Our national hero, Jose Rizal, whose martyrdom we commemorate every December 30th, strongly criticized the rule of the colonial-era elite and warned against a future where local elites could become our new oppressors.
In El Filibusterismo, Rizal issued a timeless warning through the character Padre Florentino: “Why independence, if the slaves of today will be the tyrants of tomorrow?” This suggests that political freedom is meaningless without moral change.
Rizal was right. The main repeating pattern in Philippine history that hinders its development is the persistent concentration of political and economic power in the hands of a few elite families.
This pattern, established during Spanish colonization, has created deep-seated structural problems that limit political accountability and perpetuate cycles of poverty and inequality.
Before Spain colonized the Philippines, local leaders (datus) governed through a form of social contract and could be replaced by the community for poor performance. Spanish colonial rule destroyed this by turning the datu class into the principalia — local bosses who collected taxes for the colonizers in exchange for keeping their status and wealth. This transformed governance from an earned mandate into a commodity for elite families, a system that continued under American rule.
The entrenched elite power created political dynasties where elections transfer power within families, not based on merit. Concentrated political power increases corruption risk, which diverts resources from public services like education, health, and disaster resilience. This maintains poverty, which dynastic politicians can then exploit through patronage to get re-elected, perpetuating the cycle.
High inequality forces the poor into hazard-prone areas. When disasters strike, they lose their assets and fall deeper into debt and poverty, making them even more vulnerable next time. This limits investment in education, trapping future generations in the same vicious cycle.
The foundational problem is a governance structure that serves narrow elite interests rather than enabling broad-based, inclusive development. The historical continuity of elite rule has prevented the establishment of strong, impartial institutions necessary for a developed economy.
Rizal’s generation was the first to be born into this entrenched system of elite collaboration. That we have not broken free from this cycle of elite dominance is a profound moral and civic failure.
For Rizal, the answer to elite dominance was not just political change, but a foundational transformation of society through education and civic virtue (common good over self-interest).
He placed his hope in the youth, calling them to “consecrate their golden hours to the welfare of their native land” instead of being corrupted by self-interest.
Based on his writings, Rizal’s advice to young Filipinos for achieving social change centered on their crucial role as the nation’s enlightened and moral vanguard. He believed real change had to begin with the youth’s personal transformation.
Rizal valued education and saw it as a path to liberation. He urged the youth to dedicate themselves to serious study, not just for career gain, but to gain the critical thinking skills needed to understand and solve social problems.
He also gave importance to courage and sacrifice with this quote: “I wish to show those who deny us patriotism that we know how to die for our duty and our convictions.” He wanted the youth to develop the courage to speak and act on their convictions, even at personal cost, and to prioritize duty to our country over personal comfort.
If Rizal were to organize the young Filipinos of the 21st century, he would not just create a political force, but a nation-building movement rooted in his timeless principles of education, critical thinking, moral courage, and national service. He would adapt his methods to the modern age, using technology and contemporary strategies to engage the youth to end elite rule.
I can think of at least three ways Rizal might do it today:
One, he would revolutionize Philippine education to emphasize understanding Filipino history and identity as a source of strength and a guide for the future, much as he did in his time. As a scientist himself, Rizal would also inspire the youth to pursue science and technology not just for careers, but as tools for solving national problems from public health to sustainable development. He would train the youth in “futures thinking” and strategic planning to make them a pro-active force in nation-building.
Two, he would organize visible acts of integrity and solidarity, such as ethical leadership workshops, community audits, and public pledges for clean governance. He would teach the youth moral courage and lead by example. He would harness their collective power by creating decentralized, cause-based networks connected via social media, empowering local initiatives within a national vision.
Three, he would launch a national campaign to promote critical digital literacy to fight misinformation, turning the youth into discerning consumers of information. The youth would be equipped to identify and counter fake information – a barrier to an enlightened society.
Essentially, Rizal would organize the youth as a disciplined, thinking, patriotic, and proactive force. He would leverage modern tools to amplify their voices, ground their actions in a deep love for the country, and equip them not just to demand change, but to strategically plan and build the nation’s future.
Rizal, as a futures thinker, believed the youth is the hope who will break us free from being trapped by current limitations and traditional power structures much like how he looked beyond colonial mindsets. For him, the future is not predetermined but can be actively shaped by today’s decisions. This fosters a sense of agency — the core message of Rizal’s call for the youth to be the nation’s hope.
His famous quote that “the youth is the hope of the fatherland” actually had a qualifier. He specifically meant “the good and honest youth” who “will dedicate their innocence, their idealism, their enthusiasm to the good of the fatherland.”
The future is now, dear young Filipino youth. Go forth and end the cycle of elite rule in the Philippines just as Rizal believed you can. ###
