Do I Know Dr.Jose Rizal?
:An Essay
All Filipinos know that our national hero is Dr.Jose Rizal. We know that he was
an shot in Bagumbayan because we are commemorating his death anniversary.. We
only know that he died because of his love for our country. But only few of us know what
he had done, where he had been and how many sacrifices he had made for the sake of
our country's independence from the Spaniards.
He was raised very well. Rizal's parents blended education culture, family life and
local politics into a new sense of Philippine nationalism. He became a top flight student.
He was three years old when he was able to read, learned the alphabet and the
prayers. He was surely a genius. If we will compare him to children of this generation
he was definitely different. He was supposed to play and don't have to care studying
such thing at that age but he manage to understand and instill what his mother taught
him.
At an early age, Dr.Rizal already showed his nationalism, he was able to write
the famous poem "Sa Aking mga Kabata" at the age of eight and it was about our
language. Imagine how intelligent he was. Young Jose knows how to spend his time
wisely. He engaged himself in writing poems which was great achievement because he
develops early interest in poetry. That's rare nowadays.
He might be our national hero but he's still human, not perfect and like us, he has
flaws. He was bullied because of his physical appearance. He was undersized when he
enrolled in Ateneo. It was one of the reasons why the registrar of Ateneo refused to
admit him. His head is quite big for his body and he appeared sickly. But it was never a
hindrance for him; he used his weaknesses and made it an inspiration for him to excel
in the school.
During his two-year stay in Ateneo, his mother was imprisoned. His mother Doa
Teodora Alonzo allegedly conspired with her brother Jose Alberto to poison his wife. But
he managed to continue studying in spite of having family problems. In fact it was the
formative years of Rizal.
Though he excelled academically, Rizal never forgot his passion in poetry. In fact
he won a special prize for his poem "A La Juventud Filipina" and he cultivated the
intellectual direction which led to his nationalistic writings. He also wrote "Through
Education our Motherland Receives Light" and "The Intimate Alliance Between Religion
and Education" which greatly influenced Filipinos. Also his devotion to Mother and Son
was manifested when he wrote two separate religious poems during his Ateneo days.
One is titled To the Virgin Mary and the other is To the Child Jesus. Being religious
was one of the values his mother taught him.
After Ateneo, he enrolled in University of Santo Tomas. He matriculated in UST
as a Philosophy and Medical student. Unlike in Ateneo he received passing marks in his
science subjects. It appeared that he's not into sciences and he remained poet at heart.
He chose medicine to defuse and minimize his growing political interest at this point he
was not decided to what he wants for the country. He's diverting his attention to other
things just to suppress his thoughts of liberalism.
He's an inspiration to everyone. If only all youths in this generation was like Dr.
Jose Rizal, it will be one hundred percent true that the youth is the hope of our mother
land. Dr.Jose Rizal's attitude started in his family. Many youths of today wasn't guided
enough of their parents, thats why some are going in the wrong track. They're following
the tracks that are not good to them, the track that will lead them nowhere.
People are experiencing failures, failures that came from wrong decisions. But it
is never too late to make things right. Its either youll pursue what your heart really
wants or youll face the consequences of the decision you have made and make the
most out of it. Everyone can turn failures into success.
Learning never stops, though he finished his studies in UST, he went to Europe
to learn more about eye deceases and practice his profession. But the nationalism in
him didnt die, through poetry and writing novels he expressed his love for the country.
All he wanted was reform and not revolution; it was shown in his famous novel
Noli Me Tangere. At this point of his life, I think he was sure about standing out against
the Spaniards. He was decided that he should fight for the Philippines but not in the way
that there are many lives to be sacrificed, not through war.
One of the good things about Rizal, he was able to make new friends. He proved
that no man is an Island. During his stay in Europe, he met different people. People
from different countries he have stayed and there also people from Philippines, all of
them contributed great things in Rizals journey and helped him in rough situations. It
was when he was already popular and the eyes of Spaniards are on him.
Things happen for a reason. Noli Me Tangere reached farther and it set the
Filipinos on fire, so the friars retaliated by persecuting Rizals relatives and hometown.
If I were in Rizals position I might give up in life. Nobody wants to involve his
family in issues and problems he had made, but it happened to Rizal. We couldnt
blame him if he wanted to change his nationality. If the family got involved Im sure all of
us will prioritize them. Well set aside what we want to do and make sure the our family
is okay.
Fate made its own way. He was charged of doubtful loyalty to Spain through his
published books and accusations were published against the customs of religious
orders. Accusations to Rizal were religious. It seemed that the Spaniards were just
finding holes to exile Rizal.
But after years of being exiled in Dapitan, after he had gone to many
investigations and trials the court martial found him guilty as charged and condemned to
death. He faced execution for speaking out against Spanish political and economic
domination in the Philippines and committed the unpardonable sin of critizing the
Catholic Church. The Spanish believed that he had fomented revolution and was guilty
of sedition.
At seven oclock in the morning of the 30 th of December 1896 he was ordered to
be shot. And on the field of Bagumbayan his journey ended. But the legacy he had
made will continue. He was aware that his execution would lay the foundation of a new
Philippines.
Dr.Rizal died on purpose, he did not sacrifice his own life for nothing. He loved
our country as how he loved his own family.
He had accomplished many things in his short but meaningful life. He was not a
superman but he saved the Philippines. A learned man for he believed that the hope of
our country lay on education. He was chosen as a patriot to teach Filipino people the
lessons of democracy.
As a student of Life and Works of Rizal, I understand better now how he had
become our national hero. Now that I know the story behind his death, I admire him
more. I know his death was just the beginning of our independence, but it was the
greatest contribution in our independence history. If there was no one who stand and
spoke out, we might still be colonized by the Spaniards until now. We would not be able
to enjoy liberty. Its like a group project, if no one initiated to do it there will be no
progress. It tends us to settle for what we are and for what we have. No changes, no
development that may lead to worst things.
I guess he successfully instill hes greatness and legacies to me. Ive learned
many things that helped me improve my personality and the nationalism inside me. I
had become aware of whats happening to our country, particularly in political issues of
our government. He was Dr.Jose P. Rizal a scientist, a reformer, an athlete, a man of
courage, the prime mover of Philippines nationalism, the man and the hero.
