He wrote top 13 most important poems including Our Mother Tongue, Memories of My town, Hymn to

Labor, Kundiman, A Poem That Has No Title, Song of Maria Clara, To the Philippines Youth, To My muse,
Education Gives Luster to the Motherland, To the Virgin Mary and Sa Aking mga Kabata

PART I: WHAT VIRTUE OF RIZAL? DO YOU WANT THE YOUTH TO PROSPER IN THEIR LIVES?

The writings and various events on the life of Jose Rizal are filled of ideas concerning education. He
recognized the importance of education in the development of a nation and its people.

When Jose Rizal was deported in Dapitan on 1893, he devoted his time in teaching young children. Rizal
applied the learning he acquired in the different school that he visited during his travels. He practiced
his profession as a doctor, farmer, teacher, community developer, engineer and scientist. Rizal opened a
school for young boys in the community. They were given subjects in reading, writing, arithmetic,
geography, geometry, languages, history and good conduct. Rizal even gave practical lessons on the use
of their hands, for he believed that education should be inculcated or integrated with the development
of the community. He also taught his students different kinds of sport activities such as boxing, swinging
on parallel bars and rings, swimming and arnis on account of his belief that a sound body makes a sound
mind.

Education is a word with too many dimensions, too many to mention. Education plays an important role
in the progress of an individual’s mind and country. Ignorance and poverty are major speed-breakers in
the swift developing country and can be overcome easily through education.

Dr.Rizal’s stand on the value of education is clearly enunciated in his work entitled Instruction wherein
he sought improvements in the schools and in the methods of teaching. He maintained that the
backwardness of his country during the Spanish era was not due to the Filipinos’ indifference, apathy or
indolence as claimed by the rulers, but to the neglect of the Spanish authorities in the islands. For Rizal,
the mission of education is to elevate the country to the highest seat of glory and to develop the
people’s mentality. Since education is the foundation of society and a prerequisite for social progress,
Rizal claimed that only through education could the country be saved from domination.

I read some of a poem of Rizal like “Through Education the Country Receives Light” a poem, also known
as “instruction”, about Rizal’s dream and ideas about the essence of education and seeking knowledge
in the country. He wrote the poem when he was on schoolin’days at ateneo. An excellent student and
remarkably best in literature.

Rizal reveals the glorious and immortal man’s great treasure education. Even at the first stanza, he
reveals the introduction and importance of prudent education to our country. According to him, we
should embrace the lifetime arts and sciences which will benefits our moral behavior, intellectual
capacity, actions or acts and awareness to our country. We can be wise and understand the human
nature that will bring the country to a highest station especially to the Filipino youth of present. So that
Rizal compared education to a lighthouse for they will guide them to its proper destinations in dock. An
eternal light that will glow our ideas and a sense of nationalism. Therefore, a prudent education consists
of three vital components, namely: education for truth and knowledge; education for moral value and
virtue; and education for love of one’s country.

But now that education is free for Filipinos, I hope all the youth should value education just like Jose
Rizal did because he stated that “To become a worthy citizen of the Nation, he believed, one should be
educated” and that learning should be adaptable to the needs or actual life of the people. Rizal is not
just a conventional type of teacher his visions were not just for himself but for the benefits of his
countrymen. Our educators should also follow and be motivated by the exemplar deeds of Rizal.

PART II: THE IDEAL HERO: RIZAL OR BONIFACIO

Philippines was the first country ever influenced other Western and European countries to be
united for the betterment, liberty and improvement of the beloved land. The Philippines has regained
itself and unleashed from the 365 years Spanish colonization because of a lot of hero who had
participated in this noble cause like Jose Rizal and Andres Bonifacio but the biggest questions is who is
better to be an Ideal hero of the Philippines.

Bonifacio’s life was all suffering, pain, anguish and ignominy, while Rizal’s was all romances, arts,
travels, applause for his exploits and admiration from the people. Bonifacio was an orphan and a
peasant who had to work hard to feed his many brothers and sisters with manual labor. Rizal was
showered with love by a doting mother, Dona Teodora Aloso who taught him the fundamentals. He had
a very devoted father, hardworking and a very good provider. Rizal was adored by his elder brother
Paciano who opted not to study but to work hard in the farm and send money to Rizal in Europe.
Bonifacio was the sole breadwinner who never tasted any form of luxury.

Jose Rizal studied in Letran, the exclusive school in Manila where the sons and daughters of high
military and civil officials, hacienderos and encomienderos were sent to be well-cultured and well-bred.
He studied in the elite Catholic institution in Ateneo, where the Jesuits taught him philosophy, politics,
psychology, geography and many other fields in humanities, sciences and arts. He studied in UST and
became a doctor and a surgeon. Bonifacio was taught the basics writing, reading and arithmetic by his
maternal aunt. He was too poor to afford formal education but on his own, he was a well-read young
man. Rizal traveled to Spain, Germany, France, Italy and England. He became a well-traveled gentleman.
Bonifacio was an ill-clad obrero who never got out of what is now Metro Manila and southern Tagalog.

