Reviwer (Rizal)

The Rizal course was created as an act of Congress of the Republic of the
Philippines through Republic Act No. 1425 on June 12, 1956.

This was authored by Claro M. Recto and approved during the time of
President Ramon Magsaysay.

The actual title of the law is "An Act to Include in the Curricula of All Public
and Private Schools, Colleges, and Universities Courses on the Life, works,
writings of Jose Rizal, Particularly his Novels, Noli Me Tangere and El
Filibusterismo, Authorizing the Printing and Distribution Thereof, and for
Other Purposes."

R.A. 1425's preamble explains that there is a need for a re-dedication to the
ideals of freedom and nationalism for which our heroes lived and died for.
Second paragraph of preamble identifies Rizal as one of those heroes who
devoted their lives and shaped the national character. Preamble's third
paragraph states that the two novels of Jose Rizal namely Noli and El Fili can
become an aspiring source of patriotism, which should be inculcated in the
minds of youths during their formative years. Finally, the last paragraph of the
preamble invokes the power of the state in supervising all educational
institutions to gear toward development of student's moral character, personal
discipline, civic conscience, and the duties of citizenship.

National Board of Education (abolished by virtue of Batas Pambansa Blg. 232

Sec. 56 and its function is now assumed by Commission on Higher Education
(CHED by virtue of R.A. 7722) was the implementing body and authorized to
come up with the implementing rules and regulations IRR including those of
disciplinary in nature.

Majority of those people who took a stand against the passage of the Rizal bill
was from the church and their powerful allies in the Senate and Congress Sen.
Francisco "Soc" Rodrigo and Congressman Miguel Cuenco).

There were also catholic organizations that joined the opposition such as
Accion Catolico Catholic Action), who were composed of conservative

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 Catholics: the Knights of Columbus, the Congregation of the Mission and the
Catholic Teacher's Guild.

According to those who were against the bill, it would be a violation of

constitutional freedom of religion and the freedom of conscience.

Fr. Jesus Cavanna said that "Rizal's novel painted a false picture of the
conditions of the country in the 19th century". 

Jesus Paredes said that the novels contained objectionable material and the
Catholics have a right not to read them in order not to endanger their faith.

The Archbishop of Manila Rufino Santos came out with a pastoral letter
warning about the dissatisfaction of the youth on the church if the Rizal Bill was
approved.

Senator Rodrigo said that he would read Rizal's novels because his faith in the
Catholic Church is strong but he would not allow his teenaged son to read the
Noli and El Fili because they could harm his faith.

Congressman Miguel Cuenco said that many of the anti-Catholic passages

found on Rizal's novels were against the holy sacraments and disparages
devotion to the Virgin Mary, the Saints, the use of scapulars, saying of rosaries,
novenas, and indulged prayers.

There were supporters. These include groups such as the Veteranos de la

Revolucion Filipina (composed of war veterans), the Alagad ni Rizal, The
Knights of the Grand Ordeal, and the Freemasons. Mayor of Manila at that time,
Arsenio Lacson, was another prominent supporter of the bill. While attending
the mass, he walked out of the church when the priest begun reading a circular
from Archbishop Santos denouncing the bill.

Within the Catholic Church, the lone voice which supported the Rizal Bill was a
Jesuit scholar and historian Fr. Horacio de la Costa S.J.

Amendments were formulated through ideas of three senators.

Senator Laurel created an amendment to the original bill in which, other

than Noli Me Tangere and El Filibusterismo, works written by Rizal and works
written by others about Rizal would be included and reading of the
unexpurgated revision of the two novels would no longer be compulsory to

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 elementary and secondary levels but would be strictly observed to college
level.

Senator Roseller Lim suggested the exemption to those students who feel
that reading Rizal’s novels would negatively affect his or her faith.

Senator Primicias created an additional amendment that promulgates the

rules and regulations in getting an exemption only from reading the two
novels through written statement or affidavit and not from taking the Rizal
Course.

