Rizal, Pioneer Asian Nationalist Leader

 Rizal was born in the decade when other

nationalist leaders of Asia was born such as
Mohandas Gandhi, Rabindaranath Tagore and
Sun Yat-Sen. These four according to Coates(1968)
challenged the West.
o Of the four , Rizal was the most remarkable
because his ideas matured at an early age.
o Rizal was the first exponent of Asian nationalism
since he was the source of inspiration for the
outbreak of the Philippine Revolution of 1896(De
Ocampo 1969).
 Rizal was even called by Fisher(1962) the Pioneer
Exponent of Liberal Democracy in Asia. According to her,
even before Gandhi and Sun Yat-Sen began their career
of political agitation, Rizal through his essays, letters and
novels had already spoken out with firmness and
courage ideas on liberal democracy. These ideas include
the following:
 The worth and dignity of the individual
 The inviolability of human rights
 The innate equality of all men and races
 The necessity for constitutional government
 Due process of law
 Popular sovereignty as the basis of all political authority
 Faith in human reason and enlightenment
 The right of the masses to public education and
 Belief in social progress through freedom.
Hence, Rizal was the first Asian leader to assert
that the aforementioned ideas and principles be
established in Asia for the benefit of the Asians.

o Major fields in the Life of Rizal

1. First Period(1861-1872). This was the period when the
young Rizal learned the following:
reading, writing and listening to stories
2. Second Period(1872-1882). This was the first turning
point in the life of Rizal. He enrolled at Ateneo Municipal
at 11 yrs. old despite the objection of his mother. It was
this period when Fathers Gomez, Burgos and Zamora
were unjustly executed by the Spanish government.
 Third Period(182-1892). The year 1882 was the second
major turning point in Rizal’s life for it was this time that
he decided to leave the Philippines to escape
persecution. Rizal even took part in the Propaganda
Movement based in Europe.

 Fourth Period(1892-1896). The year 1892 can be

considered the last turning point in Rizal’s life before his
martyrdom on December 30, 1896. He was an exile in
Dapitan where he demonstrated what an individual
can do and accomplish within a short period of time.
He also detached himself from politics and devoted
more of his time in practical service and usefulness to
the community.