Republic Act

1425: Rizal
Law

Cesar B. Mercado Jr.

 TARGET: Ang mga mag-aaral ay maipapaliwanag ang
kasaysayan ng Batas Rizal ang mahahalagang
probisyon nito .

What is RA 1425?

Why is this law controversial as Jose Rizal

himself?

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What is Rizal Law and its purpose?

• Rizal Law is 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.

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 What is the importance of Rizal law?
• The Rizal law is very important in our lives as Filipinos
because Dr. Jose P. Rizal plays a significant role in the
heritage and history of the Philippines. Rizal’s literary
novels immortalize life in the Philippines during the
Spanish era and the strong desire for freedom and
independence.

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• Senate bill 438 known as Rizal Bill which was first authored by
Senator Claro M. Recto – requiring the inclusion in the curricula of all
private and public schools, colleges and universities the life, works and
writings of Jose Rizal particularly his novels Noli Me Tangere and El
Filibusterismo – is considered as one of the most controversial bills in
the Philippines.

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 • Normally, before the bill was approved and implemented
in all schools and was signed into a law known as
Republic Act 1425, it had been brought to the Upper and
Lower House of the Congress for deliberations.

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• But what made it controversial is that the bill was
not just fiercely opposed by people from
Legislative Arm but also by the Catholic Church
due to the inclusion of compulsory reading of
Rizal’s novels in which according to them, catholic
doctrines are humiliated.

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 • Senator Recto brought the bill to the Senate and Senator Jose B. Laurel Sr. who was
then the Chairman of the Committee on Education sponsored the bill that
consequently led to exchange of arguments from the Congress.

• The bill was headedly opposed by three senators namely Senator Francisco Rodrigo
who was a former Catholic Action President, Senator Mariano Cuenco and Senator
Decoroso Rosales who was the brother of Julio Rosales, an archbishop.

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• Other oppositors were from Lower House namely
Congressmen Ramon Durano, Marciano Lim, Jose
Nuguid, Manuel Soza, Godofredo Ramos, Miguel
Cuenco, Lucas Paredes, Congressmen Carmen Consing
and Tecia San Andres Ziga.

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 • The Catholic Church was indirectly included in the
debates and played a major role for the intervention
of signing of the bill into a law. Allied with the
church in battle against Rizal Bill were the Holy
Name Society of the Philippines, Catholic Action of
the Philippines, Legion of Mary, Knights of
Columbus and Daughters of Isabela

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 • Oppositions argued that the bill would go against freedom of conscience and religion,
The Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) submitted a pastoral
letter to which according, Rizal violated Canon Law 1399 which forbids or bans
books that attack or ridicule the catholic doctrine and practices.

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 • Oppositors argued that among the 333 pages of Noli Me Tangere,
only 25 passages are nationalistic while 120 passages are anti-
catholic. While upon scrutiny of the two novels by some
members of catholic hierarchical, 170 passages in Noli Me
Tangere and 50 in El Filibusterismo are against catholic faith.

• Furthermore, oppositors pointed out that Rizal admitted that he

did not only attack the friars who acted deceptively on the
Filipinos but also the catholic faith itself. They suggested a
reading material for students as to what they called Rizalian
Anthology, a collection of Rizal’s literary works that contain the
patriotic philosophy excluding the two novels.

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 • Of course, Recto and Laurel defended the bill and argued that the only objective of
the bill is to keep the memory of the national hero alive in every Filipino’s mind, to
emanate Rizal as he peacefully fought for freedom, and not to go against religion.

• Senators Lorenzo Tanada, Quintin Paredes and Domocao Alonto of Mindanao also
defended Rizal Bill which was also favored by Representatives from the House
namely Congressmen Jacobo Gonzales, Emilio Cortez, Mario Bengson, Joaquin
Roxas, LancapLagumbay and Pedro Lopez.

• Other supporters of the bill were Mayor Arsenio Lacson call anti-rizal bill “bigoted
and intolerant” and walked out of a mass when the priest read a pastoral letter from
the Archbishop denouncing the Rizal Bill and General Emilio Aguinaldo with groups
like the Knights of Rizal, Women Writers of the Verrnacular, Philippine Veterans
Legion, Colleger Editors’ Guild and Philippine School Teachers’ Association.

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 • Excitement and intense scenes were eventually arisen in settling the
Rizal Bill. One of which was the debate of Cebu Representative Ramon
Durano and Pampanga Representative Emilio Cortes that ended with a
fistfight in Congress. Bacolod City Bishop Manuel Yap threatened to
campaign against pro-Rizal bill legislators and to punish them in future
elections.

