Rizal on Reform and Revolution (part 4 of 4)

by Levy Abad

Andres Bonifacio`, the founder and leader of the Kataastaasang Kagalanggalangang Katipunan  ng mga Anak ng Bayan (KKK ) and other leaders of the Katipunan, together with ranks of the revolutionaries, belong to the left wing tendency of those who adhere to the ideas espoused by Rizal.  Upon closer look of the ideas of Jose Rizal, one will find that most of his thoughts on society were essentially heavily tainted by French revolutionary ideas, but were also calibrated in such a way that they fit into a reformist frame. We must remember that the French Revolution never happened overnight. It also underwent the same process where people hoped that the regime could still be changed through peaceable means (Reformism) until the Jacobins (or in our case, the Revolutionaries of 1896)  decided to have enough of it when they realized that bondage can no longer be tolerated.  This was also exemplified during the Filipinos’ struggle against the dictatorship way back in the 70s. Though it took a shorter time compared to Rizal’s time, the contradictions intensified that culminated in the assassination of Benigno Aquino. His death unified the opposition forces and became the catalyst that led to the EDSA Uprising.

Jose Rizal’s statement that he has no desire to take part in conspiracies, which seem to him “premature and risky,” is an expression of a disagreement over strategy and tactics of how to steer the revolution. Back in my university days, I always hear this premature and risky advice from reformist activists in the campus. Although they usually say that they agree with the revolutionary calls, when it comes to practice, they say it is not yet time. Perhaps, Rizal never liked the tactic used (as he portrayed it) by Simoun in El Filibusterismo of inciting violence and the insurrectionary / putchist’s persecution of the people to force them to revolt. Elmer Ordoňez in his article, "Rizal and the Literature of the Left," commented that the essays of Epifanio San Juan, one of the leading scholars in Rizal studies, “attempt to recuperate Rizal (appropriated by U.S. colonialism and Ilustrado collaborators in search of a national hero for their Filipino wards) from his perceived apostasy, the December 15 Manifesto, where he abjures the armed revolution."  San Juan recalls Recto’s “landmark synthesizing of both revolutionaries" (Rizal and Bonifacio’s) ‘parallel lives” in 1958. For San Juan, Recto points to a “fatal and unbridgeable dualism which today, our wide-ranging endeavors to integrate history and practice are trying mightily to resolve.” The question again arises as to who benefits from this dualism? What forces in Philippine society may have consciously fanned this dualism to their advantage? My view is that this dualism will last until a social movement that links reform and revolution triumphs and becomes the dominant narrative.

The root of the problem is the  persistent maneuver of the interest groups, such as US colonialism and local reactionaries to create a disconnect between reform and revolution and make it appear that Rizal is a pacifist  through and through, thus turning Rizal into a propaganda tool for social inertia in the face of colonial oppression. The right wing tendency is a clear result of this disconnect.  It is the tendency to absolutize reformism that in turn assures the survival of the status quo.  

Andres Bonifacio 

Grasping this reality of the revolutionary situation makes one arrive at the proper analysis of Philippine history and what is happening now. All the ills of Philippine society can be traced back to the outcome of the dialectics of the time of Jose Rizal.  The way our community thinks on how to achieve social change for our country of origin is also characterized by this tendency. Up to now, people pit Jose Rizal against Andres Bonifacio. They have missed the great lesson of the Revolution of 1896 that the two pillars of Philippine history are representative of a single historical process of the Filipino peoples’ aspiration for freedom. Hence, given all these lessons of history, only a social movement that is able to grasp the dialectics between Rizal and Bonifacio, reform and revolution, will be able to lead the Filipino out of its pre-industrial and agricultural state.

For previously published articles on Jose Rizal, please visit Levy Abad's Articles and Poems, http://levyabadarticles.blogspot.ca

(Levy Abad is a freelance writer and also a singer songwriter/recording artist and a member of Migrante Canada-Mb chapter and also a founding member/ program coordinator of Winnipeg Multicultural Human Rights Forum, Levy has released three albums , Canadian Experience Vol. 1 (iTunes ), Never Give Up and Rhythms of Compassion CanEx 3. Levy just released  his fourth album titled "Tara ng Maglakbay". You can reach Levy Abad through , lev67.abad@yahoo.ca or on Facebook.).