Who Made Rizal Our Foremost National Hero, and Why?

BY: ESTEBAN A. DE OCAMPO

Dr. Jose Rizal Mercado y Alonso, or simply Jose Rizal (1861-1896), is unquestionably the greatest hero
& martyr of our nation. The day of his birth & the day of his execution are fittingly commemorated by
all classes of our people throughout the length & breadth of this country & even by Filipinos & their
friends abroad. His name is a byword in every Filipino home while his picture adorns the postage
stamp & paper money of widest circulation. No other Filipino hero can surpass Rizal in the number of
towns, barrios, & streets named after him; in the number of educational institutions, societies, &
trade names that bear his name; in the number of persons, both Filipinos & foreigners, who were
named "Rizal" or "Rizalina" because of their parents’ admiration for the Great Malayan; & in the
number of laws, Executive Orders & Proclamations of the Chief Executive, & bulletins, memoranda, &
circulars of both the bureaus of public & private schools. Who is the Filipino writer & thinker whose
teachings & noble thoughts have been frequently invoked & quoted by authors & public speakers on
almost all occasions? None but Rizal. And why is this so? Because as biographer Rafael Palma (1) said,
"The doctrines of Rizal are not for one epoch but for all epochs. They are as valid today as they were
yesterday. It cannot be said that because the political ideals of Rizal have been achieved, because of
the change in the institutions, the wisdom of his counsels or the value of his doctrines have ceased to
be opportune. They have not."

Unfortunately, however, there are still some Filipinos who entertain the belief that Rizal is a "made-
to-order" national hero, & that the maker or manufacturer in this case were the Americans,
particularly Civil Governor William Howard Taft. This was done allegedly, in the following manner:

"And now, gentlemen, you must have a national hero". These were supposed to be the words
addressed by Gov. Taft to Mssrs. Pardo de Tavera, Legarda & Luzurriaga, Filipino members of the
Philippine Commission, of which Taft was the chairman. It was further reported that "in the
subsequent discussion in which the rival merits of the revolutionary heroes (M. H. del Pilar, Graciano
Lopez Jaena, Gen. Antonio Luna, Emilio Jacinto, & Andres Bonifacio—O.) were considered, the final
choice—now universally acclaimed a wise one—was Rizal. And so history was made."(2)

This article will attempt to answer two questions: 1) Who made Rizal the foremost national hero & 2)
Why is Rizal our greatest national hero? Before proceeding to answer these queries, it will be better
if we first know the meaning of the term hero. According to Webster’s New International Dictionary
of the English Language, a hero is "a prominent or central personage taking admirable part in any
remarkable action or event". Also, "a person of distinguished valor or enterprise in danger". And
finally, he is a man "honored after death by public worship, because of exceptional service to
mankind".

Why is Rizal a hero, nay, our foremost national hero? He is our greatest hero because as a towering
figure in the Propaganda Campaign, he took an "admirable part" in that movement w/c roughly
covered the period from 1882-1896. If we were asked to pick out a single work by a Filipino writer
during this period, more than any writer writing, contributed tremendously to the formation of
Filipino nationality, we shall have no hesitation tin choosing Rizal’s Noli Me Tangere (Berlin, 1887). It
is true that Pedro Paterno published his novel, Ninay, in Madrid in 1885; M. H. del Pilar his La
Soberania Monacal in Barcelona in 1889, Graciano Lopez Jaena, his Discursos y Articulos Varios, also
in Barcelona in 1891; & Antonio Luna, his Impresiones in Madrid in 1893, but none of these books
had evoked such favorable & unfavorable comments from friends & foes alike as did Rizal’s Noli.

Who Made Jose Rizal Our Foremost National Hero, and Why?

Dr. Jose Rizal Mercado y Alonso is by far, without a doubt, the greatest hero this nation can ever
have. Ever since the very foundation of our early education, we have been taught about a man to
whom we owe the sweet taste of independence we now have the privilege to enjoy. Rafael Palma, a
person of great significance once said, “The doctrines of Rizal are not for one epoch, but for all
epochs. They are as valid today as they were yesterday…”, and it will still be strongly valid in the
future. This signifies the immortality of Rizal’s life, works, and genuine character. And as our beloved
country’s National Hero, Dr. Jose Rizal will be remembered, forever. That we can be sure of.

However, the world will never run out of skeptics. Some have lead themselves to believe that Dr.
Rizal was a “made-to-order” hero; one that personifies what we want to see in a person, or in a hero,
for this matter. But we strongly believe, that these opinions hold no truth. Dr. Jose Rizal was a very
real human being. One who had his share of mistakes, and heartaches, but nevertheless stood for
what he believed in, and lead his nation to freedom.

Who made Jose Rizal our foremost national hero, and why? But before we can come up with a logical
answer to that, we must first look into the character and works of Dr. Jose Rizal that made him our
national hero.

First and foremost, as stated by the authors Gregorio and Sonia Zaide in the book Jose Rizal, Dr. Rizal
is our greatest hero because he took an “admirable part” in that movement which roughly covered
the period from 1882-1896. His wondrous magic with words in his writings, had a tremendous
contribution to the formation of Filipino nationality, lead his fellow men to assert their right to our
nation. Dr. Rizal’s works sparked a flame that set us free.

