Justin Christopher B.

Paras
2019-09754 || CEAT || BS EE

Veneration with Understanding

Articles from critics such as Renato Constantino’s “Veneration without
Understanding” aimed to disparage Rizal’s status as a national hero through the use of these
arguments: Rizal did not lead the revolution of 1896; Rizal did not come from the masses;
Rizal’s patriotic works, including his two novels, reflected his mestizo or ilustrado
background and were taken precisely to protect the interests of the ilustrado class; and lastly,
Rizal’s becoming the national hero was the result of American sponsorship. These critics set
the standards for a national hero to be in accordance with revolutionary leadership without
considering the achievements made and the qualities of the possible hero candidates.
Armando Malay’s “Veneration with Understanding” is a direct response towards the opinion
of Renato Constantino which aims to show that the continuous veneration of Rizal by the
country is well-deserved as well as to point out the discrepancies within the intricacy of
arguments made by Constantino and the like.

Heroes become heroes not because they lead a revolution, but because they
accomplish tasks and garners achievements and qualities that others would strive to be. These
achievements do not necessarily have to be in the revolutionary scene. They can be made in
the academic, economic, and medical fields as well. Constantino states that the principal
characters of Rizal’s novels reflect the interests of the ilustrado class, to which Malay refutes.
Being the main character in the novel doesn’t necessarily mean that you are the character set
up as a model for emulation. Constantino argues that a national hero must come from the
masses as well as work among his own people. Again, this isn’t necessarily true as a national
hero is someone who is revered solely because of the efforts he put in order to contribute to
the well-being of society. Even though Rizal is of the ilustrado class, he isolated himself
from his country in order to get ideas as well as to formulate reforms for the betterment of his
people as well as his society.

Two years after the execution of Rizal, he was already revered as a hero by the
government during the revolution. Filipinos were already looking at Rizal’s achievements
with awe even before the Americans came into our society. It would be an insult to the
Filipinos, to say the least, that Rizal was a creation by the Americans in order to avoid
Filipinos’ choosing of Bonifacio as their national hero.