The 3-Star Butcher: A Character Analysis of the Lieutenant-General of the Civil Guard (Lt. Perez)

A. Symbolism of the Character

The Star as a Symbol of the Military
The star with five points is the most widely used military symbol and is found on the tanks and fighter jets of all the superpowers, as well as in the armed forces of all other countries on officers and petty officers’ uniforms. It is, in this particular use, related to in this group, and to , the sign for the planet Venus as the Morning star and the goddess of war. For nearly all armed forces on this planet, the golden five-pointed star without crossing lines is the symbol par preference of military rank and power. A lieutenant is a three-star in the military rank.
Although is so very common in the Western culture it is used in a relatively small number of other than military modern sign systems. In philately it is used to mean stamps that are not postmarked. In some cartography it represents capitals of countries, centers of communication, cities and towns. It is also used on some nautical charts to signify sources of light and lighthouses.

The Star as a Symbol of Christianity
The star has several other uses. It denotes the Bethlehem star, therefore it is also a symbol of Christianity brought to the Philippines by the Spaniards. It was this star that the three wise men, the Magi, saw and followed to Bethlehem when Jesus was born. It is sometimes a sign to indicate an especially good quality product or achievements (recall the five-pointed gold and silver stars that were used in the lower grades at school) that the lieutenant must do to fulfill his duties. It is also a sign of protection associated with security and safety that the lieutenant did for the sake of his mother country. Like this sign is associated with law and order and is found used as a police badge and sheriff’s star in several states ( , however, is more common).
There is a theory propagated by certain researchers of symbolism that the star observed by the wise men was, in reality, several planets and/or distant suns that conjugated at the time of Jesus’ birth (a few years before the beginning of our present chronology). But those who study the night skies and different conjunctions know that it is almost impossible for a conjunction, whether of planet stars or fixed stars, to be mistaken for a single star. And even if this in fact were the case, all the stars involved would have been clearly distinguishable as separate celestial objects a few hours (planet stars) or a few days or weeks (fixed stars) before and after the conjunction. Whether the South and Central American pre-Columbian Indian cultures, also former colonies of Spain, ever were able to plot Venus’ movements we do not know for sure, but they certainly seem to have been able to do so, and they had a five-pointed star, albeit lacking in graphical precision: .

The Star as a Symbol of Pain or Torture
In the world of comic strips only about ten non-pictorial ideograms are used. is one of them. Pain in a part of the body is marked by such signs, sometimes with some and/or in between them like in . The pentagram, , is also used in this way, but not so commonly. In the Noli Me Tangere, the lieutenant was the one who was responsible the killings of some Filipinos either guilty or not.

B. Values learned from the Character

1. You can have power over people as long as you don’t take everything away from them. But when you’ve robbed a man of everything, he’s no longer in your power.
The lieutenant’s use of social and political power were abusive. The correct use of power usually reveals the limitations of a person. The limitations reflect the moral boundaries – the abuse had narrow and bigoted boundaries that often indicate little ability to handle power for the common good.
One limitation is the belief that there is one law for those who have power and another for those without it : the person with power, represented by the lieutenant, respects only those who also have power. This gives rise to a common failing. When a person has power, that power is abused when it is directed into areas of society where the person has psychological problems. Therefore, in the El Filibusterismo, the Lieutenant of the Civil Guard, Lt. Perez.
For Lt. Perez, when he was dealing with any sector of society of which he disapproves, he abused his power in their interaction with these sectors. Authoritarian morality produces abuse in the sectors of society which are considered to be immoral or hateful or inferior.
Why does this abuse occur? I consider the use of power as a man’s difficulty. Abuse occurs because the person’s ethical problems undermine his moral principles and corrupt his exercise of power. Power is neutral but the person is not. So power then intensifies both the person’s virtues and his vices.
Within the area of his psychological problems, he has a weak self-image. So power becomes the means to achieve self-recognition: the person uses his power to bolster this weak self-image. The fraud within this subterfuge is that, instead of basing power on proven abilities, the person bases power on his pride. The control of power has the effect of magnifying the intensity of his pride. This way of using power as a means of validating himself signifies that he cannot use power wisely in situations that he finds unpleasant. Unpleasant relationships that are manageable when he has no power become unmanageable when eventually he does have power.
If the lieutenant was wise enough to restrict the exercise of power to areas of relationships in which his virtues shone then power would present no problem – he would have no need to rely on power to give himself ethical and moral support.

