Deborah Trexie Q.

Torres GEC 109 January 27, 2019

How Relevant is the Republic Act No. 1425?

Similar to other commemoration for the Philippines’ National Hero: the observance

of his death anniversary—the “national day of mourning,” the Republic Act No. 1425, or

the Rizal Law/Act, is one of the government’s effort ensuring his honor and remembrance

in the nation’s heart. His significant role in attaining independence succeeded with the

issuance of the Rizal law, that requires the both public and private curricula, college and

universities to study the life and works of Jose Rizal that through these, especially his two

famous books, the El Filibusterismo and the Noli Me Tangere, spark the essence and the

concept of nationalism to the young minds (Palafox, 2012).

The Rizal Law, by the nature of its legislation, is thus good-willed and optimistic in

its intentions of the:

“rededication to the ideals of freedom and nationalism for

which our heroes lived and died. . .particularly the national hero and

patriot, Jose Rizal, we remember with special fondness and

devotion. . . (Republic Act No 1425, 1956, p.1, line 1-2).”

Although legislations were meant to be formal, Al Ben (n.d.) stated that the law

was written in such a way is to be understood easily by the Filipino people, and even

described the words “is still able to convey a fiery passion (Al Ben, n.d.).” He also

expounded important points that the author stated in the law: (1) First is the context of

when the law was written, which was in the year of Magsaysay’s administration, where

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the country was still recovering from the destruction of the Japanese occupation and the

country remained dependent to the governance of the United States. The law helped the

Filipino people during that period to retain their sense of national identity and to gradually

ignite a hope of total independence, for “a national hero would symbolize the unity of the

state (Fernandez, 2009, p. 463);” the (2) second, (Al Ben, n.d; Quizon, 2011) is the use

of the law to impose, an avenue to instill the moral values that Jose Rizal uphold, such

as discipline, non-violent reforms, political socialization or awareness, and the strong

sense of patriotism, especially for the college students, where they establish their

priorities and to understand that the country is also part of that list of priorities and duties.

And (3) is the translation of the two most famous books of Jose Rizal, the Noli and El Fili,

in English, Filipino, and principal Filipino dialects, and to be printed in cheap and

distributed free of charges to those who wanted to read them. This specificity “makes the

goal very SMART—specific, measurable, attainable, realistic and time-bound. . . attained

regardless of ethnicity, social stature and language barriers (Al Ben. n.d.).”

Furthermore in the process of understanding the relevance of the Law, we must

understand why heroes exists, and why is Jose Rizal the national hero. Some college

students question the importance of the Rizal subject with accordance to their technical

courses. This doubt, together with the mismanagement of the more valuable things, made

us the indifferent that Jose Rizal fought against (Quizon, 2011). Quizon argued that the

reason why such heroes exist, it’s because so that people can look beyond their lives,

and “far into the social circumstances or problems that created them and which heroes

are supposed to solve,” so when the time comes that those heroes are gone, it will be the

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time another generation of heroes will replace them, with knowledge from their footsteps

(Quizon, 2011).

Although many heroes have sprung before, after, and together with Jose Rizal,

there is no other hero who can equal or surpass him as a person of valor, and his

contributions, according to De Ocampo (2012). Arguments laid that he was an American-

made hero, but both foreign and native people admired and worshiped him as an

exceptional leader even before he was entitled (De Ocampo, 2012) in 1901 during William

Howard Taft’s time as American Civil Governor (Palafox, 2012). Therefore, the

importance of the Law, when questioned, shall not falter, for if the national hero

established the concept of nation and the essence of nationalism, then there is no better

way for teaching those concepts to Filipino youth but through understanding him and his

works, where there is a sentimental value for Filipinos because they are living the familiar

land Jose Rizal dedicated his life for the cause of freedom.

Yet how can a man even after attaining the independence, be important in the 21st

Century? What is in this man’s philosophies that make him so valuable a person? That is

because his philosophies were considered to be relevant at all times. De Ocampo (2012)

cited the biographer Raphael Palma:

“The doctrines of Rizal are not for one epoch, but for all epochs. They

are as valid today as they were yesterday. It cannot be said that because

the political ideas of Rizal have been achieved, because of the change in

the institutions, the wisdom of his counsels or the value to his doctrines have

ceased to be opportune. They have not.”

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The representation of Jose Rizal changes over time. According to Fernandez (2009), the

veneration of both elite and the mass during Rizal’s time was never dichotomous. When

foreign intrusion with varying intentions he transformed to assume multiple

representations in different situations. During the American colonization, Jose Rizal was

the “icon of the imperial nation-building process,” and during the Japanese occupation,

he was an image of non-violent propaganda (Fernandez, 2009). In his books, he abhors

inequality. According to San Juan (2014), he represented the women in this reality, in

which without the participation of women in the struggle of the Filipino liberty will still result

to gender and class inequality. If he would have lived in this generation, he would have

been an activist, a leader, whether against a foreign government or his own, for the virtues

he believed Filipinos should possess (Opinyon, 2015.) He would have been a critic in the

present day, questioning the authorities, against graft, corruption, the abuse of power,

and misuse of the people’s money, ensuring the good of the people, taking care of the

poor and being vigilant for justice; therefore his relevance, and the study of his life and

works mandated as a curriculum for the youth to learn, will stay the same all throughout

the centuries.

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Sources

Al Ben (n.d.). What is the Rizal Law.

https://www.academia.edu/31109784/WHAT_IS_THE_RIZAL_LAW

De Ocampo, E. (2012). Who Made Rizal Our Foremost National Hero, and Why?

Fernandez, E. S. (2009). The Originary Filipino: Rizal and the Making of Leon Ma.

Guerrero as Biographer. Philippine Studies vol. 57, no. 4. 461-504.

Opinyon (2015). Is Rizal Still Relevant to Our Time?

http://www.opinyon.com.ph/index.php/rated-18/nation1/772-is-rizal-still-relevant-

to-our-time

Palafox, Q. J. (2012, September 19). Historical Context and Legal Basis of Rizal Day and

other Memorials in Honor of Jose Rizal. NHCP. http://nhcp.gov.ph/historical-

context-and-legal-basis-of-rizal-day-and-other-memorials-in-honor-of-jose-rizal/

Philippines. (1956). Republic Act No. 1425: An Act to Include In the Curricula of All Public

and Private Schools, Colleges and Universities Courses on the Life, Works, and

Writings of Jose Rizal, Particularly His Novels Noli Me Tangere and El

Filibusterismo, Authorizing the Printing and Distribution Thereof, and For Other

Purposes.

San Juan, E. (2014). Sisa’s Vengeance. A Radical Interpretation of Jose Rizal.

Quizon, M. L. H. (2011). Do We Really Know Rizal? Rizal Law Ineffective. Philippine

Daily Inquirer. https://opinion.inquirer.net/20093/do-we-really-know-rizal-rizal-law-

ineffective#ixzz6C9jVZkEm