Why Jose Rizal Made Simoun's Terrorist Plot Fail in "El Filibusterismo"

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As it's Buwan ng Wika or Buwan ng Kasaysayan, I'm tempted to dig into some of my high school Filipino lessons. Right now, I have no idea where my former Filipino teachers are teaching. I recall being told that, since I'm a good writer, I should focus on peaceful resolutions rather than following the path of hatred and violence. I watched the Jose Rizal film back when I was in college. I was asked a provocative question: why Rizal never made Simoun (who was actually Crisostomo Ibarra from Noli Me Tangere) succeed in the violent revolution. 

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I noticed some people tell me El Filibusterismo was a boring book. However, I felt that something was wrong with the Philippines, and I felt that peaceful means weren't going anywhere. Where was my talent in writing heading? I was already more than desperate to move away from the Philippines. That's why I wanted to take Information Technology, even if I sucked at mathematics. It was because I felt that writing in school wasn't doing anything to fix the Philippines. I felt that the only way to help set things straight was through violence. In fact, I even felt that Simoun's revolution should've succeeded, one way or another.

Instead, Rizal chose not to let the exploding lamp succeed. It was because Basilio warned Isagani about Simoun's murderous plot. Rizal could've chosen to let the lamp explode. Instead, Rizal chose to let Simoun's revolution fail. Simoun was given a tragic ending, where he drank poison and confessed his secrets to Father Florentino before he passed away from the poison. Why was this ending given instead of letting Simoun succeed?

It's plain and simple. Rizal never wanted a bloody revolution. Rizal wanted to achieve peaceful reforms. Perhaps, Rizal wanted to warn people who would try bloody means to gain reforms. Rizal didn't want outright independence. Instead, Rizal wanted to improve the lives of those deemed Indios (since the term Filipino was once meant only for Spaniards born in the Philippines) to the same level as the Spaniards. 

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Granted, Rizal was actually of Chinese descent (read here). My Filipino teacher back in the fourth year of high school (back in SY 2001-2002) asked in Tagalog, "Do you have to be born Filipino to become a true Filipino?" The teacher raised the issue that Rizal was actually Chinese by blood. My college instructor in the Rizal course also said the same thing. It was then that I started not to think that Filipino was a dirty word. It's inconceivable to think that there are some Chinese-Filipinos who still refuse to consider themselves Filipinos. It's not any different than Filipinos who discriminate against Chinese Filipinos. 

Back then, I thought about how, as a Chinese Filipino, the Sangley Rebellion was a taboo topic for me. Rizal, being Chinese, would've probably been well-informed of the 1603 Sangley Incident, way before he was born. The Intramuros Wall was built to keep away invaders. However, there was mutual hatred between the Sangleys (Chinese Filipinos of that time), Mainland Chinese, and the Spaniards. I often would tell a Spanish Filipino, "If we were living in the Intramuros Days, we would never be having this conversation." "I hate you! You hate me! The feeling is mutual!" The Chinese were once put in a marshy land, which became Binondo. 

Rizal probably reviewed the ill-fated results of the Sangley Rebellion. The Sangley Rebellion was probably taught in the Spanish schools back then. Rizal may have learned about it and thought that violence would beget more violence. Rizal's book El Filibusterismo was probably that warning, that violence will not bring the best results in the long run. The Katipunan chose violence, and the results weren't good. One could even think of the civil war between Emilio Aguinaldo (whom I sided for some time) and Andres Bonifacio. I always thought Antonio Luna may have just had it coming with his assassination. 

I'm still tempted to believe that Rizal should've let Simoun win. However, history has proven that the pen is mightier than the sword when it comes to influence. Rizal may have died an early death. However, Rizal's ideals lived on. Rizal's death awakened people to the Spanish Empire's brutality. 

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