of that religious
zeal which in the easy life in towns of wealth, liberal and fond of display, grows lethargic.
Truth is that the ancient activity was scarcely for the Faith alone, because the missionaries
had to go to islands rich in spices and gold though there were at hand Mahometans and
Jews in Spain and Africa, Indians by the million in the Americas, and more millions of
protestants, schismatics and heretics peopled, and still people, over six-sevenths of Europe.
All of these doubtless would have accepted the Light and the true religion if the friars,
under pretext of preaching to them, had not abused their hospitality and if behind the
name Religion had not lurked the unnamed Domination.

 In the attempt made by Rodriguez de Figueroa to conquer Mindanao according to his
contract with the King of Spain, there was fighting along the Rio Grande with the people
called the Buhahayenes. Their general, according to Argensola, was the celebrated Silonga,
later distinguished for many deeds in raids on the Bisayas and adjacent islands. Chirino
relates an anecdote of his coolness under fire once during a truce for a marriage among
Mindanao "principalia." Young Spaniards out of bravado fired at his feet but he passed on
as if unconscious of the bullets.

 Argensola has preserved the name of the Filipino who killed Rodriguez de Figueroa. It was
Ubal. Two days previously he had given a banquet, slaying for it a beef animal of his own,
and then made the promise which he kept, to do away with the leader of the Spanish
invaders. A Jesuit writer calls him a traitor though the justification for that term of reproach
is not apparent. The Buhahayen people were in their own country, and had neither
offended nor declared war upon the Spaniards. They had to defend their homes against a
powerful invader, with superior forces, many of whom were, by reason of their armor,
invulnerable so far as rude Indians were concerned. Yet these same Indians were
defenceless against the balls from their muskets. By the Jesuit's line of reasoning, the
heroic Spanish peasantry in their war for independence would have been a people even
more treacherous. It was not Ubal's fault that he was not seen and, as it was wartime, it
would have been the height of folly, in view of the immense disparity of arms, to have first
called out to this preoccupied opponent,and then been killed himself.

 The muskets used by the Buhahayens were probably some that had belonged to Figueroa's
soldiers who had died in battle. Though the Philippines had lantakas and other artillery,
muskets were unknown till the Spaniards came.

 That the Spaniards used the word "discover" very carelessly may be seen from an admiral's
turning in a report of his "discovery" of the Solomon islands though he noted that the
islands had been discovered before.

 Death has always been the first sign of European civilization on its introduction in the
Pacific Ocean. God grant that it may not be the last, though to judge by statistics the
civilized islands are losing their populations at a terrible rate. Magellan himself inaugurated
his arrival in the Marianes islands by burning more than forty houses, many small craft and
seven people because one of his boats had been stolen. Yet to the simple savages the act
had nothing wrong in it but was done with the same naturalness that civilized people hunt,
fish, and subjugate people that are weak or ill-armed.

 The Spanish historians of the Philippines never overlook any opportunity, be it suspicion or
accident, that may be twisted into something unfavorable to the Filipinos. They seem to
forget that in almost every case the reason for the rupture has been some act of those who
were pretending to civilize helpless peoples by force of arms and at the cost of their native
land. What would these same writers have said if the crimes committed by the Spaniards,
the Portuguese and the Dutch in their colonies had been committed by the islanders?

 The Japanese were not in error when they suspected the Spanish and Portuguese religious
propaganda to have political motives back of the missionary activities. Witness the
Moluccas where Spanish missionaries served as spies; Cambodia, which it was sought to
conquer under cloak of converting; and many other nations, among them the Filipinos,
where the sacrament of baptism made of the inhabitants not only subjects of the King of
Spain but also slaves of the encomenderos, and as well slaves of the churches and
convents. What would Japan have been now had not its emperors uprooted catholicism? A
missionary record of 1625 sets forth that the King of Spain had arranged with certain
members of Philippine religious orders that, under guise of preaching the faith and making
Christians, they should win over the Japanese and oblige them to make themselves of the
Spanish party, and finally it told of a plan whereby the King of Spain should become also
King of Japan. In corroboration of this may be cited the claims that Japan fell within the
Pope's demarcation lines for Spanish expansion and so there was complaint of missionaries
other than Spanish there. Therefore it was not for religion that they were converting the
infidels!

