Si Rizal sa panahon karon

There’s a six-year-old article in Graphic Philippines that posed a question nga akong I paraphrase. Sa modernong panahon karon, duna pa bay lugar for a Jose Rizal? 

Sa akong tan-aw, to some of those nga ka-edad niya karon were he still alive (he died at 35 years old 128 years, one month and six days ago as of this writing), maybe dili na.

Maybe, para nila, mas relevant pa seguro ang uban natong historical figures who fought with guns and sword against the tyrant Spaniards of the day.

But naa pud seguro’y uban, and I count myself among them, who see that today’s contemporary incidents of tyranny happen chiefly because of the unawareness of the people that tyrants seek to victimize.

At a time where gabaha ang information, misinformation and mal-information, and where communication is instantaneous, sayon kaayo ang pagpanlinlang, pagpanglawgaw, pagpanuis, ug pagpanglimbong.

And if one is unaware, one is easily victimized.

Ang pag infuse og tabang sa baga kaayo nato nga batikang sektor helps improve their spending, which in turn drives growth because it creates demands for goods and services, guides investment decisions, and drives government policies.  

Take for example the way some ill-intentioned people highjack the conversation on social justice, where government, for example your city government, seeks to infuse financial support to those earning below the income threshold.

One can look at the intended infusion two ways – as capital for a microenterprise, or as resource to access work opportunities. Gasto pud baya mangaply og trabaho; and impossible maka megosyo ang walay puhunan.

But this is ridiculed either as promoting the “ayuda” mentality. As if government resources are better off unspent and declared as savings, rather than being infused back into the economy.

Ang pag infuse og tabang sa baga kaayo nato nga batikang sektor helps improve their spending, which in turn drives growth because it creates demands for goods and services, guides investment decisions, and drives government policies. 

I hope I still make my professors sa University of Asia and the Pacific proud. 

Rizal fought tyrants with words and stories. And though he died for it, his revolution lived on. And we remember him ‘till today.

Angayan natong lingion and honor the life and legacy of Rizal, not only because he said so — “ang hindi marunong lumingon sa pinangagalingan ay hindi makakarating sa paroroonan” – but also because we need to.  

His profound wisdom – realizing the way that he did that the real battlefield is the battlefield of the mind and that the truest weapons are words and stories – and his value of having the courage to speak the truth, are especially relevant to this day.

And as the host city of the 24th International Assembly of Knight of Rizal, dako kaayo nako nga honor ang mahimong guest of honor sa wreath-laying ceremony ganina dinhi sa Cebu City Hall.

Akong gidasig ang tanan to remain steadfast in upholding Dr. Jose Rizal’s ideals. Let us honor Rizal not only in ceremony, let us honor him in action. Action dayun maoy importante by living out his example in our daily lives.