This Filipino Classic was one of our required reading in high school (and now one of my favorites). It was written by Dr. Jose Rizal, a filipino writer who  wrote about the Filipino suffering caused by the oppression brought by the foreign crusader who colonized the Philippines. It was originally written in Spanish and translated to Tagalog and English (there might be other foreign translations I don't know of). This book is a political allegory represented by different characters. It is also a sequel to Noli Me Tangere which is also a must read and loved by yours truly.

El Filibusterismo is about a rich jeweller Simoun who came back to the Philippines and make friends with his enemies to accomplish his long overdue revenge towards the spanish tyranny in the Philippines. Simoun was actually (spoiler alert) Crisostomo Ibbarra in Noli Me Tangere who fell in love with Maria Clara. However fate wasn't in their favor. Ibarra ended up being hunted by the spanish soldiers and Maria Clara became a Nun. So he was force to fled to Cuba with the help of his friend Elias.


The story unfold with Simoun on a ferry cruising the Pasig river, coming back to carry out his revenge. This part reminds me of the 'Count of Monte Cristo' but this book is something more specially for me as a Filipino native. The main characters in this book includes Donya Victorian, a rich pro-Spanish Filipino native, Don Tiburcion, her husband who left her, Paulita Gomes, Isagani, Padre Sibyla, Padre Camorra, Padre Florentino, Basilio (who also made a comeback from Noli Me Tangere) and Ben-Zayb a journalist.

Here are some of my favorite quotes from the book....

“O, in the solitude of those mountains I feel free, free as the air, like a light blasting unharnessed through space. A thousand cities, a thousand palaces I would give just for a corner of the Philippines where far away from man I could feel truly free!”  

“Nawalan muli ng isang oras ang buhay ng bawat kabataan, saka isang bahagi ng kaniyang karangalan at paggalang sa sarili, at kapalit ang paglaki sa kalooban ng panghihina ng loob, ng paglalaho ng hilig sa pag-aaral, at pagdaramdam sa loob ng dibdib.”

“We must win when we deserve it, by elevating reason and the dignity of the individual, loving justice and the good and the great, even dying for it.”