Jose Rizal's The Philippines A Century Hence
The Philippines a Century Hence is written by Dr. Jose Rizal that forecasts the future of the Philippines within a hundred years. This book contains four chapters in which he predicts the future of the Philippines by stating his past and his present during those times. During his time, he sees that the Philippines will have a struggle to gain independence because they see the spanish colonizers as protectors rather than exploiters. Maybe this is the reason why Rizal had a question if the Philippines will continue to be a Spanish colony. To answer his very own question, he predicted that the Philippines will remain under Spanish colonization but with more law and greater liberty and will declare themselves as independent. We can tell that Rizal only wanted liberty but not a total separation with Spain. If I were Rizal, I want a total separation from Spain because they are not good for the Philippines. They only treat the Filipinos unjustly and unfairly which resulted in miseries and sufferings to the life and the culture of the people.
However, because of Rizal’s efforts to help the Filipinos, enlightenment starts to spread within the minds of the people. After so many bloodsheds and oppressions, the Philippines did not only get the liberty but also the independence that they have longing for, which is the same as what Rizal had predicted. The Spaniards failed to stop the progress of the Philippines because the sense of nationalism of the Filipinos is already rising up. Their national consciousness is being awakened that is why they are fighting for their human rights in their own motherland. They starting not to succumb on the slavery of the Spaniards by learning more about the real situation that they are in and exploring other ways that could help them towards progress.
In my opinion, I agree with Rizal that the Philippines will eventually gain independence because Filipinos are smart and will not forever submit themselves to Spain. In addition, Rizal is so thoughtful because upon writing his book, he believed and trusted that the FIlipinos would overcome the problems during the Spanish colonization. The Filipinos did not fail him because after five decades of his death, Philippine independence was achieved. And it was proven now since I am enjoying my freedom. I can do whatever I want and my human rights are now protected because of the established rules and regulations of the country.
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