El filibusterismo

Prepared by : Sir. Alston G. Anabieza

El filibusterismo (transl. The filibusterism; The Subversive or The
Subversion, as in the Locsín English translation, are also possible
translations), also known by its alternative English title The Reign of
Greed, is the second novel written by Philippine national hero José
Rizal. It is the sequel to Noli Me Tángere and, like the first book, was
written in Spanish. It was first published in 1891 in Ghent.
 The novel centers on the Noli-El fili duology's main character Crisóstomo Ibarra, now returning for
vengeance as "Simoun". The novel's dark theme departs dramatically from the previous novel's hopeful and
romantic atmosphere, signifying Ibarra's resort to solving his country's issues through violent means, after
his previous attempt in reforming the country's system made no effect and seemed impossible with the
corrupt attitude of the Spaniards toward the Filipinos.
 The novel, along with its predecessor, was banned in some parts of the Philippines as a result of their
portrayals of the Spanish government's abuses and corruption. These novels, along with Rizal's involvement
in organizations that aimed to address and reform the Spanish system and its issues, led to Rizal's exile to
Dapitan and eventual execution. Both the novel and its predecessor, along with Rizal's last poem, are now
considered Rizal's literary masterpieces.
 Both of Rizal's novels had a profound effect on Philippine society in terms of views about national identity,
the Catholic faith and its influence on the Filipino's choice, and the government's issues in corruption, abuse
of power, and discrimination, and on a larger scale, the issues related to the effect of colonization on people's
lives and the cause for independence. These novels later on indirectly became the inspiration to start the
Philippine Revolution.
 Throughout the Philippines, the reading of both the novel and its predecessor is now mandatory for
high school students throughout the archipelago, although it is now read using English, Filipino, and the
Philippines' regional languages.
Plot

 In the events of the previous novel, Crisóstomo Ibarra, a reform-minded mestizo who tried to establish a
modern school in his hometown of San Diego and marry his childhood sweetheart, was falsely accused of
rebellion and presumed dead after a shootout following his escape from prison. Elías, his friend who was
also a reformer, sacrificed his life to give Crisóstomo a chance to regain his treasure and flee the country, and
hopefully continue their crusade for reforms from abroad. After a thirteen-year absence from the country, a
more revolutionary Crisóstomo has returned, having taken the identity of Simoun, a mysterious wealthy
jeweler whose objective is to drive the government to commit as much abuse as possible in order to
drive people into revolution.
 Simoun goes from town to town presumably to sell his jewels. Reaching San Diego, he detours to a forested
land once owned by the Ibarras to retrieve more of his treasures buried in the mausoleum. There his true
identity as Crisóstomo Ibarra is discovered by a now-grown Basilio, who was also in the mausoleum visiting
his mother's grave. In the years since the death of his mother, Basilio had been serving as Capitán Tiago's
servant in exchange for being allowed to study, and is now an aspiring doctor on his last year at university as
well as administrator and apparent heir to Capitán Tiago's wealth. Simoun reveals his motives to Basilio and
offers him a place in his plans. Too secure of his place in the world, Basilio declines.
 At Barrio Sagpang in the town of Tiani, Simoun stays at the house of the village's cabeza de barangay,
Tales. Having suffered misfortune after misfortune in recent years, Kabesang Tales is unable to resist the
temptation to steal Simoun's revolver and join the bandits. In Los Baños, Simoun joins his friend, the
Captain-General, who is then taking a break from a hunting excursion. In a friendly game of cards with him
and his cronies, Simoun raises the stakes higher and higher and half-jokingly secures blank orders for
deportation, imprisonment, and summary execution from the Captain-General.
 Later on, Simoun goes to Manila and meets Quiroga, a wealthy Chinese businessman and aspiring consul-
general for the Chinese empire. Knowing Quiroga is heavily in his debt, Simoun offers him a steep discount
if the former stores his massive arsenal of rifles in Quiroga's warehouses, to be used presumably for
extortion activities with Manila's elite. Despite his hatred of guns and weaponry, Quiroga reluctantly agrees
to do the job and uses his bazaar as a front.
 During the Quiapo Fair, a talking heads exhibit ostensibly organized by an American named Mr. Leeds but
secretly commissioned by Simoun is drawing popular acclaim. Padre Bernardo Salví, now chaplain of the
Convent of the Poor Clares,[5] attends one of the performances. The exhibit is set in Ptolemaic Egypt but
features a tale that closely resembled that of Crisóstomo Ibarra and María Clara, and their fate under Salví.
