LEARNING POINTS ON THE PAPER WRITTEN BY

AMBETH R. OCAMPO

Most of the Earth's population are familiar with

Dr. Jose Rizal but only some are able to recognize him genuinely. As the
result of my research, the book written by Ambeth R. Ocampo, entitled "Rizal
without the overcoat" is indeed an eye opener to a reader who only knew
Rizal in a surface level of knowledge. It states that the man is more interesting
than a hero.
This book make Rizal more relatable to us. It talks about Rizal's life and some
aspects that made Rizal an ordinary person like us. It fits in the goal of the
writer to make people see the "more human side" of our national hero.
Rizal saves his allowance to buy books that the school required just like any
other students. He loves tuyo and ate the same food like everybody does, yet
with moderation. He also like lansones and mangoes as mentioned by one of
his cook's. He is 5.28ft tall. He loves his family, nephews, and nieces, he
respected his brother Paciano Rizal who is more refined and serious than
him. He has friends and other relationships whom he shared moments with.
Rizal is flawed just like any of us, like for instance, he admit the fact that he
can't sing, he is not confident in his Tagalog, has insecurities, and also believe
in destiny. He graduated with an excellent award as well as his eight other
classmates out of twelve. He is just basically like one of us, anyone can be Dr.
Jose Rizal, but there's this one character trait that make Dr. Jose Rizal
became our national hero. It is Rizal's love for our country.
As intelligent as he is, a hopeful patriot and a great traveler, despite the
struggles he face in his life, he doesn't stop until he effect meaningful change.
He sought and fought for our freedom through his works and writings because
he believed that the better way of life can be made to happen.
Rizal without the overcoat made me realize the importance of Rizal's
existence, it boosted my patriotic view of our country, that I am proud to be a
Filipino.
To sum it up, Ambeth Ocampo has contributed significantly. He did not, in his
opinion, create a new Rizal, but merely filled a gap with sufficient supporting
evidence. Through his writing about Rizal, he taught us to exercise our rights
to choose where we put our trust, and from that, we generated our own
realizations.

Reference: Ocampo, Ambeth R. Rizal Without the Overcoat. Mandaluyong:

Anvil Publishing, Inc. 2012. Print.
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