As this note is in one with the folk in commemorating the 159th birthday of National Hero Dr. Jose Rizal, let the folk remember his courage and commitment to serve the country that gave freedom and identity as Filipinos.
Dr. Jose Rizal taught his people the importance of having love and patriotism for their nation. All after recent events be it the past Covid19 pandemic, of seeing same personages with empty and half-baked promises, and the inconveniences brought by politics and socioeconomic problems, as the country attempts to adapt to the new normal, may the folk cultivate the same fortitude and resiliency that Dr. Jose Rizal demonstrated in his struggle for the independence, freedom, and equality of all Filipinos.
However, Rizal's message was and is, not limited to that of the Filipino. To cite Elias Fuentes (Tan Malaka), Rizal is a radical that has the right to question the current status of Asia and to assert the right of Asians to self-determination, something that today's Filipinos have to assert back in the face of being besieged by local and corrupt despots and of foreign lords. Fuentes even considered the "great Malayan" as an "Indonesian" before Indonesia was created, all because of his aspirations of a free and united Nusantara (archipelago). The inclusivity, according to Professor Ramon Guillermo, reflects the Indonesian Revolutionary’s belief that “Malaysia, Indonesia, and the Philippines actually formed a single nation before European colonialism tore them apart" and that "Rizal and Andres Bonifacio are at the "summit" of the "mountain of Great Indonesia" because “they still have a significant role to play in raising the Indonesian people from the inferiority complex caused by European colonialism.”
Call Rizal's works and aspirations to the Filipino folk as idyllic if not irrelevant in this current setting of institutionalised forgetfulness and reductionism, but to the concerned, Rizal's message as well as that of other heroes and martyrs is itself a flame that has to be ignited back and give light, warmth to the nation that needs a profound sense of self determination. Why did this note say so? Believing that through today's contemporary mindsets of crass consumerism and the bankruptcy of intellectuals, the treatment of heroes and its lessons are being reduced to some totem poles if not rendered irrelevant, moot, and academic. Will those truly concerned simply disregard and "move on" as most so? As stated in a previous post from a month ago, the existing order, in treating heroes as totem poles, would parrot Rizal or any other personality expressing hope for the present and future generations. But, given the current inconveniences, should these generations be contented to continue being exploited?
Let this note that commemorates his Birth all strive to be as courageous and resilient as Rizal was, willing to go beyond parameters by any means as to overcome the current obstacles facing the country.