KWAN, Nicole Bianca B.

September 28, 2021

GED0102 – Life and Works of Rizal – Sec 21 Prof. Rowena Palenzuela

RIZAL PARK AND SHRINE IN DAPITAN CITY

As a kid with the most curious mind, I’d like to think that I have always been well-
informed with regards to the history of the Philippines- most especially with regards to our
National Hero. Being born and raised in the Zamboanga Peninsula, I have been to Dapitan City
more times than I could remember. Since it’s a city where a resort is located, my family and I
usually visit the city whenever we can. I remember visiting the place so often that I could
remember the course so well back then. Given the opportunity to visit the said city whenever we
can, we’re also given the chance to visit and roam around the Rizal Park and Shrine located just
outside of the resort. Knowing the history this place holds and the fact that I have been to such
place in real life, I chose the Rizal Park and Shrine to represent Rizal’s experience and life when
he was still alive.

I remember my first visit when I was just around 8 years old, very much curious of how
the place was maintained and pretty excited to see in real life the place where our National Hero
was exiled before he was executed. However, I was not able to fully understand and grasp how
much history the place held. Thankfully, visiting once more when I was around 15 years old
gave me a much clearer vision of how much memory the place has. The Rizal Park and Shrine
was where Dr. Jose Rizal spent the days between 1892 to 1896, keeping himself busy by
pursuing different occupations and activities such as being an educator, doctor, farmer, artist,
engineer and entrepreneur among many others. Dr. Rizal was also able to cultivate a 34-hectare
farm in Katipunan, put up a school for boys, a clinic where he treated ailments as well as
performed eye surgery, built a dam and waterworks and set up a town plaza in Dapitan (NHCP,
2021). It’s heartwarming to know that the shrine has been maintained and well taken care of by
the people in the city- bearing in mind that it serves as one of the greatest historical landmarks in
the Philippines. Despite the confiscation of the Spanish colonial government of the state upon
Rizal’s execution, it was retrieved and then converted to a public park in 1913 with the
structures, most especially the five houses originally built by Rizal, reconstructed on their
original sites, giving the shrine its original structure just like how it was when our National Hero
spent his time there.

The Rizal Park and Shrine depicts Rizal's life in exile through personal mementos and
letters to his family and friends, whom he greatly missed. In Dapitan, he wrote some of his most
moving letters. Rizal's nipa hut home, clinic, school, dormitory, dam, and waterworks are living
testaments to his many talents and dedication to serving the country he loved. The shrine is a
collection of structures that repeat the stories of former Dapitan as well as the passion of an
outstanding man who lived as an exile with a mission to teach and serve the Dapitanons. The
stories woven in the site, the poems penned, and the insights obtained by visiting the Rizal
Shrine are the legacy of his life (Philippines Travel, 2018). I believe that it’s maintenance and
reconstruction has instilled in us further the sense of nationalism and patriotism that our National
Hero held and wanted for us to embody.

REFERENCES:

NHCP. (2021). Museo ni Jose Rizal, Dapitan. National Historical Commission of the
Philippines. Retrieved September 29, 2021, from https://nhcp.gov.ph/museums/rizal-
shrine-dapitan/.

Philippines Travel (2018). Discover more fun! Retrieved September 29, 2021, from
https://www.philippines.travel/activities/rizal-shrine.