Rizal was a lover of women. He had many romantic entanglements, from his own cousin, Leonor
Rivera to Josephine Bracken. There were many in between, like Nelly Boustead from Europe and Osie-
san from Japan. Bonifacio married Monica Palomar who died very young without any child. He then
married, Gregoria de Jesus or Ka’ Oriang, a rich 29-year-old widow from a wealthy landed family from
Caloocan. But Andres was rejected by Ka Oriang’s family because he was poor and unlettered. Rizal had
a very beautiful life while Bonifacio’s story was all misfortune, rejection and struggles from poverty and
social injustice. There could not have been a more distinctive contrast. This was dramatized by Rizal
himself when he was portrayed as the ilustrado, Crisostomo Ibarra, while Bonifacio was the rebel Elias in
Noli and Fili.

I was tempted to say that Bonifacio should be our ideal hero because his story is more reflective
of the painful struggles of most of the Filipino back then. But Bonifacio himself confessed that he was
inspired to do what he did by the writings of Rizal. But now, I consider Jose rizal to be the Ideal hero
because He had not use swords, guns and bombs in fighting for this advocacy but I do agree with him
that “pen is mightier than the sword”. And history proved he was right. Jose Rizal used his abounding
skill of writing to move a whole country to free itself, and his overflowing selflessness and courage is
why he holds the renowned title of hero.

Rizal was not perfect and did not have all the answers to all our problems. That is not the
reason why he is great. He is great because he used his humanity and gifts to develop himself and
united us to imagine a Nation.

PART III: IN THE AGONY OF THE DARK: MISCONCEPTIONS ABOUT FILIPINO DIGNITY

In the Philippines, Filipino people moral and values are important but Filipino dignity is also
more important to every individual. For Filipino people, the only things they have in their life is dignity
that no one can take place to them. For Filipino people, dignity is the way we inherit to our grandparent
how we value our rights and what is right. Dignity to Filipino people is important because it shows self-
respect as a human being. If you have respect to yourself and to other you value your dignity.

Dignity is the right of a human being to be treated right and with respect. It is like good moral,
right ethics, and having a good conduct. Dignity is very important for every person or individual because
it builds respect, gratitude, and values inside of it.

From the Spanish colonial period, were Philippines was invaded by Spain and reigned over the
Philippines for 333 years, from 1565 to 1898 and by that time we Filipinos lost their freedom and dignity
for a reasons that Filipino should be a catholic. In that Era, The Spanish introduced the idea of land
holding to native people—many of whom previously had limited notions about private property—and
took control of large swaths of land owned for centuries by native groups. This way many native
Philippine people came to live on land that was owned by the Spanish or people with close ties to the
Spanish and they became tenants or paid laborers. Throughout our history, there have been so many
forces that worked against the formation of a national consciousness, preventing us from identifying
ourselves as Filipinos or becoming one with the Filipino people.

From the agony of the dark ages, Filipinos misinterpret and belittle by the

Putting Self Before Nation-Not being able to develop a sense of nationhood, Filipinos will simply be
working for their self-interest instead of thinking of the good of the nation as a whole. As a
consequence, whoever gets into a position of power will be easily tempted to engage in corrupt
practices. It is probably worse among those who have been made to feel so alienated from the nation by
the abuses of the power elite or government arrogance so that whenever there is the slightest chance,
they will try to get even.

Un-Filipino Perspective -The moment we began to view ourselves through Western eyes, what we held
sacred suddenly became worthless, our virtues turned into vices, and our strengths began to be seen as
weaknesses.Anything indigenous became a source of embarrassment and uneasiness. We would hide
whatever is native sounding or native in origin. Centuries of being regarded as backward and inferior by
the white colonizers engendered in us this collective self-contempt, a psychic malady that afflicts all of
us but most especially the elites.
PART IV: THE REALM OF ELITES: ANALYZING POLITICISM IN RIZAL’S ERA

During the Spanish colonization in the Philippines, the government was composed of two
branches, the executive and the judicial.There was no legislative branch on that time since the laws of
the islands were coming from Spain. The only laws created in the Philippines are those who were
ordered by the Governor General.The government on that time was lead by the Governor General. He
was considered as the representative of Spain and the King himself. He is the highest officer in the island
and responsible for implementing laws from the mother country.He also has the power to appoint or
relieve officer in the government or priest in the parish, except with those personally appointed by the
king of Spain. Spain owed the colonization of the Philippines to Miguel Lopez de Legazpi, who valiantly
and loyally served the Spanish crown. To hasten the subjugation of the country, King Philip II instructed
Legazpi to divide the Philippines into large territories called encomiendas, to be left to the management
of designated encomenderos.To show his gratitude to his conquistadors, the King made them the first
encomenderos in the colony. As the King’s representatives in their respective encomiendas, the
encomenderos had the right to collect taxes. However, the encomiendas were not there to own.

And in the Spanish colonization, the power of the church derived not simply from wealth and
official status. The priests and friars had a command of local languages rare among the lay Spanish, and
in the provinces they outnumbered civil officials. Thus, they were an invaluable source of information to
the colonial government. The cultural goal of the Spanish clergy was nothing less than the full
Christianization to Filipinos.

In Rizal’s political view, a conquered country like the Philippines should not be taken advantage of but
rather should be developed, civilized, educated and trained in the science of self-government.

He bitterly assailed and criticized in publications the apparent backwardness of the Spanish ruler’s
method of governing the country which resulted in: the bondage and slavery of the conquered , the
Spanish government’s requirement of forced labor and force military service upon the n natives, the
abuse of power by means of exploitation ,the government ruling that any complaint against the
authorities was criminal and Making the people ignorant, destitute and fanatic, thus discouraging the
formation of a national sentiment.