What Made Rizal Our Foremost National Hero
What did Guillermo Puatu of Bulacan write to Rizal
A tribute saying, "Vd. a quien se le puede (llamar) con razon, cabeza tutelary de los Filipinos, aunque la comparacion parezca algo ridicula, porque posee la virtud la atraer consigo enconadas voluntades, zanjar las discordias y enemistades renorosasnreuniren fiestas a hombres que no querian verse ni en la calle..."
What did Fernando Acevedo write?
Fernando Acevedo, who called Rizal his distinguido amigo, compañero y paisano", wrote the letter from Zaragoza, Spain, on 25 Oct 1889: "I see in you the model Filipino; your application to study & you talents have placed on a height w/c I revere & admire."
Who edited La Independencia?
Gen. Antonio Luna
Who published his novel, Discursos y Articulos Varios, also in Barcelona in 1891?
Graciano Lopez Jaena
Who can surpass Rizal in the number of towns, barrios, and streets named after him?
No other Filipino hero
Who were among those who unjustly lambasted & criticized Rizal and his Noli in the 2 chambers of the Spanish Cortes in 1888 and 1889?
Sen. Vida, Deputy (ex-general) Luis de Pando, and Premier Praxedes Mateo Sagasta.
What did Antonio Ma. Regidor & Prof. Ferdinand Blumentritt. Regidor, a Filipino exile of 1872 in London say about the book?
That "the book was superior" and that if "Don Quixote has made its author immortal because he exposed to the world the sufferings of Spain, your Noli Me Tangere will bring you equal glory..."
What did permanent censorship commission in 1887 recommend?
That "the importation, reproduction, & circulation of this pernicious book in the islands be absolutely prohibited."
What did a faculty committee of a Manila university (UST) say about Noli?
That it found the book "heretical, impious, and scandalous to the religious order, and unpatriotic and subversive to the public order, libelous to the govt. of Spain & to its political policies in these islands"
What does history tells us?
That the revolutionary society known as Katipunan likewise acknowledged Rizal's leadership & greatness by making him its honorary President & by using his family name Rizal as the password for the 3rd-degree members.
What does the law says about RA 1425?
The Rizal Law, officially designated as Republic Act No. 1425, is a Philippine law that mandates all educational institutions in the Philippines to offer courses about José Rizal. Republic Act No. 1425 aimed at including a study of the life and works of Jose Rizal in the curricula of public and private schools was approved by President Ramon Magsaysay on June 12, 1956, teaching Rizal has been mandatory in our school system.
Who made Rizal the foremost hero of the Philippines?
The answer is: no single person or groups of persons were responsible for making the Greatest Malayan the No. 1 Hero of his people. Rizal himself, his own people, & the foreigners all together contributed to make him the greatest hero & martyr of his people. No amount of adulation & canonization by both Filipinos & foreigners could convert Rizal into a great hero if he did not possess in himself what Palma calls "excellent qualities & merits" or what Retaña calls "la finura exquisite de su espiritu,...la nobleza quijotesca de su corazon,... su psicologia toda, romantica, soñadora, buena, adorable, psicologia que sintetizo todos los entimientos y aspiraciones de un pueblo que sufria, viendose victima de su regimen oprobioso...."
What are the events fittingly commemorated by all classes of our people throughout the length and breadth of this country, and even by Filipinos and their friends abroad?
The day of Jose Rizal's birth and the day of his execution.
What did Cecilio Apostol write on 30 Dec 1898?
"!Duerme en paz las sombras de la nada, Redentor de una Patria esclavizada! !No llores de la tumba en el misterio Del español el triunfo momentaneo: Que si Una bala destrozo tu craneo, Tambien tu idea destrozo un emperio!
