Reasons why the Roman Catholic wanted to obstruct the bill into becoming a

law.

One of the primary reasons why the Catholic Church opposed to the bill because
of Jose Rizal’s character and his influence to the Filipinos during the Spanish era
which brought a revolution to our country. The Catholic Church alleged that the bill
would go against freedom of conscience and religion. During the symposiums held by
the Catholic Church, one Catholic priest named Fr. Jesus Cavanna, said that the
novels of Rizal belonged to the past and that teaching them would misrepresent
current conditions in the country. While groups such as Catholic Action of the
Philippines, the Congregation of the Mission, Knights of Columbus, the Catholic
Teachers Guild and other Roman Catholic religious groups argued that majority of the
passages in his two novels Noli Me Tangere and El Filibusterismo are against
Catholic faith.

Reflection Paper whether Rizal as a subject in college is meaningful or not.

When you here the name Jose Rizal, you would automatically know that he is the
national hero of the Philippines. I grew up knowing that person because as early as
primary school our teachers would tell us who he is, even though we did not know
exactly what he did for our country.

In my opinion, I think it is important that we know something about him even a

little knowledge on who he was and what he did to be recognized as our national hero.
Reading and learning on his personal works and accomplishments would make us
understand why he had so much influence in the general public during his time and
why he was chosen as our hero.

I honestly think that my Catholic faith would not be influenced or be shaken by

the fact that Rizal’s novels attacked the Catholic Church before because I believe that
Catholic faith is not something that can be shaken by mere passages of a fiction novel.
It is something you believe even though you cannot see it and that makes you a firm
believer.

I think, Rizal as a subject was meant to be learned in college for us to be more

mature on understanding his novels since his writings were sophisticated. And it is
just right to have a privilege to always learn something rather than to neglect it.

Why is RA No. 1425 important to the whole nation.

Republic Act No. 1425 or otherwise known as the Rizal Law, mandates
educational institutions primarily the collegiate level to offer courses about the life
and writings of Jose Rizal.

It is important for us to know such things because as Filipinos, we should know

something about our national hero. It is not enough that we just know what his title or
why he is recognized as such. I believe that it is our personal responsibility as
Filipinos to know and understand why he became our national hero. It would be a
shame not knowing the reason why. Also, his works and writings made a huge impact
in our country. It led to one of the greatest revolution that gave us back our freedom,
our democracy. I think that our legislators did not passed the law and made it
mandatory for us just to know his personal life and accomplishments but also for us to
understand nationalism and patriotism per se.

We are all encouraged by the law makers to have a sense of love and respect for
our country, and the purpose is not just to recognize or even glorify Jose Rizal as a
person or a hero. It is his works, the whole meaning of it that makes the subject
important for us and work for a better nation.