VEINED TO BLUE BLOODED

A Rizal’s Contribution

Philippines is known for its breath-taking tourist spots. Its natural views can’t hide the

beauty beneath lands as clear water waves touching upon the shorelines. It was undeniably a

good source of calmness vacation and peace of mind. Along these destinations, it also

accompanied with good and hospitable Filipinos. Well Filipinos are very well known for being

warm acceptors when foreign or even local people had visited their lands. Philippines is really a

good country even we have estimated 20 typhoons yearly and a fact of you can see crabs not

just in the sea or ocean, sometimes you cross along with them on the road while walking. Who

would ever believe that after a long year of struggles and conflicts, Philippines had finally wave

their flag and claimed the democracy? The answer was bought by the blue blooded warriors.

Aside from having instagrammable natural sites and generous people, our country has a bounty

history as well.

Upon taking up Rizal’s life and works and discovering one by one how Rizal and the

gangs transforms the gossips before, into a history today (sounds familiar) it was still amazing

to know how it helps to mould our accounts and stated what happened to Filipinos during

colonization. From the novels and words written by Rizal it was clearer than your vision how he

fight for our liberty against Spaniards. If we have China rivalry about territorial ownership today,

well our Pepe has this all time enemy, the Spaniards. On the other hand you’re mistaken. In his

hardcopies of groups of wisdom, it was stated that it’s not just the Spaniards who had become

our opponents but as well as ourselves. You can’t believe and thinking how does it happen?

Well in fact you’re not doing anything against him; you are just reading this article. Yes my friend

you’re not doing anything the same as what our fellow Filipinos did before. They let Spaniards

cultured us and become their puppets. They controlled us in their palms and fingers with the

force of their ruling hands to govern us depending on how they wanted to see us moving. We

become limited in our own homeland. Another strong evidence of how does we oppose to

ourselves is the fact that when Rizal was executed under the order of the Spaniards, Filipinos

done the shootings for Rizal. Well we can’t judge their spirits for shooting Rizal, maybe fear

takes them when Spaniards ask them the favour of killing Rizal in Bagong Bayan. We don’t

know the reasons behind, still the gun shots received by Rizal was more deservedly obtain by

Spaniards together with their puppets.

Let’s take the issue short; the reason why Rizal becomes the National Hero is because

he accepted to be killed by the Spaniards while continuing his fight for our sovereignty. In short,
his novels are not just about revolting to the Spaniards but awakening the nationalism upon his

co-Filipinos and opening their eyes on what is really happening. That’s the thing about Filipinos,

we are too foolish that time when money speaks (or until now?). Upon reviewing Rizal’s life, it

was accompanied by the revelations of issues like the retraction letter wherein it was trying to

say that Rizal retracted all his revolting words to Spaniards and Catholicism well in fact it was

proved that it was made by the Spaniards as well (Insert “hahahaha” here). Another issue

connected to Rizal’s life is the Rizal Law established by its proponent, Claro M. Recto. Rizal law

talks about the mandate to every Filipinos to read Rizal’s works including his two famous

novels, Noli Me Tangere and El Filibusterismo to both private and public schools. Moreover,

after this issue, the Philippine Catholic Churches opposed the passage of the law for they

believe that Rizal’s works can endanger their salvation. Pause. As a student reviewing Rizal’s

journey, I believe that his documentation that revolts to the Spaniards makes a big contribution

upon completing the view of our history. Those statements are the visions of our past and how

our past does becomes. We can’t deny how tragic it was for the Filipinos, for we become salves

in our home land. We treated more than as animals, our Filipinas are continuously and

repeatedly harassed by Spaniards, they steal our resources and buy it to them, they buy our

service for the low amount of money, they played with us as if we are enjoying, and they

become the nightmare of our history, that’s why every history becomes worth telling about.

