Veneration without Understanding: Does Rizal deserve to be our national hero?
National revolution
a period when the people were most
united, most involved, and most
decisively active in the fight for freedom
almost always the leader of the rev
becomes the principal hero of his people
eg. Washington-US, Lenin-Soviet Union,
Sun Yat Sen and Mao-China, Ho Chi
Minh-Vietnam
Philippines case
national hero was not the leader of the
Rev in fact he rejected it
Rizal was against Bonifacio and those
who were fighting for the countrys
liberty
him wanting to go to Cuba to render
medical service was an act of betrayal
December 15, 1896 Manifesto
o since the beginning, Rizal
opposed the Revolution;
o for him, reforms are beneficial
o condemn the uprisings that
dishonors Filipinos and
discredits the likes of him
o abhors its criminal methods and
disclaim all part in it and pitied
those who take part in the
Revolution
Rizal and the Revolution
Contradictions exist on whether Rizal was wrong
or the Revolution was wrong
Rizalists had different approaches in dealing with
the issue
o Silent on the issue of Rizals
condemnation of the Katipunan
o Embarrassed by his refusal to
align with the revolutionaries
o Agree on Rizal on the primacy of
education
o Praised Rizals stand against the
Rev
o Choose not to dwell on the issue
Rizals reaction toward the Revolution is
treasonous in the light of Filipinos struggle
against Spain
Irony: Rizal rejected the one act that synthesized
our nationalist aspiration yet we consider him a
nationalist leader
o Has dangerous implications: can
be used to excuse those who
actively betrayed the Revolution
and may serve to diminish the
passion of those at present who
supports nationalist undertaking
An American-Sponsored Hero
Rizal was already a revered figurehad the
qualities of greatness, patriotic, martyr to
oppression, obscurantism, and bigotrymore so
after his martyrdom. However, it cant be denied
that his pre-eminence among our heroes was a
result of American sponsorship
How was it done?
o Encouraging a Rizal cult
o Minimizing/Vilifying the
importance of other heroes
Governor William Howard Taft
1901: suggested that the Philippine
Commission be given a national hero
o Free Press of December 28,
1946: Gov. addressed to the
Filipino members of the
commission to declare a Rizal
Day
Theodor Friend
Book: Between Two Empires
o Taft with American officials and
some conservative Filipinos
chose Rizal over Aguinaldo (too
militant), Bonifacio (too radical)
and Mabini (unregenerate)
Sponsorship of Rizal was implemented thru Acts
of Philippine Commission:
Act No. 137- organized the politico-
military district of Morong and named it
the province of Rizal in honor of the
most illustrious Filipino and the most
illustrious Tagalog the islands had ever
known
Act No. 243- authorized a public
subscription for the erection of a
monument in honor of Rizal at the
Luneta
Act No. 346- anniversary of death as a
day of observance
Governor W. Cameron Forbes
Book: The Philippine Islands
o Public schools are teaching that
Rizal is the greatest of Filipino
patriots
Reason of Rizals acceptability as
national hero:
o 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.
o he was safely dead by the time
America began colonizing
o Rizal's death symbolizes Spanish
oppression. This way the
Americans were able to divert
the attention of the Filipinos
from questioning the
Americans.
o Emphasis on reformist and not a
separatist in order not to
encourage people from seeking
independence
o Members of Philippine
Commission were conservative
illustrados, also the class were
Rizal came fromright social
lass that was cultivating and
building up for leadership
o Americans desired hero:
someone who would not run
against American colonial policy
Context at this time: Filipinos were desperate to
have someone to look up to or the need for a
hero to bolster their national identity thus they
allowed to be carried by the Americans
propaganda
Why is it important to understand or re-evaluate
our history?
serve to develop how our present has
been distorted by a faulty knowledge of
our past
we become confronted with the present
already as future
effects: might down-grade some heroes
and even discard others (cant spare
Rizal)
The Role of Heroes (Importance of Historical
Materialism)
With or without Rizal and the others, the
social and economic conditions brought
by Spanish colonialism will still produce
nationalist movement
another type of talent would have
appeared who might have given a
different style to the historic struggle;
but the general trend engendered by the
particular social relations would have
remained the same.
That Rizal possessed a particular talent
that influenced the style of the period
was accidental
Holds true at present: fundamental
cause of mass action is not because of
the presence of a leader rather these
leaders were brought up by historical
forces unleased by social development
Rizal was a hero: he was able to see the
problems generated by historical forces,
discern the new social needs created by
the historical development of new social
relationships, and take an active part in
meeting these needs.
 Rizal was not a hero: he could have
stopped and altered the course of events
o demonstrated by the fact that the
Revolution broke out despite his
refusal to lead it and continued
despite his condemnation of it
o He was the first Filipino but he was
only a limited Filipino, the ilustrado
Filipino who fought for national
unity but feared the Revolution and
loved his mother country, yes, but
in his own ilustrado way.
Innovation and Change
Context: great economic changes
Factors that led to an economic re-thinking by
Liberal Spanish officials:
English occupation
End of galleon trade
Latin-American revolutions
Establishment of non-Hispanic
commercial houses as well as
shipping that monopolized the
import-export trade
Opening of ports: Sual, Cebu,
Zamboanga, Legaspi, and
Tacloban that further increase
cosmopolitan penetration
Economic developments (eg export
economy thru European and American
activities) lead to improvement in
communications as well as opening to
the world due to the opening of Suez
Canal
o Functional road system
o Opening of railroad lines
o Postal services as well as
telegraph
o Submarine cable to Hongkong
o Manilas water system
modernized
o These material progress lead to
social and cultural changes
cosmopolitan attitudes
heightened opposition
to clerical control
Ideological Framework
Spawned discontent when the natives
saw better opportunities: equality with
the peninsulares in economic and
political sphere; Equality with the
Spaniard meant equality of opportunity
Hispanization and assimilation
o Constituted the ideological
expression of economic
motivations of idios and
mestizos
o Initial phase of nationalist
consciousness made possible by
the market situation at the time
Anti-clericalism
o Ideological style of the period
o targets the lordly friar who had
been responsible for the
isolation of the islands
Rizal was an ilustrado and was a product
of his society and as such could be
expected to voice only those aims that
were within the competence of his class
For Constantino: real equality must be
based on national freedom and
independence
Concept of Filipino Nationhood
Rizals contribution
-growth of national consciousness
-Filipino nationhood; the winning of our
name as a race, recognition of our people as one,
and the elevation of the indio into Filipino
mendicants