LIFE AND WORKS OF RIZAL

• Jose Rizal is considered the greatest hero and martyr of the Philippines
• His birth and execution days are commemorated nationwide and even by Filipinos and their friends abroad
• Rizal's name is well-known in every Filipino home and his image is on postage stamps and paper money
• Rizal has the most monuments, towns, barrios, and streets named after him compared to any other Filipino hero
• Numerous educational institutions, societies, and trade names bear Rizal's name
• Many individuals, both Filipinos and foreigners, have been named "Rizal" or "Rizalina" in admiration of him
• Rizal's teachings and noble thoughts are frequently quoted by authors and public speakers
• Rizal's doctrines are considered timeless and relevant by biographer Rafael Palma
• Some Filipinos believe that Rizal was made a national hero by the Americans, particularly Civil Governor William Howard Taft
• Rizal was made the foremost national hero of the Philippines
• Rizal is considered the greatest national hero of the Philippines
• Webster's New International Dictionary defines a hero as a prominent or central personage taking an admirable part in any remarkable action or event
• A hero is also defined as a person of distinguished valor or enterprise in danger, or fortitude in suffering
• A hero is further described as a man honored after death by public worship, because of exceptional service to mankind
• Rizal is considered the greatest hero because of his role in the Propaganda Campaign
• The Propaganda Campaign took place roughly from 1882 to 1896
• Rizal's novel "Noli Me Tangere" is considered to have contributed tremendously to the formation of Filipino nationality
• Other Filipino writers during this era also published works, but Rizal's "Noli Me Tangere" received the most favorable and unfavorable comments
• Rizal's friends and admirers praised the novel, while his enemies attacked and condemned it
• The novel was condemned by a Faculty Committee of a Manila university and the Permanent Censorship Commission in 1880
• During Congressional discussions in 1956, a compromise measure known as Republic Act No. 1425 was enacted regarding Rizal's works
• Rizal was made the foremost national hero of the Philippines
• Rizal is considered the greatest national hero of the Philippines
• Webster's New International Dictionary defines a hero as a prominent or central personage taking an admirable part in any remarkable action or event
• A hero is also described as a person of distinguished valor or enterprise in danger, or fortitude in suffering
• Additionally, a hero is a man honored after death by public worship, because of exceptional service to mankind
• Rizal is considered the greatest hero because of his involvement in the Propaganda Campaign from 1882 to 1896
• During this period, Rizal's work "Noli Me Tangere" was considered to have contributed tremendously to the formation of Filipino nationality
• Although other Filipino writers published works during this era, Rizal's Noli Me Tangere received both favorable and unfavorable comments, making it stand out
• Rizal's friends and admirers praised the Noli, while his enemies attacked and condemned it
• The novel was considered heretical, impious, scandalous, unpatriotic, subversive, and libelous by different groups
• The Congressional discussions and hearings on the Rizal (or Noli-Fili bill in 1956 resulted in the enactment of Republic Act No. 1425
• Attacks on Rizal's first novel were not only in the Philippines but also in the Spanish capital
• Deputy Luis M. de Pando and Premier Praxedes Me Segerande unjustly criticized Rizal and his novel Noli in the Spanish Cortes in 1888 and 1889
• Congressman Henry Allen Cooper of Wisconsin delivered a eulogy of Rizal on the floor of the United States House of Representatives in 1902
• Rizal became the most prominent figure of the Propaganda Movement among his contemporaries
• Rizal is considered the greatest Filipino hero because of his self-denial and dedication to his country
• Rizal abandoned his personal interests to think only of his country's interests
• He sacrificed personal wealth and comfort for the ideal he dreamed of
• Rizal's moral courage was forged through suffering and temptation