REPUBLIC 1425 AND RIZAL AS THE NATIONAL HERO

• Rizal Law

  • Republic Act No. 1425
  • House Bill No. 5561
  • Senate Bill No. 438
• The full name of Rizal Law

  “An Act to Include in the Curricula of All Public and Private Schools, Colleges and Universities Courses on the Life, Works and Writings of Jose Rizal, Particularly His Novels Noli Me Tangere and El Filibusterismo, Authorizing the Printing and Distribution Thereof, and for Other Purposes.“
• The R. A 1425 was signed by Ramon Magsaysay on June 12, 1956.
• Claro M. Recto is the author of the R. A 1425
• Jose P. Laurel who was then the Chairman of the Committee on Education sponsored the bill.
• • The first section of the law concerns mandating the students to read Rizal’s novels. The
  • Section 2 involve making Rizal’s writings accessible to the general public—they require the schools to have a sufficient number of copies in their libraries and
  • Section 3 mandate the publication of the works into English, Tagalog and the Principal Philippine Dialects.
• Memo # 247- Directing the DepEd to fully implement RA 1425
• CHED memo # 3 Series of 1995- Enforcing strict compliance to memo # 247
• The Oppositions assert that...

  • the Bill would go against freedom of religion and conscience, where a pastoral letter from the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) to which accordingly,
  • such bill is a violation of 1939 Canon Law which prohibits books that attack the Catholic doctrine and practices.
• The bill was opposed by three senators namely:

  • Sen. Mariano Cuenco
  • Sen. Francisco Rodrigo who was a former Catholic Action President
  • Sen. Decoroso Rosales who was a brother of Julio Rosales, an archbishop
• The opposition argued that Noli Me Tangere has only 25 passages that are nationalistic and 120 passages are Anti-Catholic while El Fili has 50 passages that are against the Catholic faith.
• Senator Jose P. Laurel amend that aside from the Noli Me Tangere and El Filibusterismo, other written works of Rizal must include and be read out the unexpurgated revisions of the novels and would no longer be compulsory to elementary and secondary levels but strictly included in the college level.
• Senator Lim recommends the relief to those students who feel that reading Rizal’s novels would negatively affect his or her faith.
• Senator Primicias proposed an additional amendment that promulgates the rules and regulations in getting an exemption only from reading the two novels through written statement or affidavit and not from taking the Rizal course.

  • According to Ambeth Ocampo, no student has ever availed of the exemption.
• Jose P. Laurel, then senator who co-wrote the law, explained that since Jose Rizal was the founder of the country’s nationalism and had significantly contributed to the current condition of the nation, it is only right that Filipinos, especially the youth, know about and learn to imbibe the great ideals for which the hero died.
• Accordingly, the Rizal Law aims to accomplish the following goals:

  1. To rededicate the lives of youth to the ideals of freedom and nationalism, for which our heroes lived and died
  2. To pay tribute to our national hero for devoting his life and works in shaping the Filipino character
  3. To gain an inspiring source of patriotism through the study of Rizal’s life, works, and writings.
• On February 1, 1902, the Philippine Commission enacted Republic Act. No. 345 which set December 30 of each year as Rizal Day, and made it one of the ten official holidays of the Philippines.
• President Elpidio Quirino approved on June 9, 1948 the Republic Act No. 229 is an act prohibiting cockfighting, horse racing, and jai-alai on the thirtieth day of December of each year and to create a committee to take charge of the proper celebration of Rizal day in every municipality and chartered city, and for other purposes.
• Republic Act No. 243 was enacted on September 28, 1901 granting the right to use public land upon the Luneta in the City of Manila upon which to erect a statue of Jose Rizal.
• US Governor William Howard Taft (1901)

  The Americans through the American Governor William Howard Taft recommend to the Philippine Commission which was sponsored by the US, to declare Rizal as a National Hero for the Filipinos.
• Dr. Otley Bayer, an anthropologist and technical member of the panel of the Philippine Commission.
• On March 28, 1993, President Fidel V. Ramos issued Executive Order No.75 entitled “Creating the National Heroes Committee Under the Office of the President”.

  
  

  -The principal duty of the Committee is to study, evaluate and recommend Filipino national personages/heroes in due recognition of their sterling character and remarkable achievements for the

  country.
• Adopted by the Technical Committee of the National Heroes Committee on June 3, 1993, Manila.

  Members of the Committee included

  Drs. Onofre D. Corpuz,

  Samuel K. Tan

  Marcelino Foronda

  Alfredo Lagmay

  Bernardita R. Churchill

  Serafin D. Quiason

  Ambeth Ocampo, then known as Dom Ignacio Maria

  Prof. Minerva Gonzales

  Mrs. Carmen Guerrero-Nakpil
• On November 15, 1995, the Technical Committee after deliberation and careful study based on Dr. Onofre D. Corpuz’ and Dr. Alfredo Lagmay’s criteria selected the following nine Filipino historical figures to be recommended as National Heroes:

  1. Jose Rizal
  2. Andres Bonifacio
  3. Emilio Aguinaldo
  4. Apolinario Mabini
  5. Marcelo H. del Pilar
  6. Sultan Dipatuan Kudarat
  7. Juan Luna
  8. Melchora Aquino
  9. Gabriela Silang
• Since the submission of the report/recommendations by the National Heroes Committee to then Secretary Ricardo T. Gloria of the Department of Education, Culture and Sports on November 22,1995, no action has been taken. This was probably because this might trigger a flood of requests for proclamations. Another possibility is that the proclamations can trigger bitter debates involving historical controversies about the heroes.
• LAWS HONORING/ COMMEMORATING FILIPINO HISTORICAL FIGURES

  1. Republic Act No. 3827, enacted by the Philippine Legislature on October 28, 1931, declared the last Sunday of August of every year as National Heroes Day.
  2. Republic Act No. 2946, enacted by the Philippine Legislature on February 16, 1921, made November 30 of each year a legal holiday to commemorate the birth of Andres Bonifacio.