- Sponsored by Claro M. Recto and Jose P. Laurel
-Signed by Ramon Magsaysay
-June 12 1956 and would take effect on August 16 1656.
- A law that made the study of the life, works and writing of Jose Rizal compulsory in all schools in the Philippines
-It was meant to honor Rizal and other heroes
- It requires the curricula of private and public schools, Colleges and Universities courses to include the Life, Works and Writings of Rizal, particularly his Novels, Noli Me Tangere & El Filibusterismo.
- Preamble on this Act.
a.There is a need for a re-dedication to the details of freedom and nationalism for which our heroes lived and died
b. We can recall with special fondness and devotion and their lives and works that have shaped the national character.
WAS JOSE RIZAL AN AMERICAN SPONSORED
It was Governor William Howard Taft who in 1901 suggested to the Philippine Commission that the Filipinos be given a national hero. Theodore Friend in his book Between Two Empires, says that Taft “with other American colonial officials and some conservative Filipinos, chose him as a model hero over other contestants – Aguinaldo too militant, Bonifacio too radical, Mabini unregenerate.” This decision to sponsor Rizal was implemented with the passage of following Acts of the Philippine Commission: (1) Act. No. 137 – which organized the politico-military district of Morong and named it province of Rizal “in honor of the most illustrious Filipino and the most illustrious Tagalog the islands had ever known, “(2) Act. No. 243 which authorized a public subscription for the erection of a monument in honor or rizal at the Luneta and (3) Act. No. 346 which set aside the anniversary of his death as a day of observance.
The reason for the enthusiastic attitude becomes clear in the following appraisal of Rizal by Forbes: Rizal never advocated independence, nor did he advocate armed resistance to the government. He urged reform from within by publicity, by public education and appeal to the public conscience.
Taft’s appreciation for Rizal has much the same basis, as evidenced by his calling Rizal “the greatest Filipino, a physician, a novelist and a poet because of his struggle for a betterment of conditions under Spanish rule was unjustly convicted and shot.
Several factors contributed to Rizal’s acceptability to the American as the official hero of the Filipinos. In the first place, he was safely dead by the time the American began their aggression. No embarrassing anti-American quotations could ever be attributed to him. Moreover, Rizal’s dramatic martyrdom had already made him the symbol of Spanish oppression. To focus attention on him would serve not only to concentrate Filipino hatred against the erstwhile oppressor, it would also blunt their feelings of animosity toward the new conquerors against whom there was still organized resistance at that time. His choice was a maters stroke by the Americans. The honors bestowed on Rizal naturally appreciated by the Filipinos who were proud of him.
It must also be remembered that the Filipino members of the Philippine Commission were conservative ilustrados. The Americans regarded Rizal as belonging to this class. This was, One more point in his favor. Rizal belonged to the right social class—the class that they were cultivating and building up was for leadership.
It may be argued that humiliation of a second colonization, we as a people felt that the need to a super hero to bolster the national ego and we therefore allowed ourselves to be propagandized in favor of acceptable to the colonizer. But that as it may, certainly it is now time for us to view Rizal with more rationality and with more historicity. This need not alarm anyone but the blind worshipper. Rizal will still occupy a good position in our national pantheon even if we discard hagiolatry and subject him to a more mature historical evaluation.
A proper understanding of our history is very important to us because it will serve to demonstrate how our present has been distorted faulty knowledge of our past. By unraveling the past we become confronted with the present already as future. Such a re-evaluation may result in a down-grading of some heroes and even a discarding of others. It cannot spare even Rizal. The exposure of his weaknesses and limitations will also mean our liberation, for he has, to a certain extent become part of the superstructure that supports presents consciousness. That is why a critical evaluation of Rizal cannot but lead to a revision of our understanding of history and of the role of the individual in history.
Orthodox historians have presented history as a succession of exploits of eminent personalities, leading many of us to regard history as the product of gifted individuals. This tendency is strongly noticeable in those who have tried of late to manufacture new heroes’ trough press releases, by the creation of foundations, or by the proclamation of centennial celebrations. Though such tactics may succeed for a limited period, they cannot insure immortality where there exists no solid basis for it. In the case of Rizal, while he was favored by colonial support and became good copy for propagandists, he had the qualifications to assume immortality. It must be admitted that in our history that the study of Rizal’s Life and Works has developed into a cult distorting the role and the place of Rizal in our history.
WHO MADE JOSE RIZAL OUR FOREMOST NATIONAL HERO? & WHY?
-No Single person or groups of person we’re responsible for making the Greatest
Malayan the number of one hero of his life. Rizal himself, his own people and the foreigners together contributed to make him the greatest hero and martyr of his people.
1.He is our greatest national hero because as a towering figure in the Propaganda Movement, he took an “admirable part” in that movement which roughly covered the period of 1882-1896
2.No Filipino has yet been born who could equal or surpass Rizal as a person of distinguished valor/enterprise in danger, or fortitude in suffering.
3.He is a man honored after death by public worship because of exceptional service to mankind.
WHY NOT BONIFACIO? PEN IS MIGHTER AND EVEN MORE POWERFUL THAN THE SWORD.
