A Hero’s Legacy
The life and legacy of Dr. Jose Rizal
José Protasio Rizal Mercado Y Alonso Realonda was born on June 19, 1861 to Francisco Mercado and Teodora Alonzo in the town of Calamba in the province of Laguna. He had nine sisters and one brother. At the early age of three, the future political leader had already learned the English alphabet. And, by the age of five, José could already read and write.
Jose graduated high school with the highest honors at the age of 16. He concentrated his studies in land surveying, after leaving high school he further pursued his training in land surveying and completed training in 1877. He passed the exam to get his license in this field in May of 1878. However, he was unable to receive the license because he was just 17 and thus underaged at the time. He was not given the license until he came of age in 1881, when Jose could not get his license, he decided to take classes and become a medical student at the University of Santo Tomas. However, he did not stay in attendance for very long at this school because he said that the Dominican instructors were being discriminatory of Filipino students.
His novels awakened Philippine nationalism
Rizal had been very vocal against the Spanish government, but in a peaceful and progressive manner. For him, “the pen was mightier than the sword.” And through his writings, he exposed the corruption and wrongdoings of government officials as well as the Spanish friars.
While in Barcelona, Rizal contributed essays, poems, allegories, and editorials to the Spanish newspaper, La Solidaridad. Most of his writings, both in his essays and editorials, centered on individual rights and freedom, specifically for the Filipino people. As part of his reforms, he even called for the inclusion of the Philippines to become a province of Spain.
But, among his best works, two novels stood out from the rest — Noli Me Tángere (Touch Me Not) and El Filibusterismo (The Reign of the Greed).
In both novels, Rizal harshly criticized the Spanish colonial rule in the country and exposed the ills of Philippine society at the time. And because he wrote about the injustices and brutalities of the Spaniards in the country, the authorities banned Filipinos from reading the controversial books. Yet they were not able to ban it completely. As more Filipinos read the books, their eyes opened to the truth that they were suffering unspeakable abuses at the hands of the friars. These two novels by Rizal, now considered his literary masterpieces, are said to have indirectly sparked the Philippine Revolution.
Dr. Jose Rizal’s work gives us a great impact and most people wonder why it’s important to study Rizal’s life when all he did is write literature. It is through his writings that he revealed how cruel and abusive the Spaniards truly are in their treatment of the Filipino people. He also enlightened his fellow countrymen to take up arms and stand up for their right. It’s because of this that he was imprisoned but that didn’t falter him and inspired him to continue writing. It is Rizal who uplifted his generation and emphasized that the youth is the hope of our nation. We can take a lot from Rizal’s life, like being aware of what goes on in our country and not just idly accept the injustice we receive in our country. To quote Rizal: “The Filipino are worth dying for.”
Because of what he did for our country his legacy lives on
fter his death, the Philippine Revolution continued until 1898. And with the assistance of the United States, the Philippines declared its independence from Spain on June 12, 1898. This was the time that the Philippine flag was waved at General Emilio Aguinaldo’s residence in Kawit, Cavite.
Today, Dr. Rizal’s brilliance, compassion, courage, and patriotism are greatly remembered and recognized by the Filipino people. His two novels are continuously being analyzed by students and professionals.
Colleges and universities in the Philippines even require their students to take a subject which centers around the life and works of Rizal. Every year, the Filipinos celebrate Rizal Day — December 30 each year — to commemorate his life and works. Filipinos look back at how his founding of La Liga Filipina and his two novels had an effect on the early beginnings of the Philippine Revolution. The people also recognize his advocacy to achieve liberty through peaceful means rather than violent revolution.
o commemorate what he did for the country, the Philippines built a memorial park for him — now referred to as Rizal Park, found in Manila. There lies a monument which contains a standing bronze sculpture of Rizal, an obelisk, and a stone base said to contain his remains. The monument stands near the place where he fell during his execution in Luneta.