Bayaning Third World: A Reaction Paper by Russel S. Pernites

“A man may die but his ideas and thoughts forever live and remain indelible imprints of time”.

Bayaning Third World is a movie within a movie. It revolves around the story of two film makers trying to re-make the life story of Jose P. Rizal. It tried to capture the cinematic moments of the Philippines' National Hero-- Dr. Jose P. Rizal. They investigated upon the reasons why some people worshipped him to the point of idolatry and why his works are supported by the government yet censored by the church. A quest into the reason of the national heroes influence which permeates into the Philippine social set up. It was basically a travel to the past, history was deconstructed for the movie presented a different persona out of Rizal and out of the significant people around him. Contrary to the movies which immortalized the hero in the silver screen, this movie sought questions which were never and will never be answered. The sort of questions where the answers were also buried six feet below the ground along with the national hero. It presented and created doubt in me about the real motive of the hero. The main theme of the movie which caught my interest is about his retraction.

It has been established that Jose Rizal retracted his membership from the Masonry and gave back his allegiance to the Roman Catholic Church in order for him to marry Josephine Bracken. Josephine Bracken who was not able to get the trust of the hero's immediate family was put to blame as the primary cause of Rizal's repudiation which came out in the December 1986 Manifesto. His mother astutely denied such claims pointing out that his son did not betray his country, did not swerve in the event, and was staunch in his stance and opposition to the colonizers. Together with Trining, Rizal's older sister they suspected Miss Josephine Bracken as a traitor and a spy commissioned by the Spaniards to hasten the trial and conviction of our national hero.

The movie presented some interesting arguments in which when reflected upon will surely create doubts about him. Questions such as: Does he really deserve to be named our national hero? What happened if he did not die? Did Jose Rizal retracted?
With regards the retraction of Jose Rizal it was clear from the evidence that he wrote a statement changing his position about the church. (Or was the statement authentic? That is another question). No problem with that, what stimulated the conflict is whether the document was really signed by the national hero or was just forged by the priests, if in such case the latter is true the priests lied thus, he committed a sin. In that matter aggravating the abuses they have ensued to the Filipinos. I personally believe that, wherever our national hero retracted his membership with the Masonry and embraced back the Roman Catholic Church, that does not change anything about his goal of liberating the country. It did not affect his nationalist ideals, it did not deter him from continuing to write about the abuses of the Spaniards, and above all it did not stop him from offering his life to the Philippines. If ever true, his retraction was motivated by his personal reasons of marrying the person he loves-- that did not completely changed anything about him, why not give him a chance to pursue some interests and desires for himself.

I have searched for books about Jose Rizal's retraction and found an article authored by Gagelonia vehemently saying that Jose Rizal did not retract as evidenced by his letters to some of his close friends. Gagelonia stated, “it would be historically wrong to claim that Rizal repudiated the Revolution, he did not. It would likewise be historically unfair to judge Rizal as a non-advocate of the revolution”. Rizal mentioned in one of his letters to Ferdinand Blumentritt that he has no desire to take part in conspiracies, i.e the revolution, which seemed premature and risky but he reiterated that if the government, i.e the colonizers, drive the people to such, to the point where no hope will remain but to seek for war and when the Filipinos will choose to die than to endure their miseries longer, he will join and advocate the violent means. Implying that as long as peaceful means can be sought he would resort to that option. The strong nationalist and patriotic character of Dr. Jose Rizal sets him apart from others. He was firm and bold in his opposition to the colonizers that is why it is hard to just believe that he retracted from his nationalist goals in just a blink of an eye.

When he published his famous books-- Noli Me Tangere and El Filibusterismo, Jose Rizal became a threat to the colonizers and the existing government in the Philippines. It exposed the abuses and exploitation done by the friars and it somehow awakened the nationalist ideas of the others who just kept in silence. Through his method he was able to convey a message in a subtle yet strong way. It created an impact among the people and gave impetus to the creation of a more organized and goal-oriented reform movements.

Evident in more of Rizal's writings were his stance in advocating violence, but only when such become an absolute necessity. Freedom should be won by deserving it, by influencing the mind, and enhancing the primacy of the individual.

To end, even if Jose Rizal has been found to retract from his religious beliefs (but not still proven true) a number of materials prove that he did not retract from his nationalist and patriotic goals. He did not change his strong opposition stance overnight but instead continued to express his desires through subtle writings with a humungous impact to the readers which until now resonates in our society-- the overarching influence of his works and life. Not all persons are perfect, Jose Rizal is one. His life is also full of mysteries needing explanations but that mysteries can not be answered now because the enigma has been cemented by his departure from earth. What we all have left to do is to build on what our history books say about him and embark on a quest to believe in the same goals he had leaving the doubts aside, for what is important is his contribution to this country and not about his personal life. Not about “chismis”!