diced b Jos e S. Arc a, - non

confidential information from Fray Terren to his friend MarianoGarchitorena and a central action in Rizal's Noli me tangere, a parallelismthat extends to the two friars' attitude to the daughter's future whichoccasions a painful problem of conscience for each of them,-and an almostliteral identity of certain phrases pronounced by both friars. In my opinion,sufficiently detailed in the preceding pages, Rizal's basic reason for alininghis anti-friar attacks at the Franciscans was undoubtedly the thesis andactions of Fray Coria. This is not to deny the novelist may have hadknowledge of the unfortunate historical incident I am discussing and he tookadvantage of it to, mount the entire dramatic conflict of his novel, Noli metangere. In this connection, it is important to remember that Pandacan, whereFray Terren was assigned when he wrote his letter, was in the yearsimmediately before the events in Cavite, one of the meeting places for themost important liberals of the Philippines in the years immediately before theevents of Cavite closely connected with the Garchitorenas.On the other hand, one must not forget that violations, more or lessnotorious, of clerical celibacy were frequent then among the religious ordersin the Philippines. There must have been an abundance of anecdotes aboutthe amorous adventures of the friars which Rizal could have used as a sourceof inspiration for more than one politico-erotic novel. Actually, a year beforeTerren wrote his letter, Fray Francisco Lopez was in Pandacan, about whosesexual manners several authors have written.This in regard to the Franciscans. Similar cases abound too among thesecular clergy and the members of the other religious orders. Without goingfar, Francisco Caflamaque's works strongly criticized but not for that lessread by Rizal, offer abundant material to whoever wishes to dedicate himselfto Philippine erotic literature. Rizal undoubtedly took inspiration from themto create characters as important as Capitan Tiago, although paradoxicallyCattamaque, once again, never, at least expressly, denounced theFranciscans.And almost certainly Rizal incorporated also in the central character ofthe Noli certain biographical data of Fray Agustin de Consuegra, also aFranciscan, popularized by Francisco Arriaga of the same order, to which Ishall refer later.2. Fray Bernardo SalviIf for the reasons mentioned it is difficult to identify with certainty theperson who corresponds to the fictional Fray Damaso, it is not much easier todo the same for Fray Salvi. Like his brother in the cloth, this personage can146