Recognition Given to Rizal After his Death
The most colorful and meaningful sympathy
held abroad in commemoration of Rizal was on
November 20,1897 in Berlin under the
Anthropological Society of Berlin under the
supervision of Dr. Rudolph Virchow.
December 29, 1897 – Emilio Aguinaldo and the
rest of his officials conducted a program that
commemorate the first death anniversary of
Rizal
September 15, 1898 - Emilio Aguinaldo in his
opening speech at the opening of the congress
in Malolos recalled the memory and patriotic
aspirations and deeds of peaceful heroes like
Rizal
December 20, 1898 – President Emilio
Aguinaldo issued a decree entitled “Decree
declaring December 30th of every year a day of
national mourning in honor of Dr. Jose Rizal and
other victims of the Philippine Revolution”
1898 – Fernando Ma. Guerrero and Cecilio
Apostol (2 Great Writers in Spanish and Filipino)
created a poem dedicated to Rizal
Few lines of Fernando Poems to Rizal…
Naririnig mo? Yao’y ingaty ng paghahamok;
Yao’y ang lahi mong aping tumututol,
Nanginginig sa sandata
Ang salita mong mapanligtas habang
nakikilaban
Lahi ng matatapang na sa mga aklat mo’y
Matutong
Manlagot ng mga tanikala!
1901 – The American Governor-General William
Howard Taft in 1901 named Rizal a Philippine
National Hero
How well do you know Rizal?
Do you think Rizal is proclaimed as Philippine
National Hero?
-The answer is No, he has never been explicitly
proclaimed as the (or even a) national hero by
the Philippine Government
Republic Act 1425
(Known as Rizal Law)
Historical Context of R.A. 1425
 During the 1950s, there were several
efforts to instill among Filipinos the
value of patriotism and the vision of the
Philippines as a nation.
 One of the prominent
recommendations during the 1950s was
Jose Lansang’s proposition to make a
“common patriot program for a building
the country.” (Schumascher, 2011)
The 1935 Preamble
The Filipino people, imploring the Aid of Divine
Providence, in order to establish a government
that shall embody their ideals, conserve and
develop the patrimony of the nation, promote
the general welfare, and secure to themselves
and their posterity the blessings of
independence under a regime of justice, liberty,
and democracy, do ordain and promulgate this
Constitution.
Motivations behind Republic for the approval of
(Rizal Law) Act 1425
 To rededicate the lives of youth to the
beliefs of opportunity and patriotism,
for which our heroes lived;
 To pay tribute to our national legend for
giving his life and works in molding the
Filipino character; and
 To increase a rousing wellspring of
nationalism through an incredible
investigation, works and compositions
Rizal Law
The Republic Act of 1425 or the Rizal Law is
about implementing rules to educate people
about the life, works, and writings of our
national hero, Dr. Jose Protacio Rizal Mercado Y
Alonso Realonda or popularly known as Dr. Jose
Rizal. This also includes his famous writings Noli
Me Tangere and El Felibusterismo
Republic Act 1425
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 Felibusterismo, authorizing the printing
and distribution thereof and of other purposes.
The proponents who supported the Rizal Law
-Claro M. Recto and Jose P. Laurel
The role of Claro M. Recto and Jose P. Laurel is
to officially implement the Rizal Bill in 1956.
They saw how devastated our fellow Filipinos
during the Pacific War where everything was in
chaos and they were demoralized. Then, Recto
find it important that the Rizal Bill should be
propound to bring back the spirit of the Filipino
during those times especially to the Catholic
Church who were really against the
implementation of the Rizal Law.
Notable Persons who Fought for its Approval:
 Sen. Jose P. Laurel
 Claro M. Recto
 Other Illustrious Nationalists
The different issues raised for and against RA
1425
The implementation of Claro M. Recto
was highly criticized by the Roman Catholic in
the Philippines due to anti-clerical themes in
Noli Me Tangere and El Felibusterismo.
Claro M. Recto as a communist and anti-catholic
 Claro M. Recto is known for being the
leader of the “Filipino-first” movement
and one of the foremost Filipino
statesman during his time.
 When Recto was elected, the Roman
Catholic continues to opposed the Rizal
Law thinking that the students would
be affected if compulsory reading of the
unexpurgated version of the novels will
be pursued by the proponents.
