The Rizal Law (Republic Act No. 1425) Notes SOCS104 PDF

SOCS104 | The Life and Works of Rizal ​ Purpose of the Law - To mandate the reading LESSON 1: The Rizal Law and study of Noli Me Tangere and El...

SOCS104 | The Life and Works of Rizal ​ Purpose of the Law - To mandate the reading LESSON 1: The Rizal Law and study of Noli Me Tangere and El Filibusterismo in all public and private colleges RIZAL LAW and universities. RIZAL LAW (REPUBLIC ACT NO. 1425) ​ Directs all public and private schools, colleges, CONTEXT AND MOTIVATIONS BEHIND THE BILL and universities to include in their curricula courses or subjects on the life, works, and ★​ Laurel and Recto came from families educated writings of Dr. Jose Rizal, particularly the novels under both American and Spanish systems, Noli Me Tangere and El Filibusterismo. The Board making them aware of colonial impacts. of National Education is given the mandate to ★​ Rizal’s novels reflect Filipino traditions, practices, carry out and enforce the purpose and intent of and historical struggles the Rizal Law Board of National Education ★​ Laurel emphasized that to know Rizal is to understand the nation’s defects and virtues Why Study Him? ★​ Rizal’s work includes practices, traditions and ​ Lawyers’ Perspectives | In 1956, they noticed that values. The fragment of our history is part of his the sense of national identity was already literature. It is embedded in his texts, the reality waning after the WWII of Filipino society. ​ Lawyers’ Perspectives: In 1956, they noticed that ★​ Laurel, the person who sponsored the said law, the sense of national identity was already said that since Rizal was the founder of Philippine waning after the WWII nationalism and has contributed much to the ​ Response: Nationalist policy-makers took action current standing of this nation, it is only right that to redirect the nation back to its roots by the youth as well as all the people in the country emphasizing the Importance of history as a know about and learn to imbibe the great ideals foundation for national hope and pride. for which he died. ​ Address the problem via Education; Best way is to integrate the writings of Rizal as it reflects our "Noli Me Tangere and El Filibusterismo must be read by history and past colonial experiences all Filipinos. They must be taken to heart, for in their pages we see ourselves in a mirror, our defects as well APRIL 3, 1956 as our strength, our virtues as well as our vices. Only then Senator Claro M. Recto proposed Senate Bill 438 and would we become conscious as a people and so learn to submitted it to the Committee on Education. prepare ourselves for painful sacrifices that ultimately lead to self-reliance, self-respect, and freedom." Jose P. Laurel SENATE BILL 436 ​ Not only educational but also a call to action to An act to make Noli Me Tangere and EL Filibusterismo strive for a more just and self-sufficient society compulsory reading matters in all public and private ​ This can be achieved through freedom colleges and universities and for other purposes. ​ The passing of the bill faced many criticisms (Question of Necessity) APRIL 17, 1956 - Jose P. Laurel sponsored the Bill. The purpose of the bill was to disseminate the ideas and ideals of Jose Rizal reflected and absorbed in his OPPOSITION TO RIZAL BILL masterpieces, Noli Me Tangere and El Filibusterismo. RIZAL BILL FACED OPPOSITION According to critiques: We need to reconstruct these teaching of Rizal by going ​ Rizal was already instilled as a national hero. No back to his unexpurgated works need to require students to read the complex Original and unexpurgated sources in Spanish, such as novels of Rizal tackling the backward Spanish writings of Rizal and his contemporaries, as tools to colonial because it was a regime already counter the American colonial. superseded by the American imposed values and practices. According to the Church ​ RECTO’S Response : The problem was Rizal’s ​ Novels of Rizal were said to have promoted ideas thinking was not truly understood - the reason contrary to the Catholic faith. why he was our national hero. The key to ​ Youth internalizing ideals critical of the Church. understand his thinkings and values is his works They may have a different impression ​ Laurel: Rizal must not only be remembered via ​ Counterargument: The prohibition of release of his celebrations unexpurgated version will repeat itself from the history of Spanish Colonization; These novels Proponents Argued: must be accessible to develop nationalism ​ Rizal was Americanized. ​ Rizal was a national hero chosen by William According to the people Howard Taft to glorify the American ​ It is not a necessity to read these works to Administration's campaign to win the goodwill develop such values and develop a sense of T ​ ​ of the Filipino towards American policies in the Philippines. Was actually a pacifist and not a political reformist(They do not want radical awakening) Rizal as a Reformist Rizal was a pacifist who advocated political reform rather than revolution. ​ nationalism Among the 333 passages of the Noli Me Tangere, 25 are nationalistic while 120 are anti-Catholic (Example NMT page72) On Purgatory But now let's see how the idea of Purgatory, which is absent from both the Old and the New Testaments, S. ​ Rizal founded the Liga Filipina in 1892 to openly became Catholic doctrine, Neither Moses nor Jesus campaign for the assimilation of the Philippines Christ make the slightest mention of Purgatory, and the as a province of Spain. only text from the Bible that can be cited, one from the ​ He believed that once the Philippines had Second Book of Maccabees, Chapter Twelve, on prayers become a part of Spain, the natives would have for the dead "for their guilt's undoing", is insufficient; equal rights with the Spanish. furthermore, this book was pronounced apocryphal by ​ Benevolent Assimilation the Council of Laodicea, and the Holy Catholic Church ➔​ Rizal was the perfect fit for sanctioned it only much later. strengthening American rule to convince Filipinos to give up what they Pilosopo Tasyo in Noli Me Tangere: were fighting for instead of ★​ “Cuando la religión se convierte en una independence & revolution esclavitud... deja de ser religión para ser una ➔​ His reforms were consistent with cadena de miserias.”​ American policy “When religion becomes slavery... it ceases to ​ By glorifying Rizal, Bonifacio’s biography were be religion and becomes a chain of miseries.” severely curtailed during the era (he was the more favored one in that era)  We need to understand the problems of Rizal's time because they are still with us today. ​ Moving away from the national narrative anchored in the American ideological aspirations ​ We can have access to this part of history through his literature ​ The proponents also recognized that nothing will happen if they insisted so consensus / compromise occurred THE NEW BILL (RA 1425) Realizing that pushing the original bill would lead to further division and impasse, the proponents sought compromise. Senator Jose P. Laurel proposed a substitute bill containing key amendments to balance both sides: 1.​ 2.​ 3.​ T LAUREL PROPOSED A SUBSTITUTE BILL with the following clauses / amendments: The substitute Bill now includes other range of works and writings by Rizal Reading is now optional The reading of the unexpurgated versions of the Noli Me Tangere and El Filibusterismo will only be implemented for college students. S. Senator Laurel asserted the importance of reading the original and unexpurgated edition of Rizal's novels because the true purpose of studying these will be defeated if not followed ​ On June 12, 1956, Senate Bill No. 438—also known as the Rizal Bill—was officially signed into law as Republic Act No. 1425 by President Ramon Magsaysay. Note: Read Bill Clauses from “The Rizal Law”