December 30-Execution of Jos� Rizal

Today in 1965, infamous Filipino dictator Ferdinand Marcos was frist elected to the presidency... he wouldn't leave the seat in 23 years.

But I'm going to talk about another more interesting Filipino, his name was Jos� Protacio Mercado Rizal y Alonzo Realonda, more commonly known as Jos� Rizal. He was indeed an outstanding man, mastering 22 languages, with two universitary degrees and extremely polifacetic.

Jos� Rizal

When he was living in Europe, he wrote two novels: Noli me Tangere and El Filibusterismo (Filibusterism). In them he made clear critics to the colonial situation of the Philippines under Spain and the abuses that landlords and clergy exerted upon the people. These had the effect of creating for him many enemies both in metropolitan Spain and Philippines but at the same time lightened the flame of Filipino national consciousness.

In spain he was also the leader of a political association of Filipino students La Solidaridad (Solidarity), and wrote several articles for their newspaper, where he expressed his political ideas: basically that Philippines became a province of Spain with representation in the Parlament, that the priests exerting in Philippines should be locals, that there should freedom of speech and assembly and that there should be equal treatment before the law for Spaniards and Filipipinos. He advocated for nonviolent forms of struggle.

Back to Philippines he started a protest in his hometown, Calamba, against the abuses of the landowner Dominican priests. He also founded a civic movement called La Liga Filipina (the Filipino League). All his efforts were repressed: he had become an enemy of Spain, specially because of the critical content his books.

Soon he was deported to Mindanao, where he stabilished some relation with an Irishwoman, Josephine Bracken, but his rejection of Catholicism and hispoliticl positions meant thathe could never obtain a marriage license from the authorities.

When in 1896 the armed rebellion of the Katipuan started, he was quickly arrested and sent to Barcelona, where he was accused of rebellion, sedition and conspiracy, with no other evidence than his political writings and his acquaintance with some people who were now rebels.

He was sentenced to death and executed in Manila the 30th of December of 1896, today 99 years ago. This day is conmemorated in the Philippines as a national holiday as Rizal Day.


Execution of Jos� Rizal

Other events that happened today:

• 1853 - Gasden purchase: the USA buys a large piece of land to Mexico to build a railroad

Extension of the Gasden purchase

• 1880 - The Boer South African Republic (now Transvaal) is created
• 1922 - The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics is formed, five years after the October Revolution

Coat of arms and flag of the Soviet Union

• 1934 - Astronomer Edwin Hubble announces the existence of other galaxies, apart of the Milky Way

Edwin Hubble

• 1953 - The first color television set goes on sale at the luxury price of $1,175
  
• 1972 - The USA stops bombing massively Northern Vietnam
• 1997 - Wilaya of Relizane massacres: 400 civilians, men, women and children, were killed in the worst inccident of the Algerian Civil War, in the first day of Ramadan
  
• 2000 - Rizal Day bombings: a series of terrorist attacks shattered the Manila subway causing 22 deaths and about a hundred injuried

Full list: Wikipedia.

I think you can gather it from the article above: they celebrate his day (the day of his excution) as national holiday, nothing less.

Anyhow according to Wikipedia, he is called: the "Pride of the Malay Race", "The Great Malayan", "The First Filipino", "The Messiah of the Revolution", "The Universal Hero", "The Messiah of the Redemption"...

You get the idea, don't you?

Still, in Spain, his books are not even mentioned when studying Spanish Literature, maybe in some hidden corner... at least I can't remember his name from my school years.


Edited by Maju