CHAPTER I

THE RIZAL LAW

INTRODUCTION
The way José Rizal is celebrated in the Philippines as a national hero finds no
match in the world. Shrines and monuments dedicated to his figure are abundant
throughout the archipelago, and his name indicates often the most prominent street
or plaza in town. Rizal is a subject in the university as it has become a symbol of
Philippine patriotism.

LEARNING OUTCOMES
At the end of this chapter, students are expected to:
1. Explain the history of the Rizal Law and its important provisions.
2. Compare and contrast the views of those in favor and against the RA 1425.

WHY STUDY RIZAL

Laurel and Recto were branded as communists and threatened with
excommunication when they raised the idea of teaching Jose Rizal‘s works in the
tertiary level. In the early 1950s, they thought knowing Rizal‘s ideology would make
Filipinos realize that they have their own interests to promote and protect. The
sentiment during that time was to view the Americans as our eternal savior, and the
two nationalists were afraid that it could weaken the youth‘s resolve to love their
nation and their countrymen better.
Fighting the odds and the invectives hurled at them, they persevered,
resulting in the passage of Republic Act No. 1425, the teaching of Rizal‘s novels. It is
obvious that the subject was not about the failed love of Rizal and Leonor Rivera, or
about his being gay or not; nor was it about when and where ―El Filibusterismo‖ was
printed. Whether he loved Suzanne Jacoby more than Gertrude Beckett borders on
the inane. Memorizing ―Mi Ultimo Adios‖ may be challenging to mass communication
and language students, but could be torture to others. What good will that do toward
inculcating the values of patriotism, honesty, courage, and fortitude in students?
Where does learning about Rizal fit in? Maribel Q. Galindo was correct in
saying, ―A dead person cannot do anything about the life of the living, but the
thoughts, ideals, dreams, principles, or convictions that he left might be very
influential to people‘s life as a basis of getting strength in their day to day existence.
And that‘s where the relevance of the Rizal subject came in.‖ The Rizal Course is
about being loyal to your fellow Filipinos in times of crisis. It is upholding the truth as
you perceive it. It is being unafraid to do what is right. It is contributing to the
wellbeing of the community. Finally, it is about the love of your neighbors and how
you and they together can contribute to make this nation vibrant and progressive.
This is the theme of its discourse, and the reason for its being.

1|P age
 Rizal could serve as a model for all times, for all places, and for all people
who cherish freedom and justice. He condemned the corrupt thinking of his fellow
Indios, demanding that they live with dignity and pride, as much as he denounced the
abuses of the colonial rulers. He would have rejected political dynasties or the
economic disparity of foreign trade. He would have decried the millennials‘ declining
participation and indifferent attitude. He would have denounced the politicians who
would rather promote their own agenda than that of the people. He would have
frowned upon those who would rather go abroad instead of employing their talents to
promote the welfare of their neighbors.
Learning is integrating our acquired experiences with the world we have
constructed on our own. Louis Pasteur is reported to have said, ―In the fields of
observation, chance favors only the prepared mind.‖ Mel Thompson writes in
―Understanding Philosophy‖ (1995): ―In life as in observation, the varied situations
and crisis that chance throws up present both hazards and opportunities.‖ He
believes that a ―person that is alert and sensitive to what life is about, and who has
already considered the fundamental principles of what we can know or what we
should do, will hopefully be better able to grasp and use each situation to the full.‖
Going back to the narrative of Rizal‘s novels is no longer compelling since
they were already discussed in the secondary grades. Analyzing the plot of the ―Noli‖
and ―Fili‖ and dissecting the meaning of his essays are more critical. ―Everything we
do is a process where our past experiences, stored in memory, shape our choices
and intentions. The crucially important moment is a fleeting transition from past to
future.‖
George Santayana said that those who do not know about the past are
condemned to repeat its mistakes. Rizal believed that those who do not know where
they came from will never get to where they are going. It has become a prophetic
warning to us. Furthermore, we need to discuss Jose Rizal‘s life and works all over
again? Well, it‘s because of the Rizal Law or Republic Act 1425.