The show ends with an ominous vow of revenge. Deeply overcome with guilt and fear, Salví recommends
the show be banned, but not before Mr. Leeds sailed for Hong Kong
 However, Basilio reports to Simoun that María Clara died just that afternoon, after suffering the travails of
monastic life under Salví, who always lusted after her. Simoun, driven by grief, aborts the attack and
becomes crestfallen throughout the night. It will be reported later on that he suffered an "accident" that night,
leaving him confined to his bed.
 he following day, posters threatening violence to the leaders of the university and the government are found
at the university doors. A reform-oriented student group to which Basilio belonged is named the primary
suspects; the members are arrested, including Basilio, despite his absence from the group's mock celebration.
They are eventually freed through the intercession of relatives, except for Basilio who is an orphan and has
no means to pay for his freedom. During his imprisonment, he learns that Capitán Tiago has died, leaving
him with nothing.
 ; it is revealed that Tiago's will was actually forged by his spiritual advisor Padre Írene, who also supplies
him with opium; his childhood sweetheart Juli has committed suicide to avoid getting raped by parish priest
Camorra when she tried asking for help on Basilio's behalf; and that he has missed his graduation and will be
required to study for another year, but now with no funds to go by. Released through the intercession of
Simoun, a darkened, disillusioned Basilio joins Simoun's cause wholeheartedly
 Simoun, meanwhile, has been organizing a new revolution, and he reveals his plans to a now committed
Basilio. The wedding of Juanito Peláez and Paulita Gómez will be used to coordinate the attack upon the
city. As the Peláez and Gómez families are prominent members of the Manila elite, leaders of the church and
civil government are invited to the reception. The Captain-General, who declined to extend his tenure
despite Simoun's urging, is leaving in two days and is the guest of honor.
 Simoun will personally deliver a pomegranate-shaped crystal lamp as a wedding gift. The lamp is to be
placed on a plinth at the reception venue and will be bright enough to illuminate the entire hall, which was
also walled with mirrors. After some time the light will flicker as if to go out. When someone attempts to
raise the wick, a mechanism hidden within the lamp containing fulminated mercury will detonate, igniting
the lamp which is actually filled with nitroglycerin, killing everyone in an enormous blast.
 At the sound of the explosion, Simoun's mercenaries will attack, reinforced by Matanglawin and his bandits
who will descend upon the city from the surrounding hills. Simoun postulates that at the chaos, the masses,
already worked to a panic by the government's heavy-handed response to the poster incident, as well as
rumors of German ships at the bay to lend their firepower to any uprising against the Spanish government,
will step out in desperation to kill or be killed. Basilio and a few others are to put themselves at their head
and lead them to Quiroga's warehouses, where Simoun's guns are still being kept. The plan thus finalized,
Simoun gives Basilio a loaded revolver and sends him away to await further instructions.
 One day, the lieutenant of the local Guardia Civil informs Florentino that he received an order to arrest
Simoun that night. In response, Simoun drinks the slow-acting poison which he always kept in a
compartment on his treasure chest. Simoun then makes his final confession to Florentino, first revealing his
true name, to Florentino's shock. He goes on to narrate how thirteen years before, as Crisóstomo Ibarra, he
lost everything in the Philippines despite his good intentions. Crisóstomo swore vengeance. Retrieving some
of his family's treasure Elias buried in the Ibarra mausoleum in the forest, Crisóstomo fled to foreign lands
and engaged in trade..
 He took part in the war in Cuba, aiding first one side and then another, but always profiting. There
Crisóstomo met the Captain-General who was then a major, whose goodwill he won first by loans of money,
and afterwards by covering for his criminal activity. Crisóstomo bribed his way to secure the major's
promotion to Captain-General and his assignment to the Philippines. Once in the country, Crisóstomo then
used him as a blind tool and incited him to all kinds of injustice, availing himself of the Captain-General's
insatiable lust for gold
 The confession is long and arduous, and night has fallen when Crisóstomo finished. In the end, Florentino
assures the dying man of God's mercy, but explains that his revolution failed because he has chosen means
that God cannot sanction. Crisóstomo bitterly accepts the explanation and dies.