2. “I object to violence because when it appears to do good, the good is only temporary; the evil it does is permanent.”
Since the Ancient times, violence had been a common means used by people and governments around the world to achieve political goals. Many groups and individuals believe that their political systems will never respond to their political demands. As a result they believe that violence is not only justified but also necessary in order to achieve their political objectives. By the same token, many governments around the world believe they need to use violence in order to intimidate their populace into acquiescence, like what the Lieutenant-General, Lt. Perez, did to the Filipinos during his time.
Scientifically, I had found out a solution in battling this all-time worldwide problem. Recently, some researchers have identified the orbitofrontal cortex as the cerebral area where dysfunction is likely to be located in individuals subject to hostile outbursts and aggression. The orbitofrontal cortex is part of the prefrontal cortex, the area of grey matter most involved in social intelligence, impulse control, and attention. So-named because of its proximity to the eye socket, or orbit, the orbitofrontal cortex is more developed in the right hemisphere, the side of the brain that dominates our emotional functioning. This crucial portion of grey matter appears to have the responsibility of evaluating and regulating emotional impulses, such as fear and rage, generated in the lower brain centres.
Whenever short-tempered people exhibit impulsive outbursts of emotion accompanied by failures of behavioural self-control, we’re likely witnessing short-circuiting of the wiring of the orbitofrontal cortex. Such short-circuiting occurs not only during episodes of overt violence, like that of Lt. Perez. Therefore, all his actions were of rational thinking and therefore can be controlled with the power of the mind..

C. Significant Role Portrayed by the Character

1. In Rizal’s time

a. Spain’s Harsh Government in the Philippines
During the 17th century, Spain’s sovereignty over the Philippines had been fully established. The colonization brought great changes in the political, economic and cultural life of the people. Christianity was introduced to replace the old religion and a centralized government was established over the ruins of the barangays. new cities and town were built and Spanish civilization propagated. in exchange for the blessings of Christianity and culture, the Filipinos paid tribute, rendered forced labor and contributed manpower and treasure.
One of the aims of the Spanish colonizers was economic wealth. This aim rose from the keen struggle among European nations to control the right spice trade in the Orient. Magellan and other navigators blazed their ways across the Pacific to secure spices and oriental wares for the Spanish crown.
Another selfish aim of Spanish colonization was political grandeur. by acquiring the Philippines, Spain emerged as a mighty empire whose frontier comprised both hemisphere.

b. Inhumane Treatment to the Filipinos
It was the racial discrimination of the Spaniard officials to the Filipinos that was shown by Lt. Perez. It was not even human of his actions, brutal killing Filipinos due to the ‘justice system’ of their own custom.
The traditional teaching of the Church does not exclude recourse to the death penalty, if this is the only possible way of effectively defending human lives against the unjust aggressor. If, however, nonlethal means are sufficient to defend and protect people’s safety from the aggressor, the Spanish government should have limited itself to such means, as these are more in keeping with the concrete conditions of the common good and are more in conformity to the dignity of the human person.

c. Injustice: Power

The exhaustion of power and then resulting to justice was the act allowed by the Lieutenant. He had accepted orders from the higher ruling body that was at that time, the Spaniard officials. It was political injustice. Such injustice often stems from unfair procedures, and involves political systems in which some but not others are allowed to have voice and representation in the processes and decisions that affect them.

2. In the Present time
a. Military Dictatorship (Martial Law)
A military dictatorship is a form of government wherein the political power resides with the military; it is similar but not identical to a stratocracy, a state ruled directly by the military.
Although there are exceptions, military regimes usually have little respect for human rights and use whatever means necessary to silence political opponents. A military regime is also rarely willing to leave power unless forced to by popular revolt, whether active or imminent.
At the present time, military dictatorships can be contrasted with other forms of dictatorship. For example, in most current and historical Communist states, the center of power rests among civilian party officials, and very careful measures (such as political commissars and frequent rotations) are taken to prevent the military from exercising independent authority. The declaration by which a military coup d’état is made official is called “proclamation” from the Spanish proclamacion, ‘proclamation’.

