Soldier's Pen
By BGen. Alexander Cabales (Ret.)
Does Rizal deserve
to be our nat’l hero?
We had this history teacher in high school who
argued that Gat Andres Bonifacio more deserves to be declared as the national
hero instead of Dr. Jose Rizal. He
contended that Rizal was made as the national hero upon the machinations of our
American colonizers. It was a strategic
move on their part to influence the Filipinos to emulate a man of peace like
Rizal rather than adore the revolutionary like Bonifacio. Otherwise, its colonies would always have the
tendency to resort to violent means in their quest for reforms.
Was my history teacher right in his claim? Would it be more fitting that our national
hero should perhaps be Andres Bonifacio; or Emilio Aguinaldo, who first raised
the Philippine Flag in Kawit, Cavite in 1898 and became our first president? Or
perhaps, should the legendary Lapu-lapu, who led the first resistance against
foreign invaders, be declared as our National Hero instead? I posed this question to a lady member of the
academe, a scion of one of our local heroes.
She had this to say, "Rizal had given more for our country than
anyone of our heroes. He stands out
among the rest!"
In celebration of Rizal's birthday, let us talk about his
contributions-the turning points in his life, his rare experiences and
exposures to different cultures, and his unique friendships and relationships
with fellow intellectuals and idealists that set his nationalism on fire and
became the foundation of his dream for a free Philippines.
Rizal came from an affluent family by Filipino standards during
his time. He could have chosen a life of
peace and prosperity. He had the
opportunity to look for greener pastures and this he did by traveling to Spain
to finish his medical studies. However,
it was his travels that changed his life forever, albeit in a different
direction. It gave him the chance to
compare the conditions of his motherland with the countries and places he
visited. Ironically, it was his
experiences in Spain itself that influenced him the most.
On June 11, 1882, while en route to Spain and a little more
than a week before his 21st birthday, Rizal made a short stop in Naples,
Italy. During his tour of the city, he
noticed the many leaflets that announced the death of Giuseppe Garibaldi, a
national hero of Italy. He was so
impressed with the man. Who then was
Garibaldi, who caught the admiration and became an inspiration of this young
Indio dreamer from a distant, unknown and small colony of Spain? Well, Garibaldi was a leader of the Italian
Revolution and a political figure in the post-revolution Italy. He was the one who united his country and
served as a global exemplar of mid-19th century revolutionary nationalism and
liberalism.
 |
| Giuseppe GARIBALDI Source: http://www.wmaker.net |
Upon his arrival in Spain, Rizal was surprised with the
atmosphere of freedom enjoyed by everybody.
Spain was a 'New World' to him.
He came from a country where there was so much oppression, where the
friars, the bureaucrats and the rest of the Spaniards exercised absolute power
over the bodies and souls of the native Filipinos. In Madrid, he saw the exact opposite. Observing all of these, Rizal must have been
overwhelmed by a feeling of bitterness as he compared the unlimited freedom in
the Mother country with the theocratic absolutism in his motherland.
While in Spain, Rizal was influenced by the other Filipino
expatriates. He realized that the enemy
of reforms in the Philippines was not Spain or religion but the friars. In the middle of 1884, Rizal delivered a
speech in a banquet in honor of Juan Luna and Felix Resurreccion Hidalgo, two
Filipino artists who won the first and second prizes, respectively, of a
painting contest in Madrid. In his
momentous speech, Rizal saluted Spain but criticized the friars in the
Philippines. The speech was played up in
the Spanish press and Rizal became the toast of the Filipino community in
Spain. It was also the same speech that
earned him the ire and enmity of the authorities in the Philippines when copies
of the newspapers carrying it reached Manila.
It did not take long for Rizal to become the leading
personality in the propaganda movement for the improvement of conditions in the
Philippines. He also became an active
member of the Circulo Hispano-Filipino, an association of Filipino students and
some Spaniards who were sympathetic to the Filipino cause.
Jose Rizal became a Freemason in Barcelona at the age of
23. It was perhaps the sublime
principles and the social and moral virtues taught in the fraternity that gave
him the 'dangerous' ideas of freedom and liberty. He came under the influence of outstanding
Masonic thinkers like his college professor, the famous historian Miguel
Morayta, also the organizer and president of the Circulo Hispano-Filipino. He
became a friend of ex-President Francisco Pi of the short lived Spanish
Republic, who gave direction to his political thoughts. Moreover, most of the liberal and republican
elements he came in contact with, who were also supportive of the Filipinos,
were masons. Among them were Rafael Labra and Sovereign Grand Commander Manuel
Ruiz Zorilla, the first Spaniards that advocated the emancipation of the
Philippines. It was also during Rizal's stay in Spain that many statesmen who
were acquainted with him were members of the Masonic fraternity.
Noli Mi Tangere was an
expression of Rizal's realization of the sad state of his country borne about
by his experiences. It was an incisive,
full-scale indictment of the Philippines' political and religious regime which
laid bare to the whole world the grave abuses of the friars. It was later followed by a similar book, the El
Filibusterismo. His thoughts of
freedom, equality, fraternity, and independence caused a chill on the spine of
the colonizers particularly the friars who wanted to seal off the Philippines
from the influx of these liberal ideas.
Rizal's books had struck the first sparks of liberty and no amount of
persecution could totally exterminate them.
The Filipinos learned to hope for equal laws and agitated for their
promulgation. Their eyes were opened to
the blessings of liberty and they started to yearn for autonomy and then
absolute independence. The desire for
freedom spread like wild fire and the Katipunan was born.
It is
known that Rizal did not organize the Katipunan nor did he participate in any
of the armed confrontations with the colonizers. However, it was he who first planted the
seeds of liberal ideas that fueled the fire of the revolution. He served as the moving spirit for the
nationhood of our country. Andres Bonifacio
derived his inspiration from Noli Me
Tangere. Most of our revolutionary leaders in the propaganda and the armed
struggle also got the same inspiration from Rizal. Thus, Rizal stands out among the rest and
truly deserves to be our National Hero.
No comments:
Post a Comment