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!!!Mabuhay!!!
!!!Happy
Centennial!!!
Here's a tribute
to the National Hero,
an essay (albeit reverential) I did for my History class.
Jose Rizal and the Fire for Emancipation by Brian Dexter M. Medija
"Not only is Rizal the most prominent man of his own people but the greatest man the Malayan race has produced. " -Ferdinand Blumentritt, 1897.
Dr. Jose Rizal - talented, intelligent and a true patriot - is the rightful bearer of the title, National Hero. A reformist, he believed in the power of words, and not of the sword, nonetheless effectively slashing the frailocratic ego of the Hispanic colonizers that have for so long enslaved his fatherland.
The might of his pen pierced deep into the nerves of the friars, who, despite the divine mandate of service to the people, enriched themselves with worldly possessions and gave in to lust, power and temptation, in a complete turnaround from their priestly vows. For Rizal, teeming with love for the land of his birth, and with unwavering ardor for its freedom, the friars' mundane excesses and sinister deeds were simply too much.
Rizal endeavored to share his disillusionment with the indio nation, and manifested his protest over the Spanish frailocracy by putting into manuscript exposés of deceit, his disenchantment from Spain's ecclesiastical front. Embittered over the unmasking of their true colors, the friars harbored an intense grudge on Rizal, which translated to his immediate banishment to Dapitan, and subsequent death by musketry on December 30, 1896 at Bagumbayan, on which site now stands the monument to the greatest son the brown race has engendered.
But what molded the hero into the talented, patriotic man that he was? What gave him enough rancor as to motivate him to go against all odds in attack of the Hispanic government? What were his accomplishments as to prompt us to call him our National Hero? A glimpse into Rizal's past answers these queries.
By looking back, we are handed the lamp of enlightenment - so we may understand just how and why Rizal came to be. At a young age, Rizal was endowed the appreciation for the arts, particularly of literature, under the instruction of his doting mother, Doña Teodora Alonzo, from which stemmed his passion for reading and consequently, his talent in writing.
With this passion, paired with his eloquence - and a load of bitter experiences from the friars and Spanish authorities in tow, he devised ways of denouncing the evils practiced by Spain's holiest sons and her most trusted representatives - in their own tongue. And, with trenchant wit, he scripted twin parodies that earned him the superlative ire of the ego-slapped Hispanics. These parodies, "Noli Me Tangere" and "El Filibusterismo," his most radiant accomplishments, kindled the fire of disillusionment among the Indio nation over the pretentious mask of the conquistador sovereigns. These writings were the ultimate key that opened the doors of the Philippine Revolution, inspiring patriotism and love for the bullied fatherland. Rizal stood at the very heart of this newfound national consciousness.
It is doubtless that such recounting of Rizal's past stirred among us the aspiration to bring the country on higher ground anew, especially at such a critical time. We have now entered an era enslaved by commercialism and the insatiable lust for power and financial dominance. We are now burdened by a crumbling economy governed by "corrupt monsters" who, despite their promise of better governance and respect for popular sentiment, are mindless of the bugs that continue to cripple the nation, and carry on with the evils that have made potbellied gods out of them.
These pitfalls bring to mind the past splendor of the Hispanic frailocracy, in whose glaring image basked the Spanish demigods while they sucked dry the indio soul of his dignity and instilled in him ignorance and inferiority, depriving him of his most shallow rights and pushing him down the verge of subhuman existence.
It is a most depressing déja-vu for the nation, amidst the shadows of a potholed leadership and a potbellied government. The leaders, hailed as the saviors of the masses, viewed as the people's liberators from the clutches of poverty, and the hope of floundering national dignity, have, by all means, failed to deliver what they proclaimed they would implement.
"It is way too early," they may say, as they serenade the masses with gaudy, ostentatious celebrations of religious and historical events, as fronts to their gangrenous intents. While the people, the ultimate victims of it all, smile and shout praises under the scorching sun or in flooded streets, brimming with naivete, deceived and rendered ignorant as to the real score. They are blinded from the foul picture behind the "righteous" events unfolding right under their noses.
And, returning to their ramshackle shanties, they all but sigh as they contemplate on where to pick the next morsel to feed their needy families. An all too familiar situation in a nation starved of good, responsible leadership. A nation in decay.
Unfortunate as it appears, I would like to believe that there still is a strand of hope despite the enormity of evils prevalent today. And, like the unflagging passion that forged the mighty bolo of Andres Bonifacio, we may wage war against the evils of our time, and throw them down the abyss of nothingness. May the new generations, "the hope of the future," as Rizal aptly penned, share a common thrust leading to the people's emancipation from the plagues afflicting them today. May the Filipino fighting spirit, that rattled the colonizers at the onset of the Philippine Revolution, be instilled among the present-day Katipuneros, that this zeal be the bridge that will connect the fragmented populace. May the modern-day Rizals arise from the shadow of institutions, and uphold national dignity that they may lead the nation towards the state our heroes envisioned it to be.
With the guidance of the Almighty, we are equipped with enough arms to crush the modern-day frailocracy. This, coupled with our will, there will surely be a way.
July 21, 1999
