EDITORIAL — Rizal’s legacy

Nearly a century and a half after his birth, national hero Jose Rizal continues to serve as an inspiration to Filipinos. He is one of the few Filipinos honored overseas — in Spain, Germany, and in Malaysia where he is recognized as someone who has brought pride to the Malay race. Spain continues to pay tribute to him, dedicating a new multi-story eye care and training center at the Philippine General Hospital in his honor.

Filipinos of the 21st century should take note of the path taken by Rizal in achieving his enduring legacy. He has been recognized as a champion of non-violence ahead of icons of peaceful protests such as Mahatma Gandhi. While Rizal was for self-rule by Filipinos, he refused to endorse armed revolt, feeling that his compatriots, outgunned by the Spanish colonizers, would simply set themselves up for a massacre. And while he was among the most educated and best qualified to lead an emerging Philippine nation, he did not fight for any leadership post.

Instead he focused on self-improvement, showing to Spain and the rest of the international community that, given the opportunity to achieve their full potential, Filipinos could stand alongside the best in the world and were eligible for self-rule. Then he set out to apply what he had learned as an ophthalmologist, providing a basic service that was badly needed by his impoverished compatriots. In his writings he emphasized the importance of education, seeing it as the path to national progress rather than armed revolt.

Today, 145 years after his birth, there are groups that continue to take up arms in furtherance of political causes. There is a sovereign Philippine nation, but it is saddled with a foreign debt so crippling it is often forced to bow to the dictates of multilateral lending institutions and foreign governments. Lacking the resources for its own defense, the Philippines also continues to depend on foreign assistance for national security. Education, particularly in the public sector, is in crisis, pulling down national competitiveness in a highly competitive global economy.

Rizal’s short life offers many lessons in achieving national progress. Those lessons, remembered on his 145th birth anniversary today, can still be learned.