Talks about Rizal’s work regarding the same topic

 The first historical sociological analysis of the subject published in La Solidaridad, in five instalments, from
July 15 to September 15, 1890
 Rizal was reacting to the writing of Sancianco, a Filipino doctor of law, who discussed the subject of indolence
Rizal’s work:
 The term indolence has been abused and misused
 In Rizal’s definition: Indolence - “little love for work, lack of activity”, “a problem in the Philippines”
 Filipinos will not refute such claims of indolence even if they are one of the most active men of the world
 Have to work and struggle against the climate, nature, and men
 Indolence:
 Instead of regarding it as the CAUSE of the backwardness and disorder, should be regarded as the
EFFECT of the disorder and backwardness; fosters the growth of DISASTROUS PREDISPOSITION
INDOLENCE
I.Rizal’s discussion points about “Physiological Indolence” on his own version
A. Not confined to Filipinos alone, but also exhibited by the Europeans in the tropics
1. Indolence not a unique trait of the Filipinos; Europeans in the tropics were more indolent
a. Europeans:
1. Accuses the people of the colonies of indolence
2. Surrounded by servants who do chores and actions for them
3. Despite their indolence, they live better and enjoys life
b. “Indolent” colonial
1. Poorly nourished and lives without hope
2. Toils for others, forced and compelled to work
2. Severe work is not a good thing in the tropics; an hour’s work is equivalent to a day’s work
in temperate climate
. Europeans/Spanish officials and priests/Chief
1. Abandoned work, running to watering-places, sitting down at cafes
2. Chief: comes in a carriage by at ten, leaves before twelve, reads the
newspaper while smoking in a comfortable position, speaking ill with his
friends
3. Friar curate: gets fabulously rich, goes in a carriage, eats and drinks well,
does not trouble himself except when collecting fees
a. Filipinos/Clerk/Indio coadjutor
1. Clerk: Comes in eight in the morning, leaves at one in the afternoon,
copies and writes and works for himself and for his chief
2. Indio coadjutor: poorly paid and badly treats, visits all the indigent sick in
the countryside
3. A load of mental work should be spread over periods of time than continued in one go; same
goes with physical work
B. Among men, as well as among nations, aptitudes and tendencies toward good and evil exists
1. Duty of the society and governments: (1) foster the good ones and aid them, (2) correct the
bad ones and repress them
2. The indolence in the Philippines is a magnified indolence, a snowball indolence
. Increases in direct proportion to the square of the periods of time
a. Effect of misgovernment and backwardness
b. Being refuted and denied by those who have a hand in the misgovernment
C. Documented observation from sources such as Morga, Chirino, Colin
1. The conditions were brought about by the Spanish conquest and Spanish rule that led to
the decline of the Filipinos
. Made Filipinos into lazy and indolent Christans; left their industries, trade, enterprises and forgot them
a. Wars came; internal disturbances due to the establishing of the new government
1. People were subjected by cajolery or by force
2. There were fights and deaths
3. Those who submitted were made to pay for such acts
4. Insurrections were suspected and occurred
5. Many skilled workers perished
b. Invasion of Li Ma Hong, Dutch invasion, wars wherein Filipinos were forced to fight for Spain in Borneo,
Moluccas, and Indochina, futile expeditions happened
1. Reduced the Filipino population
2. San Agustin: In the island of Panay, 50,000 families were reduced to
14,000 taxpayers
 3. Forced Filipinos into labor to build ships instead of cultivating their farms
and plains
c. Piratical attacks happened
1. Weakened Spanish rule by devastating areas who were helping or under
Spaniards
D. Noted various exploitations and oppressions resulting from Spanish rule
1. Historically well documented and explains the most important single factor generating
“indolence”: LACK OF MOTIVATION TO WORK
. “Man works for a purpose; remove the purpose and you reduce him to inaction”
a. Encomienda and the encomenderos
1. The permanent institution and group instrumental in erasing the
motivation
a. Sold Filipinos into slavery to pay their taxes
b. Enslaved and compelled Filipinos to work for their benefit
c. Filipinos were hanged, fled into the mountains leaving their families behind
d. Women died, slept in the field and gave birth there
e. Made them sell their products at a bad price or for nothing or cheated Filipinos with false measures
2. In Panay, people preferred living in poverty than acquire gold to avoid
troubles from governors
3. Vices remained despite the extinction of encomenderos
E. Rulers influenced the mentality of FIlipinos
1. Despised manual labors and deemed them unworthy of nobility and aristocratic pride
2. Influenced other Filipino to despise their own and be like Spaniards
3. Other factors that contributed to indolence: gambling, cost of religious functions, curtailment
of individual liberty, fear of being accused as a rebel; social system and its corruption and
iniquities; removal of motivation to excel or to become rich; lack of government support and
reward towards commerce and agriculture
4. There is also lack of moral support for aspiring Filipinos
. Did not recognize and honor a Filipino chemist who won internationally
a. Education of Filipinos were brutalizing and depressing
1. Teaches them to have no further ambition and yet expects great work
from them
F. Religious practices were also referred
1. Religious paraphernalia were sold in exchange for Filipino’s gold, conscience and liberty
2. Filipinos were forced to transform according to Spanish laws and their God
3. Did not bring any equipment or tools to help improve the livelihood of Filipinos
4. Filipinos became religious but did not improve their means of subsistence
G. Difficulties that Filipino enterprises encountered with the administration
1. Kills commercial and industrial movements
2. Challenges:
. Too many documents and requirements needed
a. Inefficient and slow process
b. Needs influence and bribery in every level of approval since the process and the bureaucracy is corrupt
II.Works and industries wherein Filipinos were involved and good traits of Filipinos
. Filipinos were in active trades with China
1. 13th century Chinese record shows honesty of traders of Luzon
A. Filipinos are courteous, kind, and wealthy
1. Pigafetta was impressed by the courtesy and kindness, mentions vessels and utensils of
pure gold, wore silk dresses; daggers with gold hilts; scabbards of carved wood; gold teeth.