For those who may still doubt & question the fact that Rizal is greater, far greater than Bonifacio, or any other Filipino hero, the following observation by Retaña will be sufficient:
"All countries have their idol but none has a greater idol; than the Philippines. Before, the memory of Washington will disappear from the United States ---! And say! --- the memory of RIZAL from the Philippines. Rizal was not, as a doctor, a Mariani, nor as a draftsman a Gustavo Dore, nor as an anthropologist a Virchow, nor as a poet a Goethe, nor as a Filipinist a Blumentritt, nor as a historian a Macaulay, nor as a thinker a Hervas, nor as a Malaysian a Kern, nor as a philosopher a Descartes, nor as a novelist a Zola, nor as a man of letters a Menendez and Pelayon in as a sculptor a Querol, nor as a geographer a Reclus, nor as a marksman a Pini ... Distinguished in many disciplines; but in none of them did I reach that supreme degree that ensures immortality. He was a patriot; He was martyr of love for his country. But in Rizal's case there are other Filipinos; And what is the fact that rizal is thousands of cudos over all of them? Simply, in the exquisite finesse of his spirit, in the quixotic nobility of his heart, in his entire psychology, romantic, dreamy, good, adorable, a psychology that synthesizes all the feelings and aspirations of a people who suffered, seeing themselves the victim of a shameful regime. ... The spirit of the Tagalog Revolution is judged by this fact alone; It was, as is known, the armed wing of that Andres Bonifacio movement; Here is the man who gave the first cry against tyranny, the one who led the first hosts, the one who died in the breach... And that man is hardly remembered; no monument has been erected; the popular vates have not sung to him ... While RIZAL, enemy of the Revolution, which I describe as wild and dishonorable, the people glorify him to deify him ... Isn't there an eminently spiritual people in this that had a living summary in RIZAL? Every Filipino carries within himself something of the demagogue Bonifacio. RIZAL's immortality is assured in a hundred ways. But as more assured this is because the millions of Filipinos of today, tomorrow and forever drink and drink RIZAL spirit; they do not feed on something else."
What did Dr. Frank C. Laubach, an American biographer of Rizal, say about Rizal?
"His consuming life purpose was the secret of his moral courage. Physical courage, it is true, was one of his inherited traits. But that high courage to die loving his murderers, which he at last achieved--that cannot be inherited. It must be forged out in the fires of suffering, and temptation. As we read through his life, we can see how the moral sinew and fiber grew year by year as he faced new perils and was forced to make fearful decisions. It required courage to write his 2 great novels telling nothing that no other man has ventured to say before, standing almost alone against the powerful interests in the country and in Spain, and knowing full well that despotism would strike back. He had reached another loftier plateau of heroism when he wrote those letters to Hong Kong, "To be opened after my death", and sailed to the "trap" in Manila without any illusions. Then in his Dapitan exile when he was tempted to escape, and said "No", not once but hundreds of times for 4 long years, and when, on the way to Cuba, Pedro Roxas pleaded with him to step off the boat of Singapore upon British territory and save his life, what an inner struggle it must have caused him to answer over and over again, "No, no, no!" When the sentence of death and the fateful morning of his execution brought the final test, 30 Dec 1896, he walked with perfect calm to the firing line as though by his own choice, the only heroic figure in that sordid scene."
What did Cong. Henry Allen Cooper of Wisconsin say that the result of this appeal was the approval of what is popularly known as the Philippine Bill of 1902?
"It has been said that, if American institutions had done nothing else to furnish to the world the character of George Washington, that alone would entitle them to the respect of mankind. So Sir, I say to all those who denounces the Filipinos indiscriminately as barbarians and savages, without possibility of a civilized future, that this despised race proved itself entitled to their respect, and to the respect of mankind when it furnished to the world the character of Jose Rizal."
What did Fernando Ma. Guerrero write on 25 Sep 1898?
"No has muerto, no. La Gloria es tu destino; tu corona los fuegos de la aurora, y tu inviolable altar nuestra conciencia."
Who was Dr. Camilo Osias & Wenceslao E. Retaña?
"Rizal's esteemed colleague & friend who wrote, "Expressions of deep sympathy came from Blumentritt & many others such as Dr. Renward Braustetter of Lucerne, a scholar on things Malay; Dr. Feodor Jagor, a German author of Philippine Travels; Dr. Friedrich Ratzel, an emeinent German geographer & ethnographer; Señor Ricardo Palma, a distinguished man of letters from Peru; Prof. M Buchner, director of the Ethnographic Museum of Munich & a noted Malayologist; Monsieur Edmont Planchut, a French Orientalist, author of various works & writer on Philippine subjects; Dr. W. Joest, eminent German geographer & professor at the University of Berlin; Dr. H. Kern, professor of Sanskrit in the University of Leiden & celebrated authority on Malay affairs; Dr. J. Montano, a distinguished French linguist & anthropologist & author of a Memoria on the Philippines; Dr. F. Mueller, professor of the University of Vienna & a great philologist; a noted Dutch literary woman who signed H. D. Teenk Willink, author of a touching & conscientious biography of Rizal; Herr Manfred Wittich, writer of Leipzig; Dr. Betances, Cuban political leader; Dr. Boettger, a noted German naturalist & author of works on the fauna of the Philippines; Dr. A. B. Meyer, director of the Museum of Ethnography at Dresden & eminent Filipinologist; M. Odekerchen of Leige, director of l'Express, a newspaper where Rizal wrote articles; Dr. Ed Seler, translator in German of Rizal's My Last Farewell; Mr. H. W. Bray, a distinguished English writer; Mr. John Foreman, author of works on the Philippines & Rizal; Herr C. m. Heller, a German naturalist; Dr. H. Stolpe, a Swedish savant who spoke & published on the Philippines & Rizal; Mr. Armand Lelinsky, Austrian engineer & writer; Dr. J. M. Podhovsky, a notable Czech write, author of various works on the Philippines & Dr. Rizal."
