By Franklin P. Gumapon
DIPOLOG CITY, Jan. 3 (PIA) - - Dismayed by the fading
respect among the Filipino youth for the national hero, Vice Mayor Senen O.
Angeles of this city has lately called to intensify Rizal education to instill
in them the hero’s contributions to the country’s freedom from colonizers.
Speaking during the
recently concluded Rizal day celebration, Angeles said “today’s youth are
preoccupied with fictional super heroes and they betray ignorance of the life
and works of the national hero.”
Senen lamented that
the younger generations seem to forget the efforts and sacrifices of Dr. Jose
Rizal to liberate the nation from foreign invaders. Because of this, the vice
mayor recommended that the young be educated about the life and works of Rizal.
Philippine history
would tell us that Rizal had fought for the country’s independence through his
writings and novels, Noli Me Tangere and El Filibusterismo, earning the ire of
the Spanish colonizers. He was executed by a firing squad on December 30, 1896.
Prior to his
execution at Bagumbayan (now Luneta) in Manila, Rizal was banished to Dapitan
for four years in 1892-1896. His stay in Dapitan left unforgettable memories
among the locals as he had built school, hospital and irrigation system there.
The replicas of these structures are still being preserved until today. (JPA/FPG/PIA-Zamboanga
del Norte)