1. CHAPTER 19
El Filibusterismo
Published in Ghent

2. Overview
• October, 1887- He begun writing it in Calamba while
practicing medicine
• 1888- He made changes in the plot and revised the chapter
already written. He wrote more chapters in Paris, Madrid,
and Biarritz
• March 29, 1891- He finished the manuscript in Biarritz after
3 years.
• From Brussels, Rizal moved to Ghent, where printing was
cheaper.
• September 18, 1891- El Filibusterismo came off the press

3. Privations in Ghent
• July 5, 1891 Rizal left Brussels for Ghent
Reasons:
- The cost of living was lower
- The cost of printing in Ghent was cheaper than in Brussels
- To escape from the enticing attraction of Petite Suzanne
• Owing to his limited funds Rizal lived in a cheap boarding
house, with Jose Alejandro as roommate
• They lived frugally in Ghent for 3 months form July to
September
• To economize further on their living expenses, they
prepared their own breakfast.

4. Ghent

5. Jose Alejandro and University of Ghent

6. The Printing
• The publisher F. Meyer-Van Loo Press, no. 66 Viaanderen
Street who was willing to print his book on installment basis
• He pawned his jewels in order to pay the down payment
and early partial expenses during the printing of the novel
• Rizal became desperate because his funds were running
low
• He received some money from Basa and 200 from
Rodriguez Arias for the copies of Morga’s Sucesos sold in
Manila but these funds were also used up

7. The Printing
• July 1891 Rizal wrote a letter to Basa saying that if no
money comes he will have to stop its publication
• August 6 The printing had to be suspended, as Rizal feared,
because he could no longer give the necessary funds to the
printer

8. El Filibusterismo Comes off the Press
• Valentin Ventura heard Rizal’s predicament he immediately
sent the amount of money needed to finish the publicationof
the novel
• September 18, 1891 El Fili came off to Press
• Rizal immediately sent 2 copies to Hongkong one for Basa
and the other to Sixto Lopez
• He gratefully gave the original manuscript of El Fili and a
printed copy with his autograph to Valentin Ventura
• Filipino patriots praised the novel. The members of the
colony of Barcelona published a tribute in La Publicidad, a
Barcelona newspaper eulogizing the novel’s original style
which “is comparable only to the sublime Alexander Dumas”
“a model and precious jewel in the now decadent literature
of Spain

9. Valentin Ventura Sixto Lopez

10. • The liberal Madrid newspaper, El Nuevo Regimen,
serialized the novel in its issues of October, 1891.
• All copies of the first edition (Ghent Edition) of El Fili were
placed in wooden boxes and shipped to Hong Kong, but
almost all the boxes were confiscated and all the books
were lost.
• The book immediately became rare and few available Ghent
copies were sold at very high prices, reaching as high as
400 pesetas per copy.

11. Dedication of the Novel
• To the memory of the priests, Don Mariano Gomez (85
years old), Don Jose Burgos (30 years old), and Don
Jacinto Zamora (35 years old). Executed in Bagumabayan
Field on the 28th of February, 1872.
• To straighten historical records, however, we must rectify
Rizal’s historical inaccuracies in his dedicatory note. The
martyrdom of Gomburza occurred on February 7, 1872.
Father Gomez was 73 years old – not 85, Father Burgos
was 35 years – not 30, and Father Zamora was 37 years old
– not 35.

12. The Manuscript
• The original manuscript of El Filibusterismo in Rizal’s own
handwriting is now preserved in the Filipiniana Division of
the Bureau of Public Libraries, Manila. It had been acquired
by the Philippine Government from Valentin Ventura for
10,000 pesos. It consists of 279 pages of long sheets of
paper.
• The title page of El Fili contains an inscription written by
Ferdinand Blumentritt
• Features that didn’t appear in the printed book:
– Foreword
– Warning

13. The Manuscript

14. Synopsis of the El
Filibusterismo
• Simoun – the main protagonist of the story a rich
jeweler.
• Dona Victorina – ridiculously a pro-spanish woman
• Tiburcio de Espadana – husband of Dona Victorina
• Paulita Gomez – beautiful niece of Don Tiburcio
• Ben-Zayb – Spanish journalist who writes silly articles
about Filipinos
• Padre Sibyla – Vice-Rector of UST
• Padre Camorra – spanish priest of Tiani
• Don Custodio – pro-spanish Filipino holding a high
position in the government
• Padre Salvi – Franciscan friar a former cura of San
Diego
• Padre Irene – a kind friar who was a friend to Filipino
students
• Padre Florentino – a retired scholarly and patriotic
Filipino priest

