Deeper Understanding of Rizal

“Our liberty will not be secured at the sword's point... We must secure it by making ourselves worthy of it. And when the people reaches that height, God will provide a weapon, the idols will be shattered, tyranny will crumble like a house of cards, and liberty will shine out like the first dawn.” –Jose Rizal
Reading this statement made me realized even more that Rizal deserves to be our National Hero despite of knowing that not all people would agree with my point of view. Some might oppose to what I have said saying that Rizal was not able to fight for our country just like what Bonifacio did. As I read the article Veneration without Understanding by Renato Constantino, I got a clearer view of what was the main reason why Rizal should be considered as the National Hero and what other things did he do aside from the things that majority of Filipino knows.
Rizal was not the leader of the revolution Rizal condemned about the idea of revolution. Thou he was not the leader, he still serves as the mentor as he was the reason of awakening the nationalistic spirit of Bonifacio. Rizal’s idea shows how critical he thinks and what he really prioritizes. He wants a better Philippines and he can’t also be considered as traitor just because he decided to condemn. We cannot deny the fact that the revolution was one of the reason why Filipinos come together to fight for what they know is right. Being colonized by Spaniards, you can still do lot of things just like what Rizal did. He wrote the two novels – Noli Me Tangere and El Filibusterismo to show how the Spaniards treated us that leads to the urge of Bonifacio and his fellow Katipuneros to start a revolution. Rizal was not the leader of the revolution in physical aspects but he is the one who lit and put the Filipino’s heart in fire.
Rizal was a reformer, not a separatist Rizal was a reformer because he wants change for the betterment. He wants to have a better education system, to have a representative from the Filipino to the Spain and better government as well.
He does not want us to be separated from Spain because he knows that we are not yet capable to be independent. If only we could have a better education system here in our country at that time and our country can face economical problems alone, then that is the right time to stand alone.
Exhort to be called Filipino
Would you prefer to be called indio? Being called as Filipino is really good. As what Constantino said in the article, “Rizal’s intellectual excellence paved the way for the winning of the name for the natives of the land”. We should value the reformists and Rizal for proving the Spaniards that we are equal and we deseved to be called also as Filipino. This serves to be the start of having a equal recognition between Spaniards and Filipino.
Liberty and Independence As I analyze the portion of Rizal’s Manifesto and the comment of the authors, I come up to the idea that Rizal wants the two context, the liberty and independence. The Filipino need to take a step by step process to meet independence. To stand in our own feet, we then need liberty but to have independence, we must be educated enough to value the independence itself thus the key in having a stronger nation and as what the comment says, economically self-sufficient so that the government could meet the needs of the people.
A Challenge to Live By
“He (Rizal) was the first Filipino but he was only a limited Filipino, the ilustrado Filipino who fought for national unity but feared the Revolution and loved his mother country, yes, but in his own ilustrado way.” -Constantino We mearly can’t depend on Rizal alone. We, as part of our generation today, need new heroes. We need more Rizal and it should start within ourselves. Learn to appreciate what the reformists had started and continue what Rizal wants us to have – liberty and independence.