Greed
In the English translation of El Filibusterismo, the title of the novel is The Reign of Greed due to the pivotal role greed plays in the novel. The Spanish profit immensely from their rule of the Philippines; the colonial rule is dominated by the exploitation of Filipinos and the extraction of their nation's wealth. Greed is a principal motivator for clergy and government officials alike who are more interested in lining their pockets than governing or fulfilling their responsibilities. Many, such as the priests, try to disguise their motivations under the guise of morality and religious superiority. Bribes are normalized as a way to get out of jail, receive “salvation” from the church, or gain government positions. The majority of Filipinos are subject to onerous taxes and the whims of those in power. Rizal explores how this greed corrupts everyone and everything: both the Spanish oppressors and Filipino society as a whole. In his efforts to liberate his country, Simoun uses his sizable wealth to manipulate the Captain General’s insatiable lust for wealth. However, Simoun himself is consumed in this process, losing touch with his true mission to liberate Filipinos and ease their suffering. Padre Florentino’s decision to throw Simoun’s wealth in the ocean is a repudiation of the pervasive greed around him.
Submission and Rebellion
Set on the cusp of revolution, there is a tension between submission and rebellion in the novel. Spanish characters openly and frequently discuss the importance of instilling subservience and submission in the Filipino population. Padre Camorra states that Filipinos’ duty is to “obey and pay” and, for Don Custodio, it is necessary for Filipinos to believe in their own incompetence in order for the Spanish to maintain control of the Philippines. Rizal makes the argument that after over 300 years of colonial rule, Filipinos' minds themselves have been colonized by the Spanish. This takes many forms: a negation of Filipino identity, assimilation to Spanish values and language, and submission and passivity towards their oppressors. As a result, Simoun comes to the conclusion that the only way to spark rebellion is by increasing suffering to such extremes that Filipinos lose all fear and fight back. Tales, Placido, and Basilio all suffer multiple injustices at the hands of the Spanish. Initially, they try to avoid trouble and accept the innate unfairness as an unfortunate reality. Yet, the Spanish cruelty and greed force characters to a tipping point, such as Tales who becomes a tulisan, or outlaw, pursuing vigilante justice. Isagani surprises Filipino and Spanish superiors alike with his insistence on interacting with them as equals. Rizal wrote El Filibusterismo with the intention of raising consciousness; his character Isagani represents a new generation of Filipinos who refuse to believe in the myth of their own inferiority.
Injustice and Justice
El Filibusterismo exposed the rampant injustice in the Philippines as well as dramatizing the fight for justice. Spanish colonial rule is dominated by corruption and abuses of power and Filipinos regularly face persecution with no recourse. When Tales is fighting for his land, the judges know Tales is the rightful owner but side with the friars for fear of repercussions from the church. Going into the lawsuit, Tales already knows that Filipinos rarely if ever win, but there are no other legal options open to him. Tired of his pleas falling on deaf Spanish ears, Tales takes the law into his own hands and kills the friar-administrator who stole his lands.
The novel thus warns that in an oppressive system, people will turn to violence to achieve some means of justice if it is the only path available to them. One’s access to justice is dependent on position, money, connections, and race. When Filipinos genuinely need the protection of the government, such as when the tulisanes are attacking villages, the government and Civil Guard are negligent. The Civil Guard arrests innocent people at random, more as a show of authority than as a genuine effort to protect the people and punish those responsible. Basilio is one of many Filipinos unjustly imprisoned by a government trying to impose its authority over an increasingly dissatisfied population. Isagani, Simoun, and Padre Florentino all dream of justice although they have different visions of how to make it a reality.
Religion
Religion is a defining institution in the Philippines, and it plays a large role in El Filibusterismo. However, while religion exercises significant power and influence over people’s lives, there is relatively little focus on spirituality. Rather it is the institution of the Catholic Church that dominates. For Rizal, the church and Spanish friars embody colonial power, greed, and arrogance. There is the friar-administrator who falsely claims Tales’ land and exacts exorbitant rents that impoverish the family. Padre Salvi and Padre Camorra are lascivious and readily use their position of power to intimidate and sexually abuse women. The church controls education and wields political power and enormous wealth. Yet, Spanish priests hide behind religion to justify their exploitation and control of Filipinos. Padre Fernandez and Padre Florentino are two priests who stand out from the rest as genuine examples of spiritual leadership. Padre Fernandez is one of the few professors with a disposition to listen to his students and respect their ideas even when, like Isagani, they directly challenge the church. For his part, Padre Florentino, as a Filipino priest, tries his best to help his people and country. The novel ends with his appeal to the youth of the Philippines to help save their country from the evils that plague it.
Education
Power struggles over who controls education, and what its role should be in society, comprise a significant portion of El Filibusterismo. The Catholic Church has been in control of education in the Philippines for over 300 years, and the priests jealously guard their position. Rather than fostering free thinking or the pursuit of knowledge, professors humiliate their students and lecture them on submission. In actuality, the church and government fear that having an educated populace will weaken their control over the colony. The members of the students association want Filipinos to have more opportunities and rights in society and believe a Spanish school is the answer. Most Filipinos are barred from positions of power or the ability to advocate for themselves within the colonial system, in part because they do not speak Spanish. However, the university students’ proposal of assimilation is a reflection of their relative privilege in society and their belief in the possibility of achieving change within the colonial system. The Spanish point to the widespread ignorance in society as a natural deficiency in Filipino intellect while characters such as Isagani denounce the church’s total failure to provide a decent education for citizens.
Colonialism
El Filibusterismo is set in the Philippines during the last years of Spanish colonial rule. At this time, the government is in a state of decline. There is increasing dissatisfaction, a natural culmination of over 300 years of exploitation and oppression. Under the colonial system, the Spanish can simply do whatever they want, with little consequence. They justify their actions with a full belief in their superiority: confident that Filipinos’ duty is to submit and cater to their whims. The Spanish expect Filipinos to be grateful to their “generous” Spanish benefactors for taking care of such poor and incompetent people. Tales begins to question this logic; he wonders why his land should belong to someone who has not worked for it. The Catholic Church and the government are used to establish colonial order and control. Don Custodio believes that indoctrination through the church is a humane form of colonialism because the Spanish are not using outright violence to suppress Filipinos.
Rizal explores what is the right path to remedy the failures and harms of colonialism. Isagani and other students are convinced that they can improve conditions by working for reform within the system. In this way, they hope to earn the respect and collaboration of the Spanish. Simoun, on the other hand, has a more radical stance, believing that the whole system is rotten and the Philippines must fight for independence.
Racism
Society in the Philippines under colonialism is structured around the fundamental idea of white supremacy. The Spanish caste system creates a racial hierarchy with Spaniards born in Spain at the top. Spanish blood correlates to purity and moral and intellectual superiority, which directly translates to one’s position in society and access to money and power. Nearly all positions of power, in the church and the government, are held by the Spanish or mestizos, those of mixed Filipino and Spanish origin. Although the majority, Filipinos are at the bottom of society and are treated as such. The Spanish begrudge having to give anything to Filipinos, and justify their mistreatment of them by convincing themselves that Filipinos need and deserve less. Even those who consider themselves in favor of justice or Filipino rights take on a paternalistic stance. Don Custodio, for example, firmly believes that the Spanish are innately superior and that the Spanish are bringing civilization to the “backwards” society of the Philippines.
