Be like Rizal, President Aquino tells Filipinos in rites

CALAMBA CITY, Laguna, Philippines—Amid overcast skies and an intermittent drizzle, President Aquino unveiled a towering brass monument to Jose Rizal, urging Filipinos to be like their national hero even in their own small ways by never swerving from the tuwid na daan (straight path).

The 6.7-meter (22-foot) statue is made of brass and stands in front of the city hall in Rizal’s birthplace in Calamba, Laguna province. It is reputed to be the tallest statue cast of Rizal anywhere in the world.

“Faced with many crossroads, from his time as a young man up to the time he became the hero who gave up his life for his Motherland, Rizal never strayed from the straight path,” Mr. Aquino said in Filipino in a speech commemorating Rizal’s 150th birth anniversary.

The President’s reference to Rizal’s adherence to the tuwid na daan appeared to be an attempt to remind Filipinos of a call he made in his State of the Nation Address last year for everyone to hew to the correct path so that Philippine society could be rid of corruption.

“Not everyone is called to offer his life for his country, but for most of us, heroism can be measured in the crossroads we face every day,” he said, urging his audience to emulate Rizal.

Protesters arrested

The President said Filipinos could measure up to the challenge by simply obeying the laws, by following the traffic rules or paying their taxes, by showing respect for others, and—if in government—by doing one’s sworn duty as a government official.

Seven activists were arrested after they sneaked through the back and staged a “lightning” rally about 75 meters away from where Mr. Aquino was speaking. They called for an increase in the education budget, which they said had not been done under the Aquino administration.

It was not clear if the President saw them but his speech was not disrupted.

Demands of farmers

Members of the Presidential Security Group immediately took away the protesters, who were detained at the police station for alarm and scandal.

Police identified them as Bhen Aguihon, Ynik Ante, Ruffa Solano, Catherine Gigagonte and Mikel Mozo of the Kabataan party-list group in the University of the Philippines Los Baños; and Jeofrey Barreto and Rodel Badayos of the Anakbayan party-list group.

Another group of 150 farmers from Canlubang held a rally near the unveiling site, calling for the inclusion in the agrarian reform program of a 7,100-hectare land in Barangay Canlubang here.

The farmers were not allowed to go near the ceremony site until after the program was over and the President had left.

Rizal’s own crossroads

Mr. Aquino said Rizal had his own “crossroads,” when his family suffered abuses in the hands of the Spaniards.

“He could have just turned a blind eye on what was happening around, or used the education he earned from the universities in Manila and in other countries to make himself rich and find himself a beautiful wife,” he said.

He added: “He could have just gone along with an unjust system even if he knew it was wrong and dine and wine with the friars.”

Sculptor Roces

Arriving 15 minutes ahead of schedule, Mr. Aquino laid a wreath at a statue of the young Rizal before proceeding to the new monument for its unveiling.

The brass monument stands on a concrete pedestal mounted on a platform surrounded on all sides by flights of stairs. It was designed and executed by sculptor Jonas Roces, 35, of Marikina City.

The site is a 6.9-hectare government property across from the City Hall.

Also present at the ceremony were National Historical Commission Chair Ma. Serena Diokno, Laguna Gov. Jorge Ejercito and Mayor Joaquin Chipeco.

e-Rizal tablet

Ejercito and Laguna Board Member Neil Nocon presented Mr. Aquino with an e-Rizal tablet, which the provincial government would soon launch as a pilot project in some universities in Laguna.

Nocon said the President told Ejercito that he would look into the possibility of adopting the e-Rizal tablet in schools nationwide. “He said it was like an iPad,” he said.

Nocon said the President was given a unit of the e-Rizal tablet loaded with an electronic copy of the book “Lolo Jose,” written by Asuncion Lopez-Bantug, a great grandniece of Rizal.