Lloyd John S.

Quimzon Section BJ Veneration without Understanding

June 13, 2011

When a foreign citizen would ask me who our national hero is, I would bluntly answer that his name is Dr. Jose Rizal. If hed ask me what he did, Id say he died for the country. But if asked why he was chosen as our national hero, I wouldnt answer but instead Id refer Renato Constantinos article Veneration without Understanding. The article written by Renato Constantino is a composition of various topics related to our history but most of which provides us reasons why Rizal was chosen as our national hero. Some of us may think that all events related to his death for the country was mere coincidence and if none of it happened he would never be declared as a hero. Although he simply wrote a book and was considered as a silent fighter but he was a given a gift to be able to touch hearts that could build confidence and strength to achieve a goal. He also knew that each individual has his or her way of solving a crisis. He used the differences between two parties to come up with a smarter solution. For some, he may not have done much but in the end, we still got the freedom we longed for. There is even a line in the article that says, Rizal possessed a particular talent which influence the style of the period was accidental. I definitely agree with this one! Lets just say that Dr. Rizal was in the right place at the right time. The article is also composed of those that are against Rizal as our national hero and those that are in favor of him. Those under the opposing side would provide a feedback that would downgrade our respect to our national hero but the Rizalist would always find a way to counteract it. The article helps us understand why he was chosen as our national hero. Others would say that all he did was hide in the corners and was not like Bonifacion who fought relentlessly. Id say its like a really good movie and the main actor was Bonifacio but the writer was Rizal. It wouldnt be considered a good movie if its not a good story. Theres really not much that I could contribute to the article written because the article itself is a mere reaction of Mr. Constantino about the Philippines revolution and the heroes behind it especially Dr. Rizal. I could not react more because everything was well said and all I could do is simply agree that Dr. Rizal did play an important role in our history. Besides, there is nothing more that we can change since we can no longer go back in time and change everything.