THE NATIONAL Historical Commission of the Philippines (NHCP) has called on the youth to actively participate in the year-long calendar of activities to honor national hero, Dr. Jose Rizal whose 150th birth anniversary will be commemorated a month from now.
The NHCP and other government agencies and private groups will launch a variety of programs, including a rock concert, a traveling museum, theatrical performances and tours, which are aimed to appeal to the youth.
President Benigno Aquino III has declared June 20, a Monday, which is the day after the anniversary, as a non-working holiday.
“Jose Rizal is a very interesting character in Philippine history – he loved our country with a passion, wrote both fiction and poetry, practice sports and had his share of adventures from his extensive travels. In celebrating his 150th birth anniversary, NHCP aims to inspire a re-reading of his life, a little beyond what we have learned in our required Rizal courses in high school and college,” Diokno told a press conference.
“Everybody celebrates birthdays. It’s significant because he lived a very, very heroic life for the country. Your being born is important and what you do after you’re born, especially for the country, counts. We celebrate his martyrdom, which is heroic and so inspiring, but his birthday should be commemorated because without the birthday there’s no life ahead,” added NHCP Commissioner Fe Buenaventura-Mangahas.
The launching event at the NHCP office in Manila was attended by representatives of the Rizal clan, namely, lawyer Ramoncita Reyes, anti-child trafficking campaigner Antonio Filart and graphic designer Marlene Lopez Jacinto.
Perpetuating the legacy
They are third-generation descendants of Rizal’s siblings Saturnina, Olympia and Paciano who have begun carrying their duties in behalf of the clan to spread and perpetuate the national hero’s legacy.
The NHCP officials and the Rizal’s descendants fielded questions from the media on the relevance of celebrating the hero’s birth amid the country’s current woes and if Rizal would have been happy about the nation’s current state.
They said the youth should be spurred into action by Rizal’s life and contribute good things to society in their own way.
Reyes, a greatgranddaughter of Rizal’s eldest sister Saturnina, said Rizal should be “a force to motivate Filipinos, especially the youth, to effect the real change that our country needs.”
She lamented that there has never been “any real change” since Rizal wrote about the “social cancer” in the country in his novel “Noli Me Tangere.”
“Rizal showed the illnesses of the society, but those are still here. Maybe in different form, but there’s still some oppression. It’s Filipinos oppressing Filipinos. That is why it’s important for the youth to act. The motivation of the youth seemed to have gone nowadays. They are more interested in gadgets and computer games. They should become more interested in socio-civic activities, in improving the plight of the Filipinos,” Reyes said.
Diokno pointed out that Rizal and other heroes during the revolution against Spain and the struggle for nationhood were all young.
“They had an idea of how it meant to be a Filipino and they are proud of it. No shame in being a Filipino. This is why Rizal really belongs to the young. He belongs to the generation of young people,” she said.
The NHCP chairman said the struggle for nation-building was a tremendous responsibility that confronted the young Filipinos of the 19th century.
“They did not shy away from it. They faced it head on and chose to do something. So to the young people, it worries me and I have to say it upsets men when I come across young ones who just don’t care. I want our young people to care. Because if you look at our very, very rich history. This is a history crafted by young Filipinos, very young Filipinos, one of whom was Rizal,” Diokno said.