Rizal Midterms

• Rizal Law


  An act to make "NOLI ME TANGERE AND EL FILIBUSTERISMO COMPULSARY READING MATTER IN ALL PUBLIC AND PRIVATE COLLEGES AND UNIVERSITIES FOR OTHER PURPOSES"
• Rizal Law

  • Drafted and submitted by Senator Claro M. Recto
  • Sponsored and presented by Senator Jose P. Laurel, chairman of the Committee on Education
  • Main purpose was to disseminate the ideas and ideals of Jose Rizal through readings of his works (Noli Me Tangere and El Filibusterismo)
• Arguments of the supporters and the oppositions of the Rizal bill

  • Supporters: Jose P. Laurel
  • Oppositions: Claro M. Recto, Francisco Rodrigo, Mariano Cuenco, Decoroso Rosales
• Arguments of the opponent (Catholic senators)

  • The bill was an attempt to discredit the Catholic religion
  • Inimical to the tenets of the faith to which 170 lines in Noli Me Tangere and 50 lines in El Filibusterismo were offensive to the Church doctrine
  • Compulsion to read something against one's faith impaired freedom of Speech and religious freedom
• Senator Rodrigo: '"A vast majority of our people are the same time Catholics and Filipino citizens. As such, they have two great loves: their country and their faith. These two loves are no conflicting loved. They are harmonious affections, like the love of a child for his father and for his mother. This is the basis of my stand. Let us not create a conflict between nationalism and religion; the government and the church."'
• Senator Recto refuted the argument that Rizal did not pretend to teach religion or theology when he wrote those books. He aimed to inculcating civic consciounes in the Filipinos, national dignity, personal pride, and patriotism… but while he criticized and ridiculed the unworthy behavior of certain ministers of the church, he made exceptions in favor of the worthy ones, like the Dominician friar, Padre Fernandez, and the virtuous native priest, Padre Florentino, and the Jesuits in general.
• House bill no. 5561 was the same bill that was filed by Congressman Jacobo Z. Gonzales in the House of Representative. Different faces but the same stance, the bill was attacked based on its constitutionality and religiosity.
• Both Upper House and Lower House seemed hopeless for the bill to pass into law.
• Substitute bill


  1. The inclusion of all works and writings of Rizal, not just two novel

  2. Senator Laurel stressed the removal of the term "compulsion" to appease the opposition

  3. He asserted the importance of reading the original and unexpurgated edition of Rizal's novel

  4. The last amendment was proposed- the provisions regarding the "exemption" of students from reading the two novels on certain condition
• Senate Bill no. 438 was approved on second reading


  May 12, 1956
• The bill was approved in the House of Representatives


  May 14, 1956
• President Ramon Magsaysay signed the bill to make it a law, thus giving birth to Republic Act no.1425 also known as the RIZAL LAW


  June 12, 1956
• THREE CRITERIA OF NATIONAL HERO

  • A hero who is not violent and militant
  • A hero who had no qualms on American imperialism
  • A hero is already dead
• In 1901, William H. Taft, President of the Second Philippine Commission, had appointed Rizal to embody the brand of nationalism propagated by the American colonial government
• National Heroes Committee made by President Fidel V. Ramos in 1995 released list of recommended national heroes


  • Jose Rizal
  • Andres Bonifacio
  • Emilio Aguinaldo
  • Apolinario Mabini
  • Marcelo H. del Pilar
  • Sultan Dipatuan Kudarat
  • Juan Luna
  • Melchora Aquino
  • Gabriela Silang
• Four major national celebrations with Rizal

  • June 12 (Independence Day)
  • June 19 (Birth Anniversary)
  • Last week of August (National Heroes Week)
  • December 30 (Rizal Day)
• He was a hero and political martyr
• Rizal was born


  June 19, 1861 (11:30 pm)
• Birthplace


  Calamba, Laguna Province, Philippines
• Rizal's mother almost died during the delivery because of his big head
• Rizal's mother vowed to take him to the sanctuary of the Virgin of Antipolo
• Rizal was baptized


  June 22, 1864 (aged 3)
• Baptism details


  In the Catholic Church, by the parish priest Father Rufino Collantes (a Batangueno), his godfather was Father Pedro Casanas
• Rizal's name


  Jose - chosen by his mother from the Christian saint San Jose (St. Joseph), Mercado - means Market, Rizal - means green fields
• Francisco Mercado Rizal


  Rizal's father, a model of fathers, born in Biñan, Laguna on May 11, 1818, studied Latin and Philosophy at the College of San Jose in Manila, tenant-farmer of the Dominican-owned hacienda, died in Manila on January 5, 1898 (age of 80), a hardy and independent man, who talked less and worked more, strong in body and valiant in spirit
• Doña Teodora Alonso Realonda

  Rizal's mother, a woman of more than an ordinary culture, born in Manila on November 8, 1826, studied at the College of Santa Rosa, a mathematician and read many books, died in Manila on August 16, 1911 (age 85), a remarkable woman, possessing refined culture, literary talent, business talent, fortitude of Spartan woman
• Rizal's siblings


  • Saturnina (Neneng, married to Manuel T. Hidalgo)
  • Paciano (Severina Decena, mistress, Combat General of the Philippine Revolution)
  • Narcisa (Sisa, married to Antonio Lopez, School Teacher of Morong)
  • Olimpia (Ypia, married to Silvestre Ubaldo)
  • Lucia (married to Mariano Herbosa)
  • Maria (Biang, married to Daniel Faustiso Cruz)
  • Jose (Pepe, married to Josephine Bracken, Physician)
  • Concepcion (Concha)
  • Josefa (Panggoy, old maid)
  • Trinidad (Trining, old maid)
  • Soledad (Choleng, married to Pantaleon Quintero)
• Rizal's earliest childhood memory was his happy days in the family garden when he was three years old. His father built a little nipa cottage for him to play.
• At nightfall, Rizal's mother gathered all the children at the house to pray the Angelus
• Rizal remembered the happy moonlit nights at the azotea. The aya related many stories about fairies and other fabulous stories
• Rizal remembered the nocturnal walk in the town especially when there was a moon
• Rizal loved his sister Concepcion (Concha) the most, a year younger than him. She died of sickness when she was three years old, which brought him his first sorrow.
• Rizal and his father left Calamba to go on a pilgrimage to Antipolo (to fulfill his mother's vow which was made when Rizal was born)


  June 6, 1868
• Rizal's mother Doña Teodora could not accompany them because she had given birth to Trinidad.
• This was the first trip of Rizal across the Laguna de Bay
• After praying at the shrine of the Virgin of Antipolo, they visited Saturnina in Manila. This was the first time of Rizal to saw Manila.
• The story of the moth


  Told by Doña Teodora, the tragic fate of the young moth, which "died a martyr to its illusions," left a deep impress on Rizal's mind. He justified such a noble death, asserting that "sacrifice one's life for it," meaning for an ideal, is "worthwhile."
• At the age of five, Rizal could sketch with his pencil, mold in clay and wax objects, and paint in oil colors. He had the soul of a genuine artist.
• Usman


  Rizal's black dog which accompanied him to his long walks in the meadows and lakeshore
• When Rizal was about six years old, his sisters laughed at him for spending so much time making clay and wax images rather than participating in their games. He told them: "All right laugh at me now! Someday when I die, people will make monuments and images of me!"