No, Ambeth Ocampo. Jose Rizal & The House of Usher
Frank A. Hilario
January 06, 2010
The way historians have been behaving lately, I doubt it. So I'm begging Ambeth Ocampo, Chair of the National Historical Institute of the Philippines, to keep his green hands off The National Hero, Jose Protacio Mercado Rizal y De Quintos Alonso Realonda. I believe Ocampo has done much harm on my hero already!
Remember, it was Ocampo who had the bright idea of painting the House of Rizal green. He might as well have painted himself that house in Calle Real, City of Calamba, splashing green all over the place and all over his body. Bright but not brilliant; I wanted nothing but the best for my hero; I wasn't pleased. A green coat of the walls made this historical house look like a modern chocolate cake; history is to be digested, but not eaten. I wrote about it in my "House of Rizal. I saw it painted green, I saw red" (04 June 2009, My Jose Rizal, blogspot.com). Enough said?
Not enough done, apparently. I just learned all along Ocampo has had a brighter idea that I have a dimmer view of:
To move Rizal Day from 30 December (1896, date of death) to 19 June (1861, date of birth).
From the end to the beginning, from disappearance to appearance, from demise to promise. Is that the past forward, perhaps?
And on this his latest digression from his mass-oriented digging up of historical bric-a-brac, Ocampo has had the cooperation of Manila's House of Usher (for a quick look on the original, try Wikipedia): Representative Jaime Lopez of Manila, who sponsored the bill, and Justin Marc Chipeco of Laguna who co-sponsored it; as well as Raul Gonzalez Jr of Iloilo City, Ma Victoria Sy-Alvarado of Bulacan, and Ma Evita Arago of Laguna who co-authored the Rizal Bill. They could have done better than Edgar Allan Poe in this tale of the macabre.
House Bill 5408 was passed by the House on 10 December 2008 yet (19 June 2009, Rhoda Dizon, bakitwhy.com), and I didn't know! I don't usually read the local papers, that's why; I leave them well enough alone. I should have known better.
Some people should know better to leave well enough alone. 30 December was Rizal Day until a Committee of One thought to change tradition by modern fiat. "Times have changed, you know; today, we know better" was the mantra. But this is one tradition I wouldn't change for all the birthdays of all the popular columnists in all the mass media.
Is there a Proctor in the House? It must be Ambeth Ocampo, popular columnist of the Philippine Daily Inquirer, and I shall blame him for this brouhaha. I tell the ladies and gentlemen of The House of Usher:
Keep Rizal Day on 30 December, for God's sake!
Rizal's legacy is heroism. That's what we celebrate. As with Jesus Christ, his Messiah-ness was defined by his death. So with Rizal, his heroism was defined by his death, not birth. Now, if you're stubborn, if you still think otherwise, I beg you to consider all of these 57 points:
1. Heroes prepare to battle.
To celebrate Rizal Day on his birthday is
to honor him who prepares to battle the nipple.
2. Heroes have life-long accomplishments.
To celebrate Rizal Day on his birthday is
to honor him whose life is only a day long.
3. Heroes make choices.
To celebrate Rizal Day on his birthday is
to honor him who can't make choices.
4. Heroes earn their honor.
To celebrate Rizal Day on his birthday is
to honor him whose honor is to be born rich.
5. Heroes master their fields.
To celebrate Rizal Day on his birthday is
to honor him who masters his crib.
6. Heroes are adventurous.
To celebrate Rizal Day on his birthday is
to honor an adventurer of the sight.
7. Heroes are lovers of knowledge.
To celebrate Rizal Day on his birthday is
to honor him who loves himself,
who doesn't need knowing.
8. Heroes forsake loved ones.
To celebrate Rizal Day on his birthday is
to honor him who can't forsake his mother.
9. Heroes seek the truth.
To celebrate Rizal Day on his birthday is
to honor him who seeks the milk.
10. Heroes are voices of enlightenment.
To celebrate Rizal Day on his birthday is
to honor him whose enlightenment
comes from an alcohol lamp.
11. Heroes are bold.
To celebrate Rizal Day on his birthday is
to honor him who is bold enough to smile.
12. Heroes are movers & shakers.
To celebrate Rizal Day on his birthday is
to honor him who moves & shakes his hands.
13. Heroes struggle to succeed.
To celebrate Rizal Day on his birthday is
to honor him who struggles on his father's arms.
14. Heroes pay the ultimate price.
To celebrate Rizal Day on his birthday is
to honor him who can't even pay attention.
15. Heroes leave their legacies.
To celebrate Rizal Day on his birthday is
to honor him who leaves behind a trail of smell.
16. Heroes fail but with honor.
To celebrate Rizal Day on his birthday is
to honor him who fails to take care of himself.
17. Heroes become better at what they do.
To celebrate Rizal Day on his birthday is
to honor him who can't tell good from better.
18. Heroes are givers.
To celebrate Rizal Day on his birthday is
to honor him who knows only how to receive.
19. Heroes accomplish much in their lifetime.
To celebrate Rizal Day on his birthday is
to honor him who has accomplished nothing.
20. Heroes are great for the race.
To celebrate Rizal Day on his birthday is
to honor him who is great for his family.
21. Heroes are knowledgeable.
To celebrate Rizal Day on his birthday is
to honor him who is knowledgeable about here & there.
