Ella Jane B.

Engo June 20, 2019

BSMLS 2.1

“Gay Issue a Century Ago”

Jose Protacio Rizal Mercado Y Alonzo Realonda, our late national hero has become a

matter of issue today if was he a gay? In J. Neil Garcia’s essay questioning was Rizal gay? He

too had no answer simply because for him it is misinformed and I agree to it. Dr. Jose Rizal is

our national hero, he died for our country and to the people questioning his manhood if he

was gay? I think not, I believe that he was heterosexual meaning straight. Jose Rizal was

the one who led the Filipinos to start a revolution against the Spanish Government to attain

freedom. He fought for freedom in a silent but powerful way. He expressed his love for the

Philippines through his novels, essays, articles, poems rather than using forceful actions. It’s

true that no one wrote as as passionately about nationhood as he did and I think he’s pretty

much an amazing overall person .

Isagani Cruz claimed that Rizal was gay, he even had “biographical evidences” and also

said that Rizal had a secret relationship with Blumentritt and so as with the other

propagandistas. Bakla is not even the same as we understand it now unlike a century ago. I

suppose people have just mistakenly thought of him as a gay, I mean we all know of how

our national hero always looked good he always was well groomed and I can say that it was

the reason why he had so many girlfriends during his time. He was a man with classic taste

in style I should say. And according to Wilson Lee Flores going by modern day standards,

Rizal could be classified as Southeast Asia’s first and well-known metrosexual. A metrosexual

is heterosexual male with an interest with fashion and a refined sense of taste.
We cannot be too sure if he was really a bakla just with that kind of concept in our head. A

historian named Ambeth Ocampo also said that calling Rizal gay was not the worst thing

that has been said. To him, Rizal’s heroism were all fabrications by the American colonizers.

I’m not against with other peoples opinion or anything because we cannot simply change to

how the way they think about Jose Rizal I’m just saying that how could some people claim

that he was a bakla? don’t you think it would be such an awful thing to call someone like

that and for the fourth time saying this he is our National hero. Can we just stop spreading

awful things about him and just be thankful because simply we had a hero like him?

Overall, being gay is still one of the biggest issues in this society. But no one has the

right to judge someones personality. Same goes for our national hero Jose Rizal,

homosexual or hetero this did not became a hitch for him to achieve his goals in life. The

main point in this is we all should know the meaning of respect. Respect, understanding and

an equal view to all the homosexuals. And this malicious topic about Jose Rizal being bakla is

just not good even if Cruz had “biographical evidences” that itself is still not sensible. Let

us all just look on what our national hero did for us it’s not important if he was gay or not,

what’s important is being thankful enough for all his sacrifices for our freedom.
Wilson Lee Flores is a good writer and a multi - faceted Philippine Star columnist who won

three Carlos Palanca literary awards. He writes in English, Filipino, Chinese and even took

Spanish language course because his theory is that an average person can master at least

five languages. He believes that writers in the Philippines have three main inter-related

roles:

First, in a third world country like the Philippines, a writer should not only entertain and

educate but should also become agents of social change and reform.

Second, a writer should also be a conscience of society, reminding people about truth

and goodness despite the absurd environment we live in.

Lastly, in a corrupt society and unjust society like ours, writing for the sake of

self-expression or for art’s sake only is not enough – writers should be brave and

revolutionary in subverting the prevailing corrupt and inefficient order that we have in the

country, or else the country will forever continue its non-stop economic, social, political,

moral and cultural decline. Writers should not accept things as they are but should be more

critical of things around them.

Wilson believes that being a writer gives him opportunity to help uphold the truth,

which our Philippine society and the world needs.

Kathleen Eusebio is a graduate from the University of the Philippines who studied BS, Major

in Zoology and finished Doctor of Medicine. She was a medical officer III at the Philippine

General Hospital, Section of dermatology and is now currently a Dermatologist at Calamba

Medical Center and now owns her own clinic named V.E. Eusebio Skin and Laser center. She

is not a writer or an author of any book she just had an opinion about “Binabae ba si Rizal?”

to which I kinda agreed to.

links:

 https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.philstar.com/lifestyle/sunday-life/2

005/10/30/304389/was-jose-rizal-our-first-metrosexual/amp/

 https://filipiknow.net/jose-rizal-myths/#Myth_4_Jose_Rizal_was_gay

 https://prezi.com/m/t22zv5blszwm/binabae-ba-si-rizal/

 https://wilsonleeflores.com/about/

 https://www.linkedin.com/pub/dir/Kathleen/Eusebio