Republic Act No. 1425 (formerly Senate Bill 438) or “An Act to Include in the Curricula
of All Public and Private Schools, Colleges and Universities Courses on the Life, Works
and Writings Of Jose Rizal, particularly his Novels Noli Me Tangere and El
Filibusterismo, Authorizing the Printing and Distribution Thereof, and for Other
purposes” (Official Gazette, n.d.)” is an act proposed by its idea pioneer Sen. Claro M.
Recto. This law provides the necessary need to supply the knowledge required for every
Filipino to learn and discover the life and works of our novelist national hero. Dr. Jose
Rizal. Under this act it is said that:
Law Summary:
Section 1 – There will be a course for the life and works of Rizal, with original and/or
unexpurgated editions of the two novels he wrote
Section 2 – Obligation to give copies of the novels for public and private schools, and
additional obligation to check if the number of books is sufficient for the students
Section 3 – Make the writings of Rizal accessible in public, primarily in three languages,
Filipino, English, and our national dialects. These writings will be printed cheap and
distributed free of charge to persons desiring to read them. Through purok and barrio
councils.
Section 4 – Prohibits the deepened discussion of religious doctrines
Section 5 – Reservation of funds to make the mandates set by this law feasible and for
the publication of his novels.
Section 6 – Immediate effectivity of the law
The Law itself has its contradictors, namely Senator Francisco Rodrigo, Senator
Mariano Cuenco and Senator Decoroso Rosales which opposed the idea of creating this
specialized attention in education towards Jose Rizal. Alongside with these senators, the
catholic church stood against this law as well due to the impact brought by Jose Rizal’s
two novels against the teachings and superiors of the religion itself, claiming that it
might affect the faith and the way how the modern generation will look towards
catechism and is against the will of religious freedom and conscience
.
Nonetheless, it passed as a bill on May 17, 1956 and was signed by the current president
of the republic, Ramon Magsaysay and was passed as formal law on June 12 the same
year
Analysis and Importance
Jose Rizal is beyond one of the most undisputed heroes that our country has, he fought
the Spaniards without using brute force through heavy weaponry and instead used a
paper and pen to spark the hearts of the early Katipuneros into fighting a revolution
against the corrupt government of the colonizers.
Furthermore, this act of intellectual heroism deserves more recognition, and this law
helps provide exactly that. The Rizal Law helped establish mandates towards how our
national hero should be taught to each Filipino citizen, how his works should be readily
available for the public and most importantly, help Filipinos realize that Jose Rizal is a
hero not only by fact but also in heart.
This law helped create the Filipino culture we have of today, and here are my analysis
towards what made this law special with other memorandums and bills for the
commemoration of Rizal in our constitution:
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It created the Filipino Identity
o Filipinos are well known to be talented, intellectual, and special amongst
other Asian races, and Jose Rizal was one of the early living proofs of this
exact statement. Jose Rizal was a multitalented person that everyone can
look upon on for inspiration and he also beamed a light torch for other
Filipinos to follow his footsteps.
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Installation of Nationalism
o His writing ignited the enraged hearts of the Katipuneros and as well as
the early indios, but the legacy of his writing reached up until this
generation because of the Rizal Law, his writings and poems continue to
inspire both young and old people who read his works
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Life Lessons and Inspiration
o The two aforementioned novels of Jose Rizal contained moral lessons that
are completely applicable to modern Filipino lives and can be sourced out
to teach modern Filipinos how to deal with problems in terms of his
writings.
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Critical Thinking
o Some parts of his novels create an abstract visualization of a hidden
message, which helps create the skill of critical thinking to its readers