DELIGERO, YSABELLE Z.

AB Political Science – B

VENERATION WITHOUT UNDERSTANDING

The article that I have read referring to our national hero, Dr. Jose Rizal made me confused a little

bit in some parts because of the author’s ideologies. Those ideologies are very deep and meaningful yet

also essential for the Filipinos especially for the students. Although this is not your typical articles about Dr.

Jose Rizal, it has a great contribution in our society.

This is really an eye-opener to every individual. As a Filipino student, I admit that I don’t have

enough knowledge about Rizal’s teachings and works but how I viewed it in my mind, this is not only

pertaining to Rizal - being our national hero. There are some parts that made me question my whole

existence as a Filipino citizen. I asked myself, “Do we really need to honor Jose Rizal?” Do we really need

to? Why? As Renato Constantino states the ideas and concepts of Jose Rizal, I felt puzzled because he

enumerated some opinions about why Rizal is not worthy to be our national hero. These are the reasons

that are specifically identified by the author: Rizal declined to take side to the revolutionary army; he

underestimated the power and knowledge of the mass; and he never fostered liberty and freedom whereas

for him, it is just for the educated people. Also, Constantino denied the over exaltation of our national hero

by several people. I don’t agree nor disagree with him with but these reasons can clarify the ideas and

thoughts of people about Rizal’s sentiment.

Being the American-sponsored hero, as stated in the article, Dr, Jose Rizal’s role lost our sense of

proportion and relegated to a subordinate position of our other great men and the historic events in which

they took part. Meaning, we almost forgot the bravery of all the other heroes of our country. In addition to
this, Constantino also execrated the Americans who lead the induction of choosing Rizal to be our national

hero that minimizes the importance of other heroes. As for me, I agree with Constantino’s opinion.

According to Constantino, being an ilustrado had affected Rizal’s view on what being a true

nationalist entails. It affected his belief wherein he assumed that equality with the Spaniards also meant

equality of opportunity so he had set goals that were ‘limited’ only to his class but somehow still resonated

with the masses afterwards. And being an ilustrado, again according to Constantino, Rizal struggled to

sympathize or connect to the masses, as it was very apparent on his books La Solidaridad and El

Filibusterismo where there were only a few characters representing the masses whereas there are more

ilustrados present in the story. This is one of the reasons identified by Constantino as what I’ve said wrote

earlier. In this part of the article, I disagree with him.

I both agree and disagree in some parts of the article but as for me, Rizal’s ideology is still

applicable for us. It may change our perspective about Rizal’s contribution in our society especially in this

era. Upon reading the paper, I was exposed for the first time to some issues concerning Rizal as our

national hero that weren’t taught to us, especially in our textbooks. It made me realize that Rizal’s title is

somehow opposing and very questionable. Therefore, I conclude that Rizal’s ideologies may not be perfect.

There are aspects of Rizal that serve as a good example and there are some ideologies that made us

forget the bravery of the other men who sacrificed their lives for our freedom. And for that I pay respect to

Constantino for opening our eyes and making us realize that we should not just be contented on being

passed upon information which we thought were incapable of being questioned but rather he also

challenges us to deeply understand them and analyze its roots or where it came from.