ESPERANZA, Krisha Paula B.

November 11, 2019

AB Psychology 1B Life and Works of Rizal

On my visit to Rizal Park, the first thing that I noticed was the surprisingly huge

population of pigeons that wiggled all over the park. Parents, children, couples, vendors,

and people who offer massages were also a common sight. The park is clean, with no

trash in sight. There is even a very creative Coca-Cola trash can. The area doesn’t have

a lot of plants except the trees that were encircled with a square-shaped concrete

infrastructure, possibly meant for sitting. The highlight of my visit was the monument of

Jose Rizal at the edge of the park. Upon closer inspection, the pedestal is where Jose

Rizal stood. His right hand, tucked underneath his chin, is holding a feather pen. On the

left, slung across his stomach, is a book. The expression on Rizal’s face was of

someone who had high intelligence for different subject matters. Placed on the center

and both sides of the monument were inscriptions engraved on a metal plate. At the

center, it said that the Rizal Shrine was officially turned over to then-Mayor Rodrigo

Duterte on March 12, 2009. On the sides, it displayed a plaque of recognition and a

note about the monument being a joint project between the Order of the Knights of Rizal

and the City Government of Davao with Mr. Ricaredo J Gulares and family sponsors.

If I were to give tribute to Jose Rizal, I would do it academically. Since it is an

educational endeavor, I propose to create a literature club in his honor. It shall be called

Rizalian Book Guild, a club that promotes love for Filipino books, both fiction and

nonfiction. Here, students opportunities to attend lectures and seminars surrounding the

history, developments, and different styles of writing by prominent Filipino authors of the

century. Students acquaint themselves as well as celebrate Jose Rizal’s novels. The

club will also promote values within Filipino literature and develop the spark of

patriotism, which Jose Rizal had fought for at a dark period of oppression in the lives of

the Filipinos. In a nutshell, this is explicitly honoring Rizal’s contribution to fight against

Spanish colonization with his prowess in writing that sparked the Filipino revolution.