1. National Government Budget Process
Rizal would likely view the national budget as the moral ledger of the State.
In La Indolencia de los Filipinos and his essays in La Solidaridad, Rizal repeatedly emphasized that public institutions exist to develop human capacity, not to enrich rulers. He criticized colonial authorities for extracting taxes without returning value to the people in education, infrastructure, and justice.
Applied today, Rizal would insist that:
The budget must reflect rational planning, not political bargaining.
Public money must prioritize education, health, justice, and productivity, not personal or factional advantage.
A budget divorced from national development is institutionalized injustice.
For Rizal, a distorted budget is evidence of a failed moral state, not merely poor accounting.
2. Unprogrammed Appropriations
Rizal would almost certainly oppose unprogrammed appropriations as a structural invitation to abuse.
In The Philippines a Century Hence, he warned that unchecked discretion breeds corruption and that governments collapse when laws become elastic tools of power rather than safeguards of the public interest.
Unprogrammed appropriations would offend Rizal because:
They undermine predictability, transparency, and accountability.
They allow rulers to reward loyalty and punish dissent, a pattern he directly observed under Spanish colonial rule.
They weaken legislative discipline and fiscal honesty.
Rizal believed discretion without accountability is despotism in polite clothing.
3. Ghost Flood Control Projects
Rizal would likely regard ghost projects as a modern form of colonial plunder.
In El Filibusterismo, he exposed how public works were often pretexts for enrichment by officials and friars, while the people remained impoverished and vulnerable.
Ghost flood control projects would represent to Rizal:
The betrayal of science and engineering.
The use of human suffering (floods, disasters) as profit opportunities.
A state that simulates governance while abandoning its people.
He would likely condemn this as social murder by negligence and fraud.
4. Corruption in Congress
Rizal had no illusions about legislative bodies.
In his annotations to Morga and essays in La Solidaridad, he warned that assemblies dominated by self-interest cease to be representative and become instruments of elite capture.
Applied today, Rizal would say that corruption in Congress:
Converts representation into auctioned influence.
Makes law a commodity rather than a social contract.
Produces statutes designed to entrench power, not serve justice.
For Rizal, a corrupt legislature is more dangerous than a tyrant, because it corrupts law itself.
5. Corruption in the Executive Branch
Rizal was deeply suspicious of executive excess.
In Noli Me Tangere, the Governor-General appears powerful but morally hollow—surrounded by flatterers and manipulators. Rizal understood that executive corruption thrives when power is centralized and insulated.
He would view modern executive corruption as:
The personalization of state power.
The replacement of law with loyalty.
The erosion of institutional restraint.
Rizal believed that the moral failure of leaders infects the entire nation.
6. Corruption in the Judiciary
This would alarm Rizal profoundly.
In both Noli and El Fili, courts were portrayed as instruments of oppression rather than justice. Rizal personally experienced judicial abuse, surveillance, and arbitrary punishment.
He would likely argue that:
Judicial corruption destroys the last refuge of the poor.
A corrupt court system legitimizes injustice by clothing it with legality.
When courts fail, revolution becomes inevitable, not ideological.
Rizal believed justice delayed—or sold—is justice denied to the nation itself.
7. Political Dynasties
Rizal would almost certainly oppose political dynasties.
In The Philippines a Century Hence, he warned against the rise of local oligarchs replacing colonial rulers. He feared that independence without civic virtue would merely change masters.
Political dynasties would offend Rizal because they:
Replace merit with inheritance.
Prevent social mobility.
Convert democracy into family enterprise.
Rizal believed leadership must be earned through education, service, and sacrifice, not bloodline.
8. Political Patronage System
Rizal condemned patronage implicitly throughout his works.
He saw patronage as:
A system that infantilizes citizens.
A tool that exchanges dignity for favors.
A mechanism that destroys civic virtue.
In La Indolencia, he argued that people become passive when rewards depend on favor rather than effort.
Patronage, for Rizal, is the enemy of national character.
9. Failed Constitutional Institutions
Rizal would likely see institutional failure as a symptom of moral decay, not merely technical weakness.
He consistently argued that laws and constitutions are meaningless without:
Educated citizens.
Ethical leadership.
Social responsibility.
In The Philippines a Century Hence, he warned that institutions collapse when citizens lose faith in them.
For Rizal, a constitution without integrity is a decorative document, not a living covenant.
10. Wealth and Income Inequality
Rizal was not a socialist, but he was deeply concerned with inequality rooted in injustice.
In La Indolencia and his correspondence, he argued that poverty results not from laziness but from:
Exploitation.
Denial of education.
Structural injustice.
He would view today’s extreme inequality as:
Evidence of elite capture.
A betrayal of republican ideals.
A threat to social peace and national unity.
Rizal believed that a nation cannot be free when most of its people are desperate.
Concluding Synthesis
If Rizal were alive today, he would likely say:
> “The tragedy of the Philippines is not ignorance alone, but the normalization of betrayal—betrayal of law, of reason, and of the people.”
He would not call for violence. He would call for education, moral courage, institutional reform, and civic responsibility—exactly as he did in life.
Sources (Primary and Authoritative)
Primary writings by José Rizal:
Noli Me Tangere (1887)
El Filibusterismo (1891)
La Indolencia de los Filipinos (1890), La Solidaridad
The Philippines a Century Hence (1890–1891)
Annotations to Antonio de Morga’s Sucesos de las Islas Filipinas
Rizal’s Letters to the Young Women of Malolos
Rizal’s Correspondence, National Historical Commission of the Philippines editions
Authoritative compilations and translations:
National Historical Commission of the Philippines (NHCP)
Jose Rizal National Centennial Commission publications
Ambeth R. Ocampo, Rizal Without the Overcoat
Austin Craig, Lineage, Life and Labors of José Rizal
These sources are standard, verified, and widely used in Philippine legal, historical, and academic scholarship.
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Assisted by ChatGPT, December 29, 2025.
