Name: Ginete, Crystal Jeanne B.

Course & Section: BIT32

Subject: Kursong Rizal
Professor/Instructor: Ginoong Jumel G. Estrañero
University: De La Salle University – Dasmariñas

“Impact of Mediatization and Emerging Digitalization over the

Objectives of Rizal Law in the Philippines”

I. INTRODUCTION
It has been two years since the COVID-19 pandemic forced the world to adapt to the "new
normal" settings of limited face-to-face interactions and activities, the availability of digital
technologies has become the key determinant of resilience that allows individuals, businesses,
schools, and the government to go to an online operation rather than completely discontinuing
their activities. The increasing digital adaptations such as digital payments, e-commerce,
telemedicine, online education, and organization websites have helped the Philippines
overcome the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and become life-changing opportunities in
the social and economic state of the country. This series of events has contributed to the current
advancement of mediatization and digitalization in education and society in the Philippines.
With the development of technologies such as new software, applications, and Web services;
the development of ICT-based technologies such as e-learning in providing access to digital
content and services; new student engagement approaches using ICT; and the introduction of
the digital generation, who are comfortable with digital environments and technologies, e-
learning is becoming the core driver for change in pedagogy and society at large. However, the
exposure of this generation to technology poses a challenge to the objectives of Rizal Law in
the educational system of the Philippines.
Rizal Law has been included in the educational system of the Philippines since 1996, as
stated in CHED Memorandum Order 6, ordering all colleges and universities to offer Rizal
course as a supplementary subject that all students must take as a part of their curriculum to
promote and strengthen nationalism, patriotism, a sense of belonging to one's country, a love
of humanity, respect for human rights, and an understanding of the significance of national
heroes in the history of the Philippines. This study will Rizal Law has been included in the
 educational system of the Philippines since 1996, as stated in CHED Memorandum Order 6,
ordering all colleges and universities to offer Rizal course as a supplementary subject that all
students must take as a part of their curriculum to promote and strengthen nationalism,
patriotism, a sense of belonging to one's country, a love of humanity, respect for human rights,
and an understanding of the significance of national heroes in the history of the Philippines.
This study will analyze the impact of mediatization and digitalization on the objectives of the
Rizal Law including the challenges, changes, and risk responses involved in the process.

II. BODY
Mediatization is a term used to describe the changes brought about by media in all aspects
of our life. It transcends traditional approaches to textual analysis, production economic-
politics, and audience studies (Nie et al., 2014). Digitalization, according to Gartner, Inc., is
the process of employing digital technologies and information to transform business
operations, in other words, "the transition to a digital business." This chapter will discuss the
connections and the impact of these two processes on the key aspects of human development
which challenges the objectives that Rizal Law wants to achieve.

Figure 1. Three aspects or domains of human development

Mediatization and Digitalization as Contradictions

Numerous studies have previously been undertaken on the benefits of media and
technology in all facets of our lives, as well as the consequences connected to them. These

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studies and experiments clearly show that the Internet creates communication between
people from all over the world, bringing different cultures together and broadening
horizons. However, these advantages turn into consequences based on the psychological
impact, affecting cognitive and physical development in the process as well, due to the
misuse of the Internet and media manipulation strategies of business organizations.

According to Datta et al. (2017), consumers tend to focus their selective attention
on products that are labeled with names from developed and emerging countries in the hope
that their products will evoke better qualities. In qualitative research, Palomo (2021)
discusses that most of their respondents chose foreign products because they believed that
foreign products had better quality than local products. Furthermore, the excessive use of
the media and technology, particularly social media, and online platforms such as
Facebook, TikTok, Instagram, Shopee, and Lazada, causes psychological distress due to
business strategies that use the media to manipulate consumers, turning their products into
trends and setting a new standard for people to follow. Common psychological effects
based on teen issues were experiencing insecurities while scrolling and posting online, fear
of missing out (FOMO), isolation, depression, anxiety, cyberbullying, and self-absorption.

