The Relevance of Dr.

Jos Rizal for Todays Filipino & Filipino American Youth By Steven Raga

Knowledge is the heritage of mankind, but only the courageous inherit it[1]. Those were the words echoed by an old priest to Crisostomo Ibarra in Dr.
Jos Rizals novel Noli Me Tangere. Courage is a constant ingredient in the writings and life example of Dr. Rizal. Without the essential trait of courage,
it matters little what natural abilities were granted to you; or what education and skills youve acquired. Courage is the not potential, but rather the
application of it.

In the past, and the present, the Filipino youth have used their courage to follow the example of Dr. Jos Rizal. They have done not just what Dr. Rizal
would have wanted of them to do, but they have done what he did do. Speaking on the youth, President Diosdado Macapagal stated that the Filipino
youth headed by Jos Rizal and Andres Bonifacio brought the downfall of Spanish totalitarian power. It was the Filipino youth in Bataan and
Corregidor and their comrades in the underground movement all over the country who braved forward and vanquished the Japanese military
despot[2]. This trend follows through into the anti-Marcos movements in the 60s and 70s[3], EDSA I, EDSA II, and the current campaign for human
rights advocacy. In the United States, the footprint of the past generations of Filipino youth can be seen through the many advances in labor rights[4],
immigrant rights, and the present campaign for Filipino WWII veterans equity.

The youth is forever the next chapter in our story as a Filipino people. However, in our attempt to prove ourselves as Filipinos and as human beings, we
are in a constant struggle with teaching the next generation that they cannot simply write our next chapter, but make the words worth reading. Dr. Jos
Rizal knew how to do this.

During his arbitrary detention in Dapitan, he devoted his energy to a select group of youth to which he had taught practical lessons for real world
situations. The seemingly uncomplicated admissions process was at the same time, difficult as any. You could have been the smartest, richest, most
qualified applicant and still not receive admission. Likewise, you could have been the most ignorant, most poor, most unqualified applicant and not
receive admission as well. Dr. Rizal did not test the applicant in the subjects of Math, Science, Language, nor History, but the essential characteristic
needed to excel in those subjects and in life. Dr. Jos Rizal tested courage.

Nearing dusk, he would walk with the applicant through the woods and when the student wasnt looking, left his walking stick behind. When the two
returned to school and it was already dark, he would ask the boy to retrieve his walking stick seemingly forgetting it in the woods. As the boy ventured
into the darkness, the other students of Dr. Rizal were already positioned hiding behind the trees and bushes then proceeding to make sounds and light
effects that were intended to terrify the boy. If the boy was too frightened and did not retrieve Dr. Rizals walking stick, he was not allowed admission.
However, if the applicant showed courage, self-assurance & self-determination, and retrieved the walking stick successfully, he was admitted to Dr.
Rizals school[5].

We merely have to analyze the purpose of Dr. Rizals policy to understand what he felt the youth needed to possess. It had everything to do with Rizals
concept of education[6] and how courage leads to the youths motivation toward tomorrow. Rizals philosophy of education, therefore, centers on the
provision of proper motivation in order to bolster the great social forces that make education a success, to create in the youth an innate desire to
cultivate his intelligence and give him life eternal[7].

There are those who have labeled Dr. Jos Rizal nothing more than an American-Sponsored Hero[8], but we must acknowledge that this man was our
hero before Admiral Dewey even entered into Manila Bay. We did not need the Americans to tell us that Dr. Rizal is a prime role model for the youth,
we already knew it as fact. So whats the relevance of Dr. Rizal to todays youth? Well, who could be more relevant? We need not look at his lessons
taught to his students, but merely in his very example as a student at the Central University of Madrid. Dr. Rizal is our shining illustration not just of an
Overseas Filipino student or Filipino student, but even higher a Filipino. In the United States, there a several all-Filipino/Filipino American
youth/student run organizations that aim to mirror his example, most notably the Filipino Intercollegiate Networking Dialogue Inc. (FIND) and the
Sandiwa National Alliance of Fil-Am Youth.

FIND is a Filipino student organization that has come a long way from the Filipino Student Bulletin[9] nearly a full century ago. They hold national
conferences that aim to educate the youth and student population on Filipino/Filipino American history, culture and current events. The necessary task
of taking the 1st step on educating 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and even 4th generation Filipino Americans on parts of themselves they might have never known, is a task
Dr. Rizal did not have to face. With Sandiwa, it is obvious the youthful spirit of Dr. Rizal serves them as inspiration. They are composed of Filipino
Americans and Filipino immigrant youth & student community leaders. One cannot help but notice they are doing exactly what Dr. Rizal and his
compatriots would be doing if they were still breathing. The Sandiwa youth, who are spreading the word about the effects of policies toward the Filipino
population from within the policy puppeteer-nation, is exactly what the Solidaridad and Dr. Rizals Propaganda Movement intended to do within Spain.
However these days, the spread of information through email, blogs, youtube, facebook and such is preferred over the good old newspaper.

