Name: Fernandez
Sex: M
Race: Indio
Occupation: Dominican professor
Aliases:
Affiliations: University of Santo Tomas
Background
Padre Fernandez is a Dominican professor at University of Santo Tomas. He has been teaching for more than eight years.
Story
Chapter 11: Padre Fernandez is first introduced in this chapter. Along with many other priests, Don Custodio, Ben Zayb and Simoun, he is in Capitan General’s house in Los Banos. He is seen talking to Don Custodio. Padre Sibyla asks Padre Fernandez to play tresillo with him, Capitan General and Padre Irene after Padre Camorra quits, but Padre Fernandez refuses, saying he is bad at the game.
Padre Fernandez listens while the secretary asks Capitan General on his decision on sporting firearms. Simoun suggests that only firearms that don’t have a caliber of 6 mm may be sold, which everyone else agrees to, except the secretary, who whispers to Padre Fernandez that that is improper.
Later, when deciding whether to approve the petition for the Academy for Spanish, Padre Fernandez is one of those who supports it. The secretary mentions that the heads of the petition (Isagani, Macaraig and Basilio) have been accused of radicalism, but Padre Fernandez defends Isagani.
Everyone listens to Padre Fernandez’s reasoning for supporting the petition. He says that the Dominicans should celebrate students wanting to learn Spanish because the Dominicans need the people more than the people need them.
Padre Fernandez explains that it is better to teach people fairness instead of ignorance. He says that the Indio “idolizes” justice and therefore what they desire is fair, and should be granted. Padre Fernandez comments that Dominicans should be like the Jesuits, but Padre Sibyla reacts badly to this. Afterward, everyone starts arguing so Capitan General decides to postpone the decision to another day.
Chapter 14: Padre Fernandez is mentioned when Macaraig explains to his fellow students what Padre Irene witnessed in Los Banos. According to Padre Irene, everyone was against the petition, including Padre Fernandez. As shown in Chapter 11, this is actually not true, proving that Padre Irene actually lied to Macaraig.
Chapter 15: Padre Fernandez is again mentioned, this time when Senor Pasta reviews his knowledge of the petition for the Academy for Spanish. He is aware of what happened in Los Banos and knows that Padre Fernandez is one of those who supported the approval of the petition.
Chapter 25: During the students’ dinner, Isagani implies that there is only one friar he respects. While he may be talking about Padre Florentino (his uncle) instead, in a later chapter Isagani admits that Padre Fernandez is the only priest he considers an exception. Therefore, in this chapter, Isagani is most likely referring to Padre Fernandez.
Chapter 27: Padre Fernandez is the main focus of this chapter. After the poster incident, he overhears Isagani making a speech to students. He has a capista call Isagani to his office. Padre Fernandez tells Isagani that he always liked men who could express themselves even if their ideas disagreed with his. He admits to Isagani that he heard him outside and knows he was at the dinner.
Padre Fernandez asks Isagani what the friars should do. Isagani asks the friars to guide the students but Padre Fernandez gets confused, because he himself lets students like Isagani speak up in class. Isagani explains that other friars don’t.
Padre Fernandez argues the following points:
- Isagani is being harsh for saying friars don’t want students to be educated.
- No one forces students to study, so education should only be given to those that work hard for it.
- Morality is inherited and if someone fails to learn then it is not the teacher’s fault
- The priests are just doing what the government told them to do and should not be blamed.
- The government has good intentions but every time they make rules, people want to break those rules so the government cannot be perfect.
- Supporting freedom of education would be suicide.
Padre Fernandez is surprised that Isagani is talking to him like an equal. He starts to feel defeated as Isagani manages to counter all his arguments. Towards the end of their talk, Padre Fernandez says that it’s the students who should change.
Isagani asks how students can change when it is they who have trouble changing. He points out that even Padre Fernandez suffered from wanting to be fair. Padre Fernandez says he will talk to the other friars but they might not believe them.
Isagani says the fellow students will not believe him either when he tells them about Padre Fernandez. Isagani leaves and Padre Fernandez watches him from the window. Padre Fernandez tells himself that he envies the Jesuits who educated Isagani.
Chapter 32: Padre Fernandez is mentioned since the only course Isagani passed (while he was in prison) was Padre Fernandez’s class.