b. Graft and Corruption
The issue of graft and corruption has been a very sensitive issue nowadays. The appearance of Jun Lozada and his testimonials about the ZTE Scandal showed the severely abuse of power by our government officials, not necessarily the president Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, but some of them, in an extremely distasteful way.
Asking for loans for personal reasons by the Lieutenant is an act of graft and corruption. We can see that this disgusting political problem had been a part of our history for almost more than 300 years. We should not let history repeat itself again. We should learn from our Spanish colonizer’s mistakes because our ancestors had been victims of such heinous crime.

c. Death Penalty
The sense of justice of Lt. Perez was to follow commands of killing whoever who commits a misdeed. This cruel act is like the issue of death penalty in our present time. There are many reasons the death penalty should be abolished. It is a complex issue and it is difficult to point to any single fact or argument as the most important. I have stated Below are a number of extremely valid reasons why we should not promote the practice of capital punishment or death penalty.
Scientific studies have consistently failed to demonstrate that executions deter people from committing crime anymore than long prison sentences.
Politics, the quality of legal counsel and the jurisdiction where a crime is committed are more often the determining factors in a death penalty case than the facts of the crime itself. The death penalty is a lethal lottery: of the 22,000 homicides committed every year aproximately 150 people are sentenced to death.
Many family members who have lost love ones to murder feel that the death penalty will not heal their wounds nor will it end their pain; the extended process prior to executions can prolong the agony experienced by the family. Funds now being used for the costly process of executions could be used to help families put their lives back together through counseling, restitution, crime victim hotlines, and other services addressing their needs.

d. Injustice: Power
Nowadays, addressing political injustice is often a matter of developing institutions of fair governance, such as an accountable police force and judiciary. Legislative action and executive decision-making should likewise be held accountable. Such measures are sometimes a matter of reforming state institutions or revising state constitutions.
In cases where some groups are excluded from political participation, the state can remedy violations of political rights by promoting political inclusion and empowering subordinate groups. Public decision-making should respond to the will of the citizens, and members of the society should have the opportunity to participate in the formulation, execution, and monitoring of state policies. In other words, a culture of political involvement and public participation should be fostered. In addition, there are various social structural changes that might give groups more social, economic, and/or political power. This is often accomplished through the strengthening of the economy and civil society in conjunction with democratization efforts. In some cases countries require outside assistance for election monitoring, nation-building programs and the development of governmental infrastructure to make their political system more stable.

D. Phrases uttered/referring to the character

“The lieutenant of the Civil Guard gave no sign: he had received an order to take up all the arms and he had performed his duty. He had chased the tulisanes whenever he could, and when they captured Cabesang Tales he had organized an expedition and brought into the town, with their arms bound behind them, five or six rustics who looked suspicious, so if Cabesang Tales did not show up it was because he was not in the pockets or under the skins of the prisoners, who were thoroughly shaken out.
- CHAPTER IX Pilates

This paragraph showed how brutal the Lieutenant of the Civil Guard, Lt. Perez, was to the Filipino criminals. This inhuman treatment was not even given to the Spaniards living in the Philippines like Don Tiburcio who was a fake Spanish doctor practicing in the Philippines who was just simple ignored by the Spanish medical authorities during their time.

“And everybody’s asking for loans and never pays—what about that? Clerks, officials, lieutenants, soldiers—” he checked them off on his long-nailed fingers—“ah, Señor Simoun, I’m lost, I’m busted!”
- CHAPTER XVI The Tribulations of a Chinese

This was a citation from a Chinese who was asked for loans by the Spanish officials, including the lieutenant. We all know that there were Chinese businessmen in the Filipinos even during the Spanish regime in our country. This is a clear proof of the corruption of the Spanish government to the Filipinos. Money-laundering was very prevalent even at that time back then.

…the lieutenant of the Civil Guard was at the convento. The old man then returned to his village, weeping like a child.
- CHAPTER XXX Juli

This is a quote telling about how the lieutenant didn’t really have care for the welfare of the Filipinos. This old man, that was unnamed in the novel, was desperate for help, seeking for justice. But then, since he was a Filipino, he was totally ignored by the Spanish officials.

