Rizal's essay "The Philippines a Century Hence" from 1889 forecasts three possible futures for the Philippines within 100 years: 1) Remaining a colony of Spain in good terms, 2) Attempting to cut ties through violence, or 3) Being colonized by another country. He analyzes the causes of Filipino misery under Spanish colonial policies including population decline, cultural destruction, and passivity among the natives. However, the Filipinos began to realize oppression could no longer be tolerated as national consciousness grew despite Spain's attempts to keep the people uneducated, impoverished, and submissive.

1. THE PHILIPPINES
A CENTURY HENCE

2. “The Philippines a Century Hence” is an essay
written by Philippine national hero Jose Rizal to
forecast the future of the country within a hundred
years. Rizal felt that it was time to remind Spain that
the circumstances that ushered in the French
Revolution could have a telling effect for her in the
Philippines.

3. This essay presents a radical prophesy of
Rizal of how the Philippines would be
through the century. Rizal presented a clear
idea of how our Motherland will end up
centuries later proposing that our country
will end up in either of the three ways:

4. That the Philippines will remain to be a colony of
Spain but will be in good terms with it’s captors
That the Philippines will try to cut the ties of our
Motherland from it’s captors through violent means
And lastly that we will be colonized by another
country

5. This essay, published in La Solidaridad in
Madrid between September 30, 1889 and
February 1, 1890 starts by analyzing the
various causes of the miseries suffered by
the Filipino people:

6. Spain’s implementation of her military policies –
because of such laws, the Philippine population
decreased dramatically. Poverty became more
rampant than ever, and farmlands were left to
wither. The family as a unit of society was
neglected, and overall, every aspect of the life
of the Filipino was retarded.

7. Deterioration and disappearance of Filipino
indigenous culture – when Spain came with the
sword and the cross, it began the gradual
destruction of the native Philippine
culture. Because of this, the Filipinos started
losing confidence in their past and their heritage,
became doubtful of their present lifestyle, and
eventually lost hope in the future and the
preservation of their race.

8. Passivity and submissiveness to the Spanish
colonizers – one of the most powerful forces
that influenced a culture of silence among the
natives were the Spanish friars. Because of the
use of force, the Filipinos learned to submit
themselves to the will of the foreigners.

9. Eventually, the natives realized that such
oppression in their society by foreign
colonizers must no longer be tolerated.
Keeping the people uneducated and ignorant
had failed. National consciousness had still
awakened, and great Filipino minds still
emerged from the rubble.

10. Keeping he people impoverished also came to no
avail. On the contrary, living a life of eternal
destitution had allowed the Filipinos to act on
the desire for a change in their way of
life. They began to explore other horizons
through which they could move towards
progress.

11. Exterminating the people as an alternative to
hindering progress did not work either. The
Filipino race was able to survive amidst wars
and famine, and became even more numerous
after such catastrophes. To wipe out the nation
altogether would require the sacrifice of
thousands of Spanish soldiers, and this is
something Spain would not allow.

12. Key points in the essay or several issues that
concern our country:
Abuse of human rights
Lack of freedom of speech
Lack of representation in the Spanish Cortes