Figure 2. Main factors that would influence consumers to try Korean beauty skincare
products in the Philippines in 2021 (Statista Research Department, 2021).

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 The most trending topic related to this study is the increase in the Philippines' skin
care products market. The rise of beauty bloggers and social media influencers have
become the new strategy of businesses in setting new standards or trends in society.
However, the emergence of skin care was due to a sudden surge in Korean beauty product
imports advertised in different media in the Philippines. Based on the statistical data from
Statista Research Department (2021) below, 62 percent of Filipino respondents use Korean
skincare products due to positive recommendations from family and friends, and 21 percent
because of their favorite Korean celebrity or idol. Moreover, not only with Korean skincare
but even in Korean music, it was stated that the Philippines is among the biggest consumers
of K-Pop (OneMusicPH Team, 2019).

During the pandemic, mental health becomes an issue as well. COVID-19 led to
the expansion of mental health conditions, but there are also cases of an increase due to
internet addiction, notably gaming addiction (Labana, 2020). Their study shows that 37 of
their respondents had moderately severe depression and 6 severe depression cases because
of online gaming addiction. The study shows that not only online gaming but addiction to
internet usage can cause mental health problems which will also affect the cognitive and
physical development of an individual, especially in the younger generation who were
mentioned in the journal “The Lancet Child & Adolescent Health” found that 93.4 percent
of Filipino students aged 11 to 17 lack physical activity.

Regarding the cases mentioned, connecting each study to the objectives of Rizal
Law will first need to know the learning objectives of Rizal courses implemented in
colleges and universities. Based on the “What is the importance of studying Rizal’s life,
his writings, and other heroes?” by Galarosa (n.d) the following are indicated as the
learning objectives for students taking the Rizal course:

• To recognize the importance of Rizal’s ideals and teachings in relation to

present conditions and situations in society.
• To encourage the application of such ideals in current social and personal
problems and issues.

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 • To develop an appreciation and deeper understanding of all that Rizal fought
and died for.
• To foster the development of the Filipino youth in all aspects of citizenship.

Based on the objectives and in comparison, to all mentioned effects of mediatization

and digitalization, it raises the question “Is Rizal Law really effective?”. This question has
already been asked even before in the commentary “Do we really know Rizal? Rizal law
ineffective” by Quizon (2011). More than twenty years have passed however, the issue
regarding the Rizal Law is still in question. Particularly regarding the topic of nationalism
and patriotism. A question was posted on Quora asking, “How can the youth of today
exemplify nationalism and patriotism?”, simple answer such as “Respect thy parents,
siblings, relatives, friends, nearby neighbors, and far neighbors. Forget about nations, we
are one people on one earth under one God’s mercy.”, and “Proud of your culture but also
respect differences and not racist so foreigners will appreciate your nation as a friendly and
welcoming country” was shared by some of the registered users. These answers are the
simplest way youth and students can start to show their love of their country however, the
effects of globalization on nationalism increased the participation in international trade and
economic interdependencies that challenge the nationalist orientations of citizens (Ariely,
2020). Furthermore, with the abuse of mediatization and digitalization in the process of
globalization, individuals become global consumers of products and information, and the
ability to generate and preserve a homogeneous national identity is challenged in the global
village; in a connected world, the government no longer has the unique capability to impose
cultural control over its population and territory. Although one of the two main views
contends that globalization undermines nationalism, the other is more suspicious, claiming
that globalization may reinforce nationalism.

