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Legislating Rizal, 1
By GEMMA CRUZ ARANETA
December 27, 2010, 6:13pm

MANILA, Philippines Sixty years after Jose Rizal was executed in Bagumbayan, mere mention of his
two novels, the Noli Me Tangere (1887) and El Filibusterismo (1891), could still whip up a bitter
controversy. Firebrand of the Senate, Claro M. Recto, was reported to have described Rizals books as, a
constant and inspiring source of patriotism with which the minds of the youth, especially during their
formative and decisive years in school, should be suffused. It was still the post-war, a grim period of
rebuilding a devastated economy, recovering shreds of national self-respect while choking on unequal
treaties so, naturally, there was a resurgence of nationalism. Senator Recto invoked Rizal and authored a
bill which made his novels (the unexpurgated versions) compulsory reading in all colleges and universities
in the Philippines. This was sponsored by the Committee on Education headed by Senator Jose P. Laurel
and supported by all senators with the exception of three Francisco (Soc) Rodrigo, Decoroso Rosales,
and Mariano Cuenco.

There was weeping and gnashing of teeth at committee hearings that began in April 1956. Vehemently
opposed to the bill was the Catholic hierarchy, the Catholic Action of the Philippines, Congregation of
Missions, Knights of Columbus, the Catholic Teachers Guild and other Catholic organizations. Stinging
commentaries by radio personalities of Church-supported stations called Rizal a thing of the past and his
books an inadequate Bible of Philippine nationalism today.

With sabers drawn, the Veteranos de la Revolucion (Spirit of 1896) rallied behind Senators Recto and
Laurel. Indignant, so did the Alagad in Rizal, Freemasons, and the Knights of Rizal. The archaic posture
of the Church infuriated even the Book Lovers Society. Prohibiting generations of Filipino youth from
reading the novels and works of Rizal was tantamount to executing the hero all over again, just like what
the Spanish friars and colonial authorities did.

Many of those who opposed the Noli and Fili had not read the novels carefully, or not read them at all,
except perhaps for a certain Fr. Jesus Cavanna who tried to slaughter the nationalists with a curious
numbers game. He said that in the Noli, out of 332 pages only 25 had patriotic passages while 120 pages
attacked the Church; as for the Fili, out of 293 pages only 41 alluded to patriotism and 80 were anti-
Catholic. He must have gone through the novels with a fine-toothed comb but, interestingly, he is the
same Fr. Cavanna who was involved in the Rizal retraction hoax. (refer to my articles last week Forging
Rizal, 1 & 2). To be continued.

Source: Totanes, Stephen Henry S., The historical impact of the Noli Me Tangere and El Filibusterismo
(Budhi Papers # 7, Ateneo de Manila U., 1987) gemma601@yahoo.com

Legislating Rizal, 2
No legislation was ever so divisive; none has so brutally gashed old national
wounds. Never since the Revolution had the Catholic Church been the object of such
derisive indignation.
Heading the Veteranos de la Revolucion, Emilio Aguinaldo, President of the First
Philippine Republic, denounced the Filipino clergy for putting themselves "under the
yoke of the old Spanish friars, against whom the Filipinos of 1896 had risen in
arms..."[with] our blood spilled on the battlefields." He demanded the true
separation of Church and State and said that Rizal's novels were "banned by the
Spanish authorities who had kept Filipinos subject for more than 300 years under
the guise of Christianity".
It was Magdalo times all over again ! Four thousand (4,000) revolucionarios
gathered at Imus, Cavite, some gave moving testimonies of how they risked their
lives just to be able to read the NOLI and FILI when still under Spanish subjugation.
They unanimously approved a manifesto calling "un-Filipino and morally repulsive"
any opposition to Senator Recto's bill. An old venerable declared he would stop
going to church until the bill was approved. Another exclaimed, "My loyalty to
religion ends where my loyalty to the country begins."
The Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines insisted that Rizal attacked "the
possibility of miracles, purgatory, the sacraments, indulgences, prayers, disparaged
the veneration of saints, images, relics, the Blessed Mother and questioned Papal
authority. Worst, Rizal doubted "God's omnipotence". In a pastoral letter, Bishop
Rufino Santos of Manila explained their opposition to the "compulsory reading in
their entirety of such books in any school where Catholic students may be affected."
Senator Laurel, head of the Education Committee, modified Recto's bill for
expediency's sake by allowing exemptions for "reasons of religious belief." On 12
June 1956, Republic Act. No. 1425 (Rizal Law) was finally passed. Thus, the writings
of Rizal especially the unexpurgated versions of the NOLI and FILI, became
compulsory for all public and private schools in the Philippines.

Source: Locsin, Teodoro, "The Church Under Attack", "Phillippines FreePress", May
1956