Rizal Act (Republic Act No 1425)

My August Reflections

Rizal Act (Republic Act No 1425)

There is one event among the many historically significant events that occurred in August which I almost omitted. This may be due to my focus on discussing the August 13, 1898 event known as “Scripted War, Silenced Victory” (also referred to as the Mock Battle of Manila Bay) during my talk last Wednesday (August 13, 2025) at the screening room of Yerba Buena Center for the Arts.

An important event associated with José Rizal occurred after his death: on August 16, 1956, Republic Act No. 1425, commonly known as the Rizal Act, was formally implemented. The Rizal Law (Republic Act No. 1425) was enacted under the administration of President Ramon Magsaysay on June 12, 1956, and became effective on August 16 of the same year. This legislation requires the inclusion of the study of Rizal’s life and works—particularly "Noli Me Tangere" and "El Filibusterismo"—in the curriculum of all educational institutions.

As outlined in my presentation, the United States, through its implementation of public education, utilized textbooks that emphasized the challenges—such as suffering, oppression, and exploitation—experienced under Spanish rule, while simultaneously obscuring aspects of their own colonial administration by presenting it as benevolent assimilation under the pretext of progress and modernity.

The Mock Battle of Manila and the U.S. handling of Rizal’s legacy are not isolated events—they’re choreographed acts in the same imperial performance. Together, they reveal how the United States stage both military conquest and memory control, scripting a narrative of benevolent liberation while silencing revolutionary agency.

At the beginning of the 20th century, the U.S. colonial administration actively promoted Jose Rizal as the national hero of the Philippines. This decision was strategic rather than neutral, as Rizal’s reputation as a reformist intellectual, in contrast to more revolutionary figures like Bonifacio or Mabini, made him a suitable symbol for tempering nationalist sentiment while providing Filipinos with a source of national pride.

Renato Constantino described this as “veneration without understanding.” In high school, I became interested in Constantino's essays “Miseducation of the Filipinos” and “Origin of the Myth.” These topics were not covered by our textbook-based history classes and rote memorization methods, but were discussed during activist teach-ins.

Constantino asserted that the United States elevated Rizal to hero status for several reasons: (1) he promoted peaceful reform rather than armed revolution; (2) his execution by the Spanish enabled the United States to present itself as a liberator rather than a colonizer; and (3) Rizal was seen by the Americans as embodying values compatible with their own imperial ideals, such as education, civility, and assimilation.

Although Rizal’s life and works became symbolically significant, they were not formally included in the public-school curriculum until the Rizal Law was enacted in 1956. The following factors contributed to this development:

• Early American education policy placed emphasis on English instruction, civic education, and allegiance to the United States, rather than promoting Filipino nationalism.

• Rizal’s novels, particularly El Filibusterismo, featured anti-clerical themes that were considered problematic by both American authorities and religious institutions.

• The Catholic Church opposed the teaching of Rizal’s unedited works due to concerns about criticism of friars and religious practices.

• Filipino legislators such as Claro M. Recto advocated for the inclusion of Rizal’s writings, which led to their eventual incorporation into the education system.

From a professional perspective, a significant factor contributing to my decision to shift my major from engineering to history during my third year at the University of the Philippines (Diliman) was my enrollment in PI 100, commonly known as the Rizal course, under the instruction of Dr. Nick Tiongson in 1975. That same year marked the publication of Renato Constantino’s influential book, “A Past Revisited.” I was among the students who responded to his advocacy for historians and engaged scholarship during a symposium at the Faculty Center, which was organized by LIKAS (Lipunang Pangkasaysayan). These formative experiences occurred approximately fifty years ago.

The rest is history.

We should continue to engage with Rizal's works, critically assess his contributions, and further examine the concept of nationalism within both the Philippines and the broader Filipino diaspora.

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