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Dr. Jose P. Rizal was an extra-ordinary
Filipino and a man of multi-personalities which include agriculturist,
animal lover, anthropologist, archeologist, book lover, botanist,
businessman, commentator, educator, freemason abroad, farmer, historian,
journalist, linguist, mindful of truth, musician, zoologist, just to name
a few. If one feels inferior
you can see why with is gifts and talents. Most importantly we remember Dr.
Jose Rizal because he is our Hero; he fought for our freedom from slavery
and wanted to strengthen the welfare of Filipinos. During the imperialistic grips of
Spain, he was inspired to end the social injustice. His philosophy includes education,
religion, political aspects, ethical, and social. Dr. Jose Rizal’s political
philosophy is to develop, civilize, and educate.
How do we honor a great man and a hero? This is our challenge; year after
year we are reminded of what Dr. Jose Rizal aspired our country to
be. Ask yourself this, do we
have a country that has strong ethical values, a country that is educated,
and a country that is developed?
If not we need to find in ourselves the courage and strength to
achieve all these. Our
education has certainly brought opportunities to people whose goal is to
work abroad, but there are plenty of room for improvements. We can demand for better schools
and more qualified teachers.
We also need strong ethical values to push development through the
century and to compete in the “global market.” With our capabilities we can
certainly overcome these weaknesses and continue the development of a
civilized and educated nation.
We can honor Dr. Jose Rizal by striving to achieve these goals and
beliefs.
As a citizen each one of us has a duty to take part for the success
of this nation. History has
its way or repeating itself, and to be an underdeveloped country we can
fall back in the same grips.
If you are one of those who says, This is the Philippines that we
know and it is just the way it is, there is no reason to change, nor we
can change it, then you have surrendered your right as a citizen, you have
not given our children the opportunities they deserve, and you have
dishonored the life the Dr. Jose Rizal has set forth for the betterment of
this country. I can on and on
to say how great a Filipino he was, and his life outside the Philippines,
and talk about his books, but we know and have studied or will continue to
study his works. Today, we
celebrate Dr. Jose Rizal’s Day by remembering what he had dreamt for our
country, our province and our city, and most importantly honor him by
believing and following his beliefs.
I leave you with a simple message from Dr. Jose Rizal, “It is a
useless life that is not consecrated to a great ideal. It is like a stone wasted on the
field without becoming a part of any edifice.” Meaning to say, live your life
with integrity, purpose and make a difference. Marjoe Q. Borromeo[1] |