The Making

Of A Hero
The Meaning of “Hero”
Why is Rizal the Foremost
National Hero?

Who Made Rizal the

Foremost National Hero?

Rizal’s Death: A Sacrifice

HERO

A prominent or central
personage taking an
admirable part in any
remarkabale action or
event
A person of distinguished
valor or enterprise in
danger, or fortitude in
suffering
 A man honored after
death by public worship,
because of exceptional
service to mankind
Why is Rizal the Foremost National
Hero?
- His writings,

- His person, and

- His being honored by public

worship
 Writings
Rizal took an “admirable part” in the Propaganda Movement.
Instead of being frightened by the death of GomBurZa, later
on “the illustrados” organized the propaganda movement

Illustrados used the term “propaganda” because they used

pen and tongue to expose the evils of Spanish colonial rule
in the Philippines

Rizal’s Noli Me Tangere was attacked and supported

outside the Philippines

The influence of Rizal’s writings, especially the novels, made him

foremost among his compatriots, who were also taking admirable
part in the Propaganda Movement
Rizal’s Person
Rafael Palma, one of Rizal’s Biographers, wrote:

"What is most admirable in Rizal," wrote Rafael Palma, is his

complete self-denial, his complete abandonment of his personal
interests to think only of those of his country. He could have been
whatever he wished to be, considering his natural endowments;
he could have earned considerable sums of money from his
profession; he could have lived relatively rich, happy, prosperous,
had he not dedicated himself to public matters. But in him, the
voice of the species was stronger than the voice of personal
progress or of private fortune, & he preferred to live far from his
family & to sacrifice his personal affections for an ideal he had
dreamed of. He heeded not his brother, not even his parents,
beings whom he respected & venerated so much, in order to
follow the road his conscience had traced for him.
Rizal’s Person
Dr. Sixto Orosa, avid admirer of the hero, wrote:

-Rizal as a Child

-Rizal as a Student

-Rizal as a Citizen

-Rizal as a Man

-Rizal as a Learned Man

Rizal’s Person
Zaide, American biographer of Rizal, and Dr. Laubach, quoted:
His consuming life purpose was the secret of his moral courage. Physical courage, it is
true, was one of his inherited traits. But that high courage to die loving his murderers, w/
c he at last achieved--that cannot be inherited. It must be forged out in the fires of
suffering & temptation. As we read through his life, we can see how the moral sinew &
fiber grew year by year as he faced new perils & was forced to make fearful decisions. It
required courage to write his 2 great novels telling nothing that no otherman has
ventured to say before, standing almost alone against the powerful interests in the
country & in Spain, & knowing full well that despotism would strike back. He had
reached another loftier plateau of heroism when he wrote those letters to Hong Kong,
"To be opened after my death", & sailed to the "trap" in Manila w/o any illusions. Then
in his Dapitan exile when he was tempted to escape, & said "No", not once but hundreds
of times for 4 long years, & when, on the way to Cuba, Pedro Roxas pleaded w/ him to
step off the boat of Singapore upon British territory & save his life, what an inner
struggle it must have caused him to answer over & over again, "No, no, no!" When the
sentence of death & the fateful morning of his execution brought the final test, 30 Dec
1896, he walked w/ perfect calm to the firing line as though by his own choice, the only
heroic figure in that sordid scene."
Rizal’s Public Honor

Before his death:

First, Fernando Acevedo revered Rizal,saying:

I see in you the model Filipino;

your application to study and
talents have placed on a height
which I revere and admire.
Rizal’s Public Honor

Before his death:

Second, Dr. Tomas Arejola wrote in Madrid in

1891, saying,

Your moral influence

over us is indisputable
Rizal’s Public Honor

Before his death:

Ferdinand Bluementritt said of Rizal:

Rizal was the greatest product of

the Philippines and that his coming
to the world was like the
appearance of a rare comet, whose
rare brilliance appears only every
other century.
Rizal’s Public Honor

Before his death:

Revolutionary society also honored Rizal

-The Katipunan of Bonifacio also

acknowledge Rizal’s leadership and
greatness.
-It made him its Honorary President.
-It also used the name Rizal as a secret
password for the third degree members
Rizal’s Public Honor

After his death:

During commemorative occasion od the first anniversary of
Rizal’s death on December 29, 1897, Aguilando said

Illustrados spirits of Rizal, Lopes Jaena,

Marcelo H. del Pilar August shades of
Burgos, Pelaez, and Panganiban! Warlike
geniuses of Aguinaldo ( Crispulo), and
Tirona, of Natividad and Evangelistal
Arise a moment from your unknown
graveal.
Rizal’s Public Honor

After his death:

Two of greatest Filipino poets in

Spanish language also paid
tributes to Rizal. Leon Ma.
Guerrero and Cecilio Apostol
wrote tributes to the Hero
Rizal’s Public Honor

After his death:

The intellectual and scientific

circles of the world also mourned
the loss of Rizal, their very prized
colleague. They paid tribute to
Rizal too, such as Dr. Camilio
Osaias & Wenceslao Retana.
WHO MADE RIZAL THE
FOREMOST NATIONAL
HERO?

Did the Americans make Rizal

the foremost national hero of
the Philippines? Did Gov. William
Taft create a hero out of Rizal?
March 16, 1990- the second Philippines Commission, known as
the Taft Commission, was created.
June 3, 1990- the Taft Commission arrived in Manila.

June 11, 1901- the Taft Commission approved the Act No.137
This Act made the political-military districts of Manila and
Morong into the Province of Rizal

Dr. Tavera, a Filipino, not Taft, an American, honored the

memory of Rizal.
Taft, or the Americans, simply helped the Filipinos to make
it realized.
The Americans only affirmed the acclamation of Rizal by his
countrymen and the scientific world all over as the foremost
national hero and martyr of his native land. The Americans did not
make Rizal a hero.
RIZAL’S DEATH: A SACRIFICE
Rizal’s complete self-denial,
Complete abandonment of his personal
interests,
Concern for those of his country,
Preference for public progress over personal
progress,
Following the road his conscience had traced
for him,
Sacrifice of his personal affections for an ideal.