Mga Kababayang Dalaga ng Malolos

Mga kababayang dalaga ng Malolos (English: To my countrymen, the young women of Malolos), also known by its alternative English title To the young women of Malolos, is a letter written by Filipino author and political reformer José Rizal on February 22, 1889. It is written in Tagalog and is addressed to a group of women from Malolos, Bulacan who successfully lobbied the Spanish colonial government to allow them to open a school so that they could study the Spanish language.

Historical background

Women in the Philippines With the arrival of Spanish conquistadors, the social construction of women in the Philippines was soon influenced by historical Spanish Catholic gender norms.Tran Huan Xiep, et al, "Women education in the colonial context: The case of the Philippines," Psychology and Education 58, no. 1 (2021): 5213–5221. American historian Edward Gaylord Bourne wrote in his 1902 introduction to The Philippine Islands, 1493–1898 that the imposition of Christianity "elevated the status of women" in the country.Edward G. Bourne, "Historical Introduction," in The Philippine Islands, 1493–1803, vol. 1, ed. Emma H. Blair and James A. Robertson (Cleveland, OH: Arthur H. Clark Company, 1903). – via Project Gutenberg In contrast, modern historians highlight the relegation of women to domesticity and her diminished political and religious influence as babaylans, which were replaced by the Spanish friars.Marya Svetlana T. Camacho, "Woman's worth: The concept of virtue in the education of women in Spanish colonial Philippines," Philippine Studies 55, no. 1 (2007): 53–87. Zeus Salazar, "Ang Babaylan sa Kasaysayan ng Pilipinas" in Tagalog, trans. Prosperina D. Tapales, in Women's Role in Philippine History: Selected Essays (Quezon City, Philippines: University Center for Women's Studies, University of the Philippines, 1996), 209–222. .Mryna S. Feliciano, "Law, gender, and the family in the Philippines," Law & Society Review 28, no. 3 (1994): 547–560. Norman G. Owens, "Maria Clara and the market: Women and change in 19th century Philippines," Asian Studies Journal 36, no. 1 (2000): 24–60. Charles R. Boxer surveyed literature and correspondence from the colonial era and referred to them as generally misogynistic, further describing the state imposed on the women as "the cult of Mary and the practice of misogyny."Charles R. Boxer, "The Cult of Mary and the Practice of Misogyny" in Women in Iberian Expansion Overseas 1415–1815 (London, England: Duckworth, 1975), 97–112. Feminist studies describe the Filipino woman of the Spanish colonial era as "her father's meek daughter, her husband's faithful subject, and the church's obedient servant and chaste virgin who yielded only to her husband."Patricia C. Agustin, Trizalee Mae "Women and politics in the Philippines," Journal of Feminist Studies in Religion 3, no. 2 (1987): 115–119.

Spanish colonial education During the Spanish colonial period, formal education was primarily conducted by the religious orders in the country, led by the Spanish friars. Under the royal decrees issued by the Spanish Crown, guidelines for education included provisions for Spanish-language instruction to the native Filipinos.Sinibaldo de Mas, Informe sobre el estado de las islas Filipinas in Spanish (Madrid, Spain: Imprento Sancho: 1843), trans. James A. Robertson, in The Philippine Islands, 1493–1803, vol. 45, ed. Emma H. Blair and James A. Robertson (Cleveland, OH: Arthur H. Clark Company, 1903), 246–350. – via Project GutenbergEncarnación A. Alzona, A History of Education in the Philippines, 1565–1930 (Manila, Philippines: University of the Philippines Press, 1932). – via Internet Archive However, in practice, the majority of instruction was conducted in the native dialects.Erin P. Hardacker, "The impact of Spain's 1863 Educational Decree on the spread of Philippine public schools and language acquisition," European Education 44, no. 4 (2012): 8–30. – via Taylor & FrancisCarl G. Semper, Die Philippinen und ihre bewohner in German (Wüzburg, Germany: A. Stuber's Buchhandlung, 1869), 83–84. – via Project GutenbergCarl G. Semper, Die Philippinen und ihre bewohner in German (Wüzburg, Germany: A. Stuber's Buchhandlung, 1869), trans. James A. Robertson, quoted in The Philippine Islands, 1493–1803, vol. 45, ed. Emma H. Blair and James A. Robertson (Cleveland, OH: Arthur H. Clark Company, 1903), 263. – Project Gutenberg

