Revisiting Rizal Monuments in the North and South

To commemorate the 150th birthday of National Hero Jose Rizal on June 20, 2011, the Philippine Center for Photojournalism (PCP) contributed to a photo project of Interaksyon.com, TV-5’s website.

In order to show the importance given by a town, city or municipality of a tribute to the hero, they asked members to contribute one picture of a Jose Rizal street, avenue or plaza with his statue to show its current status. To add to the variety and get a nationwide scope, they asked photographers in Manila to contribute pictures from the provinces.

Having visited Camarines Norte earlier this year, I volunteered a photo of the Rizal monument in Daet, which is the oldest in the country.

Rizal Monument in Daet, Camarines Norte, Bicol Region

The Daet monument is the first Rizal monument in the country and was built 13 years before the Rizal monument in Luneta. The monument was unveiled on December 30, 1898, two years after Rizal’s death.

The 20-ft. high marker is a three-tiered, three-sided block with a triangular shape towards the peak. It is engraved with stars and a name Jose Rizal, as well as the names of Rizal’s popular novels Noli Me Tangere, El Filibusterismo, and Morga (referring to Dr. Antonio Morga, a Spanish authority on Philippine historical studies).

Interestingly, Camarines Norte was one of the first provinces to celebrate Rizal Day. They also celebrate with a  Bantayog Festival in honor of the first Rizal Monument every April.

I also found another picture of a Rizal monument I had taken in Jolo, Sulu some years ago when I was there for a book project.

Plaza Rizal, in Jolo, Sulu, ARMM

While the island of Jolo has breathtaking beaches and other great sights, most tourists (local and foreign) are hesitant to travel there due to the hype about security problems. This probably also explains why there’s not much information available about the Rizal Plaza there.

The Rizal monument can be found at the center of Plaza Rizal, which is located within the “walled city” of Jolo City, the largest town on the island Sulu.

The walled city was constructed in 1876 by the Spanish, and served as garrison of the Spaniards. Plaza Rizal was created to honor the Philippine National hero, Jose Rizal. It is situated in front of the Catholic Cathedral and the Notre Dame Girls’ High School and Elementary School.

Rizal and Travel

Recently, the Lakbay Jose Rizal (Rizal @150 Heritage Trail Project) was launched, which asks travelers to rediscover and visit sites which became a part of our national hero’s life. I think it’s a great way to celebrate both travel and patriotism. 😉

According to The Rizal Project and Amazing Facts about Jose Rizal, considering that Jose Rizal lived during the latter part of the 19th century where the only means of long distance travel was by ship, he can be considered a very well traveled man.

His extensive travel resume is something modern-day travelers can look up to. Rizal had been to the United States, Spain, Great Britain, France, Austria, Germany, Belgium, Switzerland, Czech Republic, Italy, Singapore, Borneo, Hong Kong, China and Japan.

Our national hero was also very good at mastering foreign languages, an extremely useful skill for those who love to travel. He could write and read at age two and grew up to speak 22 languages including Latin, Spanish, Catalan, German, French, English, Chinese and Japanese!

Aside from numerous monuments here in the country, monuments in honor of Jose Rizal have been erected in various parts of the world like Madrid, Spain; Wilhelmsfeld, Germany; Jinjiang, Fujian, China; Chicago, Cherry Hill Township, San Diego, Seattle, U.S.A.; Mexico City, Mexico; Lima, Peru; Litomerice, Czech Republic; and Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

Copy of Jose Rizal’s Noli Me Tangere modeled by my nephew Elias.

——————————————————

This is my first entry to the Blog Carnival of the Pinoy Travel Bloggers celebrating Dr. Jose P. Rizal’s 150th birthday with the theme “Rizal and Travel” hosted by Ivan Henares of Ivan about Town.

13 thoughts on “Revisiting Rizal Monuments in the North and South”

  1. Hi,

    Nice blog post indeed! I have had just submitted my maiden entry to the Blog Carnival. Please find time to see it and I will be very much happy to see your comments.Thanks.

  2. Wow, that one about Rizal monument in Jolo, Sulu was news to me. Thanks for that information. I hope to visit Jolo someday.

  3. hi marky, thanks! it’s not really being promoted as a tourist destination but they have some pretty nice places there that are undiscovered. if you do go, try eating sulu crabs in the market. the best siya at ang laki! (sorry, unrelated to rizal post)

  4. Thanks for the very informative blog post on Rizal monuments—indeed a great way to commemorate Rizal’s heroism 🙂

  5. thanks for dropping by here nicely 🙂 the “rizal and travel” blog carnival was an interesting topic. thanks to all the people at PTB for being so welcoming 🙂

  6. I was just going to say that. Plus did not know he had a monument in San Diego where I now live. Googling it up so I can visit.

  7. i rejoice in the idea that Jose Rizal, our most illustrious fraternal brother has a monument in the municipality of Opol, Misamis Oriental where i presently work and upon inquiry I found out that the monument may even qualify as the 3rd oldest Jose Rizal monument in the entire Philippines because it was built and erected in 1913 or 17 years after his death on December 30, 1896.

    Our incumbent Municipal Mayor, in a historic speech declared:

    “In giving importance and due respect to this monument which I am proud to declare as the oldest statue of Brother Jose Rizal in Northern Mindanao, as it was built and erected in 1913, or 17 years after his death at the Bagumbayan Field, now Luneta Park, on December 301, 1896, this Municipality of Opol, shall have its shining moment in the in the perspective of how well we value the virtues of Equality, Liberty and Fraternity which Rizal has lived and died for.”

    I am proud to be a Mason!

  8. Hi Sir Oscar, kindly share with us the photo of Rizal Monument in Opol, Misamis, Oriental. We want to know if this monument was included in the 40 bozetos that was submitted in 1907. We are making a research about the history of the monument in Rizal Park, Luneta and we want to know which monument from among the 40 bozetos was erected. Thank you very much.

    Mr. JOJO RANESES

  9. Just wanna ask in what particular areas whrein the monument of Dr. Jose Rizal is in seated position?!thank you so much…

Leave a Reply to travelingup

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.