Farlene Mae B.

Sabaduquia
BTLED-HE
4TH YEAR
GEC109 (B3-4)

The veneration without understanding is written by Renato Constantino. Renato

Constantino is a Filipino historian known for his left-leaning views on Philippine history.
Aside from being a historian, he was also part of the Philippine missions to the United
Nations and the Department of Foreign Affairs. Veneration without understanding was
recorded on December 30, 1969. He called Rizal veneration without understanding because
according to him Rizal was admired and respected by the majority even though there was
not enough knowledge of what he did during the Spanish occupation. In this work, Renato
Constantino tried to show the truth behind Rizal's heroism. He also questioned whether
Rizal should be nominated as the national hero of the Philippines. The author also
emphasized that we need to know more about the other heroes of our country today.

Until now, experts are still debating whether or not Rizal should be recognized as the
national hero of the Philippines. According to Renato, Rizal did not become a leader of the
revolution, in fact, he rejected the revolution. He unconditionally supported the movement
of Bonifacio and the Filipinos who struggled to achieve national independence. But it is not
an exaggeration to say that he was one of the ones who awakened the Filipino people to see
their pathetic condition which ultimately pushed the majority to revolt to achieve
independence. He did this with the pen that produced two novels "Noli Me Tangere" and "El
Filibusterismo" that removed the blindfold from our eyes. From a superficial view, we can
say that Rizal was a reformist because he was part of the propaganda movement. The
author of Veneration without Understanding points out that Rizal's greatness is
unacceptable because he is a traitor and an accomplice of the Americans.