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The Life and Works of Dr. Jose P. Rizal Module 1

The Rizal Law was proposed by Senator Claro M. Recto and mandated the teaching of Jose Rizal's life and works in schools. It faced stiff opposition from the Catholic Church, who claimed Rizal's writings were anti-Catholic. After intense debate, a compromise was reached where the unexpurgated versions of Rizal's novels could be taught to college students as an option, while other students would use expurgated versions. The bill was passed unanimously on June 12, 1956, which is now known as Flag Day in the Philippines.

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85 views

The Life and Works of Dr. Jose P. Rizal Module 1

The Rizal Law was proposed by Senator Claro M. Recto and mandated the teaching of Jose Rizal's life and works in schools. It faced stiff opposition from the Catholic Church, who claimed Rizal's writings were anti-Catholic. After intense debate, a compromise was reached where the unexpurgated versions of Rizal's novels could be taught to college students as an option, while other students would use expurgated versions. The bill was passed unanimously on June 12, 1956, which is now known as Flag Day in the Philippines.

Uploaded by

Jaytone Hernandez
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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THE LIFE AND

WORKS OF RIZAL
Prof. Ace D. Wenceslao, MAEd
MODULE 1:
HISTORY OF
RA 1425
HISTORICAL
BACKGROUND AND
CONTEXT OF REPUBLIC
ACT 1425
LESSON OBJECTIVES
•To explain the history of Rizal Law.
•To know the historical background and context
of Rizal Law.
•To analyze the importance of studying the life
and works of Rizal.
The Rizal Law
The Rizal Law, officially designated as Republic Act No.
1425, is a Philippine law that mandates all educational
institutions in the Philippines to offer courses about José Rizal.
The Rizal Law, in any case, was emphatically restricted by
the Catholic Church in the Philippines, much appreciated to
the anti-clerical subjects that were pertinent in Rizal's books
Noli Me Tangere and El Filibusterismo.
History of Republic Act
1425 or Rizal Law
Senator Claro M. Recto was the main proponent of the Rizal Bill. He sought to
sponsor the bill at Congress. However, this was met with stiff opposition from the Catholic
Church. During the 1955 Senate election, the church charged Recto with being a
communist and an anti-Catholic. After Recto's election, the Church continued to oppose
the bill mandating the reading of Rizal's novels Noli me Tángere and El Filibusterismo,
claiming it would violate freedom of conscience and religion.
In the campaign to oppose the Rizal bill, the Catholic Church urged its adherents
to write to their congressmen and senators showing their opposition to the bill; later, it
organized symposiums. In one of these symposiums, Fr. Jesus Cavanna argued that the
novels belonged to the past and that teaching them would misrepresent current
conditions. Radio commentator Jesus Paredes also said that Catholics had the right to
refuse to read them as it would "endanger their salvation".
(Abinales, Patricio N.; Amoroso, Donna J. (2005). State and society in the Philippines. Lanham, Maryland: Rowman & Littlefield. p. 187. ISBN 978-0-7425-1024-1.)
Groups such as Catholic Action of the Philippines, the Congregation of the Mission,
the Knights of Columbus, and the Catholic Teachers Guild organized opposition to the bill; they
were countered by Veteranos de la Revolucion (Spirit of 1896), Alagad ni Rizal, the Freemasons,
and the Knights of Rizal. The Senate Committee on Education sponsored a bill co-written by
both José P. Laurel and Recto, with the only opposition coming from Francisco Soc Rodrigo,
Mariano Jesus Cuenco, and Decoroso Rosales.
(Cruz-Araneta, Gemma (2010-12-29). "Legislating Rizal, 1". Manila Bulletin. Archived from the original on December 30, 2010. Retrieved 2011-05-24. and
Pangalangan, Raul (2010-12-31). "The intense debate on the Rizal Law". Philippine Daily Inquirer. Archived from the original on 2011-01-03. Retrieved 2011-05-24.)

The Archbishop of Manila, Rufino Santos, protested in a pastoral letter that Catholic
students would be affected if compulsory reading of the unexpurgated version were pushed
through.
(Cruz-Araneta, Gemma (2010-12-29). "Legislating Rizal, 2". Manila Bulletin. Retrieved 2011-05-24.)

Arsenio Lacson, Manila's mayor, who supported the bill, walked out of Mass when the
priest read a circular from the archbishop denouncing the bill.
(Rodis, Rodel (2010-01-07). "Global Networking : The Rizal bill". Philippine Daily Inquirer. Retrieved 2011-06-12.)
Rizal, according to Cuenco, "attacking dogmas, beliefs and practices of the
Church. The assertion that Rizal limited himself to castigating undeserving priests and
refrained from criticizing, ridiculing or putting in doubt dogmas of the Catholic Church, is
absolutely gratuitous and misleading." Cuenco touched on Rizal's denial of the existence
of purgatory, as it was not found in the Bible, and that Moses and Jesus Christ did not
mention its existence; Cuenco concluded that a "majority of the Members of this
Chamber, if not all, the gentleman from Sulu" believed in purgatory.
(Pangalangan, Raul (2010-12-31). "The intense debate on the Rizal Law". Philippine Daily Inquirer. Archived from the original on 2011-01-03. Retrieved 2011-05-24.)

The senator from Sulu, Domocao Alonto, attacked Filipinos who proclaimed Rizal
as "their national hero but seemed to despise what he had written", saying that
the Indonesians used Rizal's books as their Bible on their independence
movement; Pedro López, who hails from Cebu, Cuenco's province, in his support for the
bill, reasoned out that it was in their province the independence movement started, when
Lapu-Lapu fought Ferdinand Magellan.
(Cruz-Araneta, Gemma (2010-12-29). "Legislating Rizal, 2". Manila Bulletin. Retrieved 2011-05-24.)
Outside the Senate, the Catholic schools threatened to close down if the
bill was passed; Recto countered that if that happened, the schools would be
nationalized. Recto did not believe the threat, stating that the schools were too
profitable to be closed.
(Abinales, Patricio N.; Amoroso, Donna J. (2005). State and society in the Philippines. Lanham, Maryland: Rowman & Littlefield. p. 187. ISBN 978-0-
7425-1024-1).

The schools gave up the threat but threatened to "punish" legislators in


favor of the law in future elections. A compromise was suggested, to use the
expurgated version; Recto, who had supported the required reading of the
unexpurgated version, declared: "The people who would eliminate the books of
Rizal from the schools would blot out from our minds the memory of the national
hero. This is not a fight against Recto but a fight against Rizal", adding that since
Rizal is dead, they are attempting to suppress his memory.
(Ocampo, Ambeth (2007-05-04). "The fight over the Rizal Law". Philippine Daily Inquirer. Archived from the original on 2012-03-26. Retrieved 2011-
05-24.)
On May 12, 1956, a compromise inserted by Committee on Education
chairman Laurel that accommodated the objections of the Catholic Church was
approved unanimously. The bill specified that only college (university) students
would have the option of reading unexpurgated versions of clerically-contested
reading material, such as Noli Me Tángere and El Filibusterismo. The bill was
enacted on June 12, 1956, Flag Day.
(Abinales, Patricio N.; Amoroso, Donna J. (2005). State and society in the Philippines. Lanham, Maryland: Rowman & Littlefield.
p. 187. ISBN 978-0-7425-1024-1, Cruz-Araneta, Gemma (2010-12-29). "Legislating Rizal, 2". Manila Bulletin. Retrieved 2011-05-24
and Ocampo, Ambeth (2007-05-04). "The fight over the Rizal Law". Philippine Daily Inquirer. Archived from the original on 2012-03-26.
Retrieved 2011-05-24.)

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