My essay for our Rizal subject. :) Enjoy! ^^
Rizal: The Greatest Filipino of Philippine History?
In the beginning of the semester, our professor told us to write an essay regarding our own insight if Dr. Jose Rizal is really worthy to be Philippines’ national hero. My answer before was “Yes.” And after almost three months of studies about the life, works and philosophies of Rizal, my answer would still be a Yes. Yes, Jose Rizal does deserve to be our national hero.
“No other Filipino hero can surpass Rizal in the number of monuments erected in his honor, in the number of laws, Executive Orders and proclamations of the chief executives, and bulletins. Who’s the Filipino writer, thinker whose teachings and noble thoughts have been frequently invoked and quoted by authors and public speakers on almost all occasions? None but Rizal.” As said by Esteban De Ocampo, the author of “Who Made Rizal our Foremost National Hero, and Why?” This statement by him is true; no one in Philippine history has ever surpassed the honors given to Rizal since he was declared as the country’s National hero. Blumentritt gave a statement after the novel Noli Me Tangere was released (in 1887) saying that he is lucky to have Rizal as a friend, and how lucky Filipinos are to have a patriotic and loyal son like Rizal. De Ocampo said, “No Filipino has yet been born who could equal or surpass Rizal as ‘a person of distinguished valor of enterprise in danger or fortitude in suffering,’” No other Filipino has accomplished a lot during his lifetime. Here are the reasons why this great man was chosen as the greatest Filipino ever lived.
- Rizal as a loving son of his family and country.
Rizal loves hi family as much as he loves his country. This shows in his poems he made for his mother and his birth place, Calamba. His mother, Teodora Alonzo inspired him to love arts and write poems. He loves his siblings especially his older brother Paciano who helped him a lot when he studied abroad. With this deep love to his family, he loves his country by disregarding his personal life for the call of duty to his mother land. Rizal, being an intelligent man who can accomplish anything he desires, and a person who is blessed to have a good education, can easily be wealthy but chooses to be a poor man, for his dear country.
- Rizal as a charitable teacher and Doctor.
Rizal has achieved a lot of success in his profession as an Ophthalmologist, after graduating from schools that were considered as the finest in his time. But he doesn’t stop there; he went to different places work with some of the great practitioners in the field. During his exile in Dapitan, he teach young residents arts, medicine, and literature that helped a lot of the Dapitan people to learn what was not given properly to them.
Rizal contributed to reform groups like La Solidaridad which he was made honorary president he wrote several articles for the newspaper that gave a lot of impact than other articles written by Marcelo H. Del Pilar and Graciano Lopez Jaena.
He is the inspiration behind Katipunan’s foundation. The term “Rizal” is used as password for third-degree members. He is also the founder of the reform group called La Liga Filipina, a humane organization that strives to ask for a better government for Filipinos.
Though Jose Rizal is considered as our National Hero, some people still speculates that he is just a hero “made” by the Americans. It is said that Rizal is the national hero because of the Taft Commission, but I believe that Rizal was chosen as national hero because of his works, philosophies, accomplishments that made him the greatest and most prominent person in the history of the Philippines. Just like prof. Blumentritt said in 1897: “Not only is Rizal the most prominent man of his own people but the greatest man the Malayan race has produced.” With all the accomplishments he can achieve, he still chose to give his life for his country.
“He is a man honored after death by public worship, because of exceptional service to mankind.” Even before his execution, Rizal has already gained honor for being passionate in reform that made him one of his kind, for being a great example of loyalty, love for his people and country. And I salute him for that.
“Dr. Rizal was a peace-loving man, and in his books, he made all the revolutionary efforts of his characters fail utterly. He believed that the peaceful way of reform was the way to change the status quo in the Philippines then. He surmised that there were intelligent and willing listeners in “Mother Spain,” who would be willing to make the necessary changes in the colonial government so that the Philippines could reach its fullest potential. Dr. Rizal and his allies fought for the recognition of the Philippines as a province of Spain. They actively reiterated in their efforts and in their written works that (1) Spaniards and Filipinos must be treated as equals; (2) Filipinos must have a representative to the Spanish “Cortes” or Legislature; (3) The parishes in the Philippines must be given to secular priests, and not to religious orders; and (4) Filipinos should be given the freedom of speech, freedom of the press, and the right to fair trial. Above all these, Dr. Rizal and his compatriots lobbied for the removal of the religious orders in the Philippines, which they identified as the cause of the nation’s backward state.
Dr. Rizal did have thoughts of eventual independence, but never through violent means. It is ironic, therefore, that the revolution that started in his lifetime was ascribed by the Spaniards to him, though he never had a hand in it. Dr. Rizal, the reformist, was actually executed on the accusation that he was the supreme leader of the revolutionary movement of his time. The efforts for reform of Dr. Rizal and his compatriots at this time were already showing signs of failure, prompting leaders from the lower classes to launch an armed struggle.”
In other countries, their national heroes held guns, used force and shed blood for liberty but our Jose Rizal believes that violence is not the answer for a better tomorrow, hence a bloodless battle for independence is the best solution. Rizal believes that “A pen is mightier and more powerful than the sword.”
Rizal himself, the Filipinos, and foreigners made him the greatest hero the Filipinos have ever had because of his excellence in everything he did. From his love for arts, science, loyalty to his country and the one who truly answered the calling that is to be the greatest Filipino this history can give.
-------------------------------------
De Ocampo. “Who Made Rizal our Foremost National Hero, and Why”
Rafael Palma. “Pride of the Malayan Race”
Rizal: Life, Works, and Writings of a Genius, Writer, Scientist and National Hero. 2nd Edition by Zaide.
National Hero of the Philippines: Dr. Jose P. Rizal - his life, works, and martyrdom. By George Guntur Pujalte
