Castrillo’s Rizal in Sydney
No other Filipino hero has touched the Filipino psyche and transformation as much as Dr. Jose P. Rizal, the first truly global Filipino symbol. As the prime mover of the reform movement against Spain, Rizal epitomized the best in the Filipino’s intellect, presented the highest vision for the Filipino race and expressed through his life, art and writings. These Renaissance achievements serve as inspiration not only to Filipinos, but to all of Asia.
In the Philippines, every town or municipality has a Rizal monument. In Europe, many countries where Rizal stayed have historical markers, telling the story of his life. Today, Centro Rizals are being set up as Philippine embassies and educational centers in key areas of the world where Filipino communities are present. Now for the first time, there is a Rizal monument in Sydney whose backstory is worth telling.
The idea of the Rizal Monument Donation Project stemmed from private sector initiatives and shared patriotic vision of friends in the Philippines. It began with the request of then Philippine Ambassador to Italy Romeo Manalo for a symbol to help inspire and fuel the patriotic spirit of the people in the diplomatic service, as well as OFWs. We discussed the need for a strong proud face that the Filipinos need to share to the world. I was then in the midst of setting up a series of exhibition and events entitled Rizalizing the Future for the 150th year celebrations of the birth anniversary of Rizal at the Yuchengco Museum. I asked sculptor Eduardo Castrillo for the possibility of a Rizal sculpture in the Piazza Manila in Rome. Castrillo loved the project and offered his commitment to donate his artistic work for free and asked friends for any monetary amount to cover for cost of brass sheets. His friends Joseph and Elena Lim, Esther Gabaldon, Rizal Commercial Banking Corp.’s Helen Dee, Insular Life Insurance Company’s Vicente Ayllon and PAGCOR donated some funds for the materials. 
Rome, as the venue, did not push through. So, with the help of former Ambassador Delia Albert, possible venues included Germany and even Switzerland. Finally, Ambassador to Australia Belen Anota closed the loop with the help of the National Commission for Culture and the Arts. But coincidence, synchronicity or as fate would have it, Ambassador Anota found out that the Rizalistas in Sydney, specifically the Rizal Park Movement (RPM), a Filipino-Australian group, have been given a Rizal Park with a playground and picnic shed in Campbelltown City, New South Wales more than three years back. Since then, the RPM, headed by its president Lourdes Kaiser, has been trying to raise funds for a monument.
With Castrillo’s Rizal monument, his first one in Australia, the Rizal Park in New South Wales project is finally complete. Its unveiling was also perfectly timed for the tail end of celebrations of the hero’s 150th birth anniversary and President Noynoy Aquino was there to unveil it.
This is not the first time that Eduardo Castrillo donated his artist’s fee to such monuments. Since the late ‘70s, he has dotted the provincial landscape with heritage monuments with the belief that art must be shared beyond the main urban centers like Manila. Castrillo’s name is synonymous with metal sculpture, having produced figurative historical and religious monuments and abstract environmental works not only in the Philippines, but also internationally. In the country, through his 40-year career, he has managed to present imposing historical monuments that tell the story of the courage, heroism and aspirations of the best of the Filipino race. Some significant monuments include The Light and Sound Tableau on the Life and Martyrdom of Dr. Jose Rizal on the exact spot where the hero was martyred in Luneta; People Power, The Spirit of EDSA 2, Andres Bonifacio and Emilio Aguinaldo monuments and the History of Christianity in the Philippines to name a few. And he is still at it, at present working on a number of monuments for Cebu, as well as the ambitious projects of the History of the Philippines and the Fall of Bataan.
Castrillo’s career reflects the unfolding of his dream as a youth: to dot the country with a gallery of historical monuments. Many of these monuments are cultural heritage pieces of the Philippines, forever to be the backdrops against which National Day celebrations are commemorated. Through time, these monuments have become a testimony to the artist’s passion for excellence in form, technique and his patriotic spirit. Even today, the sculptor’s lifetime dedication to enliven the spirit of our heroes or place cultural heritage monuments about the Filipinos challenged Filipinos overseas. “Any Filipino group or communities abroad who can find a space for a Filipino monument, I commit to creating a monument and helping find the funds locally for symbols of our race to be seen abroad.” Castrillo said.
The Rizal monument in Campbelltown City, New South Wales, Australia is also a wonderful example of a public-private partnership for the long term symbol of what all Filipinos can strive to become.