-Signed by Ramon Magsaysay
-June 12 1956 and would take effect on August 16 1656.
- A law that made the study of the life, works and writing of Jose Rizal compulsory in all schools in the Philippines
-It was meant to honor Rizal and other heroes
- It requires the curricula of private and public schools, Colleges and Universities courses to include the Life, Works and Writings of Rizal, particularly his Novels, Noli Me Tangere & El Filibusterismo.
- Preamble on this Act.
a.There is a need for a re-dedication to the details of freedom and nationalism for which our heroes lived and died
b. We can recall with special fondness and devotion and their lives and works that have shaped the national character.
WAS JOSE RIZAL AN AMERICAN SPONSORED
It was Governor William Howard Taft who in 1901 suggested to the Philippine Commission that the Filipinos be given a national hero. Theodore Friend in his book Between Two Empires, says that Taft “with other American colonial officials and some conservative Filipinos, chose him as a model hero over other contestants – Aguinaldo too militant, Bonifacio too radical, Mabini unregenerate.” This decision to sponsor Rizal was implemented with the passage of following Acts of the Philippine Commission: (1) Act. No. 137 – which organized the politico-military district of Morong and named it province of Rizal “in honor of the most illustrious Filipino and the most illustrious Tagalog the islands had ever known, “(2) Act. No. 243 which authorized a public subscription for the erection of a monument in honor or rizal at the Luneta and (3) Act. No. 346 which set aside the anniversary of his death as a day of observance.
The reason for the enthusiastic attitude becomes clear in the following appraisal of Rizal by Forbes: Rizal never advocated independence, nor did he advocate armed resistance to the government. He urged reform from within by publicity, by public education and appeal to the public conscience.
Taft’s appreciation for Rizal has much the same basis, as evidenced by his calling Rizal “the greatest Filipino, a physician, a novelist and a poet because of his struggle for a betterment of conditions under Spanish rule was unjustly convicted and shot.
Several factors contributed to Rizal’s acceptability to the American as the official hero of the Filipinos. In the first place, he was safely dead by the time the American began their aggression. No embarrassing anti-American quotations could ever be attributed to him. Moreover, Rizal’s dramatic martyrdom had already made him the symbol of Spanish oppression. To focus attention on him would serve not only to concentrate Filipino hatred against the erstwhile oppressor, it would also blunt their feelings of animosity toward the new conquerors against whom there was still organized resistance at that time. His choice was a maters stroke by the Americans. The honors bestowed on Rizal naturally appreciated by the Filipinos who were proud of him.
It must also be remembered that the Filipino members of the Philippine Commission were conservative ilustrados. The Americans regarded Rizal as belonging to this class. This was, One more point in his favor. Rizal belonged to the right social class—the class that they were cultivating and building up was for leadership.
It may be argued that humiliation of a second colonization, we as a people felt that the need to a super hero to bolster the national ego and we therefore allowed ourselves to be propagandized in favor of acceptable to the colonizer. But that as it may, certainly it is now time for us to view Rizal with more rationality and with more historicity. This need not alarm anyone but the blind worshipper. Rizal will still occupy a good position in our national pantheon even if we discard hagiolatry and subject him to a more mature historical evaluation.
A proper understanding of our history is very important to us because it will serve to demonstrate how our present has been distorted faulty knowledge of our past. By unraveling the past we become confronted with the present already as future. Such a re-evaluation may result in a down-grading of some heroes and even a discarding of others. It cannot spare even Rizal. The exposure of his weaknesses and limitations will also mean our liberation, for he has, to a certain extent become part of the superstructure that supports presents consciousness. That is why a critical evaluation of Rizal cannot but lead to a revision of our understanding of history and of the role of the individual in history.
Orthodox historians have presented history as a succession of exploits of eminent personalities, leading many of us to regard history as the product of gifted individuals. This tendency is strongly noticeable in those who have tried of late to manufacture new heroes’ trough press releases, by the creation of foundations, or by the proclamation of centennial celebrations. Though such tactics may succeed for a limited period, they cannot insure immortality where there exists no solid basis for it. In the case of Rizal, while he was favored by colonial support and became good copy for propagandists, he had the qualifications to assume immortality. It must be admitted that in our history that the study of Rizal’s Life and Works has developed into a cult distorting the role and the place of Rizal in our history.
WHO MADE JOSE RIZAL OUR FOREMOST NATIONAL HERO? & WHY?
-No Single person or groups of person we’re responsible for making the Greatest
Malayan the number of one hero of his life. Rizal himself, his own people and the foreigners together contributed to make him the greatest hero and martyr of his people.
1.He is our greatest national hero because as a towering figure in the Propaganda Movement, he took an “admirable part” in that movement which roughly covered the period of 1882-1896
2.No Filipino has yet been born who could equal or surpass Rizal as a person of distinguished valor/enterprise in danger, or fortitude in suffering.
3.He is a man honored after death by public worship because of exceptional service to mankind.
WHY NOT BONIFACIO? PEN IS MIGHTER AND EVEN MORE POWERFUL THAN THE SWORD.