Resurrection …It is when Atty. Ramoncita V. Reyes, the great granddaughter of Saturnina, sister of Dr. Jose Rizal, conveyed 'Rizal's Message for the 21st Century.’
Last Saturday, Dec. 30, will mark the 110th anniversary of the execution of our national hero Dr. Jose Rizal and at no point in the country's history do we need his idealism, strength of character, vision, intelligence and wisdom than right now.
It was the late Sen. Claro M. Recto, a nationalist who opened a debate between Rizal and another contemporary Andres Bonifacio. The debate went something thus; who is the romanticist and the pragmatist, Rizal or Bonifacio?
Long before that there was a debate as to who should be the national hero between the two. Rizalists contended that the choice is justified owing to his reforms and his tireless efforts at propping up the pro-Filipino movement abroad. On the other hand there are people who felt that Bonifacio should get the credit for actually starting the armed revolution against the Spaniards and being martyred at the hands of Gen. Emilio Aguinaldo.
The New People's Army (NPA) chose Bonifacio as their national hero for standing up to the Spaniards as opposed to Rizal whom they said merely pushed for reforms and not the overthrow of Spanish rule. The bigger reason however is that Rizal is chosen by the Americans as the country's national hero owing to what they said is the doctor's subservience to a foreign power as opposed to Bonifacio's defiance against the Filipinos's oppressors.
And that debate rages on until this day. The nationalist senator Recto said contrary to public opinion Rizal was more of a pragmatist than Bonifacio whose solution was to take up arms against the Spaniards and be rid of them through sheer force once and for all.
Rizal critics argued that the doctor was a dreamer who thought education and negotiations with Imperial Spain would bring about changes in its governance and result in the country's eventual independence.
Bonifacio supporters on the other hand believed the "Great Pleibian" was being practical when he issued the call for arms since he saw that there was no way for the Spanish regime to relinquish its control of the Philippines.
This was all the more reinforced, they said, by the continuing influence of the Church on both sectarian and temporal matters in the Philippines. It is through these twin powers that be, they believe, that convinced Bonifacio that revolution is the only solution.
However Recto's view is that it is Rizal who is the pragmatist since he saw that the revolution cannot prosper without first uniting and then empowering all the people themselves through education and better arms. He said Rizal believed then that the country isn't ready for independence for it has yet to settle the many differences confronting the people of various regions in the country whose hatred for Spanish rule is the only thing that unites them.
Aside from this he said Bonifacio is the idealist who believed that through force of arms alone the country will immediately win its war for sovereignty-this even without first weighing the consequences of such actions like the potential for civil wars among the various peoples who may claim independence apart from each other.
The bigger question however is Rizal's legacy to the country more than a hundred years after his death. We can only imagine what he would say about this country after two Edsa revolutions, the wars against the rebel movements and the graft and corruption plaguing government. He may roundly condemn the country like all the others. Yet would he still have faith in it seeing that its best and brightest are going outside like him to find a better life?
If only there are people like him and Bonifacio running in next year's elections then there may be hope for this country yet.
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