Rizal was a traitor, Rizal was a buccaneer, Rizal was a pagan, Rizal was even a Philander, a womanizer and everything that was not good. Even worse, it was an excommunicado. In 1956, two world wars and decades after Rizal`s death and the dichotomy between church and state was passed by law, the Third Congress of the young Republic of the Philippines passed Law Republic Act No. 1425, “A law that includes in the curricula of all public and private schools, colleges and universities courses on the life of Rizal, especially his novels Noli Me Tangere and El Filibusterismo, which authorize the printing and dissemination of it and for other purposes.” It was called the Rizal Law and it was designed so that young people could get to know José Rizal, not to forget who he was and what he did for our country, and during the process of getting to know Rizal in the formative and decisive years of a student at school, let them rededicate themselves to the ideals of freedom and nationalism. for which our Rizal and the rest of our heroes fought and died. for. Much has been said and written about Dr. Jose P. Rizal, the man whose life we honor today. He has rightly been called our national hero, as his life and even his sad death have inspired and continue to inspire generations of Filipinos. At a time when it was a disadvantage to be born Filipino in the Philippines, he lived to prove it, and in his works that led to his death, he immortalized the true spirit of the Filipino people – the spirit of resilience, bravery, greatness.
His works and philosophies not only sparked a revolution, they were revolutionary. He himself was even a revolution in the true sense of the word. Conrado de Quiros, in one of his columns, best described the existence of Rizal when he wrote, and I quote: “Rizal`s greatest act of subversion was not something he said or did. It was what it was. Another senator evoked a scenario to deepen the discussion: “What if a teacher is Catholic in a public school or an Aglipayan is in a private school and the chapter where Pilosopong Tasyo and purgatory appear and a student asks if purgatory exists or not?” If you remember Noli chapter 14, Pilosopong Tasyo, the man who was thought to be crazy because he knew too much about the books of Indians who knew nothing, boldly explains why he didn`t believe in purgatory and goes on to say that living a good life is just an imaginary construct for Christians. Of course, this chapter was a stab in the church, so it was very controversial at that time, apparently it was considered controversial even until 1956. Senator Laurel replied, “If you give the other teacher the freedom to refuse purgatory or defend purgatory, whatever his opinion may be, you must grant it to the other teachers. We cannot prohibit in one case what we grant in other cases. The fact is, if a student asks, the teacher has to explain. The Catholic Church even issued a statement, supported by the archbishop, saying that reading the uncleaned versions of the two novels would contradict the commandments of the Church`s religion. The problem that senators faced was the fact that the students were put in a situation where, on the one hand, they want to follow the civil authorities to read the two novels, while on the other hand, they have the declaration of his church that reading these books would violate the principles of Catholicism. We are not afraid to contradict, to resist, to fight.
From the legacy that Rizal and our great heroes have left us, we ask ourselves, “What have we done to live up to this?” Today, we have had the misfortune to lose the best and brightest to other countries, our fields are being swallowed up by floods, our waters continue to be polluted by oil spills and our fishing grounds are empty, our public schools are overrun with termites, while teachers sell longganitsa to students to supplement their overdue salaries. Companies find no mercy in firing long-term employees to save money, churches find it better to be chauvinistic than to tackle the poverty that overcrowding has engendered, where factories view neighborhoods as garbage dumps and, above all, where those in power find it customary to waste people`s money. We know what cancer is in our society, it is still the same cancer that tormented the time of Rizal. The only difference is that ours has spread. Through Rizal Law, students have the opportunity to learn more about the heroes of the Philippines. In addition, it also gives students an insight into what the “ideal Filipino” is. Rizal`s law is why we all know José Rizal and remember who he was and what he stood for. That`s why we know Crisostomo Ibarra, Elias, Maria Clara, Padre Damaso and Pilosopong Tasyo.
That`s why we know Simoun, Isagani, Basilio, Kabesang Tales, Tandang Selo, Ben-zayb and Placido Penitente. My dear friends, when I threw out all these names, I was only hoping for one thing. that one can still remember for whom and what these names meant. That you can still remember, and if you remember that your memory of these characters evokes emotions – pain, fear, the sense of betrayal of the oppressors and the sense of patriotism of wanting to fight for those who have been oppressed, love for our compatriots and love for our country – all these emotions, that Rizal woke up in us when we were just students learning from Noli Me Tangere and El Filibusterismo. But before that, we need to find out what exactly Rizal`s law is and how it came about. The Rizal Law was first introduced in 1956. The purpose of this law was to educate students about the ideals of freedom and nationalism through the Filipino national hero, Dr. Jose Rizal. My dear friends, this afternoon I have been charged with teaching this elevated body how the Rizal Law came into being. Since this is a historic act, I hope that its significance for our history will be sufficient to capture your attention until the end of the conference.