On Dec 30, 1896, Dr. José Rizal didn’t die. He was grazed with the bullet of judgment from his fellow Filipinos. He was shot by a firing squad at Luneta Park. But one thing is for sure, he did not allow death to swallow him.
But who died that day? Fear, the specter of wallowing dread, did. With the shot of a bullet and the echo of a gun, fear died in the hearts of the people and in turn gave birth to hope. Cowardice was executed in front of the people he consumed and tormented – draining out the pieces of him within them. At the end of the day, Rizal was proclaimed a hero.
DNA is the genetic makeup of a person, in this case, we are examining Dr. José Rizal under a microscope. We would breakdown the blueprint of what it really means to be a hero.
“But who died that day? Fear, the specter of wallowing dread, did. With the shot of a bullet and the echo of a gun, fear died in the hearts of the people and in turn gave birth to hope. Cowardice was executed in front of the people he consumed and tormented – draining out the pieces of him within them. At the end of the day, Rizal was proclaimed a hero.”
Rizal was a painter who depicted the reality of suffering on a canvas with a caress of his brush. He was an inventor who used his skills in engineering to furnish potable water for the citizens of Dapitan.
He was a sculptor who molded the clay of society from ignorance to understanding. Pepe was an exceptional ophthalmologist who cured his mother’s failing eyesight and opened the eyes of those who were blinded by fear and terror.
He was also a writer. With every stroke of his pen, he freed a soul from the chain of despair.
Lastly, Rizal is a human being and the hope during the time of colonialism.
We are one with Rizal. The same set of DNA courses through our veins. Becoming Rizal is being more than a person who died at Bagumbayan, early in the morning of that day. One should not die wholly. We have many chances to live but only one shot at death. It must not be a sacrifice taken for granted.
Rizal did not completely die. He lives on in the form of the freedom we have today. His soul became a fragment of the nation we have become, a society of empowered individuals who fight to sustain our identity and zeal. Rizal left his mark on the hearts of the youth and the generations to come. His legacy resounds through the years. Rizal lives.
Photo caption: Dr. José Rizal’s execution by firing squad at Bagumbayan (now Luneta Park) in the morning of Dec. 30, 1896.
