Rizal and His Times

The article talks about the historical background of the world and the Philippines during Rizal’s
times, for the purpose of appreciation and understanding the life that he had. During his time Filipino
people were victims of the unjust, bigoted, and deteriorating colonial power. Rizal could attest on the evil
events that made Filipinos felt marginalized, discriminated and poorly administered. There are eleven (11)
evil events enumerated. Among these evils are: (1) instability of colonial administration, (2) corrupt
officialdom,(3) no Philippine representation in the Spanish Cortes, (4) humans rights denied to Filipinos, (5)
no equality before the law, (6) maladministration of justice, (7) racial discrimination, (8) frailocracy, (9),
forced labor, (10) haciendas owned by the friars, and (11) the Guardia Civil.

The judicial procedure was so slow and clumsy that it was easy to have justice delayed. And justice
delayed, as a popular maxim states, “is justice denied”. Justice delayed is justice denied, and it really hit
me hard. I couldn’t agree more. Postponed hearings might just mean that the court does not give an eye
for the case. And what the victims and the innocents got in time is just prolonged agony of injustice. And
that’s makes the people go against the government, which in turn causes a chaotic country.

The Spanish era is, I think, the most ruthless invasions the Philippines has ever experienced.
Filipinos have experienced intense discrimination and cruelty. Furthermore, they are given injustice before
the law. Their voice never reached the Spanish government, and even if it did, they did not listen. Why?
Because they did not want to. That is why Filipinos decided to fight back with their weapons. While reading
the article, I felt madness and sadness. I felt mad because the treatment the Filipinos got is obviously
unjust and Spain just did not even care at all. They treated the whites as superior beings while the Filipinos
as animals; as if the Filipino people are inferior beings who were underserving of the rights and privileges
that the white Spanish people enjoy. And that’s what made me feel sad. I felt pity on my fellowmen for all
those sufferings they had to bear for so many years just because they were brown-skinned and flat-nosed
people. The Spaniards are too pretentious to proclaim the concept of brotherhood of all men upon
introducing Christianity when all they did was far from the said brotherhood. All that we, the Filipino people
today could remember, is the intimidation and torment the Spaniards have caused the Filipinos during
Rizal’s times And those eleven evil events mentioned above were the reasons.