John Ryan C.

Bongo BSA – AS3

Life and Works of Rizal March 12, 2020

Activity No. 5

1. Constantino maintained that Filipinos venerate Jose Rizal without

understanding him. Would you agree? If so, can you give some examples of
unexamined adoration?

 The author was very straightforward in his opposition to Rizal. No one can be
certain of what absolutely truth happened from the past. There were always
holes somewhere in the story that we read from the book and what we heard
from our ancestors unless we try to find out what is the missing piece. The
Veneration without Understanding by Renato Constantino wanted us to be
skeptical about the ideas we are fed. A lot of books proclaimed that our national
hero is Dr. Jose P. Rizal. How genius he is, his martyrdom, his heroic deeds, and
how he united the people. Personally, as far as I know, he is the only person who
will set aside his interests before his compatriots and that idea lives in our mind
rent-free. But can we be certain that in the time of his existence does he was the
only one willing to sacrifice his happiness for his country? This is where the issue
of his heroic legitimacy begins. On the other side of the coin, I have nothing
against Rizal. He is the supreme man of his time. For me, the more we
understand something from the past, the more substantial our claims. 

2. Do you feel that Rizal has overshadowed the revolutionary movement of his
day and other leaders of that revolution?

 No, I don’t think that Rizal overshadowed the revolutionary movement and other
leaders of that revolution. According to Dr. Pio Valenzuela, Rizal was not actually
against the revolution but advised the Katipuneros to wait for the right timing, get
support from the rich and scholarly class, and secure the weapons needed. Dr.
Valenzuela narrated his statement in 1896, the information that he gave was
exaggerated due to torture and duress that made Rizal opposing to the rebellion.
In line with this, many historians were into great confusion due to this turn of
events and making Rizal stand over the Philippine Revolution, controversial,
making him both hero and anti-hero. Constantino trying to point out that even
without Dr. Jose Rizal, the movement of the Philippine Revolution would level up
 to another figure since it was not Rizal who shaped the turn of events but
otherwise. 
3. What good came from the revolution against Spain? What are the most
positive outcomes of the subsequent revolt against American armed
intervention and imperialism in the Philippines?

 One of the impacts of the revolution against Spain was awakening the proud
sense of nationalism of every Filipino generation. We cannot deny the fact that
during the time of revolution massive numbers of Filipinos suffer and struggle in
that time of conflict. The Philippine Revolution serves as an instrument of uniting
different Filipino backgrounds with a common goal which to resist colonialism.
 The Filipinos and Americans fought the Philippine-American War from 1899 to
1902, and the Americans won. Even though the Americans won, they decided to
help the Philippines become an independent nation. On July 4, 1946, the
Philippines became an independent nation. 

4. Do you feel that Constantino had a genuinely high regard for Rizal? Discuss
your answer.

 I believed that Renato Constantino had genuinely high regard for Dr. Jose Rizal.
The Veneration without Understanding of Renato Constantino taught us to re-
examine our colonial history and learn from that past. He wanted us “Filipinos” to
have a useful memory of a past to advance the Filipino quest for genuine
nationhood. As I can assess, Renato Constantino is not an anti-Rizal one.
Reasonably, he is just trying to teach how essential the necessity of looking into
much deeper sense, the characteristic of a true and real hero, the factors that
someone should be considered as a hero. We cannot deny the fact that Rizal
was a great man during his time. However, when Renato Constantino wrote the
Veneration without Understanding it opens the mind of the readers and making
us realize that we should not rely on the information that is passed upon us.
Thus, we should analyze its roots or where it came from and have a deeper
understanding of it. Constantino had high regard for Rizal because they are both
Filipinos. On the other side of the coin, Constantino just wants to unleash the
truth from a point of view of a historian. 
5. Would you list what Filipino(s)- famous or not- that epitomize the best of a
“Filipino Hero”? Please illustrate from their lives what causes you to make this
choice/these choices.

 I think that “We” can be a hero in our way because we can do incredible things. A
hero for me is best described as a prominent figure who has undertaken
commendable features in any significant event and action. A true hero sacrifices
his/her life for the freedom of his/her beloved motherland. Also, heroes are those
who have the concept of nation, and aspire and struggle for the destiny of a
nation and we can be that “Hero” in our life in which we can contribute to the
quality of life and order for a nation. It can be a Doctor, a Soldier, Teacher,
Garbage Collector, even Farmer, or common Filipino citizens. As long as we
think for the best of the future of our motherland and future generations. Lapu-
Lapu, GomBurZa, Gen. Antonio Luna, is an ideal image that epitomizes the
characteristics of a best “Filipino Hero”. When they died, they cause freedom for
our country. Also, a hero is not only those who raised arms to defeat the foreign
forces, a hero can use peaceful means to fight for liberty. “We” can be heroes of
our time; a whole of people can be given the proper motivation and articulation of
dreams. 