15. Synopsis of the El
Filibusterismo
• Simoun – the main protagonist of the story a rich
jeweler.
• Dona Victorina – ridiculously a pro-spanish woman
• Tiburcio de Espadana – husband of Dona Victorina
• Paulita Gomez – beautiful niece of Don Tiburcio
• Ben-Zayb – Spanish journalist who writes silly articles
about Filipinos
• Padre Sibyla – Vice-Rector of UST
• Padre Camorra – spanish priest of Tiani
• Don Custodio – pro-spanish Filipino holding a high
position in the government
• Padre Salvi – Franciscan friar a former cura of San
Diego
• Padre Irene – a kind friar who was a friend to Filipino
students
• Padre Florentino – a retired scholarly and patriotic
Filipino priest

16. Synopsis of the El
Filibusterismo
• Isagani – nephew of Padre Florentino and lover of
Paulita
• Basilio – son of Sisa a promising medical student
• Capitan Tiago – patron of Basilio
• Quiroga – rich Chinese merchant
• Cabesang Tales – father of Juli dispossessed of his land
in Tiani by friars
• Juli – the lover of Basilio
• Makaraig – rich and leader of Filipino students in their
movement to learn Spanish in the academy
• Padre Millon – teaches Physics in UST w/o experiments
• Placido Penitente – student of Padre Millon who bacame
disoriented bcause of the poor methods of instruction
• Senor Pasta – old Filipino lawyer who refuses to help
Filipino students in their advocacy
• Tandang Selo – grandfather of Juli

17. Synopsis of the El
Filibusterismo
• Mr. American – owner of the sideshow at the fair of
Quiapo exhibiting an Egyptian Mummy.
• Sandoval – a Spanish student who supports the cause
of the Filipino students to propagate the teaching of
Spanish
• Cabesa Andang – mother of Placido Penitente
• Pepay – pretty dancer and mistress of Don Custodio
• Padre Fernandez – a good dominican friar and friend of
Isagani
• Don Timoteo – father of Juanito Pelaez
• Tano – son Cabesang Tales and brother of Juli
• Chichay – the silversmith who made the bridal earring
for Paulita Gomez

18. • Characters from El Filibusterismo were draw by Rizal from
real life
– Padre Florentino was Father Leoncio Lopez
– Isagani ws Vicente Ilustre
– Paulita Gomez was Leonor Rivera

20. Noli and Fili Compared
Noli FILI
- Romantic Novel - political novel
- Work of the heart - work of the head
- A book of feeling - a book of thought
- It has freshness, color, - it contains bitterness,
humor, lightness, and wit hatred,
pain, violence, and sorrow
- 64 chapters
- 38 chapters

21. • The issue of which is the superior novel. Noli or the Fili is
purely academic
• Both are good novels from the point of view of history
• Both depict with realistic colors the actual conditions of the
Philippines and the Filipinos during the decadent days of
Spanish rule
• Both are instrumental in awakening the spirit of Filipino
nationalism
• Bothe are responsible in paving the ground for Philippine
Revolution that brought about the downfall of Spain
• El Fili is a true twin of Noli

22. The Unfinished 3rd Novel
• September 22, 1891 Rizal wrote to Blumetritt saying that
he’s thinking of writing a third novel where ethics will play
principal role
• October 18, 1891 boarded the steamer Melbourne in
Marseilles bound for Hong Kong
• During the voyage he wrote the third novel in Tagalog in
which he intended for Tagalog readers
• In Hong kong he continued it, but did not finish it because
his Tagalog was inadequate for literary purposes
• The unfinished 3rd novel has no title
• It consists of 44 pages in Rizal’s handwriting

23. • The manuscript is still preserved in the Bureau of Public
Libraries
• The hero of the novel was Kamandagan, a descendant of
Lakan-Dula, last king of Tondo. He plotted to regain the lost
freedom of his fathers
• It is said that Rizal was fortunate not to finish this novel,
because it would have caused greater scandal and more
Spanish vengeance on him

24. Other Unfinished novels
• Makamisa
- a tagalog novel
- written in light sarcastic style
- incomplete with only 2 chapters
- consists of only of 20 pages
• Dapitan
- written in Ironic Spanish
- he wrote it while in Dapitan to depict the town life and
customs
- Consists of 8 pages

25. • A novel in Spanish about the life in Pili, a town in Laguna
- consist of 147 pages
- without title
• Another unfinished novel of Rizal, also without title, is about
Cristobal, a youthful Filipino student who has returned from
Europe
- consists if 34 pages
• The beginning of another novel are contained in two
notebooks. The first notebook contains 31 written pages
while the second contains 12 pages
- written in Spanish and the style is ironic