Activity 10

The Birth of National Consciousness

Watch the YouTtube video ‘Ang Landas ng Paglaya’ and make a 150 words reaction paper out
of it. You may use pictures.

1. Parishes under the supervision of the Bishops.

2. Apolinario Mabini’s best-known writings were the True Decalogue, the Constitutional
Program of the Philippine Republic and the Philippine Revolution.

A Reaction Paper on the National Historical Commission of the Philippines’s video documentary
entitled “JOSÉ RIZAL: Sa Landas ng Paglaya” (Ladanga, 2016) is part of their Heroes Documentary
Series project. The documentary started by introducing Jose Rizal to the eyes of Filipinos. One says that
she first encountered Rizal through a one-peso coin, while the other says that he knows Rizal because of
the street called Avenida Rizal. The Filipino historians – Paul Dumol, Mary Dorothy Jose, and John Nery
– emphasizes the importance of not just knowing Rizal, but also to learn and understand him outside of
his literary works. This documentary aims to introduce the accounts and the narrative of the life of our
national hero to the Filipinos, most especially to the new generation of Filipinos who are succumb in
technology.
One of my reactions to the documentary was the relationship of the line that the actor had uttered
– “Sino ba ako?” – in portrayal of Rizal, and how it is an exceptional question to any living person today.
The question that have been mentioned is the reflection on how Jose Rizal already knows from the
beginning the reason why he is living or basically the purpose of his life, on how his mind and inner
convictions is just waiting for the right time to evoke his timeless ideas that will later on liberate the
Filipino people from Spanish colonization. John Nery described Rizal’s life experience as somewhat
scripted and can only be seen in television shows or movies. “He was born, got famous in Europe, came
back in the Philippines, then [was] killed” (Nery, 2016, 03:09), his short narrative of what is Rizal’s
account is factually true. Although what John Nery has said is just a statement and an analogy, from there,
we can get the idea that Jose Rizal is a living testament that we are all born to be a hero. It is just in our
hands and how our environment going to mold us to become something that our nation will benefit from.
Further, Jose Rizal as a role model student in Madrid, was also tackled in the documentary. It was
also shown how Rizal saw his fellow Filipinos and described them as aimless and have not yet
experienced pain. Rizal was mad that they woke up first thing in the morning and decided not to go to
school, instead they gamble in the afternoon and in the evening they go for the prostitutes. Here, he asked
how Spaniards will respect Filipinos when they do not even respect themselves. My initial reaction in
here is that it is true that Spaniards will not show them respect unless they saw that they are worthy of it.
What they showed in Spain can be what the initial description of them by the Spaniards as they are not
representing themselves, nor their families, but the entire nation.
Moreover, the creator of the documentary should have included what letter or literary work does
the actor pertains to so that the audiences are aware what it is and they can ready the whole thing after
they watched the documentary video. Overall, there is a big contribution on how the documentary
creatively narrate, analyze and interpreted the literary works and letters of Rizal to show how he is not
just simply a hero to all Filipinos, but also a kind person to individuals he helped, a good son and brother
to his family, and a brilliant student of his time. Jose Rizal lived his life to the fullest by sacrificing his
life to drive changed and goodness in everyone around him. In addition, it is also recommended for young
people to watched this documentary especially in our time now where fake news at misleading historical
information are everywhere. It is in my best belief and hope that more project of this kind from NHCP
and other film productions are to be produced in the future towards the critical and significance study of
not just the accounts and lives of our heroes but also our entire history.