Relevance of Rizal

RELEVANCE OF RIZAL IN OUR PRESENT SOCIETY

A pure chord, strong and resonant, shall I be in your ears;

Fragrance, light and colour-whisper, lyric and sigh;

Constantly repeating the essence of my faith

-My last Farewell

The profound eloquence of these last words is Rizal’s testament of faith in his beloved country. His hopes and fears, his aspirations and ideals, and the complexities and contradictions of his life were as tiny notes that gathered into vibrant chords w/c swelled into a resounding melody reaching a glorious climax on that fateful morning of 30 December.

Rizal’s mission and his concepts of nationalism became the rallying force of the revolutionary leaders who took over the leadership of the country when Rizal’s life tragically ended. The later leaders of the Filipinos made him their inspiration for independence.

Rizal’s concept had achieved several goals that Rizal had engendered: among them are the recognition of and respect for the fundamental rights of his people, sovereign independence, and the adoption of a united Filipino nation.

The nationalism Rizal taught his people did not end with the attainment of independence. He looked beyond independence to the development of a new nation along progressive lines in politics, economics, technology and education. His writings convey concepts that are applicable for all time to all major areas of national development. His program of political, socio-economic and educational reforms and his moral principles conform basically to the essence of a national platform.

But the most I really like of Rizal is his emphasis on the development of moral and civic virtues in the studentry. Rizal stressed not primarily the acquisition of a diploma, but the expression of the potential of the intellectual abilities and moral strength of the youth to make use of their knowledge in the arts, letters and sciences for the services of the country.