This article commemorates the 128th anniversary of Jose Rizal's execution, highlighting his enduring legacy as a Filipino icon and a pivotal figure in Philippine history.
One hundred twenty-eight years ago, rifle shots echoed during what was an otherwise quiet morning at Bagumbayan. With the Manila Bay as a backdrop, onlookers watched a lone figure tumble to the ground. The 35-year-old Jose Rizal fell dead, executed by firing squad, composed of Filipino soldiers enlisted in the Spanish army.
(Little known fact: a squad of regular Spanish army troops were at the ready to shoot the Filipino soldiers should they refuse to carry out the execution, according to a 1923 book by Charles Russell and Eulogio Rodriguez.) It is a familiar scene, one that has been recounted numerous times in film and TV shows throughout the years. Jose Rizal’s execution has become as iconic as the man himself—the Filipino icon, the mind that inspired a revolution which he, until his very last moments, did not acknowledge to be timely and relevant. Rizal, the “hero anti-hero,” depending on how you look at his life, deserves the moniker “first Filipino,” given to him by former diplomat and novelist León María Guerrero, one of the foremost nationalists of his era. Rizal has all but sealed his significance in Philippine history through his numerous works (not limited to just the two novels he wrote) that introduced concepts and ideas about nationhood that remain relevant today—including what it means to be a Filipino. It was Rizal who first defined Filipino to mean not the Spanish insulares or creoles living in Manila, but the inhabitants of the Philippines whose cultures have been forged under colonial rule but have existed even prior. But he didn’t stop there. He didn’t just define what a Filipino is, he also laid down what is essentially a framework for nation-building. A bit of this can be gleaned in the final chapter of “El Filibusterismo”
JOSE RIZAL PHILIPPINES NATIONALISM HISTORY NATION BUILDING
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