Nationalistic Series: Is Rizal still relevant to Filipinos today?

Sunday, July 6, 2008

Was Rizal devalued along with the deprecation of peso in these modern times?

I say not much. I think Jose Rizal is still very relevant today, if not he could have been displaced long ago as national hero and PI 100 should have been abolished. Part of the efforts of the government is to influence the collective behavior of the Filipinos in making Rizal a pertinent figure in the History of the Filipino, simply because he left a seal of patriotism that they want us to emulate. He was indeed a hero, in his own right and context.

Despite the large part of students filing up nursing schools, in a hope of good future on overseas, the increasing number of our skilled workers and even professionals, and the exponentially growing trend of migration on most Filipino families, I still believe that the immortal seed of having a “pusong Pinoy” never ceases to beat, so long as we live.

Rizal, being the National hero for sometime now, has been an inseparable entity of the national consciousness. Even during our lower years of instruction were filled with lessons about Rizal, Bonifacio and their contributions to our enjoyment of liberty. Rizal has been a source of pride for the Filipinos, because of his prolific skills and seemingly prophetic visions, that certain group of people exalted him and raised him to the level of the gods. Many public schools have been named after him, even matchboxes and other products. We know that Rizal has been and will always be an integral part of the country’s identity. National hero.

I believe that Rizal contributed solutions to problems the country used to have. He did not remain silent. He might not have approved of the violent revolution, but he coined the possibility of having one. His writings were definitely noteworthy in the arousal of the collective national consciousness, which mirrored and criticized the many defects of the politics, economics, and religion under the Spanish regime. These defects, like graft and corrupt practices, agrarian controversies, neglect of the primary need of the people are still very relevant today. Most of the problems he identified more than a century ago where the same and almost identical in nature with the dilemmas we have today.

Rizal showed us the world beyond what we see, beyond our comfort zones. Even to this day, the characters of his novels can be spotted and identified at once. We live in same they backward progress as they did. In fact, except that we have been detached physically from colonizers, and for the education or mis-education of the people, we haven’t changed much.

So where is Rizal in these issues? I believe that being critical in his evaluation of the history and present condition on his time, we are able to examine now, where do we come from, what are we, where are we going.

Rizal has certainly made his mark, seal and rights too. But a better question should have been: do we still care about Rizal and his life, works, and writings? He may be relevant, but the worsening condition of the state would dictate otherwise. Man needs to provide himself first with his basic needs before he learns to appreciate everything else.

3 comment(s):

Anonymous said...

Yung mga students na tamad magbasa ng history sabi nila sawa na sila sa kwento ng buhay ni Rizal..bakit daw need pa pag aralan..syempre tamad sila..nagdadahilan lang.haha!

Life of Rizal for me is still very much relevant. If the thinking of our heroes before were like of today..our country would have not probably be suffering this much today. More selfish politicians are cropping up everywhere. Kawawa ang mga susunod na henerasyon.

CJ Panila said...

Hands down, Jose Rizal was a man ahead of his time.

But in these days, our days, when almost every Juan De La Cruz, every jeepney driver, every radio or TV public-affairs host, every blogger could philosophize as if he/she had all the solutions for this country's miseries, hindi na natin kailangan ng thinkers like Rizal.

Marami nang Rizal ngayon!

Today, we need men and women of action. Yung hindi na puro grandstanding. Yung hindi na puro bombastic speeches. Yung hindi na puro eloquent articles. Yung hindi na puro theory.

Aksyon kaagad!

We need the likes of Andres Bonifacio these days. He may have failed to use his foresight during his time para huwag simulan ang Rebolusyon, pero kung ngayon siya nabubuhay, ang panahon natin ngayon ay hinog na hinog na for major and drastic changes.

Madami na tayo philosopher ngayon, dapat implementer naman.

pchi said...

thanks EV and warrior in scrubs for your reactions

people have different personalities, each person is unique. Rizal's way was different from Bonifacio's.

Bonifacio was a great leader and I have high respects for him also. HEHE. It's just that the post was actually a paper for my PI class (lol). So si Rizal ang bida.

I think Bonifacio was also somehow good in rhetorics otherwise he would have not convinced other katipuneros in joining him if he didn't have a talent in that area

I agree that we really need implementers especially with the current situation ng bansa, nakalubog sa krisis, mga trahedya di masulusyonan

We need sincere leadership from our government and then the people should follow the laws, policies or whatever

before, radikal din ang pag-iisip ko. sumali pa nga ako sa mga rally sa kalsada ilang beses pero i thought it's not bringing positive results

i think if we want our country to change, each one should contribute. be the change that you want for your country. start with simple ways: wag magkalat sa kalsada, sundin ang mga batas trapiko. etc. etc

later post uli ako ng political isyu (hehe)

thanks sa reactions

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