Through Rizal, the Filipinos were exposed to ideas unknown in their colonial experience, such as the essential equality of all men and races, the
inviolability of individual rights, human worth, and dignity, the popular basis of political authority, and faith in social progress through reason and
enlightenment[10]. Following Dr. Rizals example, this new generation of Filipinos in the United States is opening their eyes to the daunting task on
what they need to accomplish when the brightening torch is eventually passed. However, in the youths attempt to open their eyes, they realize they
wear a blindfold. They untie the blindfold, only to realize the room is dark. They light a candle, only to realize the room empty and locked.
Pepe[11] smirks at us and whispers Now why would I leave my walking stick in a dark, locked room? You know I did not leave anything here.

Dr. Rizal left his walking stick in a beautiful land where in 2008; those who produce the nations food go hungry. Where in 2008, those who build
beautiful architectural structures that reach the heavens, lay there head down at night on a bag of garbage. Where in 2008, sons and daughters are
raising themselves because their mothers are abroad raising strangers they have never met and will never meet. In this sense, Filipinos in America are
Dr. Rizals walking stick, and the next generation must ensure we are retrieved.

The same priest that spoke to Ibarra about courage also dropped another piece of valuable advice, which is what to do with that courage. He stated
They come in search of gold; go to their country to look for that other gold which we lack. Remember, however, all that glitters is not gold[12]. This
idea, which is echoed in Emilio Jacintos Liwanag at Dilimmight be more crucial today than it was when it was written.

They say it was simpler then. It was in your face home and abroad; exploiter and exploited; right and wrong. However today, the youth in the
Philippines grow up at home, but their intentions are abroad. If they actually reach the greener grass of living in an adopted land, to their surprise,
their intentions are at home. But no matter where they reside, they are exploited, which touches on the very core of our purposes abroad. We came in
search of the gold we lacked, some of us found it, but most of us forgot to return. Remittances do not count. Summer condos in Makati and Fort
Bonifacio dont either. So like Dr. Rizals school applicants, the youth are forced to use their courage and choose between right and wrong, because
whether they are prepared or not, they are being tested.

Their courage is tested everyday when equity is denied to our Filipino WWII veterans. Their courage is tested everyday when exploitation and
degradation welcome our Filipina domestic workers. Their courage is tested everyday when the NYPD, JCPD, LAPD, SFPD, and the OPD systematically
target our Filipino youth in cities across America. Sentosa Recruitment Agency, H&M department stores, ABC television, the United States
Government, the Philippine Government; the list goes on but so do we. Every second they hide another walking stick for the next generation of
Filipino youth to find; 25 hours a day, 8 days a week, 13 months a year no matter where in the globe they might reside.

Many of our own parents affirm they are afforded a higher standard of living here in the United States than if they stayed in the Philippines. What
would Dr. Rizal say? He would wait for us to get arrive in the driveway of our house, whose price-tag could feed the internally displaced families in
Mindanao. He would wait for us to get out of our car, whose price-tag could feed the starving families in Payatas and Smokey Mountain. He would wait
for us to change out of the clothes whose price-tags could pay for the gas of frustrated jeepney and taxi drivers who can no longer afford its rising prices.
He would wait for us until we are well and ready, then put the mirror in front of our face in hopes that we can reflect the truth that a nation abroad, is
not a nation at all; that this is not a higher quality of life, just a higher quality of death.

The political, social, economic, religious, and ethical ideas of the foremost national hero of the Philippines, Dr. Jose P. Rizal are part of his writings. I have selected
some of those ideas for this brief treatise. Rizals ideas are timeless in application, that is, they were relevant during his time as they are relevant now to Filipinos living
in the Philippines or elsewhere. His ideas are relevant today to many people, regardless of color and geographical location.
With the hope of minimizing misunderstanding, I will follow the advice of an ancient Greek philosopher, Socrates, who said: If you want to speak with me, define your
terms. So let us define our terms and, at the same time, delimit the topic.
By universality of ideas, I mean the extent of applicability and acceptability of the ideas, regardless of geographical boundaries or territorial considerations. By
relevance of ideas, I mean its timelessness and applicability at the time the ideas were expressed up to and including present day conditions. I will use the term
Filipino as a cultural concept, as distinguished from the legal concept, to mean all persons born in the Philippines or elsewhere whose parents or other ascendants,
regardless of degree, came from the Philippines.
If in the course of this treatise, I tend to moralize or sermonize, please understand. I believe there is no other way to show the universality of Rizals ideas and its
relevance to present day Filipinos. Remember that Rizal was ridiculed as Papa or Pope after he criticized his contemporary Filipinos in Spain who were more interested
in gambling, drinking, and flirting with women, rather than working for the welfare of the Philippines.
Rizals ideas can be gleaned from his writings and his speeches. He never claimed originality for his ideas. The fact is, I dare say, no one can really claim to have
spawned a truly original idea, especially social ideas. But the same idea may be expressed in different ways. Rizals ideas were reflective of the ideas existing before
and during his time. Remember that Rizal was a voracious reader, eager to learn something every day of his life. His ideas were the result of his education, his training,
his readings, and his dealings with people of different cultures, the conditions then prevailing in the Philippines and other countries he visited.
Now, let us deal with Rizals ideas or Rizalisms:
ON GOVERNMENTS: Rizals ideas on governments mirror those of the political thinkers who influenced the French and American revolutions. Many of those ideas
are enshrined in many constitutions or fundamental laws of democratic countries in the world today.
Rizal believed that the primary function of governments is the promotion of the welfare of the people. In his second novel, El Filibusterismo, he wrote that governments
are established for the welfare of the people. In order to accomplish this purpose, governments have to listen to the voice of the people. Rizal believed that social progress
was possible if there was cooperation between the government and people. A stupid government is an anomaly among righteous people, just as a corrupt people cannot
exist under rules and wise laws. Like people, like government. A government that needs the support of the people must continue to have an open and free dialogue with
the people.
Being a true reformer, he did not believe in the use of force to change governments.
ON EDUCATION: The degree of importance that Rizal attributed to education is perhaps illustrated by his clear and simple advice to his younger sister, Trinidad, in
a letter in 1886. He was then in Germany. Rizal wrote to her, and I quote: Now that you are still young, you should strive to read, read, and learn. You must not allow
yourself to be conquered by indolence because it costs so little to cast it off.
Rizal already recognized the importance of education in the progress and welfare of the nation when he was only a teenager. Eighteen years old, to be more precise.
Thus, in his poem, Through Education Our Motherland Receives Light, he said that education lifts the motherland to the highest station. It is only through education
that the country will prosper. In his essay, The Indolence of the Filipinos, he wrote that the system of education must promote economic progress and activity. He
recognized the importance of vocational education.
Rizals ideas on education were echoed and restated by the freedom fighters of the turn of the (20th) century, and the leaders of independence movements after the
Second World War when many colonies of the western powers clamored and fought for independence and freedom for their people. Today, we hear parents, teachers,
government officials, our leaders, telling us, advising us, cajoling us, or ordering us, again and again, to read, read, and learn. It is only through education that we as
individuals will achieve new heights and prosperity. It is through education that countries will prosper and governments will be cleansed of corruption and demagoguery.
Listen to speeches of our government officials, of education advocates, and you will hear the echoes of Rizals advice to his younger sister and of the idea on the
importance of education.
Rizals ideas on education was relevant to the Philippines then and now, as it is relevant in any other country where people desire to improve the quality of their lives.
It will be to their benefit if Filipinos and everyone else, particularly those who are still young, to listen and heed Rizals advice on education: :read, read, and learn.
Education will elevate them to new heights and become not only active, but also recognized partners, in the art of government and every community activity.
ON INDIVIDUAL FREEDOM: All men are born equal, naked and without shackles. This is not exactly Rizals words. This is the opening sentence in Jean Jacques
Rousseaus treatise on the origin of governments entitled The Social Contract.
In his letter To the Young Women of Malolos, Rizal wrote in similar fashion, and I quote: God gave each individual reason and will of his or her own to distinguish
just from the unjust: all men are born without shackles and free, nobody has a right to subjugate the will and the spirit of another. All men are born equal, naked and
without bonds.
Rizal cautioned against consulting ones judgment alone. He advised that we should not consult our own judgment alone, but hear the opinion of others, doing what
may seem most reasonable to us. It is wise to listen to the views of others before making our opinion or rendering judgment.
Rizal believed that history teaches us that freedom is not obtained without pain or merit, nor is it granted gratis et amore (free with love). We have to earn it. This
observation is true not only in the independence of a country, but also in the freedom of individuals. It may be added that to enjoy freedom, one has to bear the obligations
that make the enjoyment of that freedom possible.
ON RELIGION: Rizals religious ideas were expressed in his letters to the Jesuit priest, Father Pastells. According to Rizal, individual judgment is a gift from God.
The pursuit of truth lie in different paths and thus, religion may vary, but they will lead to the light. This idea is the basis of the freedom of religion the freedom
of religious belief and the freedom to act in accordance with ones religious belief that is enshrined in our laws.
ON RACISM: During a ceremony honoring the achievements of two Filipino painters, Juan Luna and Felix Resurrection Hidalgo, Rizal declared that genius is
universal. Genius knows no country, genius is everywhere, genius is light, air, the patrimony of everybody. These words were not just said in praise of the
extraordinary achievements of Luna and Hidalgo, but a stirring indictment and rejection of the common belief of the (Caucasian) Europeans during this time, particularly
the Spaniards, that they were superior to the colored people who inhabited their colonies.
We, who now live in a different time and different social environment, know full well that the idea of a superior race is not only abhorrent, but is also a blatant falsity.
It is an idea for a time in human history that is long gone.
ON CHARITY: In his letter, To the Young Women of Malolos, Rizal wrote, and I quote: Blessed are they who succor their fellow men, aid the poor and feed the
hungry. This is almost a verbatim restatement of Jesus Christs Sermon on the Mount. This is not a surprise simply because Rizal was educated in Catholic-run
universities.
ON MOTHERS AND WOMEN: Rizals on mothers and women are mainly contained in his letter To the Young Women of Malolos. According to him, mothers must
raise their children close to the image of God; teach their children to guard and love their honor, to love their native land, and perform their duties; and must fortify the
minds of their children so that they may overcome difficulties and dangers. The wife should help her husband, inspire him with courage, share his perils sweeten
his moments or affliction, always remembering that there is no grief that a brave heart cannot bear.
ON LEADERS AND ORGANIZATIONS: For leaders of organizations, Rizal had some words of advice that, if followed by present leaders, will minimize conflicts
and divisions. He advised: The spirit of tolerance ought to prevail. In discussions, the conciliatory tendency ought to dominate before the tendency to oppose. The
individual ought to give way to the welfare of the society. No member should expect rewards for what he does it is advisable for each one to do his duty just for its
own sake, and at best expect to be later treated unjustly, because in anomalous countries, injustice is the prize for those who fulfill their duties.
The ideas of Rizal which I have here mentioned and briefly restated may not have been exclusively his own. But, what makes those ideas different and significant to us
Filipinos is that we can identify with them. We have reason to be proud because those ideas were restated, reinvented, advocated, and applied by a man with whom we
share a common heritage. He was a Filipino, proud of his heritage, but willing to adopt what were good about other cultures.
Those of us who have chosen to live in another country, who were educated in a country other than the Philippines, or who are unable to speak any of the dialects of the
Philippines or its national language, will always be referred to as Filipinos by other ethnic groups, despite being citizens of the countries we have chosen to live. No
matter how long we have lived there. Filipino is a name and an identity that will always be connected to us. Racially, we will always be seen as a Filipino. We simply
cannot escape our heritage. For as long as we have that distinctive Filipino features, whether we think of ourselves as Filipinos or not, citizens and people of other ethnic
ancestry will always identify us as Filipinos.
The one good thing about being Filipinos who are citizens of another country not the Philippines is that we can be citizens of that country and still believe and act in
accordance with Rizals teachings without having to be branded as disloyal. We can, for example, be Filipinos believing and acting in accordance with Rizals ideas,
without being branded as un-American, or anti Australian, or un-English. We can be citizens of another country and yet be proud of our Filipino heritage, as most every
other citizens of another ethnic ancestry are proud of the national roots of their ascendants.
The ideas of Rizal that we have just discussed are very much a part of our way of life today. Most of us may have, unknowingly, conducted ourselves according to the
ideas of Rizal. Most of us may have, unknowingly, believed and advocated ideas that Rizal believed in and advocated in his lifetime. Wouldnt it be better if we know
that we have conducted ourselves according to Rizals ideas It will be satisfying if we know that we share the ideas similar to a great man, like Rizal.
Filipinos who are citizens of another country may not truly be expected to celebrate the independence of the Philippines for which Rizal gave his life. That will be
understandable. All of us, however, can celebrate together for the reason that we all take pride in the common Filipino heritage we share.
With knowledge of Dr. Jose P. Rizal, his ideas and his deeds, we should be proud of our roots.