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: http://www.joserizal.ph

Links:

Don Tiburcio – Lieutenant General

Complete Character Analysis of the Lieutenant General of the Civil Guard