TODAY we commemorate the 125th death anniversary or martyrdom of our national hero, Jose Rizal. Born in 1861, he would live to celebrate only 35 birthdays, a short but meaningful life that left a lasting imprint on our nation’s history.
His death by firing squad in 1896 sparked a revolution and emboldened a generation of young men and women to take up arms and defeat a long-time colonial oppressor.
Rizal’s enduring legacy is not that he penned timeless aphorisms like “the youth is the fair hope of our motherland;” it is the fact that in the face of persecution and certain death, he lived out his words and inspired the birthing of a nation.
Today we are no longer the servants of any one nation, but many of our countrymen continue to yearn for freedom – freedom from a corrupt and immoral government, freedom from poverty, freedom from hunger.
Let the lessons of Rizal’s life and heroic example spur us – especially the youth – to take action to change the fortunes of this long-suffering Republic.
Our only lament is that this day seems to be not anymore given the importance it deserves.
