The Relevance of Dr. José Rizal for Today’s Filipino & Filipino American Youth By Steven Raga

DELIVERED AT THE 5 CORNERS LIBRARY IN JERSEY CITY, NJ ON DECEMBER 20 ,2008.

DR. JOSE RIZAL ESSAY AND ORATORICAL CONTEST 2008 – UNDER THE AUSPICES OF THE ORDER OF THE KNIGHTS OF RIZAL, NJ CHAPTER  AND LADIES FOR RIZAL, NJ CHAPTER IN PARTNERSHIP WITH THE PHILIPPINE CONSULATE GENERAL OF NEW YORK

The Relevance of Dr. José Rizal for Today’s 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. José Rizal’s 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 you’ve 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. José 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 José 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 60’s and 70’s[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. José 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. José Rizal tested courage.

Nearing dusk, he would walk with the applicant through the woods and when the student wasn’t 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. Rizal’s 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. Rizal’s school[5].

We merely have to analyze the purpose of Dr. Rizal’s policy to understand what he felt the youth needed to possess. “It had everything to do with Rizal’s concept of education[6]” and how courage leads to the youth’s motivation toward tomorrow. “Rizal’s 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. José 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 what’s the relevance of Dr. Rizal to today’s 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 1^st step on educating 1^st, 2^nd, 3^rd, and even 4^th 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. Rizal’s 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. Rizal’s 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 youth’s 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 nation’s 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. Rizal’s 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 Jacinto’s Liwanag at Dilim might 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 don’t either. So like Dr. Rizal’s 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.

Today’s Filipino and Filipino American youth must understand Dr. José Rizal’s vision since the salted roots of our problems are the same and after 112 years after his premature departure from our ranks, we as a people are still waiting to for his walking stick to return. The only question is if this next generation of Filipino and Filipino Americans have the courage to find it. Luckily, for us all – the answer is always – is always ‘Yes’.

“Hold high the brow serene,

O Youth, where now you stand;

Let the bright sheen,

Of your grace be seen,

Fair hope of my fatherland![13]”

–         Dr.  José Rizal to the Filipino Youth (A La Juventud Filipina). 1879.

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[1] Rizal, José. Noli Me Tangere (Lacson-Lacsin translation). University of Hawai’I Press. 1997. Page 52.

[2] Macapagal, Diosdado. Democracy in the Philippines. Manila, Philippines. 1966. Page 188

[3] Tilman, Robert O. The Philippines in 1960: A Difficult Decade Begins. Asian Survey, Vol. 11, No.2, A Survey of Aisa in 1970: Part II (Feb., 1971), pp. 139-148.

[4] San Juan, Epifanio. From Exile to Diaspora. Versions of the Filipino Experience in the United States. Ugnayan Para sa Makabayang Kamulatan //9UPMK),Inc. Quezon City, Philippines. 1998.

[5] Trillana, Pablo. The Loves of Rizal and Other Essays on Philippine History Art and Public Policy. New Day Publishers. Quezon City, Philippines. 2000. Page 72.

[6] Id.

[7] www.knightsofrizal.org/?page_id=178 . (Last accessed December 12, 2008).

[8] Constantino, Renato. Dissent and Counter-Consciousness [8^th Edition]. Quezon City, Philippines. 1996.

[9] Cordova, Fred. Filipinos: Forgotten Asian Americans [3^rd Printing]. Demonstration Project for Asian Americans. United States.  1999.

[10] Fisher, Marguerite J. José Rizal: Asian Apostle of Racial Equalitarianism. The Journal of Modern History, Vol. 28, No. 3 (Sep., 1956), pp. 259-265.

[11] Pepe was a nickname for Dr. José Rizal.

[12] Supra Note 1 at Page 52.

[13] Rizal, José. Selected Writings of Rizal. 1999.