6. If you agree with Constantino, what steps are needed to make Filipinos
(regardless of education or wealth) equal in the eyes of the law and in the
esteem of its people? What forces work against this goal?

 We have the natural right to life and liberty and are equal in dignity. Every
individual had equal concern and respect for these basic rights that should be
guaranteed, protected, and upheld by the State. No individual, no government
can ever take away our human rights. Fundamentally, because everyone is a
human being and therefore a moral being. Human rights are the basic rights and
freedoms that belong to every person in the world, from birth until death.
However, these rights can sometimes be restricted for example if a person
breaks the law, or in the interests of national security or pandemic. The power of
human rights lies in the very fact that everyone is equal in terms of possessing
human dignity. However, this does not mean that everyone has a right to say
whatever they want. By this, our rights to express our opinion should not come at
the cost of someone else’s right to be treated with respect. Every individual is
entitled to Article III of the 1987 Philippine Constitution also called the Bill of
rights. 
7. Would Rizal have agreed with this statement by Constantino? Support your
answer.

 Indeed, Rizal would not agree with the statement of Renato Constantino. As we
all know that Rizal sacrifices his life for the freedom of our motherland. Rizal was
not a mere reformist he was also revolutionary in the sense that when he saw
that nothing would come out of the advocacy for reform, he did turn to more
revolutionary (radical) ideas. So the common view that he was a mere reformist
is wrong. Moreover, he was regarded as one of those who fought for freedom,
not through the revolutionary way, but by the means of his works and writings.
Dr. Jose Rizal fought in a way that no one shall be harmed or in a bloodless way
for he believed that the pen is mightier than the sword.

8. How would you answer this question which is raised by Constantino? How
would have the life of the Philippine nation been different if Rizal had never
been born?

 Constantino pointed out the even without Dr. Jose Rizal, the nationalistic
movement would still advance with another figure to take his place since Rizal
was not the one who shaped the turn of events but otherwise. In contrast to what
Constantino quoted, there is a possibility that our nation until now is colonized by
the Spaniards. If Rizal had never been born, no one will reveal the evils of the
colonial rule that enveloped Philippine society of that certain period and no one
will find the solution for that evil in the future. Rizal plays a vital role in opening
the eyes of every Filipino during that era. Without Rizal, no one will expose the
inhabitants of the Philippines that gasping under the cruelty of the tyrants. Also,
maybe at this point in our lives, we are still blinded by the Spaniards. Rizal
provided us insight and unleashed the truth about our true history, a history of the
Philippines from the point of view of the Filipino people, not a History of the
Philippine Islands as portrayed by the colonialists. 
9. Do you agree? Was the nation ready to govern itself through the 7000-plus
island? Had Spain adequately prepared the Philippines for self-government at
that point and time? Is the Philippine nation today moving toward liberty and
justice for all her people?

 On my point of view, Rizal believes that the Philippines are not competent to
stand on its own feet. He did not want us to be free from mother Spain but rather
he desired for the country to become a province of Spain, to be given equal
rights to political and economic power. We are not ready to govern the
Philippines, our country needed the aid of the Mother country, and that the social
changes cannot come from the people and should become from above. The
Philippines at that time are lacking individually and collectively the capacity for
self-government that’s why Rizal thinks that independence is not synonymous
with liberation. 
10. Constantino pointed out that Rizal opposed the armed revolt of Katipunan.
Can you research why Rizal opposed to a resort to arms? How successful was
the revolt of Bonifacio, and later Aguinaldo, against Spain? Did the prediction
of Rizal prove true?

 The possible answer why Rizal was opposing the armed revolt of Katipunan
simply because of his belief that violence should not prevail. He thought that
reforms to be successful should come from above. We should understand that
Rizal belonged to the principals, his advocacy is for the benefit of his class, at the
same period Rizal did not encounter the same criticisms that people from below
have undergone. According to Valenzuela after he recounted his 1986
statements, he quoted that Rizal was not actually against the revolution but
advised the Katipuneros to wait for the right timing, get the support of the rich
and scholarly class, and secure the needed weapons.
 After the execution of Rizal in 1896, Bonifacio proclaimed on August 23, 1896,
Filipino Independence. This time the Spaniards targeted him, forcing his flight to
the Marikina Mountains. On the other hand, other forces led by Aguinaldo were
successfully won some towns and control them. When Bonifacio tried to claim his
rein, Aguinaldo ordered his men to arrest Bonifacio and charged him treason and
sedition.
 The predictions of Rizal prove true. Indeed, from his composition Noli Me
Tangere and El Filibusterismo, he predicted some things that are occurring in the
present time and some things that happened before and still happening today.