Nationalism in Mediatization and Digitalization: Differential Outcomes

Aside from the convincing opinions on the contradiction between nationalism and
media, there are some who emphasize globalization's varied impact, or how it affects
different elements of society in different ways. Mirca Madianou distinguished between
approaches that emphasize the power of the media in instilling (Deutsch 1966; Anderson

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[1983] 2006) and sustaining (Billig 1995) a sense of national identity among the masses
and those that focus on the ways in which culture shapes people's responses to media in
her book, Mediating the Nation (2005). Jose Rizal’s quoted, “the youth is the hope of our
future”, based on the press release “Youth Speaks! Rizal is an inspiration to our
generation”, the Department of Science and Technology's National Research Council of
the Philippines (DOST-NRCP) brought the final chapter of their Rizal webinar series,
where they gathered a viral sensation and TikTok influencer, a fashion and photography
editor and a descendant of our national hero, and a well-known spoken word poet-artist
into a Ted-talk stirred webinar titled "Inspirations from Rizal: The Youth Speaks on the
Philippines 100 Years Later." This press release shows how Rizal inspired the youth not
only with his scientific, and literacy contributions but also because of the hard work and
the achievements he accomplished in flourishing his knowledge. Millennials transcend the
capabilities of media and digitalized technology showcasing the change they can do to
influence the public with the inspirations they acquired from the teaching of Rizal. One of
their guests, Jeremiah Villaroman an editorial photographer shared that he was inspired by
Rizal’s interest in arts and desire to learn masteries outside the borders of the country.
Filipino artists and youth’s desire for knowledge and achievements inspired by the teaching
from Rizal’s works and life shows the resourcefulness that youth can achieve to promote
their cultural heritage, national identity, and patriotism to their country.

Filipino finds ways how to reinforce nationalism even with the emerging influences
of media and digital technologies. Youth particularly become more active participants in
promoting culture, traditions, religions, beliefs, and even in the togetherness adverse the
challenges the Philippines encounter. The popularity of social media increases the active
participation of Filipino in the issues, services, events, and responsibilities of fellow
Filipinos in the country. Filipinos as one among the most users of the internet and social
media, and the pride, support, and love of Filipino for their countries become more apparent
to other countries that influence and touch the curiosity of foreigners about the culture and
national identity of Philippine citizens.

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III. ANALYSIS
Through review analysis of data, an understanding of the events relating to
mediatization and digitalization in the objectives of Rizal Law to strengthen the nationalism
and patriotism of Filipinos manifest that although youth appreciation of other countries’
products and culture, they still prove that appreciation is different from nationalism. The
contradiction due to Filipinos as one of the most brand-based consumers and most internet
users shows an evident challenge to nationalism and patriotism in addition to the impact in the
aspects on human development, particularly with targeted younger generations of
mediatization and digitalization manipulation strategies of businesses in the market. For that
reason, it is more important for Rizal Law to be implemented not only in colleges and
universities but at all levels of the education system as continuous learning for the younger
generation to strengthen their nationalism and patriotism for the country.

IV. RECOMMENDATION
Rizal Law as part of the educational process of developing the human development aspects
in life has been discussed and mentioned in different educational sources as a significant course
in promoting and encouraging young generations with the qualities and learning outcomes
from Rizal life and work experiences bringing the country proud, brave, and competitive
Filipinos that will continue to prosper the legacy of our ancestor. In the latest article of
Homeschool Giveaways Team (2022), it was mentioned that there are seven types of learning
styles in which students can produce the best possible results based on their preferred way of
understanding new information. However, based on the studies or articles available online,
there is almost no development on the process of teaching Rizal courses in the education
system of the Philippines. With the continuous development of technologies and media, the
learning styles of students have changed in some respects. For those reasons and based on the
opinions of psychologists regarding learning style, it is important to incorporate digital
technologies and media into creating approaches based on students learning styles. This will
help students to easily concentrate, absorb, and retain new or difficult knowledge by improving
the approaches to teaching Rizal courses in different colleges and universities. Moreover, it
could increase the active participation of students in influencing and encouraging other
Filipinos in the discipline of the Rizal course in strengthening the country’s citizen nationalism
notably with easily influenced perspectives of younger generations.
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V. CONCLUSION
In the beginning, this paper argues the conflict or cons of mediatization and digitalization
in the most recent analysis of online events or actions of Filipinos that challenge the
nationalism that Rizal Law promotes for students and people in nurturing citizen national
identity. Underlying claims in this paper is the conception of identity, using Rizal Law to
articulate the nationalism of Filipinos' participation in the events of the country. At first, the
idea was to expose the distortion of nationalism that the media and digital technology promote,
but upon research, I found that Rizal Law really proposes a measure for Filipinos on how to
be nationalist with the utmost efforts to encompass the challenges posed by emerging
technologies and media in the Philippines. However, it is still important that Filipinos should
have an awareness and discipline about the underlying influence and consequences of the
media and technology on their lives, as well as not lose their national identity in the pursuit of
appreciating other countries' cultures and not forgetting their responsibilities as citizens of the
Philippines. Hence, educational facilities and the Department of Education should prioritize
the improvement and development of the Rizal Law as well as other approaches to bring the
attention of youth to the importance of nationalism as part of their personal development.
Furthermore, for new generations to appreciate and be inspired by the historical events and
advocacy of Rizal’s life and works experiences in reforms to achieving freedom and
independence of the Philippines from colonial authorities. Utilizing the learning outcomes in
overcoming and partaking in the present conditions and situations in society while ameliorating
the living standards and discipline of being a citizen of the Philippines.

