Aniesca: Jose Rizal, the Face of the Philippines

Jose Rizal is widely known as the national hero of the Philippines, and his greatest contribution was awakening Filipino nationalism and inspiring the fight for freedom from Spanish colonial rule. Instead of using weapons, he used his words and ideas to show the truth about the injustices Filipinos faced. His work helped people see themselves as one nation with a shared future, laying the groundwork for the country’s independence.

His novels Noli Me Tangere (1887) and El Filibusterismo (1891) were powerful tools for change. Noli Me Tangere showed how Spanish friars and officials abused their power, and how ordinary people like farmers and women suffered. El Filibusterismo went even further, talking about the need for change and justice. Even though the Spanish banned these books, Filipinos read them secretly and they made people want to stand up for their rights. These novels are still important today as part of Filipino culture and history.

Rizal also worked to make society better in other ways. He believed education was key to progress and taught people in the places he lived, like Dapitan where he was exiled. In 1892, he started the Liga Filipina, a group that wanted to unite Filipinos and push for peaceful changes. Even though he was executed in 1896, his death made more people join the fight for independence. Today, his ideas about patriotism, justice, and education are still taught in Philippine schools through Republic Act 1425, also known as the Rizal Law.