RA 1425: THE RIZAL LAW

The Rizal Bill became the Republic Act No. 1425, known as the ‗Rizal Law‘.
The full name of the law is ―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.‖ This Republic Act calls for
an increased sense of nationalism from the Filipinos during a time of a dwindling
Filipino identity. According to the judicial system, a republic act is a law that has
already been passed and implemented. In contrast to this, a bill is merely a proposed
law, in other words it may or may not be passed by the Congress.
The RA1425 states that every public and private schools, colleges, and
universities should include courses about the life, and works of Jose Rizal,
particularly his novels Noli Me Tangere and El Filibusterismo, in their curricula.
It was Senator Claro M. Recto who authored the Rizal Bill, while Senator Jose
P. Laurel, Sr., who was then the Chairman of the Committee on Education,
sponsored the bill in the Senate. Both of them were known for their great sense of
nationalism. This nationalism served as the foundation to come up with this republic

2|P age
act, to set our country free from the hands of others and stand up on our own—
exactly the ideals and values that Rizal strove to fight for. It was written for the
Filipino people, specifically the Filipino youth, who may have lost their sense of
nationalism and since the youths are important in nation building, it is natural to
remind them about the past. The bill was enacted in June 12, 1956.
The Rizal Law provides for the following:
1. Requirement for students in the colleges and universities to study the life,
works and writings of Jose Rizal; (Section 1)
2. Requirement for the colleges and universities to have sufficient and
unexpurgated copies of Rizal‘s works and writings especially his novels Noli
Me Tangere and El Filibusterismo in their respective libraries; (Section 2)
3. Translation and publication of Rizal‘s works to English and the other dialects
of the Philippines in cheap editions and the distribution of his works through
the Purok organizations and Barrio Councils throughout the country; (Section
3)
4. Stipulation that the discussion of Rizal‘s idea does not violate the state‘s
prohibition of discussion of religious beliefs in the country‘s public learning
institutions; (Section 4) and
5. The appropriation of the sum of Php. 300,000.00 for the publication of popular
and cheap editions of Rizal‘s works. (Section 5)
This document was obviously written during a time when patriotism and
nationalism was lost and needed, and a time when people were inspired by the
initiative of the authors of this act. It was during this time when the Philippines and its‘
citizens relied on the United States for guidance, support and welfare. It was written
in order to seek aide from the same brilliant mind that drove the Filipinos of the past
to fight for freedom from colonists entails another need for another meaningful
revolution in spite of the absence of invaders; the country may have needed a slow-
paced revolution driven by patriotism against dormancy, apathy and futility.

THE TRIALS OF THE RIZAL LAW

The transition from being a bill to becoming a republic act was however not
easy as the proposal was met with intense opposition particularly from the Catholic
Church. They saw the bill as an attempt to discredit the Catholic Religion; and by the
idea of compulsion to read something against one‘s faith, impairs freedom of speech
and religious freedom.
In the campaign to oppose the Rizal bill, the Catholic Church urged its
adherents to write to their congressmen and senators showing their opposition to the
bill; later, it organized symposiums. In one of these symposiums, Fr. Jesus Cavanna
argued that the novels belonged to the past and that teaching them would
misrepresent current conditions.
Cavanna argued that the novels of Rizal should be read according to their
character as novels. Hence, if the persons in the novel are liberal Catholics or have
lost their faith, it is only right that the opinions they express be taken as what is fitting
for such a character to say, and do not express the teaching of the author of the
novel. He had added that ―we are able to discover no clear example of Rizal doing
this,‖ that is, ―suggest that these are his own opinions which he proposed to his

3|P age
readers as true‖ so as to be ―teaching and not merely portraying error.‖ Thus he
concludes that no passage may be found in which Rizal shows that he wishes to
attack the church itself rather than the abuses and distortions of her teaching.
Later on, this statement was retracted and altered because they chose to
interpret it as an attack on the church itself, even apart from being deceived by the
prejudiced translation. They were denying that there was any passage in the novels
where Rizal could be shown to speak in his own person attacking the church, rather
than having his characters speak as befitted them, the ―Statement‖ continues in
contradiction:
Furthermore, there are passages in the two books where it is not
anymore the novels‘ characters but the author himself who speaks.
And among these passages, there are many which are derogatory
to Catholic beliefs and practices as such, aside from the criticisms
leveled upon unworthy priests. ([Philippine Hierarchy] 1956, 4–5
par. 6)

