In several countries today, ceremonies will be held in honor of a Filipino: Jose Rizal. The Philippines’ national hero impressed the world with his intellect, his writings and other talents. In developing his full potential, Rizal defied concepts at the time that Filipinos – and Asians in general – were inferior to western races.
Rizal worked to promote his ideas both overseas and at home, where his writings inspired a revolution and cost him his life. The struggle for independence – or, in his case, autonomy – eclipsed his other advocacies, particularly the role of education in liberating people from poverty. Today that advocacy continues to resonate, as the deterioration in the quality of Philippine education leads to a decline in national competitiveness.
Rizal was an advocate of human rights many decades before it became fashionable. No fan of the Catholic friars, he promoted freedom of religion and expression, and equal opportunities for men and women. He was also an early advocate of non-violent protest. As Rizal’s writings showed, he also pilloried the excesses and abuses of the local elite who assisted foreign colonizers in oppressing the poor.
Rizal would have felt at home in the 21st century. He wanted his compatriots to become global citizens a century before the phrase was coined, and before the lack of decent opportunities at home forced millions of Filipinos to seek employment in other lands. He became an ophthalmologist at a time when Filipinos were seen to be too stupid to learn a foreign language. Rizal was a walking challenge to all the concepts about the inferiority of certain races. And his life should continue to inspire Filipinos to strive to achieve one’s full potential, to compete with the world and aim for excellence.