RIZAL

Aseniero, Carezza Marie P.
BS Architecture

Life and Works of Rizal
MWF | 4:00-5:00

Is Rizal a hero, saint or martyr?

Who is Rizal? Jose Rizal, the national hero of the Philippines and pride of the Malayan race, was born on June 19, 1861, in the town of Calamba, Laguna. He was the seventh child in a family of 11 children. Both his parents were educated and belonged to distinguished families.
His father, Francisco Mercado Rizal, an industrious farmer whom Rizal called "a model of fathers," came from Biñan, Laguna; while his mother, Teodora Alonzo y Quintos, a highly cultured and accomplished woman whom Rizal called "loving and prudent mother," was born in
Meisic, Sta. Cruz, Manila. Jose Rizal is to the Philippines as George Washington is to the United
States. He was the "Founding Father" of the Republic of the Philippines.

The question stem from the fact that our usual understanding for a person to be a hero is probably a strong, courageous man that can lead a group of militia into war against a colonial foe. People like Andres Bonifacio and Emilio Aguinaldo. This notion did change in our time when even the smallest deeds can be considered as heroism. Now, for a person to be called a saint he must have a contact with God and a life that is so devoted to him. And for a person to be called a martyr, he must be somebody who suffers persecution for advocating a belief.
Judging from the three choices, we can factor that Rizal can’t be a saint. Due to the fact that Rizal did not have a legitimate contact with God nor live a life that is devoted only to God. I do know that the Philippine Independent Church did consider Rizal as a saint. But as a Catholic,
I can say that he didn’t have the qualification to be considered as one. We all know that

Rizal is the “Tony Stark” of the Spanish occupation era. A genius, playboy – philanthropist. So basically, he’s out in the sainthood topic.
Rizal is undoubtedly our greatest national hero. We cannot deny the fact that a lot of our national hero gave their lives fighting for our country with their sharp blades and their guns.
Rizal on the other hand, did use a weapon as well. A weapon so powerful that a country got hooked up with and had their hopes up for their mutual oppressor.
For the pen is mightier than the sword. That fancy pen Rizal used cause people to change their opinion on a massive scale where swords and guns can only manipulate. That book he wrote made the Filipinos sting like a bee to the Spaniards. That pen killed him, but it opened a lot of hearts and made them realize that they must fight back.
A person can be a hero if he can lead a group of people to fight back to a larger foe.
More like an underdog if you know what I mean. He must kill a lot of bad guys for our country and he must die with a blaze of glory. Like Andres Bonifacio and Gregorio del Pilar and our war veterans. Yes, Rizal is a hero but I honestly consider him as a Martyr based hero. Well, technically all heroes are martyr. But Rizal is a smart martyr if you ask me. He did die for our country but, he did not use any form of force in doing that. All he did was write a novel about what he thinks and what Filipinos should be doing which is basically kicking Spaniard butts out of the
Philippines. He made Filipinos realize that the Philippines is not in “Mi casa es su casa” relationship with Spain.

Rizal had a vision, he wanted the Philippines to be a nation with an ethical community, a vision of an inclusive nation without borders, and not of a sovereign nation damned by a territory and protected by the weapons of the state. He was convinced that the road to national liberation, to freedom and justice, was not via the violent seizure of state power. Rizal did see everything on a different perspective that time. Everyone is so hyped in killing every Spaniards that oppress them but Rizal had it going on his head. He died believing with his visions.
Believing that one day, all Filipinos will think like him. Be smart enough to push back the enemy,
His ultimate sacrifice is when he refuses to be saved by Bonifacio’s revolution and instead gives his own life at execution so that the revolution can have the ultimate inspiration.
That alone concludes that Rizal is a martyr. Dying with his beliefs embedded on all the hearts of the Filipinos and a hero for being the spark of a revolution for freedom.