22. Heroes awaken the heroes in all of us.
To celebrate Rizal Day on his birthday is
to honor him who awakens us with his cries.
23. Heroes trigger movements.
To celebrate Rizal Day on his birthday is
to honor him who triggers his mother's movements.
24. Heroes are clear thinkers.
To celebrate Rizal Day on his birthday is
to honor him whose thoughts are unfathomable.
25. Heroes are against US domination.
To celebrate Rizal Day on his birthday is
to honor him who is dominated by US.
26. Heroes are nationalists.
To celebrate Rizal Day on his birthday is
to honor him who can't tell a nationalist from a nut.
27. Heroes are martyrs.
To celebrate Rizal Day on his birthday is
to honor him who can't tell a martyr from a moth.
28. Heroes are significant in modern times.
To celebrate Rizal Day on his birthday is
to honor him who is significant in the times of his family.
29. Heroes are aware of their people's oppression.
To celebrate Rizal Day on his birthday is
to honor him who is aware of the oppression of thirst.
30. Heroes fight for nationhood.
To celebrate Rizal Day on his birthday is
to honor him who can't even fight for personhood.
31. Heroes fight for independence.
To celebrate Rizal Day on his birthday is
to honor him who fights in dependence.
32. Heroes sometimes give up everything.
To celebrate Rizal Day on his birthday is
to honor him who gives up everything to sleep.
33. Heroes are celebrated by society.
To celebrate Rizal Day on his birthday is
to honor him who can't celebrate even his birthday.
34. Heroes make great models of life.
To celebrate Rizal Day on his birthday is
to honor him who can't make simple models of clay.
35. Heroes remember their past.
To celebrate Rizal Day on his birthday is
to honor him who doesn't have a past.
36. Heroes learn from failures from Day 1.
To celebrate Rizal Day on his birthday is
to honor him who has had only Day 1.
37. Heroes find meaning in the struggle.
To celebrate Rizal Day on his birthday is
to honor him who finds food in his struggle.
38. Heroes deal with consequences of choices.
To celebrate Rizal Day on his birthday is
to honor him who doesn't know consequences.
39. Heroes sometimes fail but always with honor.
To celebrate Rizal Day on his birthday is
to honor him who can't fail to catch his mother's attention.
40. Heroes celebrate getting better.
To celebrate Rizal Day on his birthday is
to honor him just getting a day older.
41. Heroes honor us by giving.
To celebrate Rizal Day on his birthday is
to honor him who honors us by receiving.
42. Heroes honor us with their heritage.
To celebrate Rizal Day on his birthday is
to honor him who can't tell heritage from hair.
43. Heroes are mourned for their deaths.
To celebrate Rizal Day on his birthday is
to honor him for his birth.
44. Heroes give us the gift of peace.
To celebrate Rizal Day on his birthday is
to honor him who gives us the gift of tongue.
45. Heroes sometimes prophesy.
To celebrate Rizal Day on his birthday is
to honor him who can only profess love of mother.
46. Heroes reflect the greatness of their race.
To celebrate Rizal Day on his birthday is
to honor him who reflects the wellness of his family.
47. Heroes embrace the dangerous idea of freedom.
To celebrate Rizal Day on his birthday is
to honor him who embraces the friendly bosom of family.
48. Heroes educate.
To celebrate Rizal Day on his birthday is
to honor him whom we have yet to educate.
49. Heroes can discern more than we do.
To celebrate Rizal Day on his birthday is
to honor him who can discern nothing.
50. Heroes trigger revolutions.
To celebrate Rizal Day on his birthday is
to honor him who can trigger a reaction.
51. Heroes are nation-oriented.
To celebrate Rizal Day on his birthday is
to honor him who is family-oriented.
52. Heroes add inspiration to their people.
To celebrate Rizal Day on his birthday is
to honor him who adds size to his family.
53. Heroes are peacemakers.
To celebrate Rizal Day on his birthday is
to honor him who can't pacify himself.
54. Heroes awaken us in our sleep of nationhood.
To celebrate Rizal Day on his birthday is
to honor him who awakens us in our sleep of rest.
55. Heroes sometimes make us laugh.
To celebrate Rizal Day on his birthday is
to honor him who makes us laugh for a different reason.
56. Heroes when newborn are ordinary.
To celebrate Rizal Day on his birthday is
to honor the ordinary.
57. Heroes live after their deaths.
To celebrate Rizal Day on his birthday is
to honor him who lives after his mouth.
On 30 December 1896, execution comes to Jose Protacio Mercado Rizal y De Quintos Alonso Realonda. Other heroes' martyrdoms were chosen for them, such as those of Andres Bonifacio and Antonio Luna. Not unlike Jesus Christ's, Rizal's martyrdom is what marks him apart from the other national heroes: he chose it instead of life - all for love, including love of enemy. For Christ, you should be able to see that in your New Testament, any version. For Rizal, you should be able to see that in my translation of his valedictory poem, "Adios, Beloved Country" (My Jose Rizal, blogspot.com). So I say, in the end, Jose Protacio Mercado Rizal y De Quintos Alonso Realonda happily died a true-blue Roman Catholic, as the Jesuits of the Ateneo had taught him, loving his fellowman (see my "Rizal Secrets. Of The National Hero You Didn't Know," same blog). So we honor him by choosing his death to celebrate.
Heroes are made, not born!
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