Rizal, a hero for all seasons

Last week at a dinner at the residence of the Malaysian Ambassador to Manila, we had an inspiring conversation about Jose Rizal. As part of our after-dinner conversation, I mentioned to the Ambassador about meeting a high-ranking Malaysian official three years ago at a forum in Makati City and I was pleasantly surprised at how knowledgeable he was about our national hero.

Ambassador Datuk Seri Dr. Ibrahim Saad remarked that Malaysians are very familiar about Rizal because his history and achievements have been made part of the Malaysian educational curriculum. Malaysians view Rizal as the progenitor of their own nationalistic aspirations and the forerunner of the great Asian nationalists, such as Gandhi and Sun Yat Sen. Long before our current international celebrities Pacman and Lea Salonga, Rizal was already our first Filipino global superstar.

As shown by our dinner conversation, Rizal’s great legacy went beyond the confines of our archipelago and was embraced by other nations; in fact, Rizal was assimilated into their own unique brands of nationalism. So Rizal was elevated beyond his own nationhood and viewed not just as an exceptional Filipino but also as the “Great Malayan.”

While I had an inkling of the scope of Rizal’s effect on Asian nationalism, I never knew how ingrained Rizal was in the educational systems of other Asian nations, like Malaysia. My fascination for Rizal had increased during my term as president of the Pamantasan ng Lungsod ng Maynila (The University of the City of Manila), particularly when I discovered that the campus of PLM, located inside the walls of Intramuros, was a site of Rizal’s incarceration and part of Rizal’s trial, according to the mythology of PLM, was conducted within the campus. How incredibly fortunate, I thought at the time, that our own students in the university were literally following the footsteps of our national hero, not only on the path of education but also with regard to the physical reality that Jose Rizal had strode the very grounds of the campus.

And for me, Rizal is the perfect role model for the Filipino student. Of course, his intelligence, as demonstrated by his being both a polyglot and a polymath, is legendary but he was much more than an exceptionally bright and erudite student. He was a patriot who, ultimately, was willing to sacrifice himself for his people. He had both brains and heart, intelligence and character, the two elements that must be developed by our educational institutions.

However, not everyone is convinced that Jose Rizal should even be considered as our the best choice for our national hero. The debate is age-old: Bonifacio versus Rizal. Rizal is viewed as weak, a pacifist and a compromiser in contrast to Bonifacio, the great revolutionary. Some claim that the American government helped steer — some say imposed — our choice of Rizal since he was a better fit to the US’ colonial ambitions. Rizal, it was argued, was the American choice, Rizal the docile and bookish, the quintessential un-warrior.

The idea of Rizal as a political pushover and prone to compromise is, in fact, inaccurate and misunderstands the true nature of revolution. Simply, Rizal is the better national hero than Bonifacio. Revolutionary movements, particular against colonialism, do not begin by mere force of arms. As our history clearly shows, there were many uprisings in Luzon prior to the Philippine revolution, which were easily quelled by the Spanish, and later, the American government. But a real revolution must begin with the most dangerous thing of all — a powerful idea. It is the idea that will be not only the spark that causes people to rise up against a tyrannical or despotic government but must also be the foundation necessary to maintain a revolution to its final fruition.

It was precisely Rizal’s strength of ideation — the ability to see the Filipino as equal to the Spaniard, the European, in fact, equal to any people, that became the basis for our own nationalistic sentiment. I will never speak of ill of Bonifacio, he had his strengths as well, predominantly his courage, but in the scheme of history, Rizal stands truly god-like compared to other heroes, the Prometheus who stole the fire of nationalism and gifted it to the future Filipino nation.

Moreover, Rizal remains relevant to us even today. Rizal personifies our ideal of the Filipino: intelligent, hardworking, and patriotic. His strong belief in our essential equality with nations and peoples has a great application in our current struggle to compete with our Asian neighbors who are, in the race to development, already leaving us in the wake of their economic and political dust. Our country needs a shot of Rizal confidence and self-belief to propel us to achieve the vaunted potential of our nation.

Finally, the more one reads up on Rizal, the more he can be inspirational on a personal level. At least for me, what I appreciate in my study of Rizal is how utterly human he was. While I appreciate his achievements, he certainly was no Superman. As his own letters to his friends and family will show, Rizal was insecure, he was fearful of persecution and prosecution, and he was both shy and quick to take affront for sleights both real and imagined. His essential humanness allows me to aspire to achieve and evolve as he did.

As we look toward the future, perhaps now is the right time for our youth and our national leaders to start reading up on the Great Malayan.