B. Filipinos trades with Siam
C. Warriors from Luzon being involved in the struggle against Acheh in Sumatra
D. Philippines bore commerce, industry, and agriculture and were full of wealth
1. Has many industries and types of agriculture
2. Full of life, activity, and movement
III.Author’s discussion points about Indolence and review about Rizal’s work
. It is hereditary
1. Created by the social and historical experience of the Filipinos under Spanish domination
A. Finds Rizal’s appeal to historical and sociological factors and his thesis regarding the change the character of
Filipino society underwent to be sound
B. Differs from Rizal on the extent of indolence in the Philippines and whether such phenomenon should be
called indolence
 1. Unfair or inappropriate to consider the larger section of Filipino society as indolent since
they were only reaction to the circumstances and conditions they were living in which
suppressed motivation and enthusiasm for vigorous effort
2. The burning spirit of resistance that never died indicates that the Filipino society has not
been completely crippled by indolence
3. Rizal did not consider the length and breadth of the Philippines. He generalized the situation.
. He focused on the effects in the urban centres
a. Spaniards did not have complete control on the whole country
4. Rizal neglected the Spanish contribution in exaggerating indolence
. An Englishman wrote a book on the PH islands
1. Used the same arguments as Rizal had
2. Showed the difference in Manila and provinces wherein Filipinos are
industrious, hospitable, kind, and ingenious
3. “Man is not naturally indolent. When he has supplied his
necessities, he seeks for superfluities… if the iron grip of
despotism is ready to snatch his earnings, without affording him
any equivalent - then indeed he becomes indolent”
4. “It is perpetuated through numerous generations, till it becomes
national habit, and then we falsely call it nature”
5. “Indolence is not physiological inactivity, but the absence of
motivation to work for tomorrow”
6. Described the exploitation by the alcaldes mayores
5. Rizal did not tackle the subject of clergy in the following perspective
. 250 Spanish priests and between 800 to 1,000 Filipino priests
1. Majority were of unseemly conduct brought about by their insufficient
training and their exclusion from higher ecclesiastical positions
2. There is jealousy between the two groups; hatred on one side, contempt
on the other
3. Spanish were accused by Indians of neglect of duties, vast accumulation
of properties and wealth
. Did not react to it and continued to enjoy such luxury living and benefits
4. The conflict between between the Spanish and Filipino priests were also
caused by the desire of survival for the Spanish regime
. Spaniards want to maintain control over towns and parishes
a. Spanish priests stop seditions and uprisings and contribute pacifications of such regions
b. Do not trust Indios and Chinese mestizos to possess such positions in parishes because they are still part of
the Filipino society and might side with the Filipinos during revolts
a. “The attack on the Filipino character in ecclesiastical writings was an attempt to subject the Filipino priests to
the dominance of the Spanish ecclesiastical authorities in the Philippines”
1. Spaniards were defending their position against a pro-Filipino trend in the
Church; to prevent Filipino clergy in undermining Spanish regulars

 The indolence of Filipinos is not the cause of the backwardness and disorder, but is the effect of disorder and
backwardness
 Filipinos were active and engaged in industries, enterprises, and trades which is why life in the Philippines
flourished before the Spanish came
 Filipinos were not naturally indolent but became one due to the circumstances and situation they are in brought
about by the Spanish occupation and leadership
 Filipinos suffered many challenges, difficulties, and abuses under the Spaniards
 “Man is not a brute and not a machine. His aim is not merely to produce; not to satisfy passions of another
man; but to seek happiness for himself and his fellow men”
 Indolence is not just physiological inactivity but the lack of motivation to work
 Europeans were more indolent than Filipinos since, when they arrived in the Philippines, they relied and
abused Filipinos to do labor and do their bidding and yet, they were not scrutinized just like how Filipinos were
during those times
 Europeans erased any motivation for Filipinos to work
 Filipinos toiled, served, and died for the Spaniards
 The claims of indolence was also a propaganda against Filipino priests made by Spaniards and Spanish priest
to protect their position and maintain their grasp over parishes and towns
 Rizal did not consider the length and breadth of the Philippines and just focused on urban centres; forgot to
tackle the Spanish contribution in indolence; missed details regarding the clergy
 “The refusal of a slave to work with enthusiasm is only natural. But the desire of a man to let others do his
work for him by force is true indolence.”