Fortaleza, Kwenzie Arbin N. Bsa - Ii

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FORTALEZA, KWENZIE ARBIN N.

BSA - II

Would you consider Dr. Jose Rizal worthy to be considered as National Hero of
the Philippines?

Hero, a word that signifies bravery, courage, will, and most of all, the ability to
sacrifice for others, for the country. Someone who is able to stand and fight for what is
right. That’s how I understand what a hero truly means. So to answer the question, I
would say yes, I consider Dr. Jose Rizal to be considered as National Hero of the
Philippines.

Before I explain to you the reason why I said yes, let us know first who Jose Rizal
is. Jose Rizal was born at Calamba Laguna on June 19, 1861 to Francisco Mercado
and Teodora Alonso. He has 9 sisters and only 1 brother. He was born with precocious
intellect; learning the alphabet at the age of 3, able to read and write at the age of 5,
and wrote his first poem entitled “Sa Aking mga Kabata”, which is, for his age, is
somewhat amazing, and after that, he wrote several poems like “Gamu-gamo”, “To the
Filipino Youth” , etc. Nonetheless, his skills were above average and deserved to be
praised and complimented. However, he first witnessed injustice when his mother was
accused of murdering someone, which then made Rizal aware of what was the current
situation that time, the colonization of Spaniards, abuses of friars, and much more. He
was then awakened to the reality. Years later, he continued his studies at Spain, simply
because he was not satisfied of how the Dominicans handle the educational system,
and to fulfill his secret mission: to keenly observe the culture, practices, behavior, and
etc. of different countries to prepare him in liberating the oppressed Filipinos. During his
trips, he then started to write his first novel which was entitled “Noli Me Tangere” or
Touch Me Not. His inspiration for this was the novel Uncle Tom’s Cabin by Harriet
Stowe, and his goal was to expose Spanish colonial abuse. In contradiction to warriors
who fought using their swords, Rizal’s way of fighting against the Spaniards was
through writing because he believed that “pen is mightier than sword”. After he finished
his first novel, he then proceeded to write his second novel which was “El
Filibusterismo”, wherein his goal this time was to expose the abuses of the friars. The
Spaniards, however, got infuriated of Rizal’s novels because they knew he was
attacking them. He was then charged with the crime of rebellion and formation of illegal
associations. By December 29, 1896, Rizal wrote his last poem which was entitled “Mi
Ultimo Adios”, and on December 30, 1896, he was shot in front of crowds and died at
7:03 am.

My reason why I consider Rizal to be a national hero is because he willingly


fought for our country when no one dared to do so, despite knowing the risk he has to
take in order to liberate oppressed Filipinos. He was so eager to complete his goals,
even when he was warned by many people to do so. Even when he knows that death
awaits him, he still fought for his country. For me, a hero does not concern himself of
what he will get at the end, but what he can do for others. It’s as if he did not feared
death, nor feared the tyranny of the Spaniards. Furthermore, he did not use any means
of violence to fight against the Spaniards, instead, he used his talent in writing, his novel
and poems to enlighten the minds of the Filipinos, to inform them what the Spaniards
have been doing, to subtly personally attack the oppressors. He was more concerned
about the freedom of the Filipinos than his own well-being.

Through his first novel which was Noli Me Tangere, he expressed the sad
conditions of the society, beliefs, hopes, dreams and the cry of Filipino people. He also
expressed everything about the wrong use of religion or the exploitation of the word of
God which friars used for them to benefit and corrupt people. It was through his novels
that Rizal expressed his anger towards the colonizers. Though his first novel was
almost thrown away, it was saved by Maximo Viola. Knowing that Rizal went through a
lot, even experiencing financial crisis, he still continued to write his novels and he was
eager to finish it, because he knew that only through his novels would he be able to fight
against the Spaniards.

Another reason would be that a hero greatly inspires and influences others. For
this reason, I believe that Rizal can be considered as the national hero of the
Philippines because not only did he inspired and influenced other writers but also
Andres Bonifacio to act up. Also, the Philippine revolution led by Andres Bonifacio was
fueled by Jose Rizal’s Noli Me Tangere and El Filibusterismo.
His second novel entitled “El Filibusterismo” was written in dedication to the three
martyred priests namely Mariano Gomez, Jose Burgos, and Jacinto Zamora, whose
deaths left an indelible mark in his mind. Like Noli Me Tangere, this novel aims at
enlightening the Filipinos, bringing them closer to the truth, and is urged to open its eyes
to reality and rebel against the Spanish government for its oppression and abuse. In the
first novel, there was beauty, romance, and mercy, while in El Fili, its more about
sadness, revenge, hatred, and bitterness. It’s as if Rizal was preparing himself to make
a counterattack.

Rizal was truly an inspiration to many Filipinos during the Spanish period.
According to the historian Rafael Palma, Rizal was more deserving of the national hero
title. Rizal was even thought to have suggested that Antonio Luna lead the revolutionary
forces since Luna has studied military science which was a brilliant idea to lessen
casualties against the powerhouse Spanish militia. Rizal believed that only an army that
was well prepared and had enough arms would ensure victory.

The books of Jose Rizal showed the real situation of the Philippines during the
time of the Spaniards. This is also related to what happened in Calamba where their
land and properties where forcefully taken by the Spanish authority along with other
Filipino families. This also represents the struggle of the nation against the abuse of the
colonizer.

Even though death awaited him if he will return to the Philippines, still he chose
to go back to the Philippines because the real battle was in his homeland not in the
Spain. He was exiled to Dapitan where he experienced one of the colorful chapters of
his life. It is a good example that there is hope for every small town in the country.

Even after his death, his legacy is still being remembered up until now. His life,
novels, works, contributions to our country, has still been studied. Even students are
taking up the subject about his life. This proves that Rizal means so much to us
Filipinos, how his works affects, changed, inspired us to do more for our country. That
we also need to fight for our country, especially when someone is trying to oppress us,
to strip us of our freedom, we have to fight, for our motherland. He died fighting, and he
died an honorable death. He died without regrets, without guilt, he fought at the very
end, all for our freedom, for our country. He was the reason why Filipinos started to
stand up, and fought against the Spaniards.

To sum it all up, Rizal was like Jesus in our time, he was our savior, and he was
the one who fought for us when nobody else could, despite the fact that death awaits
him. He showed no fear in battling against the Spaniards. He fought not through
violence, but through his pen. His death was but without a purpose, he fought for our
country and for our freedom. He left us with his legacy and it our duty to learn from it,
gain something from it, and do what Rizal did, fight for our country, and for our freedom.
Even in his death, Rizal did not show any sign of regret and sadness, in fact he was
happy that he fought with everything he have for his country, and because of that, he
died an honorable death. Up to this day, Rizal’s death will be remembered not just some
person, but the National Hero of the Philippines.

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