Rizal's Day

I sometimes wonder what our national heroes like Rizal and Bonifacio would say to the notion that the days we dedicate to honor their lives should solely be opportunities to provide ourselves with a break. So much sacrifice on their part eventually to simply get some time off for us; which is basically what Republic Act No. 9492, the law “rationalizing” national holidays, is all about: “holiday economics.”

Time for rest and recreation is, of course, an essential component of holidays. The break from our daily toils brought about by such allows us a special window to better balance our lives. These momentary surrenders to leisure do not, however, constitute the sum total of what having a holiday to honor a national hero — or heroes — is for. 

To believe otherwise leads us to the perspective that we can simply change the date to make it more convenient for us to maximize our time off. Sort of like celebrating your wedding anniversary with a weekend dinner when that memorable date falls right smack in the middle of your working week. Sort of like planning to greet your mother a couple of days in advance as her birthday will be on a day when your schedule will likely be exasperatingly hectic. Sort of like Republic Act No. 9492.    

More than time off, a holiday expressly recognized by statute should really be about commemorating an event, a life, or in Jose Rizal’s case, both. Just as the term “holiday” arises from our traditional observance of “holy days,” the fact that we make an effort on a national scale to call things off for a day in a sense demonstrates that we should also strive to keep our collective memory of that event — and his life — sacred.

Fortunately for the common good, and despite the challenges posed by the statute’s supposed policy rationale, the framers of the law provided a potential saving grace by allowing our Republic’s chief executive the discretion to follow the actual date through the facility of a presidential proclamation, as is apparently the case next year given the issuance of Proclamation No. 84 last Dec. 20. If the President continues with this policy, then there should be no calls to repeal the law during his term. Kudos to the current administration for this.

And just why is the 30th of December significant to us as a nation? More particularly, why should we commemorate our foremost national hero’s passing, as compared to emphasizing his birth on June 19, as is usually the case with other national icons? I have always held that it is right for us to highlight this day primarily because Rizal’s martyrdom at Luneta created that definite spark of national consciousness that ignited the Philippine Revolution. 

Such a date has become even more significant given the progress of the historical debate of just when we should celebrate the day of our independence. The latter after all has always been a matter of interpretation — and contention — between those opting for the actual declaration and those on the side of effective independence, and even within both camps on what dates either should really be. The 30th of December, however, is definitive in terms of both historical fact and consequence. In Rizal’s death our nation was truly born. 

All this necessarily leads us to the ques-tion of just how should we go about cel-ebrating this holiday dedicated to Rizal’s life and ultimate sacrifice. This may after all be the real reason why many of us find it convenient to simply skip “remembering” and go directly to “rest and play.” Perhaps, for most of us, the true quandary this day presents is really not about acknowledging that we should remember but just precisely how to remember.

My own recommendation is to make this day meaningful in your own way. More specifically, here are seven suggestions from which to select, with corresponding estimates of times to accomplish given how much of the rest of the day we want to devote to rest and recreation.

1. A few minutes: Include Rizal and the rest of those who have contributed to the making and progress of our nation in your personal prayers.

2. Not more than a quarter of an hour: Take some quality time to highlight to your children or younger relatives the significance of the day.

3. Several minutes spaced throughout the day: Make an effort to greet and remind people about this day with a lapel flag, Twitter or Facebook note, text message, etc.

4. Not more than an hour, potentially: Check out a good book on our national hero. My recommendations: Ambeth Ocampo’s Meaning and History: The Rizal Lectures and/or Rizal: Filipino Nationalist & Patriot by Austin Coates. Fair warning though; you just might find yourself pleasantly surprised and wanting to keep going.

5. A single morning: If you are really into the occasion, get your family and friends together to wake up early and join the annual Rizal Memorial March of the Knights of Rizal recreating his last walk from Intramuros in Manila and culminating at his monument in Rizal Park.

6. A couple of minutes to (potentially) the better part of a day: Do a good deed by fulfilling a civic duty in his memory, such as by donating to a worthy cause, planting a tree, or even dedicating the day to volunteering some community service in your barangay.

7. And for the procrastinators among us: Devote one of your New Year’s resolutions to Rizal. Reflect on our country and resolve to take one specific step to make it better next year.

I think it should be obvious from the above that commemorating Rizal Day is not about deciding between being merry or somber, nor even about doing something major or minor. We can, and should, both celebrate and remember his life and ultimate sacrifice for us in our own ways, just as long as we put our hearts into it.