MANILA — President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. has Saturday (30 Dec 2023) called on Filipinos to embody Dr. Jose Rizal’s “genuine love” for the Philippines by fostering a “deep and personal” connection to their homeland and future.

“On the 127th Anniversary of the Martyrdom of Dr. Jose Rizal, I urge all of you to continue emulating the timeless values found in his life and works,” Marcos stated in his message for this year’s Rizal Day commemoration.

He further implored everyone to let the authentic love for the country that Rizal exemplified guide them toward a profound and personal sense of ownership for their land and future.

More than a century after Rizal’s demise, his influence persists in a world still grappling with various forms of greed, oppression, and injustice, Marcos noted.

The President encouraged everyone to strive to “walk with the same purpose, passion, and nationalism,” overcoming challenges and working towards a brighter tomorrow.

“With our meaningful commemoration, may the ideals and spirit of Dr. Jose Rizal live on as we fully realize the Philippines that he and his contemporaries fought hard for,” he emphasized.

Marcos highlighted that Rizal’s martyrdom played a pivotal role in consolidating the Philippine independence movement, ultimately giving birth to the nation.

He underscored that Rizal’s sacrifice was the culmination of a lifetime commitment that began in his youth and childhood, embracing the wisdom of family, teachers, and peers, leading to a lifelong pursuit of excellence for a greater goal.

The President, accompanied by First Lady Liza Araneta-Marcos and their children, led the ceremony for the 127th anniversary of Rizal’s martyrdom at Rizal Park in the City of Manila.

After a simultaneous flag-raising ceremony across historical sites nationwide, Marcos offered a wreath at the Rizal National Monument.

This year’s theme for the commemorative rites is “Rizal: Pundasyon ng Kahapon, Isinasabuhay Ngayon” (Rizal: Foundation of Yesterday, Lived Today).

The National Historical Commission of the Philippines (NHCP), in collaboration with various government agencies, organized several activities in honor of Rizal.

Rizal was executed on Dec. 30, 1896, at 7 a.m. by a firing squad at Bagumbayan (now Rizal Park) on orders of the Spanish colonial government for the crime of rebellion after the Philippine Revolution broke out, mainly inspired by his writings.

On Dec. 20, 1898, then-president Emilio Aguinaldo issued a decree declaring Dec. 30 as a day of national mourning for Rizal and other patriots who died during Spanish rule.

The Philippine Commission, in 1902, enacted a law declaring Dec. 30 as Rizal Day, making it an official holiday.

(Jr Amigo/IA/MNM)

MANILA — On this day in Filipino history, December 6, 1896, the legal proceedings against Dr. Jose Rizal commenced as he faced charges of sedition, rebellion, and conspiracy before a Spanish military court.

Dr. Rizal, initially detained in Montjuich Castle, Barcelona, Spain, and later in Fort Santiago, Manila, found himself implicated in the revolution initiated in August 1896 by the Katipunan, led by Andres Bonifacio. The revolution aimed to liberate the Philippines from Spanish colonization.

At the time of his arrest, Dr. Rizal was en route to Cuba, having received permission from the sympathetic Spanish Governor-General Ramon Blanco to serve as a military surgeon amidst the ongoing Cuban revolution against Spain.

Prior to his journey from exile in Dapitan to Manila and then Spain, Dr. Rizal had issued a manifesto disavowing the revolution. He emphasized that the education of Filipinos and the establishment of a national identity were essential prerequisites for freedom.

Arrested during his journey to Spain, Dr. Rizal was imprisoned in Barcelona and subsequently brought back to Manila for trial. He faced charges of treason and being the mastermind behind the revolution. Despite pleading his innocence, he was convicted on all counts of rebellion, sedition, and conspiracy, ultimately receiving a death sentence.

Dr. Rizal had already earned the status of an enemy of the state in the eyes of Spanish authorities due to the publication of his influential novels, “Noli Me Tangere” and “El Filibusterismo.”

His execution took place on December 30, 1896, at Bagumbayan (Luneta), a site later renamed Rizal Park in his honor.

Source: Philippine News Agency archives

(JR AMIGO/AI/MNM)

MANILA — On November 20, 1896, Dr. Jose Rizal stood before Judge Advocate Colonel Francisco Olive to address the charges brought against him.

Rizal was presented with documentary and testimonial evidence during this preliminary investigation, which spanned five days.

Notably, Colonel Olive had previously led a company of soldiers five years earlier to evict tenants in Calamba, Laguna, including the Rizal family. (Source: Pambansang Komisyong Pangkasaysayan)

UST granted university status

Also on November 20, 1645, the Colegio de Nuestra Señora del Santissimo Rosario, known today as the University of Santo Tomas (UST), one of the oldest and still existing universities in Asia, was granted university status by Pope Innocent X.

UST was originally established on April 28, 1611, as a school to train young men for the priesthood. However, the growing demand for education led to its transformation into a university.

The institution, officially named The Royal Pontifical University of Santo Tomas, spent more than 300 years in Intramuros before relocating to its current 21.5-hectare campus along España Boulevard in Sampaloc, Manila, due to the rising student population.