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VI. REFERENCES
• Ariely, G. (2021, September 2). Nationalism and globalization. State of Nationalism.
http://tinyurl.com/State-of-Nationalism.
• Bloomberg, J. (2022, April 14). Digitization, Digitalization, And Digital Transformation:
Confuse Them at Your Peril. Forbes. http://tinyurl.com/Confuse-Them-at-Your-Peril
• Candel, A. M. T. (2017, November 30). Rizal Law. Academia.
https://www.academia.edu/35297890/Rizal_Law
• Components of Human Development. (2010, June 22). Slideshare.
https://www.slideshare.net/mypzi/components-of-human-development
• DO 6, S. 1995 – REITERATING THE IMPLEMENTATION OF REPUBLIC ACT NO. 1425.
(1995, February 6). Republic of the Philippines Department of Education.
http://tinyurl.com/Rizal-Law-Objectives
• Inocencio, M. R. (2022, April 11). Youth Speaks! Rizal is an inspiration to our generation |
DOSTv - Science for the People. DOSTv. https://dostv.ph/blog/youth-speaks-rizal-is-an-
inspiration-to-our-generation
• Nie, K. S., Kee, C. P., & Ahmad, A. L. (2014). Mediatization: A grand concept or
contemporary approach? Procedia-Social and Behavioral Sciences, 155, 362-367.
• Quizon. (2011, December 30). “Do we really know Rizal? Rizal law ineffective.” Inquirer.
https://opinion.inquirer.net/20093/do-we-really-know-rizal-rizal-law-ineffective
• Reyes, L. L. M. (2013, August 27). 10 Modern Ways to Express Filipino Nationalism |
OurHappySchool. OurHappySchool. https://www.ourhappyschool.com/ap-social-
studies/10-modern-ways-express-filipino-nationalism
• Skey, M. (2021, September 2). Nationalism and Media. State of Nationalism.
https://stateofnationalism.eu/article/nationalism-and-media/
• Statista. (2021, November 2). Influencing factors to try Korean skincare products among
consumers Philippines 2021. https://www.statista.com/statistics/1042543/factors-
influencing-to-try-korean-skincare-products-among-consumers-philippines/
• Swagatika, M. (2017, March 15). Psychology Notes on Learning-Styles | Psychology.
Psychology Discussion - Discuss Anything About Psychology.
https://www.psychologydiscussion.net/notes/psychology-notes-on-learning-styles-
psychology/3305

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VII. Message to your Professor

I want to express my gratitude to my professor, Jumer Estrañero for his invaluable knowledge
and shared experiences in teaching Kursong Rizal. Additionally, this endeavor would not have
been possible without the generous support we received during this semester. The passion for
teaching and making us understand the lessons is very commendable. I admired the way he taught
us, even in his toughest moments. I hope this message finds everyone in good health and wellness,
and God bless us all.

-Crystal Jeanne Ginete BIT32

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