RIZAL FINALS

Bañes, Olivia Nicole G. (Women)

Ebite, Ann Charlene F. (Youth)

#Ang mga Kababaihan at Kabataan Ang Pag Asa Ng Bayan

WOMEN

● To the Young Women of Malolos (February 22, 1889)

○ addresses all kinds of women – young women, mothers, wives, the unmarried, etc.
○ Rizal expresses his empowering thoughts that would able to inspire the Women of
Malolos to make a change, get involved in the development of the society and
become empowered.
○ “The Filipino woman no longer bows her head and bends her knees; her hope in
the future is revived; gone is the mother who helps to keep her daughter in the dark,
who educates her in self-contempt and moral annihilation” (Jose Rizal Political
and Historical Writings, 2011).
○ Rizal mentioned in the letter that Filipino woman is not anymore inferior as they
no longer allow anyone to degrade them.
○ Rizal emphasizes the value of education in which educating women is an act of
empowering them.
○ Rizal pointed out that a woman is crucial in the society as her duties could
contribute to the nation’s development.
○ Rizal emphasizes that for Filipino women to escape from enslavement, it is a must
to gain education because education is one of the most vital areas of empowerment
for women. It also helps reduce discrimination to women because being educated
gives women much greater power and enable them to make genuine choices about
the kinds of lives they dream to lead.

● Rizal’s Appreciation of Filipino Women’s Capabilities

○ Rizal was impressed with women’s capabilities in all aspect of life. He also
emphasized that women have a substantial role not just within the family but also
in the society as a whole.
○ Spanish women may have a beautiful face but they lack expression that Filipino
women possess. (“expression”, the act of transforming ideas into words.)

● Rizal on the role of a mother

○ Rizal points out the enormous function of a mother in shaping her children to be a
productive and competitive person.
 ○ “It is the mothers who handle the present servitude of our compatriots, owing to
the unlimited truthfulness of their loving hearts, to their ardent desire to elevate
their sons. Maturity is the fruit of infancy and infant is formed on the lap of its
mother.”
○ A mother’s role does not limit only in giving life to an individual, but she molds
them and prepares them for the cruel world.
○ Rizal stressed the need for mothers to educate their children on the following value:
love for honor; sincere and firm character; bright; mind; clear conduct; noble
action; respect for God.

YOUTH

The Youth in Rizal in the Youth

“Without education and liberty, which are the soil and the sun
of man, no reform is possible, no measure can give the result desired.”
-Dr. Jose Rizal (Indolence of the Filipinos-La Solidaridad)
Rizal’s greatest contribution to the youth is his firm belief that education is the key to a bright
future. Education though a universal right, is not granted to by everyone. Complete education is
enjoyed only by a privileged few.

The present situation of our educational system is not so different from Rizal’s time. Many of
the youth of today are lucky to be even able to finish secondary school. That lack of education
leads to many youths to be tricked and taken advantage of by various evil elements. Some are
used as commodities for human trafficking, used as traders of illegal drugs. By having a proper
education, Rizal believes such interference can be averted through informed decisions and
independent will as opposed to the constant decision mongering of people who perceived
themselves of superior intellect.

Idealistically, yes the Filipino youth is relevant to Rizal but the underlying question is Rizal
relevant to the Filipino youth? Rizal has a clear vision for us but are we fulfilling our end of the
agreement? The sad reality is many of today’s youth have strayed from the path Rizal has
already laid out for us. Early pregnancies, solvent snorting antics under bridges, a rise of
underage related crimes, and out of school youths are probably turning Rizal in his grave and
making him shed tears for us, the youth that he gave his life away for.

When Rizal was exiled in Dapitan in 1892, one for the first things he did was to establish a
school. The school trained boys how to speak in Spanish, farming and agricultural skills, as well
as physical education. The boys that Rizal taught eventually led respectable lives in Dapitan

Another evidence of Rizal’s belief that education is the shown in Rizal’s famous sculptures The
Triumph of Science over Death and The Triumph of Death over Life. The dichotomy of Rizal’s
masterpiece shows that scientific advancement leads humankind overcoming the bane of death,
whereas the lack of knowledge and the prevalence of ignorance lead to the loss of life.

From Rizal’s example education prepares us with the necessary skill needed in order to survive
in life. The norms of society have already dictated that a proper education is the key to a better
tomorrow.

As long as concept of education exists in our country, Rizal’s memory lives on. It’s not about the
wreath laying and the long speech about Rizal’s greatness, what truly matters is we continue on
what he had started.

As long as we keep on passing the torch of knowledge, as long as we view the youth and the next
generation as our hope the future then Rizal’s death would not have been in vain. Freedom is not
always about being free from foreign interference or from a mad dictator but when you are free
from the shackles of ignorance