LIFE AND WORKS OF RIZAL

GEM 001

MODULE 1. Introduction TO RIZAL: Laws, CONTROVERSIES, & INTRODUCTION TO RIZAL

PARADOXES
Why Study Rizal?
• Republic Act 1425
 Also known as the Rizal Law
 Approved on June 12, 1956, and signed by President Ramon
Magsaysay
 Implement on December 26, 1994, under Presidential Memorandum
Order 247 of President Fidel V. Ramos
 Sen. Claro M. Recto – authored the Rizal Bill (Senate Bill 448)
 The study of the life and works of Jose Rizal became compulsory in
all collegiate programs in the Philippines.
 Sen. Jose P. Laurel, Sr. – Chair and Committee of Education
- Sponsored the bill in the senate.
 During 1955, the church charged Recto with being communist and
an anti-Catholic because of the claim that Rizal’s novel violate
freedom of conscience and religion.
 May 12, 1956 – the objections of the Catholic Church was approved
unanimously.
- the bill specified that only college students would have
the option of reading the unexpurgated versions of
clerically contested reading material.
 The course will further strengthen their love for freedom,
nationalism, and patriotism.
 The R.A. 1425 is for the Filipino Youth who may have lost their
sense of nationalism.
R.A. 1425 goals:
1) To rededicate the lives of youth to the ideas of freedom and
nationalism, for which our heroes lived and died.
2) To pay tribute to our national hero devoting his life and works in
shaping the Filipino character.
3) To gain an inspiring source of patriotism through the study of
Rizal’s life, works, and writings.
4) To instill values of moral character, civic conscience, personal
discipline, and duties of citizenship.
 Jose Protacio Mercado Rizal y Alonzo Realonda
 An OPHTHALMOLOGIST by profession
 became a writer and a key member of the Filipino Propaganda
Movement which advocated political reforms for the colony under
Spain.
 Author of Noli Me Tangere and El Filibusterismo
FACTS ABOUT RIZAL
 Three animals named after Rizal:
1) Apogonia Rizali (Heller) – type of beetle
2) Draco Rizali (Wandolleck) – a species of flying dragon
3) Rachophorous Rizali (Boetger) – a species of toad
 Richard Kissling
 Swiss sculptor designed the Rizal monument in Luneta.
 Won second prize in an art competition held in 1907 to find best
scale model for the future Rizal monument.
 Rizal cured himself of TUBERCULOSIS.
 Rizal is a terrific sculptor. He carved a 9-inch statuette of the SACRED
HEART out of BATIKULING WOOD when he was 14 years old.
 Rizal had to pawn a ring owned by his sister Saturnina just to pay for his
exams.
 According to Faustino “Tinong” Alfon, Rizal is a former cook in Dapitan.
 Lanzones, Mangoes and Atis– favorite fruits of Rizal
 Leonor Valenzuela – a girl from Pagsanjan.
 Rizal’s first sweethearts
 Rizal sent a letter to her written in invisible ink.
 La Sociedad de los Abacaleros - Society of Abaca Producers
- one of the noteworthy groups organized by
Rizal.
- This functioned for only 1 year.
 Count of Monte Cristo – by Alexandre Dumas
- Rizal’s first favorite novel/book
 Santan – Rizal’s favorite flower

GUTIERREZ, H.L.
 LIFE AND WORKS OF RIZAL
GEM 001

 Moules a la Mariniere / mussels cooked in white wine - reminiscent of the

dishes that Rizal enjoyed when he lived in France to work as an
Ophthalmologist.
 Parque del Buen Retiro – favorite Park in Spain
- inspiration of his exile place in Dapitan, Zamboanga, the “Mi Retiro”
 The Order of the Knights of Rizal – a fraternal and cultural organization
created to honor and uphold the ideals of Philippine national hero, Jose
Rizal.

GUTIERREZ, H.L.