Jose Rizal - 150th Anniversary

Jose Rizal, the National Hero of the Philippines, was born on June 19th, 1861 in Calamba, Laguna.

2011 marks the 150th anniversary of his birth.

As a young man he became acutely aware of the social injustices visited upon his people by the ruling Spanish, who had controlled his country for 300 years.

He considered their influences invasive and exploitative, whose Dominican tutors exercised discrimination in all areas of Filipino life.

In protest he gave up his medical studies at the University of Santo Tomas in Manila where he had enrolled at the age of 17, and travelled to Madrid to continue his studies.

He was a gifted student and when 23 years old gained his degree of Licentiate in Medicine, followed a year later with Philosophy and Letters.

During these formative years he travelled extensively throughout Europe, developing his concerns and analysing the Spanish influence on Filipino culture.

The plight of his countrymen were constantly in his thoughts, and political and social reform became the driving force of his writings.

This culminated in 1887 with the publication of his most famous work Noli Me Tangere, a novel exposing the arrogance and despotism of Spain and her clergy.

Since the Portuguese navigator Ferdinand Magellan, under service to Spain, first stepped foot on the island of Samar in 1521, claiming the land for Carlos V (Charles I), the Spanish had eyes on the prize.

22 years later Charles instigated an expedition led by Juan Carlos Sebastian to endorse the claim and named this land of Samar Las Islas de Filipinas, after Charles's son, Philip.

Thirteen years later the prince would become king and henceforth Philip II commenced the colonisation of the land named in his honour.

So it was, on Friday 13th February1565, his newly appointed governor, Lopez de Legazpi landed with troops on the shores of Cebu, and established the first Spanish settlement.

Over the next six years, Spain would plant her roots, and on June 24th 1571, Legazpi built the walled fortress of Intramuros in Manila, decreeing it as the capital of Spain's new colony - the Philippines.

As the first Spanish governor, assisted by Augustinian and Franciscan friars, he set about converting the indigenous population to the Catholic religion.

For that's what his "Noli Me Tangere" was - a cancer - touch me not.

To Rizal, everything gone before had been airbrushed. The suppression of the history of his native land was tantamount to brain-washing. The stifling of a civilisation rich in culture long before Magellan arrived and the subsequent exploitation of his people was the worst example of tyranny and imperialism.

His writings reflected this, and clearly to the ruling classes of the day, he was a threat. By the time he published his book Spain's global influence had diminished. They were no longer a mighty imperial power, and their position in the Philippines was precarious.The Philippines was their translucent jewel in an opaque and faded crown, and they were desperate to keep it.

They had already lost it once to the British in 1762, only for King George III to return it to them under the Treaty of Paris in exchange for Florida. They didn't want to lose it again, and they would keep it at all costs.

But dissent was afoot. A growing movement of unrest was simmering, and the protagonists were looking for a figure-head. Rizal fitted the bill.

By 1891 this unrest was gaining force, and in the same year Rizal followed up his novel with "El Filibusterismo", a more controversial observation with a revolutionary and tragic underlying content. He had lit a flame of freedom and was now being implicated in revolutionary movements.

Rizal returned to the Philippines only to be imprisoned in Fort Santiago, Intramuros in July 1892. Not wishing to create a martyr, Spain were keen to keep him under control and released him three weeks later provided he would behave quietly, sending him off to the countryside to administer medicine, eventually permitting him to travel abroad to employ his medical skills further afield.

Whilst on route, during a port of call in Spain, the Philippines Revolution began and he was re-arrested and imprisoned once more in Fort Santiago.

He would not taste freedom again. After a mock trial accused of sedition and rebellion against Spanish rule, he was sentenced to death. At this time, in his dank and dismal cell he wrote Mi Ultimo Adios - My Last Farewell - a poem of love for his country.

Rizal strived for a peaceful transition of independence, but more aggressive external forces had implicated him in the revolution, and Spain decided to act.

On December 30th 1896 he was escorted to the site of his execution in Manila's Bagumbayan Field and shot in the back by firing squad. Today, those footsteps are set in stone, leading from his cell to the place of his death, and Bagumbayan Field is now known as Rizal Park. A memorial stands tall with a permanent guard of honour.

Although Rizal was an accomplished swordsman, it was the thrust, parry and lunge of his pen which galvanised a nation. He was the catalyst for change, and he paid the ultimate price.

His life is the story of an intelligent, passionate and patriotic young man cut down in his prime with so much to give. A peaceful man who loved and died for his people. He lives today in the hearts and minds of millions - in his death he is immortal.

Farewell, parents, brothers, beloved by me,
Friends of my childhood, in the home distressed;
Give thanks that now I rest from the wearisome day;
Farewell, sweet stranger, my friend, who brightened my way;
Farewell, to all I love. To die is to rest.

Mi Ultimo Adios - gone but not forgotten.