RIZAL: WHAT MADE HIM OUR HERO?

WHAT IS A NATIONAL HERO?

On our national hero's 150 birth anniversary, I am forced to rethink my answer to this question once more. In the not so distant past, there has been a lot of question as to why Dr. Jose Rizal is the country's national hero. Renato Constantino argues that he is an American-sponsored hero; that Rizal symbolized non-violence and peaceful advancement of reforms, traits that the American occupiers wanted for Filipinos to adopt and thus prevent further revolts against their hegemony. Others have hailed Andres Bonifacio as the "true" national hero for organizing the first Philippine government and leading the first anti-colonial revolution in Asia. The Retraction Controversy has also placed doubts on Rizal's nationalism and his anti-clerical stance.

The questions stem from the fact that our usual notion of a national hero is someone who is courageous, strong, able-bodied, and leads a military force into war against a colonial/imperial power -- people such as George Washington, Simon Bolivar, or Sun Yat Sen. Apparently, machismo is still in the psyche most Filipinos. This notion has to change in our time when even the smallest deeds of self-sacrifice can be considered heroism.

In my opinion, for one to be a hero, one must sacrifice him/herself for the liberation its people or as an impetus of such liberation. Andres Bonifacio and Emilio Aguinaldo falls under this category, both having courageously fought the Spaniards in the battlefield. However, Andres Bonifacio never won any of his battles and usually goes off to save himself once his forces are routed. He really sees it important that people's leader remains alive at the end of the battle rather than sacrifice life and limb. The same way with Emilio Aguinaldo who instead of facing the Americans in the battlefield, has decided to elude them until his arrest in Palanan and subsequent pledge of allegiance to the United States.

Dr. Jose Rizal is perhaps the epitome of such self-sacrifice though. He sacrifices his love life and a quiet life to gather knowledge around the world that would be helpful in the struggle for reforms in the country. He translates famous literary works into Filipino for his countrymen to see (such as works by Hans Christian Andersen and Schiller) and labors to ensure a fair perspective about his country abroad (such as annotating Morga's Sucesos de las Islas Filipinas). He uses his own fortune, time and effort to care for his countrymen, as he did when he opened his clinic in Hong Kong or in Dapitan. He enlightens his people about their status in society by writing the Noli and the Fili. His ultimate sacrifice perhaps is when he refuses to be saved by Bonifacio's revolution and instead gives his own life at execution so that the revolution can have the ultimate inspiration. Both Bonifacio and Aguinaldo recognized his sacrifices by revering him as the revolution's inspiration. Aguinaldo was first to declare him national hero in 1898, even before the Americans "sponsored" it.

Rizal's self-sacrifice has been modeled throughout history by other heroes, such as Manuel L. Quezon (who sacrificed time, money and effort for the establishment of the Commonwealth), Jose P. Laurel (who sacrificed reputation to collaborate with the enemy and save more Filipinos from the Japanese), Ninoy Aquino (who sacrificed his life at assassination so that the People Power Revolution could push through) and Efren Peñaflorida (who sacrificed time, money and effort to teach the street children of Cavite).

In the end, there is no doubt that Rizal is the first to envision himself and his country as a nation of Filipinos and to uphold its liberty from the occupiers. At his 150th birth anniversary, Dr. Jose Rizal will remain as the heart of the Philippine revolution and the Philippine national hero.

On Rizal and His Legacy

The Rizal Execution monument at Luneta Park, Manila

Rizal is already a household name.

Everywhere you go around the metro, you'll see his name on a street sign, or a school. We have Rizal Avenue, Rizal High School, and Rizal Province. There is the famed Jose Rizal University, Rizal Commercial Banking Corporation and the Rizal Memorial Coliseum. During our school days, we remember people who were named Rizalyn, Josephine, and the likes. I remember, there was this professor in our university whose first name was Jose Rizal. My aunt, who was born today, is also aptly named Josephine.

Rizal is a favorite among the youth. When asked who their national hero is, the first thing that pops in the mind of an adolescent is him. Well, who couldn't remember? If a child asks for a peso ("Nay, penge piso!"), the first person s/he sees is our national hero. And Rizal seems to have a penchant for the youth as well. "The youth is the hope of the motherland", goes his most popular quoted statement. And yet, if you ask the youth what they know of Rizal, aside from being our national hero, what would they say? Do the youth still know what is his legacy to the generation of today?

I grew up reading about Rizal and his exploits as a young boy in Calamba and as a young man in strange Europe. I am very much knowledgeable of his struggles both as a writer and freethinker. And I know very well the circumstances that led to his death in Bagumbayan that fateful day in 1896. Being interested in history and the social sciences, I was very keen about knowing all the stuff about him.

But what is the implication Rizal's life, works and struggles to a young student taking up, say, engineering, or mathematics? Or how about to a cigarette vendor or an out-of-school youth? Will they able to relate everything he lived up to in their own lives? They're gonna have a struggle of their own.

Nationalism is a coercion of the State, a friend of mine once said, and I believe that. The State forces everyone to study how our heroes struggled to achieve independence for our motherland and to love our country as we love ourselves. It was for this prime reason that Rizal is a mandatory subject in college (and perhaps the most boring for a majority). And yet, despite this coercion, many are still ignorant or indifferent of what it means to be a Filipino. And people still fly away to other countries yearly, for better working opportunities if not for more comfortable lives.

Therefore, for me, nationalism should not be forced upon us. Nationalism is defined as love of one's motherland. Thus, the core of nationalism should be love. But how do you make the study of history focus on this perennial value? How do you make students love Rizal? The challenge lies with our teachers. Instead of teaching trivial facts about Rizal's life, works and struggles, I believe we must focus on enduring understandings of his principles in life -- his legacy to our nation.

What is Rizal's legacy to our generation?

Since his childhood, Rizal has shown this can-do spirit. He was a boy advanced in learning  compared to his contemporaries. At a young age, he was well-versed and skilled in writing and also showed potential for leadership. As a physician and ophthalmologist, he contributed to the betterment of the well-being of his patrons in Hong Kong, Calamba, and Dapitan. As an artist, he sculpted and painted some of the finest works of art a Filipino can make. He even translated some of Europe's famed literature for the enjoyment of the children of his time. He has traveled the world before his thirties and has crossed paths with some of the respected and well-known minds of his time such as Feodor Jagor and Ferdinand Blumentritt to name a few. He has written two full novels detailing the condition of the Philippines under Spanish and had died at a ripe age of 35 due to his freethinking activities.

Rizal had done all this. And what he would like us to know is that we can do it too. We can be heroes in our own right, in our own time. He is a hero not because of family, or circumstance. Bonifacio is a hero too and yet he was from humble beginnings. Rizal only meant to say that even while young, it is possible for the youth to achieve what it envisions for itself and for its people. And we have some young heroes in our midst today, people like 2009 CNN Hero of the Year Efren Peñaflorida who has helped the slums of Cavite City get an education, artists like Pepe Diokno who at a young age of 22 has won the Biennale, the top award in the Venice International Film Festival for his film Engkwentro.

Rizal did it in his own lifetime. We can do it. The youth is a force to reckon with. It is just a matter of uniting and directing our energies for the betterment of our society.

Let us remember Rizal today in your own and humble way!