SWEETHEART D.
SALAS TD32 April 25, 2025
LIFE AND WORKS OF RIZAL
Answers:
1. One of the groups opposing the bill is the Catholic Church and its members. The reason
they had stated to oppose said law is because the passing of this law equates to an
attempt to discredit their religion. They had claimed that both Noli Me Tangere and El
Filibusterismo contains passages against the doctrine of the Catholic Church and its
members, saying that its contents also violate their practice of religious freedom.
2. The original draft for the Rizal Law is rather simple compared to the new one, however
several senators, who have their significant support coming from the Catholic Church
needed to do revisions in order to obtain their support. It cannot be denied that back
then, the Catholic Church still held significant influence among the nation’s populace.
Although, it is a compromised law, maybe the reason why it became one so that it could
survive at that time. After all, it is necessary for a bill to have enough votes from the
senate, as well as the agreement of the people so that it would be passed as one of the
laws within our constitution; however, that time had already passed. Today, the law is
enforced yet its impact is weak, what mostly can be remembered about Rizal are
shallow facts, and his face commodified stamped on every merchandise within the
Philippines. We know that he is a Philippine hero, and we know that he had written the
two novels that had sparked the flame of the Philippine Revolution, yet we often forget
why he did it—how he diagnosed the sickness within our society and how this corruption
keep spreading up until this day. I believe in the significance of this law; however, it
needed to be amended so that its lessons impact ripples among generations. His
lessons need repetition and take to heart when we keep facing similar problems the
Philippines encounter during the Spanish occupation.
3. There is no law, executive order, or proclamation enacted or issued to officially proclaim
a Filipino historical figure as the national hero. However, there are laws enacted in
honoring them due to their significant contribution to nation building and contribution to
history. In accordance with the criteria provided by the National Heroes Committee, I will
declare my mother as a modern-day national hero.
Her name is Ana Aurelia De Luna Salas, and the following list the reasons as to why she
deserves it.
a. She is a public-school teacher, teaching Filipino to a prominent secondary school
within the City of Mandaluyong for almost 30+ years. This significant amount of
time allowed her to contribute her knowledge to the next generation of nation
builders, some even working alongside her. She believes that through education
lies the freedom to think for yourself and be unshackled from ignorance—wherein
corrupt personalities tend to be drawn into and benefit from through their
exploitation.
b. As a Filipino teacher, she believes that teaching the subject to her students allow
them to explore their identity as Filipinos and awaken their consciousness. She is
not just teaching the language itself, but also the various literature that reflected
the daily life and culture within the Philippines—including both classic and
modern, fiction and non-fiction. She encourages students to read these stories
and take their lessons at heart and to learn how problems from the past have
persisted in the present and how they, as the nation’s hope, can help in solving
them as a first step in leading our country to a brighter future.
c. She also was a journalism adviser who had mentored young students into
becoming outstanding student journalists—who know how to discern facts and
put truthfulness in high regard. It is necessary for children to learn how to
distinguish between the truth and the lies in the age where deception is
prevalent. Through this extracurricular activity, she had taught students the
necessary discipline to dedicate themselves to becoming truthful individuals and
the ability to think for themselves in every situation they may encounter.
There may be other individuals who did more or better than my mother, who are more
than deserved to obtain the title of being the national hero, but this is my opinion I am
writing about and that is how I see her. Throughout the history, there are many unnamed
individuals who had sacrificed their lives to forge a better future for the Philippines, and I
do believe that they too deserved to be recognized, some of it may be part of our
family’s ancestry. The public may not recognize them, but maybe in our own personal
way, we honor the sacrifices they made through celebration and remembrance of their
life.
