Cebu City pays tribute to Rizal

CEBU, Philippines —  Cebu City Vice Mayor Donaldo Hontiveros has urged the Cebuanos on the occasion of Rizal Day celebration Thursday to use the lessons learned from the past to move forward from the COVID-19 pandemic and in the recent Typhoon Odette.

Cebu City may be busy rebuilding from the wrath of Typhoon Odette, the city government still managed to pay tribute to a national hero, Dr. Jose Rizal’s life and works and martyrdom that paved the way for the country’s independence from the Spaniards.

“Even in the midst of rebuilding our beloved city, we are gathered here today for a reason---Ang hindi marunong lumingon sa pinanggalingan ay hindi makakarating sa paroroonan. In Rizal’s immortal words, if we do not learn the lessons of history, come hell or high waters, through pandemic or storm–there is no moving forward,” said Hontiveros.

Hontiveros, who is now the chairman of the City’s Cultural and Historical Affairs Commission, led the tradition of wreath-laying on Rizal’s monument at the City Hall ground.

“Today we celebrate the undying spirit of a man who, moments before he was shot in Luneta, registered a normal pulse. He faced this most adverse of situations calmly, logically, and with a clear conscience,” added Hontiveros.

Hontiveros went on to say that Rizal like Sun Yat-Sen, Rabindranath Tagore, and Mahatma Gandhi, advocated for change through peaceful rather than violent means.

“This alone makes him a Filipino icon worth emulating,” stressed Hontiveros.

As such, Hontiveros is asking fellow Cebuanos to “calmly, logically, and with clear conscience rebuild Cebu City.

“It is this same indomitable spirit that I ask our fellow Cebuanos to embody–after surviving and thriving after two years of a pandemic and are once again asked to rebuild after the devastation from a category 5 typhoon–to do so calmly, logically, patiently, and with a clear conscience,” said Hontiveros.

Right after the wreath-laying ceremony, Hontiveros went around to help in monitoring the clean-up drive among other matters that needed immediate attention. — GMR (FREEMAN)