 The raid by Datus Sali and Silonga of Mindanao, in 1599 with 50 sailing vessels and 3,000
warriors, against the capital of Panay, is the first act of piracy by the inhabitants of the
South which is recorded in Philippine history. I say "by the inhabitants of the South"
because earlier there had been other acts of piracy, the earliest being that of Magellan's
expedition when it seized the shipping of friendly islands and even of those whom they did
not know, extorting for them heavy ransoms. It will be remembered that these Moro
piracies continued for more than two centuries, during which the indomitable sons of the
South made captives and carried fire and sword not only in neighboring islands but into
Manila Bay to Malate, to the very gates of the capital, and not once a year merely but at
times repeating their raids five and six times in a single season. Yet the government was
unable to repel them or to defend the people whom it had disarmed and left without
protection. Estimating that the cost to the islands was but 800 victims a year, still the total
would be more than 200,000 persons sold into slavery or killed, all sacrificed together with
so many other things to the prestige of that empty title, Spanish sovereignty.

 Still the Spaniards say that the Filipinos have contributed nothing to Mother Spain, and that
it is the islands which owe everything. It may be so, but what about the enormous sum of
gold which was taken from the islands in the early years of Spanish rule, of the tributes
collected by the encomenderos, of the nine million dollars yearly collected to pay the
military, expenses of the employees, diplomatic agents, corporations and the like, charged
to the Philippines, with salaries paid out of the Philippine treasury not only for those who
come to the Philippines but also for those who leave, to some who never have been and
 never will be in the islands, as well as to others who have nothing to do with them. Yet all
of this is as nothing in comparison with so many captives gone, such a great number of
soldiers killed in expeditions, islands depopulated, their inhabitants sold as slaves by the
Spaniards themselves, the death of industry, the demoralization of the Filipinos, and so
forth, and so forth. Enormous indeed would the benefits which that sacred civilization
brought to the archipelago have to be in order to counterbalance so heavy a-cost.

 While Japan was preparing to invade the Philippines, these islands were sending
expeditions to Tonquin and Cambodia, leaving the homeland helpless even against the
undisciplined hordes from the South, so obsessed were the Spaniards with the idea of
making conquests.

 In the alleged victory of Morga over the Dutch ships, the latter found upon the bodies of
five Spaniards, who lost their lives in that combat, little silver boxes filled with prayers and
invocations to the saints. Here would seem to be the origin of the anting-anting of the
modern tulisanes, which are also of a religious character.

 In Morga's time, the Philippines exported silk to Japan whence now comes the best quality
of that merchandise.

 Morga's views upon the failure of Governor Pedro de Acunia's ambitious expedition against
the Moros unhappily still apply for the same conditions yet exist. For fear of uprisings and
loss of Spain's sovereignty over the islands, the inhabitants were disarmed, leaving them
exposed to the harassing of a powerful and dreaded enemy. Even now, though the use of
steam vessels has put an end to piracy from outside, the same fatal system still is followed.
The peaceful countryfolk are deprived of arms and thus made unable to defend themselves
against the bandits, or tulisanes, which the government cannot restrain. It is an
encouragemnnt to banditry thus to make easy its getting booty.

 Hernando de los Rios blames these Moluccan wars for the fact that at first the Philippines
were a source of expense to Spain instead of profitable in spite of the tremendous
sacrifices of the Filipinos, their practically gratuitous labor in building and equipping the
galleons, and despite, too, the tribute, tariffs and other imposts and monopolies. These
wars to gain the Moluccas, which soon were lost forever with the little that had been so
laboriously obtained, were a heavy drain upon the Philippines. They depopulated the
country and bankrupted the treasury, with not the slightest compensating benefit. True
also is it that it was to gain the Moluccas that Spain kept the Philippines, the desire for the
rich spice islands being one of the most powerful arguments when, because of their
expense to him, the King thought of withdrawing and abandoning them.

 Among the Filipinos who aided the government when the Manila Chinese revolted,
Argensola says there were 4,000 Pampangans "armed after the way of their land, with
bows and arrows, short lances, shields, and broad and long daggers." Some Spanish writers
say that the Japanese volunteers and the Filipinos showed themselves cruel in slaughtering
the Chinese refugees. This may very well have been so, considering the hatred and rancor
then existing, but those in command set the example.

 The loss of two Mexican galleons in 1603 called forth no comment from the religious
chroniclers who were accustomed to see the avenging hand of God in the misfortunes and
accidents of their enemies. Yet there were repeated shipwrecks of the vessels that carried
from the Philippines wealth which encomenderos had extorted from the Filipinos, using
force, or making their own laws, and, when not using these open means, cheating by the
weights and measures.

 The Filipino chiefs who at their own expense went with the Spanish expedition against
Ternate, in the Moluccas, in 1605, were Don Guillermo Palaot, maestro de campo, and
Captains Francisco Palaot, Juan Lit, Luis Lont, and Agustin Lont. They had with them 400
 Tagalogs and Pampangans. The leaders bore themselves bravely for Argensola writes that
in the assault on Ternate, "No officer, Spaniard or Indian, went unscathed."

 The Cebuans drew a pattern on the skin before starting in to tatoo. The Bisayan usage then
was the same procedure that the Japanese today follow.