MY DEAR CHAPLAIN,—I have just received from the commandant a telegram that says, “Spaniard hidden house Padre Florentino capture forward alive dead.” As the telegram is quite explicit, warn your friend not to be there when I come to arrest him at eight tonight.
Affectionately,
PEREZ
Burn this note.
- CHAPTER XXXIX Conclusion

This letter for Padre Florentino was about Simoun staying in his house for refuge due to his act of rebellion against the Spaniard colonizers. It was misinterpreted by Don Tiburcio, who was a Spaniard also hiding in Padre Florentino’s house too with Simoun, that he was the pertaining by the letter, a proof that he had already been found by his crazy wife, Doña Victorina. The concentrate of the letter is how the lieutenant is planning to kill Simoun due to his seditious actions.
This was also in this part when the lieutenant-general of the civil guard was named. Coordination of Padre Florentino, who was also a Spaniard, was asked (cited by burning the note of the Spanish lieutenant).

E. Character Transformation

From a military official to a butcher
At first, the lieutenant-general of the civil guard was just simply doing his job, following orders from the higher-ranked government officials on killing the Filipino criminals, still unproved guilty or not. Just by only mere accusations of these Spanish officials, these Filipinos were accused and killed brutally without jurisdiction.
Then as the story grows of him being the lieutenant-killer in the Philippines, he had already become a butcher without knowing, killing all the suspected Filipino criminals, without thinking of how brutal or inhuman it would be. All what counts to him is the Spanish government’s orders.. He had completely lost his conscience and became a heartless man, a very feature of the earliest robot of the Spanish government in the Philippines.

References
The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Reign of Greed, by Jose Rizal. Complete English Version of ‘El Filibusterismo’. http://www.gutenberg.org/files/10676/10676-h/ 10676-h.htm
Jose Rizal Website: www.joserizal.ph

Links:

Don Tiburcio – Lieutenant General

Complete Character Analysis of the Lieutenant General of the Civil Guard

Quack, Quack: A Character Analysis of Don Tiburcio de Espadaña

A. Symbolism of the Character

A duck wearing a white coat. Don Tiburcio de Espadaña was the hen-pecked husband of Doña Victorina in Jose Rizal’s Noli Me Tangere. He was under his wife’s orders of being a proud Spanish doctor in the Philippines.

Why did Don Tiburcio became a quack doctor?

Don Tiburcio came to the Philippines as a petty official in the Customs. He had a really bad fate that, besides experiencing severely from seasickness and breaking a leg during the travel, he had been dismissed from his work within a fortnight, just at the time when he found himself without a room. After his rough incident on his travel, he did not care to return to his motherland without being rich, so he decided to dedicate himself to something. Spanish pride hindered him to engage in physical labor, although the poor man would willingly have done any kind of job in order to survive.

At first he had worked at the cost of some of his fellow Spaniard, but he instead was struck with poverty, so instead of getting plump, he then grew thin. Since he had neither education nor cash nor references he was told by his countrymen, who wished to get rid of him, to go to the rural areas and act as a doctor of medicine. He declined at first, for he had no knowledge even when he worked for a short period that he had spent as an attendant in a hospital. His duties there having been to dust off the benches and light the fires. But as his desires were pressing and as his conscience were soon laid to rest by his friends. He finally gave in and went to the poor Filipino rural areas. He began by asking only modest charges, as his scruples dictated, but later, he ended by putting a higher charge on his visits. Thus he should have been a great physician and would probably have made a big amount of wealth if the medical authorities in Manila had not heard of his overpriced fees and the competition that he was causing other doctors. The truth soon reached the ears of the people and they began to have doubts about him, so in a little while he lost his practice and found himself into the rags again. It was at that time that he met Doña Victorina and her Spanish patriotism. Even after their financially-driven marriage, Don Tiburcio was persuaded to act like a doctor even by his own wife.

B. Values learned from the Character

1. Be YOURSELF.

Don Tiburcio, foreign and uneducated, had a hard time to adjust in the Philippines. He should have found his own individuality and also his limitations. A person can’t be himself if he doesn’t know, understand, and accept himself first.

Also, Don Tiburcio was easily bribed by his own countrymen who are also bad in deed. Don Tiburcio should have stopped caring about how people, Spaniard or Filipino alike, perceived him. The fact is, how others think really doesn’t matter. It’s impossible to be your own self when you’re caught up in wondering “Do they think I’m funny? Does he think I’m fat? Do they think I’m stupid?” To be yourself, you’ve got to let go of these concerns and just let your good behavior flow, with only your consideration of others as a filter—not their consideration of you.