They then proceed to give over 120 references to passages that either ―are
against Catholic dogma and morals‖ or ―disparage divine worship‖ or ―make light of
ecclesiastical discipline.‖ The ―Statement‖ (the statement released by the Church as
a protest to the Rizal Bill) proceeded rather to quote canon law forbidding certain
types of books, under whose categories it declared the two novels fell. Only with
permission of ecclesiastical authority, ―readily granted for justifiable reason‖ to those
with sufficient knowledge of Catholic doctrine, could they be read.
The rest of the ―Statement‖ dealt with the unreasonableness and injustice of
the Senate bill, making it obligatory for Catholic students to read attacks on their
faith. Such a law would, under the guise of nationalism, violate ―one of the
fundamental freedoms of our country, viz., their freedom of conscience‖ ([Philippine
Hierarchy] 1956, 6–8 par. 11–13). It then proceeded to offer to all Filipinos, especially
to the law-giving bodies, eleven brief statements for their guidance. After expressing
their veneration for Rizal, the bishops insisted that, although he wrote the novels at a
time when he was alienated from the Catholic Church, before his death he retracted
whatever he had written against her. That last will of his should be inviolable.
Thus they suggested that there should be an isolating of ―patriotic passages‖,
for it was alleged that the novel Noli ―was not really patriotic because out of 333
pages only 25 contained patriotic passages while 120 were devoted to anti-Catholic
attacks‖ (Constantino, 1971). The Archbishop of Manila, Rufino Santos, the went on
to say, in a pastoral letter directed to those of his archdiocese, not merely that the
novels were forbidden by the church. Rather, he emphasized, ―without due
permission, it is a sin for any Catholic to read these novels in their entirety, or to
keep, publish, sell, translate, or communicate the same to others in any form‖
([Santos] 1956, 350).
The senators soon after worked out a compromise, by which a student who
would ―serve written notice under oath, to the head of the college or university that
the reading and study of the … unexpurgated edition is contrary to his religion or
religious beliefs, said student shall be exempt from using the said edition‖ (Acosta
1973). Although Acosta considered that this was ―a victory for the local Catholic
Church,‖ it was in fact a face-saving compromise, which enabled it to receive the
unanimous vote of the Senate, and the signature of Pres. Ramon Magsaysay.
Professors who have taught the Rizal course can testify that no student has ever

4|P age
come with such an affidavit (Ocampo 2000). (The following year an effort was made
to introduce an amendment removing the impractical provision.) Nor did people
conceive it to be a sin to read the novels. By insisting on an outright condemnation,
the bishops did not prevent the novels from being read but merely removed the
possibility that there would be an annotated edition explaining the possibly offending
passages. Even devout Catholics saw no possibility of following the ―Statement‖ and
its ―clarification‖ by Archbishop Santos, when faced with a contrary civil law. In 1994,
President Fidel V. Ramos ordered the Department of Education, Culture and Sports
to fully implement the law as there had been reports that it has still not been fully
implemented.

ASSESSMENT

Name: _____________________________________________ Date: ______

Course / Section: ____________________________________ Score: _____

Instructions: Write your answer on a separate sheet of paper. Always write your
NAME, COURSE and YEAR, and STUDENT NUMBER.
Answer the following questions comprehensively.

1. Considering the context of the 1950s, what issues and interests were at stake
in the debate over the Rizal Bill? Do these issues remain pertinent to the
present?
___________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________

2. Why do we need to study the Life and Works of Rizal? Reflect on the
contribution of Dr. Jose Rizal in the Philippine modern society.
___________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________

5|P age
REFERENCES

Mañebog, J. (2014, June 25). Our Happy School. Retrieved from The Importance of
the Jose Rizal Subject .
Mojarro, J. (2018, June 24). Rappler.com. Retrieved from [OPINION] Reading,
understanding, and appreciating Rizal.
Presidential Communications Operations Office. (1956, June 12). Official Gazette of
the Republic of the Philippines. Retrieved from Republic Act No. 1425.
Quiray, E. L. (2018, May 05). Inquirer Opinion. Retrieved from How Rizal‘s life should
be taught: https://opinion.inquirer.net/112944/rizals-life-
taught#ixzz6TlpXXnnQ
Schumacher, J. N. (2011). The Rizal Bill of 1956 Horacio de la Costa and the
Bishops. Philippine Studies, 59(4), 529-553.

6|P age