The authors have previously stated, “…no Filipino has yet been born who could equal or surpass Rizal
as “person of distinguished valor or enterprise in danger, or fortitude in suffering.” This is the second
point. We can all agree about the fact that not one citizen of the country had yet to show the same
characteristics, or had done the bravest of acts for his country as Dr. Jose Rizal. Considering his
natural endowments—intellegence, wealth, influence—Dr. Jose Rizal could’ve chosen a life in
prosperity, up, up and away in another island. But instead, he dedicated his life into writing for the
sake of his love for public service to the Filipino people, and the Philippines.

And lastly, Jose Rizal is the greatest Filipino hero because he is “a man honored after death by public
worship, because of exceptional service to mankind.” (Gregorio and Sonia Zaide, Jose Rizal). Dr. Jose
Rizal is not only highly acclaimed up to this very time because of the exemplary literature we still
study to this day. He is still very highly remembered and ever adored because of his conviction,
service, and great love for the Filipino people, and the country. This is because he is still celebrated
years after he left the face of the earth. He was a great leader, who offered exceptional service to
mankind.

Going back to our main question: Who made Dr. Jose Rizal our foremost national hero, and why?
Our answer is going to be brief, and simple. Not one person or organization can be held responsible
for making Dr. Jose Rizal our national hero. Rizal himself, his own people, and the foreigners all
together contributed to make him the greatest hero and martyr of his people. This is because; Dr.
Jose Rizal didn’t become our National Hero by way of traditional election. The fruits of his
exceptional dedication and conviction to his life’s purpose are seen in our everyday lives. If he hadn’t,
and among other note-worthy heroes of our history fought for our well-deserved freedom, maybe
we’ll still be in the hands of our unjust captors. His “excellent qualities and merits” (Rafael Palma)
made him Our Foremost National Hero.

Who and what made Rizal our foremost national hero: Reaction Paper Essay

Renato Constantino, wrote the Veneration without Understanding for him to convince Filipinos
having doubts on Rizal being the national hero. At the very beginning, he immediately compared the
Philippine hero to many nations in which he explained their heroes were leaders of the revolution
and ours was adjacent to such revolution: Washington – United States, Lenin – Soviet Union, Bolivar
– Latin America, and others. In fact, he described Rizal as repudiation towards Bonifacio who is the
leader of the revolution and the one fighting for the country’s liberty. Making his argument stronger,

he added the Americans entry to the country. William Howard Taft was the person, who suggested
that the Philippines should have a national hero. Chosen contestants were in the candidate of being
selected out of these were Bonifacio, Aguinaldo, Del Pilar, Mabini, Luna, and others. Choosing Rizal
was supported with three different Act no. – 137, 243, and 346 whereas described to be honouring a
province named after him, erection of his monument, and his death as a day of observance.

These are some of his different arguments that stamped into the group’s mind. Nearly a half of our
group was convinced of how Constantino presented his data. One of us even said, “He was a voodoo
doll casted on us Filipinos by the wickedness of Americans.” As our professor stated, indeed he was
very convincing – but if one knows Rizal so well, an individual will think Constantino’s work is
ridiculous. In the end, Constantino was marked as having his own standards of having a hero. His
data was not based on facts. The heroes he mentioned, he didn’t even bother to delve deeper.
Finding out, Washington was a rich man – owning plantations and even slaves. Rizal had nothing
compared to what Washington had but his family and attainment of such high degree of education.
Americans did not choose the province to be named Rizal, it was a Filipino native who initiate the
name of Rizal to be used at thus was approved by the States. In addition to this, the death of Rizal
was known to be celebrated even before the Americans arrived – Emilio Aguinaldo had set the day to
an observance.

Lastly, Rizal was not the person needed by the Americans because he was a good model of anti-thesis
of revolution, he is not a puppet used to lure us, not a piper to hypnotize us – he is respected to be
the hero of our heroes. Yes, indeed, he inspired many of our heroes and they consider themselves a
saluting person to Rizal. After stating some facts in contrast to Constantino’s argument, it was as
usual – many of the members believed once again that Rizal was a just hero of the country. As
Esteban A. De Ocampo stated in his work: Who and what made Rizal our foremost national hero, he
stated that no one can surpass the things Rizal did. Each one of us knew from the beginning what
Rizal did for the country, his works, and other contributions to societies. However, what we didn’t
see was that he was more than that; he was a selfless being.

He abandoned his childhood and entered maturity at an early age, abandoned his personal interests,
and he chose to be serving the Filipinos rather than enjoying his life with friends, women, and family.
Upon reading this literary work relating to Rizal, it made us realize – he was someone really deserve
to look up to. Indeed he was an ordinary person, but what made him extraordinary was that he made
the best out of his living serving the citizens. A member of our group stated maybe he had a calling
for the Filipino people that until his last breath, all he did was to inspire the Filipinos. These two
readings have different goals to set in the minds of the readers. As students, observed in our group –
a lot are being flown by the current when arguments can really persuade them. Maybe this is our
standing in society; we are the learning ones who set our beliefs on the statements of others.