History’s mission is to preserve into our minds what happened into our hindsight (past) in order

for us to value what we have in these current t times. We should never forget, we must never

forget because to forget is to deny the present’s any significant events. Rizal’s works are

undeniably tries to retain the nationalism and patriotism that he once promoting to us. His

teachings let us learned to love our country from its flaws up to its goods. He let us remind that

loving our country is like other commitments, relationships or marriage. When you learn how to

love you accept someone beyond his flaws, when you choose to make a vow you decided to

stand with her in worst or better, when you choose to love her you choose to be a warrior as

same as how we owe ourselves to our country. You owe you honestly to your partner, you owe

dreams to your family, you owe your education for the next generation, you owe your hand to

help other well you know the real essence of living. A philosopher once said that “we are not just

living for ourselves” well that’s true. We are living for each and everyone, no one could live just

for her/himself and that’s what the Catholic churches couldn’t realize that time. Rizal shared the

ability of his mind to think, the ability of his eyes to see and the ability of his hands to write in

order to create a masterpiece of nationalistic approach of unsealing out our eyes upon reality
that once a Filipino learns to owe his/her self for the sake other co-Filipino he/she had know to

owe his/her self for the native land of the Philippines as well.

During the trial of the Rizal Law as Rizal Bill, based from the Catholic Churches’

statements about opposing the passage of Rizal law, they claimed that Noli Me Tangere has the

contents about attacking the religion (from article of Philippine studies – John N. Schumacher,

SJ; The Rizal Bill of 1956 Horacio de la Costa and the Bishops) and a reason that could

definitely to deny the bill to be passed as it could be the root of having a different understanding

about the Catholicism. On the article’s content, Rizal admitted that his book – Noli Me Tangere

has defects from the artistic, the aesthetic point of view. But the fact that no can dispute is the

objectivity his narratives. As what I had stated above, our past in the hands of colonization is not

like cakes and rainbows I guess it was more about taxes and hardships. As what Rizal stated in

his letter for a friend Resurrecion Hidalgo, he asserted that it was not the church itself but the

abuses he was attacking for it was really happened during Rizal’s time. There were churches’

scandals of unfaithful priest like Apostles Peter and Judas but still the credibility of the Catholic

doctrine does not make it untrue. We should know the essence of being a literary critic. The

novels of Rizal are formed into a fiction characters and plot but it was based from the real

situations during his time. Our brains didn’t place inside our head just to be a design, it has the

ability to analyze situation that we come across in our life. If we just let ourselves to be critically

thinkers on the literary surrounded in our nation, we don’t have to discuss this further. Being a

literary critic is a must in understanding Rizal’s works and Life. Rizal is a very educated person

and he has a nice strategy of playing with words that if ever we misunderstand it, it can lead to

judging his attempts which is eventually doesn’t try to hit anyone. We can’t comprehend

ourselves more about Rizal as much as our history if we let ourselves make the blocks between

analyzing Rizal’s promotion of nationalism. “It is a must to understand so it is a must to know

that needs much effort”.

If ever I could have the chance of deconstructing Rizal’s one work, maybe I would not do

that. Instead, making a book for explaining everything for the sake of saving everyone from

ignorance will be my work. We should listen without judgement or we should listen first before

making judgements. Maybe if someone provided an explanation for what Rizal’s trying to

convey about it would not be an issue for others about Rizal’s manner and works. Maybe if we

listen first before disclaiming Rizal as our National hero maybe we could understand his will of

fighting for our sovereignty without sharp knives and shredding of blood. Maybe if we

comprehend ourselves about him, we better understand him more than of what his attitude has

as a womanizer. A philosopher once said, “We are the enemies of this country” well in fact
somehow true. It’s a slap of revealing the fact that once we become ignorant about him, about

our country and about our nationalism the reason for foreign countries to manipulate us easier.

But once a philosopher said again, “Ang kabataan ang pag-asa ng bayan” then it’s not too late

to prove that the Philosopher is right for fighting for our freedom.

Referemces:

https://journals.ateneo.edu/ojs/index.php/PS/article/view/162

https://www.scribd.com/document/364562417/02-Laurel-the-Trials-of-the-Rizal-Bill

http://elms.sti.edu/student_lesson/show/1085027?lesson_id=5004815