According to historian Ambeth Ocampo, no student has ever availed of

this exemption. After the revised amendments, the bill was finally passed
on May 17, 1956 and was signed into law as Republic Act 1425 by
President Ramon Magsaysay on June 12 of the same year.

In Rizal’s essay titled The Philippines A Century Hence he stated, “In order to
know the destiny of a nation, it is important to open the book of its past.”

Rizal even annotated the historical book written by Antonio de Morga titled
Sucesos de las Islas Filipinas to correct what has been distorted about the
precolonial history of Philippines due to Spanish conquest.

Nationalism is a sentiment of a community of people having a common

identity, values and aspirations.

attitude that members of a nation or of a state have when they care about
their national identity.

Nation is a group of people that shares a common culture, history,

language and practices like religion, affinity to a place etc.

According to Benedict Anderson, it is a spiritual duty.

State is a community of persons more or less numerous, permanently

occupying a definite portion of territory, free from external control, and
having their own government to which a great body of inhabitants render
habitual obedience.

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 Doctrina Cristiana taught spiritual and moral cleansing and was the first book
published by the Dominicans in the Philippines which contains catechisms
written in Tagalog, Spanish, and Chinese and printed in baybayin or the native
script

Marcelo H. del Pilar's essays depict misconduct and greediness of religious

orders and described the authority of friars in the colonial society as Frailocracy.
He was a master essayist and compatriots of Rizal who often used satire to
prove his point.

Graciano Lopez Jaena's Fray Botod exposed the traits of abusive friars as
greedy for wealth and power.

History has been made when the GOMBURZA has been executed that led to
the birth of Philippine nationalism

MODELS for NATIONALISM

The French, English, Russian & Spanish Models

cultural quality - evolution, language development

Ethnicity was a key to nationalism with a followed religion

The American Model

nationalism to attain unique identity

historically civic nation

diversity

conscious strategies of political and economic elites

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 The Latin-American Model

cause and purpose which was the desire for freedom from oppression
and domination

creoles/free-born resistance

Nativism and Americanos

Liberalism - liberty, equality, popular sovereignty

The Italian Model

downfall of Roman Empire

territory was always being siezed

Risorgimento

Pamitinan Cave or the Bernardo Carpio’s Cave where the initiation rite for the
members of the Katipunan was held and where he was trapped

Leon Ma. Guerrero called Rizal as the First Filipino as he was the first to
reawaken the Filipinos about their past and their identity as a nation.

The NHI Board stated, "There can be no General Aguinaldo without Bonifacio
because it was Bonifacio who inducted Aguinaldo into the Katipunan. And there
would be no Bonifacio without Rizal, because it was Rizal who inspired Bonifacio
into action and lead the Katipunan."

Rizal even had admirers abroad. During the battle of Surabaya against the re-
imposition of Dutch colonial rule, Indonesian freedom fighters had in their packs
a translation of his last poem Mi Ultimo Adios. It was to inspire the Indonesians
to sacrifice their lives for the country.

The Malays including the Malayans considered Rizal as the Great Malayan for
having inspired not just the Filipinos but also the Malays of Southeast Asia to
fight their British and Dutch colonizers. During his visit to Manila in 1995,
Malaysian Deputy Prime Minister called Rizal The Renaissance Man for having
reawakened the Malay about their true past and their future destiny.

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 Rizal was the first to be honored with a presidential decree issued by Gen.
Emilio Aguinaldo that Dec. 30, 1896 should be commemorated.

He wrote about his younger days in his memoirs titled "Memorias de un

Estudiante de Manila" while he was a students at UST to serve as a record of
the past

On December 30, 1898 the first monument was built by Filipinos in Daet,
Camarines Norte.

Propaganda movement's aim

The acquisition of freedom of the speech, press, and assembly

Removal of the friars from the political and economic influence over the
country

Assimilation of the Philippines in Spain as one of its provinces

Mercantilism is an economic doctrine that is based on the idea that a

country’s wealth and power can be measured in terms of its stock of gold and
silver.

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