“Admiring Rizal without understanding him is a kind of empty nationalism and blind devotion” – Jorge

Mojarro.

Jose Rizal's life was genuinely inspirational. Not just like a normal Philippine novel, but the tale of a very
clever and talented Filipinos who's ready to devote his life to his family and to his own country for
independence and peace alone. Dr Jose Protacio Rizal Merkado y Alonzo Realonda were born on June
19, 1861 in Calamba, Laguna, the seventh child in a family of eleven children, or Dr Jose Rizal as we all
recognized as our National Hero. He is one of Philippine history's prominent individual. The man with
intellectual strength and musical talents. He excelled in everything in which he had thought: medicine,
art, sketching, architecture, sociology, and many more. José Rizal's brilliance, bravery, nonviolent
opposition to tyranny and sympathy are recalled today in the Philippines.

The way José Rizal is honored as a national hero in the Philippines does not fit elsewhere in the world.
The archipelago is full of shrines and monuments, which its name is also called the most important
street or place in the town. Rizal has become a metaphor for the patriotism of the Philippines
(Mojarro,2018)

Because of the actions of Dr. Jose Rizal, Senator Jose P. Laurel and Senator Claro M. Recto, sponsored a
law that is dedicated to our national hero. The teaching of Jose Rizal’s life, works, and writings is
mandated by Republic Act 1425. 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.“

Since Rizal was the father of Filipino nationalism, Jose P. Laurel said, and he contributed greatly to this
nation's current status, it is only fair that young people and all people around the world know the big
values for which He died and learned to endow them. In which for my own insight is relevant since it has
goals. Firstly, we must devote our life to the values of democracy and nationalism that our heroes had
lived for and fallen for. To honor also our national hero for his life and his works in the shaping of the
character of the Philippines. Finally, by studying Rizal's life, works and writings, we must acquire an
inspirational source of patriotism.

The bill was intended to spark the nation's nationalism. It is not just a traditional law that everybody
should have an insight into the national hero and his work. It also helps to acknowledge the relevance of
Rizal's values and teachings in the social environment and the current circumstances. To promote the
use of these values in contemporary social and personal matters. Gain an awareness of both Rizal's
struggles for and death. And to promote growth of all facets of citizenship for Filipino young people.
Rizal's works are of enormous importance to the lives of the Filipinos as it reflects the state of the past in
the present.

The law is used as the lightning light to reveal the difficulties during the Spanish invasion of the
Philippines. According to Senator Claro M. Recto during the hearing, Rizal's work showed tremendous
nationality, by introducing young people to the difficulties faced during the Spanish period by the
Philippines in making them autonomous and in granting the Filipinos independence (Recto, 1956).
However, owing to anti-clerical themes in Noli Me Tangere and El Filibusterismo, the Roman Catholic
Church in the Philippines opposed the resolution. The main one pushing the past of the Rizal Bill was
Senator Claro M. Recto. At Congress, he tried to sponsor the bill.
But we only get essential knowledge about him when I experienced it in the school of this new era. We
get to read his novels and poetry and hear about the places that he went and even his women. But we
did not even know what he was standing for. We still wear shirts with his picture but do not grasp him
deeper(Quizon,2011).

Based on Jorge Mojarro (2018), Rizal's misunderstanding arises from being a writer and ironically a
national hero in a country where the majority of people don't want to learn. Unfortunately the
abundance of monuments, shrines and homages did not go for a close examination of his work, which is
often read in a very incisive, solely nationalistic manner. Apart from Noli and Fili, the majority of his rich
and prolific written output is almost difficult to find in book stores and other patriots – Teodoro M.
Kalaw – would not find these easily today if they did not work with the great effort of compiling and
editing much of his valuable letters.

Some college student students taking technical classes, such as engineering or medical studies, are also
questioning how important the Rizal study subject is to their careers. They insist that the subject is just a
waste of time and money(Quizon,2011). I had never met or had an opinion about the Republic Law 1425
or the Rizal Law before I took the lesson. Thanks to this course, I got an opportunity to know this law
and to appreciate it. That is why studying this subject is very relevant even it has some controversial
issues.

Most student (including myself) ask why it is important to research the life of Rizal if writing literature is
all it did. In his essays, he revealed that the Spaniards are genuinely inhuman and barbaric in treating the
Philippines. He also informed his compatriots to take up their weapons and stand for their rights. That's
why he's been jailed, but it did not torment him and make him keep writing. Rizal has raised his
generation and stressed that young people are our nation's expectations. We can draw a lot from our
life in Rizal, such as seeing what is going on in our country and not just accepting idly the inequality we
get there. That is why literary criticisms is important in study of Rizal’s Life and Works.

The criticism of the life and work of Rizal is not only a way to encourage Dr. Jose Rizal's works and fame,
it has also always been a way to digest and dissect facts using the author's own viewpoint and expertise.
I've been trying to use my own preliminary critique or feelings about life and work in Rizal lately and I
have to admit to make myself get more involved in what I am hearing. In Rizal's Life and Works, the
study of literary criticism has a profound and important place in the study of our literature. The
relationship between the teachers and us students is intuitive and vibrant. One of the most notable was
the appreciation of the beauty of Rizal's works and the learning he has to do. Another goal that has been
more popular over the last decades is to consider and criticize society politically from a certain
perspective, the political and social circumstances depicted in literary works.