MANILA, Philippines - Who among José Rizal’s siblings would have thought that one day they would see their brother’s visage, immortalized in bronze or cement, dotting distinguished spots in every public park in the country and even abroad? If Rizal’s spirit were wandering around today, would he be amused or aghast at seeing himself endorsing banks, funeral homes, bakeries, and matches? It is a relief that with Rizal’s reputation as a sharp dresser and a ladies’ man, no one from the advertising industry has thought of using him to endorse a haberdashery or men’s grooming products.
However, one of the treasured anecdotes of the Rizal family relates how the young Jose was busily sculpting a figurine of the French emperor Napoleon Bonaparte, when his sisters began teasing him as hambog or a braggart. With nonchalance, he looked at them and declared that in the future, people would erect statues in his honor! It is said that Rizal had precognitive abilities; hence, it isn’t surprising that among his childhood reveries, he would have sensed his future greatness.
Yet, hours prior to his execution on Dec. 30, 1896, Rizal seemed to have shunned whatever prospective accolades he might receive from his countrymen. Rizal specified a Spartan burial in a letter addressed to his family: “Bury me in the ground. Place a stone and cross over it. My name, the date of my birth and of my death. Nothing more. If later you wish to surround my grave with a fence, you can do it. No anniversaries. I prefer Paang Bundok.”
Since last wishes are often disregarded by the bereaved, public clamor for a monument to Rizal’s memory influenced the Philippine Commission to ratify Act No. 243 on Sept. 28, 1901, to use an area of the Luneta to raise a monument to Rizal and permitted public subscription for its construction. Four years later, a monument design competition was launched that drew in local and foreign sculptors.
In 1907, forty plaster maquettes or scale models were exhibited at the Marble Hall of the Ayuntamiento in Intramuros. Evidently, the flamboyant wedding cake touches of Classicism appealed to the tastes of American Governor-General James F. Smith, thus the finalists were of that make: “Motto Stella,” “Al Martir de Bagumbayan,” “Noli me tangere para Rizal 1906,” “Victoria,” “F.F.,” and “Maria Clara.”
Winning the premier prize was Italian sculptor Carlos Nicoli’s “Al Martir de Bagumbayan,” which garnered P5,000 cash, while placing second was Swiss sculptor Richard Kissling’s “Motto Stella,” and awarded P2,000 cash. Nicoli’s sculpture was deemed ornate and elegant, with Rizal’s contemplative figure guided by the Angel of Fame, while its pedestal was surrounded by symbolic muses of Victory, Justice, Music, and Fine Arts.
In contrast, Richard Kissling, eminent for his austere monument of Wilhelm Tell in Altdorf, Switzerland, represented an equally stark image of Rizal with a simple obelisk on an unpolished granite base. By a twist of fate, Nicoli was unable to comply with paying a bond to accomplish the monument, thus it was Kissling’s work that was eventually approved for construction.
Rizal’s remains were interred underneath the granite base on Dec. 30, 1912 with solemn displays of martial pomp and circumstance. The completed monument was unveiled to the public during the commemoration of the 17th death anniversary of the National Hero the following year.
Presently, amid the bustle of Manila’s cement jungle, the José Rizal monument continues to be an enduring symbol of patriotism and selfless sacrifice. Like a mute sentinel, Rizal stands proud at the endurance of Filipinos to uphold freedom and democracy. He continues to be a guiding voice admonishing us through his valedictory poem: “A darte voy alegre la triste mustia vida, ?Y fuera más brillante, más fresca, más florida, ?También por ti la diera, la diera por tu bien! (Gaily go I to present you this hapless hopeless life: were it more brilliant: had it more freshness, more bloom: still for you would I give it: would give it for your good!)”
The author is shrine curator of the National Historical Commission of the Philippines.