Hiavia, Angel Grace B.

GE 6 - 4498 RIZAL'S LIFE AND WORKS MIDTERM EXAM

A Tribute to Dr. Jose Rizal

Dr. Jose P. Rizal is one of the most remarkable Filipino heroes in the history. He is
not only admired for possessing intellectual brilliance but for also taking a stand and
resisting the Spanish colonial government. In his famous novels, Noli Me Tangere and El
Filibusterismo, he antagonized the Spanish friars and the government for their abusive use
of power. He wants to open the eyes of his fellow Filipinos to the evil and corrupt deeds of
the friars and Spaniards who are mistreating them in their own land. Although this costs
him his life, he is willing to do so for the sake of freeing his country and countrymen to
the oppressive forces of the Spaniards. His fervor and desire for unity inspires us to love
and appreciate our nation.

There are many lessons and realizations we can get from Rizal's life. He made us
realized that bloodbath is not necessary to attain freedom for he used his expertise in
writing to convince his fellowmen to seek justice, thus he proved that pen is mightier than
a sword.

In his saying "Ang kabataan ang pag-asa ng bayan", he made us realized that we, the
youth, have a huge responsibility on our shoulders to be good citizens of our nation and
make a contribution, although it may not be as grand as what Rizal has contributed, by
partaking in our respective roles in making the country progressive in the sense that our
contributions in the society as well as our collective intellect do help for each and every
people’s benefit where in the end, nobody loses.

At the end of the day, it is beneficial to learn about Dr. Jose P. Rizal and all of his
works, achievements and personal life where it is worth reflective in my life as a student
in such a case that it gives me a reason to strive more, work more, motivate more and
most of all, inspire more. Overall, his life serves as a beacon to each and every Filipinos to
do the best of their efforts for the country’s development as well as for educating the
people where his legacy lives on.

Indeed, Dr. Jose Rizal deserved to be called a National hero.