• Catholic Schools Representatives threatened to close down their schools

if the Rizal Bill was passed.

• Recto told them that if they did, the State could nationalize the catholic
schools. When there was a proposal to use the expurgated novels as
textbooks and put the original copies under lock and key in the school
libraries, Recto rejected this amendment and expressed:
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 “The people who would eliminate the books of Rizal
from the schools…would bot out from our minds the
memory of the national hero…this is not a fight against
Recto but a fight against Rizal…now that Rizal is dead
and they can no longer attempt at his life, they are
attempting to blot out his memory.”

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 • Due to apparently never-ending debate on the Rizal Bill, approved amendments were
formulated through ideas of three senators. Senator Laurel’ created an amendment to
the original bill in which, other that Noli Me Tangere and El Filibusterismo, works
written by Rizal and works written by others about Rizal would be included and
reading of the unexpurgated revision of the two novels would no longer be
compulsory to elementary and secondary levels but would be strictly observed to
college level.

• Senator Lim suggested the exemption to those students who feel that reading Rizal’s
novels would negatively affect his or her faith. Senator Primicias created an additional
amendment that promulgates the rules and regulations in getting an exemption only
from reading the two novels through written statement or affidavit and not from
taking the Rizal Course. According to historian Ambeth Ocampo, no student has ever
availed of this exemption. After the revised amendments, the bill was finally passed
on May 17, 1956 and was signed into law as Republic Act 1425 by President Ramon
Magsaysay on June 12 of the same year.
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Jose Rizal Law – Republic Act 1425 Full Text

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;

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 WHEREAS, it is met 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;

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 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;

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 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;
Now, therefore,

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 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 or their English
translation shall be used as basic texts.
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 • The Board of National Education is hereby authorized and directed to
adopt forthwith measures to implement and carry out the provisions of
this Section, including the writing and printing of appropriate primers,
readers, and textbooks.
• The Board shall, within sixty (60) days from the effectivity of this Act,
promulgate rules and regulations, including those of a disciplinary
nature, to carry out and enforce the provisions of this Act.
• The Board shall promulgate rules and regulations providing for the
exemption of students for reasons of religious belief stated in a sworn
written statement, from the requirement of the provision contained in
the second part of the first paragraph of this section; but not from
taking the course provided for in the first part of said paragraph. Said
rules and regulations shall take effect thirty (30) days after publication
in the Official Gazette.
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 SECTION 2.
• It shall be obligatory for 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.

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 • The Board of National Education shall
determine the adequacy of the number
of books, depending upon the
enrollment of the school, college, or
university.

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 SECTION 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.

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 SECTION 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.

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 SECTION 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.

SECTION 6. This Act shall take effect upon its

approval.
Approved: June 12, 1956

Published in the Official Gazette, Vol. 52, No. 6, p. 2971 in June 1956.

Source: Official Gazette of the Philippines

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 Rizal Law Backgrounder:

• The law was sponsored by Sen. Jose P. Laurel and Sen. Claro
M. Recto and was enacted in June 12, 1956.

• The purpose of the law was to disseminate Rizal’s ideas and

ideals through his novels: Noli Me Tangere and El
Filibusterismo, and since the youths are important in nation
building, it is natural to remind them about the past.

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 From Rizal Bill to Rizal Law: The Trials

Before being enacted, the ‘Original’ Rizal Bill stated

that to include Noli Me Tangere and El Filibusterismo as
compulsory readings, and to emphasize on original or
unexpurgated versions of the novel.

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 But the ‘Original’ Rizal Bill was opposed by the
Catholic church, because they saw the bill as an
attempt to discredit the Catholic Religion; and by
the idea of compulsion to read something against
one’s faith, impairs freedom of speech and religious
freedom. So, as an answer to the problem, the
‘Original’ bill was revised.

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 The final version of the bill stated: to include all
the works and writings by Jose Rizal, to put
emphasis on original or unexpurgated versions of
the Noli Me Tangere and El Filibusterismo, and
removed the idea of compulsion by allowing
exemption by reason of faith. As of today, no one
still availed of the exemption.

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 So, upon realizing the truth behind PI10, I learned to
love and respect the course. Not only it helped me in
remembering the Philippines in the past, it also gave
me a reason. A reason to serve the country and instill
nationalism in the Filipino Youth, because we, the
youths, are the Nation’s future.

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