Noli Me Tangere and El Filibusterismo are important cultural works that exposed to the populace the abuses and the injustices of their Spanish colonial masters. The execution of their author, Jose Rizal, sparked the Philippine Revolution.

Unfortunately, this happened at about the same time as the Spanish-American War, and the war ended in 1898 Treaty of Paris in which Spain also sold the Philippines to the USA for the sum of twenty million dollars. The revolutionary government were soon after crushed by the overwhelming military might of the United States and turned into a territory until their independence after World War II.

While the Philippines stands as the USA’s greatest successes in nation-building, their early occupation left almost one-fifth of the population dead from combat and disease.

Rizal was executed by the Spanish long before knowing what might happen to his country. The world created within The Noli and the El Fili is therefore stuck frozen in time, forever caught in that moment before a Revolution.

Now let’s see what happens in this world if we give it the Light Novel treatment and jam the entirety of the Internet into their protagonist’s skull. Can Crisostomo Ibarra change his nation and keep his loved ones safe, or will he make things worse by his unfortunate tendency to sound like a supervillain?

This is the web novel version. Research and details may be flawed, incomplete, or just plain wrong. The purpose of this version is to explore the idea to its possible ends, before being edited and rewritten for print.

This version will always be free to read, but not to redistribute or rehost. Translations may be allowed. You may contact the author at bhepin@gmail.com.

FAQ – Frequently Asked Questions

Table of Contents

0.0 Preamble

0.1 The Premise

1.1 Once More, Old Manila

1.2 In the House of Capitan Tiago

1.3 A Dinner Conversation

1.4 More Calmly, Maria Clara

Interlude – The Lieutenant 01

Interlude – The Dominican 01

Interlude – The Governor-General 01

Interlude – The Maiden 01

2.1 Hometown

2.2 A Noisome Grave

2.3 Ibarra in Town

2.4 An Unexpected Case

Interlude – The Brothers 01

Interlude – The Philosopher 01

2.5 An End, and a Beginning

3.1 On the Day of the Dead

3.2 Let Us Look Busy

3.3 In the House of Pilosopo Tasio

3.4 A Town Meeting

3.5 More Cautiously, Maria Clara

Interlude – The Brothers 02

Interlude – The Maiden 02

4.1 Finding Elias

Interlude – The Chosen 01

4.2 Fraternal Sins

Interlude – The Franciscan 01

4.3 The Presentation 01

4.4 The Presentation 02

4.5 The Presentation 03

4.6 The Presentation 04

Interlude – The Translator 01

Interlude – The Chosen 02

5.1 Laying the Foundations

5.2 Tanks in the Yard

5.3 Assembly

5.4 Submarine

5.5 Mass Media

Interlude – The Widow 01

Interlude – The Lieutenant 02

6.1 The Oligarchs

6.2 In Chinatown

Interlude – The Manager 01

Interlude – The Young Hawks 01

6.3 A Conspiracy of Jesuits

6.4 Literally Highway Robbery

6.5 In the House of Ibarra

Interlude – The Applicant 01

7.1 Industrialization

7.2 Even Art Has Its Purpose

7.3 First Edition

7.4 More Avidly, Maria Clara

Interlude – The Traveler 01

Interlude – The Translator 02

Interlude – The Chosen 03

8.1 A Taste of War

8.2 The Moro Kings

8.3 An Army Marches

Interlude – The Translator 03

8.4 ( — )

8.5 ( — )

9.1 ( — )

9.2 ( — )

9.3 ( — )

9.4 ( — )

Interlude – The New Yorker

Interlude – The Tokyo Man