Physical Description
Padre Fernandez’s physical appearance is not mentioned.
Personality
“I have always liked young men who express themselves clearly and who think and act for themselves; it does not matter to me that their ideas may differ from mine.” (Padre Fernandez, Chapter 27)
Padre Fernandez is considered different from all the priests because he is polite, welcoming to everyone and willing to listen to other people’s points of view. Because of that, he is respected even by his fellow priests. He is often calm and collected, even during an argument and does not angry even when the person he is talking to says something offensive. He admits to Isagani that he “likes men of conviction”. Even after Isagani criticizes the priests and government, Padre Fernandez treats him fairly. While talking, Padre Fernandez prefers to walk while doing so because he believes it helps ideas come to him better (Chapter 27).
Skills
Open-mindedness
“To make criminals of a people you have only to doubt their honesty.” (Padre Fernandez, Chapter 27)
Padre Fernandez is accepting of other people’s beliefs, and instead of rejecting them, tries to find ways to resolve conflicting ideals. This is seen when, after the poster incident, he calls Isagani to his office to ask what priests are doing wrong (Chapter 27). Despite being a Jesuit, he also admits that they should be more like Dominicans (Chapter 11). Instead of looking down on Indios and students like most other priests do, Padre Fernandez is able to sympathize with them and understand why they act the way they do. Because of this, he treats everyone, even his students, with respect. He asks Isagani to explain his beliefs, and listens carefully even when Isagani’s beliefs arguments contradict his own. Later on, Padre Fernandez also admits to himself when he is losing the argument.
Wisdom
Padre Fernandez is very intelligent and the other priests, and even highly respected figures like Capitan General, Don Custodio and Simoun are aware of this. In Los Banos (Chapter 11), everyone becomes quiet and listens to Padre Fernandez’s opinion on the petition for the Academy for Spanish because they believe he has a “thinking head”. Together with his open-mindedness, Padre Fernandez’s knowledge allows him to explain properly the points of view of different people and he learns more and more by asking other people about their beliefs.
Relationships
See Relationships of Padre Fernandez
Beliefs
On Indios
“Why should we be in continuous tension with the people, when after all, we are the few and they are the many, when we need them and they do not need us?” (Padre Fernandez, Chapter 11)
Unlike the other priests, Padre Fernandez recognizes the importance of Indios and is aware that living with harmony with them is necessary. He thinks that Indios should be given what they want, as long as the demand is fair.
On Hispanization
Padre Fernandez is one of the few adults who openly supports the petition for the Academy for Spanish, because he believes that Indios and priests should be able to understand each other (Chapter 11).
On Education
“Education is not given except to those who deserve it, to give it to men without character and without morality is to prostitute it.” (Padre Fernandez, Chapter 27)
Padre Fernandez thinks that supporting freedom of education is suicide, and argues with Isagani that only those who want to be educated deserve education. He believes that if students fail, it’s the students’ fault instead of the teachers. He also believes that people can choose to not be educated if they do not want to be, but Isagani contradicts him and gives examples proving why Padre Fernandez is wrong. Later, Padre Fernandez admits to himself that Isagani has defeated his arguments.
On Priests
“The people hate the soldier or the guard who makes the arrest, and not the judge who decreed the imprisonment.” (Padre Fernandez, Chapter 27)
Padre Fernandez is aware that priests are flawed. He states that they need the Indios and that Dominicans should be more like Jesuits (Chapter 11). However, when he asks Isagani what priests should do, he is shocked and in denial when Isagani tells him that priests don’t want Indios to be educated. He tries to defend priests by saying they only follow orders of the government and are not at fault.
On the Government
“There are beliefs, there are theories and laws which, dictated with the best of intentions, produce the most deplorable consequences.” (Padre Fernandez, Chapter 27)
Padre Fernandez admits that the government makes mistakes, but explains to Isagani that a flawed government is normal. He considers the government as the main authority, believing that priests just follow its orders no matter how bad the orders are. Padre Fernandez thinks that even though the government has good intentions by making laws, people will always find ways to break the rules.
Trivia
Quotes
“There are young men who slander us behind our backs, and when face to face, kiss our hands and with vile smiles beg for a glance! Puf! What would you have us do with such creatures?” (Chapter 27)
