“May saysay pa ba sa henerasyon ngayon si Dr. Jose Rizal?”
That is the question historians, educators and concerned citizens would ask as Laguna province gears up to celebrate the birth anniversary of its favorite son, national hero Dr. Jose Rizal, this week.
Think of this: our society has become deeply divided along cultural, ethnic, political and religious lines. Compromise and discussion have been replaced by insults, confrontations, and close-mindedness. Blind idolatry has spilled from social media to real life, while some Filipinos have resorted to justifying outright wrongs to defend their indefensible idols.
All this as our youth – whom Rizal had foreseen will be the hope for our future – are now being led astray by contradictory morals, while those who are supposed to guide them to the right path are now becoming tacit, even outright, supporters of the values that contradict what Rizal had taught.
In these times, maybe it is high time that we should “go back to Rizal.”
Preserving our national hero’s memory should be more than flower-laying ceremonies at his monuments or telling our children his life and legacy.
What we should do, as Lagunenses who claim to be the proud inheritor of the Rizal legacy, and as Filipinos, is to reawaken and relive the values Rizal has imbued in his writings and actions.
The patriotism that our national hero envisioned – an all-encompassing patriotism that goes beyond political, ethnic and religious prejudices – could be the one value that will save our nation from economic, social and political decay that we are now facing.
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