 Realizing that the arresting officers will confiscate Crisóstomo's possessions, Florentino divests him of his
jewels and casts them into the sea, proclaiming that should people need wealth for a righteous cause, God
will provide the means to draw them out, adding that they are better hidden at the bottom of the sea in the
meantime, where they cannot be found to be used for distorting justice or inciting greed.
Major characters

 Simoun – Crisóstomo Ibarra in disguise, presumed dead at the end of Noli Me Tángere. Ibarra has returned
as the wealthy jeweler Simoun. His appearance is described as being tanned, having a sparse beard, long
white hair, and large blue-tinted glasses. He was sometimes crude and confrontational. He was derisively
described by Custodio and Ben-Zayb as an American mulatto or a British Indian. While presenting as the
arrogant elitist on the outside, he secretly plans a violent revolution in order to avenge himself for his
misfortunes as Crisóstomo Ibarra, as well as hasten Elías' reformist goals.
 Basilio – son of Sisa and another character from Noli Me Tángere. In the events of El fili, he is an aspiring
and so far successful physician on his last year at university and was waiting for his license to be released
upon his graduation. After his mother's death in the Noli, he applied as a servant in Capitán Tiago's
household in exchange for food, lodging, and being allowed to study. Eventually he took up medicine, and
with Tiago having retired from society, he also became the manager of Tiago's vast estate. He is a quiet,
contemplative man who is more aware of his immediate duties as a servant, doctor, and member of the
student association than he is of politics or patriotic endeavors. His sweetheart is Juli, the daughter of
Kabesang Tales whose family took him in when he was a young boy fleeing the Guardia Civil and his
deranged mother.
 Isagani – Basilio's friend. He is described as a poet, taller and more robust than Basilio although younger.
He is the nephew of Padre Florentino, but is also rumored to be Florentino's son with his old sweetheart
before he was ordained as a priest. During the events of the novel, Isagani is finishing his studies at the
Ateneo Municipal and is planning to take medicine. A member of the student association, Isagani is proud
and naive, and tends to put himself on the spot when his ideals are affronted. His unrestrained idealism and
poeticism clash with the more practical and mundane concerns of his girlfriend, Paulita Gómez. When
Isagani allows himself to be arrested after their association is outlawed, Paulita leaves him for Juanito
Peláez. In his final mention in the novel, he was bidding goodbye to his landlords, the Orenda family, to stay
with Florentino permanently
 Father Florentino – Isagani's uncle and a retired priest. Florentino was the son of a wealthy and influential
Manila family. He entered the priesthood at the insistence of his mother. As a result he had to break an affair
with a woman he loved, and in despair devoted himself instead to his parish. When the 1872 Cavite mutiny
broke out, he promptly resigned from the priesthood, fearful of drawing unwanted attention.
An indio (native), Florentino belonged to the secular clergy (unaffiliated with the Catholic religious orders),
yet his parish drew in huge income. He retired to his family's large estate along the shores of the Pacific. He
is described as white-haired, with a quiet, serene personality and a strong build. He did not smoke or drink.
He was well respected by his peers, even by Spanish friars and officials.
 Father Fernández – a Dominican who was a friend of Isagani. Following the incident with the posters, he
invited Isagani to a dialogue, not so much as a teacher with his student but as a friar with a Filipino.
Although they failed to resolve their differences, they each promised to approach their colleagues with the
opposing views from the other party – although both feared that given the animosity that existed between
their sides, their own compatriots may not believe in the other party's existence.
 Capitán Tiago – Don Santiago de los Santos. María Clara's father. Having several landholdings in
Pampanga, Binondo, and Laguna, as well as taking ownership of the Ibarras' vast estate, Tiago still fell into
depression following María's entry into the convent. He alleviated this by smoking opium, which quickly
became an uncontrolled vice, exacerbated by his association with Padre Írene who regularly supplied him
with the substance. Tiago hired Basilio as a capista, a servant who given the opportunity to study as part of
his wages; Basilio eventually pursued medicine and became his caregiver and the manager of his estate.
Tiago died of shock upon hearing of Basilio's arrest and Padre Írene's embellished stories of violent revolt.
