LIFE,

WORKS,AND
WRITINGS OF
JOSE RIZAL
ELIAS VEGA AVENIDO
COLLEGE INSTRUCTOR
LIFE, WORKS AND WRITINGS OF
RIZAL
COURSE DESCRIPTION
• THIS COURSE IS A STUDY OF THE LIFE AND WRITINGS OF DR. JOSE P.
RIZAL AND ITS CRUCIAL ROLE BEHIND THE MAKING OF THE
FILIPINO NATION. THE STUDY OF HIS NOVELS AND OTHER
WRITINGS WOULD ALLOW THE STUDENTS A VIEW INTO THE
HISTORICAL REALITIES OF THE PHILIPPINES AND THE WORLD IN
THE 19TH CENTURY AND RELATE THEM TO THE CONTEMPORARY
SOCIAL AND GLOBAL SITUATIONS.
RIZAL LAW (REPUBLIC ACT NO.
1425
WHAT IS RIZAL LAW?
• THE MANDATORY TEACHING OF JOSE RIZAL’S
LIFE WITH THE EMPHASIS ON HIS LANDMARK
NOVELS IS INSCRIBED IN LEGISLATION.
• REPUBLIC ACT NO. 1425, MORE POPULARLY
KNOWN AS THE RIZAL LAW, WAS PASSED IN 1956,
RECOGNIZING THE NEED TO INSTILL HEROISM
AMONG THE YOUTH AT THE TIME THE COUNTRY
WAS IN TURMOIL.
• AUTHORED BY SENATOR CLARO M. RECTO, AND
WAS ENACTED ON JUNE 12, 1956
RIZAL LAW (REPUBLIC ACT NO. 1425)
THE CHALLENGES TO THE CALL OF NATION-BUILDING (RIZAL AS AN
INSPIRATION)
• AS THE PHILIPPINES GRAPPLED WITH VARIOUS CHALLENGES,
PARTICULARLY THE CALL FOR NATION BUILDING, PROMINENT
INDIVIDUALS WHO CHAMPIONED NATIONALISM CAME TO ACTION.
• THE PASSAGE OF THE REPUBLIC ACT NO. 1425 WAS PRIMARILY SET TO
ADDRESS ”A NEED FOR A RE-DEDICATION TO THE IDEALS OF FREEDOM
AND NATIONALISM FOR WHICH OUR HEROES LIVED AND DIED”. THE
PASSAGE OF THE LAW WAS MET WITH FIERCE OPPOSITION IN BOTH THE
SENATE AND THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES.
RIZAL LAW (REPUBLIC ACT NO. 1425)
• APRIL 3, 1956 – SENATE BILL NO. 438 WAS FILED BY THE SENATE COMMITTEE ON
EDUCATION.
• APRIL 17, 1956 – SENATE COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION CHAIR JOSE P. LAUREL
SPONSORED THE BILL AND BEGAN DELIVERING SPEECHES FOR THE PROPOSED
LEGISLATION.
• APRIL 19, 1956 – HOUSE BILL NO. 5561, AN IDENTICAL VERSION OF SB 438, WAS FILED
BY REPRESENTATIVE JACOBO Z. GONZALES.
• APRIL 23, 1956 – THE DEBATES ON RIZAL BILL STARTED
• MAY 2, 1956 – THE HOUSE COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION APPROVED THE BILL WITHOUT
AMENDMENTS AND THE DEBATES COMMENCED ON MAY 9, 1956. A MAJOR POINT OF
THE DEBATES WAS WHETHER THE COMPULSORY READING OF THE TEXTS NOLI ME
TANGERE AND EL FILIBUSTERISMO APPROPRIATED IN THE BILL WAS
CONSTITUTIONAL.
RIZAL LAW (REPUBLIC ACT NO. 1425)
OPPOSITIONS TO RIZAL LAW
• THE LAW HAS MET INTENSE OPPOSITION FROM THE CATHOLIC CHURCH,
MOSTLY BY THE PRIESTS AND CATHOLIC SENATORS. THEIR ARGUMENTS
WERE FOLLOWING:
1. THE BILL WAS AN ATTEMPT TO DISCREDIT THE CATHOLIC CHURCH
2. SOME OF THE PASSAGES IN RIZAL’S NOVELS WERE OFFENSIVE TO THE
CATHOLIC TEACHINGS
3. THE BILL MIGHT DIVIDE THE NATION
4. COMPULSION TO READ SOMETHING OFFENSIVE TO ONE’S BELIEFS
OFFENDED THEIR FREEDOM OF SPEECH AND RELIGIOUS FREEDOM
RIZAL LAW (REPUBLIC ACT NO. 1425)
• CATHOLIC SCHOOLS THREATENED BECAUSE OF COMMUNIST AND ANTI-CATHOLIC
RECTO AND LAUREL. ARCHBISHOP OF MANILA, RUFINO SANTOS, REQUESTED
RECTO TO ONLY REQUIRE THE “EXPURGATED” VERSION OF RIZAL’S TWO NOVELS.