Don Tiburcio should have stopped worrying about the worst that could happen, especially in social situations. Accepting your own limitations would let know that you’re not perfect and makes yourself feel more at ease, too.

2. The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.

Don Tiburcio was indifferent with his wife’s persuasion of him being a medical doctor. He still continued to fool other people of him although he knew that it was wrong. Also, the medical authorities were indifferent too. They didn’t seek action against Don Tiburcio so thus, this fake medic still continued his medical practice and led the death of many sick Filipinos. Here says that, the opposite of love is not hate; it is indifference. The opposite of faith is not heresy; it is indifference. And the opposite of life is not death; it is indifference. Because of indifference, one dies before one actually dies.

3. In general, pride is at the bottom of all great mistakes.

Pride is not just an emotion but also a mortal sin. In Dante Alighieri’s Inferno, people who have excessive pride are punished by being broken on the wheel. This Spanish pride hindered Don Tiburcio to engage in physical labor and therefore became a bogus medical doctor.

4. Happy marriages begin when we marry the ones we love, and they blossom when we love the ones we marry.

The marriage of Don Tiburcio and Doña Victorina because of poverty and not because of love is not a happy marriage at all. Marriage is not just a contract but also a covenant between two people through thick and thin, in sickness and in health, etc.

C. Significant Role Portrayed by the Character

1. In Rizal’s time

a. Spanish Pride and Prejudice

It was all Spanish pride that disabled Don Tiburcio from manual labor. His character is a perfect example of the evil Spanish rule during Rizal’s time who deceived the Filipinos of the truth just for their selfish desires.

b. Filipinos’ Ignorance

On the other hand, Don Tiburcio’s fraud medical practice also showed the ignorance of the Filipinos on the national and international issues during the time of the colonization of Spain. Swindled by their mother country, the Philippines were considered a country of barbaric Indios by other foreign countries.

c. Racial Discrimination

Doña Victorina wanted to marry a Spaniard for the sake of being considered, too, as a high-class civilian. And so, she married Don Tiburcio, a Spaniard by blood, even though he was penniless and fraud.

Doña Victorina wanted to be considered as an elite in the Philippine society because of this reason: The treatment to the Filipinos by the Spaniards was nearly inhuman, cruel, and unjust. Being perceived just by the color of the skin during Rizal’s time was a big problem internationally and not just in our own native land. It had become the cause of abuse, violence, and slavery. We couldn’t blame Doña Victorina during her time because she herself was a Filipina by blood. It was on Don Tiburcio’s part if he will be also be blinded by the skin stereotyping during his time. But then, he also did so this married couple only used each other for their own personal reasons.

2. In the Present time

a. Right Legal Action on Fraud and Forgery

In our present time, fraud and forgery is very rampant, from birth certificates passports, credit cards, and documents to a person’s very own clothes, shoes, cellular phones and iPod. Even marriage contracts and college diplomas can be forged too! A well-established control and penalty should be done against this crime because it can lead not just the Filipino community to a very bad reputation and false truth but also to the foreign countries that are also having this same kind of problem as well. Filipinos should not be like a Don Tiburcio, a person who deceives other people because of his own selfish wants.

b. Materialism

Some Filipino people especially women love to follow the recent trends. Sometimes, they get overboard just to get what they want. What they want sometimes is not necessary for living and just for simply having one. This common attitude nowadays should also be controlled because it can lead to heinous crimes like stealing, robbery or theft. Like Don Tiburcio, these type of people will do anything to get what they want, mainly wealth, a big house, a highly-paying job, and expensive things that may not be necessarily essential for survival but only a demand for recognition and selfish pleasure.

c. Racial Discrimination

Still, up to the present time, the alarming problem of the Filipinos is racial discrimination. Like in the Spanish times, still, Filipinos tend to like things, ideas, or livelihood that is foreign to them. It may be seen now that most Filipinos like foreign products (and even foreign wives or husbands) more than their own because of the mentality that our own products are of inferior quality. It may not necessarily be on the color of the skin anymore today, but on the products patronized by our countrymen.

Further Character Analysis can be read in these links:

Don Tiburcio Powerpoint

Quack, Quack: A Character Analysis of Don Tiburcio de Espadaña