UNIVERSAL MAN
MANILA, JANUARY 1, 2012
(BULLETIN) Thank God for the New Year! Significantly
ushered in by the recent celebration of the Birth of the Child Jesus, it gives
us a fresh sense of hope. It gives us the opportunity to start anew, drawing
inspiration from the triumphs experienced and discerning lessons from
difficulties encountered in the year just ended.
Time indeed swiftly passes by, especially with the innumerable concerns we
have had to focus on in our personal life and in our national and global
relations. While the year 2011 was a year of triumphs for many Filipinos in
various fields, it was also a year of distressing events for many of our
countrymen who suffered from natural and man-made calamities.
Resilient as Filipinos are, we remain optimistic that we can rise above all
adversities. With the advent of another new year, we are armed with a fresh
resolve to correct whatever mistakes and miscalculations we may have made in the
past, and to improve on the things we have done well. With determination to do
better this new year, we can look forward to a better future for our families,
communities, and our country.
Let us nurture the beautiful events that happened in our lives, take pride in
the most humble achievements members of our family and society have achieved,
and draw valuable lessons from all our experiences, as we pray for God's grace.
Let us make the most of the fresh beginning accorded by this new year and join
hands to make our country a haven of peace, understanding, and unity in
diversity.
A Blessed, Peaceful, Orderly, and Prosperous New Year to all!
Jose Rizal, A Universal ManEmpowering the Filipino
People By FORMER PHILIPPINE PRESIDENT FIDEL V. RAMOS December 31, 2011,
5:51pm
MANILA, Philippines — To observe Jose Rizal's 150th birth anniversary in
2011, we sought to teach ourselves, our daughters and our 8 grandchildren more
about his life and times. This mission took much reading and two different
walking tours of the Rizal Shrine at Fort Santiago and Rizal Park at the Luneta
these past six months. We also displayed the Philippine Flag and Rizal's
portrait at our Ramos Peace and Development Foundation to remind visitors about
Rizal's great achievements and his powerful influence among colonized peoples,
and wrote several articles on what could have been his views on today's hot
issues.
The Universal Man
What sort of a man was Jose Rizal? At the International Discourse on "Rizal
and the Asian Renaissance" hosted by Malaysian PM Mohamad Mahathir in Kuala
Lumpur, October 1995, we reminisced:
"Rizal was truly a universal man – an achiever of many talents and interests
in empowering not just Filipinos but also oppressed peoples in Asia and Africa.
"He was emblematic of his contemporaries – among them China's Sun Yat-Sen and
India's Mahatma Gandhi. These nationalist leaders were born within a few years
of each other. All were endowed with brilliant minds, and consecrated their
lives to their people's freedom.
"This was at the height of Europe's effort to incorporate Asia, Africa, and
Latin America into its colonial order. Yet, imperialism carried the seeds of its
own destruction. Economic growth in colonized countries – however limited –
developed an indigenous middle class whose educated youth arose to challenge
foreign rule."
Before that time, history's tides had flowed largely westward. Europe's
superior technology and organizational capacity enabled it to subdue much of the
world – and dominate non-Europeans in education and commerce.
Rizal and his times
Rizal represented modernizing Filipinos of his time: Intelligent tenants on
large estates, a rising middle class that saw – in the corruption and
inefficiency of colonial government and the exploitative economy imposed by
Spain – hindrances to our country's independence.
We may have forgotten how close to one another the peoples of colonial Asia
felt. News of any people's uprising evoked vicarious celebrations in Asia. The
1896 Philippine Revolution, the 1899 Boxer Rebellion in China, and Japan's
defeat of Russia in 1905 – all became beacons for liberation movements.
Oppression suffered in common – and human love of freedom – brought our peoples
together.
Rizal's was a time of political unrest everywhere – of ferment strikingly
like the European Renaissance of the 1600s. Western superiority itself
stimulated Asia's self-awareness.
Cultural rebirth from oppression
Among captive countries there was a sense of rebirth and renewed faith that
great things were again possible.
In reexamining their traditions – the better to defend them – intellectuals
became aware of the rich heritage of the great Southeast Asian cultures –
Tagalog, Muslim, Buddhist, Mon, Khmer, Cham, Javanese, Thai, Burmese – which had
flowered richly in art and architecture.
Just as the Europeans had created national cultures out of Greek and Roman
stimuli – so had Asians created out of Hinduism, Buddhism, Islam and the Chinese
classics brilliant national cultures of their own.
The most perceptive intellectuals realized early on that salvation lay in
modernizing indigenous society – in adapting traditional culture to Western
intrusions. Thus did Rizal put so much faith in liberal education.
Among the Malays of Indonesia and the Peninsular States, Rizal was known as
the "First Malay" because he was the most intrepid of the revolutionary
spokesmen of his time.
All young heroes
The 1872 repressions in Cavite gave the colonial regime spurious stability –
but only until a new generation of Filipino patriots grew to manhood.
Of the heroes of our Revolution, their unique quality was how young they all
were.
At 26, Rizal had finished his incendiary novel Noli Me Tangere, followed
quickly by El Filibusterismo – but was dead at 35.
Andres Bonifacio founded the Katipunan at age 29. In 1896, Bonifacio's
faithful deputy Emilio Jacinto was only 21.
