Life and Works of Rizal

• Dr. Jose P. Rizal - the greatest Philippine National Hero who is also the Father of Asian Nationalism.
• Why study his life and works?

  "The law provides it!". One must pass the subject before he/she gets qualified to finish a degree.
• The Rizal Law - aims to establish cognizance among students on how our national hero's works shaped Philippines' history. It was authored by former senator Claro M. Recto.
• Republic Act No. 1425 - 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.
• Section 1 of Republic Act No. 1425 - courses on the life and writings of Jose Rizal, particularly his novels Noli Me Tangere and El Filibusterismo, shall be included in the curricula of all schools, colleges, and universities.
• The Board of National Education is hereby authorized and directed to adopt forthwith measures to implement and carry out the provisions of Section 1.
• Section 2 of Republic Act No. 1425 - it shall be obligatory on all schools, colleges, and universities to keep in their libraries an adequate number of copies of the original and unexpurgated editions of the Noli Me Tangere and El Filibusterismo, as well as Rizal's other writings and biography.
• Section 3 of Republic Act No. 1425 - the Board of National Education shall cause the translation of the Noli Me Tangere and El Filibusterismo as well as other writings of Jose Rizal into English, Tagalog and the principal Philippine dialects.
• Section 4 of Republic Act No. 1425 - nothing in this act shall be construed as an amendment or repealing section nine hundred twenty-seven of the Administrative Code, prohibiting the discussion of religious doctrines by public school teachers and other person engaged in any public school.
• Section 5 of Republic Act No. 1425 - the sum of three hundred thousand pesos is hereby authorized to be appropriated out of any fund not otherwise appropriated in the National Treasury to carry out the process of this Act.
• Section 6 of Republic Act No. 1425 - this act shall take effect upon its approval.
• Nationhood - politically mined from the principles of nationalism.
• "Nation" implies to a group of people identified as sharing any number of real or perceived characteristic, such as common ancestry, language, religion, culture, specific institution, historic tradition, or shared territory.
• The suffix "ism" in the noun "nationalism" signify attitude, sentiment, and behavior of a people who have identified themselves as a "nation"
• "Nationalism" signifies the desire of a nation to self-determination.
• Patriotism - a positive and supportive attitude to a fatherland.
• Chauvinism - aggressive patriotism, or blind or biased devotion to any group, attitude, or cause.
• Benedict Anderson provided that nationalism is an imagined political community that is imagined as both inherently limited and sovereign.
• Nationalism is imagined because members will never know most of their fellow members.
• Nationalism is limited because it has finite, though elastic, boundaries beyond which lies other nations.
• Nationalism is sovereign because it came to maturity at a stage of human history when freedom was a rare and precious ideal.
• Nationalism is imagined as a community because it is conceived as a deep, horizontal comradeship.
• Features of Nationalism:

  1. Involves a strong identification of society and the state.
  2. It is also used to describe a movement to establish or protect a homeland.
  3. Nationalism is sometimes reactionary, calling for a return to a national past, and sometimes for the expulsion of foreigners.
  4. Nationalism emphasizes collective identity.
• Ethnic Nationalism - where the nation is defined in terms of ethnicity and descent from previous generations. It also includes the idea of a culture shared between members of the group, and usually a shared language.
• Civic Nationalism - where the state derives political legitimacy from the active participation of its citizenry and from the degree to which it represents the "will of the people".
• State Nationalism - a variant of Civic Nationalism, where the nation is assumed to be a community of those who contribute to the maintenance and strength of the state, and that the individual exists in the community.
• Expansionist Nationalism - a radical form of imperialism that incorporates autunomous, patriotic, sentiments with a belief in expansionism, usually by military aggression. For example, Nazism in Germany.
• Romantic Nationalism - a form of Ethnic Nationalism in which the state derives political legitimacy as a natural consequence and expression of the nation. It relies upon the existence of a historic ethnic culture which meets the romantic ideal.
• Cultural Nationalism - where the nation is defined by shared culture, and neither purely civic nor purely ethnic. Chinese Nationalism is an example.
• Third World Nationalism - where nationalist sentiment result from resistance to colonial domination in order to survive and retain a national identity.
• Liberal Nationalism - where it is claimed that individuals need a national identity n order to lead meaningful, autonomous lives, and liberal democracies need national identity in order to function properly. John Stuart Mill expressed similar sentiments.
• Religious Nationalism - where a shared religion can be seen to contribute to a sense of national unity, and a common bond among the citizens of the nation.
• Pan Nationalism - where Ethnic or Cultural Nationalism applies to a nation which is itself a cluster of related ethnic groups and cultures. For example, Turkish people.
• Diaspora Nationalism - where there is a nationalist feeling among a diaspora, ( an ethnic population living outside their traditional homelands ). For example, Irish and Jews in the United States.
• Stateless Nationalism - where an ethnic or cultural minority within a nation-state seeks independence on nationalist grounds. For example, Catalans and Basques in Spain.
• National Conservatism - a political term, used primarily in Europe, to describe a variant of Conservatism which concentrates more on national interests than standard conservatism, while not being unduly Nationalist or pursuing an excessively far-right agenda.
• 19th Century - the end of Spanish Colonization because significant events worldwide demonstrated its failures.
• Identified colonies of Spain that have achieved independence through revolution are South and Central America, Mexico, Chile, Argentina, Venezuela, Columbia, Ecuador, Peru, Nicaragua, El Salvador, and Honduras.
• Philippines, Cuba, Puerto Rico, and Spanish Sahara remained under Spanish power and control. And among these colonies, the Philippines is the largest in terms of natural resources and has great potential for strong and grand trade and commerce.
• The ideas of philosophers such as Jean-Jacques Rosseau, Montesquieu, Jean Marie Arouet ( Voltaire ), and the Englishman John Locke have influenced the people's perception of the government, the state, the church, and its people.