diced b Jos e S. Arc a, - non

•the real life of his country. Before sailing for Europe, Jose Rizal had hardlytraveled beyond the surrounding areas of Calamba and Manila. Thus, thevision we find in his writings about the friars, the Franciscans especially,originated from several varied factors, among which the more important arethe following: some negative experiences in his childhood and youth—hismother's arrest; the lack of respect, merely because he was Filipino, shownby his Spanish classmates; his own arrest and imprisonment when only 17years old; the family and social atmosphere in which he was born and raised;the trauma from the GOMBURZA deaths; the influence exercised by hisOlder brother, Paciano, intimately linked to dreams of progress for thePhilippines, etc.All the factors listed above formed a perfect cultural medium such that,with his readings, there emerged slowly the student of Ateneo de Manila andof the University of Santo Tomas, the Jose Rizal of the Noli and Fill. His laterdecisive experiences merely solidified his attitudes, and confirmed hisintuitions. One of them was the following.On 3 May 1882, Rizal left the Philippines for Spain aboard the"Salvadora." Enveloped in a welter of sadness and dark presentiments, heheads for the goal of every restless and idealistic Filipino in his time, Europe.The first big surprise during the trip, which would leave an impression ofunforeseeable consequences, he found the following day with the boat still inPhilippine waters, when he listened to the conversation of a group of notableSpaniards, mostly government functionaries. Like him, they were going tothe peninsula. Rizal left his impressions in his personal diary:Conversing this evening were Messrs. Barco, Moran, Pardo, Buil, and others.They talked at length about the government in the Philippines. Criticism flowedas never. I came to discover that everyone in my country lives with the desire tosuck the indio' s blood, friars as well as officials. There could be exceptions, butrare. Hence great evils and enmities among those who squabble over the samebooty. 1Here, in condensed summary, are some of Jose Rizal's more profoundconvictions we find repeatedly in his writings, the fundamental theme, aboveall, of Noli me tangere. The operative phrase in this paragraph, is, without anydoubt, "I came to discover." It is impossible for Jose Rizal, the young andgifted student of Ateneo'de Manila and the University of Santo Tomas, not tohave known a good measure of the evils that afflicted the Philippines, even ifonly from conversation with his familiars and peers in the school. He knewthem indeed from personal experience, as indicated above. But Rizal thought173