Emilio Aguinaldo, at 27, was the victorious general for independence; at 29,
President of Asia's first Republic.
Researching in London for a year, Rizal painstakingly annotated Spanish
reports on the Philippines – to establish Filipinos' "ancient dignity and
culture."
In Europe's more spacious atmosphere, Rizal set to refute the colonial myth
of Malay "indolence" that Spaniards propagated, and the racism he abhorred. "The
law," he wryly noted, "knows no color of skin; nor does reason differentiate
between nostrils."
This same theme pervaded his novels – through which Rizal sought to excite
into action "the Filipino spirit of dignity and self-respect – by making them
see their worthy past which they had foolishly renounced, in exchange for
beliefs and strange customs they didn't understand." His people's failings he
ascribed to the enervating influences of Spain's decrepit regime.
Rizal's execution
Austrian Professor Harry Sichrovsky's book, "Blumentritt And Rizal: The
Austrian Friend Behind The Philippine National Hero" (first published in the
1980s and reprinted in 2011 by the National Historical Commission) is a rich
resource of Rizaliana. Sichrovsky narrates:
"Early morning 30 December 1896, Rizal started on his walk from Fort Santiago
to Bagumbayan (now Luneta Park). Many details have been told about this final
march: how the military doctor noted Rizal's normal pulse shortly before death;
how Rizal requested to be shot in the chest (which was denied); how he forgave
all involved in his execution.
"Spanish authorities arranged the ceremony like a fair. Hundreds from the
Castilian administration showed up. Military units and bands paraded, adding to
the festive atmosphere. The firing squad consisted of Filipinos of the colonial
army. Behind them stood a detachment of Spanish soldiers with muskets leveled at
their 'brown comrades' should they refuse to shoot their countryman."
"At the moment of his fall, Rizal turned, ending up with his face to the sun.
The Spaniards applauded vigorously, while Filipinos watched in enraged silence.
"Calls of 'Viva España!' thundered. Long live Spain? Did not those who
shouted thus surmise that the musketry just heard was the prelude of Spain's
collapse?"
The execution of Rizal stirred emotions everywhere. Foreign newspapers, which
before hardly took notice, reported the execution. The international prestige of
Spain suffered a heavy blow. Indeed, in the Philippines, the death of Rizal – as
embodiment of uprightness, tolerance, kindness, and liberalism – had the effect
of a call to arms.
Thousands who initially hesitated were inspired to join the revolutionaries
whose ranks quickly swelled.
Titans of emancipation
The global significance of Rizal cannot yet be sufficiently assessed. All
three titans of Asian emancipation were born within eight years: Rizal in 1861,
Sun Yat-Sen in 1866, and Mahatma Gandhi in 1869.
Influenced by Western "modern ideas and institutions," they introduced new
thinking in Asia. However, at the time when Sun Yat-Sen was still a student and
Gandhi a schoolkid, Rizal was already preparing concrete forms not just of
nationalist revolution but was developing the concept of equal rights for
colored people, of the partnership of countries not governed by whites.
According to Professor Sichrovsky, it was Dr. Ferdinand Blumentritt, who
helped Rizal formulate and propagandize such ideas. How much of this explosive
force originated from Blumentritt – his share in its development – cannot be
reckoned accurately. But the handed-down documents speak for themselves.
Rizal was the architect of Asia's awakening, its apostle of nationalism, and
first prophet for freedom and independence. And, the Revolution he ignited was
the proof that colonized peoples could produce capable statesmen and chief
commanders just like the whites; that the derided "coolies" and "buffalo
herdsmen" were capable of defeating the Europeans who were better armed and
trained. This is the historical service of Rizal – and, secondarily,
Blumentritt's.
Their immediate effects were not long in coming. Nineteen months after
Rizal's death, the Spanish flag was brought down from Fort Santiago in
surrender.
Blumentritt's Litomerice
Ferdinand Blumentritt never got over the loss of his friend and "twin
brother." But after the first grief, he decided that he could honor Rizal's
memory effectively if he continued to write about and explain the events in our
far-away country.
His library in Litomerice became a meeting place of Filipinos who, as Rizal's
successors, organized spiritual and material support for the Revolution, and
represented the Philippine Republic as unofficial ambassadors.
Prominent among them were Juan Luna and Felipe Agoncillo. Luna ranked among
the greatest of Philippine painters; his brother Antonio was a renowned General
of the Revolution.
Agoncillo was Information Minister and legal adviser of President Aguinaldo.
As Aguinaldo's envoy, he attempted to make the US Senate reverse its decision in
ratifying the Treaty of Paris, under which the Philippines was purchased by the
US for just 20 million dollars from Spain.
Learning more
TODAY'S OFFICIALS AND YOUNG FILIPINOS SHOULD LEARN MORE FROM RIZAL AND HIS
CONTEMPORARIES.
THIS IS OUR CIVIC DUTY.
GO ONLINE, BUT ALSO PERFORM ON THE GROUND!!!
Please send any comments to fvr@rpdev.org.
Copies of articles are available at www.rpdev.org
Chief News Editor: Sol Jose Vanzi
© Copyright, 2012 by PHILIPPINE
HEADLINE NEWS ONLINE
All rights reserved
PHILIPPINE HEADLINE NEWS
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