Founded by Msgr. Miguel de Benavides, O.P., along with Frays Domingo de Nieva and Bernardo de Santa Catalina, a Dominican and the Third Archbishop of Manila, who bequeathed his library and goods valued at P1,500 in 1611, the university was later renamed Colegio de Santo Tomas in honor of the eminent Dominican theologian St. Thomas Aquinas.

In 1645, Pope Innocent X elevated UST to university status through his brief “In Supreminenti.” In 1785, King Charles III of Spain granted UST the title “Royal,” and on September 17, 1902, Pope Leo XIII, in his constitution “Quae Mari Sinico,” designated UST as a “Pontifical University.” In 1947, Pope Pius XI bestowed upon UST the title of “The Catholic University of the Philippines.”

UST holds a distinguished place in the world of higher learning, counting among its graduates notable figures such as Dr. Jose Rizal, Apolinario Mabini, the martyr priests Fathers Mariano Gomez, Jose Burgos, and Jacinto Zamora, as well as Presidents Manuel Luis Quezon, Sergio Osmeña, Jose P. Laurel, and Diosdado Macapagal.

The university has hosted various dignitaries, including Pope Paul VI on November 28, 1970; King Juan Carlos of Spain in 1974 and 1995; Mother Teresa of Calcutta in January 1977 and November 1984; and Pope John Paul II in February 1981 and January 1995.

Source: Philippine News Agency archives

(JR AMIGO/ai/mnm)

On November 9, 1827, Teodora Morales Alonzo Realonda de Rizal y Quintos, the mother of Philippine national hero Jose Rizal, was born in Meisik, Tondo, Manila.

She was known for being a disciplinarian as well as a dedicated, courteous and hard- working mother. As the young Rizal’s first teacher, she had a profound influence on his development and was his inspiration in taking up medicine.

Teodoro Agoncillo

On November 9, 1912, Teodoro A. Agoncillo, a renowned Filipino historian and national scientist, was also born in Lemery, Batangas.

Agoncillo started writing history from the so-called Filipino point of view, along with his contemporary historians Renato Constantino and Gregorio F. Zaide.

Ramon Basa

Also on November 9, 1892, Ramon Basa, was initiated into the Katipunan. Basa who adopted the name Liwanag (light) became the society’s second president after the reorganization of the society’s supreme council in 1893. Basa succeeded Deodato Arellano. In January 1895, Andres Bonifacio assumed the Supreme Presidency of the Katipunan.

Second child

Teodora was the second child of Lorenzo Alonso and Brijida de Quintos. In accordance to the decree issued by Governor-General Narciso Claveria in 1849, their family adopted the surname “Realonda de Rizal”. Coming from an able family, Teodora had her formal education at the Colegio de Santa Rosa in Manila. Just like her mother, she was well-educated and highly cultured.

She was 20 years old when she married Francisco Mercado of Biñan, Laguna in 1848. They settled in Calamba, Laguna and to them were born eleven children namely, Saturnina, Paciano, Narcisa, Olimpia, Lucia, Maria, Jose, Concepcion, Josefa, Trinidad, and Soledad. The Rizal family was primarily engaged in agriculture.

As the mother of a perceived enemy of the Spanish authorities, Teodora was often persecuted. In 1872, she was imprisoned for two and a half years on trumped-up charges of poisoning her brother’s wife.

In 1891, she was made to walk fifty kilometers to Sta. Cruz, Laguna, for failing to use her hispanicized surname, Realonda de Rizal. She had insisted on using Alonzo. Her family was ejected from their lands in Calamba due to a land conflict after which they relocated to Manila.

An hour before his execution, Dr. Jose Rizal wrote his last letter to his mother which read simply:

“To my dear mother, Sra. Da. Teodora Alonzo. 6 o’clock in the morning, December 30, 1896. Jose Rizal.”

In 1907, when Dr. Rizal was declared the national hero, the American authorities offered her a lifetime pension as a token of gratitude. She politely refused it, saying:

“My family has never been patriotic for the money. If the government has plenty of funds and does not know what to do with them, it’s better to reduce the taxes.”

On August 16, 1911, Jose Rizal’s mother died in her home in San Fernando Street, Binondo, Manila. Fitting honors were accorded her at her funeral.

Source: Pambansang Komisyong Pangkasaysayan

(JR AMIGO/ai/mnm)

TODAY IN HISTORY

On September 18, 1891, the second novel of Dr. Jose Rizal, El Filibusterismo (Reign of Greed), written in Spanish and a sequel to Noli Me Tangere, was published in Ghent, Belgium.

Rizal, who began writing El Filibusterismo in October 1887 in Calamba, Laguna, revised some chapters while he was in London and completed the book on March 29, 1891.

Rizal wrote El Filibusterismo in dedication to the three martyred priests Mariano Gomez, Jose Burgos, and Jacinto Zamora, expressing conviction that their treatment and deaths at the hands of the Spanish authorities was unjust.

Plots are poles apart compared with Noli Me Tangere, where people were encouraged to ask and aspire for change and liberation, in El Filibusterismo, Rizal urged the society to open its eyes to reality and rebel against the Spanish government for its oppression and abuse.

In Noli Me Tangere, there is aspiration, beauty, romance, and mercy. In El Filibusterismo, readers will feel bitterness, hatred, and antipathy. The romance and aspirations are gone. Even the characters’ personalities seem to have undergone radical change.

Source: Philippines News Agency archives