 Captain-General – the highest-ranking official in the Philippines during the Spanish colonial period. The
Captain-General in the novel is Simoun's friend and confidant, and is described as having an insatiable lust
for gold. Simoun met him when he was still a major during the Ten Years' War in Cuba. He secured the
major's friendship and promotion to Captain-General through bribes. When he was posted in the Philippines,
Simoun used him as a pawn in his own power plays to drive the country into revolution. The Captain-
General was shamed into not extending his tenure after being rebuked by a high official in the aftermath of
Basilio's imprisonment. This decision to retire would later on prove to be a crucial element to Simoun's
schemes
 Father Bernardo Salví – a Franciscan friar who served as the former parish priest of San Diego in Noli Me
Tángere, and now the director and chaplain of the Santa Clara convent. The epilogue of the Noli implies that
Salví regularly rapes María Clara when he is present at the convent. In El fili, he is described as her
confessor. In spite of reports of Ibarra's death, Salví believes that he is still alive and lives in constant fear of
his revenge.
 Father Hernando de la Sibyla – a Dominican introduced in Noli Me Tángere who now serves as the
director and chaplain of the University of Santo Tomas.
 Father Millon – a Dominican who serves as a physics professor in the University of Santo Tomás.
 Quiroga – a Chinese businessman who aspired to be a consul for China in the Philippines. Simoun coerced Quiroga into hiding weapons
inside the latter's warehouses in preparation for the revolution.
 Don Custodio – Custodio de Salazar y Sánchez de Monteredondo, a famous "contractor" who was tasked by the Captain-General to develop
the students association's proposal for an academy for the teaching of Spanish, but was then also under pressure from the priests not to
compromise their prerogatives as monopolizers of instruction. Some of the novel's most scathing criticism is reserved for Custodio, who is
portrayed as an opportunist who married his way into high society, who regularly criticized favored ideas that did not come from him, but
was ultimately, laughably incompetent in spite of his scruples.
 Ben-Zayb – A columnist for the Manila Spanish newspaper El Grito de la Integridad. Ben-Zayb is his pen name and is an anagram of
Ybáñez, an alternate spelling of his last name Ibáñez. His first name is not mentioned. Ben-Zayb is said to have the looks of a friar, and
believes that in Manila they think because he thinks. He is deeply patriotic, sometimes to the point of jingoism. As a journalist, he had no
qualms embellishing a story, conflating and butchering details, turning phrases over and over, making a mundane story sound better than it
actually was. Father Camorra derisively calls him an ink-slinger.
 Father Camorra – the parish priest of Tiani. Ben-Zayb's regular foil, he is said to look like an artilleryman in counterpoint to Ben-Zayb's
friar looks. He stops at nothing to mock and humiliate Ben-Zayb's liberal pretensions. In his own parish, Camorra has a reputation for
unrestrained lustfulness. He drives Juli into suicide after attempting to rape her inside the convent. For his misbehavior he was "detained" in a
luxurious riverside villa just outside Manila.
 Father Írene – Capitán Tiago's spiritual adviser. Along with Don Custodio, Írene is severely criticized as a representative of priests who allied
themselves with temporal authority for the sake of power and monetary gain. Known to many as the final authority who Custodio consults,
the student association sought his support and gifted him with two chestnut-colored horses, yet he betrayed the students by counseling
Custodio into making them fee collectors in their own school, which was then to be administered by the Dominicans instead of being a
secular and privately managed institution as the students envisioned. Írene secretly but regularly supplies Capitán Tiago with opium while
exhorting Basilio to do his duty. Írene embellished stories of panic following the outlawing of the student association Basilio was part of,
hastening Capitán Tiago's death. With Basilio in prison, he then removed Basilio out of Tiago's last will and testament, ensuring he inherited
nothing.
 Placido Penitente – a student of the University of Santo Tomas who had a distaste for study and would have left school if it were not for his
mother's pleas for him to stay. He clashes with his physics professor, who then accuses him of being a member of the student association,
whom the friars despise. Following the confrontation, he meets Simoun at the Quiapo Fair. Seeing potential in Placido, Simoun takes him
along to survey his preparations for the upcoming revolution. The following morning Placido has become one of Simoun's committed
followers. He is later seen with the former schoolmaster of San Diego, who was now Simoun's bomb-maker.
 Paulita Gómez – the girlfriend of Isagani and the niece of Doña Victorina, the old Indio who passes herself off as a Peninsular, who is the
wife of the quack doctor Tiburcio de Espadaña. In the end, she and Isagani part ways, Paulita believing she will have no future if she marries
him. She eventually marries Juanito Peláez.