• RECTO REFUSED AND INSISTED THE USE OF “UNEXPURGATED” VERSION OF
RIZAL’S NOVELS. THIS IS FIGHT FOR RIZAL’S LEGACY (OCAMPO, 2012) • HOWEVER,
THE PRIESTS WHO OPPOSED THE PASSAGE OF THE BILL THREATENED THE PERSONS
BEHIND THE BILL AND MIGHT TO BE CONSIDERED AS “HERETIC.”
• IN THE SAME WAY THE OPPOSITION THREATENED THEM BY MENTIONING THAT THE
SCHOOLS HANDLED BY THE CATHOLIC CHURCH MIGHT BE CLOSED IF THE BILL
WILL BE CONVERTED INTO LAW. EVEN SO, RECTO AND LAUREL COUNTERED THE
STATEMENT BY SAYING THAT IF THAT WERE TO HAPPEN, SCHOOLS WOULD BE
“NATIONALIZED” AND THE GOVERNMENT WOULD CONVERT THESE SCHOOLS INTO
GOVERNMENT-RULED INSTITUTIONS.
RIZAL LAW (REPUBLIC ACT NO. 1425)
• SENATOR JOSE P. LAUREL PROPOSED A SUBSTITUTE BILL WHICH INCLUDE ALL OF
WRITINGS OF JOSE RIZAL, REMOVAL OF THE WORD “CUMPOLSARY” TO APPEASE THE
OPPOSITION.
• THE LAST AMENDMENT OF THE BILL INCLUDE PROVISIONS FOR EXEMPTIONS OF
CERTAIN STUDENTS FROM READING THE TWO NOVELS OF RIZAL UNDER CERTAIN
SITUATIONS.
• FORMER PRESIDENT FIDEL RAMOS DIRECTED CHED (COMMISSION ON HIGHER
EDUCATION) AND DECS (DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION, CULTURE AND SPORTS) TO
FULLY IMPLEMENT THE LAW THROUGH CMO NO. 247 IN 1994 • CMO NO. 3 WAS ISSUED
TO ENFORCE STRICTLY THE LAW IN 1995.
ROLE OF MILLENIALS/YOUTHS IN
STUDYING HISTORY
• RIZAL ENVISIONED THE GENERATIONS OF FILIPINO YOUTHS TO BE ENLIGHTENED AND
EDUCATED, AS HE PREVIOUSLY STATED THE FILIPINO YOUTHS WERE THE HOPE OF THE
FATHERLAND.
• POLICY MAKERS WHO CREATED RIZAL LAW ENSURED THAT THROUGH
MILLENIALS/YOUTHS, THE LEGACY OF RIZAL LIVES ON, THOUGH STATE SPONSORED
EDUCATION OF HIS LIFE, WORKS AND WRITINGS
• THE YOUTHS, IN TURN, HAVE THE RESPONSIBILITY NOT TO JUST ACCEPT TRIVIAL
INFORMATION ON JOSE RIZAL’S LIFE, BUT MORE IMPORTANTLY TO SUFFUSE THEM
DOWN TO THEIR VERY CORE
• INDEED, THE MILLENIALS WERE ACTIVE PARTCIPANTS IN THE PROCESS OF NATION
BUILDING, THAT THEY WOULD GENERATE NEW IDEAS THAT WILL AFFECT THE SOCIETY
IN THE NEAR FUTURE.
