Remembering Rizal

111 years ago on December 30, 1896, Dr. Jose P. Rizal, our national hero, was executed. The Spaniards had to carry out the death sentence even during Christmas season. It is incomprehensible that the spirit of the season failed to rouse compassion on the part of the Spanish government leaders who propagated Christianity in our country. Strong anger and  resentment over what Rizal wrote in his “Noli  Me Tangere” and “El Filibusterismo” moved the Spanish friars  then to instigate his trial and execution. Implicated then with the revolutionary society called Katipunan, he was tried before a court-martial for rebellion, sedition and establishing an anti-government association. He was found guilty of all  three crimes and sentenced to death. He  was executed by a firing squad in what is now Rizal Park, formerly called Bagumbayan Field. His body was buried afterwards in a secret grave at the Paco Cemetery and his death registered as a suicide.

Rizal went to the execution ground with a peaceful and cheerful countenance. He  was happy to sacrifice his life for his countrymen. Mabini, in his memoir, remembers Rizal’s agony in the solitude of his exile in Guam: “From the day Rizal understood the misfortunes of his native land and decided to work to redress them, his vivid imagination never ceased to picture to him at every moment of his life the terrors of the death that awaited him… [The] life of Rizal, from the time he dedicated it to the service of his native land, was therefore a continuing death, bravely endured until the end for love of his countrymen.” Rizal also stated that even if his life were happier, he would still be willing to sacrifice it for the love of his countrymen. Most of all, his last writings, depict a great love for God, when he expressed his eagerness to go to a place where there are no oppressors and executioners and where The One Who Reigns is God.

The Philippines is fortunate to have a national hero like Jose Rizal for his scholarly works and academic excellence. His writings inspired and moved the Filipinos to fight for their rights as a people through non-violent means and to value education as the means to obtain freedom and justice.

We hope that the memory of Rizal’s death and martyrdom will continue to be an inspiration for all us. Let his exemplary selflessness and intense patriotism be one of the memories to reflect on during this Christmas season.