What did Sir Thomas Browne that is applicable to the role played by Rizal in our libertarian struggle?
"Scholars are men of peace; they bear no arms; but their tongues are sharper than the sword; their pens carry further & give a louder report than thunder. I had rather stand in the shock of a basilisk than in the fury of a merciless pen".
What did Bulwer say?
"Take away the sword; states can be saved w/o it; bring the pen!"
What did Napoleon say?
"There are only two powers in the world; the sword & the pen; and in the end the former is always conquered by the latter"
What did the Bicolano Dr. Tomas Arejola write for Rizal in Madrid, 9 Feb 1891?
"Your moral influence over us is indisputable."
What did Blumentritt say after reading Rizal's Noli?
"Your work, as we Germans say, has been written with the blood of the heart... Your work has exceeded my hopes and I consider myself happy to have been honored by your friendship. Not only I, but also your country, may feel happy for having in you a patriotic and loyal son. If you continue so, you will be to your people one of those great men who will exercise a determinative influence over the progress of their spiritual life."
What did the Austrian savant Prof. Blumentritt judged Rizal as?
"the most prominent man of his own people" and "the greatest man the Malayan race has produced"
Who were the foreigners who recognized Rizal as the leading Filipino of his time?
1. Blumentritt (Prof. Blumentritt told Dr. Maximo Viola in May 1887 that "Rizal was the greatest product of the Philippines & that his coming to the world was like the appearance of a rare comet, whose rare brilliance appears only every other century.") 2. Napoleon M. Kheil (wrote to Rizal & said: "admiro en Vd. a un noble representante de la España colonial.") 3 .Dr. Rheinhold Rost (called Rizal "una perla hombre") 4. Vicente Barrantes (had to admit that Rizal was 'the first among the Filipinos")
Who were the two of the greatest of Filipino poets in the Spanish language who paid glowing tributes to the martyr of Bagumbayan in acknowledgement of the hero's labors & sacrifices for his people?
1. Fernando Ma. Guerrero 2. Cecilio Apostol
Who made Rizal the National Hero
1. Himself 2. His own People 3. Foreigners
What is the meaning of the term hero according to Webster's New International Dictionary of the English Language?
A hero is "a prominent or central personage taking admirable part in any remarkable action or event". Also, "a person of distinguished valor or enterprise in danger". And finally, he is a man "honored after death by public worship, because of exceptional service to mankind".
Who published his novel, Impresiones, in Madrid in 1893
Antonio Luna
Where was he sentenced to death?
Bagumbayan Field, now Luneta
Why Rizal has been frequently invoked and quoted by authors and public speakers?
Because as biographer Rafael Palma (1) said, "The doctrines of Rizal are not for one epoch but for all epochs. They are as valid today as they were yesterday. It cannot be said that because the political ideals of Rizal have been achieved, because of the change in the institutions, the wisdom of his counsels or the value of his doctrines have ceased to be opportune. They have not."
Why did Rizal become the greatest Filipino hero?
Because in this writer's humble opinion, no Filipino has yet been born who could equal or surpass Rizal as a "person of distinguished valor/enterprise in danger, fortitude in suffering."
What did Cong. Henry Allen Cooper of Wisconsin, which is comforting?
He delivered an eulogy of Rizal and even recited the martyr's Ultimo Pensamiento on the floor of the U. S. House of Representatives in order to prove the capacity of the Filipinos for self-government.
What did Pres. Aguinaldo say in his opening address at the congress assembled at Malolos, Bulacan on 15 Sep 1898?
He invoked the spirits of the departed heroes of the fatherland, thus: Illustrious spirits of RIZAL, Lopez Jaena, of Marcelo del Pilar! August shades of Burgos, Pelaez & Panganiban! Warlike geniuses of Aguinaldo! (Crispulo---O.), & Tirona, of Natividad & Evangelista! Arise a moment from your unknown graves!
Why is Rizal the greatest Filipino hero that ever lived?
He is a man honored after death by public worship, because of exceptional service to mankind
Why is Rizal a hero, nay, our foremost national hero?
He is our greatest hero because as a towering figure in the Propaganda Campaign, he took an "admirable part" in that movement, which roughly covered the period from 1882-1896.
Who is Jose Rizal?
