THE LEGACY OF JOSE RIZAL

Jose Rizal's popularity did not diminish after his death. The first monument of Jose
was erected in Daet, Camarines Norte in 1898 out of a huge stone pillar where
katipuneros were tied and tortured. When his remains were recovered from an
unmarked grave at the Paco cemetery, people lined up at Dona Teodora's house in
Santa Cruz to pay homage and get a glimpse of the box containing Jose's bones. In
1912, a funeral march attended by a large crowd was held which transferred Jose's
remains from the Rizal family home to its final resting place in Luneta. This was near
the spot where he was executed.

The American colonial authorities, the new colonizers, allowed Filipinos to honor
Rizal in different ways despite banning the display of flags used by Filipinos during
the revolution. Wenceslao Retana, a Spanish scholar and civil servant, once a
staunch critic of Jose, eventually became an admirer of Jose's works. In 1907, he
published "Vida y Escritos del Dr. Jose Rizal" the first biography published about
Jose. In 1913, Austin Craig, an American teacher and historian published "Lineage,
Life and Labors of Jose Rizal, the Philippine Patriot," the first biography of Jose
written in English, based on his interviews of Rizal's sisters and friends who were still
alive then.

The famous surname "Rizal" became a brand name for many products like
cigarettes, matches, root beer, and services like funeral parlors and banks.

The entire province of Morong was renamed Rizal. Avenues and streets were named
after him. Towns and cities started placing monuments in their plazas to remember
Jose and his heroism. Almost every town in this archipelago has a Rizal monument. In
1913, Jose's national monument was installed at the Luneta, the former Bagumbayan
where he, GOMBURZA and other Filipino freedom fighters were executed. Today,
Luneta is also known as Rizal Park.

In 1956, President Ramon Magsaysay signed Republic Act 1425, commonly known as
the Rizal Law. Senators Claro M. Recto and Jose P. Laurel were the authors of the
proposed law.
The Rizal Law requires all high schools, colleges, universities and educational
institutions to teach Jose Rizal's novels, poems and other writings because there is a
need to instill the ideals of freedom and nationalism in the younger generations.

There is no law that declares Jose as the Philippine National Hero as he is just one of
many National Heroes of the Philippines. Still, many Filipinos honor him in different
ways. In almost every town and city plaza, there is a monument of Jose. There are
also movies, television shows and theatrical works about him. His two novels, the
Noli me Tangere and El Filibusterismo are often transformed into theatrical
productions.

Eminent Filipino filmakers have honored Jose: In 1998, Marilou Diaz-Abaya

produced and directed "Jose Rizal." In 2000, Mike de Leon made the film "Bayaning
3rd World," a contemporary depiction of Jose's life and legacy.

Let's not forget, Jose's face is etched on the one-peso coin. The Bangko Sentral ng
Pilipinas has placed Rizal's profile on the one-peso coin, so he will always be close to
the Filipino people.

Jose Rizal's writings like the Noli me Tangere and El Filibusterismo are still
reprinted, read, and studied. His writings continue to teach Filipinos about the ideals
of love of fellowmen and country. Such ideals had inspired and continue to inspire
Filipinos to contribute to nation-building and to fight for freedom and justice for all.

JOSE RIZAL, A BAYANI

In Philippine History, a bayani is someone who exerted great effort and fought for
the good of the bayan, the people and nation. Bayani is a title of honor granted to
people who have given their work and life without expecting anything in return,
believing it is the right thing to do for the bayan.

A bayani is someone who contributes to society. Jose Rizal, in Philippine history, has
contributed so much. He not only lived for the good of the bayan, he also offered his
life for it.
1) He used his knowledge, skills and talents to help others.

A bayani has both passion and compassion.

Jose Rizal did his best in the things he loved doing: reading, writing, doing art,
making friends, and helping people. Jose was constantly curious so he continued to
read books, study issues that affected the Philippines and explore new fields of
knowledge. The more he learned, the more confident and accomplished he became.
Because of this, he became known for his accomplishments as a doctor, a writer, a
scientist, a historian, a changemaker, and a leader.

At the young age of 26, he published the Noli me Tangere, practiced medicine and
was a leader of young Filipinos in Europe. He was able to do so by choosing his field
of interest, and by focusing on such crafts. He persevered despite all the challenges
he faced.

2) He stood up for truth and justice.

Jose had ideals which he wrote about in his essays, letters, and books that are about
helping one another, Jose turned these ideals into action. He lived to be an
honorable person by matching his actions with his ideals and words.

Jose's ideals were reflected in his writings which tell of standing up for truth and
fighting the injustices experienced by fellow Filipinos. It was dangerous to be
outspoken about the truth but he knew that staying quiet or turning a blind eye on
problems would never help his countrymen.

3) He believed in working together to achieve goals.

Consistent with the ideals of the La Liga Filipina, Jose believed in working together
in promoting everyone's welfare and in fighting injustice. Though the organization
did not take off, he implemented his ideals in Dapitan to help the community. Jose
Rizal believed that, to beat the social cancer that afflicted the Philippines, Filipinos
must work together to bring back to life the people and the land so devastated by
conflict and hardships.

4) He learned from the past to explain the present.

Jose once wrote, "to know the destiny of a nation, it is necessary to open a book that
tells of her past."
In Europe, he spent a lot of time in libraries and museums searching for documents,
books, papers about the Philippine past to discover more what it means to be a
Filipino.

Jose studied history and learned from it. He sought wisdom from it to understand the
problems of his nation and to help solve these problems.

5) He believed in his country, especially in its youth.

Despite all the bad things that happened to in his Motherland, Jose never stopped
believing in it and its people. He always believed in the Filipino youth, "the beautiful
hope of my Motherland" whom he encouraged to be their best in pursuing their
passions and to be of service to others. He knew that, one day, young Filipinos like
you would bring the vigor of life, the purity of ideas, and the fire of enthusiasm back
to the Philippines, his beloved country.

Ramos, J. R. (2018). Bayani Biographies: Jose Rizal (pp. 105-117). Saint Matthew’s
Publishing.