Rizal for Today

8/4/2019 Rizal for Today

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RIZAL FOR TODA Yb~ . Jo ,e W . D, 'okno

undeserved.\...b y y ou s ho uld think I m ight h:1V Cis an uufathomaulc mystery. [ do not you '>\',ult my

since to talk about the law today except to-- is utter futility . Nor could you want my

ruler has called me "a

cannot meet yourRizal can. So tonight, with yourlayman's gloss on the message has for all of us who todaywork and play, laugh and cry. and live (or just and die ,.. agloss that, I hope, may have some meaning for trying to

",AlTO'..,: .-\LIS,,!

write in a climate of fear, writers who, in Rizal 'sth e m se lv es in c ha in s, c nu ku rg f or

Rizal's Succcss-.And Failure

Of Rizal, the poet Cecilia Apostol wrote -- I translate Frcclv :Indsomewhat clumsily _-

failed to change om societySnctal Evilssu n Plague us


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136 A \'ATIOj\,' FOR OCR CHILDRE?'I

away , ~u t h is vices rem ain -- and to attenuate o r expose theiref fects IS what L1 C au th or aspires to oo." In exposing our vices hes uc ce ed ed ; in a uc nu aii ng th em , u nfo rtu na te ly .th e fa ile d.

as w e all know , w e s till need "a godfather fo r every th ingto ge t ju stice o r a passport, o r to explo itAnd when we canno t ge t a godfathe r weto pay -- unless, that is, w eare "b ig people."

The Elite

Torture,Killing

'\ATIO'\ALISM lY'

s ub je cte d to re pe ate d e le ctric shocks and to silieyes, nostrils and genitals; o f m entig htly w ou nd aro und th eir necks withm arks; o f so -called tru th se rum to extent thut onevictim lost h is sanity and has only partially recovered it .- and 1could go on and on. The m ethods have becom eand m ore e xcru ciating th an in R izal's d ay ;i s t or tu re c o nt in u es .Language

Loyalty toImperial Power

G ov ern me nt O rflc la tsFavor ForeignersFrom Dapitan on August 29, 1804 .- nint.:1 J

wrote Blumcntr iu:I have founded a com m erc ialthe poor inhab itants o f M indanao 19 11 1LOtra de , lO th e-e nd th at th ey m ay b ec om e in de pe nd en t alll! tree

p.50.p.313.

p. 196,


3/7

13S A :YATION FOR OlR C l-lILDRE :-.-

I'othlctans inThe Opposttlon

J 1 Jose P. Riz al, Epistolario Rizalino, Manila: Bureau of Printing,

yet treated worse than Metro Manilareasons Rizal's schoolmaster did:betrayed my conscience and my reason, was born in thiscountry, Imust make a living in it, I have a mother to support,and I m ust go along .. ."13Writers

A Republic ol' theGreedy and the N eedy

An Astonishing People UnderA n Incredib le Governm ent

and patient subjects who thrive Oilhope."18 And well we might. \VG have tried


4/7

J I O /~ '-.xnO:"l FOR UL'R CHIl.DRE.\:

Hi'!:l! Sbo.vsrl;c Vhl)'

an accomplice to the crime, ..one CJIl11m be honest without having goneIn we must do more. We must1~1?!.9. to Elias again: "B y ourselves we are----.--.----

p. 50.p. 320.p.p.

:\ATI0.\,\US,VI

take up the cause of the people, join tbcm, do not turn a dc:tICJr totheir voice, give an example to the rich, give us an idea Itis to have a country,,,24 Can writers -- or anyone else -- 11OP(,beuer advice than this?Rizal V indicated --But Not By UsIt took the rest of th e w orld e ig hty years to Je arn th e k -s eo n R iz.alhad tried to teach us -' but which we have yet to apply. In 1975, atKarachi, Pakistan, about a hundred of the world's mostdistinguished development experts came together to found tl](! ThirdWorld Forum. Their hope was to formulate third ",:,or1dccoccptsand strategies of development. One of the men behind the forum,

Lfi6-Pukisti lJl i economist Mahbub UJ to three baSICthat the Third is LObeRizal had tried to

JuOll,l;1 1 ; ' : ilj


5/7

\ ~'..TION FOR OUR CHILDnE:\

What a

,\ATI() \" . . Lh,\ 1 143

Writers' TaskDangerous an d D iffic ult

We Are StilIA' Colonial Society It is a and difficult job you must undertake. You face

the same Rizal did: harassment by interrogation and libelsuits -- which some of you have cxpcricnccd.,- arrest anddetention -- which others -- torture

not

Tusks RenurlnT!It' Same

27Noli, p. 320. _28p;li n < ; ' : l ;


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] - 1 - 1 A \:\TION FOR OLJ(. CIIILDHE\" \ATjO:\A'LIS~l \-15

Writers'TaskMore Difficult

day we couldcolonialism. Today we from both external and internalcolonialism, the external hidden behind the internal, but operatingit like a programThe second

What to Do

nrc men ,Ill(;-allll:tlls\\,cr,tl1 !,',

a language our people understand not only witfwith their souls. Usc~.".",,'gbllhallOn, hiligaynon or any other of ourpeople, not for the elite, the


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146 A NATIOK FOR OCR CHILDRE;'\

no not suffer because you have not seen how their hearts bleed,But som e day you will see and hear! ..,3 l ,Help us all see and.hear people ~v not some day, but today.

_3 _lN o li. p .:1 57 .

Rizal for Today

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