M3 Introduction

By mid 19th century, national consciousness growing among Filipinos. Nationalist movements started
sprouting from different parts of the world, leading to the weakening of power of monarchs and
churches over their territories. This ideology sprung up in many empires throughout history but the
most prominent uprising of people against divine monarchies took place in France during the French
Revolution from 1789 to 1799. This revolution gave birth to the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of
the Citizen and other liberal ideas that our heroes used to liberate Filipinas.

In the Philippines, Filipino Catholic priests Mariano Gómez, José Burgos, and Jacinto Zamora, collectively
known as GomBurZa, were executed by the Spanish government on charges of subversion arising from
the 1872 Cavite mutiny. This event had a profound effect on many late 19th-century Filipinos. The three
priests' martyrdom led to inspire the founding of the Propaganda Movement whose among the
founding members is Jose Rizal. Rizal even dedicated his novel El Filibusterismo to the GomBurza.

This module focuses on the rise of reformists in the country in 19th century, Jose Rizal among them. This
will tackle the society around Jose Rizal and his colleagues, the situation of the Filipinos during his time,
the things they’ve learned about the Philippines, their methods in educating Filipinos and the rights they
fought for as an organization.

M3 Lesson 2: Jose Rizal Affiliations

Jose Rizal's mother was worried about his son gaining so much knowledge, including those that lead him
to the truth about the church. She said, according to letters retrieved by the National Historical
Commission of the Philippines, that she'd rather have Pepe keep his faith than see him get swayed away
by his search for truth.

This is an excerpt of his reply: "Hindi ko dapat subukan mabuhay sa mga kahibangan at kasinungalingan.
Ang mga pinaniniwalaan ko ngayon ay pinaniniwalaan ko sa katuwiran, at iyon ay dahil sa hindi kayang
tanggapin ng aking budhi ang hindi sang-ayon sa katuwiran. . . . . Naniniwala ako na hindi ako
paparusahan ng Diyos kung sa paglapit ko sa kanya ay gagamit ako ng katuwiran at talino, mga
mahahalagang regalo Niya."