RIZAL LAW (REPUBLIC ACT NO. 1425)
REPUBLIC ACT NO. 1425
REPUBLIC ACT NO. 1425 - AN ACT TO INCLUDE IN THE
CURRICULA OF ALL PUBLIC AND PRIVATE SCHOOLS,
COLLEGES AND UNIVERSITIES COURSES ON THE LIFE,
WORKS AND WRITINGS OF JOSE RIZAL, PARTICULARLY
HIS NOVELS NOLI ME TANGERE AND EL
FILIBUSTERISMO, AUTHORIZING THE PRINTING AND
DISTRIBUTION THEREOF, AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES
RIZAL LAW (REPUBLIC ACT NO. 1425
• WHEREAS, TODAY, MORE THAN ANY OTHER PERIOD OF OUR HISTORY, THERE IS A NEED
FOR A RE-DEDICATION TO THE IDEALS OF FREEDOM AND NATIONALISM FOR WHICH
OUR HEROES LIVED AND DIED;
• WHEREAS, IT IS MEET THAT IN HONORING THEM, PARTICULARLY THE NATIONAL HERO
AND PATRIOT, JOSE RIZAL, WE REMEMBER WITH SPECIAL FONDNESS AND DEVOTION
THEIR LIVES AND WORKS THAT HAVE SHAPED THE NATIONAL CHARACTER;
• WHEREAS, THE LIFE, WORKS AND WRITING OF JOSE RIZAL, PARTICULARLY HIS NOVELS
NOLI ME TANGERE AND EL FILIBUSTERISMO, ARE A CONSTANT AND INSPIRING SOURCE
OF PATRIOTISM WITH WHICH THE MINDS OF THE YOUTH, ESPECIALLY DURING THEIR
FORMATIVE AND DECISIVE YEARS IN SCHOOL, SHOULD BE SUFFUSED;
• WHEREAS, ALL EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS ARE UNDER THE SUPERVISION OF, AND
SUBJECT TO REGULATION BY THE STATE, AND ALL SCHOOLS ARE ENJOINED TO
DEVELOP MORAL CHARACTER, PERSONAL DISCIPLINE, CIVIC CONSCIENCE AND TO
TEACH THE DUTIES OF CITIZENSHIP;
RIZAL LAW (REPUBLIC ACT NO. 1425)
• SECTION 1. COURSES ON THE LIFE, WORKS AND WRITINGS OF JOSE RIZAL,
PARTICULARLY HIS NOVEL NOLI ME TANGERE AND EL FILIBUSTERISMO, SHALL BE
INCLUDED IN THE CURRICULA OF ALL SCHOOLS, COLLEGES AND UNIVERSITIES,
PUBLIC OR PRIVATE: PROVIDED, THAT IN THE COLLEGIATE COURSES, THE ORIGINAL
OR UNEXPURGATED EDITIONS OF THE NOLI ME TANGERE AND EL FILIBUSTERISMO OF
THEIR ENGLISH TRANSLATION SHALL BE USED AS BASIC TEXTS.
• SEC. 2. IT SHALL BE OBLIGATORY ON ALL SCHOOLS, COLLEGES AND UNIVERSITIES
TO KEEP IN THEIR LIBRARIES AN ADEQUATE NUMBER OF COPIES OF THE ORIGINAL
AND UNEXPURGATED EDITIONS OF THE NOLI ME TANGERE AND EL FILIBUSTERISMO,
AS WELL AS OF RIZAL'S OTHER WORKS AND BIOGRAPHY. THE SAID UNEXPURGATED
EDITIONS OF THE NOLI ME TANGERE AND EL FILIBUSTERISMO OR THEIR
TRANSLATIONS IN ENGLISH AS WELL AS OTHER WRITINGS OF RIZAL SHALL BE
INCLUDED IN THE LIST OF APPROVED BOOKS FOR REQUIRED READING IN ALL PUBLIC
OR PRIVATE SCHOOLS, COLLEGES AND UNIVERSITIES.CRALAW
RIZAL LAW (REPUBLIC ACT NO. 1425)
• SEC. 3. THE BOARD OF NATIONAL EDUCATION SHALL CAUSE THE TRANSLATION OF
THE NOLI ME TANGERE AND EL FILIBUSTERISMO, AS WELL AS OTHER WRITINGS OF
JOSE RIZAL INTO ENGLISH, TAGALOG AND THE PRINCIPAL PHILIPPINE DIALECTS;
CAUSE THEM TO BE PRINTED IN CHEAP, POPULAR EDITIONS; AND CAUSE THEM TO BE
DISTRIBUTED, FREE OF CHARGE, TO PERSONS DESIRING TO READ THEM, THROUGH
THE PUROK ORGANIZATIONS AND BARRIO COUNCILS THROUGHOUT THE COUNTRY.
• SEC. 4. NOTHING IN THIS ACT SHALL BE CONSTRUED AS AMENDMENT OR REPEALING
SECTION NINE HUNDRED TWENTY-SEVEN OF THE ADMINISTRATIVE CODE,
PROHIBITING THE DISCUSSION OF RELIGIOUS DOCTRINES BY PUBLIC SCHOOL
TEACHERS AND OTHER PERSON ENGAGED IN ANY PUBLIC SCHOOL.
• SEC. 5. THE SUM OF THREE HUNDRED THOUSAND PESOS IS HEREBY AUTHORIZED TO
BE APPROPRIATED OUT OF ANY FUND NOT OTHERWISE APPROPRIATED IN THE
NATIONAL TREASURY TO CARRY OUT THE PURPOSES OF THIS ACT.CRALAW
• SEC. 6. THIS ACT SHALL TAKE EFFECT UPON ITS APPROVAL.CRALAW