Criticisms of Rizal Law
  The Noli Me Tangere and El
Filibusterismo are very damaging to the
clerics.
 The novels were written when Dr. Jose
Rizal, estranged from Catholic faith and
religion and contradict many of the
Christian beliefs.
 To compel Catholic students to read a
book which contains passages
contradicting their faith constitutes a
violation of a Philippine constitutional
provision (Art. 3, Sec. 1, Par. 7)
 The novels do contain teachings
contrary to Catholic faith and so, the
Church is opposed to the proposed
compulsory reading in their entirety of
such books in any school in the
Philippines where Catholic students
may be affected.
Criticism about Rizal’s Famous Novel
Oppositors argued that among the 333
pages of Noli Me Tangere, only 25 passages are
nationalistic while 120 passages are anti-
catholic. While upon scrutiny of the two novels
by some members of catholic hierarchical, 170
passages in Noli Me Tangere and 50 in El
Filibusterismo are against catholic faith.
The Catholic Bishops Conference of the
Philippines (CBCP) submitted a pastoral letter to
which according, Rizal violated Canon Law 1399
which forbids or bans books that attack or
ridicule the catholic doctrine and practices.
Recto and the Catholic Hierarchy
 The church played a big role in this fight
because they are the ones who
intervened with the approval and
signing of this bill to become a law. The
proponents thought that by
implementing this bill would strengthen
nationalism and foster patriotism.
 The Catholic Churches, the
Congregation of the Mission, the
Knights of Columbus, and the Catholic
Teachers Guild campaigned aggressively
against Recto and his bill. They urged
advocates of faith to band together the
motion of the bill.
Senators who opposed the bill:
 Francisco “Soc” Rodrigo
 Mariano Cuenco
 Decoroso Rosales
Groups who opposed the bill:
 Catholic Action
 Congregation of the Mission
 Knights of Columbus
 Catholic Teachers Guild
The Catholic Church Appeal
Priest suggested that it’s better to read “Rizal
Anthology”, collections of Rizal literary piece
that tackles nationalism instead of Noli Me
Tangere
Catholic School threats
While the opponents vigorously fought
for that Act, Senator Francisco Rodrigo
proposed that all the Catholic schools will be
put-hold if the Rizal Bill was approved.
However, Recto quickly rebutted that if
ever this were to happen, the schools would be
nationalized in which the Catholic Churches
truly against to it.
The Church and the implementation of the
Reproductive Health Law
The Rizal Law, which mandated the all
educational institutions in the country offer
courses about Rizal and his works, and this was
clearly against by the Catholic Churches.
In a line now echoed by the anti-RH
legislators, opponents of the Rizal Law argued
that the legislation violated the freedom of
conscience and religion of Filipino Catholics.
the Noli Me Tangere and El
Filibusterismo as well as Rizal's other
works and biography.
• It authorized and directed the Board of
National Education to work for the
translation of Noli Me Tangere and El
Filibusterismo as well as other writings
of Dr. Jose Rizal into English, Tagalog
and other principal dialects and their
printing in cheap or popular editions
and their circulation.

Background of (Rizal Law) Act of 1425

• Chief proponent of the bill was Senator
Claro M. Recto (Father of Rizal Law)
who named as socialist and enemy of
Catholicism
• The first section of the law concerns in
the mandating the students to read
Rizal's novels.
2 Truths and a Lie
T: Rizal had a pony named “Alipato” and black
dog named “Usman”
T: Sisa, Panggoy, and Trining died as old maids
L: Teodora Morales Alonzo Realonda de Rizal y
Quintos was Pepe’s first teacher

• The last two sections involve making

Rizal’s writings accessible to the general
public – they require the schools to
have a sufficient number of copies in
their libraries and mandate the
publication of the works in major
Philippine languages.

Salient Points of (Rizal Law) Act of 1425

• Courses on the life, works and writings

of Dr. Jose Rizal, particularly the novels
Noli Me Tangere and El Filibusterismo,
shall be included in the curricula of all
schools, colleges and universities,
public and private.

• It obliged all schools, colleges and

universities to keep in their libraries
adequate number of copies of
the original or unexpurgated editions of