‘Let’s paddle in the same direction’

MANILA, Philippines - President Aquino urged Filipinos to “paddle in the same direction” and work for national unity as he led the annual ceremonies yesterday commemorating the execution of national hero Jose Rizal.

 The ceremonies coincided with the reenactment of the transfer of Rizal’s remains to the monument set up in his honor in Manila’s Rizal Park.

Speaking in Filipino, Aquino reminded the people that the day “is also the occasion when we celebrate the birth of our national language.”

Dec. 30 is also the 75th anniversary of the national language, apart from the centennial of the event when his remains were transferred from Binondo to the monument in Luneta in 1912.

Sen. Loren Legarda also urged Filipinos to celebrate Rizal Day by upholding our national heroes’ core values of integrity and nationalism in everyday life.

“Dr. Jose Rizal was an unparalleled visionary whose thoughts and actions have forever changed the landscape of our identity as Filipinos,” Legarda said.

She said Rizal’s ideas “began the revolution that earned us our freedom, and his integrity and nationalism continue to inspire new generations.”

“On Dec. 30, we have a collective opportunity to pay our respects to him through reexamining our lives and evaluating how we have contributed to the betterment of our country,” Legarda said.

The Grand Lodge of the Philippines, headed by Grand Master Santiago Gabionza, took part in the reenactment of Rizal’s remains, when Freemasons and Rizalistas were entrusted by Rizal’s sisters to enshrine his ashes in the Luneta monument.

Rizal’s remains were taken from his mother’s house in Binondo by the Masons and members of the Knights of Rizal in a two-day procession. The grand lodge members participated in the reenactment in full Masonic regalia.

“This (reburial of Rizal in 1912) is one of the greatest events for Freemasonry – refreshing the memories of those who know, and informing those who do not know as yet that Rizal was a Mason, a great one; and the role of Masons and Masonry in the history of this country,” said Armando Cazzola, Masonic historian and Grand Lodge Museum curator.

The Order of the Knights of Rizal also joined the first ever reenactment of the transfer of the national hero’s remains, where Reghis Romero II as its supreme commander participated, along with a contingent of government and community leaders.

Romero’s group started the procession at 4 a.m. from the house of Narcisa, Rizal’s sister, in Binondo to his final resting place at the Rizal Park exactly 100 years ago.

Based on documents, Rizal was executed at past 7 a.m. on Dec. 30, 1896, in the park, then known as Luneta de Bagumbayan.

Narcisa, searching for her brother’s body, found he was secretly buried at the old Paco Cemetery.

She asked the guards to place a marble plaque designed by Doroteo Ongjungco containing Rizal’s initials in reverse, “RPJ.”

On Aug. 17, 1898, four days after the Americans took over the city, the remains of Rizal where exhumed. His bones were brought to Narcisa’s house, where they were cleaned and placed in an ivory urn designed by Romualdo Teodoro de Jesus.

The urn stayed in Narcisa’s house until 1912.

On Dec. 29, 1912, from Estraude Street in Binondo, the urn was transferred in a procession headed by the Knights of Rizal to the marble hall of the Ayuntamiento de Manila, where it stayed overnight with the Knights on guard.