The German travel writer Fedor Jagor, writing in 1875, found the education in the seminaries lacking, noting that "in spite of the long possessions of the islands by the Spaniards, their language has scarcely acquired any footing there."Fedor Jagor, Travels in the Philippines (London: Chapman and Hall, 1875), 55, 118, 157 – via Internet Archive The Spanish author José Montero y Vidal observed that "public instruction is sufficiently far advanced" but added that "almost all the boys and girls who attend the schools read Spanish without understanding it, and write our language by drawing the letters materially."José Montero, Archipiélago filipino in Spanish (Madrid, Spain: Imprenta y Fundación de M. Tello, 1886), trans. James A. Robertson, in The Philippine Islands, 1493–1803, vol. 45, ed. Emma H. Blair and James A. Robertson (Cleveland, OH: Arthur H. Clark Company, 1903), 297–300 – via Project Gutenberg Vicente Barrantes, the secretary to Governor-General Emilio Terrero, admitted that "before 1865, primary instruction, properly so-called, was a vain shadow in the archipelago."Vicente Barrantes, La instrucción primaria en Filipinas in Spanish (Madrid, Spain: Imprenta de La Iberia, 1869) – via Google BooksVicente Barrantes, La instrucción primaria en Filipinas in Spanish (Madrid, Spain: Imprenta de La Iberia, 1869), trans. James A. Robertson, in The Philippine Islands, 1493–1803, vol. 46, ed. Emma H. Blair and James A. Robertson (Cleveland, OH: Arthur H. Clark Company, 1903), 294–295 – via Project Gutenberg

Both contemporary and modern arguments suggest that the limited instruction in the Spanish language was due to the fear of the clergy that knowledge of Spanish and a unity of language among the Filipinos could lead to insurrections and a revolution.Eduardo Navarro, Estudio de algunos asuntos de actualidad in Spanish (Madrid, Spain: Imprenta de la Viuda de M. Minuesa de los Ríos, 1897) – via Junta de Castilla y LeónEduardo Navarro, Estudio de algunos asuntos de actualidad in Spanish (Madrid, Spain: Imprenta de la Viuda de M. Minuesa de los Ríos, 1897), trans. James A. Robertson, in The Philippine Islands, 1493–1803, vol. 45, ed. Emma H. Blair and James A. Robertson (Cleveland, OH: Arthur H. Clark Company, 1903), 305 – via Project GutenbergPaul P. Zwaenepoel, Tertiary Education in the Philippines, 1611–1972: A Systems Analysis (Quezon City, Manila: Alemar-Phoenix Publishing House) Revolutionary leader Apolinario Mabini, during his exile in Guam in 1903, wrote:If the Spaniards were to perpetuate their rule, they should perpetuate the ignorance and weakness of the native. ... The native should learn how to read the prayer-books and hagiographies translated into the country's dialects, but he must not know Spanish because then he would understand the laws and the decrees issued by higher authorities and cease to heed the advice of his parish priest, the friar. ... The Spanish government, working hand in hand with the friar, tried to isolate the Filipinos, intellectually and physically, from the outside world that they might not be subjected to the influences other than those both judged it convenient to allow."Apolinario Mabini, "Spanish Rule in the Philippines Before the Opening of the Suez Canal" in La Revolucion Filipina in Spanish, trans. Leon Ma. Guerrero, ed. Teodoro M. Kalaw (Manila, Philippines: National Historical Commission, 1969) – via University of Vienna

Education of women Formal education for women was limited, and the few educational institutions that existed for women offered little academic instruction in comparison to those for men.

When Santa Potenciana, the first school for girls in the Philippines was founded in 1589, the royal ordinance stated that "a convent for the shelter of girls may be founded, so that both those who should come from here and those born there may live in it and so that they may live modestly, and after well instructed, may go out therefrom to be married and bear children."Letter to Governor-General Gomez Perez Dasmariñas dated August 9, 1589 in Spanish, trans. Alfonso de Salvio, in The Philippine Islands, 1493–1803, vol. 8, ed. Emma H. Blair and James A. Robertson (Cleveland, OH: Arthur H. Clark Company, 1903), 148 – via Project Gutenberg The model was reinforced in the subsequent convent schools created for the instruction of women where "the educational program corresponded to the prevalent idea of feminine nature: it was predominantly concerned with the education of the heart and the will; and other intellectual subjects focused on religious doctrine." In the Beatrio de Pasig, founded in 1740 for the education of Filipino women, the curriculum was described as "reading, writing, Christian doctrine, sewing, embroidery, and other employments fitting for their sex." Despite writing that "primary instruction cannot be considered in a backward state," Spanish diplomat Sinibaldo de Mas "confessed" that the women "scarcely know other books than those of devotion."

Education Decree of 1863 During a commission to draft a new set of regulations for schools in the Philippines, the vice-rector of the University of Santo Tomas, Father Francisco Gainza, voted against the teaching of Spanish "on the grounds that a unified language might open the door to Protestantism in the islands," but was overruled. The 1861 report of the commission subsequently formed part of the basis for the Education Decree of 1863, enacted by Queen Isabela II of Spain.