Jose Rizal is not just our national hero but our national homework. Such is the consequence of the Rizal Law, passed in 1956 to instill long-lost nationalism in Filipino youth. Generations of high school and college students have studied Rizal’s life and novels, labored over extensive book reports, wrote out character names on large manila paper, and dramatized Sisa’s “Crispin! Basilio!” countlessly in the classroom, all in the name of nationalism.
Klay (Barbie Forteza), the feisty nursing student at the center of historical portal fantasy drama “Maria Clara at Ibarra,” is no different. In fact, she was written precisely to personify the usual Filipino student taking these classes: present due to obligation, asleep at her desk because she was busy working the night before, eager to graduate and work overseas to provide for her family. We need not look further than Klay to assess the effectiveness of the Rizal Law — nationalism, like other values, can indeed be taught, but perhaps our neoliberal education system is not the best avenue.
“Maria Clara at Ibarra” takes “Noli Me Tangere” and “El Filibusterismo” out of the classroom, breathing new life into otherwise required work. The show’s avid viewership is potent proof of the format’s appeal. It has not only achieved good ratings but also triggered Filipino fan culture’s unique mechanisms: nightly trending hashtags, TikTok supercuts of beloved pairings, and projects organized by its fan clubs. Rizal’s characters, born in the 19th century, have joined the ranks of modern Philippine love teams.
20-year-old Joanna Fajela runs the official Twitter fan page for Fidel (a character who doesn’t exist in the book, played by David Licauco) and Klay’s pairing, lovingly nicknamed FiLay. They are currently organizing a thanksgiving event for FiLay fans, where both Forteza and Licauco will be in attendance. “My co-workers and I are huge fans of the show, especially [of] FiLay,” Fajela said. “Last night’s episode would be our topic first thing in the morning, and if one of us misses an episode, we will watch it together during our break time.”
Fajela added that she started the fan page to lead FiLay Twitter parties — online gatherings where all attendees tweet about the same topic using the same hashtag. “We needed to reach higher engagement for our tag lines to trend.”
But while the kilig is what draws viewers in, it’s not what makes them stay. These characters are not strangers to us after all, and “Maria Clara at Ibarra” is not the first onscreen adaptation of “Noli” and “El Fili.” In particular, Maria Clara (played by Julie Ann San Jose in the show) has become a cultural shorthand for a timid, modest Filipino woman — something that the show’s head writer Suzette Doctolero argues as inaccurate.
“Kung babasahin mo yung libro, hindi naman totoo na mahina si Maria Clara,” Doctolero said in a podcast interview. “Tinweak namin nang onti [yung character niya] at pinatapang pa namin nang onti.”
This is bolstered by Maria Clara’s interactions with headstrong Klay. Daniela Kuizon, a senior high school student from Davao, said Klay embodies Filipino Gen Z in both manner and mindset. “Seeing her interact with the characters from ‘Noli,’ nakikita mo yung direct comparison… Nadadala ni Klay yung mga progressive views niya sa buhay, at bumabangga [‘yon] sa traditional mindset noon.”
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