Studying Rizal

By Joshua Corcuera

This midyear term, I am currently taking 3 units of Rizal. The subject revolves around the life and works of our national hero, Jose Rizal. It was his birth anniversary just recently, last June 19 to be precise. To those who forgot, our national hero was born in Calamba, Laguna on June 19, 1861. We commemorate his martyrdom on December 30, 1896, annually with Rizal Day. Despite the fact that Rizal was gone for more than 125 years, his life and works remain more relevant than ever.

A few might be wondering—why still study Rizal? He died more than a century already, others claimed. The obvious answer would be the relevance of his life, works, and the beliefs he fought for. Even though he has been gone for more than a hundred years, his contributions to society remain essential to this day—and would most probably remain important in the years and decades to come.

The national hero was born to a family with relative financial comfort—they are not very rich, but certainly not poor. As some have described their household, they belong to the middle-class. The Rizal Home was distinguished for being a stone house, a two-storey building, built of adobe stones and hard woods, and had red tiles as its roof. Moreover, Rizal’s parents—Francisco and Teodora—were well-educated as they received formal education, and so was Jose who made it to the Ateneo, the University of Santo Tomas, and to the Universidad Central de Madrid. During that time, education—especially among native Filipinos—was a privilege that could only be enjoyed by a few people.

By profession, the hero was a doctor, an ophthalmologist to be precise, but was known to do many things. He was more renowned for his literary works as a writer, especially his masterpieces Noli Me Tangere and El Filibusterismo. These two are not his only works, however, Rizal also wrote poems, such as Sa aking mga kabata (though several historians argue that there is no solid evidence to support authorship by Rizal) which my professor requires the class to memorize for recitation next week.

As early as his youth, Rizal witnessed the injustices prevailing in society. His mother, Teodora, was even imprisoned for a crime she did not commit. One time, in a contest he joined, he was not very much celebrated despite winning due to the fact that he was a native of the Philippines. Such childhood and personal experiences would affect Rizal’s life later on as he grew up. Particularly, he wrote literary works which have awakened ordinary Filipinos from the hostilities of the foreign oppressors. As a result, Filipino nationalism and determination to be free from foreign control gained momentum with Rizal’s works being a huge inspiration of the Philippine Revolution.

At present, while we are no longer dealing with foreign colonizers, foreign threats to our sovereignty are existent particularly in the disputed West Philippine Sea which has an adverse effect on the lifestyle of Filipino fishermen. Moreover, injustices among Filipinos are widespread, and there is a need to remember the importance of fighting for justice, to not cower in fear, and to not retreat against unjust forces.