 Ancient traditions ascribe the origin of the Malay Filipinos to the island of Sumatra. These
traditions were almost completely lost as well as the mythology and the genealogies of
which the early historians tell, thanks to the zeal of the missionaries in eradicating all
national remembances as heathen or idolatrous. The study of ethnology is restoring this
somewhat.

 The chiefs used to wear upper garments, usually of Indian fine gauze according to Colin, of
red color, a shade for which they had the same fondness that the Romans had. The
barbarous tribes in Mindanao still have the same taste.

 The "easy virtue" of the native women that historians note is not solely attributable to the
simplicity with which they obeyed their natural instincts but much more due to a religious
belief of which Father Chirino tells. It was that in the journey after death to "Kalualhatian,"
the abode of the spirit, there was a dangerous river to cross that had no bridge other than
a very narrow strip of wood over which a woman could not pass unless she had a husband
or lover to extend a hand to assist her. Furthermore, the religious annals of the early
missions are filled with countless instances where native maidens chose death rather than
sacrifice their chastity to the threats and violence of encomenderos and Spanish soldiers.
As to the mercenary social evil, that is worldwide and there is no nation that can 'throw the
first stone' at any other. For the rest, today the Philippines has no reason to blush in
comparing its womankind with the women of the most chaste nation in the world.

 Morga's remark that the Filipinos like fish better when it is commencing to turn bad is
another of those prejudices which Spaniards like all other nations, have. In matters of food,
each is nauseated with what he is unaccustomed to or doesn't know is eatable. The
English, for example, find their gorge rising when they see a Spaniard eating snails, while
in turn the Spanish find roastbeef English-style repugnant and can't understand the relish
of other Europeans for beefsteak a la Tartar which to them is simply raw meat. The
Chinaman, who likes shark's meat, cannot bear Roquefort cheese, and these examples
might be indefinitely extended. The Filipinos' favorite fish dish is the bagong and whoever
has tried to eat it knows that it is not considered improved when tainted. It neither is, nor
ought to be, decayed.

 Colin says the ancient Filipinos had minstrels who had memorized songs telling their
genealogies and of the deeds ascribed to their deities. These were chanted on voyages in
cadence with the rowing, or at festivals, or funerals, or wherever there happened to be any
considerable gatherings. It is regretable that these chants have not been preserved as from
them it would have been possible to learn much of the Filipinos' past and possibly of the
history of neighboring islands.

 The cannon foundry mentioned by Morga as in the walled city was probably on the site of
the Tagalog one which was destroyed by fire on the first coming of the Spaniards. That
established in 1584 was in Lamayan, that is, Santa Ana now, and was transferred to the old
site in 1590. It continued to work until 1805. According to Gaspar San Agustin, the cannon
which the pre-Spanish Filipinos cast were "as great as those of Malaga," Spain's foundry.
The Filipino plant was burned with all that was in it save a dozen large cannons and some
smaller pieces which the Spanish invaders took back with them to Panay. The rest of their
artillery equipment had been thrown by the Manilans, then Moros, into the sea when they
recognized their defeat.

 Malate, better Maalat, was where the Tagalog aristocracy lived after they were
dispossessed by the Spaniards of their old homes in what is now the walled city of Manila.
Among the Malate residents were the families of Raja Matanda and Raja Soliman. The men
had various positions in Manila and some were employed in government work near by.
"They were very courteous and well-mannered," says San Agustin. "The women were very
expert in lacemaking, so much so that they were not at all behind the women of Flanders."

 Morga's statement that there was not a province or town of the Filipinos that resisted
conversion or did not want it may have been true of the civilized natives. But the contrary
was the fact among the mountain tribes. We have the testimony of several Dominican and
Augustinian missionaries that it was impossible to go anywhere to make conversions
without other Filipinos along and a guard of soldiers. "Otherwise, says Gaspar de San
Agustin, there would have been no fruit of the Evangelic Doctrine gathered, for the infidels
wanted to kill the Friars who came to preach to them." An example of this method of
conversion given by the same writer was a trip to the mountains by two Friars who had a
numerous escort of Pampangans. The escort's leader was Don Agustin Sonson who had a
reputation for daring and carried fire and sword into the country, killing many, including the
chief, Kabadi.

 "The Spaniards, says Morga, were accustomed to hold as slaves such natives as they
bought and others that they took in the forays in the conquest or pacification of the
islands." Consequently in this respect the "pacifiers" introduced no moral improvement. We
even do not know if in their wars the Filipinos used to make slaves of each other, though
that would not have been strange, for the chroniclers tell of captives returned to their own
people. The practice of the Southern pirates almost proves this, although in these piratical
wars the Spaniards were the first aggressors and gave them their character.
