Assignment #1

1. In what reasons why Claro M. Recto authored the Senate Bill 438 or
otherwise known as Rizal Bill of 1956.
Claro M. Recto authored the bill because he stated that the bill’s only purpose was
to retain the memory of our national hero in every Filipino, be it newly born or an adult.
He desired to exude Rizal as he valiantly fought for our freedom, and it was not to go
against religion. He so greatly fought for it, even against the Catholic Church, that he
was almost threatened to be “punished” during the next elections. He wanted every
Filipino to foster the same nationalistic, moral, political, and social principles that Rizal

m
had. And what better way to do this, but to make reading his works compulsory.

er as
He did not want to condemn the church’s teachings and the ministers of today but

co
eH w
to instill in the future generation the civic virtue of subordinating individual ambitions to
the common good. It was not for his own benefit but for the benefit of the future

o.
rs e
generations of the country. It was densely centered on his belief that it would
ou urc
strengthen the Filipinism and patriotism of the youth.

2. What are the arguments of the oppositors of the Bill and why they don’t
o

want the bill to be passed into law?

The oppositors of Recto and the sponsor Laurel were Rosales, Cuenco, and Rodrigo,
which were all devout Catholics and related to the Catholic opposition. One vital person
involved in the opposition is Fr. Jesus Cavanna, who was introduced as an authority on
ed d

Rizal. He claimed that Rizal’s novels “belonged in the past” and that they are harmful to
ar stu

read because they displayed a “false picture” of the conditions of the authority at that
time. It was claimed to be “an attack on the clergy” and objected to ridicule the
Catholic Faith. They even went so far as to state the number of pages that only
is

contained patriotic content and anti-Catholic attacks. Despite this not being the case,
they still pushed to “kill” the bill.
Th

Several strategies were executed by the Catholic church such as to “punish” Recto in
the next elections and that Catholic schools would close down. However, tactics such as
these failed horribly and Recto still pushed to implement it. Moreover, statements that it
sh

would discredit their religion is thrown at Recto. Claims that the novels contained

This study source was downloaded by 100000783939688 from CourseHero.com on 09-05-2021 04:25:55 GMT -05:00

https://www.coursehero.com/file/69722361/Assignment1docx/
 inimical portrayals to the tenets of their faith and violates the religious freedom of the
people were argued to the Congress in order to push for the disapproval of the bill.

3. Explain the significance of the passage of R.A. 1425 which is known as the
Rizal Law.
R.A. 1425, in the entirety of it, is the Rizal Law which is about implementing a law
that aims to inform and enlighten the Filipinos about the Life, Works, and Writings of
our national hero Dr. Jose Rizal, which focuses on his novels Noli Me Tangere and El
Filibusterismo. This is to provide students and our future generations a generous history
and comprehend how Rizal gave his life in order to fight for the freedom for our
country. I am one with Recto in desiring to educate the masses about Rizal’s deeds in

m
trying to fight for our country in his own way.

er as
This is a symbolic moment for all of us Filipinos and I think that we should revel and

co
eH w
celebrate the path that Rizal created for us to enjoy this freedom. If it was not because
of him, we would not enjoy the independence we have today. The passage of this

o.
rs e
republic act was a significant moment in history because it instilled in us the
ou urc
nationalistic and constructive nationalism that Rizal had. For a moment, even while
reading his novels, I was able to feel and develop the moral qualities of justice and
devotion to truth that Rizal had. This is something that is supposed to be significantly
o

developed in all individuals of our country. The passage of this bill showed us how one
aC s
vi y re

can fight for our own country, even if it is not against foreign invaders. It shows us that
our love for our own country is not limited to foreign enemies but our own defects as
well.
ed d
ar stu

4. Why Jose Rizal is considered foremost National Hero and not Andres
Bonifacio nor Emilio Aguinaldo?
Well, first and foremost, I do not want to consider Aguinaldo as a candidate for the
is

national hero being that he is a traitor. Secondly, I think Dr. Jose Rizal is the national
hero for the very being that he is the trigger that started everything. It was because of
Th

his actions that several Filipinos started to gain their confidence in fighting for what
Rizal wanted – the freedom of the Filipinos from the Spanish colonization. He fought
not with a sword but with a pen, he did not shed blood with this weapon but did it in a
sh

peaceful way that still had a larger effect than swords could have ever done. He also

This study source was downloaded by 100000783939688 from CourseHero.com on 09-05-2021 04:25:55 GMT -05:00

https://www.coursehero.com/file/69722361/Assignment1docx/
 had the greatest influence with his actions over the Filipinos’ call to action during that
era which gave him an edge over Bonifacio.
Despite this, Bonifacio is also a great candidate for the national hero but alas, he
was not able to move the Filipinos or become the stimulus of a revolution. He is a man
who is as equally worthy of being the national hero given that he was called the Father
of the Revolution. He had the guts, the courage to take action and call his brothers to
arms, in order to acquire this freedom. And he did just that. But one good way to
summarize their relation in being heroes of our country is that, “Rizal planted the seed
of revolution; Bonifacio watered it.” This was a title of an article about the Philippine
revolution at the time and I think it best describes why Rizal is our national hero with
Bonifacio just as worthy.

m
er as
5. If you are one of the senators during the debate over the Bill, will you

co
eH w
support or oppose the Bill. Why or why not?
If you have read my answers in the previous questions, I would bluntly say that I

o.
rs e
would support the bill. I truly believe that Rizal had the best intentions of educating and
ou urc
enlightening the Filipino masses about the truth of the era he was in. He was so
devoted to the truth that he was considered by Horacio de la Costa to have understood
so well, or so memorably expressed the moral, political, and social principles upon
o

which the peace and prosperity of our country must be based. It just aimed to develop
aC s
vi y re

nationalism within the future generation and to reminisce the actions of Rizal.
It clearly does not intend to attack the church and discredit them but to present the
abuses in it. Almost a century after and articles on the internet have stated that no
ed d

student has yet to avail of this provision, which states that students are given the
ar stu

option to avoid reading the novels if their faith prohibits them. Even if Laurel proposed
the amendment and it was approved because of it, it begs to show that students might
not have found it barring their faith in the church but there might also be the reason
is

that they do not know how to go about it. But all in all, I would support it because it
does not really attack the church nor did it discredit them in my eyes.
Th
sh

This study source was downloaded by 100000783939688 from CourseHero.com on 09-05-2021 04:25:55 GMT -05:00

https://www.coursehero.com/file/69722361/Assignment1docx/
Powered by TCPDF (www.tcpdf.org)