Name: Galicia, Ma. Victoria Shainee I.

Course & Section: AB Political Science 1B

Subject no. & Code: Life & Works of Rizal GE 1213, 16-198

PAA 3: Reply 2023

A. A Reply to Rizal’s Messages and Challenges to the Youth in his Poem To the Philippine

Youth

As a youth of this present generation, there are three points I would like to address in

response to the "To the Filipino Youth" poem. Firstly, in line with the first few stanzas where

it implies how youth should be and should do, specifically when Rizal stated in his poem,

"Unfold, oh timid flower!" I trust that the youth, including both men and women in this present

time, have never been so courageous, proud, skillful, and excellent as ever before. Undeniably,

the timid flower is long gone. The silenced and tamed youth before is far different from today's

prouder and louder youth.

As a youth, I spoke my mind whenever deemed necessary. I stand tall and firm in my

disposition and what I know is right. I choose not to shy away from derision from those who

reject pure intent to alleviate not only my life on a personal level but for the country that shed

blood for this generation. Given the relatively current events, such as the recent national

election made in 2022, most citizens that prompted the stir of this event were youth. Causing a

stir, especially in political matters, is no joke, and it is somewhat discouraged, mainly when it

results more negatively than otherwise. However, this also may imply that the youth are

becoming more and more politically aware and empathetic towards nation-building.

Furthermore, we are becoming more engaged in making ourselves active, responsible

citizens by performing our duty and rights to vote for better governance. As proof of this claim,
Fifty-six percent of all voters last May 2022 were part of the youth (Lopez, 2022). The youth

has indeed already unfolded from being timid to boldly active.

The second point I want to address is the excerpt from the same poem, "See that in the

ardent zone, The Spaniard, where shadows stand, Doth offer a shining crown, With wise and

merciful hand To the son of this Indian land." Rizal challenges the youth to pursue excellence

to achieve greater knowledge and wisdom to prove to those who have trampled us and branded

us as 'Indios' that they are wrong. This challenge is taken by the youth of decades back,

extending up to this day. We are no longer inside a bottomless ignorance pit, and we were never

near the ignorance pit before; it is just that we were deprived of the opportunity to unleash our

natural intellectual capacity. Moreover, now that we are finally free from restrictions, it's safe

to say that there is no way anyone can give us the brand "Indio" as an insult ever again.

Case in point, Filipino youth could contribute to the science and research field.

Specifically, three Davaoeña showcased their excellence at Intel Fair in Los Angeles,

California, on May 14 to 19, 2017, where they demonstrated that the acacia bark extract, an

organic insecticide, can successfully control adult black rice bugs (Ramos, 2017). These events

show that today's Filipino youth has taken the challenge of Rizal to show and wear our shining

crown.

The third and last point I would respond to is the hopes of Rizal in the last stanza, which

goes, "The Almighty blessed be Who, with loving eagerness, Sends you luck and happiness."

I, too, wish the same thing for the Filipino youth, including myself, to have the best of luck and

happiness in achieving more significant pursuits we want for ourselves without restrictions and

with grit to raise and be proud of our nation.

The salient point in the letter of Rizal that I would like to respond to is his message of

praise and admiration for Filipino women who fought for their equal rights to education. As a

young Filipina student, I find this admirable that Rizal, too, who is a man himself, thinks the

same way as the Malolos women do. I find it relieving to think that, as a man, he did not think

of women as less than he was. He did not think that women deserved less of the privilege that

they have and thought that this was when men dominantly reigned.

I amend Rizal for not only fighting for our rights in our nation but also uplifting

marginalized people, like women, and empowering them during the suppression and

oppression brought by foreigners in our land. I would like to make a point by saying that Rizal

could have chosen to take the person of towering over women, but he did not. He empowered

and awakened Filipinos, both men, and women, to unite them and allowed them to process how

Filipinos should free themselves from the grip of Spaniards.

The second point I would like to pin is his imposed list of qualities a mother should

have. He implied in this letter; to be a noble wife and rear children in the state's service- Rizal

mentions the Spartan women who represent this quality and set expectations for the males in

her immediate vicinity. Although these are all good qualities that a mother may I have, I believe

that Rizal went overly far to lecture a mother who knows the job better.

Sure, Rizal is reputably brilliant, and he may have meant no harm with this specific

content of his letter, which he possibly thought could also be a reminder to Filipino mothers

out there. However, as a young single woman, I am in no position to lecture any mother, let

alone a man, about what they should and should not be; every parent rears their child uniquely

based on their distinct qualities. In my experience, some mothers might not be too open in

offering their sons like spartan women, but that should not be the concern of Rizal because that

is how naturally mothers are; they care, and they are all built solid but different in a way.
 The last and third point I would touch on would be Rizal's Advice to Unmarried Men

and Women. In this part of the letter, Rizal advised the young women to choose men and vice

versa, not based on their looks but on their firmness, character, and brilliant thought. He

mentioned that this advice in choosing partners must guide unmarried men and women, and I

agree. As a young student, studying for almost fifteen years now, I have met gorgeous men that

were genuinely tantalizing. However, I must say that nothing beats a man with an average look,

who is emotionally stable, speaks well, and has great thoughts.

All in all, those were the three points I would like to react and respond to about Rizal's

Letter to the young women in Malolos who first raised the feminism movement in the

Philippines. Rizal's act of support to this movement contributed to the women's confidence,

which led them to continue serving our nation and fighting for equal rights, which ended well

for us today, especially in the access to quality education.

Lopez, M. L. (2022, February 8). 56% of May 2022 voters part of the youth – COMELEC. cnn.
Retrieved January 25, 2023, from
https://www.cnnphilippines.com/news/2022/2/8/youth-vote-56-percent-2022.html

Ramos, L. F. (2017, May 27). Davao girls shine at Intel Fair in La. SUNSTAR. Retrieved
January 25, 2023, from https://www.sunstar.com.ph/article/144428/davao-girls-shine-
at-intel-fair-in-la-