He is unquestionably the greatest hero and martyr of our nation.
Is Jose Rizal a person of distinguished valor or enterprise in danger fortitude in suffering?
He willingly accepted to take part in the revolution, even if he did not raise an arm but writing the Noli ignited the spirit of nationalism to fellow Filipinos like Andres Bonifacio, and being able to lead the fellow Illustrados to write propaganda campaign against the Spaniards. These are things that putting himself in danger, and when he exiled himself in Dapitan, and even eventually faced death in hands of the Spaniards. He was able to prove that he is willing to put himself in suffering in danger for the Filipino people.
What is most admirable in Rizal according to Rafael Palma?
His complete self-denial, his complete abandonment of his personal interests to think only of those of his country. He could have been whatever he wished to be, considering his natural endowments; he could have earned considerable sums of money from his profession; he could have lived relatively rich, happy, prosperous, had he not dedicated himself to public matters. But in him, the voice of the species was stronger than the voice of personal progress or of private fortune, and he preferred to live far from his family, and to sacrifice his personal affections for an ideal he had dreamed of. He heeded not his brother, not even his parents, beings whom he respected and venerated so much, in order to follow the road his conscience had traced for him. He did not have great means at his disposal to carry out his campaign, but that did not discouraged him; he contented himself which what he had. He suffered the rigors of the cold winter of Europe, he suffered hunger, privation, and misery; but when he raised his eyes to heaven and saw his ideal, his hope was reborn. He complained of his countrymen, he complained of some of those who had promosed him help and did not help him, until at times, profoundly disillusioned, he wanted to renounce his campaign forever, giving up everything. But such moments are evanescent, he soon felt comforted and resumed the task of bearing the cross of his suffering."
Is Jose Rizal a prominent person or central personage taking an admirable part and remarkable action or event?
If we go back to what Rizal had did in history, with all the things that he was able to do, creating the La Liga Filipina, taking part in La Solidaridad, writing the Moli Me Tangere and El Filibusterismo, encouraging Illustrados to take part in the revolution, becoming an exemplary person telling the women to take part, the young women of malolos has a role in the society, and that men and women has equal contribution to this history. These are just proof that Rizal is a prominent person in history in short he qualified to our first definition.
What were the many instances can be cited to prove that his country here & abroad recognized Rizal's leadership even before the outbreak of the revolution against Spain in 1896?
In the early part of 1899 he was unanimously elected by the Filipinos in Barcelona & Madrid as honorary pres. of la Solidaridad. (17) Some months later in Paris, he organized & became chief of the Indios Bravos. In Jan 1891, Rizal was again unanimously chosen Responsable (chief) of the Spanish-Filipino Association. (18) He was also the founder & moving spirit in the founding of la Liga Filipina on Manila in 3 Jul 1892.
What did La Independencia and the El Heraldo de la Revolucion note?
Issued a special supplement in honor of Rizal in one of their December issues in 1898.
What is El Heraldo de la Revolucion?
It is the official organ of the revolutionary government.
What did Rafael Palma stated in the case of Rizal versus Bonifacio?
It should be a source of pride & satisfaction to the Filipinos to have among their national heroes one of such excellent qualities & merits w/c may be equaled but not surpassed by any other man. Whereas generally the heroes of occidental nations are warriors & generals who serve their cause w/ the sword, distilling blood & tears, the hero of the Filipinos served his cause w/ the pen, demonstrating that the pen is as mighty as the sword to redeem a people from their political slavery. It is true that in our case the sword of Bonifacio was after all needed to shake off the yoke of a foreign power; but the revolution prepared by Bonifacio was only the effect, the consequence of the spiritual redemption wrought by the pen of Rizal. Hence not only in the chronological order but also in the point of importancethe previous works of Rizal seems to us superior to that of Bonicacio, because although that of Bonifacio was of immediate results, that of Rizal will have more durable & permanent effects.
What is the impressive Rizal Day program?
It was sponsored by the Club Filipino, was held in Manila on 30 Dec 1898.
Who is the Filipino writer and thinker whose teachings and noble thoughts have been frequently invoked and quoted by authors and public speakers on almost all occasions?
Jose Rizal
Who published his novel, La Soberania Monacal, in Barcelona in 1889?
M. H. del Pilar
What's the difference between the other books and Noli Me Tangere of Rizal?
None of the books had evoked such favorable & unfavorable comments from friends & foes alike as did Rizal's Noli.
When and where did Pres. Aguinaldo issue the 1st official proclamation making 30 Dec of that year as "Rizal Day"?
On 20 Dec 1898 at the revolutionary capital of Malolos.
Who published his novel, Ninay, in Madrid in 1885?
Pedro Paterno
What did M. H. del Pilar say in Writing from Barcelona to the Great Malayan on 10 Mar 1889?
Rizal no tiene aun derecho a morir: su nombre constituye la mas pura e immaculada bandera de aspirationes y Plaridel los suyos no son otra causa ma que immaculada unos voluntarios que militan bajo esa bandera.
What can we say even before his execution?
Rizal was the already acclaimed by both Filipinos & foreigners as the foremost leader of his people.
How did the Spaniards perceive Jose Rizal?
Rizal was the most intelligent, most courageous, & most dangerous enemy of the reactionaries & the tyrants; therefore he should be shot publicly to serve as an example & a warning to those of his kind. This was the reason why Rizal, after a brief mock trial, was sentenced to death.
Why is there a belief Rizal is a "made-to-order" national hero
There's a belief that the maker or manufacturer in this case were the Americans, particularly Civil Governor William Howard Taft. This was done allegedly, in the following manner: "And now, gentlemen, you must have a national hero". These were supposed to be the words addressed by Gov. Taft to Mssrs. Pardo de Tavera, Legarda & Luzurriaga, Filipino members of the Philippine Commission, of which Taft was the chairman. It was further reported that "in the subsequent discussion in which the rival merits of the revolutionary heroes (M. H. del Pilar, Graciano Lopez Jaena, Gen. Antonio Luna, Emilio Jacinto, & Andres Bonifacio—O.) were considered, the final choice—now universally acclaimed a wise one—was Rizal. And so history was made."
What did Gen. Emilio Aguinaldo & the other revolutionary chiefs do a year after Rizal's execution?
They exiled to Hong Kong held a commemorative program there on 29 Dec 1897 on the occasion of the 1st anniversary of the hero's execution & martyrdom.
Why so some Filipinos venture the opinion that Andres Bonifacio, & not Jose Rizal, deserves to be acknowledged & canonized as our first national hero?
They maintain that Rizal never held a gun, a rifle, or a sword in fighting for the liberty & independence of our country in the battlefield. They further assert that while the foremost national heroes of other countries are soldier-generals, like George Washington of US, Napoleon I & Joan of Arc of France, simon Bolivar of Venezuela, Jose de San Martin of Argentina, Bernardo O'Higgins of Chile, Jimmu Tenno of Japan, etc., our greatest hero was a pacifist & a civilian whose weapon was his quill. However, our people in exercising their good sense, independent judgment, & unusual discernment, have not followed the examples of other nations in selecting & acknowledging a military leader for their greatest hero.
What did we learn in this module?
We have also shown during his lifetime, Rizal was already acclaimed by both Filipinos & foreigners as the foremost leader of his people & that this admiration for him has increased w/ the passing of time since his dramatic death on the Luneta that fateful morning of 30 December 1896. Likewise, we attempted to disprove the claim made by some quarters that Rizal is an American-made hero, & we also tried to explain why Rizal is greater than any other Filipino hero, including Andres Bonifacio.
What single work by a Filipino writer during this period, more than any writer writing, contributed tremendously to the formation of Filipino nationality?
We shall have no hesitation in choosing Rizal's Noli Me Tangere (Berlin, 1887)
What happened during the proclamation?
he same proclamation ordered the hoisting the Filipino flags at half-mast "from 12:00 noon on 30 Dec 1898" and the closing of "all offices of the government" during the whole day of 30 Dec.
Why was Rizal put in one peso coin?
he serves to be the number one one number one in the hearts of the filipino people and the second reason perhaps is um any person or even the masses the the lower middle class will also have will always have that coin in their pockets and result represents the common people and that these people whenever they have that coin in their purses in their pockets would remind them that rizal is again a hero in the hearts and in the minds of the filipino people and in the stamps and everywhere in mugs and shirts and everywhere you see rizal everywhere because again he is worthy to be emulated in the mines and the hearts of the filipino people
When was he sentenced to death?
in the early morning of 30 Dec 1896
What did Prof. Blumentritt told Dr. Maximo Viola in May 1887?
that "Rizal was the greatest product of the Philippines & that his coming to the world was like the appearance of a rare comet, whose rare brilliance appears only every other century."
Are Jose Rizal's presentations communication tools that can be used as lectures, speeches reports and more?
the reason why rizal is emulated and is a person of distinguished veiler and because even up until today his books his lectures his writings and even why you are hearing about him in my lecture today it's because his life is worthy to be emulated and the same reason
is Jose Rizal not yet declared as the national hero of the philippines
there is no law no official proclamation or any presidential proclamation declaring rizal as our national hero in short he is not yet declared as the national hero of the philippine
