A Thought Paper

on
Rizal, Sex and
Civilisation
of
Raquel Reyes
by
Marjorie P. Noquera
BSED 4-6 | W 1:00-4:00 p.m.
 The essay of Raquel Reyes entitled Rizal, Sex and Civilization tackles the annotation of
the Filipino Illustrado named Jose Rizal to the Sucesos de las Islas Filipinas of Antonio de
Morga. There are topics on de Morga’s work that provoked Rizal to make his annotations or
comments to it. The focus of the interest was the predominate motion over the sexual behaviour
of a culture reflects its level of civilisation. Rizal and other propagandists took this as an insult
and wanted to refuse to acknowleddge or accept it. They, specially Jose Rizal, did not simply
ignore these claim but they try to correct, edit or modify and to prove that all of it was wrong.
And if I were in the same situation and at the same time it happened, I will do the same as Rizal
showing the falsity of de Morga’s works.
The German psyciatrist named Richard von Krafft-Ebing confirmed that sexual finest
measure for determining the degree to which a culture could be called civilised. An uncivilised
society has women that are common property of man, the spoil of the strongest and mightiest, a
chattel, an article of commerce, a vessel for sensual gratification. And Krafft-Ebing cited the
Malays of the Philippines as one the best examples.
Rizal being aware of Krafft-Ebing’s composition captures his interest in these claims.
Physicians and ethnographers categorise mankind into different physical types and draw
generalizations about how these types differed in their intellectual capacity, cultural attainment
and refinement, personal morality, and sexual behavior. Rizal does not accept nor object these
generalisations but to the incapacity to discriminate. I, as a lowland Filipino would not tolerate
the accusations of being primitive.
While Krafft-Ebing is indebt to Heinrich Ploss, Ploss also relied on the works of
Ferdinand Blumentritt, Alex Schadenberg (studies focuses on Negritos), and Fregor Jagor
(widely travelled in the islands of the Philippines). Blumentritt was considered as the key source
especially his Versuch einer Ethnographie der Philippinen, publised in 1882. The observations of
Blumentritt was repeated by Ploss, that Tagalogs of Luzon shows characterictics or behaviours
that are the same as animals such as picking up small objects by their toes, acute sense of smell,
and women enable to determine the sexual excitedness of men nearby. According to Blumentritt,
despite of the efforts of Spanish friars to teach them, Tagalogs still have the part of pagan legacy,
which includes the excessive immorality and sensuality.
The declaration of Blumentritt gave and additional mental acceptance to the observations
of Francisco Canamaque, a Spanish journalist and traveller who propagansistas latter attacked.
According to them, Manila and the countryside of the Tagalog Region has a widespread
practices of immorality. Canamaque have observed that girls of Katagalugan does not consider
virginity as virtue and give themselves up easily to any o their lovers. There were no signs of
sacredness. Intercourses were performed even in the streets. Women and men allow themselves
to be seen completely naked. Rizal did not confronted the reliability of these comments of
Blumentritt to the social life and costum of Filipinos. In fact, Rizal commended the ethnographic
study of Blumentritt. After the failed persuasion to Blumentritt to write the History of the
Philippines because Rizal believed that nobody else is better than qualified to do it, he decided to
discuss it himself.
 On the civilisation side of the pre-colonial society, Rizal dwelt on the prosperity of the
Philippines’ agriculture and commerce, on the flourishing mining, shipbuilding and
metalworking industries and on the well deceloped material culture and literacy. Rizal elaborated
that pre-Hispanic inhabitants are civilised.
Rizal discovered that sexual behaviours and social practices did not all accord the 19 th
century classifications of civilised. On the matters of sex, women are viewed by chroniclers as
unruly and unmanaged sexual desired undividuals. But Miguel Loarca observed the same.
Women are beautiful, but unchaste. They do not hesitate to commit adultery. Rizal tried to
defend the pre-hispanic women. Though he found it difficult to prove its falsity by evidence and
arguments, he tried to devise as a substitue, by linking sex to reproduction. Rizal claimed that
indio women believes that it is not a sin to reproduce race.
Jose Rizal defended the pre-conquest indio women. He tried to prove that pre-conquest
indio women are modest, domestic, and high repute women. They are modest that even when
women are taking their baths, they kept their bodies immersed in the water with their greatest
carefulness to keep their naked bodies unseen. In all places, women are very particular in
covering their bodies. As what my grandparents have told us, Filipinas are very formal, modest
and all. Almost all symbolizes a Dalagang Filipina. Marriage in pre-spanish time was a union of
equals. Rizal defended this by stating the fact that there was no dowry system. It manifest that
bridegrooms are not regarding their wives as heavy burdens. The Tagalog wives are free and
respected.
Rizal added that Filipina are with moral rectitude and is far from the value of any dowry.
Filipinas are able to give love and energy to domestic life. They are responsible for the education
of their children. Rizal highlighted that there exists an equality on gender. He then construct a
new image, Filipinas as civilised feminine. Pre-conquest indio women are now seen as wise,
prudent, nurturing, industrious and entrepreneurial.
Though in the best efforts of Rizal, he admitted that he can not alter the issues on
sexuality of women completely with the historical records. He admitted that as far as sexual
habits of indio women are concerned, he could not deny what he had found in the testimonies of
all the authors. Instead, Rizal tried to explain and make excuses. Rizal relates the reported
weakness of indio women to the rooted supperstitious belief. After death, it is said that women
needed to cross a very dangerous river, using a narrow tree trunk, before they reached paradise. I
am somehow familiar with this.
In the report of Morga that there are men in indio society who were paid to deflower
virgins before their marriage, Rizal failed to falsify it. He draw a whimsical analogy instead. He
questioned the credibility by relating virginity to ballroom dancing. According to Rizal, if pre-
marital sex is a sin, so as to the pre-marital ballroom dancing, then why men want expert
dancers?
In the issue that women loved money that they yield themselves up easily for a price,
Rizal responded to this by stating the fact that this can be found anywhere in the world. Rizal
believed that there is a need for moral rules. Yet, the criminality of this sin against nature paled
in comparison to a sexual practice. There exist a tradition in the Philippines that the tatooed
people called Pintados of the Visayas pierce their penises. They make a hole in their miembro
viril, close to its head. And pass through it a device that resembles a serpent’s head made of
metal or ivory, which is then secured in place by material of the same substance. With this
device, they perform intercourses. Because of this, men are unable to pullout long after physical
union of male and female genitalia accompanied by rhythmic movements. I found this act as
bloody and devilish. Morga viewed this as a lustful practice of indio women. Morga wasn’t alone
in documenting this practice. It was one of observed practices in the later. Rizal respond to this
in silence. Rizal unable to refute Morga.
Morga’s descriptions to the pre-Hispanic Indio women, sexuality in general which
reflects the level of civilisation, with the underlying issues such as the sodomy, the men that are
paid to deflower virgins before their marriage, etc. led to the making of annotation of Rizal in
which he tried his best to correct, falsify, and modify. Given the same situation, as a Filipina, I
would also do my very best to defend the pre-hispanic indio women. It is not good knowing that
other have a negative thought about your ancestors.You really need to find evidences and try to
refute, falsify and correct misconceptions. It is like defending yourself. To defend yourself is to
defend your own.