José Rizal

Jose Rizal was born on June 19th, 1861 in Calamba, Laguna Province, Philippines.

He was exceptionally gifted as a child, learning the alphabet at three years old, and at the age of 16 obtained an arts degree.

In 1878 at the age of 17 he enrolled in medicine at the Santo Tomas University in Manila, but even then he was aware of the unfairness visited on Filipinos, and in protest gave up his studies due to the discrimination exercised by the dominant Dominican tutors. He continued his studies in Madrid, where he sailed to in May 1882.

When he was 23, he obtained his degree of Licentiate in Medicine, and a year later completed his course in Philosophy and Letters with excellent grades.

Whilst in Europe, where he travelled extensively, he excelled himself in swordsmanship and shooting. However it was his accuracy with the pen which would eventually seal his fate.

Throughout his time in Europe the plight of his countrymen were never far from his thoughts.

He was passionate about political and social reform, and his drive to educate his people, and his overwhelming criticism of the status quo employed by Spanish rule, led him to publish several caustic attacks, leading to his most famous work in 1887 Noli Me Tangere, a novel exposing the arrogance and despotism of Spain and her clergy.

To Rizal, the suppression of the history of his native land by the Spanish was tantamount to brain-washing, where everything before Legaspi (the first Spanish governor in 1571) was just an irrelevance to be wiped away with impunity by their colonisers.

This airbrushing of a civilisation which existed long before Magellan set foot, with a people and culture to be proud of, was the worst example to him of tyranny, exploitation and imperialism.

"Noli Me Tangere", his most famous work, is Latin for "touch me not," which is an allusion to the Gospel of St. John where Jesus says to Mary Magdelene: "Touch me not, for I am not yet ascended to my Father."

In this classic of Filipino literature, Rizal exposes "matters...so delicate that they cannot be touched by anybody," unfolding an epic history of his land that has made it the most influential political novel in the Philippines. The popularity of this novel is grounded in its reflection of the turbulent times of the late 19th century when it was written.

Its influence on Filipino political thinking, as well as on contemporary fiction, drama, opera, dance, and film, has been and continues to be enormous.

In 1891 he followed the "Noli" with El Filibustrismo - a more controversial aspect with revolutionary and tragic underlying content. By now he was a marked man by the Spanish authorities.

With trouble and unrest developing back home, he had lit a flame of freedom to rally a cause, and became implicated in revolutionary movements.

Returning to the Philippines, the Spanish were keen to lay charges at his door, and through fabricated evidence imprisoned him in Fort Santiago in July 1892. Spain were keen to be rid of him, and released him after three weeks on the proviso he would behave quietly, eventually allowing him to travel overseas to continue his medical work. It was a short lived journey.

On route, the Philippines revolution began and he was arrested once more, and imprisoned yet again in Fort Santiago in November 1896.

It was here on this occasion that he wrote "Ultimo Adios", now regarded as the greatest example of love a poet can offer to his country. After a mock trial, accusing him of rebellion and sedition against Spanish rule, he was sentenced to death.

Rizal was an advocate for peaceful transition. However there were forces more aggressive which would use his name as a banner for uprising.

Spain was not in the mood for analysis. The powers and politics of the day demanded an example be set - and Rizal fitted the bill.

At the age of 35, on the morning of December 30th 1896, he was slowly escorted to the site of his execution in Bagunbayan Field.

Now known as Rizal Park, it was there, shot in the back by firing squad, he fell.

Through his pen, and peaceful protest, he galvanised a nation. He was the catalyst for change, but change was still along time coming.

No sooner had the revolution against Spain ended in 1898, and the Philippines declared independence, so the Philippines-American war began, and another power was in control.

The new nation of the Philippines was not recognised by the USA, as Spain had ceded control to them as a result of the Spanish-American war in the same year.

This little known conflict was ruthless, and it's estimated that it resulted in almost 1.5 million Filipino deaths. Almost one quarter of the population.

Had Jose Rizal survived, the history of the Philippines could be very different.

This is the tragedy of a young life, cut short, with so much hope to give.

In death there is immortality. Jose Rizal still lives today - in the hearts of millions.

When Jose Rizal walked from his prison to the place of his execution, he not only walked proudly for himself, but he planted the seeds of pride for his people. His last words written in his cell: "MI ULTIMO ADIOS" or "LAST FAREWELL" were an enduring life giving breath from a man who was about to breath no more:

Farewell, my adored Land, region of the sun caressed,
Pearl of the Orient Sea, our Eden lost,
With gladness I give you my Life, sad and repressed;
And were it more brilliant, more fresh and at its best,
I would still give it to you for your welfare at most.....

.... My idolized Country, for whom I most gravely pine,
Dear Philippines, to my last goodbye, oh, harken
There I leave all: my parents, loves of mine,
I'll go where there are no slaves, tyrants or hangmen
Where faith does not kill and where God alone does reign.

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.

To read the full poem and to find out much more about this incredible man visit here The Jose Rizal Website.

The film won over 70 international awards, including 16 awards from the 1998 Metro Manila Film Festival, 11 awards from the 1999 FAMAS Awards, 6 awards from the 1999 Gawad Urian Awards, 8 from the 1999 Star Awards for Movies and various awards from different film festivals worldwide like the Berlin International and Toronto Film Festivals.

There is no truer saying that "Travel broadens the mind" However in Rizal's case it was an understatement. In alphabetical order, and by no means chronologically, he visited:
Africa, Austria, Belgium, Borneo, Ceylon, England, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Italy, Japan, Saigon, Singapore, Spain, Switzerland, and the USA.

In many of these countries he spent considerable time and in some very famous cities, as well as extensive travel in his native land.

For a full breakdown of where and when, please visit the Jose Rizal website.