Jose Rizal in the new Filipinos’ Generation: Powerful Advocacy’s Endless

By: Ms. Irene C. Ladino

Ladies and gentlemen, guests, fellow speakers, friends, to the great hero who dreamed
of a better nation, and to all Filipinos who share the dream, good afternoon.

Allow me once again to put his name for the peak of prominence, a man that woke
up the dead spirits of many Filipinos slept on their tombs, a man taught and thought the
future of beloved country, landed on the different lands but never forgot to look back to
revive and continuously cure the cancers of his own land as like what he quoted, "He
who does not know how to look back at where he came from will never get to his
destination." This is his weapon, a silent weapon, a “knowledge” boiled the blood of
Filipinos to stand firm, took the torch of living well in the land forcedly possessed by the
conquerors and so, revolution was born. Dr. José Protasio Rizal Mercado y Alonso
Realonda, a 7th child of 11 children of Francisco Mercado, inherited the dignity, self-
respect, and seriousness and Teodora Alonzo, the character of being brave. He used
these characters and followed them to be educated that gave him privilege to see the
light which he once said, “Through Education, the Country Receives Light. “This light
gave him awareness that Filipinos were jailed and should be freed from Spanish
tyranny due to the fact that we Filipinos were maltreated because of the absence of
education and knowledge. Rizal is a role model in giving importance to education. A great
man like Rizal made it a point that education is essential in every one of us, because
education gives us stature and identity. He wanted to imply that the youth is the future
of our world and that giving significance to one's studies is a step to greatness.

From his point of view, he learned that equality could be acquired from decent
conversation and not by means of bloody revolutions. By his pen, a powerful hand did a
worldwide history in the map, did changes for the hearts of the young men to love,
patronize, and be proud for what they are.

He left Philippines to earn lots of perseverance for us to know the rights and
opportunity to learn.Through his novels “Noli Me Tangere” and “El Filibusterismo”. These,
call on the Filipinos, we, to recover our self-confidence, to appreciate our own worth, to
return to the heritage of our ancestors, to assert ourselves as equal of them.

My friends, this aim of Rizal should never die. This goal should remain in our hearts.
This battle should be linger forever. The sacrifices left from yesterdays should be nurtured
though the same battle still face of Filipinos: corruption, brutality, abuse, crime and
perhaps, the rising giant from the east tries to hit the edge of our tamed bravery and our
patience to response on their challenge. But the hearts, us, still remain the peaceful
methods than to use the violent methods.
Young people, be still the hope of tomorrow, still continue to dream for a better
Philippines, still sing the Lupang Hinirang with so much passion just like during the 1896
with a beautiful morning in Bagumbayan, 113 years ago, when he was there, standing
alone, hands and body tied up while the eyes were closed but the heart was open. The
sacrifice of this great hero heard all over the world in the form of a gunshot, and there it
was: “Ang mamatay ng dahil sa iyo.”

To